Tagged

My mother has tagged me!

Four jobs I've had:
1.) babysitter
2.) babysitter
3.)babysitter
4.) babysitter (Ok, so I've never had a "real" job....)

Four places I've lived:
1.) New Berlin, WI
2.) Island Lake, IL
3.) Columbus, IN
4.) Fort Wayne, IN

Four of my favorite foods:
1.) chicken tetrazzini
2.) crab cakes
3.) oysters
4.) my mother's enchilada casserole

Four TV shows I like to watch:
1.) 24
2.) Alias
3.) Lost
4.) American Idol

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1.) Sweet Home Alabama
2.) The Philadelphia Story
3.) Ocean's Eleven
4.) Pride and Prejudice (if only I had TIME to watch it over and over...)

Four places I would rather be:
1.) Siesta Key, FL
2.) Sydney, Australia
3.) some Carribbean island
4.) Southern Italy

Four websites I visit:
1.) www.imdb.com
2.) www.acpl.lib.in.us
3.) www.redeemer-fortwayne.org
4.) www.ipfw.edu

Four people I want to tag:
1.) Rachael
2.) Katie
3.) Rachel
4.) Lynea

Let's all sing "Kokomo"

Ghengis Khan has nothing on my grandpa in the "cruel and unusual" department:

"Hi all you goose bump people, 14deg in Anderson, 72 deg here as we speak. Oh well, the bad news it’s only going to get to 81 deg today, the temp tied a Sarasota record of 84 deg yesterday."

That was the email he sent out yesterday. We've been getting daily updates on exactly how warm it is down in Florida and what the temperature of the pool is. (90 degrees as of yesterday....)

I'd like to think I've done fairly well this winter. I haven't gotten cranky or stir-crazy because of the weather. In fact, as far as winter weather goes it's been amazing; plenty of 40 degree days and several in the 50s. Unfortunately, NO Indiana winter weather can compete with the Gulf of Mexico and I'm starting to feel more than a little "homesick" for the beach.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE....If I lived in Florida I probably wouldn't have been around last week and definitely would not have had friends staying at my house. I also couldn't go to church at Redeemer (kind of a long commute) and finding a church to attend down there is...uh....difficult.

But a vacation would still be nice.

Having everyone around this week was awesome, and now I'm trying to adjust to our very quiet, empty-seeming house. 5-12 extra people hanging around make a huge difference.

The bits of the symposium that I got to attend were good. I went with my friends to hear Dr. Rast and Dr. Scaer, got to matins every day and vespers a few times, and hung out at the HT booth with big-shot merchandise person (and Triplette) Naomi.

Unfortunatly, real life interfered with my week and I had to spend most of Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and evening at school. Any other week of the semester I would love my classes and enjoy being on campus, but this week it was just a big pain.

On Thursday evening we all went to church at Redeemer, and then Katie drove all us wild teenagers to the Sabre of Boldness ceremony. Bishop Walter Obare of Kenya won the award, and Pastor Olle Fogelqvist of the Swedish Mission Province accepted on his behalf. Lynea and I met Pr. Fogelqvist before the ceremony. He asked us if we were part of the HT group and if we would be in Colorado Springs this summer, and told us about the group he is planning on bringing. (At the risk of sounding totally frivolous, I have to say I had never heard a real Swedish accent before and his was great!)

I am very glad to say that after everyone left I did NOT crash and I did NOT spend most of the day crying into a pillow like I have every year. I went to my favorite class and talked about Bosch paintings, talked on the phone with Rachael, went out and made $15 an hour babysitting, and talked to Naomi. All in all, a much better end to the week than a sore nose and puffy eyes.

See ya, Soccer Hair!

Everyone who was at the Sabre of Boldness ceremony and thought that my younger brother Patrick's hair was too long can now breathe a big sigh of relief. He got his hair cut early this morning. A guy from church came and picked him up at 5:30 am and they went to the barber together. Five cups of coffee and a few inches later he came back.

Before: Awesome, curly, soccer-player hair

After: cute cut that allows people to see his eyes


Now his friends won't have to threaten him with drugging and shaving anymore (and I'm sure they're all disappointed.)

Totally Brainless

Thank you, mother.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Bethany!

1. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Bethany.


2. The colour of Bethany is no indication of her spiciness, but size usually is!


3. Bethany is 984 feet tall.


4. Influenza got its name because people believed the disease was caused by the evil "influence" of Bethany!


5. Bethany is picked, sorted and packed entirely in the field!


6. The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal Bethany.


7. Bethany has little need for water and is capable of going for months without drinking at all!


8. Over 46,000 pieces of Bethany float on every square mile of ocean.


9. Bethany does not have toes.


10. Bethany can live for up to a week without a head!

I am interested in - do tell me about
herhimitthem

After seeing #10 I kinda think it's on to something....

