Summer Is Over

This week was Gabrielle's first week of school, which pretty much ends the summer for me too. Here's an overview of some of my plans for the year:

1. Helping Gabrielle with math. We went through Algebra 1 together last year, so we're going on to Algebra 2 this year. Considering the fact that I hated algebra in high school, this is not a lot of fun for me, but I think I'm learning more from it this time around than I did then.
   
2. Art lessons. I haven't kept up a steady pace with my work this summer, which means I haven't completed as many projects as I did last year. Part of the reason is because we had such a busy summer, and the other reason is a lack of projects. I completed one painting and three graphite portraits by May and then had nothing else to work on. I've just been picking up odd projects here and there since then. My teacher doesn't like for me to use magazine photos for references because they're copyrighted (since I don't sell anything I don't see what difference that makes, but..), so I ended up drawing another graphite portrait and now I'm working on a large graphite house/landscape scene. I did check out a few painting instruction books from the library that gave me some ideas. I really want to work on my painting skills so I think I'm going to buy some new canvases and get to work.
   
3. Reading. There is so much reading I would like to do this year. I set a goal in January to read fifteen books that I'd never read before by 2008 and so far I'm halfway through number twelve. Most of them have been classic literature books, though. I would like to do more "serious" reading -- a few biographies, some history books, my Constitutional Law book (I still haven't finished it), and devotional books. There are a lot of books on my shelf and on my list that I haven't even opened, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
   
4. Music. I really want to get back into playing the piano again. I think my hands can take it now. I've been working on some scales this summer and my right hand is pretty much back to normal. That left hand tends to want to flare up, though. I'm determined to try to work my way back into playing, slowly and steadily. I ordered a new hymn arrangement book today that I'm really excited about. I think it will be difficult enough to be pretty, but easy enough not to stress my hand.
   
5. Writing. I'm going to try update my blog more regularly. Hopefully I'll be able to post three times a week, preferably every other day. I have some other writing projects to keep up too, so this will take a lot of work.


6. Crafts. Everyone knows I have to have crafts of some sort going on. I've got three quilt tops that are waiting for me to quilt them, so I have to buy backing, filling, borders, get them basted together and choose quilting patterns for each one. I'm also working on a cross-stitch sampler, I have a set of Christmas ornaments that I need to make before Christmas if possible, and I have a few more ideas for things I'd like to get done before Christmas. I have a feeling I won't manage it, but I'll try.

That's just the main things. I have a lot of other ideas/plans for the next few months that I have to get busy with if I'm ever going to get anywhere with them. My main goals for right now are to get serious again with my painting/drawing and to start playing the piano again. Once I get those underway, I can start working on the other things more.

A Great Movie

I love this movie. We rented it from the library this weekend, so I got to watch it again. It's not about the Civil War, as the title might lead you to believe. It's about the north and south of England -- a young woman who goes from living in a small, beautiful country town in the south to a manufacturing city in the north in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. I love the characters in the movie and the actors are great. I read the book by Elizabeth Gaskell after I saw the movie. In some ways the book was better, because you could understand the characters more completely, but in other ways, the movie was better. The book had a lot of discussion about the industrial progress of the age, the factories, etc, and while it was good to get the historical context, there was a little too much of that for my taste. It got a little boring. : ) Most of the book was very good, though. I recommend the book and really recommend the movie.

Coolin' Off

It was really hot today. :)

Lots of Tennis!

Cincinnati was a lot of fun this year. We spent a lot of time, as always, going between watching games in the stadiums and the practice courts. The practice courts are small, fenced-in courts with a few bleachers outside them so you can watch the players warm up before their games and try to get autographs. We saw Andy Roddick on the practice courts the first day, but the crowd around him was so bad that we didn't stay long. Someone else who draws a crowd is Roger Federer. I really wanted his autograph, but the first day we saw him at a practice court, the crowd was too thick to even get near him.The second day, we waited for Federer on the practice courts and again, the crowd was incredible. He came out and practiced, then sat down to rest before he left. Everyone who wants an autograph always waits at the fence and he walks across and signs them. So we waited there with our books over the fence, and he came across and signed mine and Gabrielle's first! He signed them really neat too. You can almost read them. It was really impressive the amount of time he took and the good attitude he had about signing autographs. We watched him play a really great game that afternoon against Marcos Baghdatis. It was so close. Definitely one of the best games we've seen in person.
We've found out that watching a player on the practice courts can totally change your opinion about him. My dad has always been a Federer fan, whereas I had some other players I liked better. He was so nice and not in the least bit arrogant when he was on the practice courts that he made a fan out of me. Other players can have the opposite effect. :( Most of the top players have pretty good attitudes, though. I managed to get autographs from all the players I wanted to this year, so my autograph collection is finally complete!

Tennis Tomorrow!

