Jorge

Becky has a fish. His name is Jorge (I was wrong, but I corrected it). He's supposedly hard to kill. Becky left him here this week. I guess we shall see if this theory holds true or not.;}

Spring, I miss you!

I want spring to come!!!! I like winter and I love snow, and I don't mind it being cold, but we've had plenty this year already. I want it to be warm so I can wear shorts and a T-shirt and run around barefoot and squish my toes in the cool mud and for it to be warm enough that that feels good! But I suppose I will have to wait. I'm not very good at that. Another thing I don't like is not being able to ride! It's either too cold so I don't want to ride even though the ground would be ok, or it's nice and warmish and I want to ride but it's too muddy! Daddy likes to run so he doesn't really appreciate it when I ride B. on the trails when it's muddy; it kinda makes umm....gouges right where Daddy wants to run. It's great for twisting ankles though!

I took this picture coming home from somewhere awhile ago....

Ok guys, I know I haven't posted for what, a month now? Yeah....sorry 'bout that. I will try to be at least a little more umm....argh!!! Don't you hate it when you can't think of the right word and you know that there's one particular word that you're trying to find so you sit there for like 5 min trying to think of it and by then you've forgotten what kind of word you were trying to think of in the first place and.......well, that happens to me a lot. It's annoying. Kinda like Zeke! I mean, ....... never mind. Anyways, I'll try to post more often(or something like that), so like, hopefully at least once or twice a month?=D

We get to start doing dissections in Biology soon! I think we get to dissect a worm next week.=) I'm excited. I must confess though, that the part that'll be the funnest(yes that is a word; in my book at least...) is grossing out my girl friends.=D Yeah, that's fun. Of course, I'm a girl myself, so sometimes I have to pretend I think it's gross, and some things are gross, but most of it I find extremely interesting.=) I got excited just reading the instructions. Just think how awesome it'll be when I actually get to make incisions and figure out exactly which guts are which...anyways...=)

Umm, so some of you might possibly be wondering how the horse is doing... he's good. It's weird though, because I really don't talk about horses much because most of my friends aren't really into them (or if they are they've learned too) so I don't ever bring the amazingly awesome creatures that God created to help fulfill our longing to fly into the conversation. I used to, but then I learned not to. I really don't know very much about horses considering how much there is to know, but it's so weird to think how little even my fam. knows. Like today, Isaac told Zeke that he knew more about horses then Zeke did. So I started quizzing them w/ super easy questions like: What's a stallion? Describe the color 'bay'(the best color btw).

Yeah, so Zeke ended up knowing more and Isaac kept telling me to ask different questions, but I'm not quite sure what all he knows. He didn't really answer any of the questions....oh, he did know what a saddle blanket was/is?. But Zeke only kinda-sorta knew what a gait is and.....I guess I should do a better job educating my family huh? Fail.

I miss you Becky!!!!!!! I'm glad you can go to college and learn stuff and all, but I miss not being the oldest at home and (not) doing dishes all the time and being lazy...=)jk I miss you for reasons besides that too.=) While I think I am getting a little bit more responsible and don't complain most of the time I still feel bad because the thought of, say, unloading the dishwasher just doesn't occur to me till Mom asks me to do it. You're good at that stuff.=) I just kinda try to catch up w/ school and dream about the days it won't be muddy and I can ride Bourbon every day and stuff.

Well Daddy just informed me that I need to get off the computer so I guess I'll have to get off now. See y'all later!=)

I'm boring.=(

OK, so a lot(ok, most) of my posts have been marked 3 or so times as "boring." Is there something I can do to make my blog more interesting for y'all?

Debate!

So, I'm in this Co-op thing and one of the classes I'm in is speech class(my Dad's the teacher). For the last assignment we got to do a debate. We finally picked a topic- Is it OK to Lie in Some Situations? Or, Should You Never Lie?? Kelsey Q2, Josiah Nisbett, and I were on one team, and Sarah Hickle, Kayla Brown, and Laura Cook were on the other team. Me, K, and J argued that while lying as a rule is wrong, there are some situations that it's OK. The other argued that there's never a time to lie. We won.=) Well, no one officially won, but I think our arguments were better and we smashed there arguments better than they tapped ours.=) It was kinda fun once we got into it...we ran out of time though.......oh well.

