Well, back to life...

Well, my parents are back home...back to real life. The break was cool. But it's kinda frustrating when it ends. Especially when they walk in the door when you're in the end of one of your favorite movies(LOTR). Anyways, we get the day off school tomorrow and then back to school Tuesday. Dunno what's going on tomorrow.

Psalm 18

This is an amazing Psalm.


1I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

23I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

24Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

26With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

29For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

33He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

34He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

35Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

37I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

38I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

41They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

42Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

43Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

46The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Just quickly...

It's late. But we(being my sis and I) have the weekend to ourselves. It's very cool. We actually had a water leak in the basement and so had to call our Aunt to fix it. She did a wonderful job. I don't know what we'd do without her. But one of our dogs was limping and we weren't sure what it was, but he seems okay tonight. It's been a pretty quiet day 'cause our parents took our brother off to college and went to help some of our family move. We also moved my sis out of the bedroom we're sharing and into the extra bedroom being used for our brothers over the summer. So I also spent the day moving my room around. It took most of the day, and I'm still not finished. It's been quite the day...

My obsession

Well, we were driving home from town yesterday and we always drive by several horse farms out where we live. It was raining and as we drove by a particular horse farm, I saw something different than normal. The horses were still out in the rain. The pastures were muddy. Now the pasture was in the front of the farm and it's a rather large pasture(good for about six horses). The pasture is slightly hilly as this area is. We drove by and I saw one of the horses standing up on a hill in the middle of the pasture standing as if he were a statue. He had the definite outlines of his breed showing at their utmost. He stood with his ears pricked forward, his tail held high, his back straight, his neck arched elegantly, his dished profile showing. He was in an alert position. At first glance I could tell he was an Arab. He was gorgeous. That was one of those many moments I should have had my camera with me, and left it home.

Quotes about puns

A pun is a short quip followed by a long groan. ~Author Unknown

A pun is the lowest form of humor, unless you thought of it yourself. ~Doug Larson

Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted. ~Fred Allen

Puns are little "plays on words" that a certain breed of person loves to spring on you and then look at you in a certain self-satisfied way to indicate that he thinks that you must think that he is by far the cleverest person on Earth now that Benjamin Franklin is dead, when in fact what you are thinking is that if this person ever ends up in a lifeboat, the other passengers will hurl him overboard by the end of the first day even if they have plenty of food and water. ~Dave Barry, Why Humor Is Funny

Puns are the gag hand buzzers of conversation. It hurts a bit but everyone gets a good laugh out of it. ~Grey Livingston

Fall is coming!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The smells in the autumn time are so nice. I love all the beautiful colors, as well. The reds and yellows are my favorites. I went outside this morning and took some pictures of the start of fall. I smelled that oh-so-familiar scent that I love to smell every fall. The smell of the crisp, cool air. The smell of dying leaves. The smell of horse drifting on the breeze is the best. The temperature is perfect in the fall. I love wearing hoodies or sweatshirts, with horses on them of course, that's a given. The temperature is just perfect for that. And sitting down in the evenings with a cup of coffee or tea or wassail(my personal favorite, except we have it at Christmas) is just awesome with a warm comfy throw. I'm so excited. I can't wait until Christmas, either. I will have to post lots of our Christmas recipes up here. Our wassail is wonderful. So are our egg casserole, coffee cake, Christmas cookies, etc. Especially cream cheese walnut muffins. Those are the best!

My favorite thing to do is in the fall, too. Autumn is the best time of year to ride horses if you ask me. The horses are giddy and excitable. They are so much fun to ride in the the cool weather. And the horse or you don't get hot either(unless you're wearing too much clothing). The horses generally have fun in the cooler, brisk weather. It's also so much fun to watch them gallop blissfully in their pastures. They are truly showing their spirit and love of freedom.

Anyways, on to pictures...

Evidences of Autumn

By the way we have 120 days, 11 hours, and eight mins. until Christmas.

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.


This is the view out the not-yet-existent front window on our property.

Slow day...

So today was pretty slow. I got up late and had a very slow breakfast and finally a shower. Then we went out to look at modular houses. I loved a couple of the kitchens they had. They were really nice. So anyway, yeah, the first week of school was pretty good. It wasn't horrible. Biology was pretty fun. Math was Math(uughh!). History wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Anyways, that was today.

Favorite Quotes

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

A horse loves freedom, and the weariest old work horse will roll on the ground or break into a lumbering gallop when he is turned loose into the open. ~Gerald Raferty

It's a lot like nuts and bolts - if the rider's nuts, the horse bolts!

Feeling down? Saddle up. ~Author Unknown

A horse which stops dead just before a jump and thus propels its rider into a graceful arc provides a splendid excuse for general merriment. ~Duke of Endinburgh

People have always scared me a bit, you see - they're so complicated. I suppose that's why I prefer horses. ~From the movie Separate Tables, 1958

In my opinion, a horse is the animal to have. Eleven-hundred pounds of raw muscle, power, grace, and sweat between your legs - it's something you just can't get from a pet hamster. ~Author Unknown

If you want a stable friendship, get a horse. ~Author Unknown

My horse's feet are as swift as rolling thunder
He carries me away from all my fears
And when the world threatens to fall asunder
His mane is there to wipe away my tears.
~Bonnie Lewis

You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people. ~Will Rogers

Dog pics...

