my thumb hurts from bowling last night. although i don’t really know why i’m surprised. i already knew that doing any “sport” type thing can be very harmful to your body.

spent a lovely afternoon at my house. of course there were a billion other people at my house as well. we ate our hamburgers and watched the volleyball game and took a walk and finished the evening watching a movie with two sisters. yes, lovely, lovely.

that’s all.

oh, and i was going to start my morning runs tomorrow. i’m exhausted. catching just a few more winks of sleep sounds wonderful. but i’m sure to feel the effects of my laziness this friday if i don’t start at some point. someone, i need a wake-up call at 7:00 am. just kidding. if my daddy, who didn’t feel well at all today, decides to sleep in tomorrow, i would hate to have your phone call wake him up.

i’ll just be lazy.

a pool game is on tv and most everyone has gone to bed.

i have two pieces of luggage sitting in the hall waiting to be taken upstairs. i know, i went with one and came back with two. i didn’t even think i had that much extra to bring home.

yes, i’m home. home sweet home. and since i’m home, i think i’ll go have my eyebrows done tomorrow.

oh, leaving was hard. we had a good time.

i should be downstairs organizing all my things and trying to creatively figure out how i’m going to bring everything home that i have. yes, i’m coming home with way more than i came with and no, it’s not all for me. i have a little something from this german town to bring home to my family, i have one less may birthday to shop for now, and i have a pair of shorts, two shirts, and flip-flops for a certain friend who said he really needed clothing before the class trip. of course, some of it is for myself. you can’t go to the Mall of America and not find a pair of jeans on sale or that white t-shirt that you just have to buy or that brown long sleeved t-shirt/hoodie that you’ve been looking at online or that super cool necklace that didn’t really cost all that much.

i am more and more amazed by the grace He continually gives me. i am amazed at the many second chances He has given me and will continue to give me. my heart is constantly distracted and constantly being pulled away. and i keep thinking of a certain hymn that i love so much.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

i took a walk early this afternoon. i had had enough of sitting and reading and knew that walking for a bit would be a nice break.

the residential side of town is cut up in nice and tidy little squares that are so entirely perfect i figured my daddy must have come with a ruler in hand and measured everything out as precisely as he does before he cuts a cake. it’s hard to get lost, even if it was your first time out on foot, because of the creative names they used for their streets. 1st North St, 2nd North St, 3rd North St, etc…

the blocks made me think of the patchwork quilts you see when you look outside the window of an airplane.

my first morning here, i looked out the window and saw a towerish/steeple thing with a clock in it. it’s the only thing of height i could see and i decided that i had to find it at some point. it reminded me of something from Russia and i thought it delightful. i found it today. and on closer look, it probably resembles something more German than Russian, but being the ridiculous girl i am, i thought Russian.

on saturday, kara and i decided to pretend we were old and we took the car and drove into minneapolis to the Mall of America. mitch thinks he’s cool because his friends are seniors and have cars to drive. i told kara she was even cooler because her parents trust her friend with their car.

but anyways. this post was mostly to make my mumsie happy. she misses me and doesn’t like when i don’t post often. my family will be starting American Idol right now and eating brownies. i’ll go down with this lovely family and watch it. i wonder if anyone will vote from NY since i’m not there.

i leave on thursday. i’m not looking forward to that. and it doesn’t look like i’ll actually be home until friday afternoon.

i miss home. but when i’m not here i miss this famil.

life rots.

: )

i do feel as though i practically ran away, since most of you had no clue that yesterday morning i was going to step on a plane and a few hours later be in minnesota. and here i am. sitting at the computer on 10 Cedar Drive with a perfectly lovely family and a perfectly lovely friend, who i surprised right before she had to run. fun, fun.

it was my first time flying alone… and not internationally. the security was so relaxed! being the not so very independent person that i am, i didn’t think i would enjoy being all by myself very much, but had a jolly ‘ole time sitting next to a weird old lady who decided not to have kids like normal people do, but would fill her house with 5 cats and 2 dogs and show off pictures of her extremely fat and lazy looking animals to people who didn’t know what they were getting into by sitting next to her. of course, she was shocked to find out that i’m still in high school and immediately decided that since i wasn’t out of college yet, i would fall in her category of “annoying kids and that’s why i didn’t have any” and didn’t talk to me again. okay, i just made that part up. she was surprised to find that i wasn’t even out of college yet (do i look that old?!) and she doesn’t like kids and that’s why she doesn’t have any, but she wasn’t at all rude towards me. i just figured that would make my story all the more interesting. but i lose why i’m saying all this.