In Illinois

**WARNING** VERY BORING(yet again)

I've arrived safe and sound in IL. Got here some time shortly before supper on Wednesday. But to back-track a bit, Wednesday morning I woke up and got ready to run as usual, only to find that it was raining outside.=( But since it wasn't raining very hard and I'd be running in the woods most of the time, I decided to run anyways.=) Besides, running in the rain is FUN! It was the first time I'd been in the woods w/out AF, but I figured I could remember the trail well enough not to get lost.......thinking back I probably should have gone the same direction we'd gone the day before(on the scavenger hunt) but I didn't remember there being that many forks in the path. It went OK for the first half, but then I chose a wrong fork, and while I was going the right direction I kept running into houses(not literally). I finally decided to make my own path and I found a road. I figured out where I was on the lake and found my way back, but I was totally soaked. O well, it was fun, though my tennis shoes are still wet. Anyways, I'll try to stop rambling now..... We had a big breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs, then we packed up and were on the road by 9:58 a.m. We got to the farm and I quickly(for me) transferred my clothes to my suitcase adding all the other clothes, stopped by Melissa's to get the shoes I'd left in her car and went to meet Mrs. Q at a gas station. The ride down was uneventful, we didn't stop and listened to Odyssey tapes the whole way. Oh, Malachi had a really bad headache, not sure if he's ok now....he did sleep part of the way though.........We met G-ma and went to pick up my cousins(from Dubai) then went out to eat at an Itallian restaraunt called.....Biaggies. I was complemented for my great posture then we went to G-ma's house and set up a game she'd bought that called itself "ladderball"(otherwise known as "hillbilly golf"). I soundly trounced both my cousins Ben & Nick.=) Also played some euchre.=) G-ma & I vs. Ben & Nick. We won the fist game 10-8, lost the 2nd 2-10, won the finals 10-3.=) Got them while they were still confused(jet-lag). I'm tired, good night.

Michigan 2

The Barbershop Chorus/Quartets were awesome! Everyone harmonized so well and they had some funny songs too. Most of the guys were old but there were a few college students and 4 of them have been singing together for a year That quartet was pretty good for the guys being so "young".=) Right after the concert, it started raining pretty hard, though according to the radar, the worst of it missed us. Anyways, we lost power after being home about 1/2 hour. I went to bed after reading by candlelight.=) Sat. we were still out of power and Uncle Dick couldn't get the generator working, but the neighbors invited us over for breakfast(they got their generator working). So while Aunt Feather & Uncle Dick drove over after their morning walk, I(they'd let me sleep in) ran to their house and back after breakfast. As I was just running up the driveway to the farm, Aunt Feather & Uncle Dick's son pulled up. His family got here around 11:30 p.m. Friday night.... He has 3 daughters(which I might have mentioned before) the oldest being 12 I think. We get along pretty well and they came over a bit before dinner to play. Uncle Dick's birthday was a week or so ago, so they took us out for a birthday dinner to a mexican place. The food was good and they sang for the birthday boy and made him wear a sombrero.=) 'Twas fun.=) Then we all went back to the farm and us girls had a bunch of fun rolling down a pretty steep hill and wrestling/fighting. The youngest, Britta, wasn't as much into the fighting so she played w/ their mini Pincher, Chico(not sure how they spell it). He's so cute! Anyways, when Britta left, instead of 3 against 1 it was 2 against 1. Kyra & Karlee against me. Those girls are pretty small and super skinny, so it wasn't too hard.=) Then I almost scratched one of them w/my ring, so I took my ring and necklace off so I could be a better "Bull"(they were trying to ride me at the same time and because they're so light it was indeed possible!). Then Karlee stole my jewelry and I had to fight her for it. We ended up on the deck w/ her sitting on my lap not being able to get away.=) She finally gave it back though.=) Then I read for awhile and went to bed. Sunday is my "day of rest" so I don't run, but I still had to get up moderately early because AF & UD's church service starts at 8:30. Since I've come for 3 summers so far I'm kinda getting to know some of the people and it's kinda fun to see who remembers me and how many people I don't remember.=) Anyways, right now we're sitting in the house talking about what we're gonna have for lunch, or if we should just have a snack. We're going to go to the girl's other grandparents for a father's day get-together. I think AF and I will go riding again today, probably after lunch. Well, I think I've bored you enough w/ my "doings" here in MI, I'm pretty much terrible w/ summaries. I do think that is the worst part of English in school, summaries! oh, well.........I'll try to get some pictures for y'all......

