Wanderings of a Child

Excitement!

2010-03-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

I got my script today for drama class. I am really excited. I haven't even read through the whole thing yet, but I like it so far. It is strange, but fun. Although I can't really say I like my character. She's not at ALL like me and I think my teacher chose this part for me, specifically for that reason. That way I get experience I guess.
But yeah, I am uber excited, not only for the play and how awesome it will be (it's going to be really fun playing such exaggerated characters). I am feeling very on top of things right now, actually.

The weather is making me really, really happy. Spring is on its way!
I started a drawing of Eowyn two days ago and it is coming along swimmingly. You can actually tell who it is! This is a first for me. :)
I know I'm not going to totally fail when Tuesday comes around and I have piano lessons, because I have already practiced. Woo!
Tonight, some of the youth from my church are coming to Jericho and that makes me happy.
Yesterday the abortion clinic in downtown GR was closed, second day in a row. This has happened three times in the past six weeks. Happy, happy, happy!
Tomorrow I am going to a Haiti fundraiser. Emphasis on "fun".

So yes, I am excited. Life is good. The end.

Love and highlighters,
Halley

So, It's Been Like Five Years.

2010-02-25T23:37:00.001-05:00

So, I'm really sorry to those of you who actively follow me. (All one of you. Or zero.) My last post was in the beginning of December... sorry.

Something God has been teaching me is love. He has been showing me that it is really hard. Heart-crushing, in fact. You see, He has blessed me with an outrageous love for someone that lives across the world from me. It's actually really strange, because I know that there's no reason for me to love him (no offense or anything), except because God gave me this love. I never knew what a broken heart was until about two months ago; and I have discovered that I would do anything for him to be saved. And it breaks my heart more than anything to know that he is lost and broken with no one to run to.
God is showing me just how insanely, incredibly, awesomely strong love is, and that it can not be quenched by many waters. Love wins. Period. Nothing beats love; not even death.
So there, Death, take that.
It is a really heavy burden, and it's crushing me... but it's freeking beautiful and I don't deserve to carry it. So I praise God for giving me such a beautiful thing to carry, and I will trust in Him. I have no idea why He chose me to bestow it upon, or why the person He has given me love for lives 3,00 miles away. But, hey, we live by faith and not by sight, right? [I Corinthians 5:7]

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

   as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
    jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
   the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
   neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.

-Song of Songs 8:6-7 (ESV)

So It's December.

2009-12-04T14:11:00.000-05:00

It really is December fourth already. Eeep. A lot seems to have happened since my last post.

Thanksgiving day we had my dad's side of the family over to stuff our faces together. Some of
us got a little sucked into the Playmobil (I love the Germans) we rediscovered in the basement and relived our childhood while everyone else laughed upstairs in the real world.

It snowed a little on black Friday. *happy!* Our family zoomed over to Frankenmuth to stuff our faces again, this time with my mom's side of the family. So much CatchPhrase. Possibly five hours per day. :)
Saturday was really warm. Freakishly warm in fact, for November 28th. We went to the traditional Lenderink's to get a Christmas tree and wandered for a couple hours there until we found the perfect one. Then we came home, decorated it and some of went to Prayer House.
On the 30th, my parents took off for Cleveland so my mom could have surgery. To put it in a nutshell, a couple months ago the doctor saw a polyp in her colon which could possibly become cancer in a few years. So she went to Cleveland to get it done.
My mom actually had the surgery last Wednesday and is now recovering.
Yesterday was green and cold, and then it was white and cold. What?

And I woke up this morning to a foot or so of snow. I am so happy! :D It's beautiful outside! God is so good to us.

The end.

Love and fish sticks,
Halley

No, I'm Not Studying For Exams.

2009-11-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

In fact, I don't even have exams. Isn't that special? But then again, I am a little behind on school and have piano to practice and a script to memorize. Woo hoo.

Ahhh I feel so behind, I haven't posted anything in almost a month.

