Poem #1 If All The Seas Were One Sea

I was doing laundry today and an idea came to me. Don't act so shocked, ideas do come to me on occasion. I've been thinking the past few days, for some reason, about what I want to pass on to my children. Of course, as I've thought and told many people numerous times, I do not want to have children of my own, I want to adopt. But that is beside the point.
I was feeling very nostalgic. I was thinking about the poems my mum used to read to me all the time when I was little. The poems in the giant book that was my mum's when she was little. The poems in the book that is sitting in a trunk in my room. And I thought about how much I loved and adored those poems and would read them over and over when I learned how to read and how they taught me so much.
I really want to pass that down to my future child(ren).
It occurred to me that not many people now, especially of my generation and younger, have had these poems shared with them. They don't know many of the classic poems. In my point of view, from my perspective, that is a terrible shame.
So, I thought that this month I'll put up a new poem from my childhood book of poems every day. There are 142 poems in the book, (I just counted, hehe), so sharing one a day should not be a problem.
I think all children should be exposed to these classic poems and lullabies.
That's my opinion, and I am sure lots of people, especially teens, will think that this is a stupid idea. But I don't really care. It's important to me.

The poem I'm sharing today is a favorite. If All The Seas Were One Sea.
It took me a year or so to actually get the humor in it. Which makes me feel awfully slow after reading it now. So yes, I love this poem, I hope you enjoy it. :)

IF ALL THE SEAS WERE ONE SEA

If all the seas were one sea,
What a great sea that would be!
And if all the trees were one tree,
What a great tree that would be!
And if all the axes were one axe,
What a great axe that would be!
And if all the men were one man,
What a great man he would be!
And if the great man took the great axe,
And cut down the great tree,
And let it fall into the great sea,
What a splish splash that would be!




The book is appropriately called "Best Loved Nursery Rhymes and Songs" published by Parents' Magazine, it is the '1974 Edition' and says it is the Library of Congress Catalog No. 63-12348
If you were interested. I kind of doubt it.
Love you peoples!
Have a great day,
And God bless!
~Tara

\\\\]{Snowshoeing}[////

I have been sick, it's true, for the majority of the week. Missed two days and 8 out of 9 periods-worth of school. Lots of homework.
Not fun.
As I just told my brother, I am sick of being sick.
However, that did not stop my mom(who, along with my dad, I seem to have infected with my sickness :-o), from dragging us all to go snowshoeing for the first time. I'm sure you can tell how I felt about that. But, my attitude changed.
Today was a, heh heh, 'warm' Minnesota day. It was probably 30-35 degrees out where we were. Which is spectacular and felt great since last weekend we were all subzero. I didn't even wear a coat.(smart, really, I know, me being sick and all) (sarcasm people) (making these little bracket things (these()) is fun)
Anyways, stay focused Tara, it was a gorgeous day. Practically no wind at all, sun shining for the most part. We went to the building where people talked to us about snowshoeing, showed how to put snowshoes on, and made us play one of those 'get to know you' games. (My name is Tara, I like Art, and I'm okay at Art)[I couldn't think of anything better to say]
Then we picked out a pair of snowshoes and went outside to put them on. Getting them on wasn't too hard, not with the kind I had chosen, and I was surprised to be one of the first people done. Rachel had come with us, :-D , and we talked for a while while we waited for people to finish getting their snowshoes on. Rachel is, in the nicest way possible, prone to slipping, falling, and especially tripping. We were both concerned about falling with the snowshoes on, and our first few steps were very careful.
It was strange, once we were on the trail with the whole group, after we had gone for a while, the snowshoes started to feel normal. Like I had adapted to them. Let me tell you though, it is a workout, you burn like 400-600 calories an hour, if I remember right. And because you have to keep a wider stance, it works a different group of muscles too. My legs were very tired towards the end.
The scenery was of utmost beauty. There were lots of dry golden leaves still on the trees. The snow blanketed everything and whatever it didn't cover was sharp and crisp because of the wonderful contrast. It was very refreshing.
To swallow my pride, I will say that I fell at least twice. But I got right back up.
I had a lot of fun. I would recommend snowshoeing to everyone. As the ladies who led us said, 'anyone who can walk can snowshoe', and they were right.
That was my first time snowshoeing. Probably won't be my last. I was being stupid and didn't even think to bring my camera, though I wish I had. There were lots of potential great shots.
Although, with all those people, I might not have wanted to stop and slow everyone behind me down.
So, yep, I had a lot of fun. I am super tired.
Tomorrow I am going to tackle the rest of my homework.
Heads up to my friends at school, I will definitely be needing help.
A special thanks to Emily for making me go home on Friday. It means a lot that you care so much, and I will never forget how you said, 'You sound gross. Go home.' Thank you so much, I love you. I think I will be coming back Monday, but now I'm not so sure. Probably.
God bless you all
Enjoy the weather, if the weather happens to be nice where you are. Don't walk out in an ice storm or tornado, please.
With much much much much love
~Tara

