Another Week, 6 More Seconds

I only have 6 more seconds recorded...because I left a day out this week. Hopefully I can stay on track this coming week.

December 5th: Homemade- I decided to make a crustless sausage quiche for dinner. I loved how it turned and I ended up eating on it all week. It is rare that I don't get tired of a food when I eat it leftover all week, but I didn't get tired of eating it leftover. I guess you can't go wrong with eggs, cheese, sausage, peppers, onion, and spices.

December 6th: To-do List- This time last week I had a looming to-do list. Being the last week of class I had several assignments due soon and a final coming up (it was actually today). I also had Friends- Christmas things to get ready/ presents to gather. So..I made a school to-do and a Christmas to-do. I can happily say since my final was today I am done with school work FOR THE YEAR! I do have more Christmas stuff to prepare but that's way more fun than school work!!

December 7th: Best part of the day- This was a difficult one for me. I enjoy mornings because they are calm. I am just waking up, usually drinking some coffee and enjoying breakfast. I can visit with Miss Cleo and then get ready for my day. I also enjoy evenings, when after a long day of classes, homework and work, I get to sit down and relax. Sometimes I still have more homework to do, but at least I get to take it easy for the rest of the night.

December 8th: Best part of winter- I love snow and that is probably my favorite part of winter. But since it didn't snow on the 8th, I recorded myself wearing warm clothes. I really enjoy wearing sweaters, scarves, headbands and cuddling up with warm blankets. This is one of my favorite parts of winter.

December 9th: Snack- I missed my snack...I didn't really like the prompt anyway...

December 10th: Home- I made a fresh cup of pour-over coffee on Saturday morning and I had it sitting on my sink, the steam was rising off of it. I wasn't even sure of the prompt for the day, but I decided to take a clip of my hot coffee, with the morning light coming in through the window behind the cup. I think this turned out to be an appropriate video for this prompt...I drink alot of coffee in my home and I have a coffee themed kitchen...so it worked out. As I mentioned to Granny Eyre when we celebrated our Christmas party on Saturday, home is also where your friends are. When I am around friends and family I am home.

December 11th: Breakfast- My breakfast on Saturday was leftover hash-brown casserole from the Christmas brunch on Saturday (made by Martha S.) and of course...coffee. Over breakfast I was also finishing up a large semester-long case report that was due today.

I hope you enjoyed my last 7 days! 

See you next week....13 days 'til Christmas!! 

The Farmer's Daughter

December First through Six

I'm feeling fairly accomplished that I have kept up with every day of the picture challenge while teaching and planning for six classes a day. It usually makes for 10+ hours of work a day. Whew. I'm tired, and it's only Tuesday. Unfortunately all of my pictures were taken inside of my house because in this land of no-cell signal, I forget I even have a cell phone at school. #ain'tgotnotimeforthat.

Here's the highlight:
Light- It's a video of my oh-so-adorable cat Scout playing with her favorite laser light.

Tradition- This one was kind of lame. I took a video of our daily grammar practice for class. We do have a "tradition" of doing it every day. Basically the students have one sentence a week and do something different with the sentence each day. They dislike it, but I see them learning very slowly.

Morning- I didn't get out of bed early enough to get a sunrise like I wanted to since this was a weekend morning.

Winter beauty- It hasn't exactly been winter like outside yet, except for some dreary cold and rainy days, so I took a video of my newly "planted" Christmas tree. I'm extremely proud of Scout for not destroying it yet, although I caught her in it today.

Homemade- I would love to say I made some homemade cookies for this day, but alas that didn't happen. I was admiring my homemade ornaments that I'm finally able to hang on a tree.

To-Do List- I always have a to-do list. Sadly I didn't have a written one this time, but I do have an on-going list of vocabulary and classroom management techniques to try.

Here are the first six days of November.

Cheers!

Another December Photo Challenge in the Works

Hello my fellow twenty somethings! i hope i am not alone in thinking where the heck has this year gone? There are only 25 days left in the year of 2016 WHOA pure craziness! As the Farmers Daughter mentioned in her post yesterday, this year we are doing our December photo challenge a bit differently by using 1 second video clips meshed with multiple days photos together. Shout out to Granny Eyre for suggesting the 1 sec video app as a way to compile our pictures. So onto the actual photo compilation. This first video of mine encompasses Days 1,2,3,5,6. These photos represent, light in its true December form, a tradition of watching my most favorite Christmas movie, a morning of a capella singing of Christmas tunes, a tree that most definitely was not manmade so it counts as homemade in my book, and lastly a glimpse of my to-do list on this particular Tuesday in my life. Without further ado my video!

