Riding the Bus

This past week has been crazy! I started working as a bus monitor, and so far I really enjoy it. I have worked on a bus with special needs children, as well as a bus full of elementary school kids, mainly riding with them in the afternoons. Since I have never been a bus monitor before, I have had to really get to know the rules on the bus and make sure that everybody follows them. Even though the buses have most of the same rules, they all operate at least a little bit differently, mainly because of the drivers' personalities and the personalities and individual needs of the children. Due to this, I really have to stay on my toes whenever I change routes. 

Although I was a Child & Family Studies major in college, I spent more of my time inside the classroom learning about children than actually being around them. However, I have gained some experience recently in being around children. I talked to the elementary school boys about their toy cars, four wheelers, and dirt bikes, while the little girls asked me how I got my hair to look the way that it did and how old I was when I got my ears pierced. One little boy raised his hand just to tell me that he thought I was pretty, which I believe took a lot of guts and made my day. For the most part, the children have been well-behaved, which has made it easier for me to adjust to my new job. 

In other news, I have been helping one of my friends remodel her house. I have pulled carpet and tack strips, sanded down plaster that was used to patch holes in the walls, and stripped wallpaper. I have been going there in my free time and trying to get as much done as possible. Although I enjoy working on home remodel projects, I will be glad to see her house whenever the walls are painted and the new carpet has been installed. Because that's when the decorating can begin! 

If you want to know more about what has been going on in my crazy life, then feel free to contact me. Even though I'm not a very private person, I still don't want to put all my business out for everyone to see on the internet and would prefer if we talked one-on-one! Haha! Also, if you have any advice for how to keep misbehaving kids in line, then I would appreciate that as well. I know a couple of the 20-somethings have quite a bit of experience in that field. 

I apologize for this post being so random, but I felt like I needed to post an update on here, but am also too tired to re-read it and edit it like I normally try to do. Hopefully, I will be able to do better about making regular posts in the future. 

Until next time, 

Miss Ellaneous

Bounty

It's August..and that means we have tons of fresh veggies here on the farm! We have a jungle of tomato plants, a viney, leafy tangle of cantaloupe, watermelon, and squash and loads of different types of peppers among other veggies. There are also some sunflowers (one of my personal favorites) in the garden which are blooming and turned out to be a really beautiful variety. Can you believe I counted 20 cantaloupe on the vine!? We have yet to try one, but I picked one that was ready the other day and we should be eating it (and many more) for breakfast soon. If you remember, I posted about a watermelon that appeared to be ready but was unripe when I cut it open. I cut open two of the watermelon today and they were both ready! I was happy to see it.

Tomatoes galore!

Mom even wheeled a cart full of veggies down the hallway at her school today, delivering veggies to teachers who enjoy them!! If you would like some veggies, know where I live, and want to come visit, you should come now while the garden is plentiful and enjoy them on your kitchen table too.

These shelves and another hold tomatoes waiting to be eaten...

Peppers, peppers, peppers...these are all from one picking

Here's to more bounty from the garden! 

The Farmer's Daughter

Heroes

So I have finished four days with my students and five days of student teaching placement. It's been a marathon. We started the year running. I say that because I feel like we've covered so much material. I've even gotten to teach some already. I am going to be able to learn a lot from this teacher. It's going to be a busy but fun semester. If only there wasn't florescent lighting in the classroom. It hurts my eyes.

Today we were starting Beowulf and discussing heroes. The journal questions were "what is a hero?" and "who is your hero?" Good questions. Most of the students answered "brave" or "selfless" for the first question, and parents were popular answers for the second question. Not everyone had a hero.

The varied answers made me think about the ideas of heroes in our society today. In epic poem time, heroes were immortalized in poems such as Beowulf. These were usually ordinary men with extraordinary strength and courage. Their strength was admirable and achievable if one worked hard. Today though, our heroes are either ordinary people who care for us, such as family, famous people, such as Abraham Lincoln, or fictional characters, such as Superman. The discussion made me think about how we view heroes today compared to how heroes were viewed in Anglo-Saxon culture. It seems to me that we heroize people too quickly. We have lost the grandness of a hero by making heroes of ordinary people who haven't showed bravery. Can someone really be a hero anymore? Maybe though, my thinking is biased by the heroic acts produced in Hollywood. The heroism depicted on the big screens is enhanced by special effects and careful writing so that it becomes almost impossible to replicate. The acts done by ordinary people, such as mothers and fathers, seem ordinary compared to the mothers and fathers in movies.

