Cabella's

Last night we went to Cabella's. It was the opening night and we decided to be among the first of the store's visitors. This store is enormous! (It's 230,000 sq. ft. to be exact.) I loved visiting it. They have at least 100 stuffed animals in this store. No, I don't mean the stuffed animals you sleep with at night. I mean formerly alive animals that are now stuffed. Polar bears, deer (every kind imaginable), hyenas, black bears, armadillos, leopards, and even an elephant are just a few of the animals that adorn the displays at Cabella's. There are museum-like plaques explaining various facts about the animals. I love that the plaques don't have the usual environmental extremist views found on most animal displays. By the way, Cabella's is a gigantic huting/fishing/camping/everything outdoors store. For a redneck like me, it's a dream world. Actually, I am not a redneck at all. I don't like fishing, I've never been hunting and I only go camping occasionally. I have never owned or worn camo. I am not the sister that helps her brother skin racoons. All that being said, I still enjoyed my trip to Cabella's and plan to return soon - for Father's day gifts.

Ingenious

I don't know why I'm posting so much today, but I am! Anyway, here's another post.

There are so many unique characteristics about my name. First of all, I think I have the shortest name of anyone I have ever met. Amy Inge is just seven letters. (I will note that my middle name, Elizabeth, makes up for the brevity of my first and last name. While we're on the subject of my name, I will also note that my initials are AEI. As I child learning my vowels, I thought that was fascinating.) This unique characteristic is not what makes my name so ingeteresting, though. What I particularly love about my name is the variety of puns that can be used in reference to my last name.

(By the way, Inge is pronounced like hinge or singe or fringe. About 75% of the US cannot pronounce it correctly if college professors and telemarketers are any indication of the general population.)

Here are a few puns/variations on the name Inge:

The Little Inge that Could - This is name of my sister's blog.

Ingeals - This is what a female Inge is called. It is pronounced similar to angel (ingel) and has a similar meaning.

Ingean - This is what a male Inge is called. It's pronounced like injun. Or engine. Take your pick.

Ingenious - This is self-explanatory. Think Inge genius.

Ingeteresting - Something that is of interest to an Inge.

Ingecident - An event that involves an Inge.

I'm sure there are more creative ways to use the name Inge, but can not think of any more at present.

Homeschooling

This post is an excellent reveiw of the history of homeschooling. I always wanted to write an article like it, but I never could find the right words.

Announcement!

Attention everyone! A new website is about to make its appearance. Drum role please... Please give a warm welcome to "Choosing Home!"

On Wednesday, June 1, 2005, exactly one week from today, Choosing Home is going to host a housewarming party to celebrate the launch of its new site. Molly and Jenna are the hardworking ladies behind this new creation. For more information please go here.

Kids and Dogs

A few weeks ago, we got a dog. A cute stray dog appeared at our house one morning (not an infrequent occurrence) and we decided to keep him. (That sounds so simple. In reality, it was much more complex and involved extensive negotiations between Dad and young daughters. An agreement was finally reached, the contract signed and the dog has since belonged to the Inge family.) Anyway, my little sister Allyson LOVES the dog. Dogs are not a good thing to have around if you are especially picky about hygiene. Here's why.

1. I walked into the living room last Thursday and Allyson was sitting on the floor brushing Oreo (the dog) and herself with his dog brush. She then informed me that she had just washed her face, hands and feet in his water bowl.

2. Yesterday, Allyson was eating something (don't remember what) when she decided to share. She gave Oreo a bite (actually a lick) then took a bite herself. I know this is quite common, but it's still gross!

Here are some other dog-incidents.

When we first got the dog, we put his dog food and water on the back porch for him. Allyson then poured all of the dog food into the water bowl then proceeded to get a spoon. She was making Oreo some cereal. I'm glad she didn't decide to share with him.