Days 1-6 but minus day 4 

If yall could please let me know if the link works, and if it's causing you any trouble, that would be great.

Captain Something Fun signing off for the night

December 1 Second Challenge

It has been way too long since I've posted....

Captain Something Fun suggested we do a photo challenge for the month of December. We morphed that idea into a 1 second a day video challenge using the following photo-a-day prompt.

Using the 1 Second Everyday App, I have been capturing my days. I forgot yesterday which was a bummer but I'll get back on track today. I have been busy this weekend. My aunt hosted her annual girl's Christmas craft exchange and party this part Saturday. It was great fun and the food was amazing as usual. I got a pretty stained glass bell one of my other aunts had made. I can't wait to put it (and the rest of my decorations) up in my apartment!
I am also sharing a photo of my brother's neighborhood. His neighborhood reminds me of the Christmas with the Kranks neighborhood. I told Mom and Andrew, everyone needs a Frosty on their roof. On Sunday, Andrew's neighbor was putting lights on the roof and it looked just like a scene out of the movie. I can't wait to watch that movie again this year. 

Take note of the man on the roof

So far I have recorded: 

Dec. 1: Lights: The city of Berea lights

Dec 2:  Tradition: Spending most of my Friday nights with my beau. Sometimes we relax and take it easy (which is what I documented), sometimes we spend the night out. It depends, but we try to spend it together. 

 Dec. 3: Morning: Make coffee, this is a must. 

Check back for another update from me in about a week! 

The Farmer's Daughter

My Dream Home

Friends,

Lucas and I have been perusing realty and home-buying websites for months trying to figure out where we're going to end up this time next year once I'm officially an OT/R (hopefully!) and have acquired my first job.

Right now, my aunt has offered to let us stay in her lakeside cottage from January 'til June. After that, our living situation is still up in the air. BUT, Lucas and I have fallen head over heels for the Sugarberry Cottage house plans from Southern Living's House Plans. We have both agreed that it meets our dream home criteria in every way:

• It's not too big -- a little over 1600 square feet. Big enough to entertain, small enough to maintain
• It has an open floor plan that's perfect for entertaining with the kitchen, dining, and living room all essentially part of one larger room
• Two big covered porches -- swoon
• The master bedroom is downstairs -- practical for when we get older (we're definitely thinking long-term here!)
• The fireplace -- again, swoon

When I found these plans, I knew this was our #goalshouse. It suits us both in every way. Even though we still may not know where we're going to be a year from now, we do know where we want to eventually end up. I have been so giddy about finding this that I couldn't wait to share it with you all! I know Mrs. Stewart would approve ;)

Happy Monday,

Oneida

I've been at Oneida for over a month now, so it would seem logical that I would have made a blog post by now. Alas, it hasn't happened. Overall, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here and to serve Jesus.

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service (1 Timothy 1:12)

I realize that my first year of teaching anywhere would be difficult, but being here is just a little bit better because I am surrounded by like-minded people and I'm able to freely share my faith. I also really enjoy the break after 3rd period for chapel, which definitely wouldn't happen at a public school.

This is not to say that my time here has not been met with its own share of difficulties. I've had to adjust to a different pace of life, learn to live with less internet and cell coverage, find my niche in an established community, balance the demands of first-year teaching, try to say no to some opportunities, build a support system, learn two curriculum, develop tougher skin, and make time to simply rest. If you know me even a little bit, that last one is very difficult for me because I tend to run myself dry.

Through it all, God has provided. I have found ways to communicate with the outside world, learned to appreciate the good conversations and the loneliness, learned to keep the books for volleyball games, given up on creating everything from scratch, listened to student complaints without second-guessing my decision, and found a good walking path. I'm still learning every day and finding that the best advice about the classroom and adjusting to this life comes at the least expected moments.

