How does a person go to walmart...

And buy only one thing??
That was what the cashier asked me when I was checking out today.
It was that or, "what kind of a person". Either way, my response was, "Lot's of self-control." Or was it discipline? Either way, same dif.
There are lots of things I'd like to buy, but I just don't see the NEED. And if there's a need (like a new lamp I'm thinking about buying), I go away, think about it for days, weeks and even months, and then finally purchase it.
I have a strict spending budget, you see, buy only what I need and then put everything else in savings to prevent me from buying more. If I want something extra, I've gotta SAVE UP FOR IT.
Okay, so I didn't NEED that box of Annie's macaroni.. (ON SALE), or those two Steaz Teaz.. (ON SALE, and one was for my bro, charity cases are excused, right?). But I did need the other stuff I bought (at the grocery store). And I don't always abide by these rules, mind you. They're more like.. GUIDELINES. Then I went to Walmart, because I'm one of those people that likes to just walk around Walmart and let her mind wander. Take your time, peruse the aisles... and then buy a 10 dollar tube of natural face wash.
You read me.
Say Yes to Blueberries. You might remember a blog post on April 13th (to be exact) where I bought dental floss and Say Yes to Carrots. Well, that face wash is not only super fantastic, but it's lasted me up until now. There's still a few more washes in it, yet! But I like to replace things before they run out.
The Blueberries is a little more expensive and for less! But it's spercial. It's gawt Blueberries (no duh) to fight free radicals, coconut oil to moisturize, apple to refresh and brighten and lemon peel to clean. I know, I'm strange, because I'm excited about a paraben-free natural (95%) facial wash. Oh well!
They also have moisturizers, which I've ignored until now. I'll have to pick some up next time!

Picture snatched off some ulta beauty website

So I tried this neat little curling trick, you take a stretchy headband and put it on over your hair and then twist your hair all around it and sleep with it in. In the morning you take it out and your hair is curly!
Well, my hair's already curly-ish.. but I'm obsessed with doing this, mostly because it's so simple. And then I get to walk around with curls in my hair all day long. Win-win!

Speaking of Facebook. Oh, no, we weren't. But we are now. Facebook is ruining the world. And, while it's a great way to meet new people and keep in touch with people, I think it's completely destroying us.
For instance. There's this picture that flies around facebook with two rolls of toilet paper on it, depicting the right way and wrong way to hang toilet paper.
Not that I care all that much on peoples' preferences, but now, when I meet someone, I can't just ask, "how do you hang your toilet paper? Over? Or under?" No, instead it's, "oh, yeah, that toilet paper thing on-" "yeah, facebook." "yeah, haha."
There's no personally getting to know anyone. It's getting to know people en masse. Learning about the whole world instead of personally. "*Like* if you remember this." "*Like* if you've ever done that." EVERYone (or almost) relates to it. Who knew we all did the same things? But, now, it takes all the surprise out of finding that out about individual people.
Say goodbye to conversations like, "I used to play that the floor was lava and you had to jump from couch to couch!" "What?? No way, so did I!"
Because now all you have to do is, "*Like*" and, somewhere in someone's brain they think, "oh, hey, that person did that once."
-_-

So, anyway, have ya'll heard of Kutless? I don't normally like all their music, but April's brother, Alex, got me their worship CD. And I love it. It's such a great CD. I like almost all of their songs.
One of my favorite songs is, "Give Us Clean Hands" and they do a great rendition. It's a little rock n rollish, but I appreciate it.
AUGH! I just bit my tongue. asdsdsdsjgk.
Crisis over.
Anyway, other songs of theirs that I appreciate are:
Amazed
What Faith Can Do
Everything I Need
You Save Me
Redeemer (Great version, Keith Green's still rocks though)
I'm Still Yours.
And, one of my absolute favorites, so favorite, in fact, that I'm putting up a video:

Taken by Love.

