The Ramblings of an All-American Girl

Announcing.....

2010-10-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

the new and improved website for my photography!!!! I'll still be keeping my photoblog going but this is the official site!

http://www.wix.com/mjngphotography/mjng

Pictures from my trip...

2010-07-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Finally!!

Travel Journal

2010-06-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

6/8/2010 1:48pm (Iron county passing exit 100)

Yesterday we stopped in Bountiful UT for the night. It’s so warm we were in t-shirts and shorts at 10:00pm, I love it!!! This morning we got some more dialysis supplies from Dad’s first dialysis nurse Shaw-Marie. After that we went in search of a Best Buy for a camera battery charger, we found one in Salt Lake City but it didn’t open until 10:00am so we went into town to see the temple and tour the town. It was really neat to see it and the city. I hadn’t been to Salt Lake since I was 5 or 6 and all I remembered was the letters on the hills. So we putted around found a Starbucks and headed back to Best Buy. I learned never to go to a electronics store with my Dad! As we walk through that isles of not so cheep camera stuff he’s constantly picking stuff up saying “This is cool!” “You should get this too” meanwhile I’m seeing my bank account go broke! J We made it out of there with what I came for….. Plus a few other things. J Dad drove for a couple hours and then I took over while he got on dialysis I drove for about 100 miles and now Mom has taken over and we are about an hour away from our first *tourist* stop, Bryce Canyon. They said on their website that Venus is so bright that on moonless nights you can cast a shadow by it’s light alone! I’m really excited to start shooting and get some cool pictures! We are just coming off a crazy hill, the whole way down it was only 35mph and lots of steep turns, we are VERY thankful that Josh already replaced the power steering and power brake belt!! J

6/8/2010 10:06pm (Ruby’s Inn UT)

After going 15 miles out of out way ‘cause we missed our turn ( we turned around) we finally made it to Ruby’s Inn (which is the name of the town, kinda odd.) it’s beautiful! The drive down was really nice, the scenery is absolutely amazing! It makes you wonder why/how people believe that all this just happened! J The rocks are almost bright orange and the dust is really funky, kinda this clay feeling against your skin… nasty! J This is a really nice campground, it has a pool, free showers and free internet, the only thing wrong with it is we are parked in (literally) the farthest site from everything, I guess we probably need the exercise though. J The stars are the best part so far! Tonight is amazing, I’ve never seen this many stars… EVER! The website was right, tonight there is no moon and I saw my shadow but Venuse’s light alone! It is so awesome I wish I could take a picture of it! We had our first *real* dinner tonight, Indian chicken curry with rice….Yum, yum, yum it was GOOD… and it cleared everyone’s sinuses so hopefully no snoring tonight! J

6/10/2010 (Grand Canyon AZ)

We spent yesterday exploring Bryce Canyon, first we went to the visitor center and looked around, then we took a bus tour of the Canyon stopping at some view points along the way. It was pretty cool and we had a great bus driver! The only thing bad was our bus’s A/C was broken!! L It was okay for a while but it got pretty bad at the end, Mom and I ended up coming down with a case of heat stroke and slept for a couple hours. I learned that cucumbers are amazing when you are dehydrated!! This morning we decided that we were just going to head to Grand Canyon. On our way out of the camp ground we stopped at the bathhouse so everyone could get a *free* shower, it was glorious! Free showers are really dangerous, you’re not timed and you don’t have to feed it quarters. J It was soooo hot on the way here, our thermometer read 89* almost the whole way here…. I like the heat though, so I wont complain to loud J We are going to see the stars in about half an hour, I can’t wait, it’s going to be spectacular! The nearest major city Flagstaff and they have laws that none of the street lights etc. can point up, to reduce light pollution. ‘Manna is tired of traveling and she wants to “go home and eat (green) beans at ours house”. J

6/11/2010 (Grand Canyon AZ)

Well, the star show for us was not to be. L The shuttle busses here are not very good (scheduling wise), they say that the busses go until 11:00pm but that means they are back in the barn at 11:00pm not still picking up people. We almost got stranded but thankfully we asked about the bus route and were informed that we were on the last bus for the night (at 9:45)we’ll try to leave earlier tonight and pray it all works out! J This morning we woke up around 5:30 and went to the rim of the canyon to walk the trails before there were people everywhere! Amazing doesn’t even start to describe the canyon! Lets see if I can give a little perspective, if you were to put a cruise ship in the CO river it would be the scale of a kayak maybe even smaller. I got some cool pictures today, We spent the morning walking the time trail, it has year markers every couple feet so you can walk until the world began… “trillions of years ago” we walked about 2 trillion years and then decided that we could eat out for breakfast. We went to the restaurant in the Bright Angel lodge, it was really yummy! I ate what they called a “rim to rim skillet“, it was a big ball of corned beef hash, fried potatoes, topped with 3 eggs (over medium), cheese ( I think it was jack), and a jalapeño cream sauce, it was soooo good I wish I could have finished it, I only ate about half of it. We spent the rest of the morning riding the ’red route’, it’s a bus that takes you to “Hermit’s Point” and back. That was fun and I took some cool pictures. We are now back in the moter-home trying to rest so tonight we can stay awake to see the stars.

6/12/2010 (about 1.5 hours from Four Corners)

I guess we can see stars at home… J We went to the star show last night and it was cloudy, there was a slideshow and presentation about star photography, that was really cool and I learned a couple good tips. So anyway last night was cloudy and thunder stormy (lots of lightening!) so we hopped on the shuttle home and as we got to our campground it started to rain. It was a nice change from the blazing heat and dryness! J Today it’s been mostly rainy and cold-ish we packed up early this morning and headed to the showers and laundry. After a quick stop at the general store and gift shop we hit the road headed to Four Corners.

Road Trip Journal

2010-06-08T07:33:00.001-07:00

** It's kinda hard to upload pictures so I'll post them when I get back.**
6/6/2010

I’ll be writing these posts kinda as it happens or just after when we are driving down the road, so they’ll be in present tense, hopefully you can follow okay!

Today is the first day of our road trip to the Grand Canyon. We were trying to leave at 9:00 am so we could go to church before we hit the road….. Ummm yeah, that didn’t happen : P. We left our house at 11:10 with our motor home’s odometer reading 66,549. Any guesses what it will be when we get home?? Closest guess gets bragging rights! J I’m not sure how often I’ll have wi-fi so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to post but I’ll try to write something every day and post it when I get a chance, and I’ll defiantly take TONS of pictures!!! J (1:23pm) We got gas in Chehalis odometer reading is 66,610. Picked up Josh at BME (Basic Marksmanship Encampment) He has been there since Friday evening learning about marksmanship and safe handling of guns (they used 22*s for practice). After hooking Dad up to dialysis we are on the road again in search of food, none of us ate much more then half a muffin today, so I’m sure that the people will think Josh and I are pigs when we go to order! J (5:29pm) After a much needed pit stop for food we are back on the road headed to Pendleton OR. It should take us about 4 hours.

7:05pm (almost to Vancouver) Okay wellll we’ve just had our first real *adventure*. Driving down the freeway we heard some noises like a little pop and then sand hitting our undercarriage, we listened for more noise and didn’t hear anything. A little bit later Mom heard what sounded like something shattering under her feet, then she lost power steering…. and then the power assist brakes (we still had brakes just not the power assist for them) We pulled off the freeway and stopped at Walmart to ask if there was a auto part store near by, the closest one was across the freeway. We made it (PTL!) and they were still open!! So that’s where we are now, sitting in the Schuck’s parking lot stretching our legs and buying a new power steering belt. Our plan is to continue down the road until Dad gets off dialysis in about 1 hour. Bad as that sounds we are soooo thankful that: 1: I wasn’t driving 2: we still had brakes and 3: the auto parts store was still open at 7:00pm on a Sunday night!

9:23pm (Eagle Creek fish hatchery) We are sitting in the parking lot trying to get the power steering belt to the right tightness. We’ve been here for about 1 hour, it’s POURING rain and we are so thankful we’re not camping in a tent here! My computer is recognizing a wireless hub here but I can’t access it L Yes, it’s very sad! Woo-hoo!!!! Dad just hit the sweet spot and out engine is now running perfectly (Please Lord keep it that way!) the power steering belt is still squeaking but we’ll fix that tomorrow when (hopefully) it’s not raining! Okay so it’s 9:36 and we are back on the road continuing on towards Pendleton OR.

6/7/2010 We made it to Pendleton last night (this morning) at 12:15am parked at the Walmart, pulled out our beds and crashed… now I remember why I don’t like sleeping in the same room with my brothers, they SNORE! Loud! J I slept good though. Daniel was the first kid up this morning at 5:00am, that’s CRAZY normally he’s the last kid up! When the Starbucks in Safeway opened up they went to grab some coffee and bananas to go with our muffins. After getting gas and taking advantage of the clean Walmart bathrooms we hit the road at about 8:00 am and are now on our way to Snowville UT. Oh yeah the weather is AMAZING!! Blue skies, sunshine and fluffy little white clouds, absolutely perfect! Thank you Lord!!

2:08pm (Dessert Mt. ID) Mom is just hooking Dad up to dialysis. We stopped for lunch (I made some crossest sandwiches) at a really nice rest stop, snapped a few pictures in the gorgeous weather and are back on the road. It’s been beautiful, rolling hills, sagebrush, cows and most important sunshine! I’d probably change into my shorts if my clothes were a little more accessible! J Right now my computer is receiving 3 signals at the gas station we are at and I can’t connect to any of them! Talk about annoying! L Right now Amanda is playing with our (broken) CB saying “Truckers! Truckers! Anyone there?” Is absolutly adorable!

5:58pm (Snowville UT) Dad’s dialysis has gone great! We are stopped at the Flying J (gas station) got gas and Mom is now helping day off. The most exciting thing about today is I drove the moterhome across ID and UT (really it’s been only 30 minutes) I can get internet here we just need to get a Flying J loyalty card…. I’m not sure if it costs or not so we’ll see if I can get one. We forgot to stop in Boise for a battery charger so I’ll try to remember to get one in Salt Lake City.