It's been a journey thus far, and I expect the journey will continue throughout this year and for however long God keeps me here in Oneida. If you're looking for something to pray about, ask God to continually give me patience, tenacity, love, and his eyes as I teach these students about English and God.


Granny Eyre

Pictures Not Included

Hello fellow twenty somethings! It's been a while since my last post. Summer wasn't even here yet and now what do you, summer only has a month left. Crazy. These past couple of months have flown by. Lots of new music, an app that keeps getting better, and some fun adventures with all of you. Currently, well the last week and half, my life has consisted of watching the Olympics. By far my most favorite sport to watch is women's indoor volleyball. As a player of the sport sporadically in my mere 24 years of life, i very much get into the sport and of course i have to root for the USA. So far the team has been undefeated. After a complete shutout of Japan 3 sets to 0, these women are on their way to the semifinals on Thursday. Something that sort of bugs me about the Olympics is Micheal Phelps. i do give him props for doing so well in his swimming career. My qualm is with the way all these people are calling him the most decorated Olympian. In my opinion I do not think an athlete deserves that title unless they have competed in different sports not just one particular. That's all i have to say about that. i have made a couple of post about music in the past but haven't in a while so i want to catch you up on what songs are currently on my playlist, mind you some of these are a few months old but still on my playlist don't judge.
1. Charlie Puth- One Call Away (because you all know i'm only one call away)
2. Love Yourself- Justin Beiber (just tell it how it is bro)
3. Here's My Heart Lord- Passion Worship Band (i owe everything to God this song sings that)
4. To Live is Christ- Sidewalk Prophets (my life is lived for His glory)
5. How You Get the Girl- T. Swift (what's a playlist without my girl T. Swift)
6. Let It Go- James Bay (not to be confused with Frozens hit song)
7. One Step Away- Casting Crowns (God is always near)
8. One True God- Steven Curtis Chapman
9. Home- Blue October (i heard a song by them years ago and this song is just as good)
10. Fight Song- Rachel Platten (if ever i need motivation this is where i go)
11. 7 Years- Lukas Graham (reminds me life is an ever changing adventure, live it)
12. Stand In The Light- Jordan Smith (don't be afraid to go and do)
13. Between the Lines- Sara Bareilles
14. Lost Boy- Ruth B (my sister introduced me to this)
15. Refuge- Finding Favor (God is a safety)
Something i've been doing a couple days a week for a few hours on those days, is volunteering my time at the library. It is good for me, having a bit of structure. i have been mostly shelving books. It is a peaceful go at your own pace kind of task. This kind of task is a perfect fit for me, i very much enjoy it. A goal of mine is to start riding my bicycle at least 3 times a week. i think it will be helpful to stay active in this way. Well that's a bit of what's happening on my end. Captain Something Fun signing off.

This poem is for Martha S. and anyone else who loves the elderly.

Old Folks Laugh

They have spent their
content of simpering,
holding their lips this
and that way, winding
the lines between
their brows. Old folks
allow their bellies to jiggle like slow
tambourines.
The hollers
rise up and spill
over any way they want.
When old folks laugh, they free the world.
They turn slowly, slyly knowing
the best and the worst
of remembering.
Saliva glistens in
the corners of their mouths,
their heads wobble
on brittle necks, but
their laps
are filled with memories.
When old folks laugh, they consider the promise
of dear painless death, and generously
forgive life for happening
to them.

By Maya Angelou

Pokemon Go, Go, Go Away From My Life

The latest craze is Pokemon Go. Just as I didn't give in to Flappy Bird, Yik Yak, or any of those dating apps, I don't plan to download Pokemon Go. Anyway, I can understand the game vicariously through my friends. Other people can feel free to play the game (power to them), but I'm going to choose to let this phase pass me by (or I'll jump on it a few months down the road like I did with SnapChat and Instagram).

Here are my reasons for not downloading the app at this moment:
 (just to be clear, I did enjoy playing the Gameboy Pokemon games as a child. I still am intrigued by the world known as Pokemon.)

1. I don't know how people have time to be on the app. It seems that you'd have to invest time into this. Everyone is different about how they choose to spend their time, but I have other ways I'd rather spend my free time.

2. I love taking walks, but I don't like to be on my phone when I'm walking. I want to enjoy the world around me and the people with me.