Josh wasn't too thrilled about getting the dog. (Originally, I wasn't either.) He joked that he was going to eat Oreo. A few nights ago, Allyson was going on and on about how Dad was going to kill the dog (a three-year-old's misunderstanding of a complex conversation) and how Josh was going to eat it. Josh then explained, "Allyson, I said I was just kidding I am not going to eat it." Allyson replied with, "I know, but I want you to say your going to eat it so that I can say 'No you're not!'" So Josh laughed and growled "I'm going to eat Oreo." And Allyson happily shouted, "No you're not!" "Yes I am." "No you're not!" I don't know if I should be worried that Allyson's idea of fun is arguing. (I'm not really wondering that. Every child I have ever known has loved to play the "You say one thing, I say the opposite and we each say it over and over" game.)

Children

I found this interesting link on Yahoo! News this morning. (I say I found it. What I really mean is it was staring me in the face when I opened the web browser.) Anyway, the article is about how San Francisco has the smallest population of children of any major city in the U.S. To me, this fact is more evidence pointing the the claim that the homosexual lifestyle is not friendly to the family. The article briefly makes a similar point, but they come from the angle that because homosexuals can't naturally have kids, and SF has such a large homosexual population, then of course the percentage of children in the city will be smaller than is typical. I think they miss the entire point. Parents don't like to raise their kids in the midst of a sexually perverted culture. Even my far-left leaning aunt and uncle (who live in California) agree that people are leaving California because of the lack of "family values." I'm sure that many other issues also play a role in the decision not to raise children in the midst of a big city, but I find it ironic that the most sin-sick city in our nation also has the lowest percentage of children. Europe also has a similar problem. Here and here are a couple of articles (complements of LAF) about the decline in the childbirth rate in Europe. My aunt, who has lived in Paris, France for the past five (or has it been six?) years, claims that dogs are looked more favorably upon than children in Paris. When they first moved to Paris, they had to drive two cars anywhere to transport their family of six because they don't sell large vehicles in France. Eventually, they special ordered a mini-van that sat eight people (baby #5 and #6 had been born) to accommodate their "gigantic" family. They are happy to be moving to Tennessee.

Books, Glorious Books

I have been attempting to read a lot lately. I have not yet reached my life-long reading goal of at least 1 book a week. (Note: I got that goal from Dr. Noebel at the Summit. He always said that if you want to be a leader, you've got to be a reader. He claims that at one point he read one book a day. I'm sure those books weren't oversized pamphlets either.) Where was I? Oh yes, my reading goal. I just bought 24 or so books at the home school book fair. I have been wading through them over the past 2 weeks. So far, I have completely read 3 of the books I purchased, and I am now in the middle of a fourth one. I have also read excerpts out of 3 more of them. They have all been excellent books, but, I must admit, they are somewhat light reading. I need to add some meat to my mental diet. Any suggestions? I hope to go to the library soon and check out a few classical literature books. Moby Dick, Les Miserables and Great Expectations are on my list. Hopefully this summer I will finish the books I started forever ago - The Gift of Music; How Then Should We Live?; Golden Thoughts of Mother, Home and Heaven; Christ in the Camp; and More Love to Thee:The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss.

I love to read, but I am afraid that sometimes I just read a book so that I can check it off my list. Maybe I ought to revise my reading goal. Instead of trying to read a lot of books, I could try to actually pay attention to the books I read. A few months ago, I started a notebook to assist in this endeavor. The idea was to record in my notebook any thoughts that came to my head while I was reading. I would also record quotes, interesting facts, summaries of the plot and character descriptions. My notebook worked great for the first few books I read after starting it. Now, though, I haven't opened my notebook in over a month. I keep telling myself I need to keep up with it better, but I think my recording method needs a little revising. One thing that does work very well for me is to put a bunch of small Post-it Notes in the cover of the book. Then when I come to a section I want to comment on, I simply place a Post-it next to the passage. Later, when I feel like pulling out my big notebook and writing, I can go back to the Post-it Notes. Usually, I can remember what I wanted to say when I originally marked the passage. I can also jot down a quick reminder on the Post-it Note. The reason this works so well is because it is very portable. I always carry my books around with me. If I don't have a book with me, I feel like I've forgotten something (because I have!) Funny thing is, I really don't read books a lot while I'm not at home. The times that I do, though, make it worth the extra effort it takes to never be caught without a book.

