{Life} What's Up?

Bringing your weekly random blog post.

So what's up with me?

Right now?

I'm writing a blog post. I have a new mug in front of me, with my name on it. (It was a gift. It's quite cute ;) Unfortunately, it's empty. I already finished my chai tea. It's 7:15, but the house is still dark and quiet. Everyone gets to sleep in during break. I just enjoy the morning enough to NOT sleep in. No, I want my quiet house all to myself! :)

The past week has been usual holiday-type stuff. We went to Garden City to visit my mom's parents, and all the cousins, and all the aunts, and all the uncles...and one dog. There's 21 of us all together (22 with the dog), and their house was cramped! The parents got to stay in a HOTEL. They ditched us with THIRTEEN little kids, high on sugar. The first night, five of the cousins didn't get there until 11:00 ish. Then at 3am, four of the little boys decided to have an insomnia party. 3am.  I woke Tyler up (I figured he was the "scariest" of the big boys) and he got them all straightened out. Anyhow, you know all that sleeping in I mentioned up there^, well that doesn't happen at Grandmas. All the little kids were up before 7. It was a riot.

It was crazy, yes. I still loved it. It's fun to go to bed and get up in the same crowded house for a couple of days. Getting home was fun too.

After a little bit of the whole "everyone-packed-inside" thing, Grandpa decided we needed to do a little adventuring. So he took us to the ONLY hilly spot in Western Kansas. It's called "Battle Canyon" in Scott City. Something about the last Indian battle in Kansas...? I'm not really sure, the history bit confused me. But it was really, really pretty. And everyone could run laps to their hearts content.

That's all for now. Except a picture of the puppy. :)

{Journal} Answer It!

I posted theses questions in another blog post, and I'm going to answer them today.

1.  7 people you would be lost without?

Jesus (very literally lost), Mom, Dad, Tyler, Grandmas (both!), and all my uncles/aunts. (All the uncles and aunts go together. Don't even say that's more than seven! :)

2. What is the best thing about Kansas that you would tell someone from another state?

Sunsets...over amber waves of grain. Cliche, I know, but true. When I was in Alaska this summer I met someone who when they heard I was from KS said, "I've been through KS, it's not much to look at." OUCH! I was inwardly seething. It didn't help that I was very homesick... I've gotten over that little slight on Kansas. She just didn't understand what she was saying.

3. What is one thing you would choose to never go out of fashion?

Sweatpants. They never really in fashion, but I think they are widely accepted right now (especially if you wear you know, an under armour hoodie and slides). Anyhow, I also love lace and maxi skirts. My top choice of those three would be maxi skirts. They are comfy, easy to pair with things, and modest. Win-win and I like 'em!

4. Would you rather your kids be all boys or all girls?

Ooohhh....I can't even, I don't know....(I wrote these questions, and I still don't like them!) Can I just have lots of both, please? I'll take that.

5. You have to wear one type of shoes for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Tennis shoes. Yes, sometimes they would be horribly inappropriate (the beach! Church!) but it would be totally worth it for all the times of comfiness. 

6. You could go to any college cost free, what would you choose?

Just somewhere in a different state. I was looking at some college tuitions not too long ago, and out-of-state tuition was horrendous. But I think it would be fun to go somewhere else and have an adventure while I'm going to college. I think Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, or Tennessee would be some of my top states. NOT a big university, but more like a community/county college.

7. One thing about you that hasn't ever really changed?

My height? My personality. Neither of those things about me have changed much.

8. City or country?

Country. All. da'. way. Yes, it's hard to be so far from everything. No, we can't just run to the store and grab some yeast (needed that this morning) or a redbox. But gravel roads, empty space, the sunset...it's all worth it.

9. Apples or bananas?

Both. Together please. I would say I eat apples more often, but when I go on a banana kick, I can eat a whole bunch in one day. I like apple-flavored things better, WAY better than banana things (like banana cream pie. NO, just no.)

10. One thing you would choose to excel at, effortlessly?

Love. That's an easy one. 

{People} Life Lessons from Others

I did a post like this once upon a time. It was fun, so I obviously wanted to do one again. But the inspiration didn't come until now. The inspiration slowly built over the last couple of weeks. So here's some lessons I've learned from people lately. (No names, sorry. Guess away if you like. You'll never get it. Trust me.)

