Of Pumpkins and Fall Festivities

19 followers now! Wow! Thank you everyone for taking the time out of your day to read my rather long posts. :P I'm sure you're all quite busy. I'd also like some comments, if any of you have any extra time. ;)

So, first of all, this post will definitely be more cheerful than the last one. I just had to get that out, and you know, I DID warn you about cutting in with a serious post once in a while. ;)

My family and I went to the pumpkin patch today to celebrate my little sister Jessica's birthday! :D She's turning 8 on November 3rd, so we thought we'd do something fun this weekend, while the family is all together. We went to Aldor Acres in Aldergrove, which has a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, and hay rides! And we each got to pick out a pumpkin to take home and carve! My siblings have already been hard at work gutting out and carving theirs. Mine is still in waiting outside. Pictures will be posted once they're all complete.

We used to go to Aldor Acres almost every year, as a family tradition, but we've kind of gone away from that. I'm not sure why. So, we haven't been in years and it was great fun reliving the memories! :)

All over the farm, they had little rabbit hutches with adorable bunnies! There were both babies and adults. This is Jessica holding one of them.

This was in a little gift shop near the entrance to the farm. I wanted to get a shot of it because it reminds me of Winnie the Pooh. :)

Candy! I didn't end up buying any, but I thought it looked so pretty sitting there. ^_^

This was an old car set up on display. I'm not sure why.... I thought it was cool anyway.

I would absolutely LOVE to sit in one of those leather seats one day! They look so comfy!

This cow, in a pen with another one, weighs about 3,200 pounds! I believe its name is Zorro. This is Lydianna, my 9-year-old sister, comparing her height with his. ;)

Jessica, petting the adorable little piglets! There were about 8 others, but they were sleeping elsewhere in the barn, under the watch of a gigantic horse, and they came racing across the path towards their mother when they heard the "feeding time" bell.

A baby Shetland pony! Her name was Mindy and she was the sweetest thing. :)

This goat has rather odd shaped horns...

Feeding time! Look at all the piglets!

Guess who! The farmer and his wife! ;)

Lydianna feeding a goat kid.

Ahh! So cute! The goat on top stayed there pretty much the whole time we were in the pen. He later switched to standing on a log. It appears he thinks he's king! xD

The pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride to reach this field. This is where we picked out our pumpkins!

On the way back to our vehicles, transported by means of a hay ride. Look at how mucky the road is!

That's one of the hay rides there.

Before leaving on the hay ride, we each got a bag of popcorn from a machine by the lineup. Yummy! After walking around the farm some more when we had deposited our pumpkins in our van, we left and picked up some icecream and cookies for dessert later on. And then we worked together and made dumblings and chicken stew for dinner! It was delicious! We watched a movie and then the kids drifted off to begin carving their pumpkins. And so ended a wonderful Saturday!

Just a quick question before I go! Would you all like me to post my story for the "Anthology of Hope"? I'm not sure if I want to or not, but if you guys comment, expressing your anxiousness to read said story, I will likely reconsider. ;)

~Julia~

Inspirations

WARNING: This will be quite a bit longer and quite a bit more serious than my other posts. There. You have been warned. Now, onward....
Have you ever taken a peek into others' lives to get your inspirations? Have you ever been truly moved and inspired by how another person moves through life? I have. Numerous times, actually. Two friends come to mind when I think of this, two girls that are going through a very difficult time, yet are still so happy and have a zeal for life that I often envy. Whenever I'm feeling moody or depressed, I think of these girls and it reminds me of the most important things in life. I don't have to be depressed. My problems are few compared to countless others. Yet I complain. But these girls remind me that God is the only way out of the sinful influences of the world, the idea that "life isn't fair." Sure, we question God from time to time, but I have learned that God has a reason for everything He does. And I mean everything. I feel extremely grateful and blessed to know such amazing people who remind me of this.


