Jumper Cables

      In opening, I have to say that you must be truly Minnesotan to want Ice cream when it's below 25*F outside and there's however much snow, and to take a chance to go out on those slippery freezing roads to get that Ice cream... Also, thank God for angels! =)

     As I mentioned in my earlier post, Cherish invited me out for supper. Well Aaron, on his way back to Blackduck, was at Walmart and his battery died, so Dad went over to jump start his car. Well when Cherish and I go out around 5:45 to head into town, Carrie (who came to pick up Aaron since his starter went kaput) told us we can move her car if it's a problem parked right behind Mom's car. That wasn't the problem though, the car wouldn't start. The battery was dead. So Aaron was a hero and came out and jump started it then told us we would have to leave it running while we were doing whatever we were doing or it wouldn't start again. We asked if there was an alternative, the alternative was eating supper with the family will the car battery charged. Which wasn't so bad, we agreed we would go out for desert afterwards coffee or Ice cream. Lizzy had made her famous french fries anyways so it wasn't too bad. Supper was pretty epic, a lot of laughing and de-stressing and being a family, if you get my meaning. ;)
     Finally, close to 7, Aaron once again came out with us and made sure the car would start, moved Carrie's car and we were  on our way.
     "Well where to?" Cherish inquired.
     "I don't know, wherever you want." I'm so indecisive. And then I go into a random pros and cons of the coffee houses I can think of in Bemidji, we decided on Snowdrifts at Caribou.
     Well ends up a Snowdrift and a Mocha. Mint and Milk Chocolate Snowdrift... Amazing! And the Milk Chocolate Mocha... I love coffee!! So we find a table, we're almost the only ones in the coffee shop besides two workers and an occasional customer, so it's nice and quiet for our talk... ranging from our coffee to emotional and family issues and then politics. DEATH! lol Right in the middle of our political discussion, a short brunette, middle aged woman pops in,
     "Someone with a dark blue sedan has there lights on."
      "Ahh, it's not a Sedan we've got a Buick -"
      "Yeah well, I don't know, that's probably it. The lights have been on for quite awhile."
      "Oh no! The keys!" Cherish and I look at each other. She goes out to check and comes in a few minutes later,
     "Not a peep! It didn't do anything!" Great. Now what?! So the lady that came in works at the salon right next door, her husband is coming in a few minutes and he said he'd give us a jump start, well thank God that the barista at Caribou had jumper cables in her car and that she was sweet enough to let us use them. The man who opened the salon next to Caribou just recently, helped us start our car and we very gratefully left the parking lot. I hope we will double check the lights before leaving our car on a winter night... or any night for that matter.
     In the middle of it all, before we got the jump start, I looked over at Cherish,
     "Laugh Cherish, it will make it better!" She didn't really seem too enthused about that idea, but she was a good sport and laughed anyways and I laughed and it made me feel better, I don't know about her.
     We got home safely, have a good story, learned a lesson good, had a good laugh... And I had something new to blog about... an adventure... jumper cables and Minnesota winters... =) 

What's New?

     Well... Thanksgiving was lovely! Lots of time with the cousins and family. Emily and Kalli came Wednesday night, (after I passed my written test. Yes I have my permit now and I'm so happy! Finally!:)) They were here until Friday evening. Met Cody's girlfriend Gabby, she was a lot of fun, also Mom's uncle Eldon came. Auntie Joan and her family didn't come and neither did Dan and the kids.
     Friday we went out to Auntie Joan's then, in Fosston. Played Catch Phrase, a tradition in our family on Thanksgiving, had some good laughs and 'healthy' competition.;) Yes we're all very competitive!=P
     The rest of the weekend was uneventful, Monday evening, Cherish came to stay for the week, and all of us girls went into Walmart, I drove, Lizzy was my 'instructor' and I gotta say she is a very good instructor. =)
     Tuesday night we had to clean and so I drove again and Sarah rode along, before we left, when she found out that I was going to be driving she joked "I better take my heart attack pills." Then later at some point when apologizing for some mistake to her, she assured me, "Don't worry I'm fine, it's a good thing I took those heart attack pills!" Yes we've gotten some good laughs about my driving errors already and I do enjoy it though I was a little intimidated by the new challenge at first.
      Last night I found out that Mom and Dad and Aaron were going to Hibbing early this morning for another court hearing for Dan to do with the custody of his children and I asked to go along, despite the fact that it was going to be 6:30 or so when we left, I went to bed around midnight but didn't sleep until closer to one and then around 3 I started waking up from horror dreams about driving. My alarm clock rang at 5 and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off, yes majorly dysfunctional at that time of day. Mom woke me up a little after 6 and I forced myself out of bed, blurry eyed and fluffy hair, grabbed my clothes and took a deliciously warm shower. Then with hair still wet went out and joined the others in the frigid half dark morning air as they tried to decide whether to take Aaron's or Mom's car, we ended up, Mom, Sarah and I crammed in the back seat of Aaron's car and the heater was having issues so the 1-1/2 to Hibbing was a bit cold. The court hearing, we will skip... Afterwards we went over to Dan and his girlfriend Sarah's place and Aaron and Dad helped move some furniture before we went out to Hardee's for some food. Aaron rode with Dan and his girlfriend and let dad drive his car, I offered to drive, but apparently, despite my convincing him that I was a 'good driver, even ask Lizzy.' He didn't seem too eager to let me drive. (Not like I blame him!;)
     Sarah and I got plain double cheeseburgers and when Aaron came over with a Mushroom and Swiss burger, I have to admit we kinda lusted after it. Aaron, seeing this and being the selfless brother he is, he gave it to Sarah in trade for her cheeseburger, and Sarah, as I told them, NEVER passes up food! Especially not junk food! (I love you Sarah!=P)  It was good to sit and talk and get to know Danny's girlfriend, just a little, she seems reserved but really nice too and Danny seems to love her. The ride home was warmer, we figured out the heater. It was more pleasant.
     Cell groups is at our place tonight, Cherish and I will go out for supper. Such a filled day, but it's good.
     My charge cord died... again. Dad already fixed it once, he's going to try and fix it again but until then, my phone is almost dead so I've been living without it since last night =( I get attached to things too fast.=P
     I woke up Sunday morning with a miserable head cold, it's all in my sinuses, I'm feeling a little better but it's gone from headaches and my jaw being locked and toothaches and even my nose aching, to a sore throat and now a bad cough. They told me to take Grapefruit Seed Extract... well this stuff is miserable stuff, worse than Vodka with no chaser and that stuff is awful! I took it in maybe an inch of apple juice thinking that the less I mixed it with the less to down, BAD MISTAKE! It BURNED! And I could taste it for a long time, grossest stuff ever, almost made me puke! Took lots of Vitamin D and C too and took Grapefruit Seed Extract twice more, it took me awhile to get the courage to drink it the second time, but it was in 3/4 of a glass of grape juice and I could hardly taste it. I've decided that's the only way to go if you're going to take something so awful!
     Monday night I died my hair. Dark brown. I love it! It's shocking at first but it pulls out the blue in my eyes and some of the hair didn't get as dark as other parts so it's really highlighted, I told mom it looks like Rolos... caramel and chocolate! =) I came into the kitchen at noon, having been sleeping in and being woke by Aaron's voice. Him and dad were at the counter, backs to me, and without really looking at me asked Dad, "Who's that?" and Dad, "I don't know." Then I tried to talk and my voice due to my cold was totally awful and unrecognizable. I'd completely metamorphosised over night! =P
     And it looks like I've turned into quite the long winded blogger... guess I just am long winded either way... but anyways, I'll close this with a picture of --

My hair!=)

Pencil Sketches

     So my dear friend Cherish gave me a set of drawing pencils for my birthday in June, I haven't had a lot of chances to use them yet, but I've thoroughly enjoyed them when I did! =) The following drawings I finished the first yesterday and sketched the second tonight in about an hour and a half or so. I love drawing, not gonna say it's my strongest point but hey practice makes perfect, and as embarrassing as it is, I like looking back at my old sketchbooks cuz even from one drawing to the next I can see major improvement. So, thank you Cherish for the pencils and thank you Mom, Sarah and Rachael, (all three awesome artists=) for the hints and tips and critiquing you've shared...

These pictures are from my cellphone and really not the best quality.
Rachael claimed this Muslim sketch for her office. =)

She's a little distorted here, but, I was bored and looking through my sketch book,
got inspired by a particular picture I made this spring/summer and thus the result...

      I'd have to say my favorite art medium that I've tried so far is most likely pencil, though I also enjoy acrylics and colored pencil. What's your favorite? 

