Hello, World

Hello, I've finally posted again! Go me :P
So I haven't one bit of inspiration but I just wanted to check on what's been happening in Blogger world.
See you in Narnia.

NARNIANARNIANARNIA

I'm sorry I've been pretty MIA lately, but since high school started, Facebook has become my higher priority. Lately I've been in the mood to write but haven't had a chance. Between history speeches and English writing, I've had very little extra time. Spending more time with friends has been another relatively new thing for me. I never used to be able to call and ask if anyone wanted to drive over and hang out, but this ear has been completely different. I suppose it's because I'm getting older now, and so I'm just beginning to get used to it. I've finally begun reading the Harry Potter series. The first four have been building up nicely, and the fifth is soon to be added to the "Books Already Read" pile. There's been a bit of controversy over the series, though. My family is Catholic. Before we began reading the books, my mother read to us the section on witchcraft from the Catechism. It warned us of the mistreatment of supernatural things. I was wary while reading the first few, trying not to pollute my mind or anything. Soon those fears wore away, but I've decided to be very careful. Books can grow on people sometimes. Narnia had a very strange effect on me. I always was pining away and giving every thought to anything that reminded me of Narnia. I love Narnia just as much now, but I am certainly no longer obsessed. My mum and I were discussing this not too long ago. I was asking why she didn't mind that I liked Narnia so much, but whenever Harry Potter comes up, she gets upset and kindly begs us to shut up and find a different topic. She doesn't like Harry Potter. I believe she's become sort of bitter about it. I think it's because she's making sure she's not dragged into the "WWHD?" (What would Harry do?) mindset. Sometimes people replace the One who truly matters in the end with a temporary, fictitious character. Harry is casually breaks school rules (oh, horrors), which are amusing. This is obviously not a huge deal, but it's been the only real thing that was strange for me...kind of juvenile. J.K. Rowling leads us to believe he is the protagonist, but we should be careful not to make him the most important thing to us. I guess all I want to say is that Harry Potter is very much different from Narnia. Narnia points us to God. Harry Potter....doesn't.


MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

New Wallpaper!

Robert Murray, More Commonly Known as "Bobby"

It's Thursday, so I suppose an update is due. Tonight, I believe, will be one of the best nights of my life. There are very few things that make me so happy as having a good time with close friends and family. AnnaMarie, Gracia, and their two brothers are coming to town for a visit and I, along with Anna and her younger sister, Pip, and the four of them, are going roller-skating! Anna Marie and Gracia are the sweetest cousins I could ask for, and Anna is my best friend in the world, and only a trip to Narnia could possibly beat that. Edit: A trip to Narnia /with/ them would beat everything! The Skate Fellowship is one of my favorite events. A local Christian Radio station plays Contemporary Christian music to skate by and the ice cream is AMAZING. We've only ever gone as a whole group once before, and that was a blast! This time around, it'll be even better.

My school play this year is "A Christmas Carol" (by Charles Dickens, obviously). I have three male roles (argh... gender bending!). I am a London Policeman (Robert Murray, more commonly known as "Bobby"), Businessman (Edmund Turner), and the beaux of one of Mr. Fezziwig's three daughters (Mark Huntington). I loved being able to choose my name, but I wish I could've secured a larger role.
Time is running low, but I have room to finish with One Line.
"When hope is out of reach, take a friend's hand. They will help you find it."

One Line....Thursdays?

So Auntie Kate's One Line Wednesdays won't work for me.
I'm too busy on Wednesdays.
But Happy Thursday!!!!!!!!!

One Line for the day:


"Each nightmare can be turned around: a smile through your tears, the sun in the rain: it'll all come back again."
~Me......

Facebook!

I now have upgraded my lifestyle......I'm on the one and only.......

Facebook!!!!

Soooooo I don't know if I'll post as much any more but I'll get a word or two in edgewise once in a while.

Barlow Can You Go?

I went to a concert on Sunday night. The concert featured a GREAT band called



It's a sister act and a TOTALLY Christian band. Their songs are amazing. People really need to start taking Christian singer/songwriters seriously. They have AMAZING MUSIC. I'm sick and tired of people putting Christian bands down. Their songs actually say something. So DEAL WITH IT!! :)

Here they are!!

Alyssa Barlow
Age: 25-ish
Instrument: Piano, Vocals

Lauren Barlow
Age: 23-ish
Instrument: Drums, Shaker, Vocals

Rebecca (Becca) Barlow
Age: 29
Instrument: Guitar, Vocals

All of them write their songs together.