A week or two ago our family was invited to play games and have supper with another family. I was caught at "games".  I love, love, love playing games. Seriously, love it! Especially with friends. But anyhow, here we were playing games and I watched this interaction between my friend and a couple of her little siblings. We were playing in pairs, and the younger kids wanted to switch around. Something wasn't working out. One person wanted to be with this person, but this person was not in agreement. So my friend really quietly suggested a way for everyone to agree by one person joining her team. I'll add here, her team had won every game up to that point. I just got to thinking about that. She was a peacemaker, obviously. But what stood out to me was that she inconvenienced herself to be a peacemaker. I'd never thought about it that way. I've always thought of being a peacemaker as being the one who just reaches into other peoples life and rearranges things. But, no, peacemaker also means willing to inconvenience yourself to avoid strife for others. Sure, in that instance it was just over a game, but I learned from her small action. (I also learned that it's just a game...I shouldn't be so intense about it....*sheepish grin*)

Second lesson. I was talking with my parents some about being sober (Not talking about alcohol...read Titus 2), and what that means. My mom and I were reading a book with the ladies in our church awhile back and the chapter on being sober was a little confusing to me. (It was on the commands to women in Titus 2) The book almost seemed to suggest no laughing, no teasing. But I couldn't agree with that. I would definitely agree that my family (*points to self*) doesn't have the sober thing down. We tease all. the. time. Anyhow, we were talking over what we thought it meant. So I started going through people in my head who I thought showed what I would consider the right mix of soberness and joy. (If the Bible says laughter is the best medicine, I can't believe we are meant to be always serious) After some consideration, I came across a whole family I thought was headed in the right direction. There's always laughter and fun when they're around, but it never seems to be at other's expense, or rude. It's just good, fun laughter. (Several of them have a gift for telling stories that is really funny!) I think there's a lot of things I could learn from them (there's one specifically who has already helped me a lot in my attitudes toward my family just by example) about being a godly family, but this is one! :)

In conclusion, God has given people many people different gifts. Learn from those around you! :)

{Pictures} From the Archives

I've already technically posted on my blog this week. But I decided to do it again, cause I published it on Tuesday morning. So, I'm posting again to clarify that I did, indeed post on my blog this week.

That was a random and unnecessary explanation. :)

I'm sure you're dying with curiosity wondering what I'm going to post about. :) I did this "old pictures" post not too long ago. It was so much fun. I love, love looking through old pictures and digging them out of the archives. So, I'm doing that again. But I'm starting with a prompt! The more strange pictures from the archives of the Marteney computer. Enjoy!

 Uhh. Can we say, embarrassing? Yes, I'm wearing overalls. I've never had any sense of fashion. Anyhow, moving past my wardrobe choices. Why do we all have clips on our mouths? I think my mom decided it was more pleasant that way. Can't blame her really.

 You can't tell very well but that is, indeed a pig in our house. It was one of the years Tyler raised pigs, and this one was sick. When you have sick animals, you bring them inside. It was not cool. It was not fun. It did not smell good. Oh my goodness, it did not smell good. But the pig lived, and tasted very good.

 *Dies* Is that not one of the cutest things you've ever seen? That's Kota's highly efficient way of drying the floor. He was about four, but I bet he'd still do it now! :)

 A hummingbird. My dad holding a hummingbird. He just, you know reached out and snagged it out of the air with his superhero reflexes. So, maybe not. It's really a better story. Hummingbirds kept conking into our window and this one apparently knocked itself silly. It did eventually fly away. In conclusion, that's a hummingbird with a brain injury.

 Lego art. Sometimes my family can be a little embarrassing in public places. I wasn't actually with them on this trip, so I was spared the mortification.

 Yes, they did this posing several times.

 That's our two-headed cat! It's actually O'Malley 1 and 2. The original O'Malley's as kittens. They were quite cute, and fell asleep like this one day. But two-headed cat is a better story.

Have I mentioned how much I love pictures? These strange ones are especially fun and bring back the best memories. Or the weirdest. Or whatever. It's fun, that's the point :)

{Life and Pictures} The Big Things and the Little Things

This is my 62nd blog post. I personally find 62 to be very exciting. So let's celebrate with some exciting things that have happened. At least, I thought they were exciting.

Thanksgiving with family. Getting to see cousins. We had to drive four hours away to see the cousins who live one hour from our house. Yeah, I don't know how that worked either. It was my uncles turn to have the "party" at his house, which is four hours away. And there wasn't really a good place to stay, so the family trekked out there, just to trek back home in the same day. It was a lot of car time. But it was better than expected. We watched movies on the way home :) But cousin time is always worth it. We took our annual cousin KSU picture. (my blog has been lacking in pictures recently. Please allow me to make up for that...)

A little in between picture shenanigans. This is my favorite, but it's missing some people, so it didn't make the cut :)

Something else exciting happened during our Thanksgiving party. One of my mom's friends from highschool/college came to the park with us because she lives in the said four hour away place (Aswego/Parsons Kansas, if you wanted to know. It's not much to see...). My dad mentioned that we were going to look at a litter of puppies in the area. She mentioned back that she had a puppy to get rid of (last of a litter that just hadn't found a home yet).