I intended for this post just to be a quick comment on my current reading practices. I am afraid it has morphed into something much larger. I guess I was just having too much fun typing!

Thirteen going on fourteen. My, how time does fly.  

HOT! HOT! HOT!

Every Sunday afternoon we go bike riding on the Mineral Wells State Trailway. Yesterday was no different. We all knew it would be a little warmer than usual for our afternoon ride, but I was not expecting the intense heat that awaited us. After all, it is still May. It can't get that hot in May, can it? Yes it can. It was 99 degrees yesterday. The first part of our ride was wonderful. Several thoughts came to my mind as I rode. "I'm so glad I was raised in Texas. I can handle a lot of heat." and "I think my body must be solar powered. I get energized when the weather warms up." and "Wow. Look how quickly I am getting tanned. My arms are already red." Ah, yes. The joy of the moment. Then we turned around to head back to the truck. Suddenly the ride wasn't quite as enjoyable. What goes down must come up. Our return trip was almost entirely uphill. Sweat began to pour from my body. At that point, I had only one thought on my mind: Get back to the truck. Eventually, I did make it back, but it took me a LONG time to cool down and for my heart rate to return to normal. Afterwards, I was glad that I had such an intense exercise, but I don't know if I would choose to repeat it anytime soon.

Postscript: Saturday was also very warm. It was 97. Both Saturday and Sunday set a new record high temperature for those dates. Today it is also suppose to be quite warm - upper 90's.

Dresses for the Girls

Here are some pictures of dresses that I recently finished for the girls. I made a few mistakes making them. I am probably going to add something to the collar of Abigail's dress. Originally, I did not like the way the lace looked on Allyson's collar so I did not put it on Abigail's collar. I wish that I had. Overall, though, I am pleased with the results. Can't wait to start another project!

Ally's dress is just a little too big and I think I should have put lace on Abby's collar. Live and learn.



The two girls and their dresses


Pretty girls


This reminds me of something out of a book


Cutie! (The girl I mean, not the dress.)

I am so happy to be out of school for the summer! Now I have much more free time!

I am so happy! I have finished all of my finals! No more studying! The final I was very worried about turned out to be just as bad as I had imagined. At least it wasn't any worse. After the test, everyone in the class gathered in the hallway and complained about how bad it was.

I had a new experience happen to me yesterday. A group of students from my class were going to the bar. I guess that's their way to de-stress. Anyway, they invited me to go with them. Some people may find this difficult to believe, but in my 20 years of living and 3 years of being in college I have never had anyone ask me to go to a bar or offer me an alcoholic beverage. I wonder what most college students would think if I told them I do not drink, do not have a fake ID, and would have no earthly idea where or how to get a fake ID. Having never been asked to a bar is not so amazing, though, compared to the fact that I've never even been asked out on a date. Now, I am not complaining or feeling sorry for myself. I'm personally VERY glad I have never had anyone ask me out. I think it is God's protection on my life. I have the most difficult time in the world telling people no. If some guy were to ask me out, I'm afraid I'd say yes just so I wouldn't hurt his feelings. Then I'd have to figure out how to tell him that even though I said yes, I really meant an emphatic "No". Anyway, these are just my jumbled, immature thoughts at the moment.

Writing about writing

I have started writing three posts this morning. I am having the most difficult time writing today. I just cannot get the words and sentences to come out in a coherent manner. This summer I am going to devote some time to grammar and English studies. I want to be able to write well; I thought having a blog would assist me in that endeavor. There's one problem, though. It doesn't do any good to write and rewrite if you don't know when you are making mistakes. Another summer project I have is to increase my vocabulary. I think I'm going to start doing what my brother does. He gets a word and definition e-mailed to him each day. Speaking of my brother, if you're interested in coons read this.

