What A Day It Has Been!

Wow! I am sooooo *yawwwwwwwwwn* sleepy!

Since the wee hours of this morning, my dad has had our whole family outside weeding the flower beds and mowing/weed-eating the grass. The sky would rain, and then shine with sun, rain, then shine, rain, then shine–it became EXHAUSTING! haha I had a terrible “circle” to weed, and now my finger has a bandage on it. 😦 It is a little awkward to be typing now…haha 😀

I applied for an assistant teaching position with the AmeriCorps. I am sure I am not more qualified than the other applicants, as I have not attained a college degree, but I supposed it was at least good practice for writing a cover letter and resume (and if I get far enough: an interview!). If I receive the job–YAY! If not, then…well, my hopes aren’t too high.

I am also applying for a teaching position at a private Christian school of the “Great Books,” like Homer, Illiad, Shakespeare, etc. Their curriculum is one I am interested in, and again, it is good practice.

In Texas, my Aunt and Uncle are going to be starting their own Christian school within the next four years or so. Had I stayed in Texas, I would have most likely worked there; (not because I am a family member, but because I would be highly qualified).

Okay, there is an UPDATE from me! 🙂 Have a great day, everyone!

What Does Having a Hope Chest Mean $$-Wise?

This is Part 3 of the Hope Chest Series. If you missed the Hope Chest Series Introduction, or Part 1: “What’s in my Hope Chest?” or Part 2, “What am I adding to my Hope Chest?” you can find them here, here, and here.

Having a Hope Chest is like having a saving account for your marriage or future life.

 Hope Chest = Savings Account

Like the picture of the piggy bank above with the two wedding bands, a hope chest is a “cedar bank,” if you will, with the supplies you need to bring to a marriage or to a life on your own. Savings Accounts accumulate over time, as will your hope chest, and when the time comes, you can withdraw from it. With a savings account, you gradually put more money into it, and normally the deposits are painless. When you are able to withdraw from that savings account, however–there is no pain whatsoever in seeing the fruits of your additions. With a hope chest, you are saving for the future, though (often) not in monetary terms, and all the hope and joy is great, indeed!

How is Having a Hope Chest a Frugal Decision?

As discussed in the previous paragraph, a hope chest is gradually added to. Normally, people buy items while they are cheaper, on sale, or make the items themselves. Also, since most hope chest collections are added to by teenagers–parents are involved, Christmas is involved, and birthdays are involved! Although the items are only added a little at a time, the price of the items ultimately adds up to where if you had to buy all the items at once, it would definitely be a burden against your bank account. Little by little is the way to go, whether your items are homemade or whether your parents buy the items, or whether you do–overall, the decision to have a hope chest is a frugal one!

Think of the Joys Later…

After accumulating these items over time, and not hurting your budget or band account, the time FINALLY comes when you get married or live on your own. The joy that comes from looking at this grand accomplishment of SAVING items (and ultimately money) and using these items, without having to strain yourself to buy the necessary items, is, I can imagine, quite great–not to mention the items that you make yourself. (Talk about a boost of self-esteem!)

Knowing you will not have to spend a lot of money on the things, such as silverware, dishware, and cooking utensils, bed sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, wash rags, etc, which can be quite expensive when bought all together (and without all the great sales), is enough to celebrate! Yay!

Do I Recommend Having a Hope Chest?

You bet I do!! 🙂 Would you?

NEXT: The final article to the Hope Chest Series (for now), Part 4: “Scriptural Reasons for Having a Hope Chest.”

What’s In My Hope Chest?

This is my hope chest–say hello:

You cannot really tell, but my hope chest is about medium sized. It's is a cedar tree. (And I had the lid open earlier, so it's slightly open here.) I will have to post the story of how I received my hope chest and why this "box" is extra special.

2300 miles before…

I recently moved from central Texas to the Northwest. Space was limited on our 26 ft. U-Haul, as my dad had a LOT of equipment and tools to bring. I ended up bringing two boxes plus my hope chest. Thankfully, (I count this as a blessing), I had not been faithful to adding to my hope chest, so I had quite a bit of storage space for the move.

But 2300 miles later…

I opened my hope chest, took out the items that did not belong in it, and noticed how EMPTY it was! How sad, I thought. And pathetic. Of course, I have not thought much about marriage at all because first of all, I had always been strong-willed, tough, and “Miss Independent” (you know the type). And secondly, I decided that I would not date/court anyone until I could actually legally marry because I have the idea in my mind that I’ll only date my husband (and now I’m 18–uh oh!). To me, adding pillows, linens, dishware, and the like were preparing for  a marriage that I hadn’t even thought about, so I didn’t add them.

This is what I have in my Hope Chest:

–6 Identical Picture Frames

–Two Decor Plates (one from Louisiana, my home state of 12.5 years, and another from a foreign missionary in Taiwan)

–A Louisiana Spoon “Setter-On-Thing” (pictured between the two plates below)

–A Louisiana Souvenir Magnet

–A Red Decor Vase

–Two Texas Handmade Candles (and a cute candle holder)

–2 Picture Containers: 1Box (pictured on right) and 1Metal Album (not seen)

–A “Recipe Holder” (really cute!) & Recipes Inside

–Various Baking Items: Christmas cookie cutters, 3 mixing spoons, 1 curly straw(!)

–Knitting needles & Crochet needle(?)

NOT pictured below:

–Various Baby Clothes & Shoes (I had not set them aside for ME, since I was not thinking about marriage, but for others–I have four sisters!)

–A CUTE Rubber Ducky Pillow/Blanket (I made them in a “Home-Economics-type” class)

–A Silky Rose and Black/White Leopard Print Material (for sewing)

–Two Bathroom Baskets (you know, from the bath and body wash sets you get for Christmas…)

Not all of the items are pictured here, just a few...

No throwing stones!

At least I was honest about my “lack” of items. haha! All of these items either hold sentimental value for me or they actually have a functional use–or both! Like the spoon setter-on-thing. haha 🙂

How Does this Tie into “Whole Living?”

Every time I take out these items from my hope chest, my heart just swells with a sense of accomplishment and hope and joy! Even with my few items, I FEEL like I am doing something GOOD. I FEEL like I am making a better life for my future. Because of the items? No. Because of what can be done with the items: The cookie cutters, (the only thing I bought out of all I have), I bought imagining being able to spend quality time with my future nieces and nephews. (Now, as I am thinking more along the lines of ME getting married and having children, they could work well there, too.) With the plates and the vase and the custom made candles, with the recipes, I can be hospitable to others, having a comfortable home and delicious meals to offer. Does that make sense?

These items represent a WHOLE life, which I am EXCITED to be able to have in Christ.

What are some of the items in YOUR Hope Chest, and how do they give you hope for the future?

NEXT: Part 2 of The Hope Chest Series: “What Am I Adding to My Hope Chest?“

And if you missed the Hope Chest Series Introduction, you can still read it!

2011 Book List

I have been in school nearly everyday for the past four years. (Yes, even 6 weeks of summer because I was part of Upward Bound, a college readiness program.) Now that I am graduated, and awaiting my first college year, I want to make sure that I am continuing to learn and improve myself as a whole person.

In order to do so, I have written out a book list of 50 books I hope to read before the year is complete. Some of the books are Christian-inspired, while others are classics or books recommended for first year college students. I may do book reviews, I may not…it depends on time, interest, and whether or not I have anything to say! 🙂 You can try clicking on the colored book name to see if a book review has been done on it.

What are the benefits of reading? (Well…to name a few…)

1. My vocabulary improves, so that I have a more eclectic word choice.

2. My writing skills improve by being exposed to different writing styles.

3. Reading enhances my knowledge. (It’s great for learning new things.)

4.Reading enhances my memory, and the Lord knows I need it!

5. Reading reduces boredom: It’s fun to be engrossed in a great book.

So now that we’ve established that reading is AWESOME,

Here’s my reading list for the remaining year of 2011*:

1. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

2. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

3. Seize the Day by Saul Bellow

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

5. Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

6. The Stranger by Albert Camus

7. My Antonia by Willa Cather

8. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

9. One Thousand Gifts: A dare to live fully right where you are by Ann Voskamp

10. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

11. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

12. Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevski

13. Made to Crave: Satisfying your deepest desire with God, Not Food by Lysci Terkeurst

14. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

15. Invisible Man by Ralf Ellison

16. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

17. Forgotten God: Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan

18. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

19. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

20. A Passage to India by E.M. Forester

21. The Scent of Water: Grace for Every Kind of Broken by Naomi Zacharias

22. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

23. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

24. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Harding

25. How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski

26. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

27. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

28. The Trial by Franz Kafka

29. Live to Make a Difference by Max Lucado

30. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence

30. Modesty: a fresh look at a biblical principle by Nam M. Pamer

31. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

32. The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

33. Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris

34. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

35. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

36. Sula by Toni Morrison

37. The Top 100 Women of the Christian Faith: Who they are and what they mean to you today by Jewell Johnson

38. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner

39. Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen

40. Animal Farm by George Orwell

41. A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart: A Teen’s Guide to Friends, Faith, Family, and the Future by Elizabeth George

42. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

43. Great Tales and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe

44. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

45. Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working by Craig Groeschel

46. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

47. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

48. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinback

49. The Old Testament by God

50. The New Testament by God

*This book list is subject to change as the year progresses, whether from being added to, or taken from, though the total will always be a minimum of 50. I will update this post, as it changes. I will also color the books as I finish them.*

If you have read any of the above books, and you have a positive or negative critic, tell me in the comments! Or if you are making your own book list, let me know some of the books you are choosing to read this year.

Take a Journey

I am taking a journey to live a more natural, frugal, and whole life in Christ. Would you like to join me? Oh! Well, perhaps you would like to KNOW me:

That, ^up there, is me.

Here are a few “facts” about me:

I live for God. <–Most important!
I’m an optimist, but I am also realistic…I hope.
Reading, acting, scrapbooking ♥
I am very self-motivated and self-disciplined.
Sunshine makes me HAPPY and ENERGETIC!!!
I love to sing REALLY loud in a “deep” voice and make up silly lyrics!
Mountains amaze me. Waterfalls amaze me. Trees amaze me.
Laughing is the best medicine there is! hahahahahahahahahahahaha!
I ♥ meat, but I hate to think about killing animals. Especially bunnies.
Once upon a time I loved writing. And still do. The End.
I am not perfect. My life is not perfect.
And I hate when people assume both/either.
I love my family! ♥ I love my friends! ♥ I love the Lord!