The Last Day of November?!?

Hey y'all!

I just got back from an excellent trip in Richmond, VA. It was absolutely gorgeous. Most of the leaves are still on the trees so it looks way more like Fall than Winter. Welcome back to MI, where we have six months of winter!
The last day we were there we went to get Christmas trees for our cousins. We came back with two decently sized ones. We spent the rest of the evening at our Uncle Roy and Auntie Pam's house decorating the tree, drinking hot apple cider, and building a fire. It was really nice.
On the way home, we stopped in Baltimore to hang out with our cousins, Natalie and Kristin, and our friends, Jessica and Jacob. We went bowling then ate at a Korean restaurant. Yum...
We were headed home and I was driving.... and then we hit the mother of all traffic jams. We were on the highway at a standstill. We moved probably half a mile in an hour. Then all of the sudden, it cleared up, just like that. It was very, very bizarre. Needless to say, we got way behind with our schedule and didn't get home until 1:25am. I only drove until we got to Breezewood, PA, where we stopped to get some food. Unfortunately, I had an extremely hard time sleeping, so I kept waking up... I thought quite a bit on this trip, which is something I rarely have time for... haha.
Tomorrow we have the last day of Explorers, our homeschool group. We're going to dissect a brain! Yay! A sheep brain, not a person brain... But this also means that, after tomorrow, I will have NO homework until... January! Huzzah!
I have to right a paper on cell death now... hehe.
On another note, I'm in a very good mood today. Hooray for enough sleep!

Love, Sarah
@)~

Happy Thanksgiving, etc. etc.

Hey y'all!
Well, for the first time in... I don't remember how long, we're down south for the Thanksgiving. Down south as in Richmond, Virginia. We're hanging at our grandparents' house for a few days, the hopefully we can get to Baltimore, Maryland to visit the Feltners!!
We had a great Thanksgiving. Went to our cousin and her husband's new apartment... met our other cousin's fiancée, who's really nice... just kinda chilled. It's been pretty awesome. Except I have a sore throat... *sad face* And it's really cold here. Well, not really cold. Just cold. 50ish. Michigan must be 35... yuck.
Today we went to this historic farm. It was kinda like a park, I guess... but it was pretty sweet. We were walking around, and one of the guys who worked there asked us to feed the cows! (Now my coat has hay all over it...) Then he showed us the kitchen garden. It was pretty neat.
Uhm... that's all. I think. I'm so tired right now...
Love, Sarah
@)~

Just Another Day...

So, today we ate dinner as a family. This doesn't happen all that often, because I have ballet every evening.
We were just talking and I went to open a half empty bottle of soda. I twisted the cap, but instead of the gentle fizz one usually hears when opening a soda bottle, there was a loud POP! The top flew up and hit the ceiling quite hard, the came back down to an unknown location on the floor. It was quite amusing...
I need to finish writing a paper now, so byebye!

Love, Sarah @)~

....

Wait... WHAT?!?
My mom just told me the most shocking thing of my life. I still can't speak cohesive sentences.
Please... prayer would be really REALLY awesome. I'm still... I can't even process it all. I don't know what to think. Heh, my hands are shaking.
Uhm... yeah...

Oh, silly Sarah....

So, I was again reminded of how very, very different guys and girls are.
Girls, we need to be more careful about what we say, do, and wear. I'm quite sure all of you are constantly guarding yourselves, but sometimes we slip up.
Guys, we very, very, VERY greatly appreciate when you tell us something is bugging you or causing your to stumble. At least, us girls as Christians.
That's all.

Love, Sarah
@)~

A Book

Hey,
So I recently (as in today) finished the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I started [ahem, my fingers *edit*AREN'T*/edit* working today.... apologies for any missed typos @)~] reading it simply because my friend was giving me a hard time about judging a book by its cover... literally.
Anyways, here's my review/opinion. Again, opinion. Please don't argue with me... "I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and often convincing." Oh, Oscar Wilde, how you sneak up on me...