Sunday Afternoon With Hope

My Sunday afternoon was spent in the company of Hope.
Actually, Hope came home from church with my mother, brother, and I.
She smiled as we rode home together.
When she got in our house she asked to watch a movie.
All right, so Hope is the name of an incredible 5(?) year old. But her name fits, as she was the first girl born with 4 older brothers. Now she has a younger brother and a very new baby sister (name Grace).
She asked if she could 'go to Mary Jo's house'? That worked for us and her family, so she came home with us. I spent all afternoon with her, except for a few intervals where I had to do laundry. We watched The Grinch, which she said was a kind of scary movie sometimes, and most of Shrek. She and I petted my rats for a long time and talked about them. She said that instead of Venice and Firenze I should have named them Brownie and Whitey. She sort of reminds me of me when I was younger.
Then Hope, my mom, and I went into my mom's work. Mom is a special education teacher, so Hope and I played in the Motor Room (pretty much a playroom that the kids in her class use to further develop their motor skills). I don't know how long we were there, but it was a lot of fun. I just love making her laugh, and it seems so easy to do. I do love that about little kids.
Then we came home and she played with markers,(she drew Summer, which is her favorite season), and she played with the stamps I made in Art class. She liked those a lot.
Then her dad came and picked her up. That was my lovely afternoon/evening with Hope.

My afternoon with hope is also kind of literal. Sunday School was very good. Our new 'curriculum' hadn't gotten there yet, so instead we read some verses and said what we thought they meant. I liked it a lot more than our normal corny curriculum. I think that the others liked it more too, it kind of brought us closer together. I felt great once we started reading Scripture. I had been super tired before that. A side effect of the pills I'm taking now is supposed to be extra energy, but it seems to have the opposite effect: I've been getting fatigued thoroughly and suddenly since I started taking them Friday. However, I think that may just be my body trying to adjust to it. I guess I'll find out in a few more days.

Added to my hope is a letter I received today but have not yet read. I know it will lift me up, and probably make me cry. There is an awesome lady at my church whom I do not know very well but still love dearly. I'm not sure what all my mom told her about me, but last Sunday she asked if I'd let her write me a letter and gave me a hug. This Sunday she gave me a hug along with a letter. With Hope coming home with us and then having to finish last minute homework I sort of forgot about it until now. I think I'm going to read it before I go to bed tonight.

One last thought for you: Aren't babies incredible and precious?
My Sunday school teachers are Hope's parents. As I mentioned, Hope has a brand new baby sister. Grace came with her parents to Sunday school today, as she did last week. Last week she was not next to me. This week, she was. I could not stop staring at her as she slept. I kept looking at her tiny little hand and those itty-bitty fingernails, comparing them to mine. Hers are so small and nearly wrinkle-free and make mine seem ancient in comparison. Her eyes are incredible too, piercingly blue and very bright. She was not sleeping peacefully, she kept moving her hands and wrinkling the new skin on her face. It is comical to see a sleeping baby wrinkling her forehead. I fell in love with her. And I don't know how or why. I just kept thinking how God has blessed us with babies, and wondering how anyone could wish, much less do, a baby harm. I love having days like this.
Today was a great, peaceful, day.
Thank the Lord, I needed this more than I knew.
God bless you all and watch over you this week.
With much love
~Tara

soooooo

Haha, no one else will find this funny: it's weird because I posted picture posts, then poem posts, and then a bunch of video posts. And now I am actually typing up a real post. See, I told you you wouldn't think it was funny.

