Recap!!

Wow, it's been a long time. Yes, it's me: Hannah. Let's take a couple minutes to wipe of all the dust that has accumulated in the last four months here!

----------

Now that that has been taken care of, let's catch up. How have you been? I must admit that I am shocked at the amount of page views that we get per day, even still..after all this time.. you all are amazing!! And me? Well, I've been a bit busy to say the least. I am happy to announce that I will be attending Grace College and Theological Seminary in the fall - whoohoo!! Now, I know what you all are really hoping I will talk about..what has God showed me in the past six months? Okay, if you insist. 

He has been tugging at my heart, teaching me the beauty of a life completely abandoned to the glory of God. He has taught me the beauty of a life that is wasted in the eyes of this world, but wholly complete in the eyes of Jesus. What does it mean to life fully?

It means to notice the beauty is the small things in life....

It means choosing joy when death seems to be all around....

It means that it is okay to let go....

It means that living life purely for oneself and one's own pleasure truly is a WASTED life....

It means sacrificing daily....

It means standing up for those who are broken....

It means choosing to stand between life and death....

.......until the battle is won.

Blessings,

Hannah

Esther Teaches How to Draw Still Life

Hello everybody!

As you all know, I am an accomplished arter. My arting skills are the top of the chain.

Just look at that ... thing.

Why, for example, Leonardo da Vinci just complimented me on my marvelous fruit fly picture the other day. Anyway, Blogger isn't letting me upload any of my great pictures to show you from my computer .... so I guess I can't give you an example. It's a shame that my arting skills will remain undiscovered.

Wait!

*Rushes to grab a pencil*

I can show you my mad arting skills via video! (For some reason, and I kid you not, Blogger will let me do that.)

Let's see. Since you are all novices, I need to think of something easy to show you how to draw. Ah, I know! Still life! I'll show you how to draw a flower or something. Do you like flowers? Good! In  this video, I'll show you how to draw a flower vase.

Link to video here!

I hope that you found my video most informative. Until next time!

Esther

Stream of Consciousness -- Once More!

Hello everyone! I just realized that it would be such a terrible shame if this blog lost momentum again. That would be so nasty. Kind of like what you'd imagine Godzilla's dirty laundry to smell like. Anywho, I can't think of anything to post, so I just thought I would make this up as I go along. You know, write whatever's on my mind.

While the first thing that popped into my mind was a brain floating in a pickle jar, the image quickly changed to two ballerinas dancing over the Alaskan tundra. Neither of those are particularly interesting converstation starters, I guess. I've never been good with conversation. Because of this, I generally let people approach me first. I will only approach someone first for a conversation if

1) Said someone is family
2) Said someone is a friend
3) Said someone is a talking lizard
4) Said someone is a very attractive member of the opposite sex.

Of course, 4 can only go so far. There is a certain threshold of cuteness, you see. If a boy is too cute, my brain shuts down and all I can do is giggle and gargle in his general direction. Like, I took my siblings out to Hardees for lunch, and I saw this really hunky army guy. Dang, was he a catch. We like totally made eye contact while I was getting lemonade from the fountain drink machine. But I couldn't say anything. He could have been my soul mate, darn it. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. So I drove off into the sunset, cursing my misfortune.

Speaking of cursing, apparently I can't drive without cursing at least once. I need to fix that. My issue will probably dwindle as my driving skills increase, and I therefore collide into less objects.

When I said "objects", I thought of a wind-up music box. What do you think when you hear the word "object"? It's interesting how the human mind works. Everyone thinks  differently. Scratch that. Most people think the same. For example, when I mentioned that there was a cute army guy earlier you probably imagined a tall, muscular lad with blond hair wearing camouflage fatigues. Not that it's bad that people think the same. It would be nice if we were all on the same page.

Speaking of pages, if I had a green tiger that would be really cool. I would be like, "Dude, I have a green tiger." And everyone would be jealous and wish that their tigers were green. But even better, I want an armadillo lizard. I mean, look at them!



I would name my lizard Amontillado. Everyone will be jealous that their exotic armadillo lizards aren't named Amontillado. I think that Amontillado should be our resident animal mascot.

SLOSHY THE KAPPA: Hey! What about me?

Sloshy, you're our resident mythical being mascot.