One of the best. Ah, I love it. Thanks, Alex, for buying it for me.
Ha, I remember when he did, too. It was, like, three years ago. I forgot to put it on my wishlist for my birthday and I was so disappointed that I did. But, what a guy, he bought it for me and it was a complete surprise! I was so happy. It's one of my favorite CD's.

So, I'm working on a study. Normally I just write motivational little studies and put them up here, but this thing is an actual study with an outline.. and Bible verses that you actually have to LOOK UP. o_O
I do FaithTech studies, and this study is formatted like a FaithTech study. I've never really done something like this before, but I was all excited because it looks all serious and stuff.
Now to actually STUDY. Ha. You wouldn't believe how difficult it has been for me to organize myself enough to start the study. I'm way better at listening to people teach than teaching it myself. But I need to study to show myself approved and not let everyone else do it for me! Are YOU studying to show yourselves approved? It's an important part in your walk. You fill your mind up with God's word so that you can easily fight off Satan's attacks. Anytime you're tempted you can respond with, "it is written." Just as Jesus Christ did when He was tempted, and did you ever see Him sin? NO. Because He didn't give INTO the temptation. That's what it's all about, Jesus freeing us from sin so that we don't ever have to give into temptation again! It doesn't make us invincible to temptation or even sinning, we'll always have a choice and sometimes we might mess up and sin. But you don't have to be a slave to sin any longer! Isn't that wonderful?
Of course, this isn't what my study is about, but it's still a good thing to remind you guys of.
My study is on words, as I think I've said a few times before.
After I'm finished with it I think I'll make a summery and post it on here so that ya'll can read it right quick. I'll put up the outlines, too. But something tells me it will be a while. As I want to to be just right! And gathering such things can take a while.

So--I say so a lot at the beginning of paragraphs, don't I? Who noticed that besides me? Or did no one notice? Either way, by now I've posted pictures of my two different painting areas. The outside one and the inside one.
The outside works when it's warm but not too hot, and not freezing. The indoors one works only when I'm desperate. My brilliant parents created that space for me and I appreciate it! But it's become cramped. Back outside, folks! I need to get back into painting, I truly do. I appreciate art so much and, really, I think I'm an artist under the guise of a writer. I don't dedicate much time to art, but in the depths of my soul I long to. I just lack the motivation. You know what I did to find that word? It was on the tip of my brain but I just couldn't think of it, so I googled, "I lack the" and there it was. Bahahaha. And here I am complaining about technology. Oh but I'm so terrible at thinking of the words I'm thinking. You should hear me talking to BFF, I'm always like, "what's that word?" And she's like "this?" And I'm like "YEAAH!" Such a great pair.
Anyways, woe is to me. Well, not really, the sun is shining and Jesus saves, so no woe! Woe to those who take evil for good and good for evil. That's Biblical right there.

You know, I've noticed that my first letters are only the second largest. I used to do them the largest. Have you noticed? I downsized. It's the economy. But perhaps I'll make them larger again.
Anyway, right now my project is to not be lethargic. I've been quite, lately, and it's got to stop. So I've been working out a lot and *TRYING* to get into writing. I write tid-bits here and there, so that's good. I have so many ideas it shouldn't be that hard. But it is. I let the worries of, "will anyone ever publish this?" stunt my creativity. I oughtta stop that right now and just go write whatever the heck I want!
Well, anyways, that's all for now, folks.

The Indecency of it All!

I went to the lake today.
It was nice.
Okay, there's nothing indecent about that, and I know you saw the title of this blog and thought, "oh, interesting! What's indecent?"
So I guess I won't disappoint and talk about it!