June!

Wow, this year's going by really fast! Last time I checked it was February and we were just starting PoP practices. Now everyone's starting summer activities and the weather is super nice! Let's see, PoP is over, and we've finished band, basketball and soccer are done, I'm still getting to work w/ horses a bit which is always super exciting. Actually, one of Traci's(the lady who's teaching me) mares foaled(she had her baby) 2 days ago! He is super cute and I got to play with him a little bit today. They haven't named him yet but they's come up w/ something soon.=) I love baby animals! They're always(well almost always) super adorable and so soft...........we watched the colt and his mother running around for a bit after we let them out of the stall. He took off kicking his heels and having a ball. Duchess made sure he didn't get too far away.=) After that I got to ride a really tall black horse named Midnight. He's a sweety.=) But one thing I'm not used to is horses w/ soft mouthes and curb bits(which put more pressure on their mouth) so when I started I was keeping the reigns too tight and he started pulling his head up. If I'd of kept pulling back and up he might have gone right over backwards with me on him! That wouldn't have been good. But, I finally heard Traci yelling to release tthe reigns and he calmed down. But I felt really bad about that. Now I know not to do that again though!!=) After that ordeal, I was much gentler with him. For some reason I tend to ride with my hands up higher than I should and my elbows bent too much. I'll have to work on that.=) Anyways, I think I've bored you enough for now so I'll go do something useful, like maybe help my mom w/ the quilt we're finishing for Camp David, or maybe I'll go to bed.......well as Tiger in 'Winnie the Pooh' says, TTFN!(Ta Ta For Now!).

Sisters and Shopping

For those of you who aren't Becky's sister, and who aren't completely lacking in anything that even resembles style, you can't know how truly amazing Becky is. If I ever match, it's because of Becky. (*warning*- totally random) For the end of the year basketball thingy for RHAA, coach had all the girls write something nice about each girl. Either a word that described them, something you remember from the season, whatever. One of my things was most stylish. Becky and I looked at each other like "what?!?!" and it was very hard to stop laughing. I have no idea how I got that one, but the only thing I can come up w/ is that when I play sports, sometimes I wear long socks. I have 2 purple pairs, 1 red, 1 rainbow, 2 yellow, etc. I guess someone likes fun socks as much as I do!=) Anyways......................................before we go anywhere away from home(except for sports) I usually ask Becky for advice on what to wear. She's kinda like my personal fashion advisor.=) The only time I don't ask is when I know whatever I'm wearing matches because she's told me before that it matches. Well, since Becky will be going to college this fall..............................I won't have anyone to tell me what matches. Mom's ok, but I don't like to bug her 'cause she's usually dealing w/ the little kids. Anyways, Becky offered to go through my wardrobe w/ me and tell me what goes together and what you never ever ever ever wear together and fun stuff like that.=/ She also offered to take me shopping because, as it turned out, I had a few things that didn't have anything that went w/ them and I didn't really have any "spring" outfits or shorts(besides sport shorts). So today, Becky took me shopping and we went to 3 thrift stores and Wal-Mart(for flip-flops) and got everything I needed. OK, I didn't really need any more clothes, but I did get ride of some when we went through my wardrobe. THANK YOU BECKY!!!!!!! Love ya sister!=) <3