I actually don't have much I want to say.
I needed to update.
Oh, cool thing: I now have recently downloaded the Supernatural episodes Wishful Thinking(Season4!), The Benders(Season1!)and Skin(Season1!). The bad thing? Haha, guess what language Skin is in? Yea, French. No, I do not know French. I haven't deleted it yet though. I'm thinking I might learn how to say, 'Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a few days' in French. Hehe, that would be strange. It is a little funny to watch parts of it because the French voices are so unlike Jared Padalecki's and Jensen Ackles' voices. But I am hoping to download the English version of the episode soon. Currently Bad Day At Black Rock (Season3!) is trying to download. It's at 79.9% currently. That is possibly my favorite episode of Supernatural ever. You probably noticed that most of the videos I just posted are Supernatural-related. That is because I am so excited the season has started again. No more reruns. Although, I am very disappointed with Season 4. It hasn't been nearly as good as season 1 was, or even season 3. The best episodes so far I think have been Yellow Fever, Wishful Thinking, and Family Remains. Although, this week's episode, titled After-School Special, looks to be a treat. I think that it's another flash-back type episode. If I remember right, we'll get to see Sammy in Middle School, getting bullied :(
All of the finals that were postponed last week because of a snow day were taken care of this week. Ugh. It was terrible. I wrote a stupid poem about tests like two weeks ago. Here it is:

I Hate Standardized Testing
My mind is weary
From these tests
These letter grades
Don't prove my worth
It's such a loss
Of common sense
Tests standardized
Spend an hour watching us
We are far from uniform
Standardized
Desensitized
Loosing my mind
Days go by
Daze grows stronger
Question standardized tests:
Thoughtless how much longer?

It's no winner, I'll say that much. But it is true, I do hate those standardized tests. The tests I was taking weren't the MCA's or anything, that'll come later this year I believe. yippee

Another, very very 'what were you thinking?' poem, written January 21, 2009:

None Sense - With Muffins!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
No...Wait...
It's a flying muffin!
It es coming!
Coming to hit everyone
With a moustache in the face!
Look at it swoop down!
Oh! The mayor has been knocked down!
It's
MUFFIN MUTINY!
Ahhh!
Beware all ye who
Must stash a moustache!
MUAHAHA - it's the
Evil Muffin LAUGH!

That is exactly how I wrote it...don't judge me...I know, it is so terrible.
It made Vicki laugh and give me a weird look though...glad I can amuse someone...

Well, I am going to go eat my lunch. BBQ Ribs! They smell so good. With vermicelli and rice!
Then I am to be dragged off to go shopping with Joram, Rachel, and my mom. Nope, I don't like shopping, but mom says she wishes I would go, which means, 'get your coat on, you're coming.'

Oh, quickly I must share with you the lyrics to one of my favorite Lifehouse songs, Simon. You should go listen to it. Happy Weekend! God bless! ~Tara

Simon --A wonderful song by Lifehouse
catch your breath
hit the wall
scream out loud
as you start to crawl
back in your cage
the only place
where they will
leave you alone
'cause the weak will seek the weaker 'til they've broken them
could you get it back again
would it be the same
fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense
left you with no defense
they tore it down
and i have felt the same
as you
i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same
locked inside
the only place
where you feel sheltered
where you feel safe
you lost yourself
in your search to find
something else
to hide behind
the fearful always preyed upon your confidence
did they see the consequence
they pushed you around
the arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones
breaking them 'til they've become
just another crown
and i have felt the same
as you
i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same
refuse to feel
anything at all
refuse to slip
refuse to fall
can't be weak
can't stand still
and watch your back
'cause no one will
you don't know why they had to go this far
traded your worth for these scars
for your only company
and don't believe the lies that they have told to you
yea, not one word is true
you're all right
you're all right
you're all right
and i have felt the same
as you i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same
as you i've felt the same




Happy Weekend!
God bless!
~Tara

Treeon / Ling Ling

His newest video. It has his grandpa, Leon, in it. Pretty awesome. I like it.

Supernatural - Bad Day

Not as good as a different Bad Day vid I saw a year or so ago, but that one was taken off of YouTube because of 'copywrite infringement'-I thought that was a shame, but YouTube's trying to crack down on that sort of stuff.
Bad Day At Black Rock is one of the best Supernatural episodes, and this song fits that perfectly.

F.U.N - Supernatural

As much as I dislike Spongebob...This made me laugh very hard. I had to watch it twice to make sure it was real. Here it is for you. Enjoy, DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY(don't even think of what they are actually saying, if you do, it is not nearly so funny)

When You Play Supernatural Backwards

This was pretty good.
Song is Backwards by Rascal Flatts.
FYI:I am going on a YouTube rampage.
And this was great, had to share it, they even got a bunch of the clips to almost fit the lyrics. Kudos!

Supernatural - Do You Like Waffles?