At the lake there were people and, of course, these people were there to swim. Which involves swimwear. Catch my drift?
No, I was actually pleasantly surprised. A lot of the bathing suits (in fact most of them) were pretty decent! I was amazed. Mostly shorts and tank tops. I wanted to congratulate those ladies. Good job! If you've seen me swimming, you'd know I look like a nun. I wear bermuda shorts and a running shirt over a swimming suit. I can explain, normally I wear board shorts but I don't fit into my old ones so I just stick with my extra long running shorts :p. And then I normally wear a tank top, but I've been wearing shirts with sleeves because I like to cover my shoulders from the sun (been burned there too many times as a child, yeouch). I'm not one of those people who are like, "you MUST cover every single part of your body!" I wear jeans (not skirts) but I like being modest. In my point of view, if most of the upper thigh is covered and no cleavage is showing, you're good to go. You want to cover up but I'm not going to wear long pants and long sleeved shirts in 95 degree weather :)

Oh, but the men, on the other hand, they were all mostly shirtless. I don't want to see a guy's chest. Cover it up, please!
Women catch flack for causing men to stumble. But they never seem to think the other way around? It'd be better if everyone just covered up so then there would be no distractions.
And everybody needs to get control of themselves! That doesn't give us all excuses to be indecent, no, no. I'd be decent anyway. I don't want people to see my body. That's private! Ladies AND gentlemen, cover yourselves up, have some dignity, for crying out loud. Some bathing suits cover less than your underwear. Underwear is something you shouldn't walk around in public in. Think about it guyyys.

But the bottom line, I was very proud of those ladies at the lake who wore mostly decent swimwear. Bravo to you, ladies! And, well, a least the guys weren't wearing speedos, that would have been extremely distracting, talk about a Luke-face moment right there. Pss, Loud audio, turn down the speaks.



Everyone, especially you young ladies; You should not be embarrassed of covering too much! Don't give into the pressure of this world to show more of your skin. Hold your heads high and dress appropriately!! :)

TECHNICALLY

I did something tonight that I haven't done in a long time..
I measured the vanilla when I was making cookies.
I did, I really did.
And then proceeded to dump a little extra in. Well, it was a short-lived progress. But progress nonetheless! By now you've guessed it, I hardly ever measure the vanilla.
There's only one explanation, really, that being that I love vanilla. Everything should be vanilla flavored. Okay, not really. I appreciate vanilla in cooking, but I do not appreciate it anywhere else. Body washes, soaps, lotions, candles. No thanks. I don't enjoy sugary, sweet smells. I enjoy the tastes, not the smells. Candles, soaps and lotions should be floral and/or fresh. You shouldn't feel like you're bathing in 800 calories of sugar and fat. Well, that's just my opinion.

Two songs I keep listening to:
No One Would Listen

This song is so sweet. If you've not seen Phantom of the Opera, well, I don't feel like explaining. But most of the movie you're like, "man, that guy's kind of evil." But you can't help but feel sorry for the poor guy. This song isn't in the movie, it got cut, but I think it best conveys just how he feels, and really bridges that gap between the viewer and his little wittle heart.
And, might I say, Gerard Butler does a smashing job as the Phantom. I enjoy the music in that movie a lot, but upon my recent revisiting of this wonderful movie, I realized just how seductive and sensual it is. *Single eyebrow raise* But that's the magic of tv! You don't HAVE to watch ANYthing! :D

Then, there's this wonderful song:
Ride to Death

If you haven't seen the new True Grit yet, go watch it. At least once.
Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors. He plays in Surf's Up, and that's one of my favorite movies. Anyway, he does a swell job and so does that girl. The best part is the ending (hey, don't read if you don't want to spoil the end!!) when she falls down a chasm and he saves her after she gets snakebit. Best part, so gripping, so moving. And this music plays at that part. And it's just.. so dramatic and spectacular. It holds your heart and pulls you along for the ride and you--aaah, I can't even describe it well enough. And I expect to be a writer? Well, back to studying the SAURUS for me. <<- see what I did there? Thesaurus? Get it? GET IT?

