I'M BACK!

I’m BACK! Loud and proud! I am getting back in this thing. I thought about letting this go, but it has lead me do so many awesome things, I never would have done otherwise. The last time you heard from me was about two and a half months ago. I honestly don’t know why I gradually stopped writing, I guess I was just getting overwhelmed with school starting and my work schedule  changing, but I promise I am back!

Since last you have heard from me, I have done a lot of “news”! Talking about every single one of them would take forever and you would definitely get bored reading them all, so I’m going to talk about my favorites!

My first great and most wonderful “new” was my addition to my house! I have a new roommate! Her name is Briea, and she is so spectacularly awesome and beautiful.

We work together now, but I’ve known her for a while. We actually went to high school together and acted in plays, and we also worked at the baseball stadium together. She just kept popping in and out of my life, and we were always friends, but we were never all that close, if you know what I mean. Well, when she started working at the salon, we just picked up right where we left off and became close almost instantly.

I had been trying to convince her for a while it was a good idea to move in with me, and she really wanted to, but it was just the fact that we wouldn’t be in there for much longer because my dad is STILL going to tear it down at some point. He needs to “expand the business” and the house is “in the way”, well whatever Dad! Do what you want…I’m not bitter!

Anyways, she finally texted me one day and say she would move in with me! I was so excited! We are going to create some great memories! We moved her in that weekend; her and her stuff and her little dog. We became one big happy family right away!

I feel so blessed to have her living with me! I was all prepared to live by myself and thought I would be okay, but God knew better and just put her back in my life and I am so thankful!

(We weirdly match a lot of the time)

Riding Through McDonalds

My next “new” that I did, was something I always wanted to do since before I even had a motorcycle to do it with. I have always wanted to go through a fast food drive-thru on a motorcycle. You know, just to see what would happen! Would they serve me, would they not? Could I be smooth with it, would I drop something? How would people react? So many questions left unanswered!

Well, ever since I got my bike I had been toying with the idea. I would come really close to it many a time, but then I would just chicken out at the last second. Well not tonight!

I was riding my bike home and on the way I pass a McDonalds, and I do it. I pull in on a last minute decision. There weren’t a lot of people there which I was happy about. I pull up to the speaker anticipating what will happen. A guy’s voice comes through the speaker and asks me what I would like to have.

“I would like a fruit n’ yogurt parfait please!” says/yells I through my helmet and noise of my bike.

When I pull around to the first window to give my money, that guy looks at me and all he says is “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh”, over and over again. It was pretty funny. He was just shaking his head and lookin around like, “Am I the only one who’s seeing this right now?” Yeah, he pretty much was. When I went up to the next window to actually get my little parfait, it didn’t even look like it fazed that girl I was on a bike, she just had this bored expression on her face, it said, “Yeah you’re on a bike going through the drive-thru, so what?” That was even more funny to me. She asked me if I needed a bag, but I just put it in my book bag, I was fine, and off I went!

That was really fun! I have GOT to try that again some time! Now that I know I can handle it and get awesome reactions, I can’t wait to do it again. What a great “new.”

Shooting Range

This “new” was pretty awesome, I must say. It was a Sunday and my Dad and my brother were going to a shooting range with their little hand gun they had. Well I wanted to go! Let me shoot the gun too! Since they both like me okay, they let me come with them!

It was an indoor range, which I thought was pretty cool. We had to read a bunch of stuff and then sign something. Then we got to pick which target we wanted. He said that had just about everything, the first thing he said was zombie. ZOMBIES! Yeah! Let’s get that one!

We also have to get safety glasses and headphones so our eyes and ears don’t explode.

Okay, so Justin went first and he had three rounds. He missed every single one! HA! My dad was next and he missed them all too! I was going to have to bring it! I stepped up, slowly picked up the gun and aimed it. I pulled the trigger slowly until it shot three times. I hit it every time! It didn’t hit at any place in particular, but I still hit it! Girl power!

