A Move And A Change...

As I have mentioned in a few posts about a 'recent situation',
the Lord has given us an official answer that I may now share!
I am amazed how He is clearly guiding my footsteps
and revealing His will to me about the next step in my life.
Here's the story:

Last year when I graduated, I did not feel the Lord calling me to college.
So for a while, I had been planning on preparing to be a missionary
through internships with other missionaries and going to Camp BIMI.

However, a few months ago, I started to not have peace about not going to college.
I felt the Lord may have been calling me to go, but I really didn't want to!
I was praying hard asking that His will would be shown to me clearly,
and that if it was His will for me to go to college,
that He'd make it unmistakably known to me.

As I briefly reviewed some of the Bible colleges around,
I didn't feel right about any of them.
The only Christian college that I felt the Lord wanted me to go to ,
if I went to college, was located all the way across the country in the state of California.
Upon mentioning it to my parents, they concluded that it was just too far away.
So I figured that was the answer and the Lord must not want me to go.
I handed the situation over to the Lord and told Him that if
He really wanted me to go to Bible college,
He'd have to move our whole family to California!
I figured I was 'safe' since that wasn't even an option for my dad's work.

Well, a few weeks after praying that, Dad said he was getting orders,
which we had anticipated being local.
But he said that the orders were not as he expected; they were for California!
I couldn't believe such an answer to prayer and such specific guidance!

The Lord has closed the door to my original plans, and has opened a door for His will!
We received the official orders last week and have about 2-3 months.
I have looked at the college and am beginning
to prepare for majoring in Missions.

I just thought I'd share the story of the Lord's working in my life!
I have been learning a great lesson about how the Lord will reveal His will to us,
and that nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible with Him!
God is so good and worthy to be praised!


"For with God nothing shall be impossible."
~ Luke 1:37

Labor Day Weekend Trip...

On Labor Day weekend, Dad decided

to take us on a trip to a historic site from the Civil War.

I thought I'd share some pictures from our trip...

My personal favorite part was

looking at the different uniforms :)

...The Union

...The Confederate

Here is an old book...

We, then, went outside to the fort.

It consisted of hills that the Confederate soldiers built

to help with land combat and even hidden rooms in them...

We also enjoyed walking on a bridge by the marsh.

There were a lot of crabs ...

(we used to see these all the time back in SC)

Here are my precious siblings and me.... :)

And this was an interesting tree we enjoyed sitting in...

Daddy and Mama

At the store, my sisters each got a bonnet

and Will got 2 civil war caps.

On the way home, I wore one of his caps with him :-)

The weather was really nice

and that made the trip so enjoyable.

Will was particularly happy to go... he loooooves history!

Before closing this post, I wanted to share

a short video of me playing my steel guitar.

I haven't bought myself a book to learn with, yet,

but I did somewhat figure out "Sweet Hour of Prayer" on it!!

lol... I really need to get a book!

I hope you're all enjoying your week!

Musings of Mosquitoes...

As I was sitting down crocheting this evening,
I realized I was continually getting bit by a mosquito.
As it landed on my arm, I found it fascinating
to watch it's abdomen filling up with my blood.
Then I wondered... what do they even do with that blood?
So I reached behind me and grabbed an encyclopedia =)
What I found was actually pretty neat!
The females are the ones who suck blood from people & animals.
What attracts them is moisture, odor, or carbon dioxide (in breath).
The females need a blood meal in order to produce a batch of eggs.
They don't eat it... they eat flower nectar.
First, they stick their 'needle' into you and suck the blood up
through their 'tube' and into their abdomen.
Then they salivate (spit) on you with anticoagulants
(to prevent your blood from clotting),
which causes the area to redden and swell.

Isn't God's creation fascinating?
Even though these insects seem pesky to us,
the Lord still created them and cares for them.
What an amazing God we serve!

"Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven,
the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth,
and all things that are therein, the seas,
and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all;
and the host of heaven worshippeth thee."
Nehemiah 9:6

Beach Trip and Other Happenings...

Thankfully, summer is finally coming to an end
and we've gotten our first taste of fall this week!
Now it's in the 70s-80s... still kinda hot,
but much better than before!

Tuesday we decided to go to the beach for a while.
The weather was actually very nice at the ocean!



This is the first time we saw this...

The Marines drove right from the ocean
onto the shore in this! Very neat to watch!


The younger children enjoyed getting wet
and mom and I stayed by the shore as well...

... Will, Carolynne, & Beth



... Me



...Mom


Then we all sat down and the children played in the sand...



And I thought it would be fun to bury a toy frog :)



And speaking of frog, Monday the children ran upstairs
to me saying, "Something you like is stuck outside! Come see!"
I went out and saw this poor thing...


I looove toads :)

So I helped him out...

As mom said, we don't think this was my prince charming,
so I decided it best not to kiss him ;)

Also, Tuesday I helped Will with a science experiment :)

It's so weird to think he's in 6th grade... doing experiments!
I remember when I was there!!


Anyway, tomorrow is Friday, the 'friend day',
when our friends (we've known 8 years now) come for pizza.
It's going to be their middle child's 12th bday,
so I helped the children blow up balloons
and set them up in order to surprise her tomorrow...

The kids were laughing at how big I liked to blow mine
and were calling them 'zucchini balloons' because of their shape :)

I hope everyone's enjoying their end of summer!

Graduation Mail!!

Yesterday I recieved my cap & gown!
I thought I'd share a picture of it...



Here's the tassel up close :)



Today I (and Stephani) tried it on. :-)
(I'm glad to have figured out how the cap goes on!)
I hope to get my senior pictures
in it sometime this week (maybe next)!

Well, I just thought I'd stop in and share!
I was excited to get it!!!
I hope you all are having a good week.

I'M FINISHED!!!!

After 10 page (at least) long lessons,
lots of numbers, letters, figures, graphing,
laws of trigonometry, and lots more...
I'm finally done with my Pre-Calculus!!!!
WOO HOO!

I finished up the last 4 lessons today!
At a rate of doing about 7 a day the past week ;o)
Now I'm free from the task I gave myself
for math in this 11th grade year!

Now I'm extremely glad to say that
I get to relax and am able to enjoy, appreciate,
and focus more on my Advanced Chemistry(!!!!),
which I'm a little more than halfway finished with.
And that's bitter-sweet, of course. lol
I'd also like share a poem for this "wonderful thought"
that my mom and I found online some time ago...

A Chemistry Poem

I'm reading a book by Jay Wile
That feels 'bout as thick as a mile
It's a chemistry course,
And reliable source,
I sure am enjoying his style.

The characteristics we see
Of chemicals in chemistry
Are works of God's hand,
And part of His plan,
For the earth to function for me.

The way atoms all seem to dance
In molecules inside of plants
Is one of the ways,
God meant to amaze,
That couldn't have happened by chance.

Experiment with metals like chrome
Experiment with mixtures like foam
Please try to have fun,
Clean up when you're done,
I hope you don't blow up your home!

by Bailey Gillespie


Your friend and chemist~ Alexandra
LOL!

Mathematical Musings and More...

Sorry I haven't posted all week.
I've been, as they say, 'cracking down'
on doing a lot of schoolwork.
And we've had various other things during the week.
But I was so thrilled when we returned from grocery shopping
last night to find a package for me at the door!
It was my math that I was waiting for...





I used Teaching Textbooks a few years ago for Algebra 2,
and liking the method, I wanted their pre-cal as well.
Now this particular subject was NOT my first choice,
(I'd have rather taken Algebra 2 again!)
but it was this or Geometry!!!!!
So naturally, I picked the calculus,
which will help me in Advanced Chemistry anyway.



