This blog was whipped up quickly in a frenzy of blog-mania among my friends during my first year at Southern Adventist University. In hindsight, the title I came up with five years ago - Everything from EH to ZED - has been quite appropriate. Since its creation, this blog has mostly just been a place for me to record random thoughts and happenings in my life. An interesting news story that caught my attention, a few pictures from a trip, a rant on something going on that I didn't agree with. All sorts of miscellaneous things, just about anything and everything you could think of, have been posted on here.
For the past two years this blog has been largely neglected and probably mostly forgotten by those who used to read it. It's my oldest blog, but has the least views of my four blogs. Now that my mission stints are over, at least for the time being, I have plans to revive this blog and use it as my primary blog again. But the random title and haphazard previous posting are bothering me. I want this blog to mean something. To show who I really am. To inspire, both myself and others. I want this blog to have a purpose.
So I'm thinking about rebranding it. Giving it a title that has a meaning (and maybe a new URL to go with it). Giving it colours and a design that flow together well, that inspire me when I decide to post a new blog. Giving it more purposeful and focused attention. If, the next time you come back here, you find this blog with a new name, a new design, and fresh updated colours, know that you're coming back to a new creation. I hope you'll enjoy it. I hope I can make it all that I envision it to be. But most of all, I hope you'll come back. Because a blog isn't much of a blog without its faithful readers. And I'm not much of a blogger without your support.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
The Gift of Nature
Early this morning, when the room was still inky black and the shapes around me barely visible, I woke up. For a few minutes I tried to turn over and go back to sleep, fluff my pillow and go back to sleep, yawn and go back to sleep, until I finally realized I felt completely awake, not sleepy or snoozy or drowsy at all. So I just lay in bed, listening to the sounds around me. Jonathan breathing softly beside me. The odd creak somewhere in the house. The breeze pushing through the Venetian blinds and gently tossing the cord against the slats. The stillness enveloping the room and the world outside.
As I lay listening, the ink faded to slate and then brightened to silver. A solitary honk sounded outside. Immediately I pictured a Canadian goose flying above the house. The honk came again, closer this time, not from the air, but from across the yard. A minute later a rustling in the grass accompanied the nearing honks. Suddenly they came from directly outside the open window. By the time I won the fight against my body to get up and peek through the window, the honks were fading into the distance.
I stayed in bed, warm and cozy, drifting through the early morning sounds until another one, again outside the window, jerked me back from my wandering thoughts. Just a slight sound, but there was something vaguely familiar about it. I turned toward the window, listening intently, but the sound grew fainter. Sighing, I flipped back onto my side, and the sound came back again. This time I was sure I knew what was making the soft crunching. Grabbing my glasses, I slipped out of bed, ignoring the morning chill, and crept to the window. As silently as possible, I slid one slat upwards, then gasped at what I had known all along was outside my window.
A mid-sized fawn covered in faded white dots stood frozen in place, velvet head turned toward me, and stared into my eyes. I dared not move a muscle and stared back into her chocolate eyes. For a minute, we gazed at each other, both alert and watching, neither making a move. Then a small noise from inside the house shattered the still, and the fawn sprang away from her breakfast of leafy ferns, around the corner of the house. Still entranced, I held the slat up for a second longer, craning my neck sideways to try to catch one more glimpse of the deer. As I moved back to the bed, I stopped at the back window, glanced out and spotted two fawns standing near the overgrown garden plot. A sigh of joy escaped my lips, and I scrambled out the bedroom door and into the living room to peer out a larger window with a better view. The two fawns wandered around the garden as I watched in awe of their elegance and grace. Soon one trotted behind a bush and disappeared into the woods, white tail held high. The other stopped and turned, looked back at the house, then jumped sideways, startled by something unseen by me, and bounded into the trees, too. Knowing the two deer were really gone now, I stumbled back into bed, snuggled under the warm comforter, and nestled into my pillow, all the while thanking God for his early-morning Sabbath wake-up surprise sent especially to me.
