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| Nowhere, really.
So our first sign of snow since last year's Valentine's Day was last week. Of course it was the only day in that week I chose to sleep in. All other days I was up bright and early, eagerly wishing the cold weather would amount to something. After getting ready for the day, I did some chores and dashed out. My cousins were already sledding down the hill and the snow was rapidly melting. It seems the picture had shifted from a covered with snow lawn with patches of green to a covered with green lawn with patches of snow.
I worked on my 4-wheeler cuz that was the only was I'd get any fun out of THIS puny amount of snow. Something told me not to....I didn't listen. Several things told me not to... was it the front left tire I had to fill with air due to a slow leak, or the battery I had to jump start? Or maybe the fuel started I had to inject into the carburator...OR the chain cover that had finally broken off it's second hinge and was hanging by a nail....or was it the actual chain that was all gnarled up in an ugly mess that took quite a while to hook back on? I guess we'll never know.
Earlier, Damian had inflated a tube, and thought he was inflating the large chamber, but was mistaken. He blew it up, and consequently the entire tube. Well it was my turn, but when it blew up on me, the entire tube remained in tact, but my thumb was throbbing. Savanna was my assistant, and asked very concerned,
"Was it your throttle thumb?!?!?!"
"No."
"Oh few. We're ok."
She was right, of course. We grabbed a tie-down and latched it to the tube and took off. The chain sounded horrible and by the time we reached the top of the pasture, it fell of AND finished off the chain cover for me. Who needs it anyway? Watch your feet!
Savanna was enjoying the immensely, and I had trouble biting my tongue. I was in better spirits, however when I realized staying in 2nd gear only would maintain a healthy status on the chain for a longer period, and that was a safe pace for her anyway.
We decided the fields were too exposed to the sun and most of the snow was gone from them, so we pulled into a wooded trail. It was a blast! Yes, there were patches of green, and yes I did pull her and the tube over rocks, sticks, briars, leaves, and once two baby trees. I couldn't it, when I looked back it was too late, and her expression was HILARIOUS as she ran over it.
We found a great patch we liked to sling around on, and it was right up against the edge of the forest. I asked for a turn, and stupidly let her drive (watching her feet of course...stupid chain cover). I hopped on and told her to watch out for me, and with that she took off and plunged me into, not only briars, but a cedar tree! Granted, I did not physically impale myself onto it, but it wasn't pleasant. However, we laughed like monkeys and she kept going. It was a stretch about a hundred years, and we'd whip the ATV around and go at it again. It was nice and all, but we had places to go, so she got back on the tube and we headed down another trail. When we came back out I was very tired of replacing the chain, so we decided to head back.
She asked if I could pull her through this one section, and my senses said no, but when had I been listening to them this entire day? So I said yes, she sat down, and at the end of the road I looked back and saw the tube quickly deflating. She was near the ground when I said,
"We popped it."'
"We did?" she asked, sinking even lower.
"Look at yourself."
"Oh."
With that, she laughed, hopped off and we inspected it. It was RIPPED and we discovered the after ALL we had taken it through, the thing that did it was...dried tire ruts. How stupid is that? Rocks? No! Sticks? No! Briars? No. Tire ruts? OH save us!
Anyway, we went back and realized how dumb we were but had a good laugh about it anyway.
Sincerely,
Your crazy extremist,
Mary
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| Of course, mostly about Fred. Firstly, he was here for such a long time, and I saw him quite frequently this December! It was so nice. I had the best time with him, and he's definitely the man of my dreams. He's perfect for me, and, as my mom so caringly observes, I don't deserve him. Sure she laughs and hugs me and says, 'Yes you do,' I know the truth. And I'm pretty sure she does, too. He's just too good for me.
He's my other half in so many ways, and I couldn't ask for a better guy. He's fun, witty, the nicest guy to be around, loves everyone and everything, treats me so well, sincerely loves me, and gets along wonderfully with my family and friends. Sounds like a fairytale, but here's the dilemma...he lives in Illinois, I live in NC.
Now, on that note, that dilemma (which isn't so bad, considering I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him, so I just have to wait till then) is pretty much irrelevant since... he's moving here soon! So...no need to worry. ;) It's been hard, and up and down, but as always, after each trial of being seperated, we reunite even more in love with each other than the last night we saw each other.
I gotta finish lunch...write more later!
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| Blogging is a perfect way to memorialize talking to yourself.
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In Exodus it begins with Moses. How strange a culture is this? In short, he runs away from Pharaoh because he killed an Egyptian, and Pharaoh wants to kill him. He goes to Midian, sees these 7 girls trying to water a flock and the shepherds shoving them away from the well. Moses helps them out, and their father says, "Go invite him to supper!"
"Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage."
What?! I thought he just helped water the animals. Now he gets to marry Reuel's daughter for that? Nowadays we have lists of requirements for what kind of man a girl should marry, things the father has in mind before giving her away, getting to know the man. Back then all you had to do was feed his animals and he's all, "Oh thanks a lot. Here's some supper, and...yeah here's one of my daughters. It's ok I got like 6 others."
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In my new Bible (RZIM Apologetics Bible) that Dad bought for me, I am really enjoying the translation. The footnotes I'm still getting a feel for, but this one particular one stood out to me. In short, the midwives lied to Pharaoh saying the Israelite women gave birth before the midwives could get there so they weren't able to kill all the males. Directly after that is a verse saying how God was good to the midwives because they feared God, and He blessed them with families. The footnote goes on to say that this action of lying is not condoned, but sometimes there is no choice between pure good and pure evil, since there is just so much wrong in the world, and delivering innocent children from death is a greater good than avoiding lying.
