School supplies, Autumn, and Pumpkins

I love autumn! It is a marvelous season, probably my favorite over all the others. I say that and then my mind starts wandering to all the other seasons, and I could pick a million things I love about those seasons...But gosh, autumn is simply terrific. It's the beginning of school, which means "back to school shopping" for us youngins. I love buying all the school supplies...Pencils, glue sticks, markers, crayons...And best of all: notebooks! When I think of autumn I think of the amish, apple cider, and reading a fascinating book in front of a open window, with a slight draft coming in...I also think of the Grabill fair, apple dumplings, and leaf houses....Ahh the essence of autumn is simply lovely. Gee I'm excited about decorating my front porch with my new pumpkins!

September tales

Well tonight sets off the second bonfire party of September! My sister's and I invited a bunch of random people to our lovely fall fest, which are always extremely fun! As we were talking about earlier this day, you find out what people are really like at a bonfire...The real you comes out. Some sit in silence, some can't stand the silence, it's terrific! Well I must be off!

There's two of you!

Sometimes I feel like a Celebrity. Thanks to the fact that Vanessa and I are twins, we get a lot of stares. People everywhere we go will see us and say "Are you twins?" I would bet those three words are the most commonly spoken to us! Not long ago on the way home from our vacation, we stopped at a gas station, and due to the fact that we'd been driving awhile and my hair wasn't exactly fixed, I put on a headband, and so did Vanessa, then we both put our sunglasses on and went in....Well we went up to pay with our mom and this lady at the check out was being all friendly and talking to our mom, and then she looks at us with our headbands and sunglasses (we were trying too disguise ourselves) and says "Are you girls twins?" Guess that disguise didn't work. What's most funny is when someone came up to me once and said "There's two of you!" now that was interesting...

When I'm in the dentist chair....

Well, I did it. I faced my giants today and went to the dentist! Isn't it odd, how you have a sinking feeling in your stomach, while anticipating your dentist appointment? You could have the nicest dentist, but it still doesn't help. Your heart beats wildly, and your day seems to be not so sunny,when you hear that dreaded word...Dentist.

Catching Up

It has been an enormous amount of time since I have had the pleasure of blogging! Due to technical difficulties I have not been able to log into my blog so it has been over a month since I've graced your computer with my dandy posts. I've missed it! Here's a couple of things that's been going on. 1) My birthday has come and gone! For Vanessa and I, our birthday is practically a national holiday. It's a big deal man! I had a terrific day. I went out to Chinese for lunch with Van and Mom, watched a great episode of "Matlock" for nap time (every one needs a nap on their birthday...) Shopped in the evening at my favorite store (Target) and had mandarin orange pudding cake, that night with the family. Now doesn't that sound fun? 2)Vanessa and I are learning a great deal of sign language!It's been a lovely learning experience, I've really enjoyed it. We started last winter and have worked our way up to actually knowing how to have a conversation with each other and understanding it! It's simply terrific! 3)I went to the zoo with my niece last week and She was getting confused and calling the animals "apples" which was terribly cute. "Kiya can you say 'animal' ?" "Apple!" anyways the rest is kinda the usual summer stuff...Driving, going to the library (I got a Nat King Cole CD last time I went...His stuff is fantastic.) I went to my nephews' soccer practice, which was hot but fun.

His Faithfulness

Hello Bloggers! I am blogging tonight to tell you about a wonderful thing that has happened in my song writing world. There is a song I started probably around three years ago, I started it at church one Sunday night, and it is taken out of psalm 37. I've had this chorus for a long time. The words are: "I will feed on his faithfulness, I will rest in his righteousness, I will feed on his faithfulness and truly I will be fed" I have tried and tried to write a verse to go with it, but seriously nothing ever fit...Until tonight! I was singing about thirsting for the Lord and seeing him (psalm 42, and 63) and it just flowed right into the chorus beautifully! I was so excited, so I got Vanessa and showed her, and she started playing this terrific tag that lead into the chorus. Now isn't that neat?

Remembering Colorado!

