knitting, reading, summer, school

You remember the kingdom gloves I posted about a few months back? Well, around the time I posted the pattern I started the gloves. I got through part of the cuff and stuck them in a bag and forgot about them. Monday night, I pulled them out of said bag, ripped out what I'd knit (it was going to be near impossible to find my place in that crazy, 9-page-long pattern), and started over. So far, this is my progress:

Yippee. It's so fun!
Sometime before the end of 2013 I hope to have tackled my two dream knitting projects: a lace shawl (I'm currently looking through the 2,000 + patterns on Ravelry to find the most gorgeous one) and a sweater (I know exactly the one I'm making). 


That and working is pretty much what I've been doing this week. I'm workin' all I can over the next couple of weeks, picking up every hour offered to me, because between June 20th and the end of August, the longest period of time I'll be home and available to work for is 11 or 12 days. I'm taking a total of 5 trips this summer, and I'll also be taking time off from work when Megan and her dear ones come up for a couple weeks.
I'm really looking forward to this crazy summer.
My trips include a camping trip with the church; two camps in Douglas, Mass., for one of which I'll be a camper and the other a counselor- also with/sponsored by the church; a trip to West Virginia to see family (hallelujah chorus, please); and a family vacation at a remote cabin in Vermont.

Shortly after returning from the last trip of the summer, I'll be starting my first ever real college class. See, I've made some decisions regarding school. There's this community college in Porstmouth, Great Bay, which has an amazing two year nursing program. At the end of the program, you're ready to take the test to get your RN- and their students have extremely high rates of success when it comes to passing said test. The only problems are 1. I can't get in this year (I'd hoped to, but I missed the deadline- and I'm not eligible because I'm still technically going to be in high school next year and I can't take my GED/quit being in high school until I'm 18) and 2. It's pretty competitive. Because it's basically the fast track to becoming a nurse, there are 300+ applicants and only 56 spots. So I'm trying to get an edge/lighten the heavy course load that I would have if I did get in by taking a couple of classes that are part the program. They'd count towards my degree if I did get in.
So fall 2012 semester, I'm taking pre-caculus at home, a math class at Great Bay, and a chemistry class at Exeter High School. Although my SAT scores for math were fairly high, I still want to take the test again and bring them up higher because that gives me a better chance of getting into the nursing program in fall 2013. I'm taking the math class at GB first because I figure the more math I do before I retake the SATs, the better I'll do on the test.
So that was a bunch of probably boring and unwanted information on my school plans. But I'm excited about it!

This past week, I finished A Tale of Two Cities. Finally. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, it's just that I haven't had a ton of time to read lately. So I'd been reading it for ten-fifteen minutes at a time on my breaks at work, and it took me a couple months to get through it (I read the last third of the book last Saturday- a lovely rainy day). But I'm done! Two thumbs up. That Dickens guy... He could really write.
So now, as part of my mission to read a greater number of classic books, I'm reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I just started it this morning, and I'm not far in at all. I shall let you know how that goes (maybe. To be honest, I may just space out and not blog again for a couple of months).
By the way, my Nook + Project Gutenberg = awesomeness.

I'm done.

joy dare 12; mawmaw

I talked to Mawmaw on the phone today. She had gamma knife radiation for a tumor in her head on Tuesday. She's not feeling great, but making a pretty speedy recovery. It was good to talk to her.

Day 12: something above you, something below you, something beside you.

Something above you: Birds. Birds make me smile. They're so beautiful and free. Of the birds in West Virginia (funny how I still have to stop myself from saying "at home"), my favorites were cardinals... or bluebirds. I liked the colors and how they were constantly around. Of the birds here, I like the seagulls. I know, I know, they're dirty, greedy birds, but - yeah, you guessed it - they're pretty. And smart. And yet another variation of God's creation :) 

Something below me: Well, how about something I would like to be below me? Snow. I don't want feet or anything like that, just a little to stay for a couple days and be gorgeous. Then I'll be ready for summer again. Snow cleans everything up. It's so pure white. It smells so fresh and clean. Ah, snow...