anyways. yes, you’re there and i’m here. with her.

and minnesota has amazing skies. really, it does.

i know, louissa has been going beyond her comfort zone recently. when she went shopping a few days ago with her sister, she actually spent some time looking through different knit shorts because she’s decided to keep running this summer. this would be the third time in her life she’s ever looked in the sportswear section.

then this afternoon found her outside with her youngest sister and brother playing baseball. well, it was more like batting practice since it didn’t involve bases or running or even catching for that matter. she was the pitcher, her sister and brother took turns hitting and then she had the bat and her sister was pitching. after hitting several fly balls that would have been easily caught had she been playing a real game and even more foul balls, her brother stated in awe, “wow. you’re the bestest hitter. you should be a real baseball player.” to which her sister replied sarcastically, “yeah, she’d do real well with the running from base to base.”

she really should’ve known. she’ll never live down her pathetic running abilities. just because she’s not a little speed demon… goodness.

i’ve taken a liking to walks in the evening. monday night i ignored the posted signs and went to my favorite place. i told myself that it would be one of my last visits since i can never justify trespassing, but as i saw the sparkling pond and green grass i couldn’t not wander down to my spot. i stood and looked into the bright sun as it lowered and felt like my little world was just about right.

last night i walked to my other favorite spot, the cemetery down the road. the sky was orange and pink and the clouds were amazing. it was so perfect that it made me wish for things i shouldn’t be wishing for.

i’m terrified of dogs. i’m not sure why since i’ve never actually been attacked by one, but i hate them. i don’t mind dogs if i know the owner and am somewhat familiar with the animal, but living in a town where people let their dogs roam free (which is technically against the law), i’m petrified. i’ve taken too many walks and have had dogs start barking and charging my way followed by a frantic owner yelling, “NO!” yes, these stupid town dogs have really ruined me.

if you’ve written me a personal email recently, i’m sorry that i haven’t responded. i’ve been busy and will continue to be busy for a bit. don’t worry, i won’t totally ignore you. you’ll be getting a letter back soon.

toodles.

who is this person who has hair that is so entirely cool? why, it’s keith urban!

now i do realize, as mary stated in her comment, that thinking he has the coolest hair is all just a matter of opinion. as it stands, that’s my opinion. more pics here.

and because i’m such a vain thing and said that my hair was pretty sweet yesterday, i figured i’d try to find a photo. unfortunately, my family doesn’t love me enough to take an individual and good shot of me. this was the best i could come up with.

and another thought. why is it that we always take family shots on easter? people are always lacking sleep and looking rather pale since they’ve been shut inside all winter long. oh well.

i just watched the the cmt awards. go ahead, laugh. but there are some pretty cool country artist.

and i was recently told, by someone whose opinion i highly respect, to keep listening to my country music.

and my favorite artist has cooler hair than you’ll ever have.

so there.

i’ve donned the striped apron we bought for my mumsie once again (it’s a lucky thing that i actually picked out the apron and really like it since i’ve worn it the most). the cheese braids are very large (i had overactive yeast) and hopefully not too dry since it seems i turned the oven on one hundreed degrees less than what the recipe called for and i ended up baking them longer then i should have. right now i have our sweet potatoes, carrots, and herb dish roasting in the oven (i know, yuck. who likes sweet potatoes? but it really is good.). the table will be set in a little bit and later i’ll have to go up to my closet rand figure out what special something i can wear for Easter Sunday (i hate that job).

i love Easter. i love having this time set aside to really focus on what He has done for us. He, who took on our sins, took our judgement, and then was victorious over death. i love that i have the hope of eternal life spent with Him. yes, i know where i’m going.

tomorrow all my little ones will sing a song for the church. i won’t care if they forget words here-n-there and i won’t care if they forget to sing every now and then. i know i’ll be so very proud of them. they’re the cutest. really, they are! just wait till you see them.

question that has nothing to do with all of this. are there muslims in england, ireland, scotland, and france? i know there are women but what about muslims? ’cause if i have to go anywhere, i’d like to go to those places. i think paris would be perfectly lovely in june, don’t you?