ALMONDO: What about me? I thought

Almondo, you're our resident fan-service mascot.

ALMONDO: I don't like Amontillado. His name is hard to say, but it's suspiciously similar to mine.

I grow bored of this. I need to talk about something else --



OMG SOCKS!!!!!!!! I <3 Socks!

I love cute socks almost as much as I love Batman-themed underwear. Woo! Go socks! Go! What do you think, Amontillado?

AMONTILLADO: ...

You know, I think you and another silent fellow would get along! Say hello, Potato!

POTATO: ...

AMONTILLADO: ...

POTATO: ....

AMONTILLADO: ...

OMG AMONTILLADO THE ARMADILLO LIZARD AND POTATO FOREVER! I <3 POTATOES AND LIZARDS!

We should have a wedding, yo! A totally awesome wedding!

Hmm, I don't remember eating this second ice cream sandwich. Did somebody put an empty wrapper on my desk when I wasn't looking?

It doesn't matter. I LOVE ice cream! Huzzah!

I'm going to tell you something very personal. It has to do with noses. And fear. It's a fear involving noses. You see, I'm afraid of standing above anyone because there is a chance that they will look up my nose. Good heavens, the things that could be in there. I mean, I have a clean nose. But I've seen some gross noses -- ew.

But I like ears. I have a thing for ears. Just look at ears. I could marry an ear. Don't judge me, okay? Everybody has a favorite body part, and I find ears to be absolutely adorable. I discovered this from a young age.

Feet make me mad, though. They are ugly, ugly things.  I have collapsed arches, a botched foot-surgery, and a couple other things that make it hard for me to walk every now and then. I would gladly trade my traitorous feet for a black man's. People would walk up to me and say,

"Child, are those black man feet?"

And I would say,

"Yes, yes they are."

Good times.

Imagine, me jogging across the beach with my new black man feet, smiling and laughing and tossing my hair. I would cast a flirtacious look at hunky military dude, and we would hold hands and run off together and I would finally have one of them "boyfriends" I always hear about. We would watch The Lord of the Rings and eat popcorn, and have a Nerf war afterwards. Hunk would let me win, though, because I suck at shooting things.

Good times, indeed.


Esther

Esther Plays: Dishonored

Usually around the scheduled school breaks, I find a video game to occupy my time. This is because by the time breaks come along, I find that I desire nothing else than to sprawl myself out on a couch with a three-foot long Twizzler in one hand and a game controller in the other. I had been interested in playing Dishonored for a while, after I saw the intriguing trailer. (Ages 16+)

I'm a big fan of steam-punk style games. I'm also a big fan of the stealth genre, ever since Beyond Good and Evil. I have just recently finished the game. So, how good was it?

Plot

This is the tale of Corvo Attano, the silent and unsurprisingly handsome bodyguard of the Empress of a fictional land.

Don't you want to hug him?

The empire is in chaos. A deadly plague is sweeping the city and turning everyone into angry jerks. (This is probably because they are vomiting blood and their brains are turning into mush, but manners are still important.) Just as Corvo gets home from a long trip, the Empress he is supposed to be protecting is killed in front of his eyes. In other words, he's terrible at his job. He is framed by the government for his boss's murder, and is sentenced to be executed. With the help of some allies, he escapes and sets out to take revenge against those who wronged him. Apparently Corvo is bad at protecting people because he's really, really good at knocking people out.

The plot is streamlined and easy to follow, with just enough intrigue to keep you interested. There are very few plot twists, however, and all are predictable. As fantastic as the setting is, with its brooding skies, strange machines, and dilapidated buildings, there isn't a lot of story here. As you traverse the surroundings, it would be nice to have larger snippets of the history of the city you're trying to change. It would allow for an immersing experience. However, the main plot is pleasing and has a tight narrative, so getting bored shouldn't be an issue.

If you chose to kill everyone who has wronged you, the story acts out differently. The more you kill, the more the plague spreads, the more plague victims you see, and more rats try to rip the flesh off your bones. You also  get a different ending.

If you chose to be a saint, then you get a happier ending and less things trying to kill you at the end of the story. You can get through the game without killing anyone, a plot which I chose to follow.

The variations for the story are very nice, however each of the endings are unsatisfying. For all the work you put into not killing people, which can be very hard, you get a rather short and non-immersing ending. If you chose to join the dark side, surprise, you get a rather short and non-immersing ending. I would have rather had one really good ending than have several slapped-together ones.