This was too awesome to pass up.
Hannah, I am going to email this to you, because you sent me that email with this song in it! And then I heard it in this vid, and it totally reminded me of you! Thanks!
Haha, I laugh every time I watch this!
Enjoy everyone!
:D
God bless
as always, love TARA

More Poems &:-)

I Can't Reflect

Mirror mirror
Can't see me
Have I no reflection
Need some redirection
Where to begin
It starts with me
It ends where
No ideas
Nothing new
So routine
Look at me
Watch myself
No reflection
No reaction
I can't feel
Nothing's new
It's all fake
All dead
With no reflection
My one reflection
Comes from you
Mirror mirror
Need some redirection here


For Follow you need to go with me through it. For each word, think of an image that goes with it, an image that follows the word in your mind, and try to flow through the poem; not so much from word to word, more so from image to image.

Follow
Tell
Talk
Speak
Shout
Yell
Scream
Listen
Silence
Patient
Waiting
Nervous
Anxious
Shake
Tremble
Stand
Walk
Run
Jog
Slow
Breathless
Gasping
Drowning
Confusion
Sinking
Hopeless
Light
See
Kick
Swim
Breakthrough
Air
Breathing
Tell

I Thank You So Filled With Insight

.

.

.

.

.

Two eyes sit and stare at me

Through me can they see

Behind my mask, shallow facade

Look within

I draw back

You scare me

With all your insight

You just might see me

See through me

Behind my mask

Take a breath

Plunge within

Diverge my sunken soul

Drowning in my tears

Slowly loosing breath

Grab me, Drag me

To the surface

Gasp

I see the broken soul I drowned

You saved

It's so unfamiliar

Closer I creep

Sopping wet

There it is

My hand grazes it

I draw back

It's mine, I realized just now

Like an old friend, I smile shyly

Shocked

Then rush forth

Embrace

Joyfully I thank you

You so filled with insight

You who saved my soul

.

.

.

.

.

Written entirely by Tara Boehning, January 8th, 2009

Hi everyone!
I wanted to share some pictures with you all.
It's a pretty random assortment, and I hope you enjoy them. :)

I slipped right after I took this picture. I thought I broke my camera, but luckily I fixed it. *whew!*

I love my bracelets

Yay bracelets! And my guitar pick necklace!

Yummy ice cream cake frosting.

....Melting...

SCARY

Nice Bro -- on my computer

Brisingr! -awesome so far-

I love the pictures of the lights.

Making Playdough

I was cutting up potatoes and I was bored, so here's the result

Warmth

FIRE!

This is a short little story, it just happened today, I thought that it was very amusing, and she said it was okay if I shared it with you all. So here it is. :)

My friend Emily had a band lesson after school today. Usually our band teacher is on time, but for some reason today he wasn't coming back in the room. He does moniter the halls after school, but he usually will stop that and go to listen to his students desperately try to play their lessons.

Five minutes had passed, and he still hadn't showed up. Emily saw that he was talking to some other teachers, and she didn't want to interrupt in case it was something important. She then went back to the band room and sat down. Being the industrious girl she is, she practiced her instrument. The fingerings and whatnot for her French Horn.

Well, it was still a few minutes later when our band teacher finally came back to his room. He saw her sitting there and asked why she hadn't come and gotten him. She answered that she was practicing her fingerings, so it was okay. The best part of the story, he didn't make her have her lesson! And she thinks that he probably won't make her make it up, either! That was so awesome! She came down to my mom's room to tell me about it, and we were both really happy about it.

Just a little story that I thought you might enjoy. It is a lot more interesting if you know the teacher or my friend. But, that's how practically all stories are, right?

God bless you guys, have a great week, and I hope that you liked my pictures!

~Tara

New Year/Invisible Children

This was really cool. It's awesome that he wants to help people, and I wanted to share this with you, I haven't watched the movie yet, but I think I will. It is so terrible that this stuff is going on, and I know we all like to ignore it and pretend that it really isn't happening, but it is. It is bare reality to millions every day. This is the site:
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

Happy New Year! ~~~~~2009~~~~~

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope that you've all had a great first day of 2009!
I spent it at my aunt and uncle's beautiful house.
Boy, Eric and Nicholas sure have grown, physically and mentally.
Eric is almost 3 (I'm pretty sure, someone please correct me on this if they know), and Nicholas just turned 6! He has a December birthday, just like me! We're extra-special like that.
I am wearing the new guitar shirt I got for Christmas for the first time today, it's very comfy, thanks mom!
Thanks Scott and Frances for the CD's, chocolate, and the adorable mittens! I needed mittens, all I have are gloves. Thank you! Oh, and making little sculptures out of clay was so much fun! Frances, you are so creative. And I've always loved making stuff out of clay, so that was awesome!