Excuses, excuses

I have excuses for not posting in days and days. Good excuses too.

Firstly, I was in Michigan skiing and having a marvelous time (with the exception of sleeping on the very cold hotel room floor. That wasn't so marvelous.) Despite my reputation for being less than coordinated at times, I managed to not injure myself. No one else got injured either, even Patrick, who managed to run off of a slope into a tree. Or Winston, who took a jump and didn't land on his feet.

My second excuse is that classes started again yesterday. I was actually looking forward to it, although who knows how long that will last! I'm sure I'll enjoy my classes this semester. They're all things that are of particular interest to me, with the exception of my communications class, but I have friends in that class, so it's not too bad.

I had my first rehearsal as a member of the Bach Collegium tonight. I'd been wanting to join for a while now, but just finally decided to go ahead and do it. We started working on several lovely pieces, including Brahms' "German" Requiem. Patrick is dreading the concert. He is strongly prejudiced against ANYTHING Brahms, thinking it's all "nap music." Or, in the case of the Requiem, "music that puts you to sleep. Forever." (Although, he has an even bigger problem with Bach arias. He compares anything that is ridiculously long or repetetive to an aria. No one tell Kantor, but I agree with Patrick!)

Incidently....

For any girly-girls who might potentially read this (and Rachael, even though she doesn't think she's girly....):

Online "paper dolls."

Now I know I have a problem. I'm 19 and I am still in love with paper dolls. ;o)

Anniversary Bash

My great-grandparent's 70th(!!!!) anniversary was today. (My mother talks about them here.) We helped give a reception for them this afternoon. Great-Grandma Beery kept telling me she couldn't believe how many people came and that they must not have anything better to do.

She was definitely right, if not in the way she thought. I can't think of much that could have been better than being around there today. Besides getting to visit with my wonderful great-grandparents, I had the chance to meet second and third cousins (never mind how many times removed...that just got too mind-boggling after a while.) I got to watch my grandma chit-chat with an old school-friend, sharing inside jokes about old teachers that she probably hadn't thought of in years. Patrick, being the charmer that he is, went around introducing himself to EVERYONE and making EVERYONE fall in love with him. It was also really cool to see all the parts of our family together (which my mother is getting ready to blog about....here.)

Now if only I'd had the foresight not to wear high heels all day....

A little bit of everything....

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I'm a dreadful correspondant. I can't even remember to write on my blog, let alone write an email or (horrors!) a letter. So, anyone who is reading this and is owed a note of any sort, I'm terribly sorry.

We had a nice laid-back and relaxed Christmas. My grandparents came to stay over Christmas Eve and go to church with us. After church on Christmas day we just hung out around the house.

On Monday we went to see "King Kong" which was just AWESOME. The bugs....eww, the bugs. They didn't scare me, but they sure were disgusting. Andrew loved them, especially the wormy-thing, but he's just a weird little kid. ;o) One of the reviews in the Fort Wayne paper said something about Adrien Brody's character, Jack, being weak and uninteresting and bemoaning the fact that Ann might even consider him over Kong. I had to disagree. Jack was wonderful and he definitely wasn't weak. (The dude went charging off into the jungle BY HIMSELF to save the girl. Stupid, maybe. Weak, no.)

Last night Patrick and I went with Pr. Petersen, Thomas, and Winston to rent skis for the ski trip we're going on next week. I'm so excited! I haven't been skiing for over two years, and I didn't think I'd get to go along this time because of school, but we figured out last night that the timing won't conflict after all. I'll be taking a lesson when we get there, as will my dad.

After we got finished with the skis, Patrick, Thomas, Winston, and I went to a dance lesson. Well, really we got lost on the way there, missed the early lesson, went out for coffee, and made it to the next one. We learned the swing (which Patrick and I already knew) and the cha-cha. The cha-cha is sooo much fun....almost as much fun as the foxtrot, my current favorite dance.

A Huge Sigh of Relief

It was nice getting my first semester of college out of the way, but even nicer is knowing that I got it out of the way and ended up a 4.0 GPA. :oD

This is a HUGE relief, especially in light of the problems I had with my english class/professor. I also get to keep my scholarship, which I had been a little worried about. I'm sure it also feels great to my homeschooling mother... just a reassurance that she didn't (completely) mess me up.

How girlie am I? HA!

Thank you Rachael.
I always knew I was a girlie-girl, but the description given doesn't quite fit. At least, I don't think so.