Let's see… what has happened since then?
Halloween happened, but I didn't do anything special that day. Unless you count painting with my dad.

I painted this sunflower while my dad painted me painting it. :)

This cherry tree was inspired by a dream my friend had.
Shh… you don't know that the flowers come in spring and the cherries come in the fall.

So yes, I have discovered the wonders of watercolor paints. :D

Today church was pretty much a concert. His Name High came and played worship music, and we didn't even need tickets! It was quite elaborate: there was a smoke machine, scaffolding and bright spinny spotlights that went all around the room. Go Jesus!
Speaking of worship music I am learning how to play Agnus Dei on the piano now. And The Scientist by Coldplay, but that doesn't have anything to do with worship music.

Also, as I mentioned before I am memorizing my script for drama. The play is called About Face and it takes place in Nazi Germany. I am the mother (which is weird because two semesters ago I played a mother and the person that was my daughter is my daughter in this play too). The performance is sometime in January and we start getting props this week. Exciting!

"There is no way to grow without pain."
Don't you forget it.

Downpour - 09.28.09

2009-10-26T17:48:00.000-04:00

Raindrops fall from the clouds above.
Endless sheets of joy and peace.
Cover my head.
Lift my hands.
Sing to the drumming of kisses from heaven.
Strong to wash away impurity.
Call out to forks of lightning.
Dance to rumbling thunder.
Cascade on my life.
The sound doesn't pause.
The flashes keep coming.
Gifts from above.
A blessing out of love.
Lift my eyes to the heavens.
Call your name as I smile.
Deluge on my nose.
Buckets.
Don't let it cease.
The lightning, it lights up my sky.
The rain, it whispers your name.
Crashing.
Pouring.
Flood.
Good night sweet drops.
Morning, bring me color.
Good night sweet rain.
Come 'round again.
Drenched head to toe.
Close my eyes.
Dream of a downpour.

Some Stuff You Probably Don't Particularly Want to Know

2009-10-24T19:11:00.004-04:00

A Southern friend is visiting this week. :D She came to our house on Thursday and we had a movie night which consisted of—count 'em—Horton Hears a Who and half of The Princess Bride before we fell asleep. Yesterday was rather interesting as well because my sister two of her friends decided to pick up some little buddies and have them attack the third friend (a ginger) with silly string.

I drew this picture for our Southern friend.
The storm represents our mutual love for rain/thunder storms. And it's flooding my city. :]
The tree represents our mutual love for trees. And there's someone playing a djembe drum underneath it. :]
The stars represents our mutual love for stars.
The rainbow + treble clef sign + the heart represent the music I was listening to during the storm that inspired the drawing. (Sigur Rós, baby!)
The cake is the cake I was eating during the storm.
The snow is for her southernness.
The swirls + comet things are the best I could do to express my joy at having cake, rain and Sigur Rós all at once. :]

In turn, she wrote me this amazing poem called "Halley, Climbing a Praise Tree":

"Rustling leaves sing around me.
The words of their joyful hum linger softly on my lips.
Gently I pace my foot on one branch, as my steady hands grip another.
Winding in leafy shade, I climb.

Thirsty, my desire for the sun strengthens.
My soul beckons for a bronze ribbon of glory.
Reaching, I stretch my arms, only wishing to bathe in glorious light.

Yearning heart trembles, as I escape the shadows.
Finally, warm golden glow rays dance on my face.
My outstretched arms praise the Creator.
Dazzling sun rains down on me.

Brilliantly I shine!"

Amazing writer, I tell you.

Now here are some random links that you should check out. (especially the second one)
How Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended
My Life
Dream, by Priscilla Ahn

…Jesus…

2009-10-24T18:14:00.001-04:00

……And being very tired and having nothing inside of him, (Shasta) felt so sorry for himself that tears rolled down his cheeks.

What put a stop to all of this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that somebody or something was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Thing (or Person) was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock.