Gameplay

Gameplay is the best part of Dishonored. Because the way you act affects the story, you may want to play through again just to see how your actions affected the world around you. It feels great to successfully get through a level without being detected by anyone, or to jump from a high building directly onto the person you're targeting.

The stealth aspect of the game is made stronger with the presence of magic. A magical spirit has taken interest in you, and has blessed you with the power of being awesome. These powers include teleportation, seeing through walls, controlling people's minds, summoning swarms of rats, and turning your enemies into ash. In order to get these powers, you buy them with runes, magical objects that you find throughout the game. You will probably find yourself searching everywhere for these runes, and it is a lot of fun to collect them all.

However, you don't need any powers to beat the game, really. And only two powers are actually incredibly useful. The other powers, while flashy, only offer different solutions to the problems you can solve in a more straight-forward way. Most of the powers are offensively based, which doesn't offer a lot for the players who are trying to get through the game without killing anyone. In the end, I had a ton of runes to spend because there were no powers left that I hadn't maxed out that weren't used to slaughter rooms of people.

If you do use the powers to kill people, you will find the game ridiculously easy. People really don't stand a chance against Corvo when he is a demi-god of insane proportions.

They turned to ash a few seconds after this was taken.

This imbalance is a little infuriating, but then it's also cool to blast your way through your enemies in a flashy, dramatic blur. It's kind of like you're a ballerina dancing through the city with strobe lights sewn onto your tutu, except the strobe lights happen to be lasers.

The combat is fleshed out and stealth is really good, so you'll have fun however you play. It's a shame that the game isn't fleshed out in many other areas, however. Your enemies are all clones of each other, just with different faces. There are a lot of cases of unique dialogue, but you'll also hear the same pieces of dialogue repeated every level. If I took a shot every time I heard someone say, "Stupid rats, stupid plague, stupid god****", I would die of alcohol poisoning. It's also strange how sometimes your enemies are blissfully unaware of you at times, but a few moments later have superhuman hearing.

It's also a shame that everyone in the city is basically evil. Since there are so many soldiers, you would think one of them was at least a moral sort of person. However, everyone is corrupt. The lack of variation makes it very easy for all your enemies to blur together, and make you question if the city is even worth saving.

You can also collect bone charms, which offer superficial bonuses to your character. For example, one lets your breathe underwater longer. Some of them are very useful, but for some reason I never felt inclined to hunt for them.

Fighting, sneaking, and infiltrating are great fun. It's also fun to find no-kill solutions to your enemies. The city is built in such a way that you'll find there are half a dozen ways to get into any building, and it's fun to test them out.

Graphics

The art direction is very good, and the buildings are clean-cut and clear. I especially like the lighting, which seems perfectly placed. I found that the faces of most characters were rather ugly and less detailed compared to the rest of the surroundings, which is a shame. Still, a very pretty game. It runs very slow if your computer doesn't have a good graphics card.

Sound

The voice acting of this game is awesome. Corvo never speaks, which is something I find kind of stupid, but all of the other characters do. The villains are especially well done, which isn't saying much because everyone is basically evil. However, I found the delivery of all the lines very well-done, even though the lines are often repeated a lot. There isn't much in the way of a soundtrack, which is all and good. It would be kind of hard to get in the stealthy mood with To Glory playing in the background. Sometimes I found sounds to miss their cue, like when a bottle drops and the sound of broken glass comes too slowly.

Overall

Dishonored is a good game, but something holds it from greatness. While the gameplay is fleshed out and there are a lot of things to collect, plot is lacking and character interactions are shallow. The only way to humanely deal with enemies is to sneak by them or to choke them out, which gets rather repetitive. The characters represented are usually only on the darker side of the personality spectrum, and it would be nice to have enemies who weren't so obviously bad. It would have added depth to the game. All three of the endings are unsatisfying. Still, it's a great game and should not be missed just because it misses a few places.

8/10
 

The Wonderful World of ... Potatoes

Hello everyone!

It's nine o'clock on a ... *checks calendar* Wendesday. I just ran up and down the stairs for fifteen minutes in an effort to stay in shape. I am very tired. But if Hannah can post, then so can I.