Curly Girl

2010-06-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Curly Girl is a book by Lorraine Massey, in the book she explains that 65% of woman have curly hair and don't know it. She also explains the best way to take care of them and cut them, etc. I started it a couple days ago and I'm definitely seeing results ( in the book she says that it will take 2-3 weeks for you hair to get used to it and show it's full curl)! Here are the pictures to prove it!

Day 1

Day 2

day 3 back

day 3 front

day 4
I would definatly suggest you check out the book if you have any wave to your hair, or if your hair gets fizzy or if you already have curls! :D

Thought of the day....

2010-05-30T18:51:00.001-07:00

Bible vs Cell Phone

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

Think about how much you use your cell phone and your bible. Which one gets the most of your time?

Baskin-Robbins 31 cents scoop night!!!

2010-04-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

"Join us for 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins® and help us honor America's firefighters. The Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation is donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation™ (NFFF). Participating stores will reduce prices of ice cream scoops to 31 cents*. At some locations, you may also havean opportunity to make a donation to your local fire charities."

Click here for more info!!!
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Spotlight/31CentScoopNight.aspx

Book a minute....

2010-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Check it out... they have some pretty funny stuff... including kids books (Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, etc)
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/

"Got another book report to do?

English teachers have the inconsiderate habit of assigning mammoth-sized works of literature to read and then actually expecting you to do it. This wouldn't be so bad except that invariably the requisite reading is as boring as fly fishing in an empty lake. Half of those books don't even have discernible plots. And let's face it -- the Cliff's Notes are pretty time-consuming too. Worry no more. Your troubles are over. We here at Book-A-Minute Classics have come up with a solution. We've taken all kinds of great works of literature and boiled them down to their essence, extracting all the filler (and believe me, there's a lot of it sometimes). In just one minute, you can read entire books and learn everything your teachers will expect you to know.

"That's nice," you say, "but I don't believe you." Yah hah, skeptical soul! We've got our collection of ultra-condensed books right here! We've got everything from Shakespeare to Steinbeck! See for yourself!"

A few selections....

Pride and Prejudice

By Jane Austen

Ultra-Condensed by Anu Lahtinen

Mr. Darcy- Nothing is good enough for me.

Ms. Elizabeth Bennet- I could never marry that proud man.

(They change their minds.)

THE END

Little Dorrit

By Charles Dickens

Ultra-Condensed by Vladimir Zelevinsky

The Dorrits-Woe are us; we are poor and miserable.

(They get RICH.)

The Dorrits- Woe are us; we are rich and miserable.

(A HOUSE falls on the bad guy's HEAD.)

THE END

The Crucible

By Arthur Miller

Ultra-Condensed by Samuel Stoddard

Reverend Parris- Abigail Williams, you and your friends are in trouble, unless you can shift the blame to someone else.

Abigail Williams- She did it! He did it! They did it! Everybody but us did it!

Judge Danforth- Ah, now we are getting somewhere.

(Everybody gets hanged)

THE END

Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare

Ultra-Condensed by Taran Horter

Romeo-Oh, Juliet!

Juliet- Oh, Romeo!

Romeo- Oh, Juliet!

Juliet- Oh, Romeo!

Romeo- Oh, Juliet! (dies)

Juliet- Oh, Romeo!......Romeo?......Dang it.

THE END

Anne of Green Gables

By Lucy Maud Montgomery

Ultra-Condensed by Samuel Stoddard

(Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert send for an orphan boy to help out at Green Gables.)

Anne Shirley- I'm here.

Marilla Cuthbert- Anne Shirley, you are not a boy. Go back to the orphanage.

Anne Shirley- If I work really hard, stay out of trouble, enrich your lives with my buoyant spirit, rescue you from the doldrums of your pragmatic ways, and touch the hearts of the townsfolk...then can I stay?

Marilla Cuthbert- Well, ok.

(Anne does all these things except stay out of trouble.)

THE END

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

If you're not wearing green consider yourself cyber pinched! :) lol

Possible business cards

2010-03-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

Be sure to comment and tell me which one you like best!!!
(click on the picture to make it larger)

Toying with photography business names....

2010-02-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

Let me know what you think...

If you have any other ideas please comment and let me know!! I'm terrible at the creative naming stuff! :) I've heard that if your photography business has your name (or initials) in it you don't have to register as a business (and pay small business taxes), so that would be preferable! :) My name means "honey" or "honey-bee" in Greek so possibly something with honey in it..... I dunno..... hmmm

Through My Camera Lens (my photo blog name)

A Thousand Words

Melissa Joy Photography

M. J. Photography

These guys are awesome

2010-02-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard these guys yet.... you're missing out! They are awesome! Enjoy......

Meaning of your name

2010-02-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Lately status games have been the fad on FB this one seemed like a good one to translate to blogger!!

Go to urbandictionary.com, type in your first name, copy and paste this as your status and the FIRST entry for your name under comments.

#1
Melissa is a Greek name.
In Greek, it means "honey bee."

In Persian, it means "red rose."

The feminine version of "Melisseus", legendary "King of Crete."

In mythology, it is the name of a princess of Crete who was changed into a bee after she learned to collect honey.

#2
Melissa--
A very beautiful person inside and out.

Will always make you laugh and give you a hug before you even know you need one!

Can be some what blunt. But at least you know she is truthful. Very sweet and easy to talk to. Loves the colour pink and loves her family more than anything else!

High morals. She sets her own ground.

This one is my favorite one... I think this one describes me best! : P

All That Jazz......

2010-01-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Put your iPod/Playlist on random shuffle

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got this from.

*** if you want to do it... be my guest!! ***

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?

Bad Day – Daniel Powter

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

Radar Love –Golden Earring

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

I’m gonna miss her – Brad Paisley

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

Suds in the Bucket – Sara Evans

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

409 – Beach Boys

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

What Do You Think About That – Montgomery Gentry

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

Surfing USA – Beach Boys

WHAT IS 2+2?

Kiss the Girl – Ashley Tyndale

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Country Man – Luke Bryan

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Hey Driver – Lucky Boy Confusion

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

I Love Rocky Road – Weird Al

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Bye Bye – Jo-dee Messina

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Fishin’ in the Dark – Emerson Drive

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Cotton Eyed Joe -- Rednex

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Would You Go With Me – Josh Turner (awww that’s a GREAT wedding song!!!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

Dancing with Myself – The Donnas

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

The Government Can – Tim Hawkins

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Young – Kenny Chesney

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Black Betty –Spiderbait

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Coward of the county – Kenny Rogers

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

Amazing Grace – Rockapella

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

You’re the One that I Want -- Grease

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

Firecracker – Josh Turner

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

Just a Dream Carrie Underwood

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

I’ll Be – Edwin McCain

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

The General Lee – Johnny Cash

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

Africa --Toto

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

Uptown Girl – Billy Joel

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

The Call – Regina Spekter

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

All That Jazz

The sunrise this morning....

2010-01-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

....was AMAZING!!!

Savior please, keep saving me

2010-01-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

One of my friends wrote this.... she is so talented with words. (among other things) This is great encouragement! Hope you enjoy this!!

"This is me talking to Jesus. I was in a low in my life and I vented to God; this is what I wrote.

Prov. 14:26-27; Lam. 3:22-23; Jer. 31:3;
Ps18:6, 29-32,
19:14,
86:1-5, 11-13, 15

"I've failed You so many times, yet You remain faithful. I've cursed You so many times, yet You are gracious. I've drowned so many times, yet You still saved me. I've denied You so many times, yet You remain loving, forgiving. I am a sinner in need of a Savior.
Savior please, keep saving me!
I think I am all that, but You are all that and above and beyond. I am so weak but Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. I am fearful but in You there is strong confidence, a fountain of life to all those who ask and receive. I've lied to You so many times, yet You remain truthful forever.
Savior please, keep saving me!
I have been so stupid, blindly selfish, yet You say, 'Cast your cares upon Me, for I care for you.' I have forsaken You when You call me away, yet You say, 'I have loved you with and everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.'
Savior please, keep saving me!
I am vile and disgusting in every way, yet it is through Your mercies that I am not consumed, because Your compassions fail not - they are new Every morning. I've been held captive by every bondage, but the Holy Spirit dwells in me, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and liberty. Where You are there is perfect peace, and joy to the fullest measure.
Savior please, keep saving me!"

(This is what He replied...)

"So what are you going to do now?? Are you just going to sit there and do nothing? BE RADICAL FOR ME! Get off your butt and go all out for Me. Go start winning souls for Me. Go proclaim My Name to everyone. You are sanctified and set apart for Me. You shall do great signs and wonders for My behaf. I choose the simple to confound the wise - the humble and broken ones I use. Your life is not your own." "

Photography--- night shots

2009-12-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

Photography is one of my passions! Last night I went on a field trip with my photography class, we went to downtown Tacoma to get some cool night shoots. These are only a few of my pictures from last night..... I took nearly 100 good ones (not blurry, 5 sec exposure + wind = hard! ) Check out my photoblog melissaphotoblog.blogspot.com and let me know what you think of my pictures! Oh BTW these are totally manual...even manual focus!!!!

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

I know it's been a while..... I've been busy but have nothing to show for my busy-ness! Don't ya just HATE when that happens!?!?

Thanksgiving was nice, I did take some pictures.... unfortunately I forgot my camera at my Aunt's house so I don't have any pictures..... :P I'll get my camera back and upload some pictures! So yeah.... sorry! :)

Photography is going good, wednesday I'm going to a field trip to downtown Tacoma to do night shots etc. hopefully it wont rain!!! :) I'll post the results if we go down there!

Ft. Steilacoom is in 2 weeks.... I have a mountain of sewing to do!!!!

Photography Class Assignments

2009-11-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

This week for photography we have to bring in 5 different pictures that represent 5 different.... themes I guess you could call it
the themes are line, mass, time, contrast, and color. I *think* these are my chooses....

Mass

Contrast

Line

Color

Tone

What do you think??

Pick the pic.... HURRY!!!

2009-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Deadline is tomorrow!!!!!!!

Pick the best portrait!

Josh's New Toy

2009-10-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is Josh's new muzzle loader, it's a "traditional Hawken 54cal"

Young's Harvest Party 2009!!