So, between those two songs and just finishing Catching Fire and Mockingjay (rereading them anyway), I've been swarmed with brilliance. Again, the writer of the Hunger Games series has a rare gift of putting together words, plot and emotions and capturing your attention with it and not letting go until the end. That is the sort of writing I aspire to.
Sadly, it's the type of writing that does not come naturally to me. I'm not a dramatic, gripping-type writer (at least I don't think). I'm more of a humorist, at heart. And fantastical at my greatest. I'm a story-teller, a narrator. I like to make things fun, pretend as though I'm talking to a good group of friends, entertaining them. Definitely not what you find in war-hardened romances such as the Hunger Games series. Oh well, I shall aspire to be the best Andrea writer and that shall be good enough for me!

I was watching Ice Cream: Unwrapped on the cooking channel (Cooking Channel, not Food Network), and I find myself, once again, wanting to get a job at an ice cream shop. It's really probably not as glamorous as I imagine. But there's something fun about serving ice cream. At least I think so. And if I had to work with any sort of food, ice cream would be my choice.
Or, if you want to be technical, frozen dairy products, as FroYo isn't ice cream, TECHNICALLY.

Anyway, I think that'll be all for tonight. You're lucky, I was just going to go to bed, but then I wanted to tell you all about the vanilla that I had to sit down and write this little tidbit. I wanna know, does anyone else ever notice that I *usually* color the first letter/word of my paragraph? HMM?? I do it, alll the time. Do you notice, do you? If not, then I give up!! I do all these nice things, hoping to make you notice me and give me a little credit for once, and what do I get? You ingrates. Okay, sorry, sorry! No, baby don't be like that! Baby!!
Sorry, moment of midnight insanity right there. Anyways, you know I love you guys! Until later, ciao! (which means GOODBYE in Italian.)

Here you are, precious! I got a GOOD picture.

 Now you know.

I've used it for numerous dishes now, and I couldn't be happier.
I'm going to go back and make another one, probably green. It'll say something equally smart like, Fantastically Tasty. Any ideas?
It may look a little like this:

But not so yellow. That's a plate I made for my bff. Isn't it snug? Yes. I know you're jealous.
So the plan for today is, clean the kitchen, go to work, come back and WRITE.
Speaking of work, I was thinking of getting a job a Jamms. It's a frozen yogurt place that I love! (Better than Top This <_< ). Just a consideration I'll be praying about. I started reading in Ephesians, too. I haven't read it in a while so I'm rediscovering all this little goodies.
Now, for a moment to be honest with you: This is how my bed looks when I roll out of it in the morning..

 I know.. I guess I might toss and turn a little.. Just a little?
Anyway, I thought it was so funny that my covers were so completely mangled, that I snapped a picture of it. I know, it may be weird to you, but I think it's hilarious. Probably something only ten or eight people in the world might find humorous. Let me know if you're one of them, I'd like to shake your hand.

Ending on a happy note: Have I told you, lately, that I love my room? Look at this..

 Sparkles.. Everywhere!! <3

Just.. just, there aren't words for how beautiful it is.  Sigh. Farewell.

I did something naughty yesterday. A lot of somethings. I will name them for you.

• I spent money.
• I spent money on frozen yogurt.
• I ate at Wendy's.
• Not only did I eat at Wendy's, but I drank Dr. Pepper, too.
• And I ate all the french fries..
• I baked, and ate, cookies.

Now that we've got that out of the way. How are you?
Oh, I'm alright. I just rearranged my furniture for the bazillionth time.
But you don't want to hear about that, you want to hear about my adventure in town!
Well, I started out going into toown. Town, town, not that town that's just 4 minutes away, but that one over THERE. Ok, it's only 20 minutes away, but it's away!
I went into town to pick up pottery that I painted with my mother last Saturday. I'd post pictures, only my camera is way over there.. and I'm chilaxing in my green chair. No can do, Commander.
So, since I was in TOWN, I figured I might as well go to Fred Meyer! Such a neat store with desks and stuff. Oh, and food, and clothes, too. Well, it's like Walmart or Target but cooler. And I bought my purse there, so I wanted to shop for a new purse.
Ok, so my phone rang and I got up anyway.. but that's because it was my mom. And I don't care how comfortable or lazy you are, if your mama's calling, you answer! Which resulted in my making chili dip (chili + desired amount of cream cheese = chili dip), eating it, bartering with Jeff about taking my car as long as he brings me back tea, sitting at the piano and playing a short (short) tune and then grabbing my music books so I could recatalog them. Only to return to my room with three volumes of sheet music and remember that I abandoned you. Sadly, this is a typical Andrea thing to do.

