Weekend according to Instagram

 A few of my favorite, most fall-ish activities include visiting the pumpkin patch, picking out a pumpkin, getting lost in a corn maze, taking a hay ride, and carving out the pumpkins into anything I could ever imagine (like pretty stars, or Kermit the frog, or Snow White). On Saturday, I did all of them with Luke and Rachel. It was wonderful.
And of course, we couldn't leave without getting our picture as floating goat and sheep heads. Luke opted out and insisted he had to be the one to hold the camera.

P.S. I said hi to Santa at the Celebration Village. You'd think he'd be to busy to visit us in little Tupelo, Mississippi. But, no. He asked me if I had been a good girl. And then I promptly jumped up and down yelling, "SANTA! I KNOW HIM!!!" Like this.

Well, maybe not just like that.

downtown.

Dear Best Friend,

18!
When did this happen? I guess it's strange to think of you as an "adult." Not really because you don't act like one, but because you've always been so mature. Mature, but not incapable of being silly and fun. (See picture.) :) Basically, you're just perfect the way you are. But now it's official. Eighteen years old.

Dear Katie, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and the wonderful, comforting sweetness of God's Presence throughout your eighteenth year. May you draw ever nearer to our sweet Savior, Jesus Christ!

Happy birthday, Katie Larissa! 

Needless to say, but still I must say it, for it cannot be said too often: I love you, sweet friend. So very much.

this picture makes me happy.

This girl is lovely. Hopefully I'll post more pictures soon, but this week and next I'll be busy campaigning/phone banking/doing whatever needs to be done for Senator Alan Nunnelee! And also doing homework and what-not. . .and seeing Wicked! So excited!

Eventually, I will post all the things I've been meaning to. Until then, I will be living life instead of blogging about it.

feeling patriotic?

the summer wind

. . .Came blowin' in from across the sea.

Where did it go? One vile word has swallowed it up.

School. This six-letter word has caused child and adolescent alike to tremble and has brought fear into the face of even the bravest and most fearless of youth.

 Yes, it's that time of year again. Summer 2010 comes to an abrupt end and I look back on so many wonderful memories, crazy doings, and exciting happenings:

(It sounded much less cheesy in my head, I promise.)

Like the time I attempted to throw a welcome home party for siblings who had been away and spread out from Virginia as far as Florence, Italy. Throwing surprise parties is not the easiest thing in the world to do, by the way. There's a lot more involved than what appears from a distance. But that's another story for another time.

Anyway, we ate buckets of ice cream flavored with mouth-savoring toppings, played an intense game of spoons in the dark on the lawn, talked, laughed, shared stories on our back porch. It was lovely.

Or the time Anna, Colleen, and I had tea and sandwiches on my back porch while decked out in dresses (for dress day, of course). Also included on this fine day was: Chopin, sunshine, hydrangeas, laughter, china, zip lines, good conversations, etc.

Camp Moriah. Hot, fun, great friends, frisbee, volleyball, canoeing, the bonfire, making bracelets from Ugandan beads with the best girls' group ever, and more frisbee. Did I mention it was hot? I stayed in a tent with the lovely Meg while we stayed up way past lights out (this is the brilliance & beauty of not staying in the girl's cabin, my friend), laughed, and talked about anything and everything.

 [I realize I can't post all the pictures I'd like to, so you can see the rest in my Camp album.]

Santa Fe, New Mexico. Beautiful. Cool (temperature wise). A 17-hour drive with a car full of kids, a hobbit house, hiking in the mountains, picnicking, shopping at the Plaza, Taos, exploring ancient ruins and climbing up 140 ft. on the side of a mountain on rickety old ladders (this was my favorite part of the week by far, I can assure you), reading on the back porch in the cool of the morning, white water rafting, and some family fellowship.

Adventures. Like finding pretty old houses on Endville road, exploring it and climbing into the old barn and up an ancient wooden ladder onto the second story. (We also had a lovely photographer name C-haad. Need one? I highly recommend you give her a ring.)

Saying goodbye to and moving out dear friends as they leave you for stinkin' North Carolina. I love you, Ande. And miss you buckets. (Does that even make sense?)

-trips to Sonic (to which we somehow managed to time just right enough to miss happy hour about every single time -- cause we're that awesome).

-picnics

-outdoor treks through the woods

-bike rides

-afternoon swims

-laying out while reading Mitford in the backyard

-Thursday night frisbee

-birthdays and parties

-lovely weddings

-soccer tournaments in the hottest heat in MS in. . .1,000 years (pretty much)

-sketching and painting to my heart's desire

-visiting Crampton Farm for the Fourth

-the church meeting in Memphis where I stayed with my delightful little family

 -late-night slumber parties with good friends

-sleeping in

-and happy birthday to Anna and Ande; I've been running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to make/buy/get/wrap/beautify your birthday specials. 'Cause I love you that much.

-Disney sing-along with the girls

-National Convention

-ladies' Bible study on Romans 6

-good friends and wonderful memories.