2009-10-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Candlelight pictures

2009-10-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

Do I didn't get to take NEAR as many as I wanted to... but I will take more tonight when is doesn't take my 1hr to get into my dress! :P

CANDLELIGHT STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm sooo excited (can you tell!) It's going to be fun this year (it always is!!) I'm going early Friday to take pictures of the set-up, reenactors arriving and getting set in their place, etc. so I WILL have tons of pictures (if I don't get distracted!) to post probably Monday
(send me messages so I don't forget!!)

A few of my favorite quotes!

2009-09-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

History should be an experience not a textbook summery.
Elizabeth Stuart Clark

This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country.
Clint Eastwood

You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.
Bill Cosby

Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.
Calvin Coolidge

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale

When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick.
George Burns

Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.
Bill Cosby

A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.
Bill Cosby

When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.
Albert Einstein

Recession is when a neighbour loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.
Ronald Reagan

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
C. S. Lewis

In other news... Candlelight is in 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So..... yeah

2009-09-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've been busy! I have an insane amount of schoolwork to get done before I graduate! Needless to say I'm not going to have alot of blogging time... it takes to long to write out a post and add pictures! So I'm going to try to give highlights of whatever I did and post a slideshow of pictures.

The fair was... well.... the fair. Overpriced, crowded, fun! :)

9/11 Never forget!

2009-09-11T07:55:00.001-07:00

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “- President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

Never forget 9/11!! Do not let those who did these horrible things go free!!

My Silk Horoscope

2009-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm not one to believe or even do horoscopes except to laugh at them! :) But my friend Anna found this one and I couldn't help but so it and post it! :-D

Sun Sign-- Aries - Harmonious colors include: Red, Black, and Orange. Aries people are often daring in fashion and will find silk fun to wear (i.e. silk noil) . Ideal silks: Silk Matelasse AND Iridescent Thai Silk The major appeal of silk to Aries is adventure.

Chinese Sign-- MONKEYS are intellectually sharp, witty, highly observant, clever, curious, loving, a good parent, and skillful in small enterprises and diplomacy. Thus, they pride themselves on wearing only the Queen of Fabrics, Silk. It was probably a Monkey who first said: Sew with Silk, its a Natural. But, if they buy a silky fabric rather than the real thing they will not hesitate a lie and claim the silky to be the real thing even though they are terribly uncomfortable in the garment.

Busy

2009-08-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

I used to have a life and time but... welcome to the workforce..... I have no time, I'll try to post something soon!

Welcome Home Sailors of the USS Stennis!!!!

2009-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Question: Melissa, what did you do this morning

Answer: I chased a Aircraft Carrier..... yeah.

Story:
It was 4:08 when I woke up this morning, 4:45 when the Ng family left the house in a mad rush to get the the Pollocks house, pick up the 4 older kids and James, (at 5:20) drive an hour (and a half or so) to Manchester State park, run to the beach, un-furl our flags and hold up our banner. Then after the Stennis went past we ran back up to the van and raced to the next spot so we could wave and welcome the sailors home! We stopped at 4 places all together, racing in to the van, driving ahead of the ship to a new spot on the beach! After the ship docked we went to Albertsons my Mom and Dad went in to grab 2 dozen donuts,(Sarah, Josh and I "snuck" in for some coffee!) and we headed to the Bryan's house to wake them up.... they were already up (it was 8 something) We played a few rounds of volleyball then started home, the only thing that kept us awake was the little coffee some of us had and sing (off key, we were to tired to sing on key lol) to country MUSIC!! :-) It was CRAZY but we had a great time...... thinking about it, it was a typical Ng/Pollock adventure! lol :-)

This was when it was passing Manchester (at 6:20 am)

This was our 2nd stop (sometime after 6:30)

Stop # 3

Stop # 3

Stop #3. At this stop there was Q13's van and a couple reporters for the Kitsap Sun that took our names and pictures http://www.kitsapsun.com/photos/galleries/2009/jul/10/stennis-arrives/4709/

The "unpatriotic Canadian geese" lol :-P

I don't have any pictures from stop # 4 but Sarah took a bunch so as soon as she posts *hint hint* I'll post a link.

\
Volleyball at the Bryan's

We were really tired in this picture! :-)

HAPPY 4th!!!!!

2009-07-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th! (geez... I sound like a commercial! lol)

Remember all those who died for your freedom, remember that freedom is NEVER free!

God is blessing America and I pray that He will continue to bless America!

Huge Update (mostly pictures)

2009-07-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

A few things have happened since I last posted, I don't have enough time to type everything so I'll post a brief explanation and captions with my pictures! :)

First, Josh and I had our FIRST piano recital ever! It went really well and I'm glad it's over! :-) Mostly it was boring but there were a few interesting pieces!

I played 3 pieces Old German Dance, Baroque Boogie, and (my favorite) Heather.

Josh played 2 pieces Funeral March of the Marionette, and Be Thou My Vision.

After we went to a BBQ I got some cute pictures of Amanda!

Then my Mom, Amanda and I went to see my friend Ruth graduate from Bates tech collage with a degree in culinary arts it also was kinda boring but fun to see Ruth! :)

A couple weeks ago my cousin (from AK) and her daughters were in town so we took them to the zoo, it was really fun and we got to see lots of different animals! I don't really have anything exciting to say so I'll just post pictures! :-)

*Blogger is being dumb and I can't upload my zoo pictures.... I'll keep trying!*

PS I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad it's summer!!!!!!!

Long time no post!

2009-06-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting! I've been a little busy and haven't had time! I went to the zoo a week ago, I'll post about that soon!

Yes or No

2009-06-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

*Disclaimer... I'm kinda bored today! :-)*
1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No.2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and asks. -- and believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming nothing is exactly as it seems.

Now, here's what you're supposed to do. . . Copy and paste this into your notes, delete my answers, type in your answers and tag as many of your friends as you'd like to.

Kissed any one of your Facebook friends? --- yeah
Been arrested? --- nope
Kissed someone you didn't like? --- nope
Slept in until 5 PM? --- nope
Fallen asleep at work/school? --- yes
Held a snake? --- yeah
Ran a red light? --- nope
Been suspended from school? --- no
Experienced love at first sight? --- no
Totaled your car in an accident? --- no
Been fired from a job? --- no
Fired somebody? --- nope
Sang karaoke? --- YEAH!
Pointed a gun at someone? --- yeah!
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? --- yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? --- yeah
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? --- yup
Kissed in the rain? --- yup
Had a close brush with death (your own)? --- nope
Seen someone die? --- no
Played spin-the-bottle? --- yeah
Sang in the shower? --- yes
Smoked a cigar? --- no
Sat on a rooftop? --- yes
Smuggled something into another country? --- yeah
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? --- no
Broken a bone? --- yes
Skipped school? --- yes
Eaten a bug? --- yeah
Sleepwalked? --- nope
Walked a moonlit beach? --- yes
Rode a motorcycle? --- yes
Dumped someone? --- no
Forgotten your anniversary? --- nope
Lied to avoid a ticket? --- no
Ridden in a helicopter? --- no
Shaved your head? ---NO!
Blacked out from drinking? --- no
Played a prank on someone? --- yeah
Hit a home run? -- YEAH!
Felt like killing someone? --- nope
Cross-dressed? --- no
Been falling-down drunk? --- NO!
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? --- nope
Eaten snake? --- nope
Marched/Protested? --- yes
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? --- no
Puked on amusement ride? --- no
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? --- yeah
Been in a band? --- yeah
Knitted? --- yes
Been on TV? --- yup
Shot a gun? --- yes
Skinny-dipped? --- no
Gave someone stitches? --- No
Eaten a whole habenero pepper? -- No
Ridden a surfboard? --- No
Drank straight from a liquor bottle? --- yeah
Had surgery? --- no
Streaked? --- No
Taken by ambulance to hospital? --- No
Tripped on mushrooms? --- No
Passed out when not drinking? --- NO
Donated Blood? --- yeah
Grabbed electric fence? --- yes
Eaten alligator meat? --- No
Eaten cheesecake? -- YES!
Eaten your kids' Halloween candy? --- No
Killed an animal when not hunting? --- yeah
Snuck into a movie without paying? --- No
Written graffiti? --- No
Still loved someone you shouldn't? --- yes
Think about the future? --- Yes
Been in handcuffs? --- yeah
Believe in love? --- YES!
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? --- nope
Violated the rules of this memo? --- No

Tragic News

2009-06-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

My computer died...... and I lost almost all my pictures......... I only have ones from pre-2007 and ones I've posted on my blog(s) and Facebook..... :*(

Voting time..... for pictures

2009-05-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Okay ya'll I have a few pictures that I like but can't decided which one to enter!!

The theme is Country Sights
Vote in the poll over there ------>

#1

#2

#3

Thanks!

Interesting Article!