So I'm conflicted still on this topic of heroes. What do you think? What is a hero? Who is your hero? Can we even still have heroes today?

I'll leave you with those questions. I need to get some shut eye so I'm prepared to interact with the students tomorrow.

-Granny Eyre

Lesson From God: Tomato Plants

"Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Matthew 9:37
It is very interesting, at least to me, the way God works and speaks. This past Sunday during the morning service the preacher was preaching on visions Christ followers and even non believers should keep their eyes on. The verse quoted above was not the main focal verse of the sermon, that was somewhere in proverbs but I don't remember where exactly. The preacher as far as I can remember just randomly brought this verse up out of the blue to talk about a random point he was trying to get the people gathered to understand. This verse stuck with me though, and I have been pondering on it ever since.  
As some of you know I planted about ten cherry tomato plants this summer; you may even recall Granny Eyer's blog post where she posted a picture or two of my plants. Immediately after Brother Kenny said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." my brain started thinking about my poor tomato plants. I have not been the best worker toward them, the grass around the plants is as tall as the plants themselves and the only water they've gotten is from the sporadic rain we have got in this part of the state. Needless to say you can definitely see the fruits of my labor and unfortunately it's not much at all. 
My brain then began to think about what Jesus said. In my mind apart from referring to a harvest of food or drink of any sorts, Jesus could have also been referring to the non God believing people of the world as the "harvest", and the God following people as the workers. My tomato plants are like the non believers and I am one worker. As a follower of Jesus, I should be going out and tending to non believers sharing with them the good news of Jesus and how He died to save everyone. If I neglect the non believers like I did my tomato plants this summer, I am not doing what is right. I cannot walk around in life expecting some else to tend for people God has placed in my life or even trick myself into thinking they will be okay all on their own, just like my tomato plants and then realizing too late that they shriveled up and died without much of a chance. I have to be one of the few. I will go out into the world and tell people about a wonderful savior named Jesus who loves them more than anyone else ever could. 
I decided to steal a picture from Granny Eyre as a tribute to my tomato plants. Mind you this picture was taken in early July, my plant and the grass around them have gotten much bigger.

Well it is now almost 1 in the a m so I should probably go to bed. Goodnight and peace until next time.
Captain Something Fun

White Wedding

As you know, my best friend growing up got married this past weekend. I thought it might be fun to share some of the photos and stories with you from the big day. 

My beau & I waiting as they took pictures after the ceremony

It was an elaborate and beautiful wedding and a very fun reception. It did rain on us at the reception, which stunk, but luckily they got a tent which kept everyone dry! The tent was also really nicely decorated. Luckily my beau took lots of pictures on his phone that I can share with you. 

The get-away car

As a few of you know I was very worried about my hair for the wedding day. I'm not very skilled with updo's and it wasn't going to work out for the other bridesmaids to help me fix it (long story...). So the beau's sister ended up helping me out; she was able to ask the hair dresser she goes to, to do my hair. I was very lucky because she came in special for me, and in the early morning too. I was very thankful and she did an awesome job! I was so happy with how she did it! I don't normally prefer my hair up, but I thought this style looked really nice. I found inspiration for this hairdo on Pinterest of course.

The reception included lots of yummy food, sweets, cakes, and icecream. They also had a photobooth (those are always a hit with me!) and normal wedding reception activities. The bride was very beautiful and I hope she and the groom will have a very happy honeymoon! I can't wait to hear how their cruise goes! 

Yum! Some of the sweets they had in addition to cake!

I thought Granny Eyre might especially appreciate this cake on the right

Two happy couples!

What a weekend it was...it really was a whirlwind!
The Farmer's Daughter

Natural Beauty.