Random Spotlighted Flowers

While I was wandering aimlessly through the long grass(see previous post) there were some pretty flowers that I took pictures of. Zeke was looking over my shoulder as I edited them and commented," Abby, you use spot-light waaaaay to much!" As I looked back over my pictures I discovered that I do use it a lot. But, in my opinion, it makes the pictures look soooooooo much better! Anyways...........Here are some amazing, spot-lighted pictures!=)

My Day

Just got home from soccer practice, we got rained out a lot so they extended the season a couple of weeks. Not the best for people going on a 21 mile hike the day before the last games, then playing at a graduation, doing other stuff I can't remember right now, and going to a cast party. O well. We might make it to the first game. Anyways.................Zeke had a baseball game so I got to walk to the baseball field after soccer practice. I forgot to bring other shoes, so I was stuck w/ my cleats. Not the best for walking semi-long distances on concrete. I did seriously contemplate taking off my cleats/shin guards/socks and walking barefoot, but....................I saw a broken bottle and there weren't any nice places to sit in the immediate vicinity, so I suffered in my cleats. It actually wasn't that bad. I almost missed my parents though. I was going to meet them at the game and I got there right as Dad & Zeke were leaving(Mom had already left). We went to Mobil on the Run and got amazing 25 cent slushies. They were good. When we got home dinner was lentils and rice. So good!=) Well I'm going to go wash all the sweat from soccer practice off and go to bed. Good night!

p.s. for those of you who care, I am keeping up w/ my running. In fact, I beat Dad this morning!=) We might extend the run to 3 miles tomorrow, so this might be my last post. It won't be such a bad way to die........=) TTFN! (or forever...)

Going Great so Far!!

The first two performances for the Pirates of Penzance went really well!!! Both shows were sold out which made the stage super hot for the actors, but also helped us get pumped up too! I don't think anyone noticed the lights or anything which means all those behind-the-scenes people(who, in my opinion are some of the most important people) were doing their job.=) Of course there were a couple of minor mistakes(including a parasol snapping in half!), but everyone covered very nicely/professionally and I don't think the audience noticed. Great job everyone!!!! Thank you Papa for the flower! That was very sweet of you. Oh, and the brownies were great Jenna! Thanks a million! I miss all you piratey people so much already! Good thing we have more performances!! But after that........no, I'm not going to think about those horrible dark days to come!!!!!!!!!!! I will see some of you today................of course I don't think the people I'll see read my blog, but oh well. Sorry to all you guys who aren't in the play. Maybe you can try out next year!!=) I'm really tired. I don't have any pictures right now, but so many people have taken pics that I might just steal someone else's........ I will try to take some pictures this weekend....... maybe next time I post I'll have some for you!! OK, I'll stop rambling on and on and on and on and on...............................well you get the point. TTFN!!(I love Tiger!)

Just Some Random Pictures

I think Becky must have taken this picture on one of her walks...... I love the colors!

These are some flowers from our trip to New York when we toured Monticello.

OK, yeah this was a long time ago but......

There was a street mall thingy somewhere along our trip and I thought this display(if you can see it) was kinda neat.

This is in front of a hotel we stayed at in Kentucky.

Zeke in the car........

A King snake......I think.

My New Blog

Hey Everyone!

This is my first blog, so it will probably be pretty lame at first, but hopefully I will get better at it as time goes on.=)

First of all, I think I should mention the play my brother and I are in. We're in the 'Pirates of Penzance (or the Slave of Duty)'. It's an amazing play and it's pretty funny too.=) The performances are April 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 all at 7:00 at the Ozark Actors Theatre in Rolla. There will also be a Matinee at 2:00 on the 25th. $8/Adult, $4/child, $35/family cap. Tickets are available at A Slice of Pie, or you can get them by calling 573-308-6644. The play is being put on by Fine Linen Drama and is family friendly and fun for all!=) Hope to see you there!