Saturday, June 28, 2014

Long Time - No Post

        If you don't count that little string of pictures I posted two days ago about my little foundling finch. If you do count that, well, then I suppose this post title is a lie. Oh well, such is life. 
        Umm, yeah. 
        I've been in kind of a strange mood ever since my friends left on Thursday. It's so weird to suddenly not have anyone here, talking to me and teasing me. We hadn't seen each other for two years and I'm not quite sure how we managed to survive, and after 18 days together it still wasn't enough. Go figure. What did we do in that time? Well, lots of things. We went on long walks through our little town, sat for hours in the large oak tree on the hill a couple of miles away, watched movies, knitted, snuggled the goats, sang and played piano together, sewed - the list goes on and on. Oh, and we talked. A TON. We had two years of catching up to do, so don't judge too harshly. We have written close to a hundred letters, but there's only so much you can say on the amount of paper that fits in an envelope. :)
        Besides the things we did during the many, many hours we were at home piled into my room up in the attic (which is less than 10' by 10', by the way), we also went on a few excursions. We went to the Six Flags park, which is less than an hours drive from us, which was a lot of fun. Usually I'm not one for that kind of entertainment, but just hanging out and chatting, remembering things we used to do together there, and walking half a dozen times around the whole place was a blast. We even went on an upside-down roller coaster! Yes, it was our first time, but it was AMAZING!! We ended up going on it five times that day. :) 


        Last week, we all headed up to Clear Lake on the annual youth group trip. Before you shy away from the phrase 'youth group', let me tell you that that's what I used to do as well before I found out the one at our church is different. I'm actually planning to do a post on that soon. Anyway, back on topic. Clear Lake is amazing. There is so much Bible reading, spiritual conversation, and new faith growing that happens there each year, not to mention what happens out on the lake. The tubing and fishing are my favorites, although there is also wakeboarding and waterskiing. Oh, and kayaks. I like those too. I end up having to go on the tubes with the guys most of the time, though, because most of the girls either don't want to go over 25 mph or get flipped off at the first little swerve of the boat. The fishing up there is wonderful. I went out several times during the four days we were there, and I got to try out some neat rods, reels, and lures. The gentleman who was taking us out had a pretty cool boat as well. :) I have decided that I need a Phenix M1 rod, although I'm not sure if I want a spinning or bait casting one. I'm also not sure where exactly I'm going to get the money to buy one, especially since I'm saving up for a plane ticket right now. It may just have to wait (the rod, not the plane ticket). We fished mostly for largemouth bass, and we caught a lot throughout the week. Here's a picture of the boathouse at the property.


         Here are some pictures of the swallow nests on the dock, and some other pictures I took.





Night Heron



        So Clear Lake was a blast. I loved getting to know a few people better, and even make some new friends. My friends from Maine also really liked it, which I was glad of. It was also nice to be out of the house for a bit - sleeping out on the beach instead of cramped in my room. My room, by the way, looked a lot like this for almost three weeks.


        We did some sewing, which I'll post about soon, and other things which I may or may not remember. It was a very eventful 18 days together, and we'll definitely be doing it again next year. Two years was just too long. Funny, when I went to come pick up the girl who came first (her sister came a few days later because she had to stay and take care of siblings - long story), I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It didn't help either that I am not at all familiar with airports and had no clue where she was going to be. I finally asked someone, and made it to baggage claim just as everyone from the flight was coming in. We spotted each other, and both came running around the carousel towards each other. I was pretty much in tears when she hugged me. She was so much taller than I remember, and SO pretty, and we were just so happy to see each other! We probably made big fools of ourselves, but no matter. :) 
        We stayed up really late that night, and started our catching up. Throughout the weeks they were here, we talked almost nonstop, teased each other like mad, and had the time of our lives. I am so looking forward to next year!

Blessings,
Reyna

Friday, June 27, 2014

Zebra Finch

        This isn't going to be a proper "I'm back!" post because my friends just left yesterday and I'm still super busy, but I thought I'd check in with y'all today. And I have to introduce you to someone. No, not a person, a bird. Go figure. My mom heard this little guy on the back patio earlier today, pecking around at some spilled chicken food. He was pretty tame - he must have escaped from someone's house - so I put a basket over him and brought him inside. Needless to say, the cats are not too thrilled.












        He is now up in room winding down after a rather stressful morning. It's possible that he belongs to my neighbor - I have to find her and ask - but otherwise I'll most likely re-home him somewhere else. Perhaps I'll keep him, but that's a bit unlikely. My mom isn't too fond of what she refers to as 'useless animals'. :) I haven't figured out a good name for him yet, but I'm working on it.
        Hopefully I'll be posting more often, especially once we get into July. I have so much catching up to do!

