{A Few of My Favorite Things} A Roundup

Time for a roundup! This is so fun for me! I have to think through what has blessed me this week, little things to big things. It's a good exercise in thankfulness! ;)


My team got second place in our last tournament. It was a miracle, honestly. Because of how the tournament was set up, it came down to a three-way tie for second place! We won based on the number of points we scored throughout the day. I loved getting to have a full day of volleyball!

Photo credit: HLC Photography

I seriously love this picture! @Avery :) (HLC Photography)

I've gotten to pull out sweatpants and sweatshirts. This might be a little premature, but I like to pretend that it's freezing cold outside ;) I've also started making oatmeal for breakfast. We don't eat oatmeal in the summer, so I eagerly await cool mornings. What about you? Are you "love it or hate it" when it comes to oatmeal?


I worked on taking my siblings "school" pictures this summer/early fall. It's one of my favorite jobs. It's easier to take pictures of them when I have mom backing me up :)

This shirt. I really, REALLY like it! (thanks Avery) Plaid AND yellow? That combination would win me over every time;) I don't know what it is about plaid. I really like plaid shirts.

I'm hoping to try this delicious looking recipe soon. I think my dad would really like it. (He's a fruit and cinnamon vs. chocolate and caramel kind of person. Strange...)

If you have a few minutes of extra time today, watch these girls do some serious jump roping. It amazes me every single time. How do they do it?

I've been reading through Job (I have always like the story of Job, but reading through the speeches between him and his three friends never thrilled me. So I'm trying again to see if I can appreciate more of the book than I have previously.) and these verses really stuck out at me:
⁹ “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰ “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹ But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11) 
This pretty much amazes me. When I feel like I have a "hedge around" me, I am more likely to FORGET that it is God I should be thanking and worshipping. But Job still feared God. And this one:
  In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:10)
Another one that impresses me. I can't even get through one day without sinning in my speech. But Job got through horrible tragedies without sinning in his speech? Wow.

I've been reading back through the journal messages I sent my parents while I was gone this summer. (which is fun. I'm glad I wrote so much about my days.) Here's one of my favorites. I must have felt dramatic that day:

Checking in with your daily report from the north. I sure enjoy writing about the highlights in my day, thank you for being my patient audience! Today, here, the temperature topped off at 62. Aunt Leslie says it will be cold enough in the morning to fire up the stove. I am making ice cream cinnamon rolls, and white chocolate dried cherry cookies. Previously this week I have made no bake and grill desserts. That has tided me over. My camera is back in full working condition!! Happy day!!  Jena got to have a friend over tonight, and I was not very sympathetic to her excitement. So, this friend, lilli (yes, spelled that way), reminds me so much of Gracie.[Gracie is one of my other little cousins] She's little and gangly, with long straight blond hair. She talks the same, and they have very similar eyes. She's really nice, and she gives Jena a break from me and Jack! 
 Or this one(yeah, I really enjoy writing dramatically):
Qotd[Quote of the day]: (Jena, behind Jack, who's behind me on the fourwheeler) "it's okay, Jack. I'm holding onto you really tight!" Seriously? Was my driving that bad? It was a beautiful day in the Alaskan wilderness. It didn't even reach eighty, and there was a generous breeze to make the mosquitos slightly more tolerable. Slightly. Last night was one of the more memorable nights in my experience. I woke up at two am because I had mosquitos that buzzed right by my ear. Continuously. I spent half an hour trying to figure out someway to keep the mosquitos off without swaddling myself in a blanket. (Our room was hoooot) at two thirty Jack got up almost in tears because the mosquitos were bothering him. Turns out Jena was up too. We were all up at least two more times trying to solve the mosquito problem. I ended up putting one ear against my pillow and covering the rest of me in a sheet. If I listened to a book, at least I couldn't hear the buzz from outside. Everyone took a rest today... It was such an eventful night.


That's it, I'll sign off for today! What are you enjoying this week?