My first, but not only, inspiration is a dear friend of mine from church, Rebecca. Just a few months ago, she went in to get tested and found out she has lymphoma cancer. She's had to go in to the hospital multiple times and has had the first couple stages of chemo, losing her hair in the process. This has been really hard on both her and her family, but I think--at least on the outside--that she's been handling this all extremely well. She's keeping her eyes on God and not losing her faith through all her trials. I think Rebecca is an amazing example of a faithful daughter of Christ. I don't know how I would be able to handle being in her situation, but I would probably not be near as strong. Rebecca is still so cheerful, still so happy, and still loves God and the life He has given her. Everything has changed for her. She can't do many of the things she's used to doing, and she's kept on a strict diet as well. It must be frustrating at times, yet she remains faithful. It shows immensely by the smile I always see on her face. Please keep her in your prayers.
This is her blog if you want to keep updated: http://rebeccavroom.blogspot.com/


Another girl that immediately pops up into my mind is a girl I know, but have never met, from an online writer's forum I'm a part of. I don't know her real name, but we all call her Skye. Instead of attempting to explain her situation in my own words, I'm going to post a little of what she wrote. Some of it is directed to the forum people, so you can ignore those parts. ;)


"I have some health problems, and I need to explain them because there are several things I won't be able to do that need explaining. Okay. Well, I have a whole lot of allergies and because of that I live on a diet of meat, seafood, sweet potatoes, milk, butter and cinnamon. I have to stay away from all fragrences, perfumes, soaps, lotions, air fresheners, cleaners, etc., and because of so many things I can't inhale it's very hard to go out in public at all. My adrenals are really weak and I don't have much energy. So I have to budget the energy that I do have carefully--I have to plan my tips downstairs and upstairs so I won't have to climb them too much, or decide when to go to the store with my family and when I need to stay home, that sort of thing. Because of all the
trouble with chemicals I haven't been able to go to church in about a year now. It's been very hard for me, emotionally and physically, and not being able to see my brothers and sisters in Him there. But Jesus is helping me! I'm holding on to Him and He will see me through. I just need to explain because there are a lot of things I can't do concerning reading and critiquing, and watching too--I can't watch anything intense, anything where the character gets hurt or killed or somethin' like that. Loud noises and explosions and shooting will mess me up as well; I can't watch Star Wars any more *wails* and I have to leave the room on the bad guy scenes in stuff like Wall-e and Up and Tangled, or anything, really. I may not be able to critique or be on the forum or even the computer much, depending on how I'm doing. My health is really unpredictable and I have good days and bad days, but it's never constant. If I'm on at all, that means I'm doing okay to fairly well! :D I collapse, faint, crumple up, get dizzy, nauseated, headaches and constant fatigue a whoooooooole lot, so be warned!"
And another post of Skye's:
"My Khara Allundil and I were watching Enchanted last winter together with her brother and sisters and mother: it was my first time to see it. We were having so much fun laughing over that utterly peacock-ish prince Edward and the silly, maiden-ish, innocent Giselle and Pip and all the little things that are meaningful or funny or sweet. We got to the part where the queen pushed Giselle into the well on her wedding day. Nathaniel scampered up to her and huffed, "my most adored queen, where did you send her?" and Narissa answered, in that thrilling deep voice she has, "to a place where there are no happily ever afters."
That sort of struck us both, and we started thinking about it. It's true...you will never find a happily ever after if you look for it in the world. But if you look up, if you look to Him, then yes--Heaven, we both decided. Heaven is our Happily Ever After.
If I die in this time of trouble, I know that I'll go Home, I'll go to my Happily Ever After, forever with Jesus. But I don't believe He wants me to die yet. There is so, so much that I still want to do for Him here, so many stories I want to tell, so many songs I want to sing. There are promises that haven't been fulfiled yet, adventures that haven't been resolved yet. I want to tell those stories, sing those songs, live to see what my adventure's ending will be. I want to make people see through my eyes and point them to Him through my writing...through everything I do. So I'm not giving up, and I'm not about to give in: as long as I'm still here, there is work yet to be done for Jesus. But like Mr S says, the stakes keep getting raised higher and higher, and this body of mine can only take so much.
