The January Roundup

Hello all fellow Bloggers and Blogreaders alike!! Today is the last day of the month, and as I promised before, the last day of the month post is a roundup of the books I've read during said month;)

I'm pretty sure I already covered the first few in a previous post. (which I will link to when I get on something other than my iDevice ;) 

So!! Taking up where I left off, we'll start with:

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brönte. I love this book. It never gets old. Seriously. Read it. 

Contending For Our All, by John Piper. This is the fourth in a series called the Swans Are Not Silent. I was assigned this series for school, and it was the best thing ever. These books have brought about a sort of personal revival in my own spiritual life. I can't give a higher recommendation;)

Something I Have Not Done That Most People Have

Guyyyyyyyyysssssssssss guess what!!! My computer's fixed!!! I'm using it right now as I type this post!! As you can probably imagine, my exuberance is unbounded. (that just means that I'm really, really happy;) Also, I went to the library (aka Heaven to my friends who know me well xP) AAAAND Taco Bell. It's been a good day.

..Which is what I needed since I finished reading Les Miserables yesterday. Which is what I will need when I finish A Series of Unfortunate Events again. Which is what I needed several years ago when I read the Count of Monte Christo.
  While we're at it, why don't we just change this post to "Things I have done that most people haven't"??
Just kidding. The ratio of things I have done to things other people have done is like 6:3900.

So, let's begin the list.

1. I have never seen Twilight
2. I have never had my own bedroom
3. I have never been to public school
4. I have never been on Facebook
5. I have never petted an alpaca

I think that's the end of my list!! Have a nice day=)


~Margaret

A regret

Today, I am supposed to talk intellectually and concisely about something I regret not doing in the last year. Actually, it never said that. I'm just reading between the proverbial lines. 

I think this is an important topic, because it says a lot about the character of the person who speaks on it. If it's something stupid, that person is either shallow or a comedian. If it is deep and heartfelt, that person may have something to them. Heaven knows what your opinion will be of me by the end of this post.

It's actually a difficult question, because if it were narrowed down to this past day, rather than this past year, it would be a much more limited scope and therefore much easier to answer. Alas, it is a year, not a day. But Rome was not built in a day. (just nod knowingly. That's what I do whenever my brain turns off and I continue to speak)

Aha! My brain is still on. And with all of my wits about me, I am fully fit to answer the question at hand. 

Blogosphere, my greatest regret of the past year is not having eaten more pizza.

~Margaret

My Relationship With Food

Is this seriously something on the list??? I- well.....

Yeah. Food and I are pretty serious. If I could, I would insert a badly-photoshopped picture of me and a hamburger making a heart with our hands. But alas, I am not photo-editing savvy. Here is an accurate picture modelling two other people:

 

Also illustrating my naiveté and Food's inevitable betrayal.

Sometime in the Future:

Food: Mwahahahaha!!!!

Me: Agh!! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!!

~Margaret

Someone I Want to Meet

Hannah, because I haven't seen her since New Year's.

Someone I Miss

Every time a topic such as this is brought up, I can't help but feel a momentary (at least) sense of loss. Who doesn't? It is in our nature to love deeply, and when the people who we have formed these kinds of bonds with are not with us, we inevitably miss them.

But it's also a happy day, for though I'm taking about someone who I miss very much and wish very much to see, I also love her very much, and look forward to the day (less than 8 months!) that I get to see her again.

This is Lunevia. She is a beautiful, radiant, funny Haitian girl. I first met her in 2012, on my first trip to Haiti. That was a very interesting trip, and I ended up with a rather odd set of memories, most of which did not include which unusual Haitian name went with each beautiful Haitian child. I do, however, have a thing for faces, and I remembered many more children than I thought I would when I returned to that village one year later. But, I can't remember names worth a flip, which proved rather awkward when they came up to you, grabbed your hand, and asked you their favourite question:

"You remember me? You remember my name?" to which I made the sheepish reply, "Nooooo..." :/ This past trip, I uttered a short fervent prayer that God would somehow grant my unwieldy brain the ability of retention! Lo and behold, He did!

I perceive that I have strayed from my original topic. I could rattle on for hours.

But Lunevia, though I adored all of the children there, is one of the most special to me. She was a hoot! She came with a new hairstyle every day, (though in the picture it is neatly plaited in cornrows) and one day she had six-inch plaits that stuck out from the back of her head!!

Every Haitian child, when they're around you, will cling to you. They hold your hand. They play with your hair. They pull on your clothes, and sometimes try to pull things out of your pockets! Lunevia, with a few of the others, was different. We saw hundreds of children, but these children, only a few of the hundreds, came back with startling regularity. It was truly delightful to see them, not only because we had not seen them in such a long time, but because they had unique, wonderful personalities all their own!!

Lunevia is one of the few privileged children who has the opportunity to access a decent education. The ministry we are guests of during our stays in Haiti runs a school, where generous sponsors can donate small sums to give these children food for the body and the mind. There are so many left. So many who will never have that chance for mental freedom. The percent of illiterate children and adults is very high, and it's truly heartbreaking, none less for me, who is a voracious reader and has been blessed with practically unlimited books to my disposal. There is so much I want to do for these people, and seemingly minuscule resources.

Sorry. Doing it again x) I told you, I can get side-tracked for hours.

But I wholeheartedly do want to help these people. They are delightful people with many delightful customs, though, due to the voodooism that is prevalent in that society, some are not so delightful.

I do always leave the country, while sad, with an indescribably sense of gratefulness. Sure, I miss them, all the people there that I love to pieces. But it's because of that that I feel so blessed. Blessed to have met these beautiful people, who are so worth every moment of longing for them.

They're so worth missing.

