home and away

Okay, so I know I should be writing up the third installment of my HSA reunion experience, but I don't have the pics on my laptop. That's right...laptop. So, instead I will gleefully post this short update on my life from my laptop since I finally got the internet on it at home. Unfortunately it isn't wireless, but I'm not complaining.

Over the weekend we had our third ECD this year. It was great fun, as usual. But, the lack of guys made us girls positively irked. I swear, I am determined to wear a button down shirt and tie to the next dance. Then it will be less confusing for the other girls dancing, including myself. *laughs* Next dance the girls will have their revenge! Mwahahah!

The weekend before that I went down to Oklahoma with a couple of friends to go to the 3rd Annual Naylor Get Together. Another Homeschool Alumni event. I hadn't been before, but I plan on going in coming years. We had a lot of fun. Duh. I am thoroughly convinced no other set of people knows how to have fun like homeschoolers. Played volleyball, had a bonfire, impromptu ECD, and the usual chatter of like minds. The hospitality of the Naylor family was friendly and warm. It was great meeting new people and seeing a couple of friends again.

I recently broke down and signed up with Facebook. Now I'm re-building my HSA friends list on that website. It's fun but a little confusing. Facebook isn't the most straight forward site. Maybe it's just me...

Well, I had better wrap this up. I'm off to change the blog colors to something more Fall like.

Homeschool Alumni National Reunion 2009 {day 2}

Wow, have I fallen behind. But now I'm back. So, day two of the reunion dawned clear and cool. Great weather! First thing on my agenda, after a shower, was to call home. It felt so good to talk to Mama. Most of my homesickness went away after that. Now I was ready to face the day. After breakfast was praise and worship time. Some friends organized a hymn singing for those who didn't want to participate in the former. So, I headed over to the chapel for that. Ah, the sweet music of voices blended over the words of great hymns. Then it was off to the "Bear Claw" for our first session which was with Camden Spiller. Camden is one of the founders of HSA. He spoke on what we as homeschoolers can do to see the homeschool vision through to the next generation. Some great insights, thanks Camden! Had a bit of free time for hanging out before lunch.

here is the chapel on campus

After lunch I headed over to the expo hall to set up my table and do some finishing work before the Entrepeneur Expo opened. I missed out on some stuff, namely the Learn ECD session, since I had to stay at my table the whole two hours. But it was worth it. The girl that organized the expo this year, Allison, her sister Melissa came by and loved my stuff. Talk about excitement, Melissa generates it no problem. She bought a knitted cuff (which are coming soon to the etsy shop!) and a couple of my Pride and Prejudice Bracelets. One for her and one for a friend. I recently heard from that friend and she loves her bracelet! She blogged about it here - adored austin: kate spade/ great trade. Thanks Indiana!

After the expo was the afternoon session with Kevin Swanson. He is awesome, a very emotive speaker who literally uses the whole stage. He speaks with energy and passion. If you ever get the chance to see Mr. Swanson speak, go! You won't be dissapointed. His message to us was very encouraging. He urged us to use our lives and unique gifts as homeschoolers to follow Christ and be His light in this world. He also brought along one of the books he's written, "The Second Mayflower", for us at no charge. Free! Yipee!

part of the fun at the dance was watching the flow of traffic in the balcony

We ate supper next and then headed to our dorms to get ready for the dance! I called home again to talk to Daddy. Had to keep my parents up to date on all the stuff they were missing out on! *laughs* The ECD was a lot of fun! Even if there were more girls than guys. Danced a really fun dance that was new to me called "The Boston Tea Party." We danced from 8:00 to 11:30! There were a couple of breaks, but I was tired! Didn't take me long to fall asleep that night!

this is kinda blurry, but it's the "posties jig"!

More pictures and days 3 and 4 still to come...

{life in general}

Dearie me, I have not posted in quite a while. Last month I got a job writing articles for a local newspaper and I have been adjusting to that. Plus, we've started gardening so there goes more time out of my schedule. At last I get to sit down and blog. I think I'll start with the newest and work my way back.

Last week my allergies kicked in and therefor I have been under the weather. Thankfully I am feeling much better and hopefully by tomorrow will be able to consider myself well. If only my ears would stay popped... Also, last weekend was our second English Country Dance! It went well and we learned a couple of new dances. Afterwards we went out for ice cream. Yum! Ahh, there is nothing like the company of like minded individuals that have come together for an ECD.