I don't know what else to write.

Oh, thanks Hannah, for the Christmas newsletter, I've never gotten one just to me before! It was exciting! Love the picture too.


I'm tired. Hopefully I'll have something better or more insightful or more, well, just more, to say some other day. Because if I don't, I basically just said this blog is dead. But it's not!It's not! IT IS SOOOOO NOT DEAD! Never!!!!.....*cough*.....*cough*...


God bless you all! Have a blessed new year!
~Tara

Happy Christmas!

Reason For Christmas
(this isn't the Bible passage people normally use when they tell/read the Christmas story. i thought it might be a bit refreshing to use another passage. also, if you want to really pay attention to the story, it might help to type up the whole thing if you aren't a very good typer, too :)

Mathew 1:18-4:17 (Holy Bible NLT)



Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiance`, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.

As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus*(*Jesus means 'The LORD saves'), for he will save his people from their sins." All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet"



"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning, God is with us)." {Isa 7:14, 8:8,10}



Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him."

Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. "Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?" he asked them.

"In Bethlehem," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:



'O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'"



Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were and they fell down before him and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child." That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my son out of Egypt."

Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier. Herod's brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah:



"A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah--weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted--for they are dead." {Jer 31:15}



When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him, "Get up and take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead." So Joseph returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid. Then, in another dream, he was warned to go to Galilee. So they went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets concerning the Messiah: "He will be called a Nazarene."

In those days John the Baptist began preaching in the Judean wilderness. His message was, "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,



"He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: Prepare a pathway for the Lord's coming! Make a straight road for him!" {Isa 40:3}



John's clothes were woven from camel hair, and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem and from every section of Judea and from all over the the Jordan Valley went out to the wilderness to hear him preach. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them. "You brood of snakes!" he exclaimed. "Who warned you to flee God's coming judgement? Prove by the way that you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, 'We're safe--we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham. Even now the ax of God's judgement is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize with water those who turn from their sins and turn to God. But someone is soon coming who is far greater than I am--so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the grain with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with the never-ending fire."



Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John didn't want to baptize him. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said, "so why are you coming to me?"

But Jesus said, "It must be done, because we must do everything that is right." So then John baptized him.

After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he was the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him."



Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. Then the Devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread."

But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say,



'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.'{Deut 8:3}"



Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,



'He orders his angels to protect you. And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.'{Ps 91:11-12}"



Jesus responded "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.' {Deut 6:16}"

Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory. "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me."

"Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say,



'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.' {Deut 6:13}"



Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.



When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. But instead of going to Nazareth, he went to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy:



"In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River--in Galilee where so many Gentiles live--the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined" {Isa 9:1-2}



From then on, Jesus began to preach, "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near."









Merry Christmas everyone,

May God bless you.

With much love,

~Tara

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve everybody!
I hope that you are all having a great day and are excited for tomorrow. I am. I love the holidays that we get to spend with family. I don't know why we can't always get together anyways (actually, jobs and distance are the factors so I suppose I do know if I'm forced to admit it), but holidays are wonderful excuses to see everyone and get everyone together.
Let's not forget the 'Reason for the Season' as they say.
Tomorrow is the day we have chosen to celebrate Jesus' birthday.
Let's not forget Him in all of this last-minute shopping and baking and everything else. I encourage you to take a moment to stop everything and say a little prayer thanking God for sending His Son.
God bless!
~Tara

I'm back for now :-)

I am back for now.
Internet is back.
YouTube has been watched.
New music has been listened to.
Emails have all been replied to.
Junk emails have all been unmercifully deleted.
My computer is under control again!
Yay!

Today (Sunday) I did not make it to church. The snow was terrible, and the wind was blowing it over the road. Have you experienced that incredible, strange, illusion-like feeling when the white snow is blown horizontally across the black of the road? It's the strangest feeling. I like it. I'm pretty sure that it makes some people sick though. After you watch it for a little while your mind and eyes start to go weird though and you have to refocus. That's why we didn't go to church.