2009-05-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Poll: More Americans calling themselves pro-life

By DAVID CRARY, AP

NEW YORK — The Gallup Poll reported Friday that 51 percent of Americans now call themselves pro-life rather than pro-choice on the issue of abortion, the first time a majority gave that answer in the 15 years that Gallup has asked the question.
The findings, obtained in an annual survey on values and beliefs conducted May 7-10, marked a significant shift from a year ago. A year ago, 50 percent said they were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life — in the new poll, 42 percent said they were pro-choice.
The new survey showed that Americans remained deeply divided on the legality of abortion — with 23 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, 22 percent saying it should be legal under any circumstances, and 53 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances.
The findings echoed a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, which reported a sharp decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases — from 54 percent to 46 percent.
Taken together, the two polls have elated anti-abortion activists, who had been stung by the November election results that placed President Barack Obama and other abortion-rights supporters in power in Washington.
"Ironically, Obama's radical abortion policies and nominees may have helped make America more pro-life," said Wendy Wright, president of the conservative advocacy group Concerned Women for America.
The president of a leading abortion-rights group, Nancy Keenan of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the Gallup findings "do not square with the voting patterns in the last two elections cycles."
"It would be a mistake for anti-choice groups to interpret this one poll as a signal that Americans want even more interference from politicians in their personal, private decisions, including a woman's right to choose safe, legal abortion," Keenan said.
Another abortion-rights leader, Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards, questioned the terminology in the Gallup questions.
"The terms pro-choice and pro-life no longer define the parameters of the debate, witnessed by the fact that in the Gallup Poll, a majority of people say they are both pro-life and that abortion should be legal," Richards said.
She added that most Americans share Obama's stated goal of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.
Planned Parenthood also noted that another recent national survey, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp., poll in April, reported 49 percent of respondents identifying as pro-choice and 45 percent as pro-life.
The Gallup poll's release came just ahead of Obama's scheduled commencement speech Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, where he also is to receive an honorary degree. Those plans by the Roman Catholic university have sparked a wave of protests by anti-abortion activists, who contend Notre Dame should not honor a such a prominent supporter of abortion rights.
Gallup said its new poll showed an increase in the pro-life position across Christian religious affiliations, including an eight-point gain among Protestants and a seven-point gain among Catholics. It also reported a 10-point shift toward the pro-life category among Republicans but said there was no significant change among Democrats.
"It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be 'pro-choice' slightly to the left, politically," according to the Gallup analysis. "While Democrats may support that, as they generally support everything Obama is doing as president, it may be driving others in the opposite direction."
The Gallup survey was based on telephone interviews with 1,015 adults nationwide. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

New Layout

2009-05-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

Question.... do you like my new Layout

VOTE over there ----->

:)

Mariners Game!!!

2009-04-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

My goodness where does the time go? I started this post last week and never posted it!

About a week ago my Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Joy and cousin Sarah were on their way to CT so my uncle could be entered in to the Coast Gard "Wall of Fame" they stopped in Washington for a couple days to see my Grandma and us ;-). For my cousin's birthday, Uncle Jimmy took Dad, Josh, Daniel, me and Sarah to a Mariners game (they are BIG fans!! :-D ) So we all packed in to the van and went up to Seattle for the game! It was really fun! We made signs hoping to get some Rally Fries! (If you don't know what those are read THIS ) We didn't win but we thought our sign was MUCH better then the person who did win! She was pregnant and her sign was about her future Mariners wanting Rally fries. Anyway... Mariners won (4-2!!) and we had a GREAT time!

"Oh say can you see..."

in this plane is my uncle's friend, he heard that we where going to the game and did a fly by over Safco field

Warming up

They got a little mixed up when I left to take a picture!

it's supposed to read " you gotta love these guys..... we'd like to taste those fries.... PLEEEASE ...... Sarah's sign says "Sarah's sweet 14 and never tasted Rally Fries"

"The wind up"

Introducing.....

2009-04-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

........ my Mother's blog! The link is jerryandbrenda.blogspot.com "follow" her!

Polka Dots!!!

2009-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

I love polka dots so you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that they are period correct for 1855 (Fort Nisqually).... you might possibly be able to also imagine how excited I was when one of the Gals on the reenacting forum I'm on offered to send me her half finished semi-sheer pink and cream polka dot dress. She was making it for someone else and they stopped reenacting.. so she sent to to me. The bodice is tiny but I think I can get a bodice and sleeves out of the skirt and still have a full enough skirt! I'm so excited to start sewing on it.. but I promised myself new drawers and a new chemise before I start with the sheer polka dots... enough babbling! I did take some pictures for ya'll to see it! I'm not sure how I'm going to trim it but I have some cream organza ribbon that I really like! I also like the bodice style that she was going to do!!

Did you Know????

2009-04-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

My Dad found this video on Youtube and I thought that ya'll might be interested in it! Let me know what you think!

PS Put it to full screen so you can see the whole thing! :-)

A quote I read today

2009-04-04T10:18:00.001-07:00

I saw this quote today I thought that ya'll might like it

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.
- Richard Feynman

My Memories from 2008

2009-03-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Jacqueline,

Here are the rules:1. Fill in your memories of 2008
2. Link my blog to yours
3. Tag others and comment on their blogs so they know they've been tagged

~My memories from 2008~

~A good book I read~
Candle in the Darkness By Lynn Austen
It’s a really interesting/awesome book that is set in the Civil War written in both first and third person…. I really liked it but some of you die hard Confederates probably will not like it much… :)

~A great film/movie I watched~
Hmmm this is a hard one, I’ve watched so many movie that I really liked this year. But I think my favorite was The Dark Knight

~A new place I visited~
I got to go to San Diego for a cruise with my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle for my 16th birthday it was really fun and WARM!!!

~An inspiring verse or quote I read~

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.

~A discovery I made~

That Jesus died for MY sins and not just everyone else (does that make sense?)

~A new skill I acquired~
Hmmm.. I don’t know….. photography(?)

~A lesson I learned~

God is sovereign.

~A moment I will always remember~

the day AFTER the camp-out…..I was brought to nothing so God could build me back up with his awesome power!

I tag
Graydon
Lissa
Sarah
Cassie
Sam
Jonathan
David

Coming Soon!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-18T09:52:00.001-07:00

A memory post about 2008 (I was tagged!)

For those who don't have a Facebook

2009-03-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

This is a test that has been going around FB, I thought that those without FB would like a chance to do it! : )

You know how it works..... put "x's" in the boxes in things you've done copy and paste to your blog!

Growing up/now

[] Own/have owned a denim jumper

[] You were at least 13 when you got your first "trendy" haircut

[x] Everything in your closet at some time was referred to as modest

[] You do/have tucked things in that shouldn't be tucked in

[] You have been a member of at least 3 co-ops

[x] You were a true 16 and never been kissed

[] Your mom drives a van of some sort

[] You have at least one childhood picture where you, your mom, and all you siblings matched

[] At some point in your life you were more comfortable with adults than kids your own age

[x] Have studied ways to defend your beliefs, debate, and/or create laws

[] Used uber conservative ABeka curriculum

Total: 3

[] You use big words that most adults could not use in conversation

[ ] You can use the words sublime, epiphany, and cognicent correctly

[] You have a favorite word.

[] You have an understanding of Latin root words and how to use them

[ ] People from the outside world are referred to as "public schoolers"

[ ]You or one of your siblings knits.

[x] You laugh at the decline in literacy in America

[x] You score constantly higher than "public schoolers" on standardized tests.

[] You have no concept of cafeteria food

[ ] Family vacations are/ can be referred to as "Field Trips"

[x] Traveling on said vacations have included stopping at historical site markers along the way

[ ] You have never been in a public elementary school, middle school, or high school during regular school hours

[ x] You have gone to or been involved in a homeschool convention

Total so far: 7

[ x] You read books on a regular basis

[x ] You have taken part in a political protest

[] You were a Pride and Prejudice fan before the movie

[] You were a Lord of the Rings fan prior to the movie

[x] You were a Chronicles of Narnia fan before the movie

[x] You speak a language other than English

[ x] You dream of dating characters from books instead of celebrities

Total so far: 10

It (has been) assumed that you:

[ ] Have won many spelling bees

[ x] Have no social life

[ ] Have no friends of the opposite gender

[ x] Are outstandingly smart

[ ]Are extremely inept

[] Only listen to classical music

[] Play piano or the violin

[] Do not own a pair of trendy jeans.

[x] Have no knowledge of drugs or alcohol

[x ] Don't date, only court.

[ x] Have never been to a "party"

[ x] Know no other beliefs other than what your family believes

Total so far: 16

You have been asked more than 10 times:

[x] If you wear pajamas to school

[x] If you get perfect grades because your mom grades you

[] If your mom teaches you or if somebody else's mom does

[x] How do you meet people

[x] Why you aren't in school

[x] If you get days off whenever you want

[x] If you're going to be homeschooled through college

[x] If you have a big family

[] What your parents are protecting you from

[] To quote something famous

[] For the answer, because supposedly homeschoolers always have all the answers

Total so far: 23

You have rebelled by:

[] Listening to "worldly music"

[ ] Wearing black fingernail polish

[] Wearing tight clothes or letting your midriff show

[] Watching a *gasp* PG-13 movie

[ ] Breaking dress code

[] Listening to music with a beat

total: 23

1-10 You're not really a homeschooler...you just do school at home

11-21 You're a homeschooler, but not what the world expects

22-32 You're a homeschooler

33-? You probably wouldn't have facebook to begin with...but congrats you're the stereotypical homeschooler

2009-03-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll just wanted to let you know that I chose #4 I'll let you know how many votes I get....

Vote on your favorite!!!!!!

2009-03-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

One of the FB groups I belongs to is a bi-weekly photo contest and this week's theme is "Lyrical" and we are supposed to include and song lyric that goes with the song..... I've narrowed down my choices to theses 4 pictures and I need some help to pick....... pick the one you think is the best picture... composition, color, etc
vote over there ----->

#1
Where the stars and stripes and the "Eagle" flies (Eagle = F15.... I had to ask Josh on that one :D)

#2
Johnny rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard

#3
His heart belongs to that sweet, little beautiful, perfect, wonderful, all American girl

#4
If I could write a letter to me

My 1927 Singer

2009-02-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

( AB861204 )

I bought this when I was in CT I couldn't resist... I found it at the Goodwill for................. drum roll please......................... 5 bucks!!!!!!!!!! It's still in CT because it was to heavy to fit in my suitcase. My aunt is going to ship it to me when I ask her to... (mental note *e-mail Aunt Amy!*)

I'm not sure if it runs but for 5 bucks it is worth a shot!

~ Melissa

"Melissa Needs"... and other stuff

2009-02-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

today at 4:34 (02-17-2009)

Melissa needs

Okay, Google this: "[Your name] Needs" and list the first 10 entries that come up. It's fast, easy and hilarious!

Here's what I found with my name:

1) Melissa needs to take a break

2) Melissa needs to board the blob ship (what is a blob ship??)

3) Melissa needs hydration after the walk

4) Melissa needs lots of guidance

5) Melissa needs a home

6) Melissa needs a roof

7) Melissa needs to find a new agent

8) Melissa needs someone to show her she’s worthy (worthy of what?!?!)

9) Melissa needs AOL shopping!

10) Melissa needs maintenance manuals

~Yes Or No~

You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone comments and Asks!