Speaking of Chemistry, we went to the library yesterevening
and I went to my favorite section (can you guess??)... science!
I found a whole shelf of chemistry books and had a hard time choosing.
Since the books were so big and thick, I just got two.
One is all about Physical Chemistry,
and the other is Chemical Bonding... my two favorite branches!

Well, today we have a homeschool park day.
My friend and I like to bring our violins to play while we're there.
And then, it's 'Friend Friday' for us!
And speaking of violins, I'll be playing my violin for church
sometime next month for the congregational singing.
And my friend's mom will be taking my place at the organ,
so we'll have a 3 person 'orchestra' for some Christmas carols!

Well, it's about time to leave.
I'll try to post again next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Friday Fun and Busy Baking...

As our usual Friday tradition,
our friends came over and we had a great time.
We had fun doing Bible study and fellowshipping.

Before I go further, I wanted to say "Thank you, Mom"
for the baking book she purchased for me!




Oooooh!
It was so thoughtful and sweet of her!

Perhaps you can guess what my friend and I did?
Oh yes! We spent 40 minuets drooling over the book
and then we had to make the hard choice of what to bake!
We decided on chocolate mint wafers... yum!


(these are NOT our wafers, unfortuneately,
these are from the book)
Thankfully, we had just enough mint extract!
So she started mixing the cookies
and I started making the sourdough pizzas
that we have every Friday...









We had a great time in the kitchen.
After the pizzas were done and the dough was chilled,
we sat together making shapes for the cookies.
Lots o' fun!

I've also been really busy crocheting gifts.
I'm finally almost finished with Mom's, but I can't
tell you until after Christmas because she reads my blog ;-)

I've also really been enjoying my Advanced Chemistry...




I've finally learned all there is to physical chemistry
(my favorite branch of chemistry!) and I love it!
Actually, the one who wrote my Advanced Chemistry
said that most chemists don't like physical chemistry
and have a difficult time comprehending it.
But I sure LOVE it!

Speaking of Chemistry,
we did one of my experiments together yesterday.
I dippped a Q-tip in colbat chloride solution
and wrote on a piece of blank paper.
You couldn't see it until I blow dried it,
and the solution was readable in blue...
(Please excuse the hideous faces mom caught us in!)



(Colbat Chloride is originally pink,
but I won't explain all the deatils in the experiment! ;-)
You can hardly see the writing in the picture, though.

The Lord's creation is SO wonderful and complex!
How can anyone believe this all happened by chance?
There is so much evidence of God in His complex creation!

Well, I hope everyone's had a great week!


"Therefore also now, saith the LORD,
turn ye even to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments,
and turn unto the LORD your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
Joel 2:12&13

Appointments, Baking, Chemistry, Dress, and Everything Fun!

Well, as you can, likely, tell by the title,
I've been very busy lately!
Yesterday we went over to our friends' house
and Stephani and I did our science experiments.
She's doing Apologia's General Science
and did the experiment with baking soda,
vinegar, a 2 liter bottle and balloon.
And I did an experiment with my elements!
I used the sodium ferrocyanide,
colbat chloride, ferric ammonium sulfate,
sodium carbonate, and something else I can't remember!
Anyway, LOTS of different colors! It was really neat!
(We didn't really get any good pictures)



Then we came home and I sewed a dress...



I used the Renaissance dress pattern's skirt
with my regular pattern's bodice, to make the skirt much fuller.
Mom has a matching one too.

We also had one of those ‘fun nights with the camera’!
Be prepared… ;o)











LOL!!!

And when I was blowing the leaves Saturday,
(I'm still out of breath from it! LOL)
I came across a cute little guy…



Remember!
‘The 15 minutes it takes you to read this post,
you could save 15% on car insurance!’
LOL!




Today I worked on some schoolwork and
we just arrived home a little while ago from shopping.
We bought LOTS of fabric and
will be busy with sewing for a while!
We also picked up something to take to a fellowship
after church tomorrow night.
I'll be baking lemon bars tonight, too! Mmmm!