These are Lexi...





This are Muffin...

Tomato and Basil Chicken

I came up with this myself...

Chicken
One can of olives
Basil
Salt and Pepper
4-5 diced fresh or canned ripe tomatoes
Oregano

Put chicken into baking dish and sprinkle olive oil on it. Put remaining ingredients into a baking dish.

Bake 350 degrees

45-50 minutes

First day of school...

Well, today was the first day of school. So far it's been okay. I love Family Life. I like Literature, I love, love, love Biology, Math's not so great, but hey, it's not that hard...Spanish was only introductory, so I dunno if I like it or not...Everything else didn't really make an impact. But it was a relatively good day today. I got up on time and went walking on the treadmill and got breakfast and started school. After school, I played with the dogs and I made chicken and potatoes and vegetables for dinner and Mom didn't have to do anything. I asked Mom if I could do meals twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. So that was my day. Oh, and the dogs got bathed and brushed. That's a big accomplishment with four dogs.

Steak salad(stolen from sissy's blog)

This is a very good recipe...

1-2 flank steaks, marinated in 3/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup lime juice, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, grilled to taste, and sliced.
2-3 avocadoes, diced
1 small package cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 bag spring mix or red lettuce

Toss together in large salad bowl and serve. Top with lime-raspberry vinaigrette.


Lime-Raspberry Vinaigrette
This is my sis's concoction. You can play with amounts as you like.

1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/8 cup raspberry wine vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbs dijon mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Shake together in well-sealed cruet until blended. Serve over steak salad.

Profile pics

Okay, these are some pics of me I tried to take for my profile pic...which, if any, do you think would work?

Recents pics...

Sorry they're kinda blurry, but these are some pics of the day of my sis's graduation...

Niece

Brother and his baby

Store bought cake

Homemade cake

The Graduate

I think I met my dream horse...and my sis might be leasing him...

Yeah, it isn't fair...

These are old pics I forgot to post...I had some fun with shadows...

These are some new ones...This guy came to the fence and nuzzled me and kissed my face...

This one is for my new blog, I think...

These are new pics from another barn...

New pics at my riding teacher's...

This horse got some coffee...

This kid was balancing...

Poor guy...

He loves my camera...

Psalm 86:8-10

Among the Gods there is none like you, O Lord; nor are there any works like unto your works, all nations whom you have made, shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things, You alone are God.

My Dad wrote a song from these verses. I love that song. I thought this would be fun to post today.

New Template

Well, this is my new blog template. If you've ever visited my sister's blog, you'll know she had it for about three days. I asked her to do this template for my blog. I love my new template! I've got all my blogs on the same one.
I'm having a fun vacation with my sister and her husband(and my neice). I'm starting school next week when I get back. Anyways, until I can think of anything better to post...

Favorite Bible...

This is my favorite Bible...

God used me...

Yesterday, I went to my riding teacher's house to help out with a "fresh air" group of kids that were coming to ride their horses. I helped tack up, I helped catch horses, I took pictures, I helped clean up, I stayed a little while afterward and helped out with cleaning up and talked to My riding teacher. She has been an amazing influence in my life. I am so glad to know her. She is a true born again Christian and she uses her horses to serve God. She also asks her students to come help them so that we can serve God, too. But that's not what I was going to say. We lead the horses around so the kids can ride for about 20-30 minutes. Well, first a little girl wanted to ride on Sassy(the horse I was leading). She was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. She said she was eight years old. She started telling me that she had a little brother who lived with her real dad in Connecticut. She said she lived with her mom and her step dad. Then she told me about her nose peeling and started saying she thought that if it didn't heal, kids would tease her at school. She then proceeded to ask me what she should do when kids call her "teacher's pet", and other mean things. I told her that God said we should be kind to our enemies even when they're mean. I'm not exactly sure how her little eight-year-old brain brought her from this point to asking why Jesus died a long time ago. I got to tell her that Jesus died for all of us because He loved us. I got to tell her about sin and why God wanted to pay the penalty for us. I'm sure I said a whole bunch of wrong stuff, but Dad told me that often times when there's a seed planted, there's a whole bunch of husks that go in there with the seeds. I thanked God for letting me share His love with this little girl. She told me I was her friend after she got off Sassy. I told my riding teacher and her husband and they were overjoyed because that's the real reason that they started doing this program of letting the kids come.

Micah 7:18-19

18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Hebrew 13:8

Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Mark 9:24

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Isaiah 40:18-20, 25-26

18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.


25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.

Psalm 37:3-5

Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 36

1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
5 Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

Here I go again...

I guess I'm signed up to go out of town again in two days. I had one of the most awesome times I have ever had a away from home. I can't give out details, but they were some of the best days of my life. ;) :) :) I probably won't get to go again for a long time if ever, but I had a wonderful time. I'm going to help my riding teacher again tomorrow. Today, I'm just hangin' out, relaxing for a day before I run out of town again. I'm doing laundry and stuff like that. I ordered a pair of pajamas from Back in the Saddle. They finally came when I was away. Anyways, that's about it. I'm just dozing...