Pics of Philadelphia

I know, I know. We've been home for more than a week and the pictures aren't up here, let ALONE up on facebook. So, I'm going to post a few up here to give myself some excuse on the others. ;) Enjoy!

The M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I 

We had dinner at Cheddars which was fun 'cause 

we haven't been to one in quite awhile. 

Just one angle of the truly immense battlefield. 

The cutest baby in the whole world!!!! 

During our tour of Valley Forge and Washington's

Headquarters, I snapped this picture! :) 

On our last full day there, we drove to Lancaster and

a few other smaller towns around it. It was a lot of fun. 

I did a lot of editing on my book on the drive back. 

No pictures allowed inside, but it was just exquisite! 

I'll get the whole album up on facebook soon!. :)

Sum Fun!!! (8)

An additional chance to see another departing senior came not much later. Kathryn's and my friend Angelique came over for a "Disney Day." We owned a Disney waffle press and lots of Disney movies. So, we were going have breakfast for lunch and watch two movies.
 

Our Disney movies to pick from!

The waffle press

We had quite a few fixings for the waffles. Butter, syrup, chocolate chips, pecans, strawberries, Nutella (the only one not pictured, and whipped cream. Also, there was bacon to sprinkle a little protein into the scrumptious feast.

My waffles, each one a little different and equally delicious!

The movies of choice!

The three of us filed into Grandpa's room (where our TV is) and hunkered down to watch "The One that Started It All." It was quite a lot of fun, chatting some and then submersing ourselves in Disney magic and such tasty waffles. It was truly "sum fun," and we'll definitely have to do it again. :) 

Sum Fun!!! (7)

So, I just realized that the post I just wrote... I had already talked about Fiddler in another of my posts "Dos Plays." So, yeah.

"I feel sheepish."-- Aladdin

Of course, I could have deleted it, but I didn't feel like it. So, you guys just get two different takes on the same day. Haha! Well, don't worry, this post will be truly new.

Awhile back, I was realizing that all my friends who are seniors (of high school ;) would be leaving soon and I wanted to see them again. So, I set up a lunch date. My friend Caitlyn and I met at Chick-fil-A to catch up. We enjoyed scrumptious chicken, delicious potatoes, and quite tasty ketchup. It was so great to meet up with her and just spend time chatting. We were actually there fore several hours and had to keep turning down offers for refreshed beverages from the workers. (I love that they come to your table and offer table service; I think it's so cool!)

Lunch time with friends is always the best. Thanks Caitlyn! Let's do it again soon!

Sum Fun!!! (6)

Well, though I'm behind, I decided I had to write the last three Sum Fun posts. So, here's the first one. The community college 5 minutes from our house (Lonestar: Tomball) puts on a musical every summer. Well, this summer it was Fiddler on the Roof. This would on it's own be something I wanted to go see, because you know I can't resist live performances. But as a bonus, two of my friends were in the show. Also, three of my friends were going to come watch the show with us.
So, when the friends arrived, we had an amazing dinner of Mom's Mongolian beef and then ice cream followed--Bluebell happy tracks. Y-U-M!!! Does anybody *not* want ice cream? Have you ever asked, "So, who wants ice cream?" and someone says, "not me." 'Cause I haven't. My feelings can be simply stated with a movie quote, as seen below. Haha!

"You don't hear nobody say, I don't like no parfaits. Everybody loves parfaits!"--Shrek

Anyway, so after eating, we headed out to the show.

It was a truly wonderful performance! It was pretty believable and I just enjoyed seeing each new scene, so much. Some of that came from not really knowing anything about the story. We have the movie, and Mom loves the plot. Also, Dad will periodically come downstairs doing his own rendition of "If I were a Rich Man," but I didn't really know the story. Haha! Anyway, so I was excited to simply learn the story and the musical numbers were just so good! I had such a great time! Plus, getting to do it with friends and family just lumps bonuses on top of it. :D

Making Puddles

A bit of poetry for the mind. :)

Drip, drip, drop,
Puddles slip and slop

Two feet jump in,
Ripples wildly spin

Drip, drip, drop,
Will it ever stop?