It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these Northern countries. He bit his lip in terror. But now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped crying.

The Thing (unless it was a person) went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope that he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. That couldn't be imagination! Anyway, he has felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand.

If the horse had been any good - or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse - he would have risked everything on a break away and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn't make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him.

"Who are you?" he said, barely above a whisper.

"One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing.

"Are you—are you a giant?" asked Shasta.

"You might call me a giant," said the Large Voice. "But I am not like the creatures you call giants."

"I can't see you at all," said Shasta, after staring very hard. Then (for an even more terrible idea came into his head) he said, almost in a scream, "You're not—not something dead, are you? Oh please—please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world."

Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. "There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."

Shasta was a little reassured by the breath; so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and he had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and all of their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

"I don't not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two lions the first night, and—"

"There was only one, but he was swift of foot."

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion."

And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you as you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses new strength of fear for the last mile so that you could reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

"Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"

"It was I."

"But what for?"

"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own."

"Who are you?" asked Shasta.

[Halley says, "I love this part!"]

"Myself," said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook; and again, "Myself," loud and clear and gay; and then the third time, "Myself," whispered so softly you could hardly hear is, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad.

The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; he began to blink. Somewhere ahead he heard the birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite clearly now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than a horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else it could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or more beautiful.

Luckily Shasta had lived all of his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that where whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-seas, the High King above all kings in Narnia. But after one look at the Lion's face, he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

The High King above all Kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all around him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with his horse on a grassy hillside under ablue sky. And there were birds singing.

I thought it was happy. Think about it.

O Quotes, How I Love Thee

2009-10-14T23:23:00.001-04:00

Some quotes from the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. (yes, odd choices. But hey, they stood out to me.)

Lucy: "I knew it was you. The whole time, I knew it. But… the others didn't believe me."
Aslan: "And why would that stop you from coming to me?"
(JESUS! :D That's so happy.)

Currently unknown (Narnia): "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!"

Albus Dumbledore: "It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."

Currently unknown (Narnia): "But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan."

Albus Dumbledore: "Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them."

Albus Dumbledore: "...in the light of Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."
(Just replace all the "Lord Voldemort"s with "the devil" and ta-da! it's Jesusy!)

Albus Dumbledore: "Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress?"

From The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: " 'You have a traitor there, Aslan,' said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund. But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn't seem to matter what the Witch said."
"…He just went on looking at Aslan…"

"Life Goes On"

2009-10-12T18:35:00.001-04:00

James Blunt! Woo! I'm starting to listen to his music more and I like it. And Coconut Records. And one song by The Cloud Room (it's an AMAZING song).
I like music more than a lot. It's awesome! God didn't have to create it, but He did, just for us!
Here are some things I love:
Rain.
The sound of a flute.
Ice cream.
Trees.
The sound of waves on the beach.
Sushi.
Fire.
The sound of a guitar.
Stars.
Sunsets.
Water.
Strawberries.
The sound of a piano.
Laughter.
Djembe drums.
The sky.
Otters.
God never had to make things like laughter, light, music and the five senses. Just stop and think about it for a minute. Such simple things, which we take for granted–mirrors, smiles, soap, color, the twinkle of light that is always in a person's eye–God had the option not to make them. Imagine if there wasn't a reflection in our eyes; without that little pin-prick of light in the eyes, they would be empty-looking and without life.
Yeah, that's just something I noticed last night.