I'm finally in Richmond but I wanted to update you about all of my adventures (the Farmer's Daughter would oppose to my liberal use of this word) last week. My mom went back to school, which left me home alone most of the day. Since I had already cleaned and organized most of my stuff the week before I knew I didn't need to start really packing until Saturday (er, yesterday). So I had lots of time to sit around and do whatever. I did read a six hundred page novel (East of Eden by John Steinbeck which I highly recommend) and parts of some Christian non-fiction books I have started but I couldn't stand to sit around and read all day. I spent some time peeling wallpaper but that got frustrating. Towards the middle of the week, I decided to do some beautification processes since I was home alone and bored.

I need to preface this week by saying that I have not shampooed by hair in a week now. Now before you start saying eeww! let me explain. Last week (these weeks are starting to get mixed up. This was in week one of my vacation) I decided that I really wanted to try an egg wash on my hair. I'd heard about them but I'd never gotten around to doing it. My mom wasn't home to question my idea so I pulled out my smartphone and Googled (the fact that that is a verb amazes me) homemade egg washes to ensure that I was doing it correctly. I found this interesting blog about this lady who hasn't used shampoo in a year and still has clean healthy hair. I was like, hey this sounds interesting. I tried her favored method of using an egg yolk with warm shower water. I also used lemon juice mixed with warm shower water as a conditioner. I was amazed when my hair dried that it was clean! Since eggs are more expensive and require refrigeration, I wanted to test some other theories. She also mentioned using baking soda mixed with water as a shampoo. Okay, that's inexpensive and can be transported much easier than eggs. So for my next shower I tried this method. It also worked. I'm not sure how long I'll keep this process going but so far I'm still pleased. My hair is clean, albeit missing the nice shampoo smell. I switch between processes but mainly I've used the baking soda since it's easily accessible. I still occasionally use my leave in conditioner on the tips of my hair to help the fact that my hair tangles and breaks so easily.

After this success with homemade cleaners, I wanted to try some homemade face masks. This past week was the perfect time to do it since my mom was gone at school all day. I'm fairly self-conscience about these things when she's around since she doesn't do any of these processes (it's an irrational fear I know). Once again I googled some ideas. I found some that required ingredients we did not have but I finally found one that seemed promising. It called for unsweetened plain yogurt and lemon juice and was supposed help even skin tone and fade acne blemishes (yes!). We only had vanilla yogurt on hand but I figured it was worth a shot. I added some honey and a bit of oatmeal to the mixture for kicks and giggles since those were common face mask ingredients. The oats were a bad idea because they made the mixture lumpy instead of smooth so ended up picking the booger like objects off of my face. I was supposed to leave the mixture on my face for 20 minutes. At first it smelled funny but after a bit it hardened and I forgot it was there. Maybe it's in my mind but for a day or so afterward I did feel like my skin tone was more even.

Now for the required selfies since we all love selfies:

With the cold smelly stuff on my face. Since it's just yogurt and lemon juice it doesn't produce that cool face mask look like they show in movies.

Post natural beautification process.

Are you taking a picture of me???

You better not take a picture of me or I will haunt your dreams!

What's this little block with a screen and buttons..and oh it made a clicky sound!

Oh, I have a nose!

I was going more for an awkward angle but I decided to keep the awkward angle when I saw how humorous it looks with the toilet down below. I look like I might hurl.

That's all the beauty processes for now. Since it's late and I need to get on some sort of regular sleeping schedule I should go to sleep and get some beauty sleep (ha see what I did there?!).

Ciao!

Granny Eyre (who is trying new things in her old age)