ANYWAY, after retrieving the pottery, I got some froyo (Rachelle hates that term) because it was lunch time and I figured I should have a snack before shopping, otherwise I get cranky and tired and just go home.  But froyo wasn't enough. Impulsively, I turn into a Wendy's drive-thru and before I can rethink this terrible act, I not only ordered a chicken sandwich--but fries and GASPGASPGASP, a soda.
Let's examine this, shall we?
Chicken sandwich: Not such a terrible choice, chicken, sure, from Wendy's, a little better.
Add fries: Greasy, fried sticks of fat and starch. That's... ok, it was just a small!
But then, the greatest wrong of them all.. did I order lemonade? No. Or even a frosty? No. I order.. Dr. Pepper.
I shall take this moment to say, I don't drink soda. Sure, once in a long while. For instance, I had some at a friend's bday party in May and then on the way home from Rachelle's house I had a few sips of Nick's Mr. Pibb (or was it Dr. Pepper? IDK, my bff, Jill?)
Soda's simply not meant to be consumed by humans. And then, fast food! I never eat fast food--well, not never, but I do avoid it.
Either way, it was all just a bunch of tomfoolery and I shant be drinking soda for a while now! Or eating fast food for that matter.

So, after doing that evil, I went to find Fred Meyer, only I'm sure they moved it somewhere else, because I couldn't find it. I should take this time to note that I never remember exactly where Fred Meyer is. In this case, I went the back way to Wendy's and passed it, got on the highway, went further up, didn't see it, went to Walmart (more on that later) then turned around and went home, only I took a shortcut home which went around where Fred Meyer is so I ended up avoiding it in my grand scheme of stupidity. But let's talk about Walmart. This Walmart I almost never go to because it's so farrr awaaay. So I go there looking for shampoo, conditioner, fish oil and eye drops.
I end up buying shampoo and conditioner and then leaving in a cold sweat to get out of there because I can't find anything in that place!
There is another Walmart on my way home, which I know like the back of my hand. Ahhh. So I finish my shopping there and return home where my new wireless keyboard and mouse set are waiting for me.
But I need batteries and my family is known for not having batteries. So I go back to Walmart. But to the other one that's closer to home. This one I know almost as well as the other. The reason being, it's newer so I haven't been going as long. It took me a full rotation around the store to finally find the batteries. It should be noted that I was carrying around a package of toilet paper while looking incredibly lost.
Note to all: Batteries are usually in a big huge thing in the main aisle up front where the checkout lanes are. D'oh!
I also looked at some sterling silver earrings and promised myself I would buy some someday.
I rented Mirror Mirror, which is a hilarious movie, and watched it with my family.
So now you know where I was yesterday.. bumbling around town trying to find Fred Meyer and batteries. Sigh, what am I going to do with myself?

Oh, and here's a picture of the bowl I painted. Don't flatter yourself, I just stole it off of my facebook.

Limits

We should get jerseys, cuz we make a good team. But yours would be better than mine, cuz I'm out of your league.
This song is stuck in my head. I don't know why, though, because I just watched a video clip of me and April being nerds to the music of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly..
Anyway, what's up?
Nothing's up here, thanks for asking.
Ok, some things, I've been writing like a good girl, I have. And I've been slowly copying down verses into a document for my bible study I'm doing. There were about 165 verses in Proverbs.. and then I get to sort through them! Yay! But, no, this is a nice study, and I want to do it. It's just hard for me to focus on one project for long periods of time. I write a little, I study a little, I play games, I paint a little, then I come back to the computer.