I was checked in to see a doctor on Saturday--hence the status.
They're trying to test me to figure out what's wrong and if we're missing some underlying problem like a heart failure, a tumor, a low endocrine count, anything that we haven't checked yet. All of my symptoms match up to adrenal problems, but we need someone professional to be able to say for sure that it is or it isn't. The doctor said that there isn't anything else anyone in our area can do to help me, and I need to go to a bigger hospital in a different state for more resources and variety. I'm on the waiting list, but it could take until December to get me in, and until then I'm in a very delicate and dangerous position. All the tests they have run and will have to run on me make me react rather violently, because I'm allergic to so many of the innumerable things that wouldn't hurt a normal person. Simple things like hand sanitizer on the doctor's hands or the metal of the machine, or the soap they washed the sheets with, almost everything makes me react and it puts a load on someone who's already loaded down and can't carry any more weight. But I've been extremely weakened and I can't walk or leave my room hardly at all. I couldn't be admitted to the hospital permenantly because of all the allergens there that would absolutley kill me.
I have good days and bad days, the good days being when I can get things done around the house and reply to letters, write stories, finish school, all of that good stuff...the bad days being when I'm bedridden or too weak to get downstairs. I would appreciate it if anyone who cares to pray would keep praying until we can get to that hospital and back again, in December. I'll try to keep you guys posted if you'd be interested in keeping up.
I can have my laptop with me for school purposes, and thus I've been able to log into the Forum, most thankfully! *happy* If I'm not on or can't reply to your PMs quickly, that will be because a chain of bad days have weighed me down and I'm struggling, so please know it isn't because I'm ignoring you or anything. I would never do that. If you will pray for me, please pray that as long as these symptoms don't go away, I'll have the strength to bear them--losing consciousness, migranes, fatigue, weakness, throwing up, losing weight, not being able to sleep, not being able to focus or concentrate on anything, not being strong enough to leave the house or see anyone in public almost at all. And just overall some loneliness that's been trying to eat me up from the inside out, which is hard to wrestle down. I'm trying my best to keep my eyes on Him. He is helping me; God is so good.
There are some people in my life who don't understand my situation, and are also very forceful and domineering. When I tell them I can't do something or go somewhere, they'll drag me in whether I can or not, and I'll react, and things just get worse. So if you could pray for them to please at least let me decide for myself, even if they don't agree or understand. That would be a wonderful relief.
I hope this isn't too long or grumbly or anything. God bless you guys. You're amazing, all of you...it just blows my mind, all that you've done for me and how much you care. This forum is a tremendous blessing. I can't think of any words to thank you enough, but thank you, thank you, so very, very much--it means more to me than you'll ever know. I would like to thank in particular Valerie, He-Who-Calls-Himself-Cyreno, Sir Marshall, Ray, Ruby, and Katie...you guys are beyond the limits of any words I could muster, and I love you all as brothers and sisters in Christ so much. All my thanks to everyone who has commented or sent me messages, and anyone who ever does! I may not be able to reply to each and every one of you, but I'm thankful to every individual and I pray God blesses you all in special, amazing ways.
All my heart, and in His hope,
<3 Skye <3

If you got through all that, you will see why Skye, in particular, inspires me. She knows she could die, yet she's so happy and, above all, she loves God. Thank you for being my inspirations, Rebecca and Skye. <3

Question: Who inspires you? Reply with a comment! :)


Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
~Psalm 42: 5-6a


Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
~Matthew 11: 28-30


Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
~Philippians 4:6

Hey again! Remember me?

Oh, my dear internet, how long will you deceive me?! Must you continue to torture me so? It is true, I'm afraid. My internet has been broken for quite some time, and is still out of order. I'm currently using someone else's internet, otherwise I wouldn't be posting. BUT we should be getting it fixed soon and then I'll be more consistent!