The rest of the time we were there, we all did pretty well. It was a lot of fun and a great new! My Dad took the zombie target and put it in his office at work. I think it’s pretty safe to say, if zombies do attack us one day, the House family will be ready!

Umbrella skirt

I was really excited to try out this new! I had seen it online somewhere and have wanted to try it ever since! It’s making a skirt out of an umbrella! Cool idea huh? You could make some pretty fun skirts with some old broken umbrellas; if that’s not innovation I don’t know what is.

I already had this black umbrella that was semi-broken (meaning I could still use it, but my urge to make a skirt was greater than my urge to save the life of the umbrella). I started by taking the cloth material off of the skeleton, and where it was attached at the point of the umbrella, I cut a circle around to completely remove it. So now what I have is the circle material with a hole in the middle where I will essential put my waist.

Next, I laid the material flat on the ground. I roughly measured my waist, so I could figure how much more I needed to cut the umbrella. I basically cut a semi circle; to make the hole I already made just a tad bigger. If I haven’t already said, I did this all very quickly and roughly. If I had spent more time on it I could have made it a lot better. Any who, after I cut the hole at where I thought was a pretty good size, I cut a little slit down the side and sewed a button on one side and a loop on the other. After I was done I was able to slip it on and button it up!

The skirt came just to my knees and I wore a little lacey white shirt; a gray vest and I added gulches to complete the outfit. Well, I’d be darned if I didn’t look like the cutest thing that walked down the street in the rain! I was so impressed with how well it actually turned out with how little time I actually spent on it! Now I just needed to put it to the test; meaning I had to wear it out to see how it felt and how people reacted to it.

I had to go to my class soon, so I decided to test it out there. It was pretty comfortable to walk in, I maybe should have worn a little pair of tights with it though, because one good gust of wind and say Hello hinny! But boy was I getting some looks! My favorite part of the skirt was that it still had the little wooden toggles at the points of the umbrella; that and the little Velcro piece was still on too. These were the only things that made you really stop and look at it, or else it just looked like any other skirt because it was just black.

When I got to class, I sit next to this girl and she noticed right away. “Are you wearing an umbrella?”

“Why yes I am! Isn’t it so cool?” I don’t want to give her the chance to burst my bubble and tell me no, it actually pretty lame.

“Yeah it is! Where in the world did you get something like that?” says she.

“I made it! It was so easy.” Says I.

Well she turned to the girl next to her and made her look and then the people behind me started talking about it too! I got my fifteen minutes of fame, that’s for sure.

Another reaction I got was when I walked out of my class and these other girls at a table said they liked my skirt, and I said “Thanks! Its an umbrella!”

“No way! That’s so cool, I didn’t even realize! You shouldn’t tell people that because it doesn’t look like it.” Then the other girl said, “Yeah she should, because that is cool!”

It was tested successful with the young hip crowd! Yeah me! I am so going to start a fad! The only thing I didn’t like about it was that it made me really hot! That material does not breath at all. The next time I make one; I will probably make a little elastic band for it so it’s more comfortable.

This was a great “new”! I took innovation to the next step! And I got to add to my wardrobe for free! But that’s not the end of this umbrella. “What about the rest of the umbrella? What about the skeleton?” you ask. Have no fear! I did not let it die, I did do some with that umbrella skeleton! Which leads me to my next “new”…

Umbrella lamp

When I took the material off of the umbrella, the skeleton was really neat looking! I couldn’t just throw it away; I needed to do something really cool with it! Something new!

I did a little research to get some ideas with what to do. I came across this chandelier thing that someone had made out of an umbrella skeleton. So I decided to tweak it a little bit and make a lamp!

I got a piece of wood and screwed the handle in so it sits upright. Now I have a skeleton umbrella sitting upright on my coffee table. I got a light bulb/wire plug fixture thing(sorry I really don’t know what they’re called), so now it has a light! Then I decided it needed some kind of shade. I went to Joanne’s fabrics and I got some chiffon material that I could find on sale, in different shades of blue. I wanted to give it a little bit of a rainy feel, since it is an umbrella and all. And then I also got a pack of blue beads and some string so I can string beads on the arms of the umbrella so it looks like rain is falling.