What were your Summer highlights? And, yes, I realize you must be much more brief than I. Sorry about this, but I pretty much tried to kill 10 birds with one post.

*NOTA BENE: No birds were harmed in the making of this post.

Family Portrait

Mom, Me, Grandmother, and Sister Tori

Photo Creds:: Tori S.

What adventures are made of...

L-O-V-E

Birthday, birthday, birthday, hey!

Ah, a birthday. The sweet smell of cake which often accompanies ice cream, brightly-colored wrapped presents, good food, the sight of great (sometimes silly) friends, bright streamers, balloons hanging from walls and mailboxes, and lots of fun. It never gets old, right?

Actually, it can.

Within seven days, I had fun times five. That means cake and icing times five.

1. Saturday was Jon-Jon's 9th birthday! Our little baby's not so little anymore. He and his crazy friends played at the bowling alley to celebrate.

2. Monday was Colleen's surprise 16th birthday party!

3. Tuesday was Leigh's surprise 16th birthday party, which is apparently the way to do it.

4. Thursday was Catherine's birthday! Lots of Spartans got together to celebrate...and I ate more cake.

{Cat loves her pink cake}

5. Friday: Danielle's slumber party. More Spartan girls + fun + games + knitting + virtually no sleep. It was great! Except for the no sleep part...I'm still catching up.

No more cake, please.

Little Joys

This is where I get to be really random, which I have a talent of being... (too bad this talent gets me absolutely nowhere)

1. There are only 11 more days until we get out of school for Thanksgiving break! You have no idea how happy this makes me. This means no school, no homework, no Dr. G, a week at Crampton Farm with my family, and time to enjoy some much-wanted reading. :)

2. This song makes me happy...as does this one. (You just can't go wrong with Chris Thile + the Beatles!)

3. In case you didn't know, this is the proper way to use ski poles.

4. School consumes most of my time, so I guess it gets its own numbered paragraph (but this does not mean it's a little joy). I finished reading The Scarlet Letter today and it was...eh. Don't get me wrong, Hawthorne's portrayal of the Puritans is very, very erroneous (yep, that's my word of the day), but viewed simply as a fictional novel, it's so-so. I felt like the ending was nothing to get excited over, but I was glad when Arthur Dim-wit finally (after 7 years!) acknowledged his sin and took the consequences like a man.

And...I think I do enjoy reading Poe. Meaning, I like what I've read so far. Sure he's a little creepy, but he's really intriguing.

5. This is one of the many reasons why I love Catherine Snyder.

6. A happy life is full of little joys: "A happy life is not built up of tours abroad and pleasant holidays, but of little clumps of violets by the roadside, hidden away almost, so that only those can see them who have God's peace and love in their hearts; in one long and continuous chain of little joys; little whispers from the spiritual world; little gleams of sunshine on our daily work." -Wilson of the Antarctic (don't ask me who that is, cause I have no idea - Amy Carmichael quoted him in Ploughed Under, that's all I know).

7. In just a few short months, Katie will be in Italy (if everything works out smoothly, that is...which is a big if). It is true that you don't really know what you've got 'till it's gone (or almost gone, in this case). Katie's the best sister I could ever ask for, as well as a wonderful example of Christ to me. I love her so, so much. And I don't know what I'll do without her. She'll be in Florence until June (or maybe longer) - goodness gracious that seems like an awfully long time!

Sisters :) ...and Chris Thile

8. Aside from the book, The Last of the Mohicans is a really great movie.

9. I have a new affinity for puzzles. It runs in the family.

10. For those of you who still think that cars, or buses, or trains, or bikes is the only way to get around, this is for you.

If you can read this, thank a teacher

My week at a glance:
Thursday consisted of loads of homework, errands to Barnes & Noble and Sam's, and a trip with some friends to Birmingham, Alabama to see Chris Thile perform in concert. It (meaning the concert - not homework or errands, of course) was amazing and he was amazing. He plays the mandolin - I know what you thinking; "The mandolin??? Really?" but he makes the mandolin cool, trust me - and he has an amazing voice. Listen to him here.

On Friday, Excelsior was actually kinda fun - we got to paint in art, our lunch wasn't cold, and literature was...interesting, to say the least. Then, after school I got to see friends that I don't usually get to spend much time with. And I started Eudora Welty's short stories. I haven't even finished the story I started and I think I'm already a fan of Eudora. :)

Luke and Eleanor - they're enthralled with Dr. G, I promise

This is what happens when Hugh Morris participates in class discussion. Um, yeah...it was fascinating. And educational.


:)

On Saturday, I had a wonderful time with my wonderful friend, Colleen. Then we headed over to the annual McCoy cookout, where we ate, attempted to play frisbee in the mud pits while it was dark...and cold- very, very cold (My toes are still thawing out.) - sat by the fire, enjoyed all the great things about Fall, and played "kemps" with the over-enthusiastic-card-player-Hugh and friends.

The McCoy/Strevel field.
I can't take credit for this picture - it's Jennifer's. Thanks Jennifer!