Two Down, Three to Go

I have now completed two of my five final examinations. I will take the other three tomorrow. I think I will have a 3.8 GPA for this semester. This is disappointing because, so far in my college experience, I have had a 4.0 every semester except one.

What's this world coming to?

Wow. My stomach is feeling rather sick right now. All I have to say is "Go Ken Ham." I was just listening to "conservative" talk radio. A homosexual pastor was the guest on the program. The host, whom I believe is catholic, was discussing scriptures referring to homosexuals with the guest. The "pastor" said that he believed in the divinely inspired word of God. He believed it was true in its entirety. At his church, they just loved to worship and praise God. How, you ask, can he reconcile these beliefs with his lifestyle? Very simple really. All it takes is a little cultural interpretation, original Greek and "symbolic" language excuses. Someone mentioned something about not being able to take the Bible literally everywhere. I mean, come on, there wasn't actually an Adam and an Eve and a garden. So obviously the Bible is often symbolic. (That's why I said "Go Ken Ham.") The caller who mentioned the Adam and Eve example then demonstrated his extreme ignorance of the Bible by stating that the story of Adam and Eve never mentions any daughters so they could not have had any ancestors. I guess he never read Genesis 5:4. Which brings me to another point. Why are people so concerned about where Cain got his wife? Cain and all of his ancestors died in the flood. We are all descendants of Seth. So why don't people ask where Seth got his wife? The questions themselves reveal how little most people have studied the creation issue.

In all of our Ken Ham videos that we've watched, he always talks about the importance of going back to the foundational issues in our battle for the culture. He asks why people would trust the Bible to be a true guide in the area of morals if the first few chapters are so screwed up (my paraphrase). I never knew how true his premise was until I listened to that radio program this morning. God, have mercy on our country.

"4And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" Matthew 19:4-5 and a commentary here.

Here's a Ken Ham quote:
"For 30 years I’ve said: ‘If Christians just fight the moral issues, and don’t deal with the real foundational battle as to why society has changed, eventually the “culture war” will be lost.’ This is not to say that fighting the moral issues won’t do some good. Some will be convinced not to abort babies, for example. From a ‘big picture’ perspective, however, society will continue to lose its once-Christian foundation unless the battle is fought at the foundational level. "

Here are a couple of articles:

A Low View of Scripture

Gay Marriage: Are There Answers?

How to Win a Debate on Ethics

P.S. If anyone has any comments on this issue, please keep them very clean and appropriate for young readers. Thanks.

Weekend Snapshots

Here are a few snapshots from my weekend.


Amanda in the garden


Amy and Allyson



Mom



Josh



Josh again - In case you haven't noticed, Josh doesn't like to pose normally for pictures.

Taking a blogging break

I have a busy week coming up, so I do not think I will be posting much to my blog in the near future. In fact, I have decided not to read any blogs until after my college finals are over. That will be next Thursday. I am trying to break my procrastination habit. I usually start studying in earnest a night or two before the test. In the past I have been able to pull that off, but this semester I do not want to push it. I am having a difficult time in one class in particular. I am going to have to get a 94% on the final exam to get an A, and I don't see that happening unless I spend extensive amounts of time studying. I hate studying, but I hate B's even worse. I wish I could spend the next few days reading, crocheting, sewing, working in the garden, exercising, playing with Allyson and the girls, cooking, and cleaning. I keep telling myself, "Only a few more days .... you can do it." I guess this is what self-discipline is all about.

This semester, between work and school, I have been overly stressed. I am ready to just throw my hands up and forget about my grades. I have to remember to think long term. The disappointment of getting a bad grade because I did not make the effort to study will be much worse than the agony I will endure by spending the next few days studying. With that said, I will go study.