So, life.
Piano is going pretty well. I spend several hours this week tracing flash cards. I'm rather proud of some of them. Also, I finally figured out the bass clef staff. I didn't understand it at all but now I get it and I'm excited!
I'll be dissecting a squid and a clam tomorrow morning, which should be quite fascinating. I don't know if 'excited' is the word for it though.
Drama this week was all about improvisation and it was really fun. One of the practices we did went something like this: one person sat on a bench while another person asked the bench-sitter questions. The person asking the questions had to think of a person (whether as specific as Bono or as general as "a mother") and the person on the bench would be that person without knowing, and they would try to guess who they were. Make sense? Anyway, when it was my turn I made the person a hobo. :] Fun fact, 'eh?
There's this one kid in my class that is simply amazing at improv. He gets very into it (and, in the case of pretend anger or stress, to the point that his face turns red). It's amazing. :D

Virtus unita fortior,
Halley

P.S. Lord of the Rings dialogue of the day:
Aragorn, "You have some skill with a blade."
Eowyn, "The women of this country learned long ago, those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain."
Aragorn, "What do you fear, my lady?"
Eowyn, "A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."
Aragorn, "You are a daughter of kings, a shield maiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate."

Ode To Joy

2009-10-08T19:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, no this isn't a song. It's sort of an expression of my joy:
GOD ROCKS!!!

Psalm 28:7
"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song."

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

If you don't want to watch the 8 minute video, then I shall put it in a nutshell:

This called a laminin cell. It's an adhesion molecule (whatever that means). It literally holds the membranes of our body together. It's the glue of the human body.
Read Colossians 1:16-17.
"…in Him all things hold together."

Yeah, that's pretty much it. :]

Gracious, He is Worthy of Praise!

2009-09-25T02:15:00.000-04:00

"So we lift up our voices, we open our hands to cling to the love that we can't comprehend."

God of wrath.
God of love.
God of Earth,
And God above.
God of hope.
God of peace.
God of you,
And God of me.

God of day.
God of night.
God the just,
And God the light.
God of the strong.
God of the weak.
God of you,
And God of me.

My love for You.
My heart for You.
My life for You.
All I am for You.

Blood through my veins for You.
I give my world to You.
All I am and all I have,
I lay it down for You.
Dancing 'round with You.
Spinning 'round with You.
Laughing loud with You.
My love.

God is awesome. Just thought I'd clarify.
I wrote a note on my facebook page and I'll probably post it on here sometime soon. It says some of the things God is. :]
And I'm really excited because one of my friends from far away is coming to visit in approximately 20 days. :D AND she's writing me a poem of sorts. And I'm really excited for that as well because she's an incredible writer. Seriously, her talent in itself is a great reason to praise God. I told her I would draw her a picture but I have yet to find out what it will be of. And if I knew I wouldn't post it on here because she is aware of this blog… anyway you probably don't care about this. It's kind of irrelevant.
I love God. :]

It's About Time For Some Ramblings!

2009-09-23T00:02:00.000-04:00

"I must go on standing. You can't break that which isn't yours."

So school has actually helped me a lot with my understanding of the Christian faith. Since I'm studying church history I've been able to get a lot more out of it spiritually than any other school year. Especially considering it's only been two and a half weeks. The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey has been a huge part in that and I have read only two chapters of it! So far, the Philip has touched on Jesus' personality and why he died for us. It's really opened my eyes a lot and has allowed me to see Jesus' sacrifice with a whole new light. Here's an interesting analogy the author uses:
He tells how he has an aquarium in his house, and he explains how much work it takes to sustain those fish. You have to filter the water and clean the tank and put stuff in it and feed them, but he points out that somehow the fish are always afraid of him. Even though he's coming to take care of them, every time he goes to do one of these things they dart behind their rocks and fake castles. They live in fear of the one who keeps them alive! Then he went on to tell about how the only way he could get them to understand that he's not there to hurt them, was to become one of them himself and do something that shows his love while he is among them.
Jesus, 'eh? I thought that was a perfect analogy for the thing. I'm an analogy kind of person. :]
So you can see how this book might have helped me to better grasp the love of God. That He, an immortal and invisible God who knows no bounds, would make himself visible by limiting himself to the body of a human baby–helpless and depending on another person for his life–and knowing that he must die a humiliating death in about 30 years. Wow.
AND we're doing a super deep study of John for our youth group too, (serious, verse-by-verse kind of study) and John 1 mentions a lot of the things that Philip Yancey does. It's almost like God wants me to know his love! Weird. :P

Anyway, aside from church history… I started piano lessons today! I really like my teacher and I'm excited for the rest of the year. She is also a huge U2 fan and a Christian and she'll be teaching me from a beginner's Coldplay book! (and probably a U2 one as well) And she'll teach me chords and stuff for worship music. I'm excited.