~Margaret

5 Things on My Bucketlist

I must apologise for my negligence to post. I could make any number of excuses, i.e. my computer still isn't among the living, school started back on Monday, etc, etc, etc. But I won't. I just did, but I won't.

Today is a rather interesting one, though, because I am directed to list 10 things on my bucketlist. I am using the ever-helpful "bucketlist edits" to list these, as they are mostly self-explanatory, and I'm watch Little Women and am loathe to part from it for any span of time;)

I give you: A Small Assortment of My Hopes, Dreams, and Plans.

Yes. Just yes.

This would be suuuuuper epic.

=D

We would sing "One Day More" from Les Misérables.

I cannot express in words how much I utterly desire this. I can't help but wish that for this sole reason I had been born in 17th century Europe.....x)

That about wraps it up!! Thank you for masking your disdain for my irregular habits. After all, "it's a personality quirk!" xD

~Margaret

Weather Balloons

Day 10: the weather. To quote Gru, the super villain:

Wow. Theese is garbage! You actually like theese?

Probably the most boring topic they could have picked. After all, who wants to hear about the weather?? Anything is more interesting than the weather! Even weather balloons are more interesting than the weather!!  Hey, that's an idea!! It's not like I haven't altered ever other day of this challenge so far!! Lemme just go change the post title... There! Maybe I should start over...... 

Hello!! Today's post was sadly hijacked by another post of superior quality. Therefore, today's actual post will now be on the topic of weather balloons, which are fascinating in the history of meteorology and the science of All. Things. Balloon. 

First, for a short historical lesson.

Balloons were first utilised for tracking and studying weather in 1896 by a French scientist named Léon Teisserenc de Bort. He sent off hundreds of them. It was super cool. Since then, the materials used to create them and the instruments attached to them have only grown more sophisticated. They are primarily used to track atmospheric pressure, wind speed, temperature, and a buncha other stuff. All of which is also super cool.

Now for some visual aid:

This is a vintage weather balloon.

This is also a vintage weather balloon.

This is a modern weather balloon.

This is a person who is either attempting to himself be a weather balloon, or is impersonating the house from Up.

This concludes our lecture. On behalf of our whole staff, we heartily thank you for taking a few moments from your day to study the marvels of one of Science's greatest tools: the Weather Balloon.

~Margaret C. and Staff

My Favourite Thing to Do

So I'm mad. I wrote a whole long post yesterday about multiple things that I hope to do in the future, full of resplendent images and witty comments. I was using the Blogger app, (because my computer is not yet fixed) and when I pressed "Publish," I had every inclination to believe that it had done so.

It didn't. that's why I'm mad. I was FaceTiming Caitlyn this afternoon, and our blogs came up in conversation as they often do, and I got on mine to check something. You can imagine my audible and violent despair, and also Caitlyn's questioning but unperturbed confusion when I found that it had not published, as I had originally believed.

So I'm sorry. The post has disappeared. And it seems rather useless to try to replicate it and post it a day late.

Which brings me to the reason for this post: Blogging on time, on the exact day on which I am supposed to. Also my favourite thing to do at the moment, (which is probably griping about missing blog posts) but mostly blogging on the right day. Please just give me a minute to bask in this accomplishment.

Three Things I Like About Myself

Today is Day Five. Caitlyn tried to convince me that I must start at Day One, but alas, she was outvoted. By myself, namely. After all, I hold the authorship of the blog and the copyright. 

Just kidding. No copyright.

But today is a very special day, because I get to brag on myself. Actually, I do that every day, so it's not that unusual. I'm just widening the audience.

  I have to list three things I like about myself. (I'm gonna go ahead and take the opportunity to say that I'm using the Blogger app for the first time, and I really don't know how it will work) Problem here is, I don't know exactly what there is about myself to praise. Give me a moment whilst I confer with my sister.

.............................

.............

........................

According to my sister, I am wry good at being stupid. I'm going to try another one.

(These are entirely from my sisters, and the post would be more aptly named, "Three Things My Sister Likes About Myself")

1. I am, and will in the future be a good counsellor. I must admit that multiple people have told me this, and while I don't technically believe them, it is rather flattering.

2. I could very easily create a line of popular, award-winning shoes. I really don't know what to do with this information. 

3. Faith: Ummm... Do that you are a fabulous writer.

(That one really did flatter me. Behold, the praise of sisters is sweet.)

I could add more of their suggestions, (i.e. I could be a model, I can read, etc.) but for my own time's sake. I shall stop here. Tell me in the comments, what's something you like about yourself? Don't be afraid to brag on yourself a little!!;)

~Margaret

The Book Jar

Recently, a few preteen/teenage girls (my sisters and I) created what has been called the "Book Jar." Actually, I named it, with all the wit and clarity I could muster. I'm sure you've seen this idea before. It is simply writing the title of each book you finish and putting it in a jar. At the end of the year, you have a jar full of your accomplishments! I was super fortunate to have one of those awesome old blue canning jars, and I made my slips of paper out of blue, green, and brown patterned scrapbooking paper. I may end up doing a little more embellishing, it all depends on the mood I'm in x)

30 Day Writing Challenge

Good morning/afternoon/evening/wee hours of the morning to all of my beautiful followers!!! I am fully aware of the dispassionate manner in which I have been ignoring this blog as of late, but with the New Year came a fresh determination to not only write more, but to blog more, and post more material for you readers. I was rather stymied, though, by the uncertainty of what to write. It seems a common practice with me.

  But never fear, for my darling friend Caitlyn over at Isabela informed me recently that she was doing a thirty-day writing challenge, and encouraged me to join her in the effort. (okay, so I begged her to let me copy her x) Here it is, the writing challenge I most certainly intend to accomplish: