Self Detective

Anna and I go to a history class on Fridays, and we have a bunch of teachers that rotate teachings us different aspects of the 1600's (what we're learning about). One of our teachers, Mr. T., told this story today about what happened to him this past week:

I don't remember if he forgot to lock his truck or what, but somehow his briefcase was stolen, complete with credit card, checkbook, wallet, cell phone, and important business papers. It's basically impossible to recover something like that, but Mr. T. did what he could. He canceled his credit card and called to cancel his cell phone. While he was on the phone with the girl canceling his phone, he asked if anyone had called from his phone in the past hour, and someone had. She wasn't supposed to, but she gave him all the numbers that the thief had called. There was a number that had been called four times, and it was a local number. Mr. T. looked up the number and it turned out to be a Chinese restaurant. He called the restaurant and they confirmed that someone had called them from that number, and he had ordered take out. The police met Mr. T. there and they went to the address the thief had given for the delivery and arrested the 14 year old kid who had stolen Mr. T's briefcase! So he got all his stuff back, and got the thief. :D

Criminals don't have to be geniuses...

Do Not be Alarmed!

Yes, this is the same blog. I just got incredibly sick of the format, and I was the only one who ever wrote on it anyway, so I kicked Emily and Anna off. :) (not that they cared because they never wrote.) So now it is MINE!!! Mwahahahaha!

I repeat, do not be alarmed.

As to the title, I don't know if I'm keeping it or not, but as no ingenious ideas have come to mind, it will stay put.

Apples and Snow

Today we canned applesauce! I love our applesauce, it's the best. It seemed like the canning went really slowly today for some reason, but we're done, at least for now. Thursday we'll finish it up.
And today it snowed! It snowed a couple of days ago, but today it stuck for the first time. We had to put the horses in the barn today because it's been raining and snowing for a few days and they were soaked and freezing. That was the first time this year we had to put them in.
And so it begins...

Hope Chest

I got a hope chest for my birthday, and it came really late, but I have it now. :) Anna and I rearranged our whole room so that it would fit, but she wanted to rearrage it anyway, so it worked out.
I rather like it. :)

Just a thought...

Here's a useless bit of information I thought I would share with you all:
Christmas day is exactly 2 months away!!!

Kind of weird how time flies.

Our Creek

We live right next to a creek that had all of these leaves in it this fall. Teresa and I took pictures of it last Sunday.This one's from the bridge.

And this is from under it.

I can't believe it has snowed here already!

Gloves of Conviction

I just finished reading Rachel's Tears, a book about Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine shootings. She wrote a story that was found after her death that she called 'Gloves of Conviction'. It was something that happened to her while she was working at Subway one Sunday...


I was opening that day for work. On Sundays, no other employees come in until 11:30, which meant I had two hours of work to do by myself and then open the store for another hour alone with customers.

Usually no one comes in until about 11:30 on a Sunday morning anyway, so I always have plenty of time on my hands. I couldn't believe how windy and cloudy it was. The cold of the breeze alone could bring you to a chill.

It was 10:00 so I flipped the switch for the open sign and unlocked the doors. It must have only been five minutes after that when I heard the doorbell ringing, telling me I had a customer. I went out front and began to put the gloves on, ready to make the first sandwich of the day.

I looked up and saw a woman who must have been in her late forties. She was wearing several layers of clothes. They were torn and dirty. Her face was dark from dirt. She was shivering, and then she began to cough in an almost uncontrollable manner. She looked up at me after she was all right and she gave me such a warm smile.

"What can I do for you, Ma'am?" I asked.

She looked at me pleasantly and said, "Oh, I was just wondering if you happen to know what time the buses were coming. I have been waiting out in the cold for two hours. You think they wouldn't be so late, especially on a Saturday."

I felt bad when I told her it was actually Sunday. She looked at me with such embarrassment and shock.

"Oh no," she said. "I need to get back down town. I thought it was Saturday. Do you mind if I just sit here for a while until I figure out what to do?"

I told her no problem, and she sat at the table in the far corner. As I looked at her and the situations more carefully, I realized she must have been so poor, and maybe even homeless. She was dressed in the dingiest clothes that hadn't been washed in a while. She had a snug, winter hat on, three layers of flannel, baggy pants, worn-through tennis shoes, and gloves. Her gloves were turned inside out. They had fringes coming off all sides.

I felt right then and there that I should have made her a sandwich free of charge. Then I should talk to her, telling her that whatever she did, God loved her and wanted her to trust him and fall into his arms once again. I knew where all of this was coming form. I knew God was giving me these words and asking me to go talk to her. But what if...what if...the usual questions and doubts about why I shouldn't.

I went back to work, trying to forget about it, and hoping she would leave soon. My next customer came about an hour after that. She was a woman in her early thirties. She was well dressed in what looked like a work outfit. She had her pulled up nicely, and she was laced with perfume.
I made her some sandwiches, and we were at the cash register when she asked me how long the other woman had been sitting there. I told her about an hour.

"Did she get anything to eat?" The lady asked me.