Ah the sweetness of Colorado is embedded into my heart....The drive isn't so sweet though. Gosh we got home Friday night and I had major jet lag...Or would that be car lag? I didn't know what to do. My goodness! Oh but baby Dawson is just adorable, He's got the sweetest smiles, and my goodness his dirty look that he gives me is....Well dirty, but sweet. (Dave taught him to squint his eyes and glare, but Dawson thinks it's funny so he glares and smiles at the same time.....Entirely cute!) And I'm very proud to say my nephew totally has my eyes...What a cutie... Here's proof we really were there.

F.B.I agent or a donut filler? Hmm....

The other day Vanessa, and I were sitting around our dining room table talking to our Mom about what we wanted to do when we would grow up.......We both had the same ideas. We wanted to have a TV show called "Jane blonde" and be Private Investigators or F.B.I agents that do very cool stuff. I would never be a real P.I or agent in real life though, for it possesses to much of a risk, but on TV...Now that would be the ideal situation! Although if we're being honest with each other I must tell you that I don't know if I could act in front of a camera..Makes me feel a bit silly. Anyway we're sitting there talking to our Mom about this stuff, and we all pause, probably to take a drink of coffee or a bite of donut (this is the same day we got those jelly donuts from Richards Bakery...Remember a few posts ago?) And suddenly Vanessa pipes up and says "You know what I want to do? I want to be the person that squirts the jelly into the middle of the donut" It was classic ! I was a bit baffled, for she went from wanting to be an F.B.I agent to wanting to be a jelly squirter...What a switch! Not a day goes by where someone doesn't say "your funny!" to Van and I. What a life we lead. Gee whiz..

Vacation week

Well I'm sitting here drinking tropicana orange juice, listening to multiple conversations flow around me about books, and people from kendallville (don't ask me how that one got started!) I had forgotten how funny my sister and brother in law are....My goodness! The Rockies are great and beautiful. We went to old Colorado town this afternoon, it's a place with small shops that resemble the ones in the old west, back in the 1800's. We bought some great souvenirs there...We are official tourists. We also went to the garden of the gods which was massive! The rocks are so beautiful. Everything here is willi nilli, this is the Vacation life!

Donuts and Josh Groban

I know donuts are fatty(and not the omega 3 fatty acid that is beneficial) but there is a time in life where you should have some...Just because they're good. On that note...There is this adorable little donut place called "Richards Bakery" (located off of Dupont) that has incredible and I do mean incredible raspberry jelly filled donuts (oh now doesn't that sound good?) It resembles a bakery that you would imagine to be located in a small town.. So cute. And when you stand in front of the donut counter trying to decide what kind to get, the people working there stand behind the counter, smiling, watching, and waiting for your decision. It actually reminds me of a book I once read called the "Celebrity" by Robert Elmer. It's about a famous guy singer (like Josh Groban) who gets tired of the rich and famous life. So he changes his name to Joe, moves to a small town, and gets a job making donuts at "Andys donut barn" Sounds promising doesn't it? Ah...What a life!

Just call them "The Water Songs"

Lately I have been in such a music mood! Vanessa and I got inspired when Ben's brother and his band "Rend the heavens" came into town and played his original songs(with great style!) It made me want to write more songs...It was fantastic! I haven't really started anything new yet though...Mostly Vanessa and I are finishing a lot of the songs that have been stuck on the "shelf." It actually feels really good to complete them...A great accomplishment. The funny thing is, we were thinking about all the songs we've written in the past year or two, and quite a lot of them have something to do with water! We hadn't really even realized it but there's

1. "Let everything be washed away"
2. "Who is thirsty"
3. "Waters pouring out"
4. "she's my beautiful bride and she is white, she is washed in the blood of Jesus Christ"
5. "Healing will flow like water poured out"

It makes me laugh! What is it with our fascination with water?! The David Crowder band, Delirious, and Rend the heavens are great inspirations for writing creatively. I haven't listen to The David Crowder band a lot, but with the few songs I've heard, they are immensely creative with their lyrics and music, and it challenges me to think outside the box. Same with Delirous...Rend the heavens....I love their piano.

Friday: Happy Days

So tell me about your day. Did you read a book? Watch any good detective shows? What about a walk in the park? I myself have had a spectacular day! I went to Sams Club which is always a pleasure...For who on this green earth could resist good ol' Sams? And then My Mama took us to the coffee shop and we all got an iced Americana- Which was very potent and very good! And I sat there in that cold coffee shop reading my exquitsite mystery novel...How delightful. No worries that's not all I did today. But that's all I'm going to post about for now. Good days are...Well.....Impeccable.