Tomorrow I have a doctor appointment an hour away.
It's worth the drive for us, though,
because we get to eat at a favorite place while there!

I thought I’d share something that we got in the mail
(junk mail) for a coupon to eat at Arby’s…
The ad was kinda funny...





ROFLOL!

I hope everyone's week is going great so far.


"Who is like unto the LORD our God,
who dwelleth on high,
Who humbleth himself to behold
the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!"
Psalms 113:5&6

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them!"
Psalms 139:17

Elements by Mail!

Oops... so much for 'posting tomorrow'
and 'responding to comments Wednesday'.
Sorry, I've been really busy.

But last Saturday, I received the loveliest package :)
I got my Advanced Chemistry and lab kit!!!!!
In my lab kit I got elements!!!
Oh, I'm so excited!
Here's some pictures...




The elements I received are:
Ammonium Chloride
Colbat Chloride
Copper Sulfate
Ferric Ammonium Sulfate
Sodium Borate
Sodium Carbonate
Sodium Ferrocyanide
Sodium Sulfate
Sodium Thiosulfate

I also got:
Lime Water
Phenolphtlaein Solution
Polyvinyl Alcohol Adhesive
Potassium Iodide Solution
Universal Indicator Solution

Things I'll be covering this year:
The Electronic Structure of Molecules
Intermolecular Forces
Solutions and Colloids
Solutions and Equilibrium
Acid/Base Equilibria
More on Equilibrium
Electrochemistry Part 1 and 2
Chemical Kinetics
Organic Chemistry
Functional Groups in Organic Chemistry
Nuclear Chemistry - for some reason,
I'm not scheduled for any experiments this module:(

Of course, most of this I covered a lot of this year, (save the nuclear!!!)
but this year is going to be even more in depth and complex!
Ohh! I'm SOOOO excited!
I'm planning on officially starting 11th grade next week!

Oh, One more note.
As working in 'the lab' with chemicals this year,
I must be careful...



I do not wish to make the slightest
miscalculation and possibly end up as...


LOL!
Have a great weekend!
(I really do hope to respond to comments tomorrow)

Adventures In Chemistry...

Oh, yes!
As I'm finishing up this year of Chemistry,
I've been really busy in 'my lab'(a.k.a~ the kitchen).
I thought I'd share a few of my experiments.

This one was doing an acid/base titration...

Titration is the process of slowly reacting a
base of unknown concentration
with an acid of known concentration (or vice versa)
until just enough acid has been added
to react with all the base.
This will determine concentration
of the unknown base. (or acid)

I used ammonia (a base) with some water
and used boiled red cabbage water as my indicator...







The ammonia solution turned green
indicating that it was a base.
I, then, took vinegar (an acid) and
added just enough so that it neutralized the base.
Meaning that if I added just one more drop of vinegar,
the solution would be an acid...


In doing this, the solution turned pink.
(I then calculated the concentraion of our ammonia,
which was 2.4 M.)

Yesterday I did lots of temperature effects on
the solubility of solids and gases.
My personal favorite was the 'Investigation of a
Solute That Releases Heat When Dissolved'.
I put lye into my beaker...



Then I slowly added room temperature water
until the water was about 1 centimeter above the lye...



The reaction?
A huge 'poof'!
And all of the sudden the water started boiling!
The reason is because when lye is dissolved,
it releases heat.
I could go into much more details like why and how,
and what exact reaction took place, but I would have
to fill up a whole page on my blog explaining. ;)
And you just might get a little bored. ;o)

Either way, I had lots of fun!

I hope everyone's having a great week.
I've been very busy, and I'm about to go
grocery shopping with my dad:)
We went on a daddy/daughter date Monday;
went to the mall, Walgreens, and a chinese restuarant.
I'm so glad he's home!