I probably forgot to say, my dad's dog Mercy got hit on the road not too long ago. It was very sad. And dad hasn't had anyone to take to work with him.

So back to the story. We went to her house on the way home. Have you ever been faced with one rolly-polly white puppy and been able to say "Nope. That's not the one"? I didn't think so. Turns out, we can't either. So, four hours home with the cutest little thing you ever did see. She slept the whole way. :)

She remained nameless for one day. The ideas were as follows: Betty May (She came from Labette county, Amy was her previous owner. Betty=Labette, May=Amy all mixed up.) Jasmine (we were watching a movie on the way home with a character named Jasmine), Tiger (I dunno...my dad votes for weird names), and Hunka Monka (my little cousin's suggestion...don't know where that came from either?)

But a dog can't go without a name forever. Betty May won out. It's perfect for her. I know you've been waiting for a picture, so now I shall oblige.

She's been so much fun. Aww. I love puppies. Especially when I'm not the one who has to take care of it. Great addition to our family.

What else? Well, I found the perfect brownie recipe. I've searched long and hard, I can tell you. Other people can do it. But I have never been able to find that perfect, soft, crumbly brownie. I've now done it. C'mon, be excited. I won't admit to making two pans in two days...but.... :) Hey, they're that good!

Was that enough excitement? I'll share just a few more pictures of some things I've been up to: (My mom is using these as Christmas gifts, of some sort. I don't really know the plan. But I've had a lot of fun picking out pictures, and making them)

Liebster Award

This award thing is fun! It's a blog post that someone else prompts for me! I was nominated by Laurel here: http://laurelstew14.blogspot.com/2014/11/liebster-award.html
(Thank you!)
Laurel is a very quiet person. But her blog! It's funny, because she has a great sense of humor. And it's unexpected because I'm not used to hearing her talk very much. I love reading it! :)

So here's the rules:

Link to the blog that nominated you for the award. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
List 11 random facts about yourself.

Nominate some bloggers that have less than 200 followers.

Create 11 questions for the bloggers you've nominated.
Notify them that they've been nominated.

I'm not doing the nominating part, because all the blogs I read have been nominated, but I'll do the rest! It's fun!

So I linked to Laurel's blog up there^

Here's the answers to the questions from Laurel:

1. Where's somewhere you want to travel to?

Wow. I don't know. I think I want to travel the world. :) Very specifically? I'd like to go to Denmark. We have some friends there who I would really like to see again! I also want to go to Colorado, because I've never been, and It's only a state away. I know, NEVER been there. It's very high on my list. I would also really like to see the redwoods, and plantation country in the south.2. Pet Peeve?

Tyler. NO, I'm joking, but that's how it feels sometimes. The pet peeves that absolutely drive me batty from my family, wouldn't bother me at all if a friend did it. That actually illustrates generally my struggle with being "best friends" with my family (siblings). It really bothers me when I'm reading or listening to the climatic part of a book and I get interrupted. Especially if I have to put it down to go do something.3. What's something/someone you really miss?

Volleyball. In a mixed feelings kind of way. I miss playing it. I REALLY miss playing it. And I miss seeing "everyone" all the time. But there's still part of me that is so happy being done, and doing some things I haven't had time for. 

I've also been missing going to classes with Tyler. I don't get to do as much with just  him anymore, and I'm kinda missing that.

4. What is your earliest memory?

A funeral and a nursing home. Really. Apparently that was a memorable experience to a little girl. Kinda weird, huh?5. Favorite Superhero?

Captain America. *sheepish grin* I know his character is sort of flawless. But I just love his old fashioned sort of innocence. You know, standing up for what he believes, caring for others... :)6. A good book you would recommend?

Can I recommend like, 13? The first would be two series of books by John Flanagan called Ranger's Apprentice  and The Brotherband Chronicles. Both are series are worth countless nights of "one more chapter"! (Ask my mom, we got her started on them, so she's had some late nights :) They're relatively clean, have some just all around lovable characters, and you should read them! My second is All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. These probably aren't completely family friendly (I don't like to give warnings like that because it just depends on the family...but there is some language. And he's a vet, his stories sometimes have crude or gruesome subjects). James Herriot is/was a vet in the English countryside. He's an excellent writer. The stories he tells about being a vet are funny, sweet, and sometimes sad.
7. What would be your dream job?

Holding babies all day? Baking all day? I'm not really sure. I love both those things, but I think I may get tired of them if I had to do them all day everday.8.  The Disney princess you've always secretly wanted to be?

Hmmm. Rapunzel? I like all her hair. But she gets it all cut off...so I'm not really sure. Elsa's ice powers would be Maaarrrveeloouuss!

