A Summary...

I originally was going to go back and blog about each adventure I had this summer, and even started doing so. However, after a couple entries, I realized just how many things I did this year and I decided maybe a summary would be best.

As you know, this year started with a bang - our New Years party at Micah and Miss Grey's house was an awesome start to 2009. It inspired me to make goals that seemed somewhat impossible, but also to realize that if you don't shoot for the moon you probably won't achieve much. Here are some of the things I accomplished this year so far:

• Read the Twilight series.
• Finished the Harry Potter series, and subsequentially watched all of the movies that are out.
• Visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cheekwood Botanical Garden, The Hermitage, Riverfront Park (downtown Nashville), Warner Park, the Loveless Cafe, The Parthenon, and the Natchez Trace.
• Visited West Virginia twice (once for a Redding Brothers concert, and the other for Mawmaw and Pawpaw Redding's anniversary party)
• Visited 2 out of my goal of 5 National Parks - the Great Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Cave.
• Walked 4 miles at the Nashville 'Walk 4 Water' to help raise money for water wells in third world countries.
• Saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
• Visited North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama for the first time.
• Saw Lake Michigan for the first time.
• Witnessed my little brother graduate from Navy Bootcamp.
• Met cousins I didn't know I had, and also spent a day with my Great-Uncle from Arkansas who I hadn't seen in 10 years.
• Went to a drive-in movie theater for the first time.
• Went to a 'real' country fair.
• Went to a Greek Festival.
• Walked in a waterfall for the first time.
• Fell deeper in love with Bluegrass music.
• and finally - developed close friendships with Sunny B, Tberry, and Lady Dee, and deepened pre-existing friendships with BarlowGirl, Miss Grey, Micah, Gabriel, and Josiah.

I am so thankful for having been able to do all of these things this year. Especially since the year isn't over yet! I feel like I have used this spring and summer to its fullest, and don't regret any of the things I did or places I visited. Thanks to my friends who have helped come up with things to do and have helped made it possible for me to do all these things! I love you all!!

Random Road Trip - Huntsville, AL

The weekend after I went to Washington, me and some friends decided to take a 'random road trip' somewhere. The two options that came to mind were Chattanooga and Huntsville. We decided to go to Huntsville because it was supposed to rain, and there were more indoor things to do there. Sunny B offered to drive her mom's car (which is a very nice full size vehicle) and we all accepted. :) We took the scenice route to Huntsville instead of the fastest way, because we were looking for adventure. This is when I discovered the beautiful rolling hills that exist just south of where we live. It was so green and the road was winding through the hills, it was perfect!

Somewhere near Fayetteville we saw a 15 passenger van for sale on the side of the road, and we had to stop. We like to tease Micah about having van lust. For some reason him and his brothers really have a thing for large vans (probably something to do with growing up in a family with 11 kids). During that time Micah was seriously thinking about buying a 15 passenger van, so we stopped and all took a good look at this van.

When we got to Huntsville we stopped at a really nice and clean Super Target which Miss Grey had been to before. For lunch we found this fun little place called Nothing But Noodles, and they had all sorts of noodle platters including Italian, and Asian. It was really yummy! We tried to find the historic district on our own and weren't very successful, but instead found a neighborhood playground that looked fun. At the playground Gabriel proceeded to freak out Sunny B and Miss Grey by climbing on top the monkey bars and walking across the top. After that I found a map on my phone for the visitor center and we got to it right before they were closing. The ladies at the visitor center were really nice and we got a lot of helpful information. Then we drove a few blocks away to the historic district which has many houses from the Civil War era and the Victorian era. It was really neat to see all the old architecture and know that it was actually standing during that explosive time of America's history. One of the ladies at the visitor center had also told us that there was a new outdoor mall nearby that had a little lake with gondola rides. Since Miss Grey loves to shop we went to check it out. The mall was somewhat smaller than I expected, but they did have gondola and pedal-boat rides. While Micah and Miss Grey took a boat ride, Gabriel visited the Apple store and Sunny B and I sat watching the kids play in the large fountain/water park. Before we left the shopping center we visited Barnes and Noble, and they witnessed my weakness for nicely bound journals. On the way back to the car us girls witnessed a staged slow-motion martial arts fight between Micah and Gabriel on the lawn. We finished the trip off by splitting pizzas for dinner. On the way home Gabriel got into a discussion about politics with Sunny B, and ended up calling her a socialist. Now everytime they see each other they tend to get into long conversations about politics. We had a full and fun day, and decided that we definitely needed to do another 'random' road trip together.