In the afternoon I watched brilliant orange butterlies defy the strong wind and flit around patches of yellow flowers on a rock overlooking the sea. At one point, a small furry rodent ran from one patch to another, then blended into the grey dirt. A large dragonfly, wings glinting shiny in the sun, landed on Jonathan's leg, content to be shielded from the buffeting wind for several minutes. Overhead seagulls soared, occasionally dropping to the sand below for a bite to eat. A shadowy cormorant bobbed in the waves, then dove underwater. Later Jonathan and I wandered along the beach, stopping to snap pictures of crabs, sand dollars and interesting shells, bird footprints, spray flying backward from the waves pushing into shore.
And still later, as we pulled into the driveway, we startled a mother deer and her two fawns. They dashed behind a curve of trees as Jonathan slammed on the brakes. He inched forward, and we watched fascinated as the deer foraged leisurely and then strolled into the brush. A perfect Sabbath day packed full of God's gifts in nature.
As I lay listening, the ink faded to slate and then brightened to silver. A solitary honk sounded outside. Immediately I pictured a Canadian goose flying above the house. The honk came again, closer this time, not from the air, but from across the yard. A minute later a rustling in the grass accompanied the nearing honks. Suddenly they came from directly outside the open window. By the time I won the fight against my body to get up and peek through the window, the honks were fading into the distance.
I stayed in bed, warm and cozy, drifting through the early morning sounds until another one, again outside the window, jerked me back from my wandering thoughts. Just a slight sound, but there was something vaguely familiar about it. I turned toward the window, listening intently, but the sound grew fainter. Sighing, I flipped back onto my side, and the sound came back again. This time I was sure I knew what was making the soft crunching. Grabbing my glasses, I slipped out of bed, ignoring the morning chill, and crept to the window. As silently as possible, I slid one slat upwards, then gasped at what I had known all along was outside my window.
A mid-sized fawn covered in faded white dots stood frozen in place, velvet head turned toward me, and stared into my eyes. I dared not move a muscle and stared back into her chocolate eyes. For a minute, we gazed at each other, both alert and watching, neither making a move. Then a small noise from inside the house shattered the still, and the fawn sprang away from her breakfast of leafy ferns, around the corner of the house. Still entranced, I held the slat up for a second longer, craning my neck sideways to try to catch one more glimpse of the deer. As I moved back to the bed, I stopped at the back window, glanced out and spotted two fawns standing near the overgrown garden plot. A sigh of joy escaped my lips, and I scrambled out the bedroom door and into the living room to peer out a larger window with a better view. The two fawns wandered around the garden as I watched in awe of their elegance and grace. Soon one trotted behind a bush and disappeared into the woods, white tail held high. The other stopped and turned, looked back at the house, then jumped sideways, startled by something unseen by me, and bounded into the trees, too. Knowing the two deer were really gone now, I stumbled back into bed, snuggled under the warm comforter, and nestled into my pillow, all the while thanking God for his early-morning Sabbath wake-up surprise sent especially to me.
In the afternoon I watched brilliant orange butterlies defy the strong wind and flit around patches of yellow flowers on a rock overlooking the sea. At one point, a small furry rodent ran from one patch to another, then blended into the grey dirt. A large dragonfly, wings glinting shiny in the sun, landed on Jonathan's leg, content to be shielded from the buffeting wind for several minutes. Overhead seagulls soared, occasionally dropping to the sand below for a bite to eat. A shadowy cormorant bobbed in the waves, then dove underwater. Later Jonathan and I wandered along the beach, stopping to snap pictures of crabs, sand dollars and interesting shells, bird footprints, spray flying backward from the waves pushing into shore.
And still later, as we pulled into the driveway, we startled a mother deer and her two fawns. They dashed behind a curve of trees as Jonathan slammed on the brakes. He inched forward, and we watched fascinated as the deer foraged leisurely and then strolled into the brush. A perfect Sabbath day packed full of God's gifts in nature.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
10 Things I Love About... Mum!
May is Family Month here in South Korea. Saturday, May 5th, was Children's Day. Last Monday, May 8th, was Parent's Day. And in North America, today is Mother's Day. So I figured this is a good month to resume my fun TTILAY posts. Here's the third edition!
10 things I love about my mum are...