A week without children

I feel kind of lame seeing everyone else post pictures of their cool adventure and I never have anything to share. Perks of strict confidentiality rules I guess. This week as been very different from what I am use to and today was a first. I worked my first ten hour long shift, and am I beat from it. This week was called "In Service" I've heard that term before going to public school I knew it meant something along the lines of teachers having to be at school but students weren't there. My eyes were opened to a different world this week. I got to see the behind the scenes workings of what preschool teachers have to go through to be prepared for an upcoming school year. It's not just a relaxing week of laziness like I thought when I was younger. Teachers have lot of manual work and mental work to do to get ready for the new set of children to arrive. I did enjoy the week, I got to bond with my teachers on a different level and it was beneficial to those work relationships. I also learned this week that Goo Gone is some magical stuff! I scrubbed so many cabinets and cubbies looking brand new now. I am excited for the children to come ready to learn and play! I sure have missed them a whole whole lot this week. And some of my littler friends are coming back from their summer breaks so that will be super exciting to see how much they have grown and developed since I last saw them in May.
In different news this week also brought a little spontaneity out in me. I was reading the newspaper yesterday when the farmers daughter text me asking if I wanted to go hiking. her and her man friend were going to the pinnacle and being the nice friend that she is invited me and misc ellaneous along. It was a very enjoyable evening hike with good company, even though there was a missing person somewhere on the trail. Also we had dinner together before the hike that was scrumptious even though the restaurant of choice did not have fish and chips or bacon for a BLT. All and all I would have to say this has been a good week. Next week I am hoping for more interesting stories to tell you all but until then you can deal with this piece of awesome.
Captain Something Fun
signing off 

Farm Life

This week has been an unusual and exciting week on the farm (and elsewhere) and it is only getting more exciting as the week rolls on. First of all..last weekend...

On Saturday I attended a family reunion with my parents (and Nova!). It was my Mom's side of the family and I only knew about 25% of the people there. Maybe not even that many. I'd never really been to a family reunion before but it was a good experience. Lots of good food, people to talk to, a very beautiful setting (a family farm) and comfortably cool weather. I don't want to ramble on about the reunion so I'll just show you a photo so you can get an idea of most of the people that came.

Sunday was a relaxing day, my beau and I explored the woods on his ATV, went swimming and picked the first watermelon off the vine in the garden. I was very excited about this watermelon. It's a small variety watermelon, my Mom calls it "ice-box watermelon". We checked the signs online so we could be sure it was ripe and it seemed to meet the qualifications but when I went to cut it open the next day...it was still white inside, it was very unripe still. I hope we have better luck with the next one.

Monday was another exciting day because my Dad brought home the dog he had been intending to adopt. He picked her out last week and she went through all the vaccinations, spaying and rest after her spaying surgery before she could come home with him. She is an Australian Cattle Dog, also known as a Red Heeler. Her name will be Wiley because of her resemblance to a coyote. Hopefully, like Miss Ellaneous did, I will be able to dedicate a post to her with photos and funny stories about her soon! You would think Miss Ellaneous and I coordinated adopting dogs together.

On Monday I also hung out with my good friend from high school who is getting married in 3 days!! I have a feeling it is going to be a very big event! I'm a little bit nervous about her wedding and the festivities coming up for her but I'm sure everything will run smoothly. After I pick my hair style for sure and finish my MOH toast..I'll be ready to stand by her side.

I made these really cute coasters out of old t-shirts at the bride's house

I better go get ready for the day!
Until Next Time...
The Farmer's Daughter

Callie Sue

Between November 2013-April 2014, we lost all three of our pet dogs to old age. I loved all of my dogs, but was extremely close to Roxanne, who passed away in April. Ever since then, I have missed the companionship of having a dog around the house. I have begged almost constantly for my parents to let me have a dog. Finally, it worked.

On Monday, I saw a picture online of an adorable puppy that a couple had found on the side of the road. They were unable to find anyone to claim her, so they wanted to give her away. I forwarded the picture to my dad, who said that I could get her as long I kept in mind that she would be my responsibility. I know you're probably thinking, "Why does she have to ask her parents if she can have a dog? She's 22 years old, shouldn't she be able to make her own decisions?!" Well, that would be true if I wasn't still living in my parent's house. In their home, what they say, goes...even though I didn't get my mom's permission & brought the dog home when she was out of town, but that's a different story!

Meet Callie: 

Since Callie was found on the side of the road, I do not know how old she is or what breed of dog she is. However, I have done some research and I think she may be a Doxle, which is a cross between a dachshund and a beagle.I think that she physically looks like a large dachshund, and she barks like a beagle. An estimate on her age would be a couple months old. I'm no expert, but she still has her baby teeth and is definitely a puppy. Hopefully, I will know more after I take her to the vet for her check-up.