Try this at home!

For those of you who enjoy delicious healthy food- You have to try the broccoli slaw fruit salad. It is unbelievably good! All you need is

1. a bag of broccoli slaw
2. 2 oranges
3. 2 apples
4. 1 cup of walnuts or pecans
5. half a bottle of Kens steakhouse raspberry and pecan dressing

Mix it up and your done! Broccoli is one of the best vegetables you could eat. With vitamin's B3 B5, C , E, Calcium, Iron, Zinc and Sulforaphanes. For more healthy eating and information on all kinds of vegetables check out this book by Charlotte Haigh "The top 100 immunity boosters" It is fabulous!

Enjoy life, and pink steering wheel covers!

Well it's official! Vanessa and I have found our long beloved pink steering wheel cover. It's the cat's meow! To drive with it on, is simply a pleasure. It's bright pink with short hair...Kinda like a chihuahua (Our neighbor has one of those and it barks at me in my yard!) Anyway here's one like it.

Literature Hall

A quote I saw inscribed on the walls of the Florence Library:

"A book is never far from the scholars hand

just as a song is never far from a singers lips"

-UNKNOWN

The Traveling Bookclub

Hello there my fellow bloggers and friends! I hope that you have not entertained the thought that I've forsaken you entirely...For I have not. On the subject of books and Vacation: When the time comes around for the season of Vacation, along with it comes the season of books. I absolutely cannot go on a trip without an excruciatingly large amount of books! I am an official booknerd! I absolutely love books. Past trips when I would be at my Grandma's, my seven year old cousin Rizo would be there also, and he would see Vanessa and I reading on the couch, and with great nerdiness he would pinch his nose and say in the proverbial librarians' voice "the book club has now officially started." What a cool cousin. Our recent nine hour trip seemed like a breeze...Thanks to the 17 books we brought along. Late into the night Vanessa and I were at the back of the van, lights turned on beside us, pages turning until we finally reached home. This is what you call a true "Traveling bookclub."

Where can wisdom be found?

JOB 28:23-28 "God alone knows the way to Wisdom, he knows the exact place to find it. He knows where everything is on earth, he sees everything under heaven. After he commanded the winds to blow and measured out the waters, Arranged for the rain and set off explosions of thunder and lightning, He focused on Wisdom, made sure it was all set and tested and ready. Then he addressed the human race: "Here it is! Fear-of-the-Lord--that's Wisdom, and Insight means shunning evil.'"

Don't you just love Texas?

It is a beautiful day today! It looks a bit like Texas, although I have to say I have never been to Texas. But in my creative imagination this is what it looks like. I was about to go wash our car Jack but I don't think I will anymore. I'll just stay inside and have some iced tea (or as we southern say "ah-ced tay.")

Oh don't you just love Spring and Summer? Picnics, Cars, Permits! All of it is good good good!

Exceptional!

I drove Jack today and had a exceptional time. He is truly a marvelous car. For a first drive I think I did pretty well. I've been reading my driver manual day and night for the past day or two, and gee wiz it is embedded in my heart and mind forever!

Do any of you know how far to turn your signal on before turning? Or how many feet to stop before a railroad track if you're a chauffeur driver? What about driving on a road and seeing a "roadwork ahead" sign- Do you slow down and look for it, brake and be prepared to stop, drive the posted speed and look for the roadwork, or just look for the roadwork? Here goes the fun!

Stereotype? No thanks!

Normally you nice friends of mine don't think I am a stereotype blonde ditz -cause I'm not. But I have to admit-today I did the funniest thing that seemed to be a bit too ditzy. I was with my Mom and we were going into the license branch to get a drivers manual...(I've been reading the wrong one all this time...We didn't think about getting a new one.) And we walked into the foyer of the building, and were about to go into the main place where people wait for their results, ect... To come in. So I look in through the glass door and see all these people sitting in chairs facing one another looking serious and professional, and I turn to my Mom and say very sincerely "We can't go in there! They're having a meeting!" Oh me, oh my, oh my, oh me.