So I began thinking of thinks to write about. There is an ocean of ideas to write about, but when I stick my hand in the ocean, I lift my hand and see that it's dry. It's like I'm wearing an idea-proof rubber glove. But I can't take the glove off! Even when I so desperately wish to challenge that scumwad who flipped me off today to a gentlemanly duel by slapping him with my glove. Alas.

Anyway, I was thinking and realized that a lot of things go unnapreciated. For example, even though I am incredibly talented, I remain undiscovered by show-business. But there are other things too! We live our lives without realizing the things that make such a difference in our lives! So I'm going to write about something amazing, incredible, and influential.

The potato.

It turns out that the potato is one of the most awesome things ever. Like, look at it. It's like, totally glowing.

Here are some interesting facts about the potato.

It's the fourth most cultivated food in the world.

In 1536, Spanish Conquistadors discovered the potato and brought it to Europe.

Idaho, which is now the largest producer of potatoes, did not grow potatoes until 1836. Missionaries moved to the state to help the native tribes grow crops instead of relying on hunting and gathering. Isn't that nice?

In 1995, the potato was the first food grown in outerspace.

The world's largest potato weighed 18 pounds.

Marie Antoinette was known to wear potato blossoms with her outfits to make herself look snazzy.

The potato was actually more valuable than gold during the Klondike Gold Rush. While gold was everywhere, food was scarce. Since the potato was nutrient rich, it was expensive as gold, but only between 1897 and 1898.

Americans eat more potatoes than any other vegatable. On Super Bowl Sunday alone approximately 28 million pounds, or 12,700 tonnes, of potato chips are eaten in the states.

Now, isn't that interesting? The potato truly is glorious. Here is a haiku written in the potato's honor.

Potatoes are gold
metaphorically though
since they are just plants

That's great. Just great.

Anyway, I'll see you some other time with wonderful, underrated things. Until then! Say goodbye!

SLOSHY: Goodbye--

I was talking to the potato.

SLOSHY: Sorry....

POTATO: ....

Go on, potato.

POTATO: ....

Attaboy.

Esther

Ringing in the New Year

It's that time of year again. People have eaten too much food. Everybody and their mother's aunt are making New Year's resolutions - because you HAVE to do so.  Everyone feels guilty because of the holiday-money-grabbing-charity scams (not to be confused with real, helpful organizations - which are awesome). Moms are trying to get rid of things around the house. Dads are watching football. Kids are sleeping in and playing with new toys. Yet, what if, just maybe, it's more than this. What if we had a different goal this year - something other than losing weight and going on a vacation? Something that made a difference to someone other than you. That's a challenge for sure. 

Watch this video, then keep on reading. (Go to the link, and watch the YouTube video.)

Amazing, huh? For those of you who have never heard of the Rebelution or Alex and Brett Harris, stop for like ten minutes and go visit their website to check them out.

What if this year our resolution was to live for more than ourselves? Yes, you only live here on earth once, but there is more to life than YOLO. Really. Maybe, it's time that our generation did something to change the world around us in a positive way. What if we stood up for the kid at school who gets bullied? What if we made friends with the girl in Special Education classes? What if we chose to spend our spring break - wait for it - not in Florida  but helping an organization like Habitat for Humanity? What if we realized that there is more to life than going to college because everyone else does, and then getting an 8-5 job in an office someone? There is more to life than that (not that I'm knocking those who do that - I'm just commending people who do something else with their life). What if we were different?

We normally ring in the new year with fireworks, parties, and friends. We make lists of things that we will never accomplish. This year, commit to doing something that you can do. Write a thank-you note. Volunteer for an organization. Knit scarves to send overseas. Send care-packages to soldiers. Pass out food at a food drive. Do something different. Please. I'm begging you. 

Think about what you can do and then do it.

Blessings!
Hannah

She Appears!

(The setting is an abandoned attic. The camera pans over dozens of cardboard boxes, covered in a thick layer of dust. Suddenly, a box trembles from within. The camera zooms onto the box. The top of the lid bursts open, and out pops an adorable creature with an elf hat on her head.)

It's meeeeeeeeee!

*cough* *cough* *hack* *choke*

Almondo, you need to do something about this dust.

ALMONDO: I'm on it!

And Sloshy.

SLOSHY: Yes?!