So, I was thinking, my brothers never think I'm very funny so I always imagine I'm not funny at all (see what they do to me??). But one of my friends told me my face expressions when talking are hilarious. It's very dear to me to know that I can make someone laugh with my face..
I've also been complemented on how I argue. Which I've never heard of before. But I was arguing with Nick (I might have mentioned this in a previous blog) and our uncle's friend said she had to complement our way of arguing because we were being so polite and not throwing fists everywhere.
That gave me cause to feel a little dignified.
Oh yes, I got on here for a reason. I was going to talk about guys. I was just thinking how ironic it is that April and I have always wondered where all the good guys are. (Come on, where are they??). In a world that's so dark and evil, full of losers and such, it's like there's no hope! Only to find out, there are good guys out there, and they're wondering, "where are all the good girls?"
Just hilarious! Ok, not that funny.
In all honesty, I know there are lots of good, godly men out there, just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they don't exist. April and I reminded ourselves of this particular part in the Bible:
"Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal." Romans 11:3,4
Elijah thought he was the last, but God knew better. That's why it's always best to trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding, what we see with our physical eyes.
Not that I want you all to think I'm sitting around, brooding about the lack of guys. It was just the irony that I wanted to talk about. April wrote an article in which she made this point and it's been on my mind.

Also, another thing I was thinking. Everyone has their limit. Until they're stretched past it. And then they realize they're stronger than any limitations.
For instance, say you think you could never, ever, eat a live bug. You say, "I can squash them, I can live with them, but I will never eat them." That's your limit. But then, the time comes where you have to eat a live bug, and you do it. Why? Well either you have no choice, or you overcome your fears, one or the other.
I'm realizing that, with God, all things are possible and even though I say, "oh, I could never do that." I realize that God can work with a person and get them through things they thought they could never do.
Of course, you should know me well enough by now to know I'm talking about anything but sin. Of course when I say, "I will never do that sinful thing." I intend to keep that promise. No, no, I'm talking about non sinful things that we're too wimpy, chicken or stubborn to do. No, I'm not talking about thrill-seeking, dangerous, bone-headed acts like sky-diving. Though, I never would sky-dive, but if I had to jump out of a plane with a parachute, I know I would if my life or someone else's life depended on it. And that's what I mean! You think you have these limits, but then when you're tested you see what you're really made of and that you're far stronger than you even imagined! I like to give God that glory, because without Him, I'd probably have been stretched to my limit while taking care of Grandma. And I know mothers all over the world are stretched to their limits. And then past them. And you come out stronger than before, with more confidence, realizing you can do anything!
My grandma was a biiig limit-stretcher. And I'll always be thankful to God for all the lessons He taught me through taking care of her.
Just when you think you've had enough, an unfound strength soars to the rescue and you stand up and take it.
Sure, not everyone does this. Some people crackle and fall and give up. Don't be that person. Be the awesome one that fights past your limitations and becomes all the better because of it!

Anyway, I'm going to go run. Peace out, Jimmy!

So, Trolly People, what have you been up to lately?
I realize I've been away and then, suddenly, I started just posting tons of blogs. Good for me!
Well, I decided to give you a personal update, rather than preach at you all the time to listen to people and be nice.
I got a new computer! Most of the Facebook friends know this, but let's say that there are people--ok, maybe one person-- out there that is not from Facebook. You must know that I bought a new computer!
This means I'm supposed to be responsible and write more.
. . . .
Ok, ok, I've been writing a little. But April --gasp, yes that's BFF's name-- has been working on her own book as of late. Our book has been left, abandoned, sitting in the corner gathering dust.. T.T
This has left me to my own projects.
. . . .
Ok, they're not that bad. But it was hilarious, for a while I was working on this one book and it was going great. It was a Christian book about a guy on the streets that turns his life around and so on. So, just to do my own homework for once, I look up different publishing houses to see which ones accept letters of inquiry and which ones are super strict on having a literary agent (I really would prefer not having to get an agent..) Much to my surprise--though I should have known better-- I found this list from Barbour Books (one of the bigger ones that accept non-agent Authors).
After explaining that the books should express a conservative evangelical Christian view, and explaining a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ is important for their Authors to have.. They list this:
THINGS TO AVOID:  Avoid such
controversial topics as the following:
1.  Spirit baptism (and time of, at
     conversion vs. Second experience of            
     grace)
2.  Water baptism (meaning of and time of,
children or adults)
3.  Gifts of the Spirit (e.g., are tongues    
  still around?)
4.  End times (setting dates)
5.  Lord’s Supper (ordinance vs.
 Sacrament)
6.  Women’s ordination
7.  Christian perfection
8.  Transferring qualities of Jesus—or                
 passages in the Bible that refer to
 Jesus—to heroes in books.  This
 also applies to Mary, Jesus’
 earthly mother.
Avoid strictly any language that could be
considered foul and use of mention of alcohol
or drugs.  Euphemisms such as heck, darn, and
so on should not be used. To many of our
readers these words are substitutes for curses.
. . . . . . .


