A visit to The Mountain State

A week ago tonight The Redding Brothers had a concert in their home-state of West Virginia, so our whole group decided to go up for the weekend. We stayed at their grandparents house in what is called Scott Depot, but its really not in a town. Its up on a mountain. Joyce Road is one of the main roads up to the house, and is one of the worst roads I've seen. (Although the locals say there are worse ones.) It is really only wide enough for one car, which makes it interesting when you come face to face with another car or - even better - a school bus. I do not envy the residents of Redding Mountain their main transportation route, especially during the winter months. However, they do have some very beautiful wildlife up there. I was intrigued by all the decidious trees budding up and flowering. While I was out in the mud taking pictures I saw my first red cardinal. It was so strikingly pretty and had a lovely song. Unfortunately he flew away before I could snap a picture.
BarlowGirl and Micah's wife (I'm going to call her Miss Grey) came up with the idea friday afternoon that I needed a 'tour' of all the local haunts. So saturday morning Micah, Gabe, Miss Grey and I all piled into the car and started off. First we went by the building Mr. Redding used to work at, called Building 82 owned by Union Carbide. That morning they had reduced it to a mere pile of rubble. We got some good pics of the guys by the rubble, and moved on.
From there we went to St. Albans where there is a road underpass which is more like a tunnell. It is only wide enough for one car at a time, so you have to honk before you enter it to 'announce' that you are going through. It was somewhat flooded but that just added to the effect, especially with all the graffiti. This is also the same place where they have multiple churches and multiple strip clubs all on the same main road. I got one priceless picture of a Baptist church right next door to both a strip club and an adult video store.
The local Power Plant is somewhat conspicous with white clouds billowing out of it constantly. According to Gabe the towers are something like 900 ft tall. He also said that the large white clouds are actually steam and not smoke like I thought.
On our way through one area we saw an apartment building that we think was designed and built by the Redding's grandfather. While we were driving around we went to Hometown where Josiah and BarlowGirl's old apartment is next to the Kanawha river. What could be quite a picturesque view from the apartment building is a somewhat sad sight because of the muddy brown water. Also saw a church with a quote from 1 Samuel about 'rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft'. It seemed like an odd scripture to quote and we still don't know what message they were trying to impart to passerby's.
Sunday morning we stopped at Tudor's Biscuit World which is (according to Micah) to West Virginia like Starbucks is to Seattle. The breakfast biscuits tasted good, mostly because the biscuits were very buttery, but made me feel somewhat greasy after eating mine. In our way out of WV we stopped in Huntington so I could see Marshall University & the memorial fountain on campus. The movie 'We Are Marshall' is a favorite of mine and I wanted to be able to see the memorials put up for the staff members, and football players who were taken in the tragic plane crash of 1970. We also visited the memorial in place at Spring Hill cemetary where the six unidentifiable victims were buried.
Even though I saw some bizarre stuff, and some of the roads scared me, I really did enjoy my time in West Virginia. I'm also thankful for my friends and how patient they were with me while I snapped pictures of all the sites! Here are some of my findings:

This is Joyce Road. As you can see - the car takes up the whole 'road'.

Some of the nice wildlife...

The guys and Building 82...

the tunnel in St. Albans...

the Power Plant...

and Marshall University.

Book Series in Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Another goal accomplished! Though it may not be one of the most significant on my list, I'm glad to have finished the recently popular book series by Stephenie Meyer. Several people I know had read the books recently and were quite enthusiastic about them, so naturally I was curious. I decided to read them to figure out what all the fuss was about, and also so I could understand what they were all talking about.
Now before I offer my full critique, I want to say that I think Ms. Meyer's was very smart in creating the story she did. It is an addicting story, and it is written in such a way to target teen girls especially, which makes it an easy money-maker. I have yet to see the first movie, but I have already seen the results from creating a movie from the first book in the series. Young Women tend to make very loyal fans when heroes like Edward Cullen are involved.
The first three books were very full of the teen romance, which gets a little old after so many chapters. I understand that this was targeted at teens, but I felt that the books could have been better if there was less syrupy romance stuff and more mythical creatures stuff. This was my first time reading a series involving werewolves and vampires, and I really liked the creativity Ms. Meyer used to take something that seems so overdone and turned it into something new. She explains away all of the reader's pre-conceived ideas about vampires and takes it in a new direction. There seems to be a lot of controversy over the final book in the series (Breaking Dawn) as it is written differently and almost doesn't seem to fit with the previous books. However, if I had a favorite it would definitely be the last book. I think the reason for this is that it had less of the teen romance, and had more about the vampires and the 'gifts' different ones had. That was more interesting to me.
For those who might not have read the series yet, or who have teens who want to read them, I feel I need to offer a short word of advice. (This is especially directed towards my conservative christian home-school friends who read my blog.) Even though the series is targeted at the teen audience, and the heroine's love is somewhat immature I would not recommend teens (girls especially) under the age of 17 to read this. Having read the series, if I had a teenage daughter I personally wouldn't feel comfortable letting her read it. There is nothing explicit, but a lot of the romantic parts are very sensual.
Finally - I have to give Stephenie Meyer some real props for doing my home state so much credit. Some of her descriptions really made me miss home, all the green and the water and the mountains.

The Crime of Living Cautiously by Luci Shaw

I was given this book a few years ago because the small group I was in at the time was going to read this book together and then have a discussion each week. I started reading it at the time, but didn't really have the time or motivation to keep with it, after our group disbanded and melted into other small groups. This last year I decided I really needed to finish it, so now I have. I finished it this last week. In the beginning of the book I was excited about the idea of living life boldly instead of cautiously, and I think Ms. Shaw had some really good points.