One more thing ---

     I felt like giving that last post some sort of long rambling title to fit it, like a Charles Dickens' chapter title. ;) Did you know he was paid by the word? Certainly one way to motivate an author to find the most fascinating words possible, maybe that's why the quality of literature has gone down... (or the understandableness [I'm aware that is not a word:P] has gone up?) people are no longer paid by the word so they no longer have a need to search for the craziest and longest and most 'wordy' descriptions possible. Rachael you would have done well writing for whoever Dickens wrote for! Awing everyone with your ability to make even the simplest thing seem completely baffling and unfathomably deep with long words! ;-)

     Okay, really this post wasn't about that, that was just a result of my ADD and saying what I think... or typing as the case may be... and before this turns into a completely random 1 AM post with my philosophy on life and me working out every little problem or thought in this post... What I wanted to say was that poem I posted, A Miracle Mistaken... Completely fictitious... I've had too many people asking me about that one, thought I'd clarify. No it's not about me. I LOVE writing in first person... but most of the stuff I write about, I'm just imagining! Don't worry! =)

     And in the words of Mitch (Rachael ;-))'

     So there you have it! 

- Drivers Ed, People and Thanksgiving -

      Well, well, life has been great, busy, but wonderful I suppose. :) The last three weeks I've had drivers ed. Today was the last day, I loved my classmates... yes somedays, I got in the car when Mom or Rachael came to pick me up and just started ranting about how much they were getting on my nerves... there were 5 boys and maybe 7 or 8 girls.The guys could get so loud and obnoxious and surprisingly some of the girls did too!

     The first friend I made was Kevin. 10th grade, 16 like me. Sat across the room from me and walked out to our waiting rides after class each day. Kevin made it clear from the start that he intended to be the class clown. He was obnoxious, redneck, had a story for everything, but Kevin's one of those people that can laugh at himself, he doesn't really fit in but he's okay with who he is and pretty confident in that. I think he's just a normal teenage boy looking for attention in any way he can find and being 'class clown' got him that. We had class Monday through Thursday last week and then this week Monday and today was the last day. Yesterday when I walked into class the only kids there yet were Kevin and Nick and maybe a couple of the girls.
     "Hey Anna! What's up?" Normal greeting.
     "Hey Kevin!" I toss my blue folder full of drivers ed materials onto my desk, third back from the door and pull out my chair (Whoever created those chairs and desks... I'd love to get my chiropractor Dr. Woggan to give them a good hard talking to... they SUCK! lol) and seat myself.
     "Guess what?" I turn back to Kevin,
     "What?"
     "I got a girlfriend!" His face is lit up by a giddy smile.
     "She's from West Virginia!" Nick smirks.
     "Really?" I ask, intrigued, Internet girlfriend? Was he there once? How did this happen?
     "Well, yeah." Kevin seems a little hesitant and embarrassed by the announcement that his relationship is a long distance one.
     "Cool. How'd you meet her?"
     "She's Big Al's, girlfriend's, niece."
     "Ahh I see! Cool! What's her name?" We've all heard stories about Big Al, Kevin's equally redneck buddy, who is apparently a good deal older then Kevin though I'm not sure how much.
     "Yeah, her name is Katie Thorn." Later as we're walking outside I ask Kevin if he has a picture of her, of course his wall paper is her. =P She's pretty, blond, glasses, guess she loves hunting, fishing, mudding, Fords, Semis and big trucks as much as he does, even at 15. Sounds like a perfect match! I'm happy for him. Kevin is a great sport and I really enjoyed getting to know him a little bit.

     Nick, little freshman blondie, 15 in December, you can definitely tell, loud and obnoxious and doesn't listen well! Got yelled at a lot for not paying attention, listening 'like a box of rocks'... (Okay Lisa doesn't yell she has the patience of a saint.) I didn't really talk to Nick much, he sat in the row of desks between Kevin's on the far side and mine by the door, right in the middle of the class room next to Manny. Nick annoyed me, quite honestly I'd get out to the car and say 'Oh my gosh Nick is so immature and annoying!' but the last two days I did talk to him a little and I realized I judged him a bit soon, he could be a lot of fun, just a normal attention whoring boy looking for acceptance I suppose.

     Manny. 17 in December, another one of the boys I'd rant about. Too full of himself, cocky, loud, annoying... Okay he reminded me of Peter. He had this flip side, in control, a leader, mature, and really sweet and cool if he wanted to be. He and his sister Alisha were kind of the life of the class, 'teacher's pet's' of sorts... somehow they previously knew Lisa I think.

      Alisha, I'm not sure how old she was, she must have been 16. Her birthday was last Monday and she brought cake. Alisha is the type of girl that's just like 'I'm me and if you don't like that, suck it!' didn't dress up or even wear that much make up if any. She was pretty funny. I really didn't like her at first, she's the time that's kinda a flirt and just too loud and out there and opinionated, but then I realized that I kinda did like her, she was pretty cool. The kind of person who doesn't mind trying new things and messing up, just kinda go with it, loosen up and live life, have fun. Realized watching her (and after some 'joking' comments from some dear people) that I really need to learn how to let myself have fun and just go with it!

      Sheridan, long brown hair, big brown eyes, a cute face, that modest look that just screams 'homeschooler'. We didn't make friends until second week I think? Maybe third, but boy that girl can talk like nothing else. She's interesting too, not the type that just talks about nothing, or people... idle talk. She actually has things to talk about and a great imagination! Her family is Lutheran. She's your typical 'sheltered', fairly innocent homeschooler at 15, super sweet and funny. She sat in front of me. She loves reading. One day we discussed books with Lauren and Athena the two girls in the first row in front of Sheridan. Sheridan also writes. She let me read one of her stories she's working on, today and I loved it, definitely got talent. Great word usage, descriptions and very intriguing story line. We exchanged email addresses so we could keep in contact.

     Lauren, extremely thin, short blond hair and a really sweet face was 14, and Athena a Native looking girl was 15. Besides the discussion about books...mainly Twilight and different TV shows, I didn't really talk to either of them but they seemed pretty cool.

     In the last row on my side of the room, Sammi, almost 18 and pretty quiet and another tall, thin, blond girl  (I didn't catch her name) who was 14 or 15 from Trek North shared a desk. The blond girl had a lot of smart comments for people, quite strong, she made me laugh. I wish I could have gotten to know more of the kids from my class 'cause a lot of them seemed like really cool and fun people.

     On the far side across from me in the front row a red head girl who stayed mostly to herself except I saw her talk to Noah a few times and the girl who shared her desk, looked like a foreign exchange student or something.

     Noah sat behind those two and in front of Kevin. He wasn't part of the main group of guys that almost made us lose our grand finale pizza party, but he would join in sometimes. I hardly talked to him, except in the end, another blond (Seriously I think my class was half blond! :-o) he was a little quieter but he still added his piece every now and then. He was 15 but looked and acted a little more mature.

      I already covered Kevin, and in the two desks behind him sat a tall dark haired girl. Another red head chick and a girl with long curly light brown hair sat behind her. Those three could get pretty rowdy, almost as bad as Kevin, Nick and Manny. I think the two in the back were Maddison and Megan or something, not sure what the tall girls name was.

      There were a few kids in and out making up a day they'd missed when their class was going, and another tall skinny blond kid who wasn't there the whole time, not sure what his name was. But those are the students...
   
      Lisa deserves a gold star for being such an amazing teacher! She's funny, smart, patient, and really great at dealing with all the kids, and yeah being one of the kids too. =) One of the days she sat in the empty chair at my desk and was looking through a Medical Dictionary on my desk with some pretty graphic disgusting pictures of medical conditions and etc, (We were in some medical career room or something) got to talk to her for a while. She jumps at a picture of a spider... guess she REALLY hates them! =P Made me laugh. She definitely knows how to have fun and make class fun. Thank you Lisa for putting up with us all!! <3

     More than learning about the laws and safety and techniques of driving and the road - I learned that you can really hate someone, sitting back and judging from their appearance, or just writing them off, that if you took the time to even have one decent conversation with you could really get to like!

      So tomorrow I get to go in and take my written test, crossing my fingers that I'll pass it, I got 14 of 120 questions wrong on the final test in class so I'm not too scared I guess. And if I do pass the written test tomorrow, I'll get my permit so I'm pretty psyched. FINALLY! =)