When I start to assemble it, I cut the material into strips and glue the ends of them together to make it one long strand of material. I start at the middle of the umbrella and I weave the material through the arms to the ends. And then I ran out of material! I was so disappointed! I thought I’d have the perfect amount. Didn’t happen. And now, sadly, I have still not found time, or the money, to go back to Joanne’s and get more material. I just have a half finished umbrella lamp. But one day I will finish! Mark my words!

Watermelon Throwin

I would never have done this new if it weren’t for my crazy roommate whom I love so dearly.

So I had bought this watermelon a while ago with the intent on eating the whole thing in one sitting, but instead it just got old in my fridge. I was going to just throw it away, but that didn’t happen. We live right next to an intersection and Briea so badly wanted to throw it in the middle of the intersection.

At first I was being the responsible one.

“No Briea, we can’t do that,” says I. I stood firm, but then she broke me.

“Why not?” said she.

“Well, okay then!” said I. What can I say? She’s quite the convincer:)

We live on a hill, so we would have to throw it down into the intersection. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Well, it turns out Briea has no upper body strength whatsoever, so all she got it to do was roll down the hill next to us. Oh my word. So I had to run down there real quick and pick it up and throw it in the middle of the road. It busted everywhere, it was really cool! (I feel like such a boy right now)

My adrenaline was racing! I ran back up the hill as fast as I could and hid with Briea to watch which would be the first car to run it over. It was a policeman. That’s right! I’m not making this up! A police car came speeding by and ran right over it! It was so funny, I could not believe that just happened. We then had a minor freak out, then once we finally convinced ourselves that we weren’t going to jail, we continued to watch the other cars run over the squashed melon. It was a good night.

P.S. Thank you for reading and giving me another chance to accomplish my "news" for the year!

Genesis 8:9
But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

Riding for Two

I have been riding my bike around for a little while now, and it’s still so fun! But I must admit, I do get a bit lonely at times. I mean its just me, riding around with just myself, no one to ride with or talk to. Catch my drift? So my “new” today involved not being so lonely on my bike…

I really wanted to practice riding people around on my bike, so I had to practice with someone. A “dummy” if you would. Well my little brother Andrew would just be perfect to “play” the part of a dummy on my bike! So after some convincing that I wasn’t actually going to kill him, he agreed to ride with me.

It was really different riding with someone. I had to concentrate a lot more on balancing at slow speeds. Andrew was a pretty good rider, mainly just because he’s light. But there were a couple annoying things about him riding; I told him it would be best to put his arms around me and then on the gas tank, its better balance for us both. Instead of him just putting his hands flat on the gas tank, he would fold his hands like he was about to pray, and then put them on the tank. What the heck? Why would you do that? And then he would always start moving when we were slowing down, but that’s when I wanted him to be the most still, because I had to be able to balance us both.

I took him to Sheetz for a little treat afterwards for being a good sport. I'm definitely going to have to practice with him a lot more if I want to take anyone else with me. But it did make me more confident in riding solo! And to take advantage of the lonely rides because riding with him took a lot of energy.

Conclusion…anyone else up for some rides???

Genesis 6:19
And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.

Clean Runnings

As most of my audience well knows, I have been training for a race coming up in October so I have been trying to run as much as possible. Well, my “new” for Monday had to do with such runnings.

I was just running along minding my own business when I noticed some trash on the ground. It was an empty Gatorade bottle. Well, that is just so inconsiderate! It’s a big bottle too, not just a little napkin. So I looked at it and I decided to pick it up myself and throw it away! This is where I run, I don’t want it to be trashy! If no one else will do it, I certainly will!

