Thursday, January 9, 2020

selective focus photography of assorted-color balloons

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!  
Do you know what today is, my friends??

Today is the official date of my dear sister, Grace's birthday!  Hazzah!  

(confetti flies through the air)

icing cake on table

Grace is turning, drum roll, please! 

(distant drumroll sounds)

....... One and Twenty!

(I just had to write that Jane Austen style)

Twenty One years ago, my parents, Jane, Richard, Sherlock, and I received the most precious gift of the New Year, 1999- a baby Grace!  

baby wearing white floral headband lying on bed while smiling

And since she arrived as a mere, sweet, dark-headed bundle, she has never ceased to bring an abundance of happiness to our family's lives!!

She is the best-est Sister, the sweetest Aunt, and most endearing Daughter! She and Sherlock both remain our family's "historians" (every family needs one or two, you know), and adept readers.  She is our family's offical remote holder, (or controller- whichever you prefer, hee hee), and Garlic Dipping Sauce maker,(we dip our Friday night Challah in this luxuriously, delicious "dippage" every week- it's quite the highlight of the week, I assure you!).  Grace is also a very, very talented writer!

So as you can see......  

She's great!

This year Grace decided to go....do what for her birthday? Can you guess??....

Ice skating!


So, we with some friends, are heading out this weekend to the lovely ice rink to twirl, to glide, to spin, to....fall down??  (Please no, surely this time we can keep from doing that! :) It should be great fun!  Come join us??

I'm quite proud of my "little" sister, who as the years go by keeps looking less and less "little", and has blossomed into a beautiful, young woman whom I adore! Where would I be without her?  If I had to write up a list with all the things I look to her for....uh, we might be here for awhile! :) 



Happy Birthday, Grace!  I love you lots!
               
                                Katherine

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Hailing 2020!

Hello Dear Friends and Happy New Year!!!

Yes, I realize it's the 7th already, but better late than never! Any who... I don't normally set yearly goals, but this year I was thinking about it and have decided to go for it!  So without further ado...


2020 Goals

1.
Grow more in my walk with God 
This is a continued goal that will last my whole life! I want to really focus on prioritizing setting aside a quiet time in the morning and evening to pray and read my Bible. I have found it really makes a difference in how my day goes, if I set the tone of my day through Scripture reading and prayer.

2.
 Get my Drivers License
Yes, you would think a nearly 21 year old would have this done by now, but no I have not. I have my permit and have been out a few times, but I am no where near ready to take a driving test with a very scary law enforcement officer! Finding driving time is also difficult since we're always in so much of a hurry and we would have to plot out an extra 30 mins if I were to drive!

2. 
Acquire a job
 I'd especially like an online job, so I can set my own schedule, and I think I have found some good options.

3. 
Add more structure to my life
I work best if my day is scheduled out and I have a list of things to be done. (I love checking things off; it gives such a sense of accomplishment!) I also want to be a good steward of the time God has given me and not waste it, so I need to sit down and write out a schedule. That will be a feat since it needs to work around everyone else's schedule, meet my goals and still have room for the spontaneous-ness of life!

4.
Write, produce, direct and act in 'The Merriwethers Come To Town' 
So Katherine and I are working on another play, which we hope to put on... at some point! We pretty much have the plot worked out and the characters, so we can start writing a first draft soon. We have been all over the place with different ideas, but I think we've got it figured out now!  I plan to do an expose' on the plot and characters soon, with Katherine's permission of course, so stay tuned!
5.
Follow my WW II story through and actually do something with it
It is a well known fact in my family that I have started tons of stories and never finished any of them! So when inspiration struck last week with an idea that I think is pretty good, I am going to follow this one through and at least get out a first draft. The working title is "Once Upon A Castle", though it doesn't really have anything to do with the story so it will no doubt change! It's set during WW II in occupied France and is about a family living in an old chateau. Whilst they are hiding Jews and helping downed Allied airmen escape back to England, their home is taken over to house German officers, which provides the perfect cover, but also many dangers. I am madly researching right now, reading a bunch of books which have to go back to the library next week... and I haven't finished any of them! I have also made a secret story board on my Pinterest which has been fun to put together. I'll give more details in a later post once I have a more concrete plot and ending and such!
6.
Start learning French again.....seriously!
My beloved mother has given me THREE books on how to learn to speak French, so now I really have no excuse and it will assist me with my story. Two of the books have CD's so now my alarm clock wakes me up with French accordion music and "Bonjour Monsieur Berger" "Ah, Bonjour Madame Dubois! Ca va?" "Ja vais bien, merci, ca va?" etc.! I love it!!


Well, there you have it, my dears... oh and one more is to keep a Good Memory Jar ( a jar where you record good things/blessings that happen each day - I should end up with 365 plus!! - on scraps of paper) and another is to post regularly on this blog or I'll risk another visit from The Librarian!! May it all come true....uh, except the part about The Librarian!!

Have any of you set new goals this year ? Tell me all about them in the comment section, I would truly love to hear and may even join you!

Best wishes for your new year,
Grace