Something beside me: Megan. So thankful for my dearest friend, someone I've grown so much with. Having someone with the same values and ideals and goals is so encouraging.

that's life.

Life is good.

There's work, which is going not badly. I don't love being a cashier, but I've never met anyone who does. I'm grateful for the job. I wish I could get more hours, but having any at all is good. I work with a lot of nice people, which is great. And I actually like walking to and from work. It's exercise, but I like that I'm actually getting from Point A to Point B instead of just walking around, like I would be if I walked purely for the exercise.

School is going pretty well, too. I'm taking an evening biology class at the high school, and I'd say it's been a pretty good first conventional (although I realize that the atmosphere in there is not quite normal for a class, I'll still say conventional) class for me.
The rest of it (my home-school courses) are getting a little more challenging than they were at the start of the year, which is a good thing. I like a challenge.

And church is awesome.
Zoe and I have been going to a Bible study with 3 other teen girls from the church. That's been good. I've learned a lot. We have an awesome leader, Michelle, who seems to give the best advice on pretty much everything.We're starting a really hard book, Battlefield of the Mind, next week. I've read it before and I think it's a great book. It's going to be difficult- which means it's going to be good.
Zoe, Joe and I have been leading worship for every service for a few months now. We're learning what songs the congregation likes and doing our best to minister and help people just worship God. We've had our hiccups in the process, but I think we might be getting better at this.


And that is, more or less, life as I know it right now. I'm really happy. I'm really joyful. God has proven yet again that He knows what is best for me. He has a perfect plan for me. When we first arrived in New Hampshire a year ago, I had no idea what that was. But it's been great to look back over this first year and see how He has been blessing me and helping me grow through different events and relationships that would never have happened/begun if I were still in West Virginia.
Thank You, God, for bringing us here.

first anniversary

One year. It's been one year since we moved- pretty much to the day. One year ago tonight was our first night in the new-to-us parsonage.

On October 13th, 2010, a bunch of church family came to our house in West Virginia and helped us empty the contents of our house into the back of a 22 foot truck. We spent that night at Mawmaw's, surrounded for most of the evening by aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings. It was quite the surreal experience.

The next day, we drove. Dad drove the truck, Mom drove the Vibe. I rode with Dad, Zoe with Mom. We spent the night at a hotel. I think we may have gone to bed an hour or so after dinner- we were all exhausted.

On October 15th, after a second day of driving, we got here! Yay! Haha. :)  When we pulled in, we were slightly surprised to see lights on in the house- but not unhappy. We went inside to find Lori and Cheri painting. They had painted almost the entire downstairs, in colors that Mom had picked out. They were finishing up as we got there, and it was awesome to arrive to smiling faces and an atmosphere of loving welcome. Alex and Kayla had even made us a sign welcoming us to New Hampshire.
Our first night in Hampton was the first night that my brother and his whole family had dinner with us and our whole family in our home. Ruby, who was about 6 months old, had never been to West Virginia. We ate together and were joyful. We were thankful to be together.

The next morning, we got up early. Our family and people from the church came to help us unload the truck. It was an all-day process. Just about everyone who was able-bodied started unloading the truck, and then the women started unpacking all the kitchen stuff, and beds were being put together and furniture was being shoved through windows and fathers were questioning why on earth mothers had chosen to bring that all the way from West Virginia. In other words, it was very loosely organized chaos.
That was a good day. We were happy to be here, and everyone else was just as happy that we were here. There's always something about working together that brings people closer together.

On October 17th, Dad gave his first sermon as pastor.
It would be ridiculous to say that, that first Sunday, we were all completely comfortable with one another - from the very start. Because we were not. But again, we were glad to be here and they were glad that we were here. So that was that.