I have made a couple of darling (if I may say so) fabric covered bead necklaces and listed them in the Etsy shop. Here is a picture of the "Beatrice" necklace -

I think they will be a great accessory for the Spring and Summer with their cheerful colors.

And now for something that made me very happy. I had my first repeat customer in my Cafe Press store Helluo Librorum this month!!! Huzzah! I think it was the scream heard round the neighborhood. *laughs*

Last month I was approached by one of our friends at church, and a homeschool mom, about writing articles for the newspaper she owns. I agreed even though I had no journalism experience. But I figured a love of writing would make up for what I lacked in know how to start with. I am quickly discovering how much different reporting is than writing short stories, books and poems. And how much I rely on other people to help me. If my contact doesn't call me back or reply to my email, well I'm pretty close to up a creek without a paddle. What is with that anyway, not returning phone calls? Even if you don't want to be interviewed, tell me "no thank you," don't leave me hanging. Anywhooo... But I think the best part is all the things I'm learning about, not just people skills but random facts and more big picture puzzle pieces.

Now it's time for me to end this. I have to email my editor and do a little ironing. Blessings!

{mini reunion or bust}

Last weekend my family traveled to Kansas City to go to the Homeschool Alumni Midwest Mini Reunion. I've been a member of HSA for a couple of years now and haven't been able to make it to one of the national reunions. So when I saw the MO mini reunion posted on the event board I was thrilled. And then ecstatic when I told my dear father about it and he said "we're going" before I even had a chance to ask. Late Friday morning we set off for our destination. About mid afternoon we reached the Cabela's store in KC and decided to stop and stretch our legs, again. I always enjoy going into Cabela's and looking around. While we were there we bumped into some other homeschoolers but they were not HSAers. Being homeschooled turns on some radar that allows you to pick up on other homeschoolers. No kidding. Anyway, then it was off to the campground to set up the tent before heading to HQ a.k.a. one of the other HSAers house that was hosting the event. We were the last ones in because of how long it took to just pick out a campsite. *sighs* But supper was cooking and the house was warm and inviting which was welcome relief after putting up a tent in the cooling temps of a Fall afternoon. After supper there was a Boggle tournament and other games plus lots of talking and laughter. I had a hard time staying awake and at one point had dozed off for a couple of seconds. But then a couple of friends shook the couch to make sure I would stay awake. Thanks guys. Needless to say I am not a night owl. I'm not exactly sure when we girls crawled into our sleeping bags (my parents had already left for the campground) but it was about 1 in the morning. Whew! Saturday was packed with activities. In the morning we went on a 3.8 mile hike around the lake at the local state park.

"The road goes ever on and on..."

Someone in our group decided to take a little detour and we thought he would catch back up before long so we didn't wait. Back at the parking lot and eating our picnic lunch he still hadn't shown up. So then we were worried. Just as we were planning a rescue mission he walked up. No Chris, we're not going to let you live this one down. Then it was off to the WWI museum in Kansas City.

Here's our reflection on the glass walk over the field of poppies and you can see the tower, too.

Very interesting and informative. Lots of artifacts, most of them original, to view. After that we dashed back to HQ to throw some grub down the hatch and change before the dance. It was my very first ECD and I loved it.

Here we are before the dance. Aren't mirrors handy for taking pictures!

Sorry to those whose toes I stepped on. We laughed 'til it hurt, which wasn't very hard. We danced The Hole in the Wall, the Gay Gordon, the Virginia Reel and another one I'm not sure of it's name.

The white blur dancing with the blue blur is yours truly.

Note to self: use shutter mode at next dance.

But now I'm hooked and don't know how long I can make it without another dance! When the dance ended it was back to HQ for dessert, more games, laughter and talking. We also had a few surprise visitors. Missionaries from Siam to be precise. There's something wrong with the leg on the last missionary. *laughs* Saturday night we stayed up until 2! I was able to remain awake a lot easier though. Sunday morning we had a time of scripture reading and prayer. Then my family left right before lunch and headed home. I wish it could have gone on forever. But life called and said it was time to get back to work. Bummer. Now I'm already thinking about next year...

Thanks to all my homeschool family for the wonderful memories made this weekend. We won't easily forget them.