Picture

I love to paint, so I took a stab at painting my "island view".  The song I was inspired by is "My Redeemer" but I have no idea who it's by, except that it's done by Vineyard Music from the album Sweetly Broken.

The Road Goes Ever On and On...

How would you feel if someone randomly walked up to your door and said, "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure I'm arranging"?

I recently rediscovered my Tookish side.  I love The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and lately I've been longing for a similar adventure to take part in.

My brother and I were talking yesterday about adventures.  We both agreed that we'd love to have a random wizard appear at our door and invite us to attend an arranged adventure.  I'd like to say I wouldn't hesitate to accept the mission, but since I am currently sitting comfortably at a computer screen in the quiet of my home about to eat dinner, I suppose I couldn't say that for sure.  Either way, I definitely would give it some favorable thought.

Confession time: ever since fifth grade I always dreamed of being shipwrecked.  Odd?  I guess so.  Trying to be realistic about it, no one who is ever shipwrecked and rescued ever says "Man, I'm going to miss that place!  It just felt like home!  All those delicious meals of who-knows-what were just my type.  How I'll miss my friends the mosquitoes!  I am going to hate sleeping on a mattress again."  But my unreasonable romantic Tookish side always thought it'd be the coolest thing.

Sometimes on my adventure, I'm with a friend.  Just one very dear friend.  Someone who by the time the adventure is over, would take a bullet for you without a second thought.  Someone you'd share your meals with, the chores, victories, defeats, tears, your deep fears, someone who'd stick with you.

Other times, I'm completely alone.  Lately I've had this picture in my head of  the silhouette of palm trees on my sides as I look out across the water at nightfall.  When it's dark, but there's a still a purple-pink hue of sunset.  All alone.  Just sitting there, thinking.  There's a song that perfectly captures the mood of this.  It's called "My Redeemer".  I don't know, it just gives me that impression.  This is sort of what I'm picturing...but  not quite.

When I was little, I always liked playing "house".  Decorating things, making pretend meals, imagining my pet beside me.  I loved trouble.  Somehow I would always end up in a distressing situation that I had to overcome. I'd be fighting alligators or sharks, being tossed in a storm, getting sick, losing a limb, things like that.

And as I've heard lately, the best part of the adventure is coming home again.

"I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over."


In conclusion, I'd dearly like to go on an adventure.

"Well Little Lady, Let Me Elucidate Here"

I love movies.  Choosing one favorite would be extremely difficult, because there are so many to choose from!  I love Star Wars and Lord of the Rings as epics...but then you have to throw in a few other great ones out there.  I think my favorite action movie is Master and Commander, but then I love The Great Escape.  I don't count any Jane Austen movies as Romance, because they are a whole different category.  That way Roman Holiday can be my favorite.  But one movie that has always been dear to my heart is The Aristocats.

I played the role of Duchess in a play onetime and I grew up with the movie.  I've always liked cats, so it was pretty much a purrfect fit.

Now, if you're reading this, you are probably one of my two followers.  I commend you for reading this far.

 But in case you're just stumbling across this page and you've never seen it, The Aristocats is about a rich elderly woman on the classy side of Paris, who owns a family of Persians, a mother and her three kittens.  Their names are Duchess, Toulouse, Marie, and Berlioz.

Their owner, Madam, loves them dearly and treats them to the best she can offer.  She lives alone with her cats and her butler, Edgar  (I know "Crazy Cat Lady", right?  Well, in the end she ends up adopting "all the Alley Cats of Paris" so it only gets worse ;)

To make a long story short, the cat family is abducted by the butler and taken to the countryside of France, where they meet Thomas O' Malley.

O'Malley would best be described as one "who triffles with unsuspecting women's hearts".  A scoundrel.  Of course, by the end he changes and becomes a family man.  Similar to other "scoundrels" we've known before...

On their way home, Duchess and the kittens meet up with O'Malley's friends, Scatcat and his gang of Alley Cats, who sing the famous "Everybody Wants to Be A Cat".  Always a good one!

Basically Duchess, O'Malley, and the kittens make it home to Madam and Edgar is sent away.  O'Malley becomes a kitty-pet and the gang of Alley Cats is given free reign in the house.  Happy Ending :)

WELCOME TO THE SWAMP

Last weekend I went to my first Gator game.  To be honest, I can argue real well for the gators, but that's just cause  like to argue (and be right, but that's not the point).  In the past, I haven't really cared too much for watching football.  I was just happy to know if we won and that we did well and we were national champions.  But now my goal is to be able to back up my arguments with a little fan fever.

My Dad and I were across from here (on the left).

 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

So, I'm gonna try to watch football more often.  There's a game on right now-against Tennessee.

Go Gators!

Last Post

So I talked to my mom (bless her!) about the whole issue and i'm working it out.  Prayers would be appreciated if you read this by then but if not, it's just one event in a whole lifetime so I it will be okay.  :)

Just Thinking

Venting is more like it.  But I really hope to not say anything I regret or will have to repent for later through this post.


With that said.


I just wish things weren't so hard.  I mean, HARD.  Like, "Maybe He is just trying to break you down so He can fix you up" or "you can hurt in the battlefield or you can hurt in the infirmary".  Maybe He is doing that...but it sure would feel alot nicer if He wouldn't require me to love people on top of this.  I can't!  I just can't love others!  And frankly, I don't even want to love these people.


Basically our teacher changed our assignment so that we can now work in groups of two.  I happened to be sitting by someone who I find would be described as difficult for me to love.  And then I hear this person say, "Okay so so-and-so can work with so-and-so and I'll work with (insert my name here)".  Please no God.  So what did I do?  Well, I've developed this theory that it's better to not say anything at all if you can't do what's right, but then I felt awful for pretending not to have heard him.  So then I tried to make it somewhat better without resolving to work with him.  Great idea.  I said, "'Person', um about working together.  Do you even like working in groups?  Cause I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.  Like (awkward laugh) I have no ideas.  So we need to decide if we are going to work together of not."


And his face fell.


Great way to make it better huh?  So, either I'm unhappy by working with him, or I'm unhappy by NOT working with him.


Lately someone told me that I need to practice saying no.  But then I also heard don't stop reaching out to people.  And it would be completely selfish and unloving to just tell this person "no" in this circumstance.


So now I'm stuck with: do I repent to the Lord?  Do I apologize to the person?  Do I work with him?  If I don't, what do I tell him?  And if I do repent to the Lord, that means I have to try to love him right?  Or don't I?


Then this leads into the whole works vs. faith argument.
...and now i'm going to take a nap, and proceed to do homework...