Hmph. My highly enlightened, collegiate mind tells me that this quiz is founded on antiquated gender-based stereotypes, and that's the problem with the answer. It's faulty at its core.... ;o)

You Are 30% Boyish and 70% Girlish

Even if you're not a girl, you're very feminine. You're in touch with your feelings, and your heart rules you. A bit of a emotional roller coaster, one moment you're up and the next you're down. But no matter what, you try to be as cute and perky as possible.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Yes I do have a blog. Nice of you to remind me....

I don't *think* I was trying to set a record for how long I could go without getting online, but it was working that way. I think it's been just over a week....and that's just getting online. Forget blogging, of all things!

Finals are OVER, and I think they all went well. Piano did for sure. I got some really great feedback from the professors I played for, and have officially been moved from the 200 level course to the 300 level. Yay! I still have to figure out if I'm keeping the same teacher, or if I'll be taking lessons from Dr. Robertson now.

On Friday, with finals completely over, I decided to keep the stress level up by starting a new project: sewing. I'm working on an apron right now, and thus far the patterns, sewing machine, fabric, needle, thread, and pins are all giving me fits. I'm sure it will all come out fine and I'll enjoy it once I figure out what the heck I'm doing.

On Friday evening we went to a surprise 60th birthday party that my grandpa threw for my grandma. It was held at a nice steakhouse complete with live band and dancing. My little cousins (the little little ones) really got into the dancing part, and they entertained the band. Jessica, her friend Paige, my cousins Chris and Matt, and I danced a little, though it was mostly just goofing off or swaying around in a circle.

My dad got back from his trip to India this evening! We're soooooo glad to have him back home safely. He came bearing gifts (naturally.) My mother got a gorgeous black 9-yard sari with beautiful white and peach flowers embroidered on it. I got two Indian dress/pants outfits. Everything is silk and so comfortable.



His hosts in India gave him a Buddha as a gift, and my parents are still trying to decide what to do with it. It's the cutest thing, if you can forget for a moment that it's an idol....

He also brought a few german newspapers he picked up while stopping over in Frankfurt. Wonder of wonders, I can actually READ them!!!That was so exciting.

Most amazing of all....My father bought toe-rings for my mother and I. My father, who almost had a cardiac event when I first bought one for myself.....wow. ;o)

Ah yes... I remember it well....

Being forced to post again. Good thing my mother is so bossy. Without her I would probably forget I even have a blog! ;o)

Perhaps sometime I'll actually write something....

"It's totally random!
If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want--good or bad--BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you."

What Princess Am I?

I've been Belle since I was 5 years old. I would have been really shocked if I'd gotten anyone else. :oP

Which Disney Princess Are You? Belle You are bookish but incredibly pretty. Belle was first seen in Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Catching Up

I have gone from a TTLB ranking of "Flippery Fish" to "Multicellular Microorganism." How humiliating.

Thanksgiving was nice. The food was wonderful. Shopping was fun. It was nice to see everybody, especially my "cousin" Jessica, who practically lived with us last year. I hadn't seen her in months.

My mother and I saw Pride and Prejudice yesterday. As a Jane Austen fanatic and someone who has seen every movie version of every book, I was a tiny bit worried. I still have nightmares stemming from the modernized-mormonized version of P&P that came out a few years ago....

...I'm satisfied. I wasn't the only person who walked out of the theater grinning like an idiot, which is a pretty good measurement of just how satisfying it was.The theater was about half-full (better than it was for one of my other favorite period-flicks, Vanity Faire) and everyone in there seemed to GET the movie. They all laughed...or giggled... in the right spots.

Mr. Bingley was adorable. He was like a cute, confused puppy. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were much more low-key than in the A&E version, but still hilarious. Jane was lovely and gentle and soft and calm and sooo....Jane-ish.

Keira Knightly was a great Elizabeth and I think she captured Elizabeth's "quicksilver temper" really well. My mother thinks that she must have watched the A&E version several times before she got the part because in some of her facial expressions and intonations, especially in the parts that were really word-for-word from the book, she looked or sounded a lot like Jennifer Ehle (the other Elizabeth.)

I was really worried when I saw the pictures of Matthew MacFayden, who plays Darcy. The pictures I found made him look like some watery-eyed, weak-chinned rat boy. Yeah. I was scared. But everything is alright now. He's a nice Darcy. And his eyes aren't watery. They're fine. :o)

Like yelling "Fire" in a crowded theater

Today has been one of those interesting days.

Our furnace wasn't working earlier, which explains why I was so blasted cold all morning. We had a guy come out and fix that, so it's working fine now.

It's kind of a gross day, so the family decided to take my dad to see Harry Potter this afternoon. We drove over to the theater, got our popcorn, and were getting settled with about 30 minutes to go until the start of the movie.... and the fire alarm went off. These brilliant white lights started flashing around our very dark theater and a robotic voice told us to make our way to the nearest exit. So, the entire contents of an 18-Screen theater gathered outside in the cold and slush, many people wishing they had remembered their coats (*cough*Andrew.)