I did go to our Christmas Program though. I was in it. Wahoo. Two practices and I was only able to go to one since the other one was after church today. No one really knew their lines. Well, of course I knew my lines. (Actually, I didn't have any lines to learn). We , the Youth Group, were doing a skit with an anchorwoman interviewing a bunch of different people. I was the camera-girl. Yay! I had to walk backwards for the first scene, and I told them I would trip, well I made it okay to where I was supposed to stand, but I shifted my weight and stepped back one more step and I almost tripped over the manger and Baby Jesus! Ahh! Then I almost started to laugh. I actually did laugh a few times during the performance, there was a lot of corny humor and also since no one knew their lines they were reading their props. It was fun. I think we all enjoyed it.

Right now I am relaxing. Talking to my friend Vinz over IM.
HE GOT A BLOG!
Now Hannah, you HAVE to update yours. :P
I am also eating these 'Loacker' wafers. From ITALY!!! Yay! Thank you Aunt Debbie! And I am drinking the tea she gave me from Italy as well. It is very delicious.

I can't wait for Christmas. I want to see my family again.
Love to everyone!
God bless you
~Tara

NO INTERNET! X(

I am sorry to inform you all that I haven't had Internet access all week. I'm typing this up quickly at school.
I just wanted you all to know.
I cannot get to my emails, so unless you sent something to me before about 5 minutes ago, I will not read that email until I get Internet again. I have no idea what is wrong with my Internet connection, I couldn't find anything wrong, so my mom is going to have to call in the pros. Namely, my awesome Uncle Bob. (Really, his name is Bob.)
I just thought I'd tell you all.
I am also experiencing YouTube withdrawal XD. But it's been a week, so I'm a little over it.
Love you guys!
God bless, have a very Merry, Happy, Awesome, Stellar Christmas!
~Tara

For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

This is a sweet backwords video. For some odd reason I fell in love with it. Don't ask because I don't know. It's just really cool. Or, I thought it was. For something a little different, here it is.
Oh, did you know Mitchell has OCD? He's said it a few times. I thought that was kind of interesting. Okay, I am going to bed.
God bless!
~TARA

A Video For The Lost

The promised Mitchell Davis video. A Video For The Lost. I love the part with Leon, his grandpa.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
God bless
~TARA

I Made It To The Weekend & My Fifteenth Year!

