20 Random Things Tag

Dear Bekah at Unworthy Maiden, tagged me again! Here are twenty very random things about your's truly:

1. I LOVE Frank Sinatra-his voice and early movies. :) Of course you probably all know that about me by now. :)
2. I love old movies. :) I am partial to musicals but as I told Ella, I am learning to broaden my rather narrow scope of classic films. :)
3. I am a total 'sap.' I cry at the weirdest moments and 'Awww' all the time during movies, books, etc.
4. I love salty/sweet things; like Butter Pecan ice-cream, Chocolate covered cashews, etc.
5. I have blue eyes that I inherited from both of my grandmothers-not my parents. :)
6. I still sleep with a stuffed Poohbear....and probably will till I am married. :)
7. One day a few weeks ago, I sat in Anna's room crying as I set up and redressed my four dolls who are now living with Anna. That's one part of 'growing up' that I loath!
8. I am extremely excited about turning sweet sixteen this year. :)
9. I am partial to history, literature and writing.
10. I'm not too fond of math or science
11. I finished my first real novel almost two weeks ago and have been trying to edit/proofread it slowly. :)
12. I am very serious-according to my dear Mum and sister Sara, almost to a fault.
13. I am very shy but after a little while, I can talk the ears off a donkey! :)
14. I am very deliberate and cautious and second-guess myself almost to death when trying to make decisions-especially about purchases
15. I sometimes have moments of doubt and anxiety as to if/when I will get married. But, "God's timing is perfect and He has already written how and when it will happen," Mum quips to me all the time. :)
16. I am a worrier but I am trying to discipline my mind to just blow things off and to look on the bright side, don't think about it, etc.
17. I am very proud to say that Mum and Sara are my bestest friends.
18. I am saving my heart for my husband and no one else will ever get a piece of it.
19. I am saving my first kiss for my wedding day after the pastor says, "You may kiss the bride."
20. I want as many children as the Lord will bless me and my husband with!

Whoever wants to do this tag, feel free! Whether it be on your own blog or in a comment. :)

Have a blessed day!

I killed Mr. Collins!

And then Mr. Elton! :) Seriously! I married-oh dear oh dear-four times (twice to the same man) before getting to a GOOD marriage. :) Prepare to be appalled, dear readers. Prepare yourself for something dreadful in the following words.


I am totally finished with my Lost in Austen mission......which was to get married, obviously. :) The reader becomes Elizabeth Bennet and she has to choose the right paths (literally!) and the right things to say, etc. It was challenging keeping up with those scores but it was worth it! I was quite, quite happy with who I, as Elizabeth, ended up with. :) Keep guessing. You will not know until the end of this post. Hee hee hee!


Since this was my first time doing this book, I confess, I had to backtrack one or two choices a few times......first, about five minutes into the book, I found myself (as in Emma) being attacked by Gypsies because I didn't have enough coins on me. Then I was disfigured by said gypsies and could never get a husband. The end. :) And all because I took the left path instead of the right (in both senses of the word!) path.


I found myself married multiple times before 'rewinding' and going back a few choices. :) It might be considered cheating, but I was more curious to see what the odd sounding paths would turn out like than following the rather obvious scene set before me. :)



Second, I found myself eloping with Mr. Wickam. Simply dreadful! After the Mr. Collins incident of mine that follows, I actually met Wickam again in this book by 'going public' with news of his scandalous behavior and money-swindling. He came to me with ardent professions of his repentance and changed heart. He gave the appearance of a full turn around and confessed to love me.....so instead of refusing him (duh!) I, er, Elizabeth, gave him the benefit of a doubt and married him. Then he got two-faced on me AGAIN and said he had only wanted to marry me to make my life miserable because I 'went public' with his story. The end. :)


Backtrack a little now........only one choice or two......


I ended up marrying Mr. Collins because it was my 'duty to my family' and I, playing Elizabeth Bennet, felt a strong sense of duty and honor.......yeah, well, I got so fed up with Mr. Collins after a few months of marriage that when he came in one day, I screamed and threw Fordyce's Sermons at his head and killed him to relieve my absolute agony over being his wife. How's that for dramatic?!


