Marry Him!

A few months ago, I was looking in our newspaper and the title of this book caught my eye. It's called Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good-Enough. I grinned and read the description. "Interviewing," it read, "among others, therapists, members of the clergy, and both single and married people, [Lori] Gottlieb argues that many women today end up alone because they hold men to unreasonably high standards." I promptly cut out the article and put it on our refrigerator, where it sits today. Let me tell you why.

I'm waiting for my future husband. (See the picture on the side of the blog that says True Love Waits.) I wouldn't like to "end up alone," but I'm willing to wait for someone who meets my standards, which, I admit, are pretty high. (I'll settle for nothing less! I really can't, especially the way things are today.) I haven't yet written out a list of requirements yet - though I know a few girls who have - but a few of the mandatory ones are that he has to be a strong Christian, have the same convictions as me, and be waiting for me, too.

Your thoughts?

~Eowyn~

Books!

"If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them—peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them be your acquaintances."
- Winston S. Churchill

Signs of Christmas...

Our mantle and part of our Christmas tree (Take note of the picture on the mantle. Our living room looks like that now - baby grand and all!)

Brownies I made for Christmas presents - don't they look good?!

Packaging of the brownies, complete with a tag I made. A family tradition of ours is making Christmas present tags every year.

Oreo Cookie Balls that Arwen made.... The only word to describe them is YUM!!!

Grandma's signature punch - love it!

One of my favorite parts about Christmas is getting to see relatives I haven't seen in... a year. : )

Presents for the White Elephant game. (This year, I got a Pampered Chef stoneware 'small bar pan' for my hope chest. Yay!)

My grandparents' Christmas tree

Adorable baby brother opening his second present of the night (the first was intended for my grandmother... whoops!)

Merry Christmas!
~Eowyn~

The Journey is Coming Soon....

Well, here we are, less than a year until the release date of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!!

 

Needless to say, I'm excited.  Very excited.

 

~Eowyn~

Delicious Tuna Sandwich Recipe

Hello, all!

This time, I thought I'd do a recipe. I haven't before, which is really strange because I love cooking and baking and messing around in the kitchen. (I even like cleaning it... weird, right?)

Tuna Sandwich

An actual picture of my sandwich - doesn't it look awesome?!

This is an interesting twist on a 'boring' meal. (Sorry, but tuna can be a bit boring sometimes!) Thanks to the lady at Yawn's Bookstore for making this for me and inspiring me to try it at home!!

I think I've mentioned before that right now I'm off of gluten (which is in flour), dairy, and peanuts. It's been hard, especially since I love cookies and ice cream and peanut butter! I've been on this diet for nearly a month and a half, and I've had a lot of adventures trying to find something to eat for lunch. (I've discovered you can only have salad so many times a week before it gets dull!) So when the lady at Yawn's made me this sandwich, I decided to go home and do it myself. It's pretty tasty, but since I've only had it on gluten-free bread, I can't say how it'll taste on normal bread. (Someone try it and comment on how it turned out, please!)

You'll need:
2 slices of bread
(Approx) 2 teaspoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to tase
Prepared tuna (put whatever you want in it)
Lettuce

Toast the bread, then, using a spoon or tablespoon, lightly pour the olive oil on both sides of the toast. Salt and pepper the bread, then put the tuna on the bread, followed by the lettuce. Top it with the other piece of bread and voila, you have your sandwich! Enjoy!

New Arrival!!

There's a new arrival in our ever-growing household!! No, it's not a baby (though I wish it was!), but 'baby' is part of it's name....

Yup, that's right - we got a baby grand! A few VERY kind and generous relatives are letting us babysit it. I don't know how long, though. Hopefully they'll give us a little notice because I've already fallen in love with this beautiful instrument! The move went great; both moves, in fact.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to our old piano. There's a very interesting story about how we got it. You see, it was being raffled off at a nursing home when they upgraded. My grandmother bought 20 raffle tickets for $20, won the piano, refurbished it, and gave it to us. We'd had it for about 10 years, and it was the piano I learned to play on. (It let me play everything from 'Chopsticks' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle' to more experienced songs like 'Flood Time' and 'Don't Cry for Me, Argentina.') It was hard to let it go, but we knew it was going to a good home with some friends.

FYI, here's a tip. Don't get a big piano book full of Broadway music (such as the entire Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, including 'Transformation/Beauty and the Beast (Reprise)' and 'If I Can't Love Her') at the same time you get an awesome new piano. I can speak from experience... I spent an hour on the piano the other day.

Also, my birthday was yesterday and I thought you'd like to see pictures.

My adorable little brother is getting to be quite good at posing for pictures. Cute, isn't he?!

My cake didn't turn out as well as I'd planned (or as well as last year's), but it looked yummy. I'm not supposed to have dairy or gluten right now, so I only had a little bite of cake and a half a scoop of peppermint ice cream. I think everyone liked it, though.