      Thursday I woke up at around 1 or something, yes in the afternoon, I'd been up a good portion of the night, Cherish Brown and I had made plans earlier in the week to go out for coffee that day since her mom was coming into town. I totally forgot about those plans, so Rachael came in and woke me up like
     "Hey you have company."
     "Oh my gosh I forgot all about that!" I had drivers ed at 3:15. So Cherish and I went in to Raphael's Cafe and  Bakery for lunch, we had some coupons that expired that day so we used that and got lunch half price. After that we walked over to Cantabria for coffee. Had a great time with her.
     Friday was Cjay's cousin, Mariah's birthday party, she's five now. Gosh, I love those children, Maria 7, Mariah 5, and Mason 2. Cutest kids ever! =) Angel drove me, and Maria not really paying attention runs over and gives her a hug like,
     "Anna!" and ran back to whatever she was doing. Angel just stood there kinda awkward,
     "I don't know you but, thank you." The adults all laughed and later when she realized she'd hugged the wrong person, Maria's like "Ahh you tricked me!" Needless to say, I had a very good Friday, between shopping with Angel and spending time with those children.
     Today Jessica Smith, a second cousin on my mom's side who I haven't seen in at least four years, stopped in. It was really good to see her again! It wasn't very long, 1 - 3 because I had drivers ed, but we went out for coffee at Starbucks and then she dropped me off at the High School.
     Tomorrow I have a feeling will be full of cleaning the house until it shines (okay not that dramatic) and baking and baking and baking some more. I'm usually in charge of pies and we usually a LOT! So we'll see what interesting varieties I can find this year, last year I made Banana and Coconut Creme, Lemon Meringue, this delicious peanut butter and the traditional, probably apple and Lizzy made her amazing pumpkin pie. I'll probably repeat most of those if not all again this year. =) Also besides cleaning and baking, Emily and Kalli will be coming tomorrow night and I can't wait to see them! Maybe I'll post some pictures of the whole holiday prep and celebration, no promises, only if I get my camera out and feel like it. =)
     Thursday is Thanksgiving! We're counting on a pretty full house again this year, not, maybe, as full as some other years, minus a few people, plus a few people. My favorite Holiday besides Christmas and New Years... Okay that's like half the holidays but Thanksgiving really is probably nearly my favorite.
     What are you all thankful for this year? What are your special family traditions or foods or plans for this year? Anything you're especially looking forwards to?

      I've gotta say I'm thankful for the fact that I'm still breathing, by God's grace I have survived another day,  week, month, year... I'm thankful for the friends that I have currently, for my sweet boyfriend, my family, all of my relationships, for the lessons life has taught me this year, and for the fact that I'm still here. This year has been a rough one but it's been a good one and I'm thankful that I'm still (mostly) in one piece.=)

     Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Miracle Mistaken

A Miracle Mistaken 

We've made a mess

I'm scared to death

I can't confess 

I hold my breath 

This can't be real

I'm numb inside

I cannot feel

I try to hide

Try to deny

And you get mad

You know I lie

I feel so bad

But I'm afraid

If I admit

The mistake made

I can't hide it

It will be there

I'm not ready 

No one will care

I am unsteady

People will judge

I'll disappoint

They'll hold a grudge

Can't see the point

Miracle child

A pure beauty

But it's defiled

By impurity

Ashamed of it

It's not to blame

Not fair but it 

Will bear my shame

Beautiful child

Redeeming grace

Innocence wild

Washing all trace

My redemption 

My sweet pardon

For temptation

I took part in

A second chance

To get it right

To get this dance

Perfect tonight

You're mine forever

I'd never trade you

I hope forever

You'll be pure and true.

~Anna Marie~

    -September 26, 2012-

Love is -

     Love is about loyalty, hard work, riding out the lows, making it to the highs. Love is about disagreeing, fighting, tears, but still hanging on,working out the differences, clinging to the good times. No matter how many rough spots there are, what you remember in the end are the good moments.
     Love is about pain, taking chances, getting hurt, risking a broken heart. It is being selfless, putting the other first, it's enduring, forgiving, doing what's best for them even if it's not easy for you.
     Love is about grace - being hurt and let down, but always giving a second chance, always hoping for the best, believing in them no matter how many times they mess up. It's learning to see their heart and soul, giving grace for their human frailties and encouraging their strong points.
     Love is being so close to giving up but knowing that person means more to you than all your pride, knowing that no matter how bad they hurt you, you would never wish them out of your life even at the lowest points in your relationship.
     Love is sharing hearts, being real, being you. It's perseverance. Never giving up!
     Love isn't the way Disney portrays it, being swept off your feet and living happily ever after, it's hard, it's painful, it's a knowing that no matter how hard you have to fight, and no matter how long or short of a time you have with that person, the relationship is worth it!
     And yet, Disney's shallow view of romance can't even begin to compare to true love, the beauty, the pain, the laughter, the tears, the tender words, smiling, making sweet memories, learning what makes each other's day.
      Love is beautiful, but it's not the lovey feelings that keep you together, because romance comes and goes like a woman's emotions, the butterflies aren't always gonna be there, the thrills, it's not a bed of roses, because no one is perfect, we all make it hard to love us at times. You can't be half in, with love, it's all or nothing. You give it your heart, your everything. 100%. So before you fall, make sure it's worth it.

     

  November 4, 2012   

~Anna Marie~