Just do what kappas do, okay?

SLOSHY: . . . Okay.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here. Hannah's been doing great by keeping her side of the blog clean, but mine is just a little -- just a little -- bit dirty

ALMONDO: What's this bra doing here. It's way too big to be yours --

Shaddap Almondo!

Anyway, as you can see by my snazzy elf hat, I am definitely in the Christmas spirit! I think I would make a great elf if I were a tad shorter and had cute, pointy ears. And those cool elf shoes with the curled up ends. Anyway, a lot has happened since I mysteriously disappeared for no good reason. Let's do a catch up post.

I got my driver's liscense

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. THE STREETS ARE NO LONGER SAFE!

Driving brings out the aggressive, foul-mouthed side of me. That would be okay if I could actually drive, but I can't. So basically, I am an angry goblin with wooden blocks strapped to my feet so I can reach the pedals, careening out of control on the highways because I can't read the traffic signs.

Sigh.

I ended with a 4.0 GPA in IvyTech

I know I only took two classes, but it is nice anyway. A fabulous end to a good semester.

I wrote a poem about a dead boyfriend I never had

It was for school. We had to write an elegy, or a poem about death. I haven't experienced a lot of sadness in my life, so the only logical thing to do was make up some of my own misery. I'll show it to you guys if you are interested.

Volleyball season ended

It was my very last season as a Warrior. I regret that I haven't started playing volleyball sooner. It is such a wonderful sport. But my lovely coaches gave me several parting gifts, so I am happy. I've made lots of friends and memories.

I got a new phone for my birthday

Galaxy SIII.

Oh, and I'm 18 now. I'm legal in many ways except for two in America and 4 in Sweden. I'll let you guess what those are. (Hint: It has to do with llamas)

I taught a literature appreciation class

Unfortunately, because of a long hiatus, some pieces of literature went unappreciated. . . I hope we get to appreciate them later.

I started a journal

You know that's right. I've never been able to keep journals for more than three days. This being the fourth day, I think I've broken some sad, sad record.

Some other things

Lot's of other things happened. Some drama, emotions, fights, and losses. I won't give into them because complaining is for goblins.

And I am an elf.

As the countdown to Christmas continues, I shall be here, doing my thang. Back to you, Hannah.


Esther

When Tragedy Strikes

It's hard to know how to respond when tragedy strikes. Should we cry? Send a letter? Pray (always!)? Try to ignore it? It's tempting to do any or all of these. We all just want to do something. But what is the "right" way to do it? Right now, the tragedy in Newton, Connecticut is fresh in all of our minds. We grieve with the families involved. Over at A Surrendered Life, Emily offers some of her thoughts as a response to what has happened. Check it out. 

Blessings!
Hannah

My Playlist this Christmas

As it's that time of year again, I find myself humming along to well-known songs and letting myself get lost in the melody...I know, I'm a music freak. I thought I would share with you a few of my Christmas favorites that I'm listening to this year...Enjoy!

White Christmas

Aude Lang Syne

Last Christmas

All I Want for Christmas is You

Cold December Night 

Mary, Did You Know?

Holly Jolly Christmas

The First Noel

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

This is by no means an exhaustive list..I just wanted to share a few of my Christmas favorites with you! Comment below and let us know what you favorite Christmas songs are - I would love to know! 

Also, I know that some of you do not celebrate Christmas; do you celebrate something else? For those of you who do celebrate Christmas, what is your favorite tradition?

Blessings!

Hannah

Strength from the Lord

It's easy to get busy. It's easy to be tired. Honestly, guys, I get eight hours of sleep (well, on about three nights per week) and I am still exhausted. I wake up tired. Lately, I've really been clinging to verses in the Bible about God being our strength. However, as I was sitting in worship this morning (we were singing Everlasting God), I was struck by the fact that praying for strength is different than asking God to wake me up. 

Let me explain. Lately, I have been asking God to be my strength, because I know that I cannot do it on my own. In asking this, I have expected God to simply give me more energy, make me more alert, and help me to function on six hours of sleep. However, I think that I am asking for something different. In the song Everlasting God, there is a line that says:

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

we will wait upon the Lord,

we will wait upon the Lord.