Good -
I enjoyed the storyline quite a bit. Ms. Meyer is quite the storyteller.
The descriptions are also very vivid, so it's quite easy to picture the story in your head.
She also is wonderful at leading you on... So... many... cliffhangers... Like the very end of the book! *sigh*
The vampire and werewolf stories intrigue me greatly. I really like fantasy that involves legends and myths. In fact, my friends and I have this (slightly twisted) game where I am a hybrid of a freocat (female werecat) and a vampire. It's a lot of fun. Lots of people have different views on the subject... But I do not consider vampires to be evil.

Bad -
The writing was... uhm... not quite what I'd call excellent, to put it nicely. Actually, it sounded like something someone in an IEW class would write. However, it does improve throughout the book.
The characters annoyed me a tad. Bella, the main girl, is very... shall we say, needy? There was just something about her that made me picture a whiny brat. Sorry if you think differently. Edward, the vampire, is just too perfect for my taste. Sure he has his flaws, but Bella views him as an angel. There's actually a part where she thinks he's an angel. That kind of bugged me. I guess he's supposed to be too perfect, though. He ALWAYS got there just in the nick of time, though. Gr. *ahem* Sorry.
The last thing was the way Bella and Edward related with each other. I thought their relationship was portrayed in a very un-Christian manner. They were a bit... touchy, to say the least.

Overall-
I really wouldn't recommend this book... The bad outweighs the good too much in the case. For me, at any rate.

Thanks for reading! Sorry if you disagree with me. *smile*

Love, Sarah
@)~

Pretty much the most amazing day ever.

So, today I went to Frankenmuth! My friends, the Sparrows, go every year, and this year decided to invite me and my sister. My sister ended up not going, but I went and it was so much fun!!

Let's see... first we went to the Cheese Haus (by all technical terms should be either Cheese House, or Käse Haus... but whatever). We took a picture with a huge mouse and we looked at a bunch of personalized stuff. Then we went to the basement of a place and tried on sunglasses!! There were a pair of Lady GaGa glasses!!! *laugh* We went to a place with a whole ton of silver stuff. It was amazing. There were swords, goblets, jewelry, all gorgeous. My friend got a super pretty katana. We went through a mirror maze, too. It was so confusing!! I got really lost and we ended up going around in circles for a while... haha. I got really, really hungry, so I got a Vernor's (ginger ale)... and Mr. Sparrow said my outfit matched the bottle... haha! We went to Bronner's (the gigantic Christmas store) for dinner and walked around there for a while. We took pictures with the huuuuuuge statues there. There was an emotional reunion with a penguin... *laugh*
On the way back to their house, even though it was only 8:30ish, all three of us (Jalen, Luke, and I) feel asleep in the car. Then they took me home and we had a Beetle's party... hahaha! "We don't have parties in Germany! That's stupid!" Hahahaha!!! I love you guys...

Characters, so to speak

Hey y'all,
So, as I said, being an actor of sorts, I tend to get a bit dramatic. It's all for fun, so it's really not something I consider a flaw. Also, as I said before, I have several 'characters,' so to speak.
They're all made by greatly exaggerating a characteristic of mine. They're not actually me... because... that'd be strange. Sometimes I'll take on one of their personalities.... but just for fun. I'm not... mentally ill or anything. *smile*
They're all sisters... even though they look totally different and are all the same age. They live in a little old-Japanese style house.
In that little story I wrote, Alexis has exaggerated sympathy and kindness, while Mara has exaggerated pessimism and depression. Here are more characters with descriptions. Blah... I need to give them names, though.
You know what? It'd be really fun to write a story with all of them. Hehe!

Alexis (helper, defender) - She is very sympathetic, although not always empathetic. She tries to help everyone with their problems. Usually it works out, but sometimes it doesn't. Even when it doesn't, she won't allow herself to get discouraged. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt, so she often gets hurt. If she does get hurt, she just prays that it will all be taken away. She doesn't let anything get her down. By far the most responsible of the family.
She works at the petting zoo every other day. In her spare time, she reads classic novels.
Description: Shoulder-length red hair, gold-brown eyes, 16 years old, 5'4", very cute, dresses in bright colors.
She likes pretty much anything except burnt food, disgusting looking things, and anything too dark and drab. She gets along with everybody in the family, pretty much.