Now, here's what you're supposed to do... And please do not spoil the Fun. Copy and paste this to your blog , delete my answers and type in your answers.

Then see what happens. (you can play if you want)

Been arrested? No
Kissed someone you didn't like? No
slept in until 5 PM? No
Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes
Held a snake? Yes
Ran a red light? No
Been suspended from school? No
Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? No
Fired from a job? No
Sang karaoke? Yes
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes
Kissed in the rain? No
Sang in the shower? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? Yes
Broken a bone? No
Shaved your head? No
Blacked out from drinking? No
Played a prank on someone? Yes
Felt like killing someone? No
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? No
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No
Been in a band? Yes
Shot a gun? Yes
Tripped on mushrooms? No
Donated Blood? No
Eaten alligator meat? No
Eaten cheesecake? Yes
Still love someone you shouldn't? No
Think about the future? Yes
Believe in Love ? Yes
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? No

Yesterday

2009-02-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, it snowed!!! Yuk! I want spring/summer time!!!!!!!!! Not winter!!!!
I thought of this poem, it about sums up how I've been feeling! :)

Hope you like it!!

It's Time for Spring
Bobbi Katz

My snow pants are too small.
Last week I lost a mitten.
I can't find my scarf at all!

My woolen socks have lost their toes.
My boots have lost their tread.
And I have lost the love I had
For words like "skis" and "sled"!

But . . . my fishing rod still fits.
And . . . my baseball bat still hits.
I have a kite that wants to fly.
So . . . winter, call it quits!

PS Ya'll still haven't figured out what all my movie quotes are!! #1 (normal) still needs to be guessed!

Movie Quotes......MADE EASY!!!!

2009-02-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

Okay y'all. Some are easy some are hard. Leave a comment telling me what movie the quote is from.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. When someone guesses correctly, write the name of the movie above the quote.
5. NO Googling, using IMDb search, or other search functions.
6. Tag 5 people.

1,
~ Amy Adams -Why are you staring at me?
--Patrick Dempsey- I don't know. It's just that... it's like you escaped from a Hallmark card or something.
~Amy Adams -Is that a bad thing?

2, Solved **** Lorna Doone****
~Well, the King is well pleased with you. All charges have been dropped. We're still going to hang you of course, but I'll spare the drawing and quartering.
[stunned silence]
That was a joke.

3, Solved ***Top Gun***
Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards -I feel the need, the need for speed!

4, Solved *** Hook***
What's a paramecium brain?
I'll tell you what a paramecium is! That's the paramecium! It's a one-celled critter with no brain, that can't fly! Don't mess with me man, I'm a lawyer!

5, Solved *** Narnia 1***
But that's a girl's coat!
[nods] I know

6, Solved *** Narnia 2***
I wish you would all stop trying to sound like grown-ups! I didn't think I saw him, I did see him.
I... *am* a grown-up

7, Solved *** The Patriot***
Their names and ranks?
They refuse to give me their names, but the ranks are nine lieutenants, five captains, three majors, and one very fat colonel who called me a... "cheeky fellow."

8, Solved ***Ever After***
Drew Barrymore: Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not see you.
Dougray Scott: Your aim would suggest otherwise.

9, Solved *** The Santa Clause***
Whoa, Dad! You're flying!
It's okay, I'm used to it. I lived through the '60s

10, Solved ***Ever After***
Yes, I shall go down in history as the man who opened a door!

11, Solved *** Pirates 1***
I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Means "no".

12, Solved *** Finding Nemo***
No eating here tonight, no eating here tonight, you're on a diet, diet.

13, Solved *** The Scarlet Pimpernel***
Marriage ain't a word, it's a sentence.

14, Solved *** Phantom of the Opera***
Signora, these things do happen.

Minnie Driver - For the past three years, these things do happen! And did you stop them from happening? No! And you two - you're as bad as him! "These things do happen!" Ma... until you stop these things from happening, this thing does not happen! Ubaldo! Andiamo! Bring my doggy and my boxy! Bye-bye and ciao! Now you see. Bye-bye, I'm really leaving!

15, Solved *** Cars***
Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beamer.

BONUS QUOTES!!!!!

If anyone can guess all of these at the same time, they will get bragging rights!!!

#1
Person 1: Don't you like girls?
Person 2: We ain't never hardly ever seen one.

#2
Person 1: It's one thing to out-think a man, quite another to outsmart him.
Person 2: And who will say which is which?

#3
You've seen a general inspecting troops before haven't you? Just walk slow, act dumb and look stupid!

#4
Person 1: They did a pretty good job.
Person 2: Who did?
Person 1: The aliens, in the mothership. You look just like him.

#5
Person 1: Kids today are amazing. I played winter ball down in Venezuala, they had kids half his age, every one of them speaking Spanish. That's a hard language.
Person 2: They speak Spanish in Venezuala.
Person 1: I know! That's my point!

Have fun!

I tag
Sarah http://sarahlp.blogspot.com/
Graydon http://glhighlights.blogspot.com/
David } http://jonathananddavid.blogspot.com/
Jonathen }
Jonny http://jonnysmeltingpot.blogspot.com/

100th post!

2009-01-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

I wish my 100th post was better news but it's not.

I'm sure most of you have heard about my Pastor ( Bryan Pollock) he has had cancer twice already and it's back again, this time it's stage 4 the Dr's say it's incurable. But the good news is it's still manageable, basically it's will be kinda like my Dad with dialysis, every week for the rest of his life he will get a transfusion.

They have decided to start a blog so that everyone can know what's happening, I encourage you to check it out http://bryanpollock.blogspot.com/

Please pray for the Pollock family and our church and we explore what the Lord has planned for us!

Fun with the Bittners

2009-01-21T08:19:00.001-08:00

*note*
I will give a full update what I get back home

We had an awesome time hanging out with the Bittners. Between walks, D.C., Chick-fil-a(Oreo shakes are the BEST, bowling, taking tons pictures, tennis (I stink, but Stephen and I still beat Josh and Sil), freezing (nearly) to death, touring the Army Ordinance museum (or whatever it's called)..... we stayed up late talking (we went to sleep pretty early some nights :D ) and Sil and I decided we charge for awesomeness :D. We had a really great time! Can't wait till we see them again!

Pictures

She didn't think I could see her...... boy was she wrong! (love you Sil!! :D )

It was Red day...... (red for republican)

My funny thing of the day! :)

2009-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

We are at my Uncle Rick and Aunt Amy's house.

Earlier today Dad was doing dialysis and playing a hunting game on their Wii (gaming system) in their sun room when Aunt Amy comes in and says "you guys are in BIG trouble" we are like what? What did we do? she says "there is an ambulance outside wondering if you called 911 and what the emergency is!" The phone way stuck in the couch cushions and called 911, they tried to call us back but the phone way off the hook! The funniest part though is... when we think the phone called Dad was being attacked by a bear on the hunting game, so we are all YELLING... "Daddy shoot him!!" "You've got to shoot him in the head!!" "He's going to kill you!!!!" I can only Imogene what the 911 person heard!!!! We about DIED laughing!!! :)

Have fun in the flood all you Washington people, we have a boat in our yard if you want to use it!!! :D

I made it!

2009-01-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

We are officially in CT! WE arrived at my Uncle Rick and Aunt Amy's house this morning at 5:30 eastern time (3:30 Washington time) We were really tired (no DUH!!) so we fell right into bed and I didn't get up till 11:30 (eastern). More later I just wanted to let y'all know that we arrived safely!

Pilgrim Bible Spice Girls

2009-01-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

Be good sports ya'll!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's 2009!!!!

2009-01-01T08:50:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year ya'll! Between cleaning, cooking and Christmas I haven't had time to post, I'll try to post in a couple days before I leave for Connecticut!

Enjoy living in 2009!!!

Pilgrim Bible Backstreet Boys

2008-12-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is ridiculous!!!!!!

2008-12-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

Josh went out and measured the snow this morning, there are officially 7 inches of snow on our deck and probably more on the grass where we haven't been walking and stomping the snow down!

Sledding has been really fun! Our hill it pretty good if you sled on the steeper parts but if you know Josh and Dad you know that they were looking for MORE! so they drove around (4 wheel drive of course!) looking for a bigger and better sledding hill! They found one a minute away so we tidied up the house and jumped in to the suburban and headed for the hill. We weren't the first people there people had been sledding all morning so the hill was nicely compacted and slick! I wasn't really dressed for sledding mostly for taking pictures but I couldn't let Hopie show me up so a went down a couple times it was really fun! I haven't really been sledding since we lived on 56th street 6 years ago! They were quite a few high-schoolers "cool dudes" (punks) who had taken the wheels off their skateboards so they could use them a snowboards, I don't think any of them made it farther then 4 feet without falling on their behinds, it was all I could do not the laugh in their faces! :D My battery died after a took 12 pictures grrr! : (

I'm posting some of my artsy-er pictures on my photoblog http://melissaphotoblog.blogspot.com/

A Chinese Lesson.....

2008-12-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

English - See me A.S.A.P.
Chinese - Kum Hia Nao

English -Stupid Man
Chinese - Dum Gai

English -Small Horse
Chinese - Tai Ni Po Ni

English - Did you go to the beach?
Chinese - Wai Yu So Tan?

English - I bumped into a coffee table.
Chinese - Ai Bang Mai Ni

English - I think you need a facelift.
Chinese - Chin Tu Fat

English - It's very dark in here.
Chinese - Wai So Dim?

English - Has your flight been delayed?
Chinese - Hao Long Wei Ting?

English - That was an unauthorized execution.
Chinese - Lin Ching

English - I thought you were on a diet.
Chinese - Wai Yu Mun Ching?

English - This is a tow away zone.
Chinese - No Pah King

English - Do you know the Macarena lyrics?
Chinese - Wai Yu Sing Dum Song?

English - You are not very bright.
Chinese - Yu So Dum

English I got this for free.
Chinese - Ai No Pei

English - Are you harboring a fugitive?
Chinese - Hu Yu Hai Ding?

English - I am not guilty.
Chinese - Wai Hang Mi?

English -Please, stay a while longer.
Chinese - Wai Go Nao?

English - Our meeting is next week.
Chinese - Wai Yu Kum Nao?

