A Mighty Fortress is our God

A drawing I drew inspired by the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God."
It has the title of the song on the top with a drawing of a fortress underneath and the lyrics to the first and fourth verses on the right with the notes to the beginning of the song on the bottom.



I've been really busy lately with schoolwork. And a little lazy when it comes to updating my blog....
Our snow melted; and along with it, the Ogopogo.
Last Tuesday my World War 1 and 2 class started. I'm not going to say too much about it right now.... I'll save that for another post.
=D

West Side Story Part 2

9th thought: It looks like fun to play act a wedding with dress manikins.
10th thought: "Tonight" is the coolest song.... Five different versions of the same song all being sung at the same time... SO cool! =D
11th thought: I certainly wouldn't hug and kiss the man who just told me he literally just killed my brother....
12th thought: Weird but super cool totally random dance scene in the basement of an apartment complex type building!
13th thought: Poor Anita... Her boy friend was just killed and she tries to get it into Maria's head that the man who killed him is bad but instead Maria changes Anita's mind and then on top of it all she gets Anita to go meet Tony (the guy who killed Maria's brother) and then poor Anita gets wrestled around by some bad guys... Luckily Doc shows up right in time. Thne Anita lies and says that Maria is dead.
14th thought: This really is Romeo and Juliet set to music and dancing!
15th thought: I wouldn't kiss a carcass....
16th thought: Ok... the police are there... Three people died. Why isn't everyone getting arrested??

Overall opinion? That was a wasted 3ish hours of my life.... Other than the five songs that I really enjoyed, I really didn't like the movie. The five songs I absolutely LOVED! But the rest of the movie was just... bleh. I hate the original Romeo and Juliet. The musical version isn't much better.... Other than the five above mentioned songs.

So, now I will get back to watching the first episode of Sherlock online because it's a lot less sad and depressing than West Side Story.
Tomorrow is the second episode on TV! I can't wait. =D

West Side Story

1st thought: AMAZING DANCING! and sets! and singing!
2nd thought: I wouldn't kiss a guy without even knowing his name....
3rd thought: Natalie Wood!! =D I love her.
4th thought: I wouldn't go around in the middle of the night whispering, "Maria! Maria!" I would be worried people would think I'm insane.
5th thought: Tony can sing high!
6th thought: A couple of bad swear words and references to drugs and alcohol.
7th thought: It's Romeo and Juliet set to music and dancing! I strongly dislike the story of Romeo and Juliet but this version is nice. =) I love the dancing and choreographed fights.
8th thought: I wouldn't tell a guy I loved him after only knowing him for one evening.

More thoughts when I finish watching the movie!

The snow day of a homeschooler

The monster hasn't been seen since.... Until NOW!

We had about 3 inches of snow this morning so my dad and I went outside and built this snow monster! It's the Ogopogo from Lake Okanagan in Canada. We had lots of people stop by to admire our work.... including a big black dog! Luckily he didn't knock it over.

The only thing I have left to say is.... beware of the Ogopogo... He can show up anytime. Anywhere.

Snow!

I was awakened from my slumber by the voice of my dad,
"Wake up."
"Hmmmff...?" I replied.
"I'm going to go take a shower now. We're going to leave for church in about 45 minutes so make sure your up and ready to go. And by the way, it's snowing."
"WHAT?!"
I jumped up in my half asleep state and hurriedly opened my blinds. Wrong choice. White light flooded into my face and I stumbled back. It took a few minutes for me to adjust to the light and also to being awake. Then I was able to slowly lift my face to look out my window.... Beautiful, large, snowflakes were falling down from the heavens!
Here is what my backyard looked like at about 8:30.

Here is my backyard after church around 12 noon.

And finally, here is my backyard at 3:00 after I got home from saxophone lessons.

It looks pretty much the same this morning but there's more snow on the way! So the weather forecast says....