Mara (bitter) - She is very pessimistic, and usually sad. She thinks everything needs to be perfect, and is in constant fear of imperfection. She hates losing. She is often told to 'wake up' because she looks so tired and doesn't say much. She also doesn't like to disappoint anyone, so she constantly tries to please everybody. Because of this, she gets burnt a lot and gets depressed again. She doesn't have a very good spiritual life, but she's working on it.
She works at a ballet studio where she also dances five times a week.
Description: Long black hair, deep purple eyes, 16 years old, 5'2", very young looking, dresses in dark colors.
She likes roses, laughing, and dancing. She hates crying. She gets along with everyone in the family except Kitty.

Kitty (pure) - She is extremely clueless to everything going on around her. She doesn't have very many female friends, because they all think she's silly. Her guy friends enjoy teasing her to no end, but she doesn't mind... very much. She is easily interested or amused and very, very hyper. Phrases you would hear her say are 'Nya!', 'Eh?', and 'AIEEEEEEEE!!!!' [Note from the author: I have no idea how to punctuate that sentence... @)~] She loves all her friends, and usually doesn't get hurt, just because she's so clueless. She prays every day, but doesn't read her Bible.
She doesn't have a job. She hangs out with friends in her spare time.
Description: Long blondish-brown hair, large bright blue eyes, 16 years old, 5'3", always smiles, dresses in light colors.
She likes cats, hanging with her friends, and anything slightly interesting. She hates bugs and being scared. She gets along with everyone in the family except Mara.

Mina (love) - She is a very silly girl who is infatuated with a boy. She's slightly clueless as to what happens around her, but only to an extent. When she's sad, she'll lay in bed for an hour or so and cry. One of her favorite things to do is fall down and see if anyone will catch her, which they usually do. She isn't very smart, but makes her way through school. When she's not at work or with friends, she's studying. She has to work on school a lot so she won't fail. She doesn't have a very good spiritual life, but isn't working on it very much.
She works at the ice cream parlour. She doesn't have any spare time.
Description: Long brown hair, almost black eyes, 16 years old, 5'3", rather pretty, dresses in girly clothes.
She likes talking to people, gardens, and fantasy books. She hates studying. She doesn't like Bella or Mara, but gets along with everyone else in the family.

Bella (beautiful) - She is a beautiful girl who knows she's pretty, but doesn't let it get to her head. She enjoys when people tell her she's beautiful, but gets a bit annoyed with it after a while. She's very polite with grown-ups, but hates talking with them. She has a lot of good friends. Her best friend is the boy Mina has a crush on, so needless to say, there's tension between the two. She's also very smart and excels in school, so Mina is very jealous of her. She prays when she remembers, and reads her Bible every day.
She works at Busch's. She hangs out with her friends in her spare time.
Description: Long reddish-brown hair, dark green eyes, 16 years old, 5'3", extremely pretty, dresses in rich colors.
She likes hanging out with her friends and window shopping. She hates cameras. She doesn't like Mina, but gets along with everyone else in the family.

Chorine (dance) - She is obsessed with dancing. She dances at the same studio as Mara, but in a higher level. She's the rebel of the family. She has a bit of a foul mouth, but really regrets it. She is either at rehearsal, dance, or in her room studying. She enjoys music a lot, and usually has to be yelled for, due to her music being so loud. Her friends at dance are not a very good influence on her, but she does her best to not follow their examples. She doesn't like to read her Bible, but loves praying.
She also works at the ballet studio. In her spare time, she dances.
Description: Long dark brown hair - always tied up, plain brown eyes, 16 years old, 5'2", rather plain looking, dresses in loose clothes that fit over her tights and leotard.
She likes dancing and reading. She dislikes boys. She doesn't like Alexis or Mara, but gets along with everyone else in the family.