English - They have arrived.
Chinese - Hia Dei Kum

The Zoo and everything else!

2008-12-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Okay I now have a few minute to write and post pictures.

Last weekend the Radabaughs (sp?) were over in this part of Washington and wanted to go to the zoo so they stayed Sunday night with us and then we went to the zoo on Monday. The zoo has really changed since the last time I was there! They had remodeld most of it and I think added a few different types of animals, it was really neat! We had a great time, it was really cold but worth it! a few pictures.....I'm to lazy/not enough time so I put them into a slideshow

Then Thanksgiving!
I already made a post about Thanksgiving so read that and them you can look at my pictures!

Saturday was Fort Nisqually's Christmas reenactment it was really fun I didn't get many pictures worth posting so maybe I'll upload them later..
This Saturday is Fort Steilacoom's Christmas event Josh and I are both going to reenact and hopefully the girls will have enough time to do the photo-shoot we are planing! I'll post pictures if I get any!

What I've been up to.....

2008-12-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

This is (part of) the reason I haven't posted lately. A real update it coming but for now be happy with this!

Happy Thanksgiving !

2008-11-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

I found some cool facts about Thanksgiving that I thought you might like!

Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.

In a survey conducted by the National Turkey Federation, nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The average weight of turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds, which means some 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the U.S. during Thanksgiving in 2007.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.

Here's one of those funny Thanksgiving facts: Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.

Don't Forget the give thanks to God for all the things in your life, good and bad!

Things I'm thankful for today,
(not in any particular order!)

Family
Good food.... especially dessert!
A clean house
Life
Jesus Christ
(this one is kinda broad but it covers everything!)
Everything I have

Enjoy your dinners!! Pace yourselves! :)

I'll post some pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner soon!

The New Name!

2008-11-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

Okay so I picked The Ramblings of an All-American Girl with the description My Crazy Tragic Sometimes Almost Magic, Awful, Beautiful, Life Let me know what you think of the new name/description by voting on the poll over there ---->

New Look, New Name

2008-11-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll I'm getting tired of "Life by me" it's boring and isn't really ME! So I'm going to change it! I'm also thinking of a new name for my photo blog.

Here are a couple ideas I have had, which one do you like?

Through The/My Camera Lens - It's kinda the Alice in Wonderland thing (for my photo blog)

My Crazy Tragic Sometimes Almost Magic, Awful, Beautiful, Life

My Little Bity World (can you guess what song is playing while I type this? ;) )

Little Bit of My Life

The Ramblings of an All-American Girl

I'm getting writers block and I know some of these are kinda weird so if you have an idea let me know!!

Piano Man........ This is sooooo funny!!!

2008-11-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

1.Put your iPod/Playlist/CD Player on random shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag/Link 5 (or so) friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Unusually Unusual (Lonestar)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Someone you love (Phil Vassar) *LOL!*

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Huckleberry (Toby Keith) *scary… the song is a love song…*

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
President Garfield’s Hornpipe/ Fisher’s Hornpipe/ The Scholar (The McKassons) ( I guess I’m going to be a dancer and really smart!!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Can’t Keep a Good Man Down (Alabama) *dies laughing!!!*

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Fireworks (Alabama) (Well I am dramatic)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
These are my People (Rodney Adkins)

WHAT IS 2+2?
The Thunder Rolls (Garth Brooks)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
It’s all good (Toby Keith)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

The Dance (Garth Brooks) ….. what person ?!?! :P

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Athens Grease (Phil Vassar) *HAHAHA*

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Gonna Have a Party (Alabama) *dies laughing again!!!*

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Red River (Alabama… again!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Black Eyes, Blue Tears (Shania Twain) ROTFL!!!!!

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (Alabama) *Sounds good to me!*

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Chicks Dig it (Chris Cagle) *Rolls eyes LOL*

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
You’re still the one (Shania Twain) *wait a minute that’s a love song…..creepy!!*

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Baby, You’re right (Phil Vassar)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Love in the first degree (Alabama)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
If Tomorrow Never Comes (Garth Brooks)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
That Don’t Impress me Much (Shania Twain) LOL!!!

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
I’m Holdin’ on To Love To Save My Life (Shania Twain)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Passenger Seat (SHEDaisy)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
American Child (Phil Vassar) (It’s because I’m sooo patriotic! :D)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Sometimes (Firehose) *cracks up!*

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
I Just Drove By (Kimmie Rhodes and Willie Nelson) (It might scare other people!)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Papa Loved Mama (Garth Brooks)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Love Get’s me Everytime (Shania Twain) (okay…….)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Longneck Bottle (Garth Brooks) (oh my gosh!!! LOL)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Piano Man (Billy Joel) (one further would be Rock this Country by Shaina Twain! :D :P )

I tag
Sarah
David
Jonathen
Graydon
Jonny

Mom's newest thing

2008-11-11T14:36:00.001-08:00

My Mom is a couponing NERD now!! A couple weeks ago she saw a news story about couponing and she decided to HAD to try it! *rolls eyes* I was skeptical at first but now that I look at what we got for what we paid HO-LY COW!! Here is an E-mail that my Mom sent explaining her haul!

Here is the run down of my latest kick...couponing. Just learning the ropes but still finding some good deals. Here is the final tally for yesterday.Three trips to Albertson's, two check out orders each time. Total for all items at regular prices = $388.05 Total for all items at sale prices = $229.15 Actual price paid = $86.51 and still have $15 in credit for next purchase. So,only out $71.51. I actually bought some items for which I didn't have any coupon i.e. ice cream and salad dressing and one impulse buy of a bakery pecan pie on the day old rack. The checker I got was new to the check stand but he was laughing out loud by the time I was done with the coupons and register credits especially when the printer started printing out 3 more$5.00 off next purchase certificates when I had only paid $9 for the order!He had more fun with it than did, I think! Then I left Albertson's and headed to Rite Aid where I paid $4.00 for a prescription and left with a $30.00gift card in my pocket! Really, I don't understand why people feel the need to shoplift!? Well, I need to go get in the shower and get dressed. Jerry wants to go rip off Target next for some Dunkin Donuts coffee and other stuff. At least we are equal opportunity thieves!! Hope you all have a good day!

Brenda

Here is a picture of what we got the first Albertson's trip.....

now picture that tripled! All for only $71.51.... WOW!!

You know the saying "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry" Dad modified it to fit Mom's couponing kick! He says "Give a woman some food and she'll feed her family for a day, teach a woman to coupon and her family will eat junk food for the rest of their lives!"

~Melissa

PS I added 4-5 more songs to my play-list... I'm still working on it so hold on!

Song List

2008-11-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

I've added a couple songs into my play-list so please vote and tell me what you think!

poll is over there --->

We need to pray!!

2008-11-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th President of the United States.... I NEVER wanted to write those words but really deep down I think I knew I would someday. I'm not afraid, I know that God made this happen, I know that He wanted it to happen and He will always be there.

Needless to say our Country needs some serious prayer! Please pray for our leaders new and old, Republican and Democrat! One thing I am glad about, that the election is finally OVER!! I was getting soooo tired of all the attack adds!!!

Sense & Sensibility E-Patterns!

2008-11-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited because one of my favorite pattern companies now have E-patterns! They are cheaper then the normal ones because Mrs. Chancey doesn't have to spend the extra money on paper and printing (that means you can spend more money on the fabric! ☺) also no shipping, you get them right away! Click HERE for more information! Now to decide which one to get first...... ☺
~Melissa

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

2008-10-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is an age old question, almost as old as the chicken itself! Everybody knows the answer is "to get to the other side"..... maybe these people didn't get that memo!

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Things I'm thankful for....

2008-10-22T13:37:00.001-07:00

Instructions~
Post 10 of the things your are thankful for today
Tag 5 people (link to them)
Leave a comment on their Blog telling them you've tagged them

1, God
2, Family
3, Friends
4, Country music
5, Canon Rebel XTi
6, Food
7, Sunny Day
8, My Computer
9, Cars
10, Library

I tag

Sarah
Nona
Elisabeth
Jonathan
David

Tag I'm it!

2008-10-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Lissa first, but since then numerous other people have tagged me!

Link to the person who tagged you, list the rules, write six random things about yourself, tag six or so people by leaving comments on their blogs and let the person who tagged you know that you've written the post

Okay,

#1 I was supposed to be born April fools day..... I was born 4 days later... shows how obedient I am! :)

#2 I HATE Needles!! (not sewing needles!)

#3 I'm left-handed but right-footed

#4 I saw the Opera house in France where Phantom of the Opera was filmed

#5 I'm going to CT for my Great Grandma's 90th Birthday and while I'm there I'm going to see the Bittners and WA D.C.

#6 I only drink flavored coffee

I tag

Tiffany
Jonathan
Kate
Leanne
Stephen
Evangeline

The horribly huge update!

2008-10-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

I feel soo horrid for not updating! BUT unless you live near me and see my often you have no clue about what I'm doing! So, this is my official picture FULL update! Lets see that last thing I wrote about was the Puyallup Fair... WOW LOOOONNNNGGGG time ago... sorry!

First a few Fair pictures

A couple days after we went to the Fair Mom started to clean out the first garage bay so that I could possibly move my sewing stuff and bed down there! (Thank you Mommy!) It's coming along pretty well, there was a TON of junk in there so it's taken a while.

Then Mr. Young had a birthday party it was a surprise so we all went out to the Bradrick farm after church to surprise him and enjoy volleyball, fellowship, a taco salad buffet and of course the birthday cake! It was all really good!

We have also been helping the Pollocks redo there bathroom... well the guys have I have been spending tons of time talking with Sarah! :)

Then Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit they went to a wedding and we went to Yakima for nearly a ton (I'm not exaggerating!!) of fruit, we got peaches, pears, apples, and nectarines. We brought a lot of fruit home for friends but we still had lots of fruit!! So then for the next week we canned! I think the grand total of canned fruit was 90 quarts of pears , 60 quarts each of peaches, and fruit cocktail, and some sliced apples, lots of jam and we've just stared applesauce this week.

What happened after canning?????