3. It seems kind of dangerous. Walking and being on your phone is dangerous period, but this is extended amounts of time walking and staring at a screen. It could be very easy to walk into the road or a stationary object. Also, trainers, be sure to walk with a buddy and pay attention to your surroundings. There have already been stories of people getting lured into dangerous situations because someone is taking advantage of an innocent game.

4. It dominates conversation, even when it's not being played. "Have you caught a Pikachu?" "Which team did you choose?" "Where did you find that Jigglypuff?"

5. It would drain my phone battery.

6. I'm kind of anti-phones anyway. Granted I use it quite a bit on a daily basis, but I'd rather not add another reason to use it.

7. It creates a new reality. "There's a Squirtle over there!" Umm, no, that's a tree. I do love fiction and imagination, but I need a line between fiction and reality. This app pushes the line just a bit too much for me.

8. There are some security concerns. Do a quick search about security concerns with Pokemon Go and you'll find concerns about Google access, tracking, and hostile attacks. It's a little early in the game's release to know how accurate they are, but I'd rather not take the risk until they definitely clear those up.

9. It's going to cause problems with trespassing. People be smart about where you're going to catch Pokemon. Remember the person whose yard you're walking through may not see the Pokemon that show up on your screen.

10. It seems that right now the demand is so high that it just keeps freezing on people. I don't need that kind of frustration in my life.


None of this is to say that others shouldn't play the game. I'm sure it's enjoyable once you start, and I'll probably talk with you about it if you're playing. I just don't plan to download one more app that could cause one more addition. I already have plenty of technology addictions.

Maybe the bottom line is that I'm just a bit of a Granny.

Cheers!

The quality isn't great, but here's a protest song that I found on YouTube.

Peanut and Riley

I've been dogsitting this week, and it's always an adventure and a test of patience. My family didn't have a dog after my Kindergarten year. Before that, the dog was my brother's dog. Even though its name was Happy, I didn't like to get near it because it was bigger than me and barked. I have a distinct memory of waking up late on a Saturday morning and finding no one in my house. I went outside and the dog was out of its pen because someone was mowing the pen. I was not a happy child that morning.

Anyway, back to the present. The dogs I'm sitting for are nowhere near as big as Happy was (he died sometime while I was in middle school at my grandma's house in North Carolina). Also I've conquered my fear of dogs for the most part.

Peanut is a poodle. He gets really excited when I head toward the couch.

He's a bit older so he sleeps quite a bit. A little old man without the snores.

This is Riley's favorite spot. Even though he doesn't live in this house on a regular basis, this is his favorite spot.

I brought some laundry over to wash. He claimed this blanket as his own.

For the most part, they are good dogs. They do like to bark at  cats incessantly in the yard, and they beg for my food like they haven't eaten for days. I enjoy their cuddles and kisses though.

Selling Our Stuff

We had another exciting adventure this weekend, and we didn't even have to leave home. The TwentySomethings have entered into the world of business, yard sale business that is. We combined our extra stuff and set up shop at Martha S.'s house. Some of us are quite the yard sale shoppers, so we had a few ideas of things we definitely wanted to be sure happened.

1. Everything needed a price clearly labeled.
2. Keep the prices low, low, low...
3. Items needed to be organized and displayed.
4. Improve the atmosphere with good music and friendly conversation.

We started with a bunch of boxes in the basement.

Now I know every yard sale shopper has seen yard sales where this would have been how things were put out on the driveway. That was not the case for the TwentySomethings. After a highly nutritious dinner of pizza and a salad, we set to work organizing and labeling all of our items. Thankfully the weather was cooperating so that we could put items outside the night before the sale. A couple of hours later, we ended up with some fairly organized shelves and tables. Our reward? S'mores rice krispies and strawberry cake, of course!

Turns out we had more stuff than we thought we would. It's amazing to me that five twenty somethings have already accumulated so much stuff in our few short years of life.

For me, it was a lesson of trust. Since I had to work on Friday and couldn't be at the sale, I couldn't decide every time a customer wanted to ask a lower price for one of my items. I had to trust my fellow TwentySomethings to use good judgement on which items to lower the prices I had set and how low to go. It's not that I don't trust my friends; it's more that I like to be in control. They did a fine job by the way.

