A Harvest, a Cuisine, and a Hand Print

Today was a great day. Today was jam-packed with fun stuff- I still had to work for 6 hours, but surprisingly enough, that was part of the fun!


I worked at the craft center today at Mahoney State Park. I actually prefer it to the pool, because there isn't the meaningless high school drama from co-workers. No, it's just me, myself, and I. And the customers. And today...my mom! My mom came out and ate lunch with me and then made a craft. She stamped a piece of leather to make a key chain for one of the sets of keys at her work. It turned out really cool! It was also a quiet day, since it was a week day. That made it even better because I could talk to my mom while I was there.


After that, I went to the Dairy Cone to get ice cream with my mom and Melo. I thought the Dairy Cone was possibly not going to open this summer, since it didn't seem to have an owner. But thankfully it is! Summer wouldn't be right in Ashland without getting ice cream and cheese balls at the Dairy Cone.


When we finished our ice cream, Melo and I walked toward home, but not without our discs! When we got to the disc golf course, we discovered that the course had been expanded, meaning there are now 18 holes! So very fun =] 


If you are still reading this you are probably wondering how my title ties into anything at all. Wellllllllllll...while we were disc golfing, we found several mulberry trees full of berries! We were both so pumped! After dinner we went back and harvested a whole container full of them. They will be so delicious- my favorite way to eat them is in a bowl with a little melted ice cream. 

Speaking of dinner...we had a fantastic one! My dad has recently made a new friend, Von. His actual name is something really long and hard to pronounce. Given that clue, you are probably guessing that he is from somewhere foreign...and you are right. He is from Laos, which is very near Thailand, which is the type of food he treated us with tonight. He made us something simple this time, since he couldn't bring very much food with him on his motorcycle. :) We had steamed rice and some of the best chicken I have ever had! At one point in time he owned a Thai restaurant, but now that he's getting older he doesn't cook for others much. I think he really enjoyed sharing it with us, and I know we certainly enjoyed eating it! Next time, he's going to teach us to make spring rolls...I am so pumped. (Plus he's the cutest guy ever! He reminds me of my Thai art teacher I had last spring...I still randomly imitate his accent because I just love it.)


It was such a good day. But now, as I sit typing in my dark kitchen (everyone else is asleep), I have time to actually sit and think. In a book I've been reading, there was a hand print challenge. I've been thinking about that for a few days now, and it's time I did something instead of just contemplating it. What this hand print thing is is this: 


You trace your hand. Like you are going to make a hand turkey, but without feathers and all of that. Then you think about the five general aspects of life: social, intellectual, physical, spiritual, and emotional. Starting with the thumb as your main aspect, you write them on your fingers in order from the one you spend the most time on, down to the one that you spend the least time on. Your attention will go to the pinky- whatever is written on your pinky is what you need to work on, since it gets thought about the least. I can tell you that 'spiritual' is written on my pinky. Looking back over my day, did I mention anything spiritual? I'm pretty sure you can fit everything I did into one of the other four categories, but it's a little difficult to find something spiritual. My hand print is going up on my wall, near my dresser/mirror, where I will see it every day. And oh yeah. Once you concentrate all your energy onto your pinky category, then each one shifts. The pinky becomes the thumb. The ring finger becomes the pinky. So this hand print reminder is never-ending...and I like it that way.

I changed my background again...yet again...

I think this is why I could never get a tattoo. I get tired of things too quickly. Ha!

This isn't really a post. I just couldn't think of anything to say. :)

So if you just read this, you can carry on with your life now.



(Next time, I promise it will be something substantial.)

Part 2

The second part of our vacation: South Dakota

About every year my family and I visit our friends near Freeman, SD. This family recently stopped milking dairy cows...they had been in the dairy business for over 30 years. I have such great memories of their farm. I can still hear the sound of the milking machines and can remember the way the calves would suck at their bottles...and on your hand. The years have gone by and there aren't as many animals, but the memories remain.

Another tradition that happened without fail was the late night storytelling. Every year, as night falls, my dad and Larry swap stories, and they always talk about mountain lion sightings. They are so serious about it, too- that is part of the reason it's so chilling. I remember sitting on the dark lawn, with my back to the dark trees, and listening to them talk about how near the closest mountain lions have been reported, and how you never used to see them when they were kids. It is always scary, but also thrilling!

Here are some pictures of the farm animals I got to see:

There aren't as many barn cats now that there is no milking, but it is a farm so there are always some. :)

This mother duck was protecting her nest, even though she had apparently left her eggs to get cold about a week before. Silly duck.

The not-so-little piglets! Mmmm...I love bacon and sausage.

Mama pig was sooo lazy.

These are limousin cattle, and very cute ones at that!

I love roosters...don't know why, but I do.

Daisies are my all-time favorite flower, and they were blooming so nicely!

These teeny tiny grapes are part of the new orchard, planted a few years ago. The trees/plants are still small now, but they will be so good in the years to come. They have just about everything, too: grapes, blueberries, cherries, apples, peaches, rhubarb, strawberries, gooseberries, and more.

Silly goose.

Jake, the horse. He's lovely.

This is Jake, too! He is the grandson of our friends. He lives on another farm, and we had fun watching him "help" with the chores. He helped bring the calf bottles to the barn in his wagon, and even tested the milk to see if it was good. :)

I found this guy in Freeman- I don't see too many snakes around my house, so I just had to catch him!

Mr. Snakey and me...too bad he felt he needed to bite! 

That's it for now...we will be returning to South Dakota later this summer, only headed west to the Black Hills! That is another place packed with great memories, with many more to come!

Up North!