A lot of things have happened since that first Sunday we were part of the church instead of just there. We've begun to form strong relationships that, at this point, look like they can only get stronger.
Getting here has taken a while. It's been roughly two years since Dad said aloud that there was a slim possibility we might move up here. And they've probably been the most difficult two years of my life so far. But they've also been the best. I am so glad that God has brought us here.

i didn't really mean to be this sappy.

Megan and I have been the best of friends for about 11 years now- more or less from the day we met on. For some reason, even though we were almost polar opposites as young girls, we just fit together perfectly.

We're close because we've been through hard things together. When we were little, our common problem was crazy younger sisters (each of whom we both love dearly). As we got older, our goal to be Godly young teenagers was what held us together- because it's not easy to find someone your age that shares your views so closely on these things. And in the last year, each of us have been through a lot of life-changing things- together. Some of these things have been different, and some have been the same, but we've been there for each other through it all.

Megan and I were and still are pretty different personality-wise. She's more outgoing, more confident. Although I think I may have begun to catch up to her a little bit in that area (moving 800 miles sort of gives you a chance to get better at introducing yourself to people. Funny how that works), I'd still say she's a lot more fearless than I am. As a little girl, she was downright bossy {I say this with love, dear;)}, which has since turned into an awesome ability for leadership that is going to bless a lot of people as my friend comes into their lives.

As little girls, we wanted different things for our lives. I've always known I want a family. I'll probably be a stay-at-home mom for at least a few years of my life- and I'm also certain that I'm always going to be part of some sort of Christian ministry. Megan's philosophy as a little girl, though, was sort of that you couldn't enjoy life as much with kids, and she used to talk about not having kids until she was thirty and had had time to enjoy herself. I still remember that conversation- I laugh about it now. Because now, my dear sweet friend is being called to be a stay-at-home mom, quite possibly in ministry of some sort as well, and she's ecstatic about that calling. I could never have imagined that the two of us would have such similar dreams, but I'm very glad that we do.

My point in all of this is that I am so, so incredibly blessed. I'm so grateful to have been blessed with someone who knows me, who understands my dreams, and who has and will continue to learn with me throughout my entire life.  If it's possible, moving so far apart from one another has almost made us closer. I am so thankful for my closest friend, and for the joy that God has given us in growing up together, especially over these last few months.

Love ya, Meg!

this is going to sound slightly odd...

As insane as it is for a chemical plant in the middle of a river to make me feel at home, well... you guessed it.

On the way home from Grampa's, we cross a bridge over the Piscataqua. On one side of the bridge, there's a chemical plant. It never fails to make me think of the John Amos power plant on the Kanawha River back in the Chemical Valley. I think it's funny.

Zoe (purposefully) mispronounced Piscataqua as "Pisc-wa-tawk-wa" the other day. It made me think of how people who are new to Charleston can never figure out how to pronounce Kanawha at first. Usually, it's something like "Can-aw-wa" until they're corrected.

So anyway.

John Amos Power Plant, Charleston, WV

 

   Sprague Power Plant on the Piscataqua. (No idea if this is actually the right one)

painting pictures of egypt

I went back to WV with my family a couple weeks ago. My cousin was getting married, so we went and stayed for a few days. 

I think Mom and Dad thought it was too early to go back, but for me, I think the timing is just right. 

Someone posted this song to Facebook last night, and it really reminded me of myself.

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me
Either way

And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling out to me
Like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
 
And the place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I’ve learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
 
I was dying for some freedom 
But now I hesitate to go 
I am caught between the Promise 
And the things I know 

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I’ve learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
And if it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand

I'd been painting pictures of West Virginia, leaving out what it lacked.

I think these lyrics tell you almost exactly how I felt a couple months ago. But not so much any more :). I'm starting to not want to go back anymore. I mean, yes, I want to visit as much as possible, but I'm coming to find that, because I don't miss the places and things as much as I miss the people (who I can talk to regularly, 830 miles or not), going back isn't so desirable to me any more. I actually like it here. :)


Amazingly enough, I am more and more glad to be here. If you strive to remain close to God, you'll come to be happy where He puts you. At least, that's what I'm getting from all this.