I'm so excited about going to the ATP tennis tournament in Cincinnati tomorrow. This will be the third year we've gone and I always look forward to it. Unfortunately, our favorite player has already lost so we won't get to see him. : ( There are lots of other players that we like, though, and there should be a few good games going on during the next two days. We always ask for autographs, take pictures, buy junk food at the concession stands (I love the lemonade!), and eat out for supper. It should be really fun. Hopefully we'll have good weather and lots of great tennis! And hopefully I won't get too sunburned.

Penguin Parade

A Vacation At Home

Our family left us today. It has been a good visit, but so busy. Everyday we have gone somewhere or done something. The highlights were definitely going to the Creation Science Museum and the Newport Aquarium.

The Creation Science museum was about a two-hour drive from our house. When we finally got to the museum, we found out that all that planetarium tickets were sold out, which was a disappointment. I had really been looking forward to seeing that. The museum was so crowded we could hardly get through it. I can't even imagine what it must have been like the week it opened. People would stop in front of exhibits for ten and fifteen minutes at a time holding up the lines. The first exhibits were gardens with dinosaurs, then we went into rooms with mostly written displays and fossils. I wasn't able to read much of those. The crowd was too thick to do more than glance over them. Then we came into beautiful garden rooms for the Garden of Eden and a room of all wooden rafters that made you feel as if you were inside the ark. There was one theater after the ark, but we skipped it and decided to go upstairs for the special effects theater. We had to wait in line for about twenty minutes to get in. It was a mini movie featuring two angels talking to a young girl about believing in God versus believing in evolution. My favorite parts were the Garden of Eden and the ark. They were so beautiful.

Newport Aquarium was also about an hour and a half away from us. It has a great view of the Cincinnati skyline, which I posted above. Kati was so cute going to all the exhibits to see the fish. She had been a little frightened at the idea of being near a shark tank, but once she saw them, she was too excited to be afraid. The aquarium wasn't anywhere near as crowded as the museum was, except for one shark tunnel. Lots of people crowded into one shark tunnel to watch a diver feed the sharks. For a long time there were so many people we couldn't even see the sharks, but we finally worked our way forward until we were able to see what was going on and I was able to get a fairly decent picture. One of the best parts was the penguin exhibit. Kati loved watching them because I took her to see Happy Feet last year. It was so neat to see them waddling around.

We spent lots of time on the other days going shopping, eating out, and watching movies. It was a really great week. We always look forward to having them here.

A Trip, A Wedding, and a Birthday

I am finally back from my trip. Even though it was fun, it was so rushed we are completely exhausted. There was something to do every single day we were there. My dad couldn't take off from work last week, so my mom, sister, and I drove ourselves 600 miles to our hometown so we could see my cousin Lesley get married. We knew things were going to be rushed, but we had no idea just how hectic things were going to get. The day of the wedding was so rushed. We were planning on getting there about an hour early. My Aunt Sherry was going with us, so we had to be ready an extra thirty minutes early to pick her up and then we had to drive two hours to the place at the beach where the wedding was held. It was a very pretty setting. The wedding was held at a nice community building with a deck that overlooked the sand and river. When we got there, Lesley and her groom John were rehearsing in casual clothes with the preacher.

They waited until only about twenty minutes before the wedding was supposed to begin to go change. While we waited, I took family pictures and enjoyed looking out at the beach. I hadn't been there in a long time. When the wedding began, I took a seat where I hoped I could take a few good pictures and waited. Lesley hadn't wanted a formal wedding with attendants. She just had our cousin's baby Ellis toddle up the aisle as ring bearer and a little girl who was related to John scatter petals as flower girl. Then she walked out onto the deck with her dad. The ceremony was really sweet and simple. John's brother-in-law sang a song and did a beautiful job. He had a great voice. They just repeated their vows and that was it. The building was very nice and decorated really pretty. They had rose petals scattered on the tables and bowls with floating candles as centerpieces
The bride and groom danced their first dance and they did a father/daughter mother/son dance as soon as the bridal party came in. The food was delicious -- potatoes, green beans, squash casserole, salad, fruit salad, prime rib, apple pie, banana pudding, lemon pie, and of course, a beautiful three layered wedding cake


I was happy for Lesley. I only have three cousins on my dad's side of the family, all older than me, and of them she was the one I was closest to growing up. Her dad was blinking back tears through the ceremony, though he tried to cover it up with sunglasses and her mom got a little emotional too. Lesley was very happy and everyone was happy for her.

Saturday was my sister's sixteenth birthday. She didn't want a big party, so we took her out to eat at her favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, that evening and shopping for new clothes. I gave her a necklace and earring set. She was planning to have a combined party with our cousin Emily at the lake that Monday, too.

The rest of the week was busy, but nice. We were able to spend time with family and friends and go to the lake for the girls' birthday party. When we left to come back on Thursday, my Aunt Sherry, Aunt Johnice, and her two kids Emily and Kati came back with us to stay at our house for a week.