So from that point on, I decided to not just run, but to pick up litter at the same time. It’s certainly better than just rolling my eyes at all the trash. I like a clean neighborhood to run in! I ended up picking up the Gatorade bottle, a bag, a cigarette box, and a big plastic thing.

I am by no means a “green” person, but it felt really good picking up that trash along the way! In fact, it gave me a boost of energy and I made it all the way home in good time.

So my resolution is to not only run, but to clean the earth at the same time! I think God will be proud:)

Look how exciting it is to pick up litter!!!

John 15:3
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Respect the Mantis

Today’s new was one of the more peculiar ones…I had not one, but two mantis encounters. The praying kind that is.

My first encounter was when I was at Sheetz with my chum of a friend, Alyssa. We were just sitting there talking when this lady comes out of nowhere and asked if we have ever seen a praying mantis before. Um..yeah you crazy lady I've seen a praying mantis before. That’s what I thought in my head, but Alyssa got all excited and said “No! I haven’t!” So the lady made us follow her to her car to show us the mantis that has supposedly been “following them for ten miles!” Her and her friend were really excited to show us, but the younger couple that were with them looked a little embarrassed. It was really funny.

“Oh wow! That’s really cool!” says I, not really thinking it was cool at all. It was a pretty big mantis though. On the other hand, it made Alyssa really happy, so that’s what made it all really worth it.

My second encounter was at the movie theatre. My bro Justin and I had just seen Pirates 4, which was pretty good by the way, and we were walking out to my car and Justin spotted the thing on my car. He told me to get it off, and I said “No! You get it off!”

 He tried to get it to crawl on him but it wouldn’t, so then I tried and it went right on my hand. Then I freaked out a little. I just do not like bugs. He really wanted me to put it on his shoulder and take it home! Well, I’ll put it on your shoulder but you are definitely not getting in my car with that! I would have an accident. But I put it on his shoulder and it was so funny! It just sat there and then it would sway back and forth a little and it would try and scratch his head. Then I really wanted to take a picture of it and of course my phone froze up. So I had to take the battery out and it took forever to start up again. I took a couple of good pictures, but he did not like me taking his picture! He kept swiping at me! Then I got him on me and got Justin to take a quick pic. Then he ran down my arm and flew away! It was quite the experience.  

Mantis conclusion, they’re an “endangered species!” Please. They’ve been “endangered” for like 200 years. Bottom line is to respect the mantis and he will respect you.

Leviticus 11:20
"All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.

Nina at Night

Well, my new for the day is going to be a quickly because it is late and I am rather bushed!

I had yet another lovely evening with my mother and we had a grand time! We ate out for dinner and then went and saw “The Help.” It was really good! I wish I had read the book before I watched the movie, but it wasn’t the end of the world. We were in there with about fifty other middle aged to old women. We laughed together and cried together. It was all very touching. but it wasn’t until after the movie was over, that my “new” began.

I rode my bike to the theatre and I wasn’t too tired after the movie got out, so I just decided to ride around for a while. I had never ridden anywhere for long periods of time at night before. It was really thrilling! I hadn’t ridden for a long period of time for a long time in general. It was definitely refreshing. Really nice weather.

I rode all around town for about two and a half hours. I believe that was a record as well. The only bad thing that happened was that I pretty much ran out of gas on the way home. Bikes don’t generally have a fuel gage, but there’s usually a light that comes on when it’s low, but nothing ever did. I felt it about to die on the highway and I had to pull off the next exit ramp and I was stuck there. The only thing I was thinking was “oh crap my phone is dead, I am really in a pickle!” I better be able to get this thing going again or I'm really stuck! But by the grace of God and the manufacturers of all bikes, there is a fuel switch on the bike that I can switch from “On” to “Off” and to “Reserve.” The switch was on, but when I turn it to “reserve”, the engine uses the gas at the very bottom of the tank. So all I had to do was switch to “reserve” and it was working great! I was so glad I paid attention about that weird switch. So I went straight to the gas station and filled her up! Nina was very grateful:) That’s my bike’s name by the way, Nina, Nina the Ninja. All the boys love her, that’s for sure, but I love her more!