Here's a closeup of the top and what some friends called The Pinecone. Mom said pinecones are supposed to stand for friendship, so that worked out. : )

Me right before I blew out the candles. (I got all of them this year - yeah!!)

Bidding goodbye and thinking 17 never seemed so old...

~Eowyn~

Adorable Little Brother...

One of my favorite things to do right now is to talk to my little brother. He's so cute, and I can't believe he's my brother sometimes! We have the greatest conversations sometimes and he makes me laugh a lot!

Here's a recent conversation we had. I had just tucked him in bed for a nap, but I could tell he didn't want to sleep.
Little brother (LB): I want you sit wif me.
Me: Okay, just for a minute. You need to sleep now. Close your eyes.
LB: *squints his eyes shut* *whispers* Goo'night.
Me: 'Night.
LB: I love you, too.
Me: I love you, too.
LB: I miss you.
Me: I miss you, too.
LB: I like you music.
Me: Yeah, did you like listening to me and [Arwen] playing?
LB: Yup. I play guitar. I huse my little guitar.
(He then goes on to tell me all about how he plays like Maria from Sound of Music, Steve Green, and various other friends or movie characters.)
Me: That's great, but it's time to go to sleep.
LB: Oh. Goo'night. I love you.
Me: Love you, too. I need to go now.
LB: Okay. Don't 'qush me.
Me: I won't. 'Night.
LB: See you later!!
Me: Goodnight, baby.

The other day, we were riding home from church, and my little brother decided he was hungry. After eating a few candy corns (should that be plural or not?!), he decided he was still hungry.
LB: I wan' some i'cweem.
Mom: Okay, where should we go?
LB: Uh... Chicken-la (pronounced Chicken-lae)
Mom: Chick-fil-A isn't open on Sundays. You can't eat there today.
LB: Oh.
(I thought he'd stop then and forget about it, but no...)
LB: I wan' go to McDonald's.
Smart boy.

~Eowyn~

Quotes

Hello, all!

I just added a few things to the left side of the blog. Comment below to tell me your thoughts, especially on the quotes.

~Eowyn~

It's HERE!!

My copy of The Errant King by Wayne Thomas Batson just got here... and I'm SO happy! I couldn't sit still for an hour afterwards, and I skipped up the stairs to show Arwen! I started re-reading Sword in the Stars, the first book in the Dark Sea Annals, a few weeks ago - and took my time because the last time I checked, The Errant King wasn't going to get here until the middle of December. (You see, I pre-ordered it back in July even though I knew it'd take a while, and it finally shipped on Sunday. Talk about fast delivery!!) So for the past hour or two, I've been literally forcing myself to read, all the time glancing at The Errant King beside me. : )

I originally thought I wasn't going to get any school off this week (except maybe tomorrow) and somehow try to double-up sometime so I can go shopping on Friday. (A first for me... we'll see how it goes!) Thankfully, while we were having devotions this morning, my teacher made a request to the principal, and he accepted. Now we have today through Friday off, with today being a catch-up day. Also, we have to travel nearly two hours tomorrow to my aunt's house for our first Thanksgiving meal, then back two hours to my grandparents' house for another, then back an hour to our house tonight. I wasn't looking forward to the driving, but now... let's just say I'm giddy.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!
~Eowyn~

Reinhardt Orchestra Concert

All I Really Want for Christmas

We had the interview for our home study yesterday and it went really well!! I can't believe the home study is practically over - it's been so long since we started the home study process again.... So, in honor of our next adoption and the home study being nearly done, I decided to post the lyrics to a song. Yes, it is a Christmas song, but Christmas is coming up, so I thought it'd be okay. I listened to this song a lot last year and almost cried the first time I heard it. : )

Well, I don't know if you remember me or not
I'm one of the kids they brought in from the home
I was the red-haired boy in an old, green flannel shirt
You may not have seen me; I was standing off alone

I didn't come and talk to you 'cause that's never worked before
And you'll probably never see this letter, anyway
But just in case there's something you can do to help me out
I'll ask you one more time

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas... is a family

Well, I guess I should go ahead and tell you now
If it's really true about that list you have
Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight
But I'm really trying hard not to be bad

But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with
Maybe they could teach me how to get along
And from everything I've heard, it sounds like the greatest gift on earth
Would be... a mom

All I want for Christmas is someone who'll be here
To sing me happy birthday for the next 100 years
And It's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken
That's alright, 'Cause so am I

Well, I guess I should go, it's almost time for bed
Maybe next time I write you I'll be at home

'Cause all I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
Tell me I'll never be alone, someone whose love will never end
Of all that I could ask for, well, there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

All I Really Want for Christmas by Steven Curtis Chapman

While I'm Waiting...