So what on Earth am I supposed to write about now?? A Christian Publisher that doesn't want you to write about Christ, apparently! Oh- oh! Then they go ahead and say that a particular Biblical message should be threaded throughout your book. What message is there left to give??
Number 7 really got me--Christ coming and dying on the cross to destroy the bonds of sin is what the Bible's all about--He defeated sin and death! These people published a book of Cathy Marie Hake's in which a young woman is raped (of course they don't show that happening, but you figure it out.) but they won't publish anything that has truth in it? They obviously would rather have a wordly book with "God" thrown in than a good book with morals and truth! The foul language I could avoid. But the alcohol is laughable! How am I supposed to have a drunken bum crawl up from the ashes without mentioning he loved alcohol? There goes his witness! Christ saved him from the bottom rung but he can't talk about it because it would involve mentioning alcohol!
These guidelines very much reflect Christianity these days, fluffy and soft, not wanting to offend anyone--ever. I should remind you that Christ offended the Pharisees often.. and then they killed him.
Ugh. So, regardless, I'll just have to appeal to a worldly publisher to publish my book. Which is sad, isn't it? That my book full of Christian truths has a better chance of being published by a secular publishing house than a so-called Christian one?

Anyway, so I started on my fairytale book that I wrote a while ago for my youngest brother. I stopped writing it because I realized the name I used for the land was actually made up by J R R Tolkien. Classic, Andrea.
But I got over that and made up a new name.. and then found out it is associated with Chinese foot binding....
Ok, so forget the name! Just write! And that's what I'm doing right now. Or, attempting to do..
Which is where you come in! Instead of writing, like I should, I write blogs! Hey, at least it's literary.
I'm also going to be doing some studying, too, and I'll post those for your reading pleasure.
I also traveled West to visit my sister and her family. It was good to see the kiddos but I was glad to be back home, where I belong. I could tell you, I will be quite happy living in this area for the rest of my life. Unless, surely, there's a better place, but I haven't found one yet. Nor do I expect to.
Also, last month, I bought myself a neat little wing-backed chair. It's green and it sits yonder, in the corner. I do so love it.
And tonight I'm going to paint some pottery with my mother and two of her friends.
None of my friends, though, because they can't. Bah, what good are friends if they never go anywhere with you? (That's a joke, because I never go anywhere with them!)
Oh, I also signed up for a 5K called Graffiti Me. It's great, you get sprayed with powdery paint as you run and get completely colored! My brother's friend is going to run with me-- see that? My brother's friend! I can't even beg my own to come!! Anyway, it's going to be cool and I'm excited about it.
One last bit: April has started a blog of her own! writelicious.blogspot.com Is it evil of me to mention that I came up with the superb name?? >=)
Actually, I thought of it, and then she said she thought of it before I mentioned it. But then I persuaded her to use it rather than the others she was considering.
So go look at it. Chop chop!
And here's a picture of my delightful new little computer. I named him Jarvis.

Tata you leopards!