From My Notebook: Journeying

The sun is my lamp

And the moon my nightlight at camp

The trees are my chapel

Without a penny to my name yet joys I have ample

The mountain peaks are where I sing God’s praise

And in the valleys I lay and watch the sheep graze

I’m always journeying

 

Through snow and through rain

Though the worldly sins are ever burdening

I keep journeying to light and a place with no more pain 

Back to School

I've started school recently even though it's a few weeks early, since I teach myself I can do that. Being my own teacher has many advantages. I can learn at my own pace and not worry if I'm doing as good as my other class mates. It also means that I can go by my own time table, so I could watch my brother play video games all afternoon, and still get all my school done before I go to bed. the only thing I have to complain about is that it's harder to explain that you're home schooled instead of just saying what school you go to (it gets even more complicated when you're your own teacher). I really enjoy doing school; I've found that it's all in the mind set. As long as I don't think of school as a chore that has to be done as quickly as possible, I actually look forward to it every day. I like school so much that I'm even thinking about continuing school through the next summer so that I can graduate early. I still am not sure though, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how I feel about it at the end of this school year. Over the past few years of my life I've slowly come to realize that learning is a joy and a enjoyable way to spend my time, and now I can't get enough of it.

Camping Again... and Again.... and Again

I haven't posted recently because it's been sooo busy for me lately. So instead of trying to tell you in detail of all the stuff that's happened lately, I'll give you speedy one sentence updates! ready... set... GO!

I went camping the Wednesday before last Wednesday with the girls group I'm in. It was fun, except for the cement work. The goats were cute. The last day we got kicked out of our cabin because paying patrons were top priority. We came home a day early instead of setting up tents for the night. Friday was the day we got back, and guess what? The next Friday was another camping trip! And there is still at least one more camping trip coming up this year!

Whew! That was fun, now I'll slow down and tell you about the last camping trip I just came back from yesterday.

Well, my parents said we'd be in the car and going by 3 o'clock PM, but it turned out to be four. That's because it was another KFC (that's the girls group I'm in) outing and since my mom is in charge of everything we had to wait around for all the girls to arrive and then some had to go back and get their permission slips signed by their parents. Sometimes I wish that I could be like the other girls, being dropped off at the time we're supposed to leave instead of having to go an hour early to help get things ready and then wait around some more for all the girls. The trip in the car itself was only an hour or so, thankfully, because our van that I was riding in had no air conditioning! My sister and I survived by using a battery powered fan and a squirt bottle mixed together as one. We got there and got the tents up pretty quickly, and we had supper. The next day and a half consisted of me staying behind to just sit in the screen tent and read while everyone else went off on long bike rides and hikes. I went on two hikes, a short one where we all borrowed a GPS and found a little treasure box in the forest, and the other, right before we left for home, was one just with my Mom, Dad, and Emily down to where the other girls had been going back and forth the whole time, catching frogs. It may seem boring to other people to just sit in the tent and read the whole time you go camping but that's what I enjoy doing. To me, I go camping to be close to nature and to slow down, not go speeding off on hike after hike and get so exhausted that you can't even enjoy the nature around you. To me, camping should be a relaxing experience. I spent almost the whole time reading, since I'm not that much of a talker, and most of the time I didn't find the stuff the other girls talked about very interesting. It's often frustrating that I can't ever find someone that shares the same interests as me. I can't talk about Lord of the Rings, or discuss the newest book that I've read. I can't debate the theologies of Christianity or untangle the mysteries of Lost with someone. I often feel very old for a fourteen year old, but that's the way I like it. Back to the subject of camping. All I have left to say is, "Boy am I glad to be home!" I was thinking before I left on this latest camping adventure that most people go on these things to get away from the troubles in their lives, but for me it's just the opposite. I go into my room and close the door, and escape from all the problems of this world with the picking up of a pen and paper.

Here are a few pictures from the camping trip. My mom and sister took most of these, because I feel weird taking pictures of people other then my sister. The last two are mine though.

My dad setting up tents.

This is Emily, my sister.

These are three of the four other girls that came along.

Here we're on a Geo-cache adventure, where you get a GPS and try to find some co-ordinances.

These two are the pastor's kids, besides being a KFC outing it was also a church event.