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

Chorus
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

Chorus

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

Chorus

I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

While I'm Waiting by John Waller

My Life in Pictures

So much has been going on in the past few weeks, so I just decided to highlight everything we've been doing!

Passion for Jesus Girls' Retreat


The place where we stayed for the retreat was a lot of fun to photograph (when I had time!) and the leaves were changing, which was absolutely beautiful!

Arwen having a blast on the swing - and no, she didn't jump off, though a few other girls did!

Everyone wanted to get their hair done! Isn't it gorgeous?! I thought it looked like Rapunzel from Tangled when she gets her hair all braided up.

Isn't this a beautiful bridge?

MovieGuide Banquet

We had a lot of fun getting dressed up and eating good food while hearing about the MovieGuide ministry. (http://www.movieguide.org/) I'm pretty sure they recorded it. (I think they got the back of my head on camera. My hairdo is compliments of Arwen!)

"We never really got a good picture of your hairdo," Arwen says. "It was gorgemous." (She should know - she did it!) We spent a while curling it with the flat iron - yes, you can do that! - and then we switched outfits. : )

Baby's 'Big Boy Bed!'

Isn't he so strong?!

"Be cawit," he whispered. "I twying to sweep."

I tell people he's my boyfriend. He doesn't mind much.

Movie Review - Courageous

I've been known to rave about a lot of different movies. I've also been known to say that every movie I see was "Really good!" In fact, one of my friends recently said, "Is there a movie you've seen and haven't liked?!" There are a lot of movies I've seen that I haven't liked – such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I think is overrated – so when I see a good film, I like to give it a little publicity. Admit it – there aren't many good movies these days. Most of my favorite movies are old classics starring nearly-forgotten actors such as James Stewart, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds, and Mickey Rooney. The last few "clean" movies I've seen have been few and far between and mostly animated movies for kids, such as Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. I can't remember the last live-action, action/adventure movie that I really and truly liked that didn't have at least one scene in it that didn't need to be there.

Courageous, on the other hand, was a different story.

I think I can safely say that Courageous was the best movie I've seen this year – and I've watched a lot of movies this year.

Here's the synopsis:

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, they are confident and focused, standing up to the worst the streets have to offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. When tragedy strikes home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to their children? Protecting the streets is second nature. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That's courageous.

My entire family went to see Courageous yesterday and everyone enjoyed it, even my younger siblings! The only part I didn't like was in the beginning, which before the movie even started. Knowing this was a PG-13 movie and there would most likely be some trailers for other, worse movies, my parents sent me and my siblings out of the theater to wait out the commercials. The trailers ended up being okay, but I agreed that we shouldn't risk it. When the movie finally started, I was on the edge of my seat. I hoped it would be as good as the other movies Sherwood Pictures has done, and I wasn't disappointed.

Everything you could want in a movie was there. There were some very exciting, intense parts that I absolutely loved. The comic relief was so funny, and I actually started crying in one part because I was laughing so hard! Even intrigue and mystery had a place towards the end, and that part nearly made me cry. (Actually, I almost cried a few times in sweet or sad parts, which is something I haven't really done in movies before! I had a tissue ready, but I think my mom needed it more than I did at one especially sad part.)

The main issue that Sherwood Pictures and the Kendrick brothers were trying to talk about was fatherhood, and they showed every single scenario possible – a father in jail, no father, you name it. They also covered a lot of other things too, such as courtship and dating (I loved that scene!), child training, and gangs. My sister said, "You could literally make a seminar out of the whole movie!"

One of the things my family was a little wary of was the rating. PG-13 for "action violence and drug content." This was the first PG-13 movie I've seen without my dad previewing it. Personally, I think it could have gotten a PG rating. True, it was a little intense in a few scenes, but significantly less bloody and intense than, say, Pirates of the Caribbean or Star Wars Episode III. The "drug content" was shown truthfully, laying out exactly what happens when people get mixed up with that sort of thing. (Also, I think I need to mention that there were absolutely no 'bad words' in this movie. At all.)

I don't think I have a favorite character or scene, but I definitely liked the Snake Kings gang scene – my whole family thinks it was the funniest part in the movie! I also liked the last action scene. It was very intense and riveting, which is just what I like.

It's true that the message of this movie doesn't exactly apply to me, being a 16-year-old girl who will remain single until she's married, but I appreciated what the Kendrick brothers were saying to fathers. I hope and pray that fathers (and fathers-to-be, however distant that future may be) will watch this movie and be challenged and inspired to take responsibility for their families. It's what this country needs to hear.

Bottom line: A VERY good movie! This will probably be the first movie I've ever gone to see multiple times in a theater. I'm going to have to pay for my own ticket, though, but that isn't stopping me from wanting to see it again! Please go see Courageous – it's well worth your time! You'll be inspired and challenged.

10 out of 10 (another first for me!)

~Eowyn~