My family and I just took a vacation to Minnesota (and South Dakota, on the way home). I am posting pictures in two parts- first Minnesota, and then South Dakota.


We went to Minnesota for my uncle Wayne's birthday celebration...we did not know about this until a couple weeks ago when my aunt called us up and told us about his surprise party she had planned. It had been 8 years since we had been up there to see them, and we decided it was time to visit again. =] 


The party was fun, although most of the people there were from Diana's side of the family and I had no clue who they were...Uncle Wayne was surprised, so it was good! The party was Saturday, and on Sunday we went up to the North Shore, with Wayne and Diana leading.

Our super cute motel!

We went on a bike ride near the Moose Horn River. I kept looking for otters, but didn't see any!

The only bear I saw the whole trip.

At the actual Moose Lake- it is very pretty.

My shadow

Wayne and Diana's puppy, Lady! She is a cutie.

The only moose in Moose Lake!

Lake Superior. Pretty much like the ocean, but not salty.

Melo and I walked all the way out to this...it was sooo cold on out on the water!

The ship Roger Blough loading up with iron ore

One of the many seagulls, sitting on a white rock (ahem).

Such a pretty lighthouse. It is available for people to stay in- I would like to, but I would think about Scooby Doo and the haunted lighthouse and get scared...I know, I'm so cool.

Melo and I in front of the middle tier of Gooseberry Falls. These rocks were fun to climb around on. =]

Part 2 (South Dakota) will be next!

I happened past two old men playing chess today
Under a cherry tree.
I could hear the motors whirring in their minds.


The grayer one sat puzzled, contemplating.
He chose his piece with no dispatch.


Should we follow suit? Is the world one big choice that we are evermore working on?
What harm is in choosing the bunch of bananas in the perfect shade of yellow?
Or persistently perfecting a dream of traveling the world
To have it down to the exact inches of earth you would like to stand on?


Even though the dream is nearer impossible than possible.


LIVE!

Total darkness

Tonight as I was driving home from Lincoln, I marveled at God's infallible constancy. The night sky was pitch black, with only a faint glow of where the sun had sunk into the horizon. I haven't had the time to really look at the sky for quite a while, and it kind of struck me that this particular event happens every single day. EVERY DAY! Wow, that is quite amazing to me. 

I started to think then how scary it would be if the sun set as usual, but come next morning it didn't rise. I know in some parts of the world this happens for part of the year because of location on the earth...that must be frightening. I don't know, maybe they get used to it, but for me I know it would be scary! Nighttime has never been my favorite part of the day, and I doubt my feelings about it would ever change.

I then thought back to Exodus, when the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians. One of the plagues was darkness. Now I'm not a scientific person by any means, but I began to think about how this darkness happened. What changed? Did the sun take a different path for three days? How was it that the Israelites still had light, when the Egyptians were in total darkness? During this past Christmas season I watched a documentary called "The Star of Christmas." It was one of the best ones I have seen- it explained what the night sky looked like around the time of Jesus' birth, and uncovered the mystery of the Christmas star. It is so amazing that people today can use mathematical formulas and technology to "see" the skies even thousands of years ago. I remembered this tonight, and wondered "Did anything unusual happen in the sky during the plague of darkness?" I wish I could contact the people who found out about the Christmas star. I am very curious!

If anyone can supply information about this question, do comment! I wish to have my curiosity satisfied; hopefully it will be sometime before I get to heaven!

Dreamer...

Today I'm being a complete dreamer.


Don't get me wrong- I always dream. Every. Single. Day. But today I'm piecing all those little dreams together. Every time I get a "Oooh I wish I could..." or a "Wouldn't it be nice if..." or just a sigh- well, all of those are getting put together into
one big dream. Here goes.


Someday, I want to get married.
I want to marry someone handsome. Someone who complements my seemingly too-unique personality perfectly. Someone whose dreams, hopes, and desires align with mine. Someone who loves Jesus more than me! Someone not perfect, but perfect for me.


Once my handsome and I are married, we will move into the house he's been working on. It's a picturesque old farmhouse that needs a lot of repairs. But my handsome will work hard! And I will work hard. We will work together, side by side, as we build our home and grow our love. Our house will be wonderful, with a big picture window and lace curtains. Through the window and behind the curtains will sit a piano, big and beautiful with a deep, rich sound. And my house will have STAIRS! Oh, I've always wanted stairs.


I will be teaching school. It'll be tough, but oh so rewarding. My handsome is a farmer, working hard to provide for me. In fact, he is able to provide enough so I don't have to work when our family starts growing...and does it grow! We have 5 children- 3 girls and 2 boys. I am able to be a full-time mother and part time creator. Who knows what I'll use my creativity for...it could be making cards or painting Matryoshka dolls or writing and illustrating...whatever it is will be wonderful. I will live close to an ice rink and will get to skate several times a week, and even continue to teach little ones to skate. And the gardens! A flower garden, wild with blossoms, luring butterflies that sway on the wind. Another garden will grow a bounty of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. We will also have an orchard, filled with trees bursting with ripe, luscious fruits. Practically an Eden... :)




Sigh. It sounds wonderful. 


But of course I know my life will be far from perfect. Not all my dreams will come true. But I know that the Bible says Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). I think it is safe to say that God has placed these desires in my heart for a reason. God has an amazing plan for me, and a fun plan at that! I don't think God would plan for me to be a garbage-woman or a public speaker or even a doctor- I have no desire to be any of those things. Life isn't going to be perfect- things like bugs and financial problems and whiny kids do exist. I know these dreams could never be reality, but I think they give me a tiny glimpse of what the future may hold. Even if only a tiny part of it comes true, it's still worth the dreaming. :)