"Because God loves us and wants to fulfill his ardent plans for us, he invites us to broaden our horizons. He longs to expose us to riches we never dreamed of, to realms we've only guessed at. There are barriers to be broken down. They fill us with apprehension at our profound inadequacy. But as we face our fears and trust his love, we can welcome the opportunities and dare the risks. If I fear failure and the possibility of looking foolish, I cut myself off from reward."

I definitely struggle with the fear of looking foolish, or stupid or stepping into the middle of something I'm not comfortable with. However, if I just sit at home afraid of looking foolish then how can I really serve the King? Some of the things the author wrote in the middle chapters of the book, I wasn't sure if I understood very well or agreed with, but in the last couple chapters she talked about the 5 women in Matthew's record of Jesus' geneology, and how they were normal women who took risks and did extraordinary things.

"It's either the safe, secure life, living within the box without enterprise or resourcefulness, or it's the risk of initiative and faith, the road less traveled. Jesus wasn't willing to live the contented, predictable, unremarkable existence of a small-town carpenter. He knowingly abandoned that role and 'set his face toward Jerusalem' and what he knew would be abuse, rejection, torture, Golgotha, death, the grave, resurrection and ultimately heaven so that his Father's purposes would be fulfilled in him. And the five women in Matthew's record didn't just exist, waiting in the shadows to be told what to do, even in the overwhelmingly patriarchal world of their day. They believed. They obeyed. They risked. They acted. They made a difference. And God thinks that is worth mentioning."

If you have a moment also look up 2 Timothy 1:7-10

[All quotes are taken from The Crime of Living Cautiously written by Luci Shaw]

a nice relaxing day...and the discovery of a new BBC film

Late last night I slipped some Valentines Day notes under the doors of my sleeping housemates, and this morning I woke to find that my best friend had left a note and a lavender hyacinth plant for me outside my door. She had also left a single rose outside Lady Dee's room with a note. It was very thoughtful of BarlowGirl, and a lovely little surprise! My room is now filled with the sweet fragrance of spring.
My original plans for the day included going to the movie theater to see "He's Just Not That Into You" even if I went alone. What actually came of the day was that I spent most of it quietly in my room enjoying a newly discovered made-for-tv BBC production based on the novel by Charles Dickens called "Bleak House". Netflix had it available as an 'Instant Play' movie, so I started it out of curiosity and liked it so much I couldn't stop. Most of the BBC productions of classic English literature I have seen I have thoroughly enjoyed and this was no different. Every couple episodes I would take a break and wander downstairs to get some refreshment and see how everyone else was doing. Halfway through the day the mail was brought in and I had received a packet with publications to help me plan my trip through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Just flipping through the pamphlets raised my excitement! But there will be more on that later... for now, I would like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day, and I hope that your's was as relaxing and enjoyable as mine was!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day never has really stirred strong feelings in me, either for or against. Growing up my parents always did a little something for all of us kids. Usually there would be a book, or a small toy with some candy and a card waiting for us, next to our breakfast plates in the morning. It was a nice little reminder of how much they love us, but since their love was obvious all year long, it wasn't a huge deal. My Dad would usually take Mom out to dinner and a movie, but it wasn't like he bought her expensive jewelry like on all the TV ads. It was a nice simple night out for them. I've been thinking more about Valentine's Day this year, and trying to decide how I am going to approach it. Do I want to ignore it completely? Or do I want to try and duplicate my parent's tradition with my housemates? If you have any inexpensive little ideas for letting people know how much I care about them, I would love to hear them.

Also - there is an interesting post about Valentine's Day for us single people over at Blissfully Single that you should read.

another goal - finish a quilt

I have this quilt which I bought materials for several years back. I started the quilt, only getting to the point of finishing the backing and the front base material. The original plan was to applique shapes of hearts and hands all over the front, with each set of hands representing some of my dearest friends. As time went by, I realized that some of my 'dearest friends' weren't really as close as they had been so I adjusted my plan. The second idea was to change the shapes to butterflies and have a large floral applique in the center of the quilt. Finally I decided that was more complicated than I wanted, and a little more frilly than was really me. I started appliqueing flowers of different colors with individual flower petals, before I left WA. Once I got settled in here in TN I realized that I had left some of my fabric at my parents house in my sewing box (which there wasn't room for in my car). A few weeks ago BarlowGirl and I went to a local fabric store, and I bought some replacements. They aren't exactly what I had in mind, but they are close. Below you can see how far I am, and what the other flower colors will be.

Harry Potter - one goal down... a lot more to go

I have acheived one goal on my list for 2009. I have finished the Harry Potter series. The end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was so good! I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, so I won't give anything away but if you haven't read it - you should! After finishing the books, I decided to go back and watch all the movies so far. Recently, I renewed my Netflix subscription and lined up the Harry Potter movies in my queue. I've watched the first three movies a couple times before, but it had been a while. I really enjoyed them, and it was funny to see the actors as such little kids! It was interesting to see how close to the story those first few movies are. The 4th and 5th movies however, did not include as much of the story as I would have hoped. I've noticed that the books progressively get deeper and more serious with each one, and with that it seems that each has more details than the first. I especially noticed this after finishing the last book in the series. That being said, I understand that with the each movie, it will be harder to include as many details. However, there were certain things, especially in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', that they could have included without the movie being much longer. Anyways... thats my opinion. :) Watching the movies was mostly enjoyable because it was something my friends Gabriel Redding, and Lady Dee and I were able to do together. Lady Dee had never seen any of the Harry Potter movies, and certainly hadn't read the books. (I think we got her hooked!) I am kind of sad, because now I have to wait until July to see the next movie... maybe I will be able to see this one in the theater though!