Oh yeah Hope had her 6th Birthday party, that was fun! We had a bunch of her friends over for a costume party (yes even I dressed up!). We played a couple games did a couple crafts, ate birthday cake, ice cream and opened gifts!

Then the Young's had their annual Harvest party it was fun! We ate lots of food, got a pony ride, talked, shot Josh's potato cannon, sang a few songs and most importantly DANCED!! It was really fun we had tons of people for the dances so our lines were SUPER long! The Fort people taught everyone La Bastringue(Thanks Jonathan!) it took awhile for everyone to get it but I think they all loved it... we will have to do it a the Christmas party that someone has to throw...... *hint hint*!!

On the Tuesday after the harvest party, Grandma was going back to CT so we took her on a boat ride that Monday. It was a really nice day on the Puget Sound, I took some really neat shots!

Then I was frantically sewing for Candlelight! I made myself some undergarments and redid my wool dress and made Esther a dress that turned out really nice and fit her!! (except for the sleeves... that are a tiny bit to short!) I don't have any pictures, so you will have to wait until Taylor or Sarah sends me some pictures *hint hint* I do have a couple pictures of the Fort and our new beaver!

Sam wanted a better picture!

I think that's all..... Oh wait on Monday the Holstons came over to can apple sauce we had a great time! Eating pizza, listing Sarah's lovely ; ) dress on Ebay, taking pictures of Josh... and just chatting, it was fun!

There THAT IS all!

My friend test

2008-10-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Answers!

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN MY TEST YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's my favorite Color?
Some of you got this right it is Chrome..... but I'm thinking about changing it so you better pay attention!!

What's my favorite thing to do?
Most of you know me well enough to know that I LOVE to reenact! Except for David and Graydon....... you both think I like to sew most... WRONG! : )

What's my birthday?
Yes it is April 5th 1992

Favorite TV show?
This was kinda a tricky question seeing as most of you don't watch TV! Also I thought of other answers after I posted my quiz! My real favorite (I think) is Chuck but I put CSI for the quiz

What is my Dad's middle name?
Everyone except Graydon got this my Dad has no given middle name... COME ON Graydon!

What's my favorite sport?
Again a little tricky, I love to swim but my favorite sport is Volleyball!

What's my favorite season?
I don't think anyone really KNEW this question, they guessed. I don't think I've ever talked about it!

What's my favorite book?
My favorite book is Candle in the Darkness, it's a really sweet adventours story during the Civil war (yankee)

What's my favorite Holiday?
I like 4th of July and Christmas almost the same but Christmas wins! I like buying presents!!

What's my favorite camera?
This was a pretty easy one! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Canon Rebel XTi!! Everyone except Sarah H. got this one right

Good job ya'll! I think I'll have to make up a harder test! With questions about what I want to major in, or what gun I like to shoot etc. stay tuned !!

2008-10-04T13:32:00.001-07:00

Josh said to post HIS friend test so here it is

Create your own Friend Test here

Sarah Palin is not unbiblical in running for VP!

2008-10-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, before I start I want you to know that I don't think that Mrs. Palin as VP is the most ideal scenario. Not that I'd rather a man, (there are many times that a woman is a better leader then a man, it just depends on the people.) but with her kids she is going to have to work double hard, but I think that she can do it! I'm not going to name any names in this post, if you feel I'm talking about you and you are offended I want you to know I'm not trying to offend anyone but I am telling my opinion and what the Lord had convicted me of! If your convictions are different, good for you! But you better have sound biblical basis before you try to correct me! (more then 3 verses would be preferred)

Now some people are saying that Sarah Palin is unbiblical in running for VP. I don't think she is! When certain people are arguing that it's unbiblical they often reference this verse

Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

This verse is not telling us not to elect woman it's telling that it's judgement and frankly (to quote my Mom) "We (America) need judgement!" I completely agree! Anybody we get would be a judgement, but you know what, it is ALWAYS better then what we deserve!! We as Americans and Christians need to learn to be thankful for what we get!( a little random but it's been on my mind lately)Why do some people think that America is the chosen land of God? So we have to have Christian leaders and obey the law God gave to of Israel and the Church? Don't get me wrong, the laws God gave to the church Christians should follow but America should not be subject to the laws of the church. The "if it's good enough for the Church it's good enough for America" saying drives me NUTS! It's not a question if it's good enough, it's a question of if God told countries to do it.I've got news for you, America is NOT the chosen land! We are certainly blessed to live here. But America is not the chosen land! Just because we have freedom to do almost anything and our country was founded on Christian beliefs does not make it the chosen country.

Also there are verses such as

Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

What does the phrase "keepers at home" mean? Does it mean a woman should not work anywhere? Can she work and keep her home? I think she can! My own Mom is a testimony of that! You could argue that she works with my Dad and all us kids so she it still "keeping her home", but often she, Dad and Josh will go to work and leave me with the younger kids. I don't think that is qualifying as a "keeper at home".

Also there is the Proverbs 31 woman who pretty much everyone want to be like. She considereth a field, and buyeth it; With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. (Proverbs 31:16) How is that keeping her home? That seems like a business move to me! Also when "she sells here wares at the gate" that also seems like a business out side of her home!Does that mean a working mother is not (or can not be) a good mother because she works?

Short Answer, No!

If she can find a way to balance her time wisely she can still take care of her children well.I'm not saying mothers go get a career, try for CEO of a major company! I'm just saying it's not a sin to be a working mother and she can still do a good job!
I would ask you to note that Mrs Palin has a crib in her Governors office and routinely takes her kids to work with her.

If you will note the middle to end of the verse,

(Titus 2:5) "obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

If a husband tells his wife to do something she should do it so long and it's not sinning, right?
What if the wife asks her husband if she can do something (like run for VP) and he says it's okay? Then she is still under his authority. Todd Palin has publicly endorsed his wife and publicly supported her in running for VP, she is being obedient to her husband, so she is not unbiblical or sinning in the sense either.

If you don't agree with me I would love to hear your comments!

Also I wanted to add this thought about feminism/voting. Many girls condemn the suffragettes as feminists, but those same girls can not wait to vote, LOVE that they have the right to vote and LOVE that they can make a difference politically.

Thoughts?

I'm alive!!!!

2008-09-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

We have done soooo many things this past week I haven't had time to post!! We've gone to Yakima to get fruit, canned peaches, planed a birthday party and had fun with Grandma....etc. I have tons of pictures but I can't find my USB cable so I can't post them!! *pout!!!* I'll update as soon as I find my cable!

Melissa

The Quiz!!

2008-09-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

If you read this and have a blog consider yourself tagged!! (meaning you fill it out and post it) I can tell if you read this too!

The Quiz

Movie:

Movie Character:

Book:

Book Character:

Jane Austen Novel:

Jane Austen Movie/Mini Series:

Jane Austen Character:

Poet:

Poem:

Type of Music:

Song:

Quote:

Costume that you own:

School Subject:

Book of the Bible:

Bible Character:

Bible Verse:

Historical Time Period:

Website:

Hobbies:

Animal:

The Quiz

Movie: Lorna Doone..... that's just the first "favorite" that came to mind!

Movie Character: Danielle (Ever After) (also the first "favorite")

Book: Candle in the Darkness By Lynn Austen

Book Character: Caroline Fletcher (the heroine of the above book)

Jane Austen Novel: P&P

Jane Austen Movie/Mini Series: P&P, A&E version

Jane Austen Character: Lizzie

Poet: Robert Burns

Poem: Ode to the Haggis By Robert Burns

Type of Music: Country!!

Song: Right now I think my favorite is Waitin' on a Woman by Brad Paisley... it's sooo cute!!

Quote: History should be an experience not a textbook summery. Elizabeth Stuart Clark

Costume that you own: My blue and purple plaid 1850s party dress

School Subject: Science

Book of the Bible: I don't think I could pick ONE ! I like Psalms

Bible Character: How could I possible pick ONE!?!

Bible Verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Historical Time Period: 1850s, Bustle..... I like the 1940-1950 too.

Website: I like all my friends blogs!

Hobbies: Sewing, Politics, and photography

Animal: Dogs

The Puyallup Fair

2008-09-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

The Puyallup fair was great fun! We went early to see the parade and get in free (yes I know, we are cheep! :) ) After we got in and got our milk we went into the "Northwest living" building and Josh was found by....... the......... ROWLANDS !! It was really fun to spend the day with them! We went to the Republican booth and plastered ourselves with McCain stickers (we were really bummed that they didn't have McCain/Palin or Dino Rossi stickers yet :*( ) went through the Hobby Hall and saw a few other things. They had to leave semi-early to see their Dad who had just flown in from TX (?) We were getting tired anyway to we said good-bye to them and then took Hope to ride the Carousel. While we were waiting for her ride to be done Josh found Mr. Pollock sitting outside the building we had just come out of! We talked with him until the rest of the family showed up! We talked with them for a while and then convinced them to come out to dinner with us! It was great fun, we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and hung out till really late! I can't wait till next year!! We missed eating scones and getting fudge with the Bittners though! (Priscilla and Jacqueline, we didn't get as big fudge samples this year ; ) lol! )Pictures are still on my camera so I'll upload them later

sorry!

2008-09-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been babysitting almost everyday this week! I've also been busy doing other things! A politics post is coming soon but first will be a Puyallup Fair post.

Later,
Melissa

Family Camp 2008

2008-09-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

This past long weekend was Pilgrim Bible Church Family Camp of 2008! It was soooo much fun!! I took about 450 pictures :O We all agreed that we were missing the Bittners though! We played Volleyball almost constantly! We also played kickball, Psychiatrist, One up One down, Down to the basement and back, Pinnacle (sp?), Hearts and lots of other stuff! The morning and evening devotionals were great, very interesting and very inspiring! Thanks Mr. Pollock, Mr. Mckinley and Mr. Douglass! The talent show was lots of fun! This year Sam put together a skit about a guy named Jerry (Jonny) trapped in a box (the box being sin) with numeric character coming to "help" him! I was the "freaky New-Age Hippie Chick" Sarah was the minister (not a very good minister!) Matt was a firebug/gothish, Graydon was a Cult Leader, Josh Ng was another person trapped in a box, David was Terry, Jerry's "friend", Casey was Mr. Hunter the devil basically (funny, he was the bad guy last year too! :) ) Jonathan was Arther the Christian who ultimately help Jerry escape, Esther was another Christian who also helped Jerry escape. It was tons of fun to do and I think the only one stressed was Sam! :D The cook off was great fun too! I came in 1st place for the side-dish 14 and up category! Okay Is that enough writing? Oh yes the Rowlands also brought their espresso machine THANK YOU Rowlands!!!!! It sure helped some parents wake-up and by cheerful some mornings ! :)

Okay pictures!!