A Short Conversation

Hey guys.
Being an actor, I have multiple "characters" that take the shape of my different characteristics. Basically, they're just exaggerations one of my characteristics and they get all melodramatic. It's pretty fun, and generally cheers me up.
When I'm distressed, or annoyed, or sad, or something, I'll write about it.
Generally, I write conversations between two of my characters. This was between the depressed, pessimistic side of me, and the one who tries to help and cheer people up. Both have their flaws, but they end up helping each other.
...Ah!! I wrote only dialog!! Very well, I'll add some actions in there.
Uhm... they don't have names... so I'll call them... uhm.... Mara (bitter) is the pessimist, and Alexis (helper, or defender) is the one who helps people. Oh, there are two other dudes in here that are based off two of my friends....... I changed their names (or only insinuated they existed) for both their sake and mine. *smile*

A petite girl sat on a wooden bench in the park, her head down and her black hair falling around her shoulders and face. The park was full of trees, all shedding their colourful leaves. There were no people; it was too chilly and the sun was smothered in gray clouds. She didn't mind the cold, or the clouds. In fact, she enjoyed them. She stared down at the leaves in between her feet and thought about what had happened that day. Alexis, a cute girl with fiery red hair, walked down the sidewalk, looking for the black haired girl, Mara. She saw her and her brown eyes lit up. She jogged to the bench and sat next to her.
"Hey sis. Can you come back home? Please?"
"No."
"Come on... I'm sure this won't happen again. Please don't let it get you down."
Mara turned to look at Alexis. The tears in her dark purple eyes spilled over and ran down her cheek. "I know this won't happen again. They won't ask me again."
"At least they asked," said Alexis, looking down at her dirty shoes.
"Yeah..."
"They love you."
"And I'm letting them down!" Mara yelled. She put her head down again and the tears fell to the leaves below.
"It's not your fault."
"It wouldn't have happened if I didn't choose to dance."
"If you didn't dance, you'd be miserable."
"So what? Friends first."
"You wouldn't be able to help your friends out if you were depressed." Alexis looked sternly at her sister.
"Yeah... I also wouldn't feel like an idiot..." Mara mumbled.
"You're not an idiot."
"Yes I am."
"You're just unwise."
"AKA idiot." Mara was in a foul mood, and not ready to agree with anyone.
"No."
"Yes."
"No, you're not."
"Says who?"
Alexis gave her a knowing look. She knew who cared. Mara glanced at Alexis and quickly looked down again.
"Fine... I'm not an idiot."
"See? Told ya so."
"Shut up." Mara said, quietly. "I still do stupid stuff."
"That's because you're human, smartypants."
"So? I should be perfect."
Alexis sighed. Why was her sister such a perfectionist, she wondered. "But you're not!"
"Exactly."
"You can't be perfect!"
"I know."
"So why try?"
"Doesn't God want us to be perfect?" Mara looked up at the dim gray clouds.
"Ah, true." Alexis leaned her back against the bench.
"Also, if I don't try, I feel like a failure." Mara looked back down at the ground.
"Bah. You're not a failure."
"I let my friends down. I let my teachers down. I let... my family down." The last part of her sentence was so quiet that Alexis hardly caught it.
"There are people who you don't let down."
"No there aren't."
"Yes, there are."
"Who?"
Alexis was silent.
"See? I've let everyone down in one way or another."
"But you also help people."
"Then I let them down."
Alexis sighed. This girl just wouldn't give up. "Not necessarily."
"Yes, necessarily."
"You haven't let Jesse down yet."
"Just watch, I will. I did."
"Yeah, then you helped him."
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did."
"Yeah, and it killed part of me." A leaf from a nearby tree slowly drifted to the end of the bench. Mara watched it as she said this.
"Trust."
Mara looked at her sister, confused. "What does that have to do anything with this?"
"Trust! What holds friendships together?" Alexis wondered why she said this, too.
"What if I can't."
"You can."
"No I can't." Mara looked down again.
"If you fall, there will be people there to catch you."
"There haven't been."
Alexis got up and walked to face her sister. "Look at me."
Mara looked up and saw Alexis with her hand raised.
SMACK
Mara looked down, her eyes wide, her cheek stinging from the blow and the cold.
"Yes there have." Alexis put her hand down and glared at her sister.
"Fine. There have."
"I love you." Alexis offered her hand to help her sister off the bench.
"... I love you, too." Mara took Alexis' hand and they walked back home, together.