The employees were very nice, and gave 2 free passes to everyone waiting outside, even the people who hadn't even been at the movies to begin with. ("Free passes? Sure I was at...uh...that new movie...yeah.") After 20 minutes or so the all clear was given and everyone piled back inside, expecting everything to pick back up where it left off. We got refills on our very cold popcorn and had just gotten resettled when we found out that all movies were cancelled until this evening.

Everyone files back outside. Moaning and complaining. (Well, not us. We were cracking up.) My mother went to the ticket counter to switch our tickets to a later showing and, rather than just switch them over, they refunded our original tickets AND gave us 6 more free tickets for one of the evening showings. So, all together we scored 18 free movie tickets....24 if you count the 6 for the cancelled showing.

Sometimes being inconvenienced is a wonderful thing.

I feel sorry for the employees of the theater. They lost a lot of time and money today because someone pulled a stupid prank. I think they performed very well, considering the circumstances and managed to keep the very cold and impatient crowd relatively calm. Besides that, a bunch of them had to run around outside in their short-sleeved uniforms! Brrrrrr....

One-two-three, one-two-three....

My parents, Patrick, and I had our first ballroom dance lesson last night and I am completely in love with it.
Our instructor, Miss Anthony, started us with the basic waltz and swing steps, and then added some turns...that would be the part where the girl gets to spin around and hope her partner doesn't lose her. (Ok, I admit, my partner was not the one at fault when we were practicing turns. Miss Anthony accused me of trying to run away.)

I couldn't stop dancing around last night after we got home. That's not really a new thing for me, though. I dance around all the time. What is new is that my dancing actually had a recognizable form and wasn't just limbs flailing.

My mother made me do it!

I've been tagged by my mother to do this. Maybe someday I'll actually write something with some substance. :o)


Seven things to do before I die:
1. Get married (starting with the basics :o))
2. have some kids
3. learn to play the violin
4. live in Germany
5. paint something beautiful
6. dance ballet
7. visit England



Seven things I cannot do:
1. fall asleep without reading
2. cook without a very detailed recipe
3. stand on my tip-toes (working on this...)
4. talk easily with people I don't know well
5. date anyone from TX (my brothers would kill both of us, and that wouldn't be very nice, would it??)
6. wear yellow
7. do a spanish accent

(personalizing this one...)
Seven things that (may) attract me to (some potential future) Hubby:
1. sense of humor
2. eyes
3. hair
4. brains
5. lutheran
6. singing ability (can't have tone-deaf children)
7. athletic ability
(hope I don't come off sounding too frivolous there... ;o))

Seven things I say most often
1. Mama!
2. I'm just checking my email real quick....
3. whoa.
4. dude.
5. ja klar!!!
6. I'm hungry....
7. what should I wear?


Seven books or authors you love:
1. Jane Austen
2. Edith Wharton
3. C.S. Lewis
4. P.G.Wodehouse
5. Tolkien
6. The Scarlet Pimpernel
7. one of those crazy Russian dudes....they're all tied


Seven movies you watch over and over again:
1. Pride & Prejudice
2. The Philadelphia Story
3. Much Ado About Nothing
4. Return of the King
5. Sense and Sensibility
6. Finding Neverland
7. Cool Runnings


Seven people I want to join in, too:
1. Rachael
2. Katie
3. Rachel
4. Bean
5. Naomi
6.
7.

What Classic Movie Am I?

What a crock! This is so not me....

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Thank you, mother.

Please Pass the Caffeine

My mother, my brothers and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night. Yes, we are insane.

The FIRST (and most necessary) stop was at Starbucks, where my very favorite brother, Patrick, treated everyone to some much needed caffeine. We waited in line for almost two hours before they let us into the auditorium, where we waited another two hours before the show. We all had books along, so no one got too bored....Except for Andrew, who is always bored.

(Spoiler alert! If you haven't read the book and don't know what happens....uh, read at your own risk.)

The movie itself was fantastic. It didn't seem as intense as it had been made out to be, and was actually more humerous that the others. At least, it seemed so to me. There was a LOT more Fred and George (Yay!!!) and the way this director handled Snape was much more humorous and sympathetic. And, of course, Malfoy the Bouncing Ferret was just priceless......

I admit, I cried when poor Cedric died. *sniffle* I'm just blaming it on the fact that it was getting close to 3:00 in the morning....

The biggest problem I had with it was that they left out Ludo Bagman. I can see why....introducing yet another new character, all of the extra time his scenes would take up.... But, I still would have liked to see him in the movie.

We're going to see it again with my dad sometime soon. I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more the second time around.