Technically I'm not 15 yet, but in a few hours I will be.
*YAY*
So, I've already opened my presents.
It was pretty cool, I actually laughed out loud when my mom said to get ready to open my presents. Know why? I'll tell you: The guitar was supposed to be my birthday present! And they forgot or something!
My great parents gave me Comatose comes ALIVE from Skillet, pretty sweet, I've already listened to it and I'm thinking I might watch the DVD tomorrow. Plus, I also received this sweet black pinstriped hat! (Yep, I'll get some pics on here. Not gonna say when, because I really don't have any idea)
My friends were great: They decorated my locker! Thanks guys! :) And, since you all didn't make me an Italian flag to put on my locker, I made two(2!) during Art class. Yes, both of them are staying inside my locker; hopefully to the end of the school year. (I put 2 hearts on the middle of one of them. I made a heart stamp in Art and was trying it out. It's pretty cool, I did green/white/red with it so the hearts are like Italian too)
Oh, of course, I love my presents from you guys too!
If you didn't hear, I named the Polar Bear Hannah L gave me Sasha(because that is a very pretty and pleasant name that I like) she is so soft and adorable!, and I love the little angel Emily and Rachel gave me! It's so great, thank you so much!
Kenzie (can I call you Kenzie?) Thanks for the card! I kinda tend to wear stripes every Monday, as Vicki pointed out to me(I hadn't noticed), but sure, next time we plan a stripes day, you are going to be informed!
I'm planning to take pics of my presents and decorate my room some more and get some pictures of that, but again, I am not going to say anything definite about it.
Whoa, I feel kind of bad about not giving a deadline on the pictures. I just don't know how this weekend is going to go.
Umm, I'm a little uncomfortable, I don't think that's the right word, no, I'm a little wary? That's not right either. I guess I don't exactly know how I feel about this, but I want to let you all know and kind of let me get it on paper. Bear with me, please.
My Grandma has cancer. It's some rare form with a long name that I can never remember and never really wanted to remember. (I'm sorry, I really don't know how to put this.) She had breast cancer when my mom was younger, but they were able to take out the tumor or get rid of it somehow. Something like that. But a new form, this rare one, she has it now. The doctors said that it would never completely go away. But she was doing very very well with chemo and all of that stuff (her hair never did fall out!), and the cancer was practically gone. The doctors couldn't see it any more at least. My Grandma always is a fighter. On Wednesday(I really hope that's right) she had to go into surgery for her cancer again because it had gotten worse. She'd been feeling really bad for a few weeks I think. Anesthetics always are really hard on my Grandma, so after the surgery she was extremely exhausted. I can't even imagine. The doctor removed, ah, I can't remember how many tumors, and then I think over two gallons of..what are they called?..Cysts. Yes, I looked it up. Over two gallons! That explains why she was so uncomfortable, it was all in her abdominal region. The doctor said that if he were to remove more it would've killed her.
The incredible thing about my Grandma, or I should say one of the many incredible things about my Grandma is how she recovers. I heard that today she was already walking when just out of surgery she could hardly move. And she was walking fast! My aunt was telling her to slow down. I think that my Grandma is even coming home, or at least moving from the hospital to my aunt's house, tomorrow. Isn't she amazing? She amazes me. And, if she read this, she might be mad that I said so much and worried, but I had to get it out. Emily, I was talking to you about it today but I really don't think you were listening, but that's okay. Now I said it and I kind of feel better.
Grandma, I love you so much I can hardly believe it. That sounds weird but it's just because I stopped loving a lot of things and people for a few years but I never stopped loving you or Grandpa. That has to say something about you both. I love you so much!
I can't really break off of that onto a lighter note.
I guess I'll just list this stuff then:
*I think I did okay on my Science test
*I got an A on my math test/quiz
*We're going to start making Christmas Cards in Art on Monday :)
*I still really want to leave my school
*I'm feeling pretty lost with my life right now
That's about it. It's 12:16 now. I guess that makes it my birthday. I don't feel much different. A little sadder.
Why? I'm not sure. Maybe I'm tired. I'm feeling pretty pessimistic right now, that has to have something to do with it. I'm worried about my friends. I'm feeling like mostly the world is doomed. And that really frustrates me. I also feel like a machine a little, because I only ever do what I'm told and I have fun but no one thinks I do because I don't really like socializing or doing stuff with lots of people. My mom says I have to join something this Spring. Like some sort of sports thing. I hate competition. I know that I will become so anxious I will throw up! Thinking about it already makes me nauseous because I have to do something but I don't want to subject myself to all that emotional junk. It's like I cannot adequately convey all of these emotions and stuff and everything that's still messed up in me to my mom. She doesn't understand or maybe she just thinks that I'm making up excuses. It's just like how I cannot emotionally handle reading the book Rachel's Tears or She Said Yes. I can't. That's what sent me spiraling into my depression in the first place. Or that's as far back as I've traced it. Just this week Emily was saying how I should read Rachel's Tears, and I told her how I could not read it and she said it was scary, the look in my eyes and on my face. I still can't handle really even thinking about it. I should try to work through that probably, but I don't know how to or where I would even start. Somehow competition wormed it's way into being right in the same category as She Said Yes. I think of them together. I have no idea where the connection is. I can't handle competition, I feel worthless even on the off-chance I win and I hate how people always say 'Good job!' whether you do well or not. Maybe I shouldn't, because they are just being nice, but I don't like it. Like I said, I don't want to subject myself to it. I'll probably never sleep. I can't sleep when I'm worrying or anxious, so I suppose it's a miracle I sleep at all. Actually, it might be, because every night I have to pray to be able to sleep well and get enough sleep to get through tomorrow. The nights I forget to pray that I usually am really tired the next day. Incredibly, if it's early morning or really late at night and I can't sleep and I start to pray for sleep and for the people I'm especially worried about, I usually will fall asleep and have enough energy for the next day even though I physically shouldn't. God's wonderful like that.
Yea, I suppose that that is really adding to my sadness right now too.
I'm sorry I just turned that into a pity-party. I needed to get it out though.
Good night(or morning I guess)
God bless
~TARA


p.s.
I'm gonna add another of my favorite Mitchell Davis videos quick. This one makes me laugh every time. I've already watched it who knows how many times. But I like how it makes me laugh. And Juno was a pretty good movie with a pretty cool soundtrack. :-)

Double Dare

OKAY, this is another Mitchell Davis 'LiveLavaLive' video. It truly captures the heart of homework. In 0:20 and 0:26, that is purely how difficult homework makes me feel. So, I had to share this. I laughed so hard, he got it perfect! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. XD
God bless!
~TARA

You're Awesome /

This is the new person on YouTube I just found. Mitchell Davis. He has a few good vids.

