Hello all! 

Sorry that I have been so long in getting my blog updated again... I'll give you an account of all that has happened since I last posted. 

Last time I posted we were in the middle of "A Tale of Two Cities" performances at Ozark Actor's Theatre. Our last performance was on the 28th of April. The show was a blast and filled with so many fantastic memories. Click on the link to see a slideshow I made after the show was over. :) 

Tale Flashback

Sunday, the day after the show was over I got a call from my Grandma, Jeannie. She called with news that my Great Grandmother was very sick and possibly dying. I quickly finished up supper and went over to the nursing home to spend time with my Granny. She's had Alzheimer's Disease for the last 7 years so she did not remember who I was, but it was wonderful to spend time with her. She had just turned 94 the week before and all the family's had been there to celebrate. I cherish the memories I have  had with my Granny. She was a wonderful woman and God fearing. I was very close to her all my growing up years, I can still remember her rocking me as a young child. The next morning my mom came into my room to let me know that Granny had passed away that morning. I am so glad that I got to see her one last time the night before. I will never forget holding her hand, seeing her sweet smile and singing lullabies to her while she slept. Rest in peace Granny. You are now finally with your Creator in Heaven. 

 

That whole week was busy with relatives coming into town and the funeral. The funeral was perfect and so, so beautiful. We were all given two pieces of paper, both of which were in Granny's handwriting. One contained a Bible verse written in her handwriting and the other contained tons of little sayings that she had written on pieces of paper throughout the years. Apparently she use to write Bible verses or thoughts that she had on any scrap piece of paper and leave them for others to find. Her daughters literally have hundreds of these pieces of paper, so they put together the best ones for people to read at her funeral.  My Granny's name was Fern, here are a few of the little bits of wisdom she left behind. :) 

"Fernisms" 

Say, "I get to do this today, - not: "I have to do this today."

The Heavens declare the Glory of God - without a voice - just by "being" and doing what they are commanded - they have a "Voice" even though they don't "speak".

God places what we need all around us, though sometimes hidden in the most ordinary places. 

On the 3rd of May we had my brother Braden's birthday. He turned 8 years old! I can't believe how fast my little guy is growing up! 

The 5th of May was my 21st birthday. :D I celebrated by going out with a friend to her house and having my hair colored, as you can probably tell in the picture. We had a wonderful time and also celebrated by drinking Peach Schnopps mixed with Sweet tea. :) It was fun and enjoyable. :) Do not worry though, I did not get drunk or buzzed and have no intention of ever letting myself go to that limit. 

Also for my 21st birthday my dad went out and bought me a 2 month old billy goat. :) I had been wanting one for awhile so I could start breeding my goats again. He's a sweet little guy. I named him Sidney Carton, after the main character from "A Tale of Two Cities".

  

 The following Monday after my birthday we had the HIKE 5. It is normally a 20 miles hike through the backroads of Missouri with all the people that are a part of Fine Linen Drama. This year they had to make it shorter so it was a 16.3 mile hike instead. In January when I decided to start working out and getting my body healthier, I told Abby my goal was to be able to finish the hike. Not only did I finish the whole hike, but I also had enough energy to play Ultimate Frisbee for the rest of the evening. It was so much fun and I am so glad and thankful for a healthier body. :) Thank you God! 

 

 

The little guy followed us a long way from his home. We finally
had someone drive him back home. :)

Ryan and I :) He's such an awesome friend!                                        

The following Saturday after the HIKE I drove out to Jefferson City to spend the night with some of my good friends. The next morning Anna and I, packed and left for Chicago to spend a week up there doing mission work and some site seeing. We had a wonderful and blessed time helping in a soup kitchen and visiting with the homeless. God taught me many new and wonderful things during that time. While we were up there the Nato conference happened and all the occupy people came up for that. It was quite the adventure and exciting with all that going on! Cops and news reporters were EVERYWHERE!! :P God kept us safe though and I am happily back home. 

   

Kids I babysat and a temple place. It was amazing on the outside, but inside it was plain and pretty boring. 

   

     The homeless                                                                  So moving in such a sad area....

It's amazing how much people use their technology in the big city. I thought it was
bad here, but it was like being in a whole other world there! I found myself sad and depressed
being in a world where nobody tunes into to what's all around them. They don't say hi to you as they pass
they don't smile... It felt like I was in Fahrenheit 451 where everyone has their sea shell ear buds in and
they pay no attention to anything real. It was a real eye opener for me. btw, if you haven't read that book, you should!

     

These are a bunch of different photos I took during my time there. :) More of the artistic photos. ;)

 

 

                        

                        

I arrived back in Missouri Friday evening, the 18th, and went straight to the Cast Party for "A Tale of Two Cities". That was a blast and we had fun talking, and playing games. :) 

Saturday the 19th we had different things going on at home. In the evening mom and dad went on a date and we kids ordered pizza for supper, as well as soda and a movie. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed having our good friend, Chris Miller out for supper and the movie. :)

Sunday was church and afterwards we kids, and a bunch of our friends, all headed over the big park and played Volleyball and Ultimate Frisbee. Most of the friends that came were all guys and I ended up being the only girl on the field during Ultimate Frisbee. I think I held my own pretty well though. ;) My goal is to get really good at that game this summer. During one of our breaks from playing Ultimate I noticed some of the guys grouping together and talking. I made sure to keep my eyes open because most of the time the guys are always pranking me. Of course I'm good with revenge, but still. ;) Sure enough, Alex Goff completely distracted me by asking me a question. As I started to answer one of my friends snuck up behind me and threw a huge thermos of water over my head. :P I screamed and chased the boys around the field.. :P When the game was over I started walking back to where I had left my shoes (I never play Ultimate with shoes, they slow me down). As I walked over I suddenly realized that my friend Ryan had climbed up on top of the high soccer goal and was tying my shoes to the top of the goal. So then while I'm climbing up to get them down, my friend Jacob runs over and throws another thermos of water at me while I'm stuck and can't move. :P To make a long story short, by the end of the day I got each boy back with soaking them with water. I ended up being dripping wet by the end of the day, having been hit with somewhere around 6 to 7 thermoses of water... They still have it coming from me the next time I see them. ;)

So now we're at today! Today is Tuesday! I'm going out after this post to do some yard work and gardening. Later this evening I am going over to my dad's Uncle's house to talk with him about Washington D.C. Uncle Hank, as we call him, is taking Grace and I to Washington D.C. this Saturday for site seeing for an entire week!!! Eekk! We are so super excited!!! :D 

Now that you are all up to day I'm going to run outside and get some work down. Hopefully I can keep up with my blogging again and not let myself get so far behind. As you can tell though, I had good reasons for not being able to get to it ;)

Peace!