We left the house at 1:30. I climbed in the passenger seat while Daddy put my instrument in the back seat. I was gushing about how cool the snow was, literally. As we slowly inched our way down the hill that we live on, the snow got less and less. As we continued to drive downwards, it disappeared all together. Although the change in elevation wasn't much, it was enough to ensure the snow would stop falling. But by the time we reached our destination, the mall where I had saxophone lessons, the snow had begun to lightly fall - it looked just like salt!
45 minutes later saxophone lessons ended and we were headed outside. It had turned into a winter wonderland! A whole inch of snow had fallen, turning the bare ground white. And flakes were still falling!
I almost wished that I didn't have to to a baby shower and youth group... Then I could just play in the wonderful, beautiful, amazing snow!

Although I had things to do yesterday, I did find time to get outside and take some picture of my doll Jess!
Here are some of the highlights. I love this first picture... I caught Jess falling over.


Dolls in trees anyone?

I love this last picture because of the contrast between the green grass and white snow. The neighbors have huge trees in their backyard. The branches overhang into our yard so the snow hadn't reached underneath yet. Now, however, there is lots of wonderful snow to be found there =D


Sadly, the snow means that we won't be attempting to get to piano lessons today... Oh well, it gives me a chance to practice my music some more.
As I have been writing this post it has began to snow again! =D
But enough about snow.... I want to tell you about something else exciting that happened yesterday.
Mom and I were watching TV last night. After our program was over a commercial came on for Sherlock! Sherlock is a British TV series by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Currently there are two seasons and each season has three episodes. This Sherlock series is set in current times - the 21st century.
Anyway, on came a commercial for the first episode of Sherlock and what do you know, it was on next! I begged to be allowed to watch it and Mom let me. It was so good!
The story starts out with Dr. Watson dreaming about fighting in the war. The next day he's walking in a park when he meets an old friend. They get to talking and Watson tells his friend that he's looking for a cheap place to live but all the places in England are too expensive. His friend suggests splitting the rent with someone and Watson replies, "Who'd be crazy enough to move in with me?"
Watson's friend says, "That's funny. Your the second person to tell me that today."
Watson and his friend go to the other person to talk about splitting the rent.... And I'm sure you can all guess who the other person was!
Sherlock Holmes.
Soon, Watson is involved in a thrilling case concerning four serial "suicides" which actually turn out to be murders. He's amazed at Sherlock's powers of deduction and just can't stay out of the excitement.
As Sherlock's brother Mycroft said, "You're not haunted by the war Dr. Watson, you miss it."
I absolutely loved the show.... I can't wait until next Sunday when I can see the next one!
The first episode, titled A Study in Pink, is loosely based off of the Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet. I loved that the writers (one of them is actually one of the writers for the Tintin movie!) kept the original meeting or Sherlock and Watson so true to the book. There was also many things apparent from the books hidden in the dialogue. Sherlock was telling Watson that his brother Mycroft "Was the British government." I just read that line in a Sherlock Holmes short story!
I have mentioned Mycroft Holmes a number of times.... I loved that he was in this first episode. He calls Watson and tells him to get in a car or else threats will be made. Watson obliges and is taken to an old warehouse. Mycroft is there to meet him and tells him that he's Sherlock's arch enemy. Then, at the end of the episode he appears and Sherlock starts to talk to him. Watson, still thinking that Mycroft is an enemy, watches and is very surprised when the two mention, "Mummy."
"Wait, who is 'Mummy'?" Watson asked confused.
"Mummy - our mother!" replies Sherlock.
Then all is clear... Mycroft is Sherlock's brother and the two only have a petty, childish, brotherly, feud going on.

Well... I guess I should post this and go get ready for the day! and the snow! =D

Thrift Store findings

On Wednesday my mom and I went to the thrift store and I found a Breyer horse!


Breyer is a special brand of model horse. They have a lot of detail and usually cost more than $20 per horse. I got this horse for $1.29! She is Misty of Chincoteague (which is a fabulous book, by the way). Usually Misty comes with her foal Stormy but I didn't see Stormy anywhere in the thrift store.