I am not so definite in what they say, but I do see where they're coming from. Who am I to try to be so self-righteous that I'd say, "Oh those midwives...there is ALWAYS a way out of lying." when even God blesses them for fearing Him.
I think perhaps that God is pleased with their fear of Him, and displeased with lying, but He still is gracious and merciful and blesses even us when we are not devoid of sin. "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags", and it's our hearts He weighs, am I correct?
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"She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."
The more I am with Fred, the more I realize how little I give to him, and how much he gives to me. Not physical giving, as in buying things and all that, although it definitely has it's place in a relationship, but more of a sacrifice of time, desires, and goals.
Before I met Fred, I had my life and it was so much fun. I 4-wheeled a lot, I worked, I was about to go to school, I wanted to conquer the world and become the best makeup artist there is. Now that I met him, my life is so much better! I always have someone to talk to when I'm down, he encourages me all the time, tells me to be more joyful and thankful, not to let my emotions control me, gives me so much of his time and love. We have so much fun together, and he makes me laugh so much. He's funny, so smart, energetic, fun, the most enjoyable person to be around, encouraging, godly, and did I mention "really, extremely, ridiculously good looking"?
So why do I ever have second thoughts about the aforementioned life? Where has it gone to, and why can't I still have that? Am I supposed to give it up? Apparently my struggle wasn't so much with goals in life, it was more with relationships. I thought a boyfriend shouldn't change your friendship time with others, and their priority. As well as family. I finally realized that Fred needs to come first in my life now. Granted, not as much as when I'm married, but if I don't start now, it's not as if I'll just jump into putting him first directly after we say "I do".
When I realized I needed to put him first (thanks to my wonderfully wise father's insight) I felt as if this giant boulder had been lifted from my shoulders. I can put him first? I thought my family and friendships came before him, although in my mind it wasn't said quite like that. I was so happy. Before that moment he had been feeling jilted from my "schedule" and I felt like he wasn't making time for me...when it was really my own doing! I'm crazy. ;)
After that I realized I could give all my time to him whenever he needed me, and not feel bad about it. I thought it was idolizing him, and God showed me it wasn't. But the other side of this is, when he needs to be with his family and friends, or just wants to, I need to put his feelings first and ignore my feelings. That's what I struggle with most now, but especially since he is moving soon to North Carolina, keeping that in sight, and knowing his time with his Illinois life is drawing to a close, I am trying to be extra understanding.
I've always dreamt about laying my life down for the Man of my life, and now it's staring me right in the face. My first reaction was to retaliate and say, "But it's my life, too...I can still do this and that." but now that I've been woken up from that stupor, I am embracing it joyfully (not always...it's hard sometimes!) but the end result of him loving me even more is so worth it. The less I push to be with him, the more he wants to be with me.
I'm learning so much, and he is the best teacher. Although it shouldn't be, it is just plain amazing to see how God knew so much better than I the man that would be perfect for me. I had to mentally throw out the "list" of qualifications for the man I thought I needed and start reading God's list for me. It's so much fun! I love how he completes me. <3
~EDIT~
Oh yeah, I went 4-wheeling the other day with Carter (dirt biking) and it was so much fun! We went nowhere fast, but we had fun getting there (and getting stuck!). :)
~ PICTURES~
Truckin' Marys!
I did the makeup... :) Halloween!
Catherine and I at the County Fair at the top of the Farris? wheel
You know what this means?? John McCain has the same shirt as Carter!
Carter looks old...I look hippie :) We were riding on the back of Phil's car
My brother Noah, whom I miss :)
It's blurry, but isn't this so cute?
My Sweetheart <3 *sighs happily* Halloween, I was a hippie, he...well he wasn't anymore but he came as Mafia
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| To talk of MANY things!!! And in this case, it's really not ships and sails and sealing wax and ca----ok you get the idea.
To put it bluntly, I'm a complete slacker. I thought, "I don't have TIME for a xanga!" But I do. Anyway, here's a quick update:
1. School is going great.
2. Yes, I'm in school.
3. I'm taking cosmetology. It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, believe it or not.
4. There's actually bookwork in cosmetology, and I don't know why everyone acts so surprised when I say there IS bookwork and tests
5. I love my boyfriend, and he's awesome
6. Yes, it's still Fred
7. Denise is having a little girl in January!!!
8. I love tea...more than coffee, actually...wow can't believe I wrote that!
9. Gas prices in NC are at least 20c higher than VA, and I rarely go to VA anymore
10. I haven't 4-wheeled in a while
Regarding #10, I'm off to remedy that.
Anyway, I'll try to update this more! :)
Very apologetically and sincerely,
~Mary
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| THE RULES: -If you're tagged you have to mention 10 quick Thanksgiving memories from yesterday.
-Tag other ppl -After being tagged be sure to copy and paste the rules into your profile. Here you go
1. Waking up and fixing food with Mom and Suzanne
2. Finding a really good whiskey apple pie recipe
3. Seeing my grandparents at the table with us for the first time in years
4. Hearing my grandpa say the prayer for the first time in years
5. Playing Scattegories with Noah, Damian, Fred, Carter and Crystal
6. sitting on a corn flake....waiting for the van to come
7. honestly i didnt do that but im out of ideas...
8. watching my adorable nieces
9. having a shot of JD with carter
10. eating....lots
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