Zechariah 1:8
"I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

To Crochet

Today’s “new” was definitely something I've wanted to learn for a while now!

Whenever I'm on Etsy(that huge craft website) I always see people doing awesome this with crocheting, and I don’t know how to crochet! It really bothers me because I know how to knit, but it takes me forever and I get sick of it really quick. I have this scarf that I started knitting, oh about six years ago. I still have it and it’s still not finished. One day I will finish it though! But just not today.

Oh no, today I tried something new! I learned how to crochet! My mom goes to this knitting and crocheting class every Wednesday night and makes bears for kids in another country/poor kids, I don’t remember which one. But anyways, I have been wanted to go with her to learn how to crochet so I can do cool things just like the Etsy people! And also help out the poor kids of course…

So I meet my mom at the church and we walk to the classroom where we do this thing. For some reason I was picturing us all sitting around in a circle in rocking chairs just chatting and knitting away. Well, that wasn’t totally accurate. We were in a little kids room and everyone was at tables with their own little projects going on. I was the youngest one, but that didn’t bother me too much:)

My mom brought what she was working on, a little green teddy bear. She was working on that thing so hard! She was doing a good job too, it looked perfect. I got to pick out my own yarn and they gave me a needle too! For free! Oh, I am liking this already! I got a pretty purple color and she gave me a purple needle to match! How sweet. The lady who was teaching was Donna, and she was an expert! She crochets so fast, it was literally blowing my mind! She showed me the basic stitch which was called “chaining.” She showed me a couple times and I was kinda getting the hang of it. I was just making the stitches too tight, but it was hard not to! I didn’t want it to come undone or anything. Well, after I practiced for a while, she came and undid it all anyways. Thanks. Then she told me I could go ahead and make myself a scarf. Oh great, another thing I need. A half finished scarf I crocheted. But I did it anyways.

She showed me how to do the “double stitch” or something, I don’t know, it was supposed to be faster. And after I got that hang of that, it actually was! My mom was so proud of me for getting it down! It took her a little longer, but I think that’s just because I already knew how to knit so it was easier for me to pick up crocheting. But I haven’t gotten to the point where I can really talk and crochet yet.

After the class was over, we went to Narns and Boble to talk and crochet a bit more. My mom even felt the need to share my crocheting success with a complete stranger. Thanks Mommy:)

Conclusion. Now that I have accomplished crocheting, I definitely think it’s time to take over the world, I mean, what else could there be to learn?

This is what I want to eventually learn how to do!

Psalm 139:13
For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

BACK!

I am back! New and improved! You probably thought you lost me there for a second, I did too, but here I am! Back and more then ready to be doing some “new”s!

I was in a drought there for a little bit, but you can’t blame me too much, I am only a mere human after all. And don’t worry, I'm going to be making up for it with some awesome new stuff.

I'm gunna start off with my awesome “new” of the day, something I’ve always wanted to try ever since I was little. Have you seen that “tape gum” before? It’s a type of gum that kids always love to get because it lasts a long time and it’s a cool container. It just looks like a tape measure, but it’s gum, and its six feet long. I have always wanted to try and eat the whole thing. At one time. Well, why not? This should be interesting.

So I bought my tape gum from the gas station next door to my work. I couldn’t wait to try it out!

After work I went home and put on a movie and popped open my gum:) I just startd rollin it in. I almost tried to just eat it all as fast as I could. I had to take breaks though, and chew on each bit for a little so I could add a little more. It took me a total of about 15 minutes to get the whole thing in my mouth. It was tiring chewing on all that gum! It tasted good though:) All six feet of gum I got in my mouth and I was chewin away! What an accomplishment! This definitely makes me feel like I can do anything.

This “new” is definitely worth trying out!

My gum all chewed up!

Bigger than my face!

Genesis 43:11
Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.