On Thursday my mom and I went to a different thrift store in search of a couple of books for a class that I'm taking. Instead of finding the books we found a Bitty Baby doll! She is practically brand new!
She is going to be my Addy doll's little sister. Since Addy has a little sister named Esther in the Addy books, the name for this baby was easy to choose.


Esther playing dress up with her new best friend =)


I also got a book from the thrift store!


We also went to a second hand bookstore where I bought "The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann Wyss and "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle.

And look, Robin Hood even has green pages! =D I love books that have colored pages! Especially old, classic books. This particular version of Robin Hood was printed in 1952. That's another thing I love, old books.


And finally, here is a picture of Ringo Starr that I have drawn. Ringo was the drummer for the Beatles. He still does tours and releases CD's and stuff even though hes 72! Next I think I will draw Paul McCartney...

Wonderful music!

First I want to show you a picture I have drawn of the late George Harrison!
Here is the picture:


And here is the original:

George Harrison is perhaps most well known for being part of the band Beatles. I personally love the Beatles and I will be drawing the other members of the band sometime in the future...

For Christmas I got a giftcard to Barnes and Nobles from my Grama and Grandpa. I couldn't find any books that were worth my owning so I decided to get a few CD's instead! They were having a "buy 2 get 1 free" sale so instead of buying two CD's with my giftcard, I got three!

The first CD is the soundtrack to the movie Sherlock Holmes. Although the movie isn't one of my favorites, I adore the soundtrack! It's so eccentric! I especially the like hammer dulcimer music scattered throughout the music.... I am going to learn the hammer dulcimer soon but I'll talk about that in a separate post. =) My favorite pieces on this instrumental CD are probably the first three, "Discombobulate," "Is it Poison Nanny," and "I Never woke up in Handcuffs before."
The second CD is "Dino: The Essential Dean Martin." My best friend owns this CD and I have always loved it. Along with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and singers like them, Dean Martin was introduced to me by my best friend. I've been listening to them since I was seven or eight. This particular Dean Martin CD has all my favorite songs on it from "Mambo Italiano" to "Powder your face with Sunshine (Smile, smile, smile)."
The third CD is Michael Buble. I absolutely LOVE Michael Buble. He has the smoothest, nicest voice I have ever heard! He sings jazz. Before he was famous, his grandfather, who was a plumber, used to offer clubs a free plumbing job if Michael would be able to sing on their stage.
I am VERY happy with this Michael Buble CD and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy a Michale Buble CD. I love nearly all of the songs on it.
The first song is "Feeling Good." MB's version is jazzy and smooth and sounds like it could be right out of a spy movie! This is the first MB song I ever heard and remains one of my favorites.
The sixth song on this CD is called "Can't Buy me Love." Sound familiar? It's a Beatles song! When I first saw the back of the CD case I was thinking, "Can't Buy me Love.... Hmmm... I've heard that name before... Is it a Queen song? No... NO! It's the Beatles!!" So I looked in the little booklet thing that comes in all CD's and sure enough, it was credited to "Lennon/McCartney."
Michael Buble's version is sooooo fantastic! He has his own twist on it. His version is much more jazzy than the original song (which I love as well) but it sounds so cool! I love it!
The 10th song is also written by someone other than Buble. It is called "How Sweet it is." I loved this song before I got the CD... I didn't even realize it was on the CD at first. Then I saw that it was and I was like, "Yes!! I love this song!"
I have listened to all three CD's already, even though I only got them yesterday afternoon, and I highly recommend all three!

I suppose I should post this and head off now.... I have class in the morning! The last one of this semester. This week ends the Civil War and next week starts the World Wars.

The Midwest

Although I'm back home, I want to post some pictures from my family's trip to the Midwest where we spent Christmas with family.
I took a few pictures of Juliet, whom I brought with me.




I love this picture because of the colors... All grays and blacks and whites.


I don't know if anyone remembers... But I few months ago I posted about "Doll in trees." Keeping with that theme... I made sure I took a picture of Juliet in a tree.