My characters seem to be as ADD as I am! Their conversations always seem to jump back and forth... ah well. They also don't resemble one another very much... black hair, red hair... purple eyes, brown eyes... there are no such thing as purple eyes! Oh well!!
I'm not a very good writer, I apologize. I suppose I can justify myself a little by repeating the fact that this was just dialog, and I had to add some actions so you wouldn't get confused about the speaker...
I may introduce you to my other 'characters' at a later date. In fact, I probably will. Even though, I always say I'll post something I never really end up doing it... But whatever.
I did try to post something more about peace, but I suppose I'll just have to wait until I get inspired again...
Uh... yeah that's it. Enjoy!

Love, Sarah (and Mara, and Alexis)
@)~

Breaking News!

Not really...
I went to Target today to get a present for my bestest friend, Rachael. We've been friends for oh... 12 years now? Anyways, we got her footie pajamas. Pretty great. Anyways, I found a wonderful coat there! It's all wooly and warm and it's really pretty. Makes me happy.
Also... there was something else... but I can't remember.
Oh well.

*************************************************************

Have you ever been involved in a battle? Spiritual, mental, verbal, or even physical? A really serious one? It's not cool, in any sense of the word. Except maybe the sense that you get freakish chills down your spine.
Well, I'm kind of involved in one right now. A spiritual battle, that is. It's slowly ripping apart friendships, and stressing me out immensly...
Prayer would be super-much appreciated.
Thanks.

Love, Sarah
@)~

It's just that kind of day...

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I feel like a slug!
It's just that kind of day.
There are people invading my house.
I've been stuck in my room all day.
Relaxation is too stressful.
I'm writing in a weird style!
These are random Sarah thoughts...
My brain is turning into mush.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Love, Sarah
@)~

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Hey!
I haven't posted in a bit...
I haven't been doing much recently... besides the usual dance, school, YG, etc.

Well, last night I was at Lifeteen, Christ the King's youth group. Usually when I'm at those, I'll hang out with God for a bit, but mostly hang out with friends. Yesterday, I hung out with friends for the designated 'hang out' time, then hung out with God for most of the rest of the time.
It was so awesome.
I have a spot where I go when I just want some alone time with God. I just stand there, or pace back and forth down this aisle and pray, sing, or just listen. It's pretty cool.
Highly recommended: Find a 'God spot' and hang out there a lot. Not saying God is more there than anywhere else, but your body will associate that spot with God. Just how the brain works.
Anyways... Also, pray by yourself before praying for others. Or, better yet, have someone pray for you before you pray for someone else. This can really help with strength during prayer. I found this out the hard way... blah... But yeah, polish up your armour before you help someone else. Verse... verse... verse...
Matthew 7:3 - Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Sorry if this is out of context or something, but I think it fits pretty well here.
(My hand just twitched... what in the world... anyways....)
So yeah... don't try to help others if you're not ready to get hit. 'Cause we'll get hit. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know we will. Hey, the devil doesn't like it when we hang out with God. He'll try to push us away. He'll try to attack us in every way he can. Stay strong. Keep the faith, brothers [and sisters]. ~ Paul... the super awesome Epistle guy, for lack of a better name.
Uhm....... yeah! That's it.
Oh yeah, one of my best friends is getting wisdom teeth out tomorrow. Yuck... so please pray for him. Thanks. :)

Peace and love,
Sarah @)~

P.S. Peace is something God has really been pushing at me. One of my bigger faults is freaking out over the littlest things. I'm getting better, though! So, peace is cool. Peace as in not worrying, not freaking out, not stressing... yeah... I may post more in depth about this later... if I ever get around to it.

P.P.S. This got a lot deeper than I thought it would.... God inspires at odd times, doesn't He?