Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thankful For...


 
close friends who are always there for me
my noisy family
an unexpected day off from school
books
being able to read even though I'm a girl
living in the beautiful mountains
handwritten letters
living in a country where I don't have to worship God in secret
three purring balls of fur curled up at my feet
okay, I guess I'll be thankful for the crazy dog, too...
my flute
cozy winter evenings
warm mugs of chai tea in the mornings
boots
my warm house
our right to bear arms (just went deer hunting Monday, in fact!)
winter sunrises

Lately I've also come to realize some things that are blessings in disguise. God has been showing me lately that I need to be grateful for the things that are hard to see the good in. These things aren't always pleasant, but I need them in my life because they're good for me.
  • The long commutes to and from school
  • The funny idiots in my history class
  • My alarm clock; enough said there!
  • The ache of missing someone-- it makes seeing them again all the sweeter
  • Crowded hallways-- they teach me patience
  • My baby brother who won't sleep unless he's being held

May God's grace be with you all both this Thanksgiving season-- and every day of your lives.
What are you most thankful for?

Monday, November 24, 2014

Winter Wasteland Tag!



We've all been there. Autumn is over, but the holidays aren't quite here yet.does certainly doesn't feel like "the most wonderful time of the year." It's cold, wet, windy, and you're already sick of this think called "snow."

Well, Clara tagged me for this awesome Winter Wasteland tag! You can see her original post here. This tag is really simple. Just come up with 5-15 things you like to do in the winter, then tag 5-10 people!

  • Write a letter. If you don't have a pen pal, you should get one! They're awesome! Or write a letter to a cousin or friend. It's always a treat to get something in the mail.
  • Spend a few minutes on Pinterest. (A. FEW. MINUTES. Don't be like me and go on Pinterest for one quick recipe, and then find yourself still there three hours later reading a Tumblr Pin about whether penguins have knees.) Find some cute winter craft ideas, then go make them!
  • Do a winter photo shoot outside with your friends or siblings. Or, if you don't like the way your nose turns cherry red out in the snow (I know mine does), do a photo shoot of your dolls or pets.
  • Play hide and seek in the house.
  • Make tons and tons of paper snowflakes and leave them everywhere for people to trip over. Just kidding-- hang them up as decoration!
  • Have a winter party! Make winter-y crafts and Christmas cookies, go sledding or have a snowball fight, drink hot chocolate, listen to Christmas music, and use extra time to work on your gifts for other people. (Don't work on your gifts for each other, of course-- they're supposed to be a surprise!)
  • Give your pets some quality time.  They get bored sometimes, too!
  • Find a really good series and read through it. Or if you don't like reading, find a new show to obsess over.
  • Try out some yummy new recipes.
  • Create a blogging tag. Yup, just like this one. Be original-- come up with a new tag that will blow away the minds of your readers! Or at least help them beat winter boredom, too.

I tag:

Jess
Lainey
Chloee
Seriah
Eve
Evie
Lydia
A Girl Without A Name
Jollygirl
Vanshi Mehta

And the first person to comment "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" :D
 

Adventures of the Spare Oom



via Google Search Results
 
So, my family took a little weekend trip...

This time last night, my cousin Isabelle  and I were braving the "Spare Oom" at Mommaw Hatfield's house in Kentucky. She and I got promoted to the little room adjoining the kitchen, the one with a closet that makes funny noises and the heavy purple drapes blocking out all sunlight. The Younger Six were sleeping in the basement-- where we normally hang out too-- but last night they were being particularly rowdy, so it was decided that an adult would supervise the Younger Six. After all, Isabelle and I were old enough to sleep on our own, weren't we?

As it turns out, we are not.


via Google Search Results

 
 At first the idea of our own bedroom was exciting. We felt grown up and privileged. Now we would finally have the chance to talk privately. (And look through all those old photo albums in the closet we aren't allowed to touch without adult supervision.)
 
Bedtime rolled around. Suddenly the idea of sleeping without all the others seemed lonely.

That, however, didn't stop us from vigorously running and jumpig into the big queen-sized bed. (No, before you ask, there were no Aunt Josephines sleeping in it. Thank goodness.) It was like landing on a giant pile of cotton candy, all soft and fluffy. We turned out the light. All was silent for a moment.

"It's dark." remarked Isabelle. I sat up, peering into the blackness.

"You're right." I said.

I got up and hunted around the house for a flashlight. Mommaw found me-- as luck would have it, the Younger Six hadn't driven her into a bad mood yet-- and gave me one of those old fashioned night lights.

When I returned, the door was locked. I knocked.

"Password?"

"Mr. Tumnus."

"Oh, good. It's you." Isabelle let me in. She and I spent the next hour making shadow puppets that battled each other. (Ahem, "teenagers" doesn't mean "mature.") When we got bored with that, I got out an armful of photo albums from the closet. These were carefully scrutinized. "Haha! Look, here's  you-- you looked like a boy when you were three!" "Shut up. Here's one of you." "Oh. That's embarrassing." When I returned the books to the closet, I noticed two little boxes near the back of the shelf. Being of curious nature, I got them out. I handed one to my cousin and opened the other myself.