Tomorrow holds:
1. Lots of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That book is freaking me out…
2. Probably quite a bit of time cleaning my atrocious bedroom. What a horrible prospect.
3. Youth group! First large group of the year.
4. Possibly cleaning of my own free will. The shower is disgusting right now. You needed to know that…
5. Speaking of the shower, clean hair! Yay!

A Day Full of Worship

2009-09-13T22:31:00.000-04:00

So it's been very… worshipy. Starting last night at Prayer House, I've been praising God with music. I went to church this morning, then I went to the "Magical Day of Fun and Happiness" at the hill overlooking our city and did worship and had lunch. Straight from there I went to a Night of Worship event at my friend's church. Thus the word "worshipy."
My ears are probably damaged forever more from the N.O.W. It was really really loud. But really really good. It was almost like a concert!

And the tree I drew for my other friend; she loved it! She tried to put it on the inside cover of her Bible to treasure forever, but it was too big. I was happy that she liked it so much though. :]
And here's another random update for you: today was my friend's (yes, another friend) birthday and I facebooked her with this big long, elaborate wall post and everybody else just said "happy birthday." It was awkward.

"I have climbed highest mountains,
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you.
I have run,
I have crawled,
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you."
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2

Here's Something Interesting

2009-09-09T18:22:00.000-04:00

     "Other people affected Jesus deeply: obstinacy frustrated him, self-righteousness infuriated him, simple faith thrilled him. Indeed,he seemed more emotional and spontaneous than the average person, not less. More passionate, not less.
     "He said little about the Roman occupation, the main topic of conversation among his countrymen, and yet he took up a whip to drive petty profiteers from the Jewish temple. He urged obedience to the Mosaic law while acquiring the reputation as a lawbreaker. He could be stabbed by sympathy for a stranger, yet turn on his best friend with the flinty rebuke, 'Get behind me, Satan!' He had uncompromising views on rich men and loose women, yet both types enjoyed his company.
     "One day miracles seemed to flow out of Jesus; the next day his power was blocked by people's lack of faith. One day he talked in detail of the Second Coming; another, he knew neither the day nor the hour. He fled from arrest at one point and marched inexorably toward it at another. He spoke eloquently about peacemaking, then told his disciples to procure swords. His extravagant claims about himself kept him at the center of controversy, but when he did something truly miraculous he tended to hush it up.
     "As Walter Wink has said, if Jesus had never lived, we would not have been able to invent him."

From "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey

Best Birthday Gift Ever, 'Eh?

2009-09-09T00:21:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is just like I promised! The cliff definitely didn't turn out as I had hoped; It took me FAR too long to add the Bible verse, and I was too lazy to add roots on the side of the cliff. But the rest of it satisfied me. In case you can't read the verse, it says:
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
-Jeremiah 17:1-8

But other than the picture, life has held some interesting things.
For instance, I started school today with the previously mentioned dissection class. My brother and I got to cut up lubber grasshoppers and crayfish and pull out their organs! I never knew that crayfish hearts were the color of pepto bismol! (and I never knew that was how you spell pepto bismol) And on the way home my mom bought me a horse coloring book. Happy! Then I did my two subjects of school which took maybe… four hours. (yes, two subjects took four hours)

Plus, God has revealed some pretty–for lack of a better word)–crazy stuff to me this past week or so, but I'm not going to share that all. I will just say that fairyland is a great place to do Jesus time. :)

"Do Not Swerve."