They're always making jokes and laughing with one another. They've got a great relationship with eachother and the Lord.

One song they sang for us was totally exclusive. They had NEVER sang it to anyone but eachother, and on Sunday night, WE WERE THE FIRST TO HEAR IT!

"Our Worlds Collide" is a really great song with a happy tune.... :)

Lauren: up close!

Then there wer the dart wars. These were urm...interesting, to say the least.
Here, cousin Brandon poses intensely with his dart gun:


And now we take a detour back to Camp Freedom:

Myself and AnnaMarie!

AnnaMarie is soooo gorgeous.....*sigh*...how does she do it???

I must go and greet the Chivalrous Camper, who has just come in, now....

HELLO PIP!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 3, continued....

We last left off...

HERE:

That night was a peaceful one. The sun aroused itself slowly, plodding up into the sky. I smiled to myself as I woke. Mother's reassurance had been worthwhile. Dressing quickly, I practically hopped out of my cabin, tying my hair back with an indigo ribbon as I went. The shouts of sailors, lapping of the waves, and all manner of sea sounds flooded my ears as I walked briskly to the room I knew the rest of my family was inhabiting. Flinging open the door, I forgot all about my hopes of princessly behaviour.
"Good morning!" I greeted both my mother and brother cheerily. "Where's Father? Can I speak to him?" I questioned eagerly.
"May I," Mother scolded gently.
"May I speak to Father?" I was tapping my foot gently on the floor in impatience.
"He's expecting you in the other room, dear. Slowly, now, El..." I barely heard her. I did, however, open the door calmly. Father was seated at his desk, about to seal the envelope of a letter I assumed he had just written.
"Father! Good morning!" I threw my arms around him. "Mother says you've been expecting me."
"Yes, dear, I have. Your mother informed me of your desires. I believe I have a solution for you," He smiled as I listened attentively. "I have just sealed a letter to be sent as soon as we stop again to restock our food and water supply. This letter is to go to the head of my future army. In his spare time, you will learn to use a sword from him, as long as he consents."

"Oh, Father, really? The head of the army? You mean it?" I was fairly bursting with joy. I threw my arms around my father (gently enough, desptite my eagerness) and his whiskers brushed my face gently.

"Go on, now, Elwen, I believe you might want to walk on the deck this morning. It's gorgeous tonight." With a smile, he set the letter down close to his inkwell, and I practically waltzed out of the room.

On deck, I stood as close to the extreme prow as I could without bothering any sailors. That's when I saw Kip coming toward me.

"G'mornin, El," came the casual greeting. "How might you be today?"

"I'm in a glorious mood, Kip! The water is so calm today, is it not? I've been just drinking in some sea air. Lovely stuff. And yourself?"

"I'm feelin' just ship-shape this morning, I surpose. My, yer quite chipper, and ya got a twinkle in them dark eyes o' yers. What's up?"

" I told you once that my father would certainly allow me to handle a sword desptie my title, correct? Well, today he wrote a letter to the leader of the Narnian army, and he's to give me lessons on swordplay! That's why I'm so happy this morning."

"That's mighty fine news fer ya, El. Sailor's luck to ya." He saluted smartly, making me laugh.

"I suppose a sailor's luck is rather good, then?" Appearing to be greatly offended, he stepped back.

"Why, the best luck you'll find as far as the edges of the earth, Princess!" I smiled...........

AND ONCE AGAIN, our program will be interupted by a parental figure insisting that I get off the computer. So, begging your leave..............

Reepicheep's Chivalry

This morning I woke to my brother's face peeping in the door.

"You're awake!" he said (rather triumphantly).

"Mmmphh..."

"Come on; it's 10:00. Get up!" he insisted.

"Okay...fine..." I began groggily as I began to actually wake up. Then things took a whole new turn as he began to stare at my bookshelf.

"I still don't know where you hid your diary! Last time it was in pretty plain sight!" Pip mused.

"Why do you want to read my diary anyway? There's nothing new since you last found it," I was not extremely distressed, because I know exactly where it is and he'll never find it.

"You won't tell me anything, so I have to read about it-if I ever find it,"

"Not true! I tell you lots of stuff!"

"Not the stuff you write in your diary," he countered. "I'll find it soon."

"Ok. Look around, then." I sat propped up by my pillows and watched, bemused, as he searched without result. He didn't find it (thank goodness!!!!). He'll never ever find it, now!