I've posted some more arts-y pictures on my photo blog http://melissaphotoblog.blogspot.com/

YouTube Monday

2008-09-03T12:29:00.001-07:00

This week I have a very good excuse for being late! We were camping and yesterday we were recovering!! : ) This week I decided to post a 2 part video!

5 Minute Musicals, The Sound of Music

Part 1

Part 2

I went into the laundry room today.....

2008-08-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

.... and found..... this!

Ain't she cute!!!

It's Monday again!!

2008-08-25T14:55:00.001-07:00

This week I couldn't decided which video to post so I'll post two!!

FFFFFBBBBBIIIII~ Daniel Gardner

Hats in a Mirror~ Daniel Gardner

I'm feeling crafty... at least I was...

2008-08-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I felt the need to sew something! I don't have anything ready to be sewn for Fort Nisqually or anything period but I did have fabric and a pattern for a purse! So that's what I did I sewed a purse! It turned out really cute and I like it! I have fabric for 3 more purses.. I think they will have to wait for another day! ; D I used Simplicity pattern # 5151 here are some pictures

Youtube Monday.... late

2008-08-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd posted yesterday... guess not!
Some of you have already seen this but enjoy anyway!

Bush vs Zombies

Brigade 2008

2008-08-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

What can I say about Brigade...... The day started out nice enough, but then, It RAINED almost the entire time! I'm not talking about sprinkles and a shower it was a downpour! Huge drops almost as big as a quarter sometimes! We all had fun dancing, listening to music, watching Punch and Judy and just hanging out together despite the rain! :) I did take some pictures, but I lost my lens cap, good thing I have another one! I'm sure it looked funny me in summer fort dress taking pictures with my big Canon! ;P Okay on to the Pictures!

Driving......(the car)

2008-08-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this forever!

This is me driving. :D (YAY!)

This is Josh while I'm driving. :P

A Brigade post is in the works so stay tuned!

Youtube...ummm, tuesday....

2008-08-12T17:11:00.001-07:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, Mom declared and TV, Computer, and Radio (talk about harsh!!!) free day. I didn't forget and I was thinking about a good video all day! Hopfully ya'll like this video, it's one of the first youtube videos I ever watched.... I think.

Pat Hetic
By Daniel Gardner

John C Stennis~ Aircraft Carrier

2008-08-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Dad, Josh, Daniel and I went with a group of people from our church to tour the Stennis, Captained by Capt. Bradley Johanson. We learned some really cool stuff and had tons of fun seeing everything and climbing lots of ladders ! :) I took a bunch of pictures too!
It was huge !!!

Dimensions
Length of flight deck: 1,092 ft
Width of flight deck: 257 ft
Height keel to mast: 244 ft (equal to 24-story building)
Area of flight deck: 4.5 acres
Weight of Carrier: 97,000 tons

One of the things we learned was that kids 18-19 were normally the ones to drive the carrier!

Here are a few pictures and comments

Our Group on the flight deck

In the bridge

Each Capt. when they left carved their names in this desk

it's an sailor, quick take pictures !!!!

The flight deck

In this bell are all the names of the people baptized on the Stennis

One of the flags flown over ground zero Sept 11

On another note GO SEAHAWKS !!!! Today was the very first Seahawk game of the year. It was a pre-season game and we won!!!!! Woo-hoo!

Also Go team America!! The Olympics started today! The opening thing was amazing!! It'll be on youtube soon if it's not there already, so if you missed it I would look it up!

Youtube Monday

2008-08-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I need something that I do every week so that at least I post SOMETHING on my blog! So I'm doing a youtube Monday thing. Let me know if you think this is a dumb idea or not

Today video is Mr Bass man Done by the Muppets :)

WOW!!!!

2008-07-27T15:53:00.001-07:00

That seems to be a fitting title! I have been going since Monday the 14! Monday we went shooting with the Alens and the Pollocks. It was SOOO fun! If you ever get the chance to shoot a M16 TAKE IT !! I had a blast...... no pun intended! : ) I shot everything from a small pistol to a 30 aught 6 it was really cool! I took tons of pictures but I only show you a few of my favorites! ;) After shooting We went back yo the Alens for a surprise birthday party for Mr Alen who turned the ripe old age of.... I forget...... lol

Tuesday Wednesday and Friday of the same week I helped with Fort Nisqually's Jr. High summer camp. It was fun! We had some pretty...... interesting characters this year. But all in all I had fun! But I missed the dancing and sleep over because I had to work on Thursday. *minor pout*
No pictures I didn't feel very safe bringing my camera to the Fort with people constantly going in and out of the Clerks house!

Then Saturday (still the same week) Dad woke us up early and took us to the Mcchord air show, it was AMAZING!! I love to noise and adrenaline rush/sobering thoughts that you get when people talk about WHY this country is free. One of the speech thingys was about why we are free "We have the freedom of speech not because of the first amendment but because we have troops who are willing to fight and die for the right. We do not have freedom because of a piece of paper but because of our troops who are willing to lay down their lives for this country" Can I get an AMEN ?!?!? While at the show we met my Aunt and Uncle and had a great time spending the day with them! Again here are a few of my favorite pictures

If you look close you can see the pilots waving at the crowd!

The lady who is flying this plane is 50 years old!!!! What Mcchord Air show would be complete without the Rocket Car!!!!!

The Heritage flight! It was pretty cool!

They also did a reenactment of Pearl Harbor, it was WAY cool, planes flying everywhere bombs going off, plus the guy who did the narration made you feel like you were there he was a fantastic narrator!!

Then they ended with a McChord tradition, the Thunderbirds!!!! I only got 4 pictures of them and then my battery died!!! Major UGGG!!!!

Sunday was Church and that afternoon we left to go camping at Gifford Pinochet with the Young's we all had tons of fun and there were no deaths or ER visits! Thank God!! Nathen, Hope and I almost fell off Burly Mountain though.. Nathan and Hope didn't fall off their bikes they just nearly drove off the mountain itself !! I did fall off my bike though... I'm fine just in case you were worried! : ) We biked down Burly mountain twice and one day we went up to lake Takhlakh (pranced Talk-a-la, I think.) and the other day we went up the Iron Creek it has the most beautiful waterfall! I took tons of pictures!! Cassie and I had tons of fun just shooting and being sooo thankful we have memory cards and not film!!! Here are some of my favorites
(I posted some of my more artsy shots and my photo blog http://melissaphotoblog.blogspot.com/ )

What a little helper!!
"He shall be mine and I will call him squishy" "Okay Hopie you row I'll fish"

Okay I think that's the end... I havn't done anything else.....I think. If you read everything and looked at all the pictures Thank you !!

~Melissa

Pick the Pic

2008-07-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Okay ya'll now you get to pick my profile picture. The picture with the most votes win... and everyone who reads this please vote!! :)

#2

#3

#5

#6

Don't be shy vote!! You can even vote anonymously!!

God Bless America!

2008-07-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Those words always make me think and thank God that I can live in the most wonderful country in the world. In this country I have the freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances. I am sooo thankful for the men and woman of our armed forces who fight every day, every hour for me to be able to do the things I do every day! Without them my life as I know it would be impossible!

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream: 'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand, Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation; Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Imagine standing on a battlefield with bombs going off and you fighting for freedom to govern yourself and not be governed by a king. Just think about that.
Okay enough cheesiness!

For the 4th we went over to the Young's house for a little get together it was fun ! We had Hamburgers and Hot dogs for dinner after dinner some of us girls sang wile Rachel played the pianolit of some sparklers and then Fireworks, and some girls..... I don't know who........ :P went for a Gator ride!

Here are some pictures

Okay Sarah you can post now.... :P

My sister the politician....

2008-07-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

Remind you of anyone?

☺☺☺☺☺

Bubble baths

2008-06-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

"Bubble Bath"

I emptied my bubble bath into the tub,Determined to get myself thoroughly scrubbed.The bottle had said "ONLY ONE CAP OR TWO",So I poured in the lot to see what it would do!

That still didn't seem quite enough to get clean,So I followed it up with another fifteen.Then three bars of soap and a dozen shampoo,And two broken bath bombs to finish my brew!

I'll cut to the chase, this did not turn out well,As the burbling, foaming bath bubbles did swell!It wasn't all bad, I was clean and smelt sweet,But outside my soap suds had buried the street!

Gareth Lancaster

I think that the bubble is one of God's funnest creations !! They are fun to blow and pop and even funner to combine with water and good smelling stuff and soak in it to you hearts content ! But I don't think the soaking quietly was the intent of theses little girls !!

Our Garden

2008-06-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I have really slacked off posting on my blog. Sorry!!

I feel the need to post something, but nothing exciting EVER happens!! So I shall post about our garden! Our garden is HUGE !!! Dad says that it's about 1/5 of a acre! I know it doesnt sound to big but it is ! To put that measurement in perspective it's 5000 (yup that's five thousand) square feet!! Here is a picture

It's not all the way grown in right now but it should be looking greener and fuller soon. Summer has taken so long to get here that all the crops are not where they should be! Currently we are growing Green beans, Onions, Corn, Potatoes, Green and Snow peas, 5 or 6 different types of squashes, Pumpkins, sugar and giant, Carrots, Beets, and Turnips... oh yeah we are also growing rocks and weeds :P :)

Up nearer the house (about mid way between our house and our garden) we have 8-9 blueberry plants! They don't really do very well there, we get maybe 20 blueberries a season! I think this fall we will be moving them to a wetter location!

*Forest Gump accent* That's all I have to say about that.... :)

If you have any idea's for me to post on let me know !!!

Friends !

2008-06-13T08:28:00.000-07:00