Backtrack a LEETLE more to kick Mr. Collins to the curb.....ah, here we are. :)


Because of my ardent love for walking in the out of doors, I decided to go and visit on a walk. Instead of going to my Aunt Phillip's house (which in turn obviously would've taken me on a trip with them and visit Pemberley, yada yada yada...) I chose to go to the Lucases. Thus, I began the Emma storyline. :) As Elizabeth Bennet, mind you. It just so happened that a common acquaintance of the Bennets and Lucases was visiting. His name was Mr. Knightley.......

Yes, yes......lots of fortune points......confidence points, et cetera, et cetera....very nice but rather too chastising of me...oh well! Enter Frank Churchill and I entertained no thoughts of Mr. Knightley at present........

Hmm, let's see. Ah yes, the next incident of my foolhardy judgement. Instead of going with the Westons on a picnic, I chose to be escorted by Mr. Bennet (my father) to a dinner at the Woodhouse estate-since obviously Mr. Bennet and Mr. Woodhouse were old and dear friends. :) I then met Emma....she snubbed me, however, because I asked how much she paid for her drawing pencils. All because I was Nouvae (sp?) Riche. Hmph! I can't help it if I'm honest! Anyway, by snubbing me she also punished me by handing me over to an overly-pretentious and peculiar (got a song in your head yet, Michaela and Morgan?) clergyman named Mr. Elton. He abruptly shifted his attentions over to me, instead of Emma, talking my ears off and becoming my shadow. Oh, my shadow and the punch-bowl's shadow. At the end of the night he pleaded dramatically to escort me home or some such thing, and when I was in my carriage, he walked in front of the horses and carriage, raving about quite madly because I had to go away. Thus, the horses trampled him and he was killed. I was then sent to jail because of inadvertently killing him.


Whew! Now, my dear readers, may I ask........"Are you....are you, laughing at me?" Whether your answer be a yes, or no........"Well then are you rejecting me?" I certainly hope not the latter! :) (Dani and Lane, are you howling yet?)


Oh goodness me.....I backtracked to the Westons' picnic where I insulted Miss Bates and was harshly reproved by a caring and concerned Mr. Knightley (he spoke the truth!).....I lost A LOT of confidence, intelligence and fortune points for that boo-boo. So I then fancied myself in love with Frank Churchill-telling Jane that I felt listless, tired without him around.....phooey. Even Jane could've figured out that it was mere fanciful thinking. I had to go along with it. :) Then, oh, scandal of scandals! Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill have been secretly engaged for over six months! I felt sorry for Maria Lucas (a companion of mine on the trip to the Westons) who, I believed, had been 'in love' (I use that term loosely) with Mr. Churchill. Maria is the 'Harriet' character in this story-line. She then informs me that it was Mr. Knightley she had begun to care for all the time.


Naturally I was upset. I went walking one day and met Mr. Knightley.......we talked and he comforted me. Thinking that I had been in love and in turn wounded, by Frank Churchill. I assure him there was no possible way of being ever in love with Mr. Churchill. I had fancied myself but realized that I had merely enjoyed his attention and flirtations. Mr. Knightley begins to declare his love for me........then, I have to tally up my intelligence points. That was a pain even with a calculator. :) If over 400, proceed to page ____. If under 400, proceed to page ____. If I had a sudden inclination to refuse the dear man, proceed to page ____. :) My intelligence points for some weird reason, (maybe my sleepy brain didn't type in the right numbers) those points were in the negative numbers. Whoops! It still counted under 400 so I hoped for the best......


And then BOOM! I married Mr. Knightley. I completed the mission by marrying well. Congratulate me, dear friends.....oh fine, since your mouths are hanging open and/or laughing, I'll do it for myself.......Hallelujah! And I'm partial to types like Mr. Knightley. :) Sara was aghast I didn't cheat and try and get back to Mr. Darcy. Hmph, well, for me, not Elizabeth, I prefer Mr. Knightley and Edward Ferras types. :) Surprisingly I didn't meet anyone from Sense and Sensibility. Oh well. Maybe another time around.