1. She loves traditions.
 |
| We have a yearly family tradition of getting PJs for Christmas Eve - this must have been Christmas 1992 or 1993 |
2. She always finds the most fun toys.
 |
| My cool Fisher Price camera - a toy that delighted me for many years |
 |
| Our Fisher Price airplane that took us on so many amazing trips :) |
3. She's full of interesting and creative ideas.
 |
| She always comes up with such fun and creative ideas for our Christmas cards and pictures - in front of Dad's shop in 2005 |
4. She loves her parents (and the rest of her family) and does many things with and for them.
 |
| Gramps and Gram W. at their house after Grandpa's birthday party ~ Oct. 3, 2011 |
 |
| A trip to Art Knapps with her parents for some spring flowers for their yard ~ April 2012 |
 |
| A recent visit with her aunt at the nursing home |
 |
| Self-portrait in 2011 |
 |
| Just one of the awesome pictures she has taken (to see TONS more, check out her blog) |
6. She knows how to be goofy.
 |
| For her December photo challenge |
 |
| 5-years-old Glenda - She wasn't really trying to be goofy here, but was actually trying really hard to smile. Hehe, I think it's so cute I just had to add it. |
 |
| During Christmas-tree hunting 2003 |
 |
| Her newest favourite book |
9. She loves flowers.
10. She loves my dad.
11. She's always there for me! (Just couldn't stop at only 10.)
 |
| Showcasing her Valentine's Day flowers ~ Feb. 14, 2012 |
 |
| Iris's (I think?) starting to bloom |
 |
| Finding a way to make even a drooping tulip look beautiful |
 |
| During Christmas-tree hunting 2005 |
 |
| Sitting right up front and center at my wedding ~ August 1, 2011 (Photo by Glen Durrell) |
 |
| Special hugs after the ceremony (Photo by Glen Durrell) |
Mum, for all these reasons and so many more, I love you! I really wish I could be home to give you a hug and a kiss this year, but this post will have to be an e-hug-and-kiss from me. Happiest of Mother's Days from Seoul!!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
{Spotlight} Mo Willems
Back in the fall of 2009 I took a wonderful class called Survey of Children's Literature. It was my favourite class of my whole college career. During that class I was introduced to children's author Mo Willems and his classic book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" That book turned into a whole pigeon series that concentrate on punctuation, inflection, repetition, and interactive stories where the children can be just as involved in the story reading as the person reading to them. I think it's great!
But what I like even more is this video Willems made. I found it when someone posted a link on Facebook to a new series he's been writing, the Elephant and Piggie books. I absolutely love how Willems explains his writing process, and the reason he tells kids they should learn to read.
Mo Willems is definitely a fun guy who writes fun kids books.
But what I like even more is this video Willems made. I found it when someone posted a link on Facebook to a new series he's been writing, the Elephant and Piggie books. I absolutely love how Willems explains his writing process, and the reason he tells kids they should learn to read.
Mo Willems is definitely a fun guy who writes fun kids books.
The Story of Stuff
Jonathan and I have been reading a blog called Mr. Money Mustache and learning so much interesting stuff as we go through the posts! I'm only about ten posts from being all caught up and last night I was reading the comments to one post called Why I am SO Not Buying the iPad 3. I enjoyed the read because I myself find no reason to own an iPad of any generation at this point in my life. (Actually I was almost convinced to get rid of my laptop and just use a Raspberry Pi for my computer needs after reading one comment, until Jonathan told me that it probably wouldn't be powerful enough to run Ubuntu, the version of Linux I use, or any other reasonably user-friendly version of Linux at this point. I'm sad about it, though, because it looked like a great alternative. I only ever use OpenOffice - for word processing and spreadsheets - and the Internet on my computer anyway, since my Adobe CS3 doesn't work on Linux. If I need to use InDesign or Photoshop, I use it on Jonathan's computer.) So in the comments of that iPad 3 article I found the following video. Jonathan and I watched it this morning, along with four others (the stories of water bottles, electronics, cosmetics, and broke) by the creator Annie Leonard. It made me mad. And sad. But mostly mad. So I thought I would share it on my blog and see what others think of it.
If it made you mad or sad, too, let me know in the comments. I don't know what we each individually can do about it all, but I personally plan to buy less stuff in the future, make sure what I buy is good quality and will last me for a LONG time, and find lots of ways to boost my happiness that don't center around buying stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)