Blessings,
Reyna

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Unexpected Blogging Break

        I'm sorry I haven't been posting regularly, and even more sorry to say that improvement does not seem to be close at hand. My computer is dead at the moment, and since my mom doesn't really like me to use hers too much (that's what I'm doing now, shh), I won't get very many opportunities to post. In all honesty, though, this is probably the best time for this to happen, because my best friends from Maine are coming to stay for most of June. One is coming on the eighth and the other is coming on the sixteenth, and they're both staying until the twenty-sixth. Expect a couple of posts, but not any more. I don't want to get your hopes up. ;) 
        As you might guess, I'm super excited to see my friends again! I haven't seen them for two whole years, so we'll have a lot of catching up to do. And sewing and movie-watching and stuff like that. We write letters, probably more than most people would think healthy, but we actually haven't even talked on the phone during these 24 months. Neither one of use are huge fans of talking on the phone, so we just send letters like mad. 
        On the other hand, this might not have been the best time for my computer to die because I just started my very thorough (hopefully) study of World War 1, and I am putting all of my essays, biographies, timelines, and just plain musings on a blog called The Great War I started just two days before my computer died, but I suppose it's good that I have a valid excuse for blogging. :) 
        That's not the worst of my troubles, however. I have 35,000 + words of my first novels stored on my computer. If I can't get it off, well, I can't imagine ever wanting to write again. I'm just praying with all my heart that my dad or SOMEONE will be able to retrieve that file somehow. Ugh. If all that work was lost, I think I would just cry.

Blessings,
Reyna

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Early Summer Trip

        I got back from five days at my grandparents' house late Friday night. It was amazing and fun and I had a great time - aren't y'all happy for me? ;) Anyway, I did take quite a few pictures, so I figure I'll just go through them and maybe offer a short/long explanation for some. Okay? Great.
        The first thing that happened when I got there (it's a 3 1/2 hour drive up) was that they gave me my birthday present. Since I didn't have a party some people have been giving me gifts as they see me. The other people haven't given me gifts because they only remember it's my birthday when my dad tells them when the family party will be. My grandma did remember. though, and she gave me, well, you'll see.




         Yes, that is the 10th Anniversary Les Mis concert recording! Eeep! That is probably my favorite cast; with Colm Wilkinson, Lea Salonga, Michael Ball, and Philip Quast. Philip Quast is the man, people!
  



         I also got the music book from Fellowship, which will be super fun!
        My grandma and I came across a new store, which was called an 'Antique Mall'. She had never been there, so we decided to take a peek. From the outside, it looked like a small, kind of dingy shop, so we had our doubts when going in. That place was extensive! And it was filled with tons and tons of vintage items, from Victorian dresses and hats to harnesses and saddles! We probably spent over an hour and a half in there, when we had planned to just go in and come out. I decided I'm going to go back there when I'm about to get married and need things for my new home. I took some pictures in there because the stuff was so neat, so I can show you. And I just realized that this is going to be a ton of pictures. Sorry.

















This is a cast iron doll chair!


An icebox






I'm guessing this is for receipts


Holster!


These are a blow torch and bellows, respectively


Carriage lamp


Old tools


Victorian fashion plates








Coffee grinder


*SQUEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAL*


Canteen


Awesome bookends




Musical instruments




I want this hat



Old wringer - I want one of these!






Washboards


Gorgeous, right?

        I spent the days shopping with my grandma in the morning, swimming and sunbathing (haha) after lunch, and then watching old Westerns with my grandpa in the evenings. Oh yeah, Westerns. He got me completely hooked on what he affectionately calls 'horse operas'. My favorites are Have Gun - Will Travel, Gunsmoke, and, of course, Bonanza. Who doesn't love Bonanza?
        My grandma and I also went to Barnes and Noble one day. I never get to go there when I'm at home, so whenever I am up at my grandparents' house, I make sure I go. Yes, it's all pretty expensive (you really don't want to know how much I spent there this trip), but it was okay because while cleaning out the attic in preparation for roofing, I found $80 in a box of mine. Convenient, right? The first thing I saw was this 'Official Movie Guide' from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Whaaaaaat? How did I not know this existed?? And what's more, it was only five dollars, so I had an excuse to buy it. Not that I needed one, but...



         I also broke down and bought the key paperweight. I had been eying it for about a year, and finally got it.


         They also had the DOS soundtrack, which I wasn't able to order on Amazon when I tried. There was a problem with their stock, and at Barnes and Noble it was just a wee bit more than online, so I got that too. I was amazed at what is inside. As well as the special edition songs, it also has a booklet and a printed piece of paper with HAND WRITTEN music; the first song Howard Shore worked on for this movie. I am going to frame it and put it on my wall. ;)




         Isn't it gorgeous? It even has the cues for what happens at what point.


        I also bought a Doctor Who notebook for my friend who is a big fan of that show, and a book for myself. The pictures were not co-operating with Blogger, though, so you don't get to see. The book is Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie. That mystery has so many plot twists it's unbelievable!
        As I said before, my grandparents have a pool in their backyard. I was the first one in this year, and it was nice to swim again. I haven't really done that since I went to the American River with my cousins! I don't really like chlorine pools; I think the chemicals are pretty gross, but I enjoyed myself anyway and put lots of calendula salve on to keep my skin from drying out.


         This is the view of the greenbelt from their house. I'm going to save my pictures from that for another post since this one is FAR too long already. So keep an eye out for that.






        And just quickly before I close, these are some pictures I took driving on the way up. Pretty, no?







Sorry for the weird reflection in this one.


Blessings,
Reyna