I tried so hard to sell this sombrero on Saturday. I'm sad to say that no one bought it. It came from Goodwill and returned to Goodwill.

While we didn't sell everything and Saturday was terribly slow, we did have good laughs and enjoyed one another's company. The total came close to $400. 

I don't think we'll do one next week or anything, but there might be another Five Friends yard sale in the (long-term) future.

Marvel adequately displays how we all felt after the end of the two days. 

Cheers!

Slacker

So, I sort of slacked off with the photo challenge last month, (wow, is it really June 1st!?), so I decided to make a general life update instead of catching up. Perhaps it will sort of incorporate the last two days I missed and make up for some of the other days I may have skipped over.
Now that I think about it, yesterday really fit in with, "Mama, Can I keep it?"

I rode with my parent's into "town" to go to Willisburg General Store (The Amish store). On the way back Dad say a puppy on the side of the road, heading for the woods when it saw our vehicle pass by. So we turned around and I went into the woods, and I carried out a sweet, scared, starved, several month old puppy. It was sad how it had been neglected. We took it to the pound, but I wanted to keep her and nurse her back to health. I think she will be adopted, since she is very young.

I have also been going crazy with plants..I'll be bringing several back to my apartment with me. I now have an herb jar that I'm very excited about with Marjoram, Parsley, Chives, and Pineapple Sage in it. Now I just need to figure out how to use all of them in my cooking. My plant will be covered with numerous plant pots and I'm hoping I'll be able to plant some basil in the yard. We'll see if it thrives..the lemon balm sure has!

I can't think of any more exciting news from recent days. I will be heading back to my apartment tomorrow, going to yard sales on Friday, helping host Granny Eyre's birthday tea on Saturday and taking photos for someone on Sunday. It should be a fun-filled weekend!

Au Revoir! 

Who I am

Today's post is a bit interesting. I wasn't exactly sure how to form I am who I am in a blog post. After some contemplating during the day I decided on not confining myself to just one thing. So who I am, first off I am a child of God. I am also a daughter, sister of ten siblings, aunt to nine awesome kids, friend, college graduate, rook player, hiker, volleyball player, frisbee lover, avid reader, and goofy individual.

Well that's who I am and probably some other things that I've not yet discovered. Peace to you all.

Days 21-24

Day 21...What I'm Reading. 
I am currently reading my second Blogging for Books book, Rooted. The cover and title attracted me; I love how the author uses plant analogies too. I actually just reviewed it on my other blog even though I'm not quite finished with it yet.

Day 22...Where you Stand

In the grass (during the summer), and most of the time..in my Chacos! I've had these sandals for about a year now and I wear them almost everywhere. I took the very literal version of "Where I Stand"

Day 23...12 o' Clock
I am currently working on painting a sewing cabinet. If you are like me you are probably wondering what a sewing cabinet is. I'm not even sure this is what they are commonly called, but this is what my mother calls them. It looks like a table, but you open it at the top of the table and can pull up a sewing machine to use at the table. But when you are not using it, it looks just like, and can be used like, any other small table. The backstory is...my mom recently told me that a sweet lady from church (who loves going to auctions and often gets extra things she doesn't need) was going to give me a sewing machine because she had recently acquired three. Mom was at one of her favorite local thrift stores and saw a sewing machine cabinet there. They were only asking $15 for it, so she got it for me for my future machine. Turns out there is already a sewing machine inside this cabinet..a bonus! The cabinet wasn't very attractive so I decided to paint it with some pretty yellow paint my parents had. At 12 o' clock, I was in the garage, about to start putting on the first coat of paint. So..now I just have to learn more about using my new sewing machine.

This is how it looks when you aren't using the sewing machine

Day 24...Weather

The weather this week has been absolutely great! And 10 times better than what they predicted. I'm still crossing my fingers that it doesn't actually rain tomorrow for the camping trip! 

Poppies on the farm

All about Me

Throwback Thursday (on Wednesday) to fulfill today's post about I Am Who I Am. Here are a compilation of photos ranging from baby Cathy to senior in high school Cathy. I think I've always had a great sense of style.

Cheers!