I had so much fun doing this book!!! I laughed uproariously through it and only a few times bemoaned my horrible fortune. :) If you're an avid Jane Austen fan, go and borrow it from your library. It is SO much fun! If you want a better idea about what this book is about, go here for a wonderful review on it. :)


Now please, please don't faint.........it is thoroughly enjoyable even if you DON'T marry Mr. Darcy. :)


"Are you laughing at me?"

March...in like a lion......

About all that I have energy for right now, is a little photo posting of what our month has been like...which, I guess, is pretty typical for this time of year. I'm hoping that since March came "in like a lion...of sicknesses, that it will go out like a lamb....healthy! Although....we've been hit hard this year with getting every virus that comes down the pike! Hopefully, next winter won't be so bad!Big brother, Ronnie, reading to Anna while she was sick...he was so sweet with her!
Inbetween bouts of illness, the girls had a number of chances to get together and have fun with friends....check out Meghan being silly! (If you know her, she is really much more serious most of the time...I had to show off her "silly" side!)

Ronnie (and his friend, Seth) had their cubscout blue and gold banquet

And we watched Ty Robert...I loved this picture of Anna reading to Ty! We have so much fun when he is here!

Poor Anna....sick again....and fell asleep on my lap

But...when we had a particularly warm day, after dinner, everyone seemed to be feeling well THAT DAY....so we headed outside for some wiffle ball....we had so much fun!

Meghan can really SMACK the ball! She was hitting them out into the street!

Anna has gotten the hang of hitting when pitched to...she did really well!

Sara is always the 'ring leader' of the bunch...she is the one to encourage everyone to get out and have fun!

Ronnie has a great throwing arm, and he was hitting them almost into the street, too!


Inbetween, Anna climbed the tree outside our kitchen window.

This morning, I took Ronnie and Anna on a field trip to Mingo Creek Park for a Maple sugaring demonstration....they had a great time! Seems I did so many field trips with Meghan and Sara when they were younger, and now I get to do them all again! We're looking forward to all the programs they put on at Mingo.

They explained how the Native Americans made maple syrup and taught the first settlers how to make it, how the pioneers made it and how they make it today... then we had delicious samples! (it was rather chilly, but thank goodness, didn't rain!)

And here is Anna....FINALLY healthy....and outside most of the time now! Ronnie is even worse...I can't get him to stay inside!

~I think that little field trip wore me out....seems everyone else is fine...but, it's taking me a little longer to feel better. Seems I do a little bit, then don't feel well again...oh, well....summer will be here and HOPEFULLY, kill the germs!

~My nephew, Ben, and his sweet wife Crystal stopped to visit today. Ben is in the Air Force, and they are stationed in Dover, Delaware. Crystal is expecting their first child this summer...I'm going to be a Great Aunt! Crystal is just learning to cook and asked that I send some recipes....so I'll probably posting some 'thrifty' healthy meals coming up in the near future. Well...that's all for me tonight! Early to bed tonight, that's for sure!

God is so good to teach us so many lessons thru out this winter of 'viruses'! Slow down...simplify, count our blessings, be content, focus on family....focus on what has eternal value.....would I want to be sick like this again next winter? NO WAY! But...would I wish away the lessons He has taught us....not in a million years! Simplify....contentment....good focus! ~Sue~

Last but not least...

Well...my husband has succumbed to the dreaded stomach bug....answered prayer is that it waited until his days off....he won't be missing any pay. Poor guy! I think I'm going to try and get the kids away for some of the day....for their sakes, outside and his...so he has peace and quiet! ~Sue~

Another one bites the dust....

(now that Queen song will be stuck in my head all day!) Anyway...Little Miss Anna woke up around 1:20am and proceeded to be up and "pluking" until almost 5am....I really thought she already had this, but I guess hers was mucus from her cough....because this was different! She emptied her belly and just woke up a little while ago...as did I. (sigh....) I suppose my plans for the day will be shortened again....one of these days we'll all be back into a routine, the house and laundry will be caught up and we'll be HEALTHY again! Off for more Gatorade! Have a blessed day! ~Sue~

A "Cheering" beginning!

Just a quick update, as that is all I have the energy for! Just washing my hair and getting the knots out exhausted me! LOL

Everyone is feeling better, Praise God! Ron hasn't gotten it yet, and we're praying he doesn't or at least waits until his day off! No work...no pay!

The little ones are back to normal....they seemed to have bounced back the most quickly....Sara is well except for a residual headache. Meghan and I had the bodyaches/chills...and I had all the stomach as well....so we're still recuperating!

I loved the look of the cherry background...especially cheering and hopeful during these economically dark days. Reminds me of a retro look....red gingham, red and white polka dots and cherries always reminds me the "old days"! (take your pick of era's....)

The song "You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don't mess with mr in-between!" has been running thru my head for a while now. We consider it a major victory when we go to the thrift store and find what we're looking for....and we usually do! God is so good to us this way! I think all the kids are excited about how we can live like their great-grandparents did, and they're getting excited about using their creativity. Both older girls are entered into the history fair this year thru our homeschool
group. Both chose themes during hard times. Meghan is doing hers on 'Mgm Musicals'....hopeful diversions during hard times" and Sara is doing the frugality of quilting during hard times. Both are very interesting...so we've been reading up on those things during the Great Depression and WWII.

Even our meals have been "thrifted" a lot lately! LOL My family knows that I'll accept any bones and chicken/turkey carcasses they don't want, so the soup we're having tonight is from one of those turkeys, and the ham bone and leftover ham my sister gave us has stretched so far for many, many meals! We're very grateful as well as having fun to see how far we can stretch them!

Ok....I'm done in now....going to go hit the rocker again until dinner time. Thanks to all those who were praying for us....we feel that we are abundantly blessed! ~Sue~

I have been Tagged!!!!!

One of my best friends, Bekah, from Unworthy Maiden, tagged Sara and I here at My Simple Blessed Life! I believe this is the first time I've done a tag. Yay! :) There is a hockey night in our home tonight (Ronnie and Dad have Ronnie's hockey class) so I have a brief interlude before our dinner when they get home. :) I'm going to do it the way Bekah did it with slight alterations......because some of the questions don't apply. :) I have probably 300 songs on my laptop so I'll shuffle them all! It will be weird but I like a myriad of music and singers. :) I hope at least one song will be by Frank Sinatra!!!! :)

So here it goes:

First song:
Artist: Sovereign Grace Music
Title: The Lord Is
What is the very first lyric in the song? The depths of Your grace none can measure.
Is that lyric significant to you in any way? God's grace is innumerable as the stars!
What is the 4th line of the song? You lead me in Your righteousness and peace
Does that line make you think of a certain person? The Lord. :)
What is your favorite lyric in this song? You restore my weary soul, again and again.....

Second Song:
Artist: Doris Day
Title: Secret Love
What is the last lyric of the song? 'And now, my secret love, is no secret....anymore.'
Replace the 2nd word of that lyric with the word "potato": 'And potato....' LOL that's oddly funny.
What is the 9th line of the song? The chorus is sung only twice, so I'm going to include that...since the lyrics vary slightly at each chorus.....okay, the 9th line is: 'Even told, the golden daffodils...'
What if that lyric was the new theme song to Sesame Street? That would be very odd, I think. :)
What lyric in this song do you relate to the most or find to be the truest? Since I have no experience (LOL I'm only 15!) I don't really relate to the song......but it is from a hilarious movie called Calamity Jane that all our family loves. :)

Third Song:
Artist: Martina McBride
Title: Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
What is the chorus of this song? 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.' (how obvious was that?!)
If someone you like sang the chorus to you would it be romantic? Nope! I'd tell whoever was singing to be quiet because there is FINALLY good weather!!!!!!!
Replace the 10th word of the song with the word "beast": "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is beast delightful..."
What movie soundtrack would this song be perfect for? A Christmas Story. :)
Pick one word in the title of this song that you could name a pet: Snow! For a white kitten. It would be short for Snowball. :)


Fourth Song:
Artist: Frank Sinatra (YES!!!!!!!)
Title: I Begged Her (from Anchors Aweigh)
What if your last name was included in the song title? Uh....wait, could it be my FIRST name? 'Cause then I would totally go for it. :-P
What is the 5th line in the song? 'I argued.'
Would that line be a good catch phrase for a commercial? I don't know. :)
What is your favorite lyric in the entire song? 'She finally got that kiss.' (Sung by Frank Sinatra, not Gene Kelly)
Why is that your favorite? Because who is singing it???!!! C'mon, it's Ole Blue Eyes! The king of the crooners!!!!!!!! NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!!!!????


Fifth Song:
Artist: Frank Sinatra/Gene Kelly (TWO ALREADY!?)
Title: Yes Indeedy
What is the funniest lyric in this song? 'Then she murmured that and this and I thought I'd try and kiss but she.....SLAPPED my face!'
What is the 8th line in this song? 'Yes indeed. Yes indeedy!'
What if there was a restaurant named from the 1st and 5th word of that lyric: Nope!
Is the word "heart" anywhere in the entire song? I don't think so......nope!


Sixth Song:
Artist: Gene Kelly
Title: Dig Dig Dig!
What is the chorus of this song? 'Dig dig dig! Dig for your dinner!'
What is the last lyric in the song? 'Dig....BROTHER. DIG!'
Is that the best lyric in the song? 'The early bird catches the worm....'


Seventh Song:
Artist: Amy Grant
Title: The Lucky One
What is the 12th line in this song? 'Baby I'm the lucky one....'
Do you even like that lyric at all? Eh, not really.
Do you know all the words to this song? Only some
What kind of mood does this song put you in? I don't know! Silly, dancing around my room....


Eighth Song:
Artist: Selah
Title: Ain't No Grave
Replace the 3rd word in the Title with the word "beaver": 'Ain't No Beaver.'
What is the 7th line in this song? 'Ain't no graaaave....that can hold this body down.'
Does that lyric bring up any memories? No.
Would this song be good in a fight scene in movie? Maybe.....a western dueling scene??
What is your favorite lyric in this song? 'When I hear the trumpet sound, I'm goin' to get up out of that ground cause there ain't no grave.


It is a darn good thing I didn't take a video of me counting on my fingers for the 'What's the ____ line/lyric of this song?' Yes, yes, laugh all you want. :) Sara was doing enough for both of us. :) Of course NOW in retrospect I realize I could've merely looked up the lyrics to all the songs and count the lines of words.....sheesh can I be silly or what sometimes?! :) LOL



*DISCLAIMER*: Some of my songs, (i.e: Celtic Woman, instrumental/classical and opera) are sung in a different language (like Gaelic or Latin/Italian) or no lyrics at all, so I may have had to skip them to other songs. :) But you have my word of honor I did not have this rigged! :) Even though there WERE two songs sung by...*SIGH* Frankie. :) Ahem, I repeat: I did not have this rigged! :)


I tag Ella and Dani and anyone else who wants to do it, whether on their blog or in a comment. (Morgs, I'm thinking you! Since you have a sweet Mp3!)


That's all folks! :)

Let Us Hope It Ends Soon!

I hate this sickness...

After Ronnie and Anna woke up, I got up with them so Meghan and Mum could sleep awhile. After watching The Incredibles, we played paper dolls and my mom came down. She was not feeling well at all, so she went back to bed while we watched The Ballad of Little Joe for a little sunday school lesson. It was so cute, with Anna and Ronnie commenting at different moments and playing 'Bolt'... we saw it a few weeks ago and they still enjoy playing the movie :)

After we played awhile, I made lunch while they watched The Game Plan on the couch. They were pretty good so far, and then my parents got up so I am typing this up then going to watch The Music Man w/ my mom and Ronnie. Adieu les amis, et priez pour nous!