Unlike the weekend I talked about in the previous post, this last one has been extremely eventful! Saturday wasn't much to brag about. We did a ton of work. But Sunday was exciting! It started out early in the morning at church. It was my turn to play the hymns, which I had been practicing for ALL week, but I was still a little nervous. I got through all the songs with only a few minor mistakes, though! Happy! :D That had been my 3rd time playing in a morning service, though I had already played twice in our evening services.

As Thanksgiving was the next day, on Monday, (Canadian Thanksgiving, in case you were wondering), a lot of people had their Thanksgiving dinners on Sunday afternoon or evening, after church. My family and I had the priviledge of being invited to a friend's house for lunch/dinner. The food was delicious! Sadly, I forgot my camera and have no pictures to show you. :P

After a spendid dinner and a fabulous visit with our friends, we came back home, our stomachs full and our hearts warm. The only thing that wasn't so great was my head. I had a splitting headache and ended up dropping into bed at 5pm. I awoke again at 9:30, thinking it was morning, so I was utterly confused for the rest of the night.
After a restful sleep, I awoke to a school-less day. And what a glorious day it was. Not that I have anything against school, but it was wonderful to have a break. The sun was up, the sky was blue, and my heart was full of joy. Yet, we still had no internet. Thankfully, we have a Starbucks a 2-minute drive away from us, so my sister, Mom, and I whipped down there to use it for a couple hours.

And that was my weekend. Nothing too exciting, no pictures to share, not even a very colourful post. :( I guess I'm just not in a very creative mood. Which is odd for me. :P
Since this has been shorter, I thought I would share with you the introduction for a short story I'm writing. If all goes well, this story will be published along with a collection of other stories, poems, and artwork, which will all center around the theme of hope. I'm doing this with an online writer's forum that I'm a part of. We hope to raise funds to go towards the catastrophic disasters and the people who are going through these hard times.
My story is set in WWII, during a time of great hardship for a lot of Americans. It's only just over 1,000 words right now, but it should be 1500-2,000 words by the end. If you read this short excerpt, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think! :)

I stared at the crumpled letter lying in the corner, neglected by all in the room. Tears stung my eyes and I clenched my fists in anger. I glanced round at my family. Jerry sat in a numb state on the sofa, fixing his gaze on the ground. The half-empty coffee mug on the table left evidence of Mother's previous presence in the living room. I returned my gaze to the letter and shut my eyes, trying not to believe it, trying so hard to forget it. The delivery of the yellow telegram had dashed so many hopes to pieces. From the moment the officer placed it into Mother's hands till the time she opened it and began to read, I knew. The way her eyes pooled with tears before she even came to the fatal words. The way her gaze drifted towards the wall, her face growing pale and her grip on the paper loosening. My heart racing, I snatched the letter out of her hand and read it out loud, not believing at first. Not wanting to believe. My eyes scanned the words again. Walter Tarnika. Killed in action.

Tuesday... At Last!

The day has finally arrived! Or, shall we say, the day has passed and gone? The truth is, I thought I wouldn't be posting today. This is why: after a long and full day of school and hours of music practice, I came to my computer only to find that the internet had crashed. >.< I can't tell you how annoyed/upset I was. Not to mention, I was tired and had a headache, which only succeeded in making things worse.

But, anyway! Enough of that. My internet is again working! And I still intend to give you a happy and entertaining post, as previously planned. It is time to forget the sorrows of the past and move on to brighter things! :D

My weekend was quite uneventful, sad to say. I was hoping for a weekend full of excitement, so that I could give you something great to read about! But, alas, it is not to be. Aside from creating this blog on Saturday, we didn't do a whole lot. We were unable to attend church on Sunday, due to both of our vehicles going on strike. One of them is in detention right now and will soon be put into her right mind. I hope. Our vehicles are VERY unpredictable and incapable of being trustworthy.