The rain is losing stout.
And now the sun's come out.

Olympic Fanatic!

     As I sit watching Jen Kessy and April Ross smack the volleyball around on the sand, competing against the Argentines, I feel compelled to write a post about the Olympics.
     I love the Olympics. I mean, seriously, there's nothing broadcast on TV that I get more excited for! If I needed to, I could definitely live without cable. But, I feel pretty sure that I would need to check into a hotel or something during the Olympics so I could watch. Maybe I'd just temporarily invite myself over to a friend's house (temporarily for 17 days, that is-haha).
     One of the reasons why I believe the Olympics are so amazing is this. We live in a world of already high but ever increasing political problems. Issues and strife run rampant. Then, every 2 years, though those problems are still present, they are put aside as the best of the best in sports compete. It's basically someone saying "Hey, I love this sport, and I'm really good at it. You like this sport too? Great, let's play and see who's better." That's the Olympics. The world comes together for sports. I don't care if it sounds cheesy or dumb or anything; it's true.
     Sports are great! I think sports are great, anyway. And it's such a fun time, rooting for your team! I mean, most of us don't even know a quarter of the over 500 athletes from America that are competing. Yet, all I do is look for the Stars and Stripes, and I can get off my seat, jumping up and down for someone I've never heard of.
     You say that's not normal? Well, maybe it's not. ;) Haha, in fact, it's probably not, yet that's what the Olympics do to me. I don't care what sport is on; I'll watch it (except basketball--I can't abide basketball). I prefer the Summer to the Winter games. And in Summer, Gymnastics is definitely my favorite. I used to REALLY want to be a gymnast, so my adoration for the sport runs deep. After that, Volleyball comes (a sport I took 2 classes on and really enjoy!). Swimming's probably next with everything else. I mean, all the sports are just so much fun...except basketball. Haha!
     Yes, I do love the Olympics. I know I already said that, but it's worth saying again. It's such a wonderful time of record-setting and history in the making! Watch and enjoy with me! This only happens every 2 years!  :D

Books, books, and more books.

I might have mentioned this in some previous post, but when I was little, I was pretty much against reading. It was for boring people. It was uninteresting and plus, you had to sit STILL while you did it. Any activity that required that was pretty much written off my list. I didn't see how someone wanted to read when they could go outside, lay in the grass, and make imaginary friends to talk to for hours on ends. I mean, come on, what's better than an imaginary friend who says exactly what you want them too. You have no control over book characters.

Well, awhile ago, this reading kick hit me. I realized how few "classics" I'd read, much less knew the story of. Stuart Little is a perfect example. So, I went through our old guestroom/ library/ junk room and pilfered the books I had an interest in reading. They were everything from My Friend Flicka, Christy, War of Worlds, to The Iliad. Yes, I do have a desire to read the Iliad.

After rereading some of those "everybody should read" book lists on facebook, I realized how few I hadn't read. I mean, it really hit me. Well, I decided to expand my little book stack. Adding was The Scarlet Letter, Mansfield Park, and Tale of Two Cities. And, much, much more. I actually made a file on Word of almost 90 books that I want to read.

Well, since then I've knocked off some of those books as well as added on many others. Not all of them are classics. Some are just books I want to read; but the majority are ones that I feel I need to have read in order to label myself an well-rounded author.

On the plane ride to Boston, I finished Ben-Hur. That book was an immense disappointment. Don't know how it ever got to be a classic, but it should be stricken from the records. Seriously, that book had NO back story to the characters thus making the characters flat. The plot seemed simple, stale, and stagnant. I was never once rooting for Judah to prevail, even in the chariot race; he just seemed like a whiner who couldn't handle his problems. In my opinion, the movie (or dramatized audio book) is miles better.

The classic I'm in the middle of at the moment is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Though I'm only still very early, I'm immensely enjoying the story and the writing style. REALLY liking the writing style, actually. Hoping the rest of the book lives up.    

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul--Emily Dickinson." -- A Wrinkle in Time