Wonderfully Warm Weather Wednesday

The weather this week has been glorious. I hope it stays like this through the weekend while we camp. Every day this week, I have taken my lunch outside to Fee Glade. I sit in the sunshine and warm up while I eat. My office is like an icebox, so the sunshine feels wonderful.

Cheers!

Good Day Sunshine

This sunshine the past couple of days has been a definite change from the rainy two weeks. My flowers are especially liking this weather.

Peace to you all.

Day 24: Weather

The weather is absolutely gorgeous today, but unfortunately I'm stuck inside at work.

Yesterday was also nice. I was very productive. I got the yard mowed, my car washed, and my little outdoor table painted. I have two glider chairs that I will be painting next. All of the furniture that I am redoing was given to me for free and was going to be thrown away. Jeff gave me the table, and the two chairs belonged to my grandparents and my uncle wanted to throw them away (the paint is flaking off of them and they don't look too pretty right now) And I bought the spray paint at a yard sale for 50 cents...so I figured if I mess it up, I won't be out much money! Haha

The table needs a little touching up, but I think it turned out nice.

My mom sent me some plants from her garden, so I plan to plant those tonight. There are daylilies and hostas, and I'm not sure what else.

What is everyone else doing to get ready for summer?

-Miss Ellanous

Days 18, 19, 20...

Well, this is an odd combination of challenges for one post: Happiness, Unhappiness, & My Favorite Word

Happiness: 
Happiness is really many different things for me. One thing that makes me happy is being home with my family, crafting and shopping with my Mom while I'm home, and going on walks in the lush, green country with the dogs.

Unhappiness:
I don't really like thinking about the negative so I don't have an unhappy photo. However, something that makes me unhappy is when children don't cooperate and choose not to do what you ask them to. I substituted last Wednesday and Thursday and, while I didn't have any classes that are too unruly, I did have a couple of students who didn't want to do what I asked them to.

Favorite Word: 
Like Miss Ellaneous, I've never really thought about my favorite word. When I considered this prompt I thought about words of things that I like, like chocolate, love, and nature. However, I decided on the word GRACE. I think it's a smooth sounding word with a powerful meaning.

Catching up on Days 21-23

Day 21-What I'm Reading: American Green by Ted Steinberg.

Yes, I am reading a book about the history of the American lawn...don't judge! It's actually pretty fascinating. For some reason, I feel like I am wasting my time if I am reading a book that I cannot learn from (I think B.C. did that to me, but I'm not here to point fingers). Right now, I'm at the part where the author is discussing how people became obsessed with their lawns...to the point where they had no furniture in their homes because they had spent all of their money trying to impress their neighbors with a beautiful lawn.

Did you know? Clovers are actually good for your lawn, because they have the ability to filter nitrogen from the air and deposit it into the soil for the grass? Lawn clippings do the same, so save money by leaving them on your lawn and not having to buy harmful fertilizers.

Day 22: Where I Stand 

This quote has got me thinking about where I stand. I've always been told that if I work hard enough, I will be able to achieve anything....but what if what I am trying to achieve isn't worth it? How do you know when it's time to walk away from certain things in life? The biggest thing this quote brings to mind for me is relationships. I can think of certain "toxic" relationships I have had in my life where I did all I could for someone and it didn't seem like enough....this has made it difficult for me to trust people and be the generous person that I am by nature. But I do not want to miss out on helping a friend because I am afraid of getting hurt. How do you know when you have done "enough", "too much" or "too little" to help someone? 

12 O' Clock: Here is where I was at 12:00. At my house goofing off with my sweetie. I look forward to lunch time every day....almost at much as I look forward to 5:00 pm (it is now a quarter after 5 as I type this) when I can go home and kick my feet up. Today, I will probably mow the lawn instead of relaxing, though. Bummer!

Until next time, 

Miss Ellaneous

It's twelve o'clock somewhere

If I am incorrect someone please let me know, but I am pretty certain it is twelve o'clock somewhere almost all day. Which I think is very cool! Anyhow my picture for today is of the sun at noon o'clock here in my time zone. A word of advice though, don't look directly at the sun when trying to take a picture at this time of day because you might be momentarily blinded.

As you might have noticed, this picture is clearly edited but I like it this way. Peace to you all.

12 o'clock Photo Post

What is 12 o'clock best for?

Food!

Cheers!