Callie's name started out as kind of a joke. When my parent's were trying to decide a name for my sister, they thought about calling her "Callie Sue," a combination of their names, Calvin & Susan. However, they decided to name my sister, Haley Marie instead. When I was trying to pick out a name for my puppy, an old friend on Facebook remembered the story and said that I should name her Callie Sue. The puppy responds to the name, and I think it matches her personality, so it stuck. I was thinking about changing her middle name to "Anne" or something similar, but I haven't decided yet. 

Facts about Callie: 

1. She has a great nose. She smelled a chicken in the yard before she ever saw it. 

2. She is not afraid to walk in the tall grass, which, according to my dad, is unusual for puppies and could mean that she has the potential to be a good hunting dog. 

3. She learned how to sit on her first day at her new home (she's smart).

4. She gets extremely excited about the sight (and smell) of a dead fish! Gross!

5. She buries everything! Pizza crust, puppy treats, dead fish, you name it! 

6. She loves to get in the pond and splash in the water and mud, but doesn't like to take a bath afterwards. 

7. She barely complains when you put her in her crate. Tonight, she even went in there to lay down before I even thought about making her go to bed. 

8. She isn't like most puppies I have seen that want to stay right under your heels the entire time. Instead, Callie would rather go off and explore, which is a blessing and a curse. It's nice not to trip over her or have to entertain her all the time, but I am afraid that she will wonder off and get lost, which is probably what happened when that couple found her wondering the road, since she doesn't appear to have been mistreated. 

Tonight, I made her a rope toy out of some old FAFSA t-shirts. I'm thinking about making a few extra to donate to the local animal shelter. Below, is a picture of the toy that I made, and a link to the instructions that I followed to make it:

 http://irresistiblepets.net/2012/07/irresistible-and-free-diy-pet-projects-diy-dog-rope-toy/

I'll stop for now, before everyone gets tired of hearing me talk about puppies....like anyone could ever get tired of puppies, right?! 

Until next time, 

-Miss Ellaneous

Being a Socialite

Goodness, I can hardly believe it has already been a week since I last posted. Time really does zip away when you're having fun! The past week has been full of socializing, something I'm sure the infamous icon my pseudonym refers to is an absolute expert at.

On Saturday, Miss Ellaneous, her BF, The Hubs and I made the trek to Holiday World to meet my family, a neighborhood friend, and a friend of my sister's for the annual company celebration my momma's work hosts. LOTS of visiting that day! Sadly, Holiday World wasn't nearly as much fun as I remember it being during my childhood. There seemed to be fewer exciting rides and ridiculously long lines that didn't seem worth the wait. Everywhere in the park seemed to be cram packed. Maybe I'll go back sometime when less folks are there and have a better experience. The best part of the whole deal was getting to hang out with my peeps, a few of the individuals I care a heck of a lot about.

Carp (for anonymity's sake) came to visit The Hubs and I Sunday afternoon. We met at a locally owned pizza shop, Apollo Pizza. It was the first time visiting for all of us. We had a wonderful first visit! They have lots of awesome topping choices and offer a honey wheat crust. You know I went for the honey wheat and gracious me was it delicious! Definitely recommend this place on a relaxing afternoon when you have time to truly enjoy chatting over a meal. Their service was a little slow and we had read other reviews making the same comments. But, the atmosphere is almost as delightful as the cuisine--a slow paced feel.

Anyhow, afterwards we watched Divergent (an excellent film that I highly recommend!) and chatted for a bit. His visit was thoroughly enjoyed. Hopefully next time he'll have his main squeeze with him!

Yesterday, The MIL came for a visit! Her and I got to chat for a while until The Hubs got off work which allowed for some catching up. Then, we headed to Lexington for dinner. She decided she wanted to eat at Coba Cucina after hearing about our experience from The Hubs. Yet again, it was yummy! Afterwards, we walked around downtown and got some caffeine from Common Grounds before heading home. (Additional tidbit: The MIL talked me into helping her play Candy Saga Crush--what an aggravating game!) We had a wonderful visit with her as well!

Lastly, today I am going to visit some of the wonderful contributors to this blog while we have a "book club" discussion of A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House at North Lime Coffee and Donuts. I am ecstatic! Three wonderful things all wrapped into one afternoon: a great book, delectable food, and exquisite friends. You'd think I was a butterfly trying to work my wings... a social butterfly that is.