9. Favorite pass time?

A million of them! I like reading, watching movies, baking, running, sledding, ice skating, rollerblading, hiking, kayaking, tubing (LOVE tubing!), playing games (especially faster paced ones. NOT dominoes. No thank you), taking pictures, sitting by the fireplace....it all depends on my mood!10.The thing you could live without, but you really really wouldn't want to?

Chocolate? My camera? Air conditioning? I could live without those things, but I would really miss them all. REALLY. Hearing and seeing fit right in there.11. How do you like your PB&J?

Fresh please. Creamy peanut butter, whole wheat bread, and apple butter not jelly. :) I also like pb and banana! :)

I'm not nominating anyone, but I am going to come up with 11 of my own questions. Yours, by the way Laurel, were very fun! Maybe I'll answer mine in my next post, or just think about them for days. :)

1.  7 people you would be lost without?

2. What is the best thing about Kansas that you would tell someone from another state?

3. What is one thing you would choose to never go out of fashion?

4. Would you rather your kids be all boys or all girls?

5. You have to wear one type of shoes for the rest of your life, what would they be?

6. You could go to any college cost free, what would you choose?

7. One thing about you that hasn't ever really changed?

8. City or country?

9. Apples or bananas?

10. One thing you would choose to excel at, effortlessly?

11. What sibling are you closest to, and why?

ANNDD 11 random things about myself. I just did this in my last post, so I now have to be very creative!

1. The first house I lived in had caves in the backyard. Big caves. I've been there once. It's in the top 5 coolest things I've ever seen.

2. I am usually humming or whistling. It drives my family crazy.

3. I am most like my dad and his family.

4. I can sleep anywhere at anytime. Even if I just woke up.

5. I love coffee flavored things.

6. I have never shot an animal...except maybe a rat. (was that morbid? It just randomly popped into my head...)

7. I've made grape jelly from grapes that grew on our windmill. :)

8. I've used a wringer washer. I'm proficient with it :)

9. Cooking with yeast scares me every time.

10. I love, love egg nog!

11. I do not enjoy traditional thanksgiving food, at all.

That's all from me. Have a great week!

Blogger Recognition Award

I was nominated for the blogger recognition award by CHLOE SALTS! Her blog is here: http://curiousramblingsbychloe.blogspot.com/2014/11/blogger-recognition-award.html

You should go read it. She happens to have a talent for funny, honest writing that leaves you with this happy grin on your face for at least an hour afterwards. Not to mention she picks out the greatest GIF's in the world. Here's one of my favorites: http://curiousramblingsbychloe.blogspot.com/2014/09/profiling-my-family-in-gifs.html

Seriously, I laugh every time I see it. You might have to know the Salts family a little bit to get it. :)

Now, here's kind how your supposed to work this whole award thing:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Leave a link to their page.
3. Give a brief story about how you started blogging, and share some tips.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers
5. Notify your nominees by email or comment.

I'm a rule breaker. But I'll start by following the rules, then proceed to rebellion.

(1) Thank you Chloe. :)

(2) See up there^

(3) Brief: School.

Slightly less brief:

So I have this teacher who has some pretty fun ideas. One of them is to assign her students to start a blog. The said students are required to post once a week-300 words. 

THIS student was pretty excited about that assignment! ACE 5% of my writing class grade by writing anything I want, once a week. I'll take it! 

That's one of the many reasons I love that teacher. :)

So I dutifully (dutiful! Ha! I was excited!) started my blog. :)

I'm supposed to share some tips. Brace yourselves. Here comes the rebellious bit. I don't have any tips. My goal hasn't ever been to have readers for my blog. Aside from my family and maybe some friends...so I don't have any tips. Sorry, folks. You'll have to find your blogging tips elsewhere!

(4) You guessed it, I'm not doing this one either. 

I have a good excuse! All the blogs I read have already been nominated. :)

But I'll tell you fifteen random things about myself. Cause that's always fun!

1. I spent my first Christmas in the hospital due to severe breathing troubles. 
2. I was born in Missouri
3. I have always lived in the country.
4. I've run a half marathon.
5. I've been to Canada.
6. I've been to Alaska three times, but first when I was nine.
7. I've stayed awake for 24 hours straight once, and 29 once.
8. I've flown by myself without assistance. Yes, in an airport by myself for several hours.
9. My great great grandpa invented the airosol can. (think bug spray, or spray whipped cream) No joke. You can look it up on the internet. Lyle Goodhue.
10. I ate a hosta leaf when I was five because I thought it was the same as pasta.
11. I've cooked in and on a woodstove multiple times.
12. I love to rollerblade and ice skate.
13. I do not like cupcakes.
14. I cut my hair for locks of love twice when I was little
15. I love listening to movie soundtracks!

There we go! *mentally checks blogging off the list*  :)