2009-09-05T15:34:00.000-04:00

Life is surprisingly slow this week, which seems wrong. Isn't it supposed to fly by like the rest of the summer? Especially yesterday, I woke up at noon (yes, noon. I stayed up late, okay?) and thereafter the day went really slowly and seemed like any other twelve hour day.

"The rose is not afraid to blossom, though it knows its petals must fall. And with its petals fall the seeds into the soil. Why toil to contain it all? Why toil at all?"

I'm doing better with the aforementioned Age of Empires obsession (if you can call it that). I am fully aware that I shouldn't be playing that game so much, if none at all. Just last night I found these verses Proverbs 4:20-27 and that has helped me to snap out of it. Also, I Peter 5:8-9 which I new before. (and in fact, that verse helped me to snap out of playing Xbox a while back as well. Geez, I'm just dragged unknowingly into all virtual life, aren't I?)
Anyway, I'm still working on it.

"Don't lose yourself. Don't let yourself be lost."

Anywho…life's good besides that little factor (which so happens to be the most important part of life, which is eternal). My mom signed my brother and me up for a dissection class which starts this Tuesday. It will be once a month for about three hours. The first things we'll dissect are a three inch long grasshopper—"not a puny little Michigan grasshopper" is what our teacher said—and a crayfish, and near the end of the year we'll dissect a squid and a shark. This will be interesting!
Now I'm going to get OFF the computer and go outside and finish drawing my tree! I will post it on here sometime when I'm done with it.

"Swimming With My Fallen Blossoms, I Drink From the Source Above."

2009-09-03T01:17:00.000-04:00

^^Ocean Night Song by Laura Veirs

I noticed yesterday just how amazing the eye is. I spent about five minutes staring at my right eye in the mirror. It's fascinating to watch how the pupil dilates and contracts rapidly. And it occurred to me that you would never be able to see the pupil at its largest. Unless you were looking at a dead person's eye… It would also be interesting to see a blue, green or hazel eye up close, but in order to do that you would have to get uncomfortably close to the eye's owner.

Oh! And my sister got her fourth PAWS puppy yesterday. She brought Pretzel (female, 3 pound papillion) home in a Target bag at around 1:00. She—or, as some of my family have taken to calling her, It—is far cuter than I expected her to be. I learned today as she was sitting on my lap on the way to Meijer that her ears are longer than mine. Another thing about her is that she is literally a lapdog. She LOVES to be on peoples laps (and the other dogs kind of drive her to it, seeing as they often come close to crushing her) all the time, which is frowned upon at PAWS. Just a while ago I looked over to see her asleep on Pepsi's leg.
Here are some of the pictures I've taken today:

Pepsi does some pole-vaulting!

The Pretzel herself.

This is what I looked across the kitchen to see. It's positively enchanting!

Well, that's it for now!

I like ranch with my pizza,
Halley

It's All Just So Confusing

2009-09-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I just get sick of being a person in general, because people tend to be drawn into things that don't matter. For instance, the past couple days I've been playing an excessive amount of Age of Empires III with my brothers when I know I should be doing something worth-while like making a birthday present for my friend or spending time with God. But instead I play video games into the wee hours of the morning, and when I finally get into bed I'm "too tired" to do my Jesus time.
Strength, determination and faith. Those are the things I need at present.

Speaking of "present," I have been given a request by one of my friends to draw her a tree on a cliff for her birthday. Which is today. And I only have a light sketch done. Usually I would have it done the day after she asked for it (which was about a month ago), but I guess the cliff part is getting to me. I say "usually" because I've gotten several tree requests from my friends. Apparently trees are my specialty.
Maybe I should start charging for them?

Figuring Out Blogger

2009-08-31T05:27:00.000-04:00

Here I am at 2:30 am, trying to figure out how Blogger works and how to change my blog template. Goodness, I just can't seem to change it from these wretched colors and have the pictures I want at the same time. Maybe individually, but never all at once. It's all so confusing.
Sort of like life!