"This one's of my parents' wedding!"

"And this one is my parents' wedding!"

Around midnight we were finally tired out. Isabelle helped me put the photos back up. When I went to put the boxes back on their shelf, I started to lose my balance. I put my arm out to steady me, but found that there was no wall there! I caught my balance just before I slammed into the shelf.  The closet was much deeper than I'd thought. "Isabelle, look how far this goes back. Come on, I bet Narnia's in here!"

"If it starts snowing, I'll go back for coats." she said. We went as far back as we could.

Unfortunately, there was no Narnia behind the old coats. Just a big boiler that made a lot of noise. We were disappointed, but at least now we'd have a good hiding place for the next time all the cousins played hide and seek.

Unable to sleep with the nightlight on, we yanked it out and finally laid down. It was dark-- the kind of heavy, suffocating dark that presses down on you like it wants to smother you. Sensing Isabelle's tenseness, I began drumming my hand rhythmically on the wall. Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump...

"It's the beating of the Telltale Heart," I whispered. "That eye... you can feel it staring at you, can't you?"

"Stop it!" she hissed. "Listen." I stopped. She was right-- there was something. It was a hissing, growling noise. Something rumbled, too. It all came from the closet. We whimpered, curling up in the center of the bed together, barely breathing. "What is that?!" "I don't know!" Slowly we peered over the top of the covers, trying to see through the darkness. All we could see were a few glowing lights. And from here, they looked like glowing yellow eyeballs. Everything seems evil at night-- even the innocent ticking of the clock.

Tick, tick, tick...

"It's the alligator." I whispered.

"What alligator?"

"The one that swallowed the clock and Captain Hook's hand! It's coming for us through the closet!" I was rewarded with a sharp dig in the side.

"I thought we had a Narnia theme tonight, not Neverland! And stop trying to scare me."

"I'm just as scared as you are! You never know what that closet could lead to..." I said. My words ended in a yawn, and the next thing I knew it was morning. The smell of sausage floated in from under the crack below the door. "Isabelle," I whispered. "Wake up and smell the bacon."

"We made it through the night." she said, yawning.

"Darn," I sighed. "I kept hoping Mr. Tumnus would come out of that closet in the middle of the night and take us to Narnia." Then, "We are never doing that again. At least not in this room."

"Agreed."
 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Blogger Recognition Award

I was nominated by Clara at Reasons To Smile for this award. Thanks so much, Clara! She runs a beautiful little blog here. You should check it out!
 
1. Thank the person who nominated you and share a link to their blog.
2. Give a short story of how you stared your blog and some tips for other bloggers
3. Choose 15 bloggers to nominate for the award, and comment on each of their blogs so they know you nominated them.
4. Have fun!
 
How I Came to Start My Blog:
Well, I read a lot of blogs already and blogging looked like a lot of fun. I also read this post at The Write Practice about building your writers' platform, and decided I wanted to show my writing to someone besides my cats. :) So when I finally got my own email address, I started a blog where I would post pieces of my writing. Now it's more of a personal blog than part of a writing platform, but I think I like it better that way.
 
Tips for Other Bloggers:
 Blog about things you love, and don't worry about who reads it or how many followers you have. Just be you, and other kindred spirits will find you. :)

Also, this is something I learned from Emily over at Lynde Avenue. Ever wondered how to put a direct link to your blog in a comment? Even if you're like me and you're not very good at HTML codes, you can do it. Copy and paste this code into the comment, and then replace the letters in all caps with your information.
<a href="YOUR LINK HERE">DISPLAY TEXT</a>
So mine looks like this:
<a href="http://www.thesilverflute.blogspot.com">The Silver Flute</a>
When I publish the comment, it turns out like this:
The Silver Flute
 
And the Nominees!
 
Chloee: Yes I'm Irish
Lydia: Planet Lydia
The other Lydia: Peanut Butter Girl
RussianPsych: A Russian Girl's Diary
A Girl Without A Name: Sunsets and Sundays
arushee bhoja: Unadorned Gifts
Amy-Anne Williams: The Blog Hermit

Hope y'all have fun with this award!
 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

A Little Excuse

I haven't posted much in the past few weeks, but believe me, I have a very good excuse. He's a little excuse, but... :)

This is my newest baby brother!


Andrew James (AJ)
9 lbs., 3 0z.

Why are you all looking at me!?

He was born late last Tuesday, and my house has been crazy busy ever since. I think little AJ is wondering if he got sent home with the wrong family. He always looks at us like we're insane! But he has nothing to worry about. Since he's the youngest, I have a feeling we're all going to spoil him a bit.

I will try to post more tomorrow. See y'all!

--Rebecca Jane