Until next time,

Some pictures.

Pictures! The pictures finally cooperated in getting from my phone to my computer so here's the photos from my baking adventures last week.

This is the recipe I began the bread making adventure with.

Mixing the dough. This mixer ended up being too small.

The dough is ready to rise. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the baked loaves. Now they're gone....

My mom doesn't like cucumber so it's up to me to eat the ones people bring to us. I was going to make a cucumber and tomato salad but we didn't have vinaigrette, lemon juice, or anything else I could find. I tried to use vanilla yogurt. I wouldn't suggest it. Plain yogurt would be better.

I'm still working on some more pictures.

Today I drove 20 miles to Smithland where Livingston Public library is located because I heard they were having a book sale. Maybe it was a bit far to drive to look at books that I don't need, but oh well. I bought East of Eden (John Steinbeck) and Ben-hur. I'm not sure when I'll have time to read these books but here's to hoping I find time.

Yesterday I finished pulling the wallpaper off our kitchen walls. If my mom will get some sort of caulking or something to patch the holes I will be able to help her get closer to painting. I'm trying to convince her to use a mustard yellow since it's already on part of the wall. She wanted a light blue but covering the yellow that's already there may be too difficult. By the way, never put up wallpaper in your house. It's just a pain to remove.

Other than that I've just been chilling at the house. I do get dressed but I'm not sure why because some days the only time I leave is to go on a walk with my mom in the evening. Soon I'll start the process of packing for college. Next week this time, I will be at the school with my teacher getting ready for the teens to arrive on Wednesday. Eek!

-Granny Eyre

Puppy Love

Today has been probably the cutest day that I have ever had. I know that most people do not commonly use "cute" to describe their day, but I will explain...

Two days ago, my friend Jasmine got a 6-week old puppy named Shea. Today, we took the puppy with us to Richmond on a shopping trip because Jasmine did not want to leave her new puppy alone all day at her house. I asked Jasmine if we could first stop by and visit my grandmother at the assisted living community where she lives. Jasmine willingly agreed, so we took Shea in for a visit. My grandmother (who usually doesn't seem interested in dogs), lit up at the sight of the little white puppy. Shea climbed up in her lap, gave her kisses and then fell asleep. Not too long after, my grandmother fell asleep too, with her hand still rested on the puppy's back. It was the sweetest thing that I have ever seen. I hope my grandmother wouldn't care that I am sharing these pictures, but I couldn't resist. If she wants me to stop sharing photos of her, then she will have to stop being so darn cute!

Nanny and Shea cheesin' for the camera.

Dog tired!

Everywhere we went, people were stopping to pet Shea and comment on how cute she was. Parents were bringing their small children over to look at her. At the drive-thru, the workers were leaning out the window to pet her! In one of the stores we went in, the sales clerk asked if he could take a picture of Shea sleeping in her basket. When he called his manager up front, we were afraid that we would get in trouble for having a dog inside, but the manager just came up there to see the cute puppy! He even (jokingly) offered to trade a dining room set for her! I couldn't believe how Shea could make such an impact on so many people just by sitting there and being adorable. We met so many wonderful people today that I am confident we wouldn't have talked to without her being there. Due to people's reactions today, Jasmine is strongly considering training Shea to become a therapy dog, which makes me super excited!

 Multiple people mentioned that Shea resembles Falcor from The NeverEnding Story. I was actually the first to say this, and was surprised that other people brought it up. Especially after finding Falcor's picture on  Google so that I could remember exactly what he looked like. 

Random Thought: I  didn't know that The NeverEnding Story was released in 1984, which explains why most people who made this comment were a little older than me. It must have been a pretty popular movie, though, because I definitely remember watching it and that would have been approximately 15 years after it was released!

Personally, I believe that Shea resembles a polar bear cub the most.

Can you believe that I just wrote this story (with a few changes) on a job application? The prompt was to tell a meaningful story about someone's pet that wasn't your own. So, besides being adorable, Shea may have also helped me land my first job after college!

If anyone else wants to share some cute stories of their own, or contribute their opinion as to what Shea resembles, feel free to do so in the comment section! 

Until next time, 

Miss Ellaneous