As I was singing this, I was struck with the thought that strength, real strength, comes from waiting expectantly and patiently on the Lord. This "real strength" is not often going to come in the form of God making me more awake or helping me to function on less sleep. Could He easily do this? Absolutely! However, I now think that He is trying to teach me to patiently, consistently, and expectantly wait on Him and call on His Name. From this, my strength - inner, resilient strength - will come. 

Blessings,
Hannah

And I'm Back!

Wow. It has been a long, long time since I posted! My sincerest apologies!! Life has been crazy, as I am doing school and working 20-25 hours per week at the same time. Esther, thanks for the birthday wishes! :) In addition, each time that I went to write a post, Blogger was down...there seemed to be some issues there for a while...=(

Something that God has really been teaching me lately is that I NEED Him to be my strength. I haven't gotten as much sleep as I need for about a month, I'll be honest. It's hard. I am constantly tired and weary; yet, in the midst of it all, He IS my strength. How wonderful! 

"He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint."

~ Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV)

These verses have been life to me lately. I really need the reminder that God is my strength and that He will renew me in my weariness. Be encouraged today!

Sorry that this is such a short post. I will try to post again very soon!!

Blessings,

Hannah

Attack of the Clones -- Or, Scheid Diesel Extravaganza

Woo! Busy week, I have had. I will get onto it as soon as possible, but firstly . . .

Happy birthday, Hannah! I'm sorry I couldn't do anything fancier. I had wanted Sloshy the Kappa come and play the bagpipes, and Almondo do a dance, but Sloshy can't play the bagpipes and Almondo says his dancing expertise isn't suitable to be viewed by our young audience. (Whatever that means.) But I just want to say I appreciate all you do, and I am very, very happy to have "met" you. I hope that this blog continues for a longer time so I can continue to read your inspiring words and learn about your mad cooking skills.

------

Okay, so this post will be a catch up of sorts. I have been really busy this week, as stated previously, and I actually forgot that I had a blog. Woops! Thank goodness Hannah posted, or else we would have had the longest hiatus ever thanks to my absence. Here are some things I did:

1. I started my college classes

On Tuesday, I started my college classes. I am a student! Huzzah, hurray and all that! I'm enjoying my experience so far. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. Of course, because I'm me, I have run into a few complications.

My microcomputers teacher said on Tuesday that all students should arrive fifteen minutes early to boot up their computers and deal with technological issues. So I thought, fine, I can do that. So I get to class the following Thursday, and to my surprise I see that the classroom is full of students. Instantly, I figure I'm late and I dash inside. I sit down. As I am pulling out my things, my teacher (Let's call him Qeetfranklin) walks up to me.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello!" I greeted.

"I do believe that you're in my next class," he said.

Oh. Now everything makes sense.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir," I said. And I dashed out as fast as my legs could carry me. Strangely enough, I wasn't embarrassed at all. Either I have matured, or I have formed some kind of cocoon around myself that protects me from caring what other people think about me. So I stand out in the hall, shifting from foot to foot, and a fellow student turns to me.

"Don't worry, I did it too," she said.

"Oh, yes! I mean not yes. But I'm glad I'm not alone."

She shrugged.

"Hey, he said to arrive early."

My sentiments exactly.

In other college news, I have a mini-speech due Tuesday. Wish me luck. I will let you know how it goes. Probably. If I remember. So far, classes aren't hard at all. We'll see if that changes.

2. My Guinea Pig Went Passive Agressive on Me

YOU ALL KNOW ABOUT MY GUINEA PIG FATONE BECAUSE HE IS AN ANGEL AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND THEREFORE YOU SHOULD LOVE HIM TOO SEE IT'S PERFECT LOGIC?!!?.

Anyway, I have a guinea pig named Fatone. I keep him upstairs in the living room. We ran out of food for him yesterday, and upon realizing this he decided that he was dying of starvation. That morning, I came up to him and he stood up on his hind legs and wheeked at me for several seconds, pleading me for food.

"Sorry," I said.

I walked away. Every time I would pass his cage, he would continue to yell at me. Finally, I yelled at him to shut up, and he did so because he loves me and he does what I say.

But then I come back later and look in the cage. He was curled up in a ball, his steely gaze cast up at me. And his whole body vibrated with anger and he let out a slow, steady,

"Bdddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....."

Overall, I was very offended that he would treat me this way. I tried to give him broccoli, but as soon as he tasted it, he froze, ran into a corner, and made horrendous gagging sounds.