I don't know about you, but it certainly feels like fall to me! It has been FREEZING in our house lately, especially since our heater isn't working. :P My bedroom is like an ice rink! I'm convinced it's the coldest room in the house. Luckily, I am well supplied with blankets and oversized sweatshirts that keep me warm while I do my schoolwork. (Did I mention I'm homeschooled?) :)

Hmmm... what else? Oh yeah! On Sunday night, we watched How to Train Your Dragon, one of my all-time favourite movies! :D If you haven't seen this, you must! It is such a cute story and the characters are very well developed. If you like Medieval Times, Vikings, dragons, oceans, fantasy, and Irish brogues, then you'll LOVE this movie. It has all of those combined! That's certainly MY idea of an enjoyable and altogether amazing movie. :D

This is Hiccup, the hero of the story. He's awesome. ^_^ I love how he's still so humble by the end of the story, and how he's willing to give his life for his friends.

Astrid is another awesome character in the movie. She's funny, sweet, and not afraid to take on challenges. And she's not a typical "girly-girl" or "damsel in distress" kind of girl. :)

Toothless!!! :D He's sooooo adorable! My favourite dragon in the show. ;)

He has his silly moments. Which I absolutely love. ^_^

The gang! These guys are all awesome in their own special way. The twins (the two fighting in the back) are hilarious! They never fail to make me laugh. xD

Awww!!! I love this picture! Astrid and Hiccup.... :) Oh, and look! Toothless has teeth! xD

Okay, if you made it through all of that, I congratulate you. You deserve a cookie! *gives you a handful of cookies, all different kinds* :D

One thing I must tell you before you leave is THIS: http://jdsk8photography.blogspot.com/. Yes, you can click on that. Go ahead! It's not going to explode on you! Come on... click, click, click!! xD If you clicked on it, you would've seen another blog, no? Well, yes! And no, that person is not a creeper. Well... maybe a wee bit of one. ;) He's my brother and he's a pretty awesome dude with a pretty awesome blog! He would love it if you would follow him! He takes GREAT pics! :D But he doesn't have cookies.... so make your choice. To follow or not to follow.

...

This is Julia, signing off. Goodbye, peoples of the world! :D

Welcome to my blog! This is where you can peek into the deep chasm called my mind and discover what lies in my innermost thoughts. It's your chance! Take a glimpse if you dare. But I must warn you. This is no ordinary blog. This is a blog of uncertainty, where anything can happen! You just wait and see. ;)

So, first off, I am going to tell you my reason for making this blog. Okay, it's... um.... well...... I'm not entirely sure myself. :P But if you're here, I assume you're here to be entertained. Right? Well, you came to the right place! :D I hope. Anyway *cough*, enough of that. This blog is designed for fun and randomness and also to talk about my aspirations in life. Once in a while, I may break in with something serious that's been on my mind for a while and that I NEED to let out. You can skip those parts if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it. ;) Sometimes I just need to vent a little, so I'm giving you a warning in advance. But hey, I DID tell you this is a blog where you get to discover my thoughts, right? Right.

So there we have it, folks! I have successfully created a blog that I hope to stay consistent with. :P I'm still working it out with my schedule, but I'll probably post every Tuesday evening and Thursday or Friday evening. But if I forget to, PLEASE kindly spam my inbox by commenting and reminding me. Thank you.

I will be posting lots of fun stuff, like pictures, videos, polls, and other great stuff. But my creativity will most likely wear down after time, so please provide me with ideas! I need lots of ideas! :)

I'm looking forward to lots of followers and lots and lots and lots of comments! ^_^ But of course, I can't get comments until I get followers. So click the button at the top right hand corner! You won't be disappointed!

And now, one last note. Smile!! Because..... "A smile confuses an approaching frown." ~Author Unknown .... AND..... "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." ~Phyllis Diller

:D

Later! <3

~Julia, your happy blogging friend~