So later today we took him to "Chivalry Camp", where he'll hang out with other guys and hopefully learn that it's really not the most chivalrous thing to do to search your sister's room for her diary.
This, of course, led me to think of dear little Reepicheep.

"I do believe courageous, courteous, or chivalrous might more benefit a knight of Narnia," is his way of putting things.
Well, let's just say the world could use some Reepicheeps (though not too many or the world would be overrun with valiant but extremely pompous little people).
Helping with night raids on an evil king's castle wouldn't befit most people, but it might just whip some of us into shape!
Pip is very dear to me, and he mostly means well. I can't blame him for wanting to get some attention from an older sister. The only problem is that I'm really not much older than him. He's 355 days younger than me: 10 days shy of a year. I can't hold his hand and teach him things (I'm known to be a bit motherly to him...that's not recieved well) like I'd enjoy doing, because he's not a little kid. He's a kid, just not a little one.
Which is another reason why I think Narnia would do us all some good. It doesn't force children to become adults or force them into adult situations. It simply prepares us for the road ahead. Most children and/or teens could imagine themselves fighting bravely for a beloved country. I know I could see myself doing the like. The only problem is that I don't believe there's any honour whatsoever in riflery and machine guns. Whatever happened to knowing exactly who you're fighting and why? I'd rather give a man/woman a fair fight. They deserve life just as much as we do. So I give Reepicheep a strong round of applause for his efforts in the ways of chivalry. I might be viewed as "old-fashioned" for that reason, but it's worth it to know that in Narnia, progress is/was viewed as something Caspian had seen in a bad egg (if you've read VDT extensively, you know exactly what I'm talking about). Not all progress, just most progress. The computer I'm using has its uses, but who knows: if no one had discovered electricity, no one would care if there were computers or not. There would be a stronger love of family and friendships, honour, chivalry, and justice. I may be going a bit deeper than usual, but sometimes it's necessary to tell the world exactly what you think. Even if on;y one person in the entire universe has even glanced at it, it feels good to express what you're feeling every once and a while. Wow. All this comes from a kid looking for his sister's diary. And life is feeling great right now.

I wonder why.

Freedom Run

I'm back, and I'm happy! I was visinting my cousins (Gracia and Anna Marie) at their home in the middle of nowhere!!! Not really, they live really close to a popular amusement park in an two hour radius from me.

Day one
Sunday:
Arrive at "Camp Freedom" in the afternoon and go to dinner at one of their friends' homes. They're Menonites and most Menonites make good food. These guys made the BEST FOOD EVER! Haha...
After dinner came a few games off wiffle ball, which was awesome because my team was great. Except Joe kept hitting foul balls.
After that, it began to get dark, so I suggested a game of "Lurking Turkey". This game is SOOO fun to play in the dark. It's a twist on hide-and-seek, WITH TURKEY NOISES!!! It was so funny to the adults that were around because whoever was it had to yell "Calling All Turkeys!!!" and everyone else had to gobble wherever they were...yepp....good times.

Day two
Monday:
Mount "G", we'll call it. It's this place with a lake-ish pondy thing and you swim...not sure how to explain it. I got the most horrible sunburn on my back. Thankfully it's almost gone now. And then we went to a certain "J-Shop" for ice cream. Yummy!!!! AND JOE DIDN'T GET TO FINISH MY ICE CREAM FOR ME THIS TIME!!!!!!!

Day three
Tuesday:
"H-Park" was great! We played the turkey game on th "B-walk" and it was reallly awesome. My brother and Joe got FRONT SEATS on a really new rollercoaster there. The one that took 45 minutes for us to get up to the seats. Yeah....that's the one.

Day four
Wednesday:
Joe and Josh left us to go on a camping adventure. Fun......
The rest of us were left to enjoy the peace and quiet (haha jkjkjk).

Day five
Thursday:
I helped Anna Marie bake for a bakesale! That was fun...

"Yes Gretchen, we all know you're a mother hen."

Day six
Friday:
Blasting contemporary Christian music with the bass turned up all the way on the way home from bowling and a buffet restraunt was the highlight!

Day seven
Saturday:
"Parting is such sweet sorrow..........."

And so ended the well antcipated trip.
The next day was sword-fighting madness with some friends. And no one's lip was cut this time!

And so life has been good.

And now I have band camp.

And I'm not good at marching.

And so you must pity me.

And so I bid adieu!