I said no, and told her about the buses. Then the lady asked me if I wouldn't mind making one more sandwich. I looked at her and smiled.

I never made a sandwich with such happiness and at the same time guilt. I told the lady no charge, and handed her a bag of chips to go with it. She thanked me and then went to the other woman.

She handed her the food and began to talk to her. They must have talked for two hours before I saw them leave. As I was cleaning the tables and feeling bad for not talking to the woman myself, I noticed that she had left her gloves.

I told God that I was sorry for disobeying him. He told me something that will always give me boldness in these situations, something that will never make me hesitate to tell others of him:

"You feel like she missed something because you lost your boldness, but she didn't lose her opportunity. The other woman is sharing with her right now and she will not lose out on me. You lost. You passed up the chance to gain something. You just let a wonderful flame go past you and into the hands of another. Let this be know, child, when you do not follow through with the boldness and knowledge I have given you, more than one person is affected by it. You are as well as they."

My Birthday Party

Teresa, Sarah, and I made most of the food the morning of the party. Anna helped halfway through, Emily was at work, and Mom was limping around the house or lying on the couch. (poor mom)My name card.

Emily and Natalie cutting the sandwich rings. There was turkey, ham, and veggie. They were all so good!

Megan and Sarah.Emily, Michelle, me, Laura, and Natalie.

Fruit skewers that Anna and I made. I even got a cut on my finger from making those, but they were worth it all...

Anna and Nicole.

The party favors were in these origami boxes that we made. Then we played the 'Abigail Quiz'.

Megan and Anna.

Me and Michelle.

Me and Natalie.

The whole group: Back row L to R: Laura, Emily, Mrs. K, Michelle, Natalie, Tonika, Jen. Middle row: Teresa, Megan, Mrs. G, me, Mom, Nicole. Bottom row: Anna, Mrs. H, Sarah.

The Rose

These are pictures of Anna's rose. I love the rose against the wood. It makes me happy.

And my favorite.

Birthday Week

This past week has been a birthday week. First Anna's, and then mine was on Monday. 16!!! But it's not over yet! On Saturday I'm a having a party that we've been getting ready for all week. Needless to say, that's part of the reason I haven't blogged in an eternity. The other reason was school, which takes up the rest of my time! I had rootbeer floats for my birthday 'dessert'. :)

Anna is 13!!!

Anna turned 13 on Friday! We went to History class in the morning, and then picked Melanie up and went to a hair salon to get Anna's ears pierced. We got there a little early, so walked down to the cafe and got lollipops...kind of weird, but we did.

The gun.

Anna with Angela. This is the salon that Emily works at as a receptionist, so we kind of knew the people.

Mom made ice cream cake with mint chip ice cream. It was so good!

Dad got Anna a rose. I love the color, it's so cool.

You can always count on Emily to make a birthday card out of the number you're turning. It's becoming a tradition. :)

Anna with her loot. It think she has more earrings than I have! She got a bunch before her birthday, made a pair at a bead shop, and got three more when we came home. I hope she doesn't mind if a borrow a couple...

Fall leaves & wood cutting

Today I walked out in our woods and took some pictures of leaves. Where I was there weren't many on the trees, mostly just on the ground, but farther up in our woods there are so many! It's so beautiful when we ride horses now. And it's the perfect time. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. :) And it's right before deer season, so we don't have to worry about getting shot. Ha!

And then our dog Bebe decided to stand right in my way.

Last weekend some guys came over to help us split some wood.
The tractor died halfway, the axe broke, and the splitting maul head flew off the handle. But a bunch of the splitting got done which is good.

Reception

After pictures, food was served to the wedding party, and then the rest of us went up to get our food. It was buffet style, a bunch of Michelle's relatives all pitched in and made favorite dishes which were really good. Dad and Mom being announced.

After signing the marriage licence. I thought it was cool that they did it right at the reception.

The bridal party table. The theme was Hawaiian.

The gorgeous sunset we got to watch as we ate.

Our table had just finished up eating when a gust of wind blew half the stuff off our table. The tents started tipping, and everything was flying everywhere. It looked like it was going to rain. Everything valuable was brought under the patio roof, the tents and tables were taken down and the chairs got folded up. About half the people left in 10 minutes. It was kind of sad and Michelle was really upset, but in the end it worked out really sweet. All the people that stayed were the ones that really wanted to be there, and the wind died down a little and didn't rain. They cut the cake, and then we cleared the patio and and the DJ set up his equipment and had the dance floor right there.

Cutting the cake.

First dance.

Mother/Son dance.

The next day we got to have Ted and Michelle over to our condo and Mom cooked for her whole family (the highlight of her trip). :) We went to the pool late which was fun. There were only a couple of other people there. I sat in the hot tub the whole time, the water was too cold for me, even though the air was warm.

And then we flew home on Monday!

Formals

Bride and GroomWhen they were told to strike a new pose. :P
Groomsmen L to R: Ja'Mahl, Bill, Mike, Ted, Dave, Xavier, and the ring bearer Amarion.The guys with the two dads.
The whole wedding party.

The girls.

Ted with his two moms.

Our whole family.

The two families.