And here is Juliet sitting on the horse pasture fence which is across the street from my Grama's house.

Oh look! A colt!



He's come to say hello. =D

Soon Dad follows...


Feeding the horses:


Rosey made a friend!

Mckenna Brooks: American Girl Doll 2012

Before I start talking about the new Girl of the Year doll Mckenna Brooks I want to say.... HAPPY NEW YEAR! =D I can't believe it's 2012! It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of 2011....

Now onto Mckenna.
Every year American Girl has a limited edition doll that is only available to buy for one year. This year, the Girl of the Year is named Mckenna Brooks. She is from Seattle Washington and wants to be gymnast. The only problem is that she's falling behind in her reading at school....
I love the idea of a gymnast doll because I used to be in gymnastics when I was younger and I think that the theme of gymnastics will be popular with American Girl Doll fans.
However... No matter how much I love Mckenna's theme... I am not a huge fan of the doll or her collection.
Here is a picture of Mckenna:

I will start with the things that I like about Mckenna.
Her hair is gorgeous! She is one of the few American Girl Dolls that doesn't have a part in her hair. Mckenna's hair is straight, caramel colored, and has no part which makes for a totally knew hair combination that American Girl has never used before!
The second thing I like about Mckenna is her dress. I love the colors - gray and blue go great together especially if they are stripes!
However much I love the colors of the dress and the stripes I'm not a big fan of the pattern. The panel in the front looks kind of odd.
The biggest thing that I don't like about Mckenna is her face... In 2009 the Girl of the Year was named Chrissa. Chrissa had the same face mold as Mckenna and the same eye color. The only difference between Mckenna and Chrissa is their hair color.
Here is a picture of Chrissa next to Mckenna:
What happened to Girl of the Year's being unique in their looks? What happened to American Girl Dolls in general being unique in their looks? To me it looks like American Girl mixed Chrissa, with Elizabeth and Marie-Grace to get Mckenna....


I am not happy with American Girl for making Mckenna look so much like other dolls. For the price that the dolls cost ($105 for a doll and her book), American Girl should at least put a little more variety in their dolls.
Now onto Mckenna's collection....
First I will talk about her school outfit:
I absolutely LOVE the sweater! The gray mini-skirt is kind of interesting... It looks like a pair of shorts from the angle the picture was taken. Next come purple leggings... They don't seem to fit with the outfit because they are a different color purple than the sweater. They do, however, match the shoes which look almost exactly like the shoes Mckenna comes with. Why didn't American Girl choose different colors for the shoes? Then they could be different from the shoes that Mckenna comes in. The final piece in this outfit are the two blue hair clips. They match the shoes... But other than that they look out of place. For $28 you get a lot of piece. Although I don't think that the outfit compliments itself as a whole, I love each of the parts separated.
Next is Mckenna's PJ's and some other outfits. All of the outfits are pretty cute but simple and would probably be easy to make on your own.


Now let's move onto Mckenna's accessories and furniture.
First is my absolute favorite thing in Mckenna's collection:
I LOVE the umbrella and the boots are adorable! I would buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the price... $34 for those two items. WAAAY too much! I could buy an American Girl outfit for the same amount of money. I could take a friend out to dinner for the same amount of money! I could feed 34 people off the dollar menu at McDonalds for the same about of money! I could go see the Tintin movie again for the same amount of money!

Unfortunately the rain boots and umbrella aren't the only over priced items in Mckenna's collection....
Here is Mckenna's bed set and her balance beam set. The former costs a whopping $225!! The latter costs $85 I think.
I absolutely love the accessories to the loft bed but sadly they don't come separately.



All together, I don't think Mckenna is an original looking doll and even though I really like her collection, the overpriced items will not be finding their way into my home anytime soon.

And now that I'm finished with my little rant... I am going to go get myself some Nutela on toast and then listen to "The Night Before" by the Beatles because it has been popping in and out of my head for the past day or two.