First trip home...

In May my really good friend Tasha was graduating from college, and I really wanted to be there for her, so when I saw airplane tickets go on sale in March I knew I had to buy one. Since I got a great deal on my ticket, I didn't feel as bad taking a short trip and just went for the weekend. It was then that I learned taking a short trip for my first trip home was not a brilliant idea. There was so much to do, and so many people to see! It was very difficult to balance everyone and not hurt my family's and friend's feelings. However, I did have a good time and was able to spend a day with Tasha at her graduation.

I was (and am!) so proud of her! She was one of the first people in her family to graduate college, and it wasn't an easy thing for her. Tasha is a very social person and likes to do everything with everyone, which makes it difficult to get homework done. ;) Her first year was a learning experience, but thanks to some very supportive staff and church family, she was able to pull up her grades after that. Due to the community environment that her college provided, she has become even more beautiful on the inside than when she started attending there! I am so proud of her!

National Parks part 1 of 5: Great Smoky Mountains

This blog entry has been a long time in coming... it's a couple months overdue. However, I'm determined to share my first 2009 national park adventure with you. I feel a certain sense of accomplishment having started on my goal to visit 5 National Parks this year. Especially since it is now July and New Years Resolutions seem like forever ago.

Easter weekend of this year I went on a group adventure to the Great Smoky Mountains. The excitement started as soon as I and a couple friends stepped out the door. The rain drops coming down were large and fast, so that even with running we all were soaked by the time we got in the car. I drove north to meet a couple more friends who were going to follow me east to our destination. The rain turned to hail, and it was so loud on the car I couldn't hear my phone ring four times. Apparently there was a tornado warning and some of my friends got worried when I didn't answer my phone. We waited out the warning at Sunny B's house (she is a friend I met through Micah and Miss Grey) and then completed our journey to the cabin, without further complications.

Our cabin was in Pigeon Forge, and we arrived in town after dark. The whole strip was lit up, like what I imagine Las Vegas looks like. Go karts here! Boat rides there! Carnival rides and upside-down buildings and multiple 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' sponsored attractions. Once we turned off the main road it looked more like a normail town and it was pretty peaceful at our rental cabin. The hot tub at the cabin was a favorite feature with our group and Sunny B was especially enamored with it. :)

Saturday was our main time to see the sights and some of us had differing interests. One part of the group joined me for a drive on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail (in the national park) that morning. Another part of the group went to the outlet mall. The third part stayed at the cabin for some quiet time and to finish homework. About mid-day we all met up in Gatlinburg for lunch, and then ventured up into the foggy mountains of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I led the way in my car, Micah followed me and then Siah brought up the rear. Some people (not naming any names!) in Micah's car were nervous about how thick the fog was, but we pressed on and came out of the fog on the other side of the mountains. We even saw some elk on the other side! The main road through the park, that we were on, comes out on the other side in Cherokee, North Carolina. I wanted to go the whole distance so I could finally say I've been to North Carolina. We refilled on gas there and bought some ice cream and went back through the park to go back to the cabin.

I am really glad we decided to make it a group trip. We had such a fun time! It also was really reasonable for each person since we split cabin costs between 10 people. part of the reason I had such a good time was due to the act my oldest brother had flown out from WA state to visit for the weekend. We had a good visit, and he got to see a part of the country he has never seen before. I highly recommend that you all visit the Great Smoky Mountains whenever you get a chance... It is really pretty out there!

Here are some of the pics from my trip:

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]