We got him food, and he's back to normal, but I don't want to see him in one of those rages again.

3. I went to a teen volunteer party

I volunteer at our local library, and every year the library has a get-together to celebrate the accomplishments of the volunteers. I had a really good time, I must say. We all got prizes and I received:

1. 2 tee-shirts
2. 2 pencils
3. several rubber rings
4. a couple of book marks
5. An inflatable elephant
6. a betta fishtank

Not a bad haul, eh? Now I just need to convince my parents to get me a betta, and I will have yet another ultimately-useless-but-lovable pet to eat up all my money and time. I look forward to it so much.

Also, I volunteered the second most hours this year. 39 hours and 35 minutes. I lost to another girl by five whole stinkin' minutes. I was kind of sad because this was my last year as a teen volunteer and I had wanted to go out with a bang, but ultimately I am just happy to have been a help to my community.

I also wrapped a tee-shirt around my head and put my elephant on top to create the best hat ever. I don't have a picture, but you probably don't want to see one.

4. My Online School started

Because of an error, I got enrolled in my online school a week and a half late, and as a result I am now thirty lessons behind. Yay. I started working away at it this morning. Looks like I'm going to have a full weekend.

5. Made a new friend

I now have a new walking buddy. Hello there, Ayrton. You should read my blog.

6. I started driving more

It is so much easier to drive an Audi than a giant, hulking van.

7. The Scheid Diesal Extravaganza started

The SDE is an hilarious and infuriating event that takes place in Terre Haute every year. Guys in giant trucks come from all around the country to show off the smoke-spewing glory of their engines, and to stare at other trucks. That's it.

But because of this, the traffic gets horrible, and the air turns a dark gray because of all the smoke that gets spewed out of the exhaust pipes. Not to mention, because they like to show off, these guys drive way above the speed limit and careen everywhere. It makes driving an actually dangerous affair. And these guys don't even care. I heard one guy say, "why do the cops give us tickets if they want us here (for the business our presence brings)?"

Really, diesel guy?

REALLY?

Another funny thing is that all of the guys are clones of each other -- to be expected for a convention -- but they way they saunter around with their ciggarettes hanging limply from their mouths and in their flannel shirts makes me giggle.

I also don't really get what the fun is. YAY! Your car spews more smoke into the atmosphere than the average vehicle! Let's all line up on the road and watch other gas-guzzlers drive by!

And that's what they do.

That's just a small portion. This line goes on at least a block longer than this.

That's about it! Almondo, take us away!

ALMONDO: Wait, why am I dressed in a toga?

*Shrug*

But if you are, you should dance.

ALMONDO: Ugh, fine.

(ALMONDO dances)

YAY! Happy birthday, Hannah!

Esther

Pictures!!

Here is what you have all been waiting for...the pictures from the Bakery. Exciting, I know. =) Here you go:

Turnovers - Apple or blueberry?

Kolackys - We sell Raspberry (super yummy!), Cream Cheese,
and Strawberry with Cream Cheese.

Fruit Sticks - Apple, Cherry, or Strawberry/Cream Cheese

Cinnamon Strussel Muffin, anyone?

Blueberry Muffins - My personal favorite!
Sorry that the picture is sideways! =(

Gigantic, delicious chocolate chip cookies!

Chocolate Scones

"Regular" Scones

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting and Walnuts

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

In addition, we sell donuts, Almond Bear Claws, Crossiants, Bagels, English Muffins, Pecan Bars, Brownies, a variety of other cookies, as well as wraps and paninis. It is all so yummy! =)

Now, for some other food pictures....My family decided to have our own "Iron Chef" competition the other night, and I took pictures. I will admit, I was leery when we started, but all of the food was most tasty! I got to be a judge, and so I took some pictures of the cooking process. We had three teams competing, and the "secret ingredient" was zucchini. Enjoy!

My apologies that this picture is sideways!
She is making zucchini chips - so good!

Zucchini Smoothies!

The pre-baked meatloaf - It was actually quite good, at least
once it was baked. =)

A chicken/veggie stir-fry, of sorts

So, you can see that we at least had fun. It was by no means professional, but we had a blast in the process. My apologies that this post has so many pictures!

Blessings,

Hannah