This is probably my favorite. You're Awesome. That's all I can say, I have to do my homework and this doesn't take as long as making an actual post. ENJOY :)


Oh, HEY!!!!
My birthday is this SATURDAY!!!!! It's already Wednesday night.

Pretty soon I am going to be 10 and 5 years! That's just, wow, crazy. 15 years on Earth. I'll have to think about this some more later. I'll get back to you. :)
God bless!
~TARA

I'm So Happy! :-)

Heeeeeyyy Everybody!
I am so happy! I'm not sure why. I like it though!
It's snowing! The snow is so beautiful! Just swirling and falling and dancing. I think that if snow could have emotion,(maybe it does) that it's joyful.
I don't really have anything to say.
Ah, I was on YouTube(I finally got myself an account! Yea!) and I came accross this kid. Andrew Cloer I think he's a really good guitarist(but I don't really know). He got me to laugh too in a few of his vids.(especially year 3000 bloopers and a day in the life of Andrew)
That's kinda random I know, but I thought I'd mention him since I spent quite a while yesterday watching some of his videos. Maybe mentioning him here might also getting him a few more hits :) He seems nice.
Oh! And I'm supposed to put my Christmas/Birthday Wish List on here. It'll be in the sidebar.
<<<<<<<<<<
I'll do that next. Thank you ahead of time all of my wonderful relatives. I love you all!
God bless
~Tara

SURPRISE!!

HANNAH!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CAME!! AHHHHHH!!!!!
OH MY GOSH! IT'S LIKE I'M STILL RECOVERING!

So, my long-lost friend visited me from Missouri!!!!

I had had a great day, was it last Friday? Already a week? It feels like it wasn't that long ago. But at the same time, I don't know, it's like it was forever ago.

Anyways, last Friday, it was a great day. I can't remember exactly why, oh, right, it was Thanksgiving weekend! (Sorry, I wanna get a background going, then the exciting part will come, have patience young grasshopper). Thanksgiving was WONDERFUL! My entire family, that's right, my dad came too!, went to my aunt and uncle's awesome house. They live north of us a little bit, closer to the cities, and their house is GIGANTIC!! It's beautiful too. I love it, wood floors and lots, I mean LOTS, of windows. Nice furniture too. But the best part wasn't the house, or the food (Fabulous food though! Love the mashed potatoes!), it was my family. Almost everyone was there! All my relatives from Duluth came, including my baby cousin Brijette! (Okay, technically, she's my 1st cousin once removed, but I like to call her my baby cousin)

Bri can now walk, she's growing up so fast, and she can say a few words, growing up fast like lightning. She can say hi!, hot, baby, papa, ma, and almost ball. I think she knows a few others too. Probably a lot more by now, actually. She would've just turned one yesterday, I believe, the fourth. Happy Birthday Brijette!

So, I had a lot of fun seeing my family and watching them play their annual football game, I don't know who won, but Anna, you did great! I saw one of the times you slid, it looked painful!

I stayed overnight then, at my cousins. They are twins, brother and sister, and no, as I have ridiculously had to tell many people after giving the fact that they are twin brother and sister, they are NOT identical! They're both 17, and can we say sibling rivalry? Not to be mean you guys, but you do fight almost constantly. I still had fun though! We saw Twilight, it was pretty good. We all thought it would be really terrible, but it wasn't. I liked the baseball scene, and the scene where the Cullens' enter the Cafeteria the most. After we saw the movie we thought we should go buy the book! So we went to a Target, the lights were ON! but they were not open. At least 2 other cars pulled into the parking lot as we were leaving though. They really looked like they were open. It was also quite the adventure getting home, *ahemNick!* but no, we did get home in one piece and no one attacked us at the creepy gas station. So, anyways, we listened to part of the book on YouTube and then we went to bed because it was really late. Ooh, I also introduced my cousin's to Fred on YouTube, Ashley liked him, but Nick, oh my goodness, you thought he was annoying! lol, i get that, it was just kind of funny since you don't mind the Charlie the horse going to Candy Mountain or whatever ones. *It's A Leopluridon, Charlie!* Wow, we almost died laughing.

ANYWAYS, I came home, was only there for maybe half an hour, when my best friend Emily shows up! I was surprised and happy! Yay! It's Emmy, and she's gonna sleep over! I wasn't suspicious at all! I shoulda been! So, we talked about girl stuff for a while and ate some pizza when someone else pulls into the driveway! Who is it? Since my dad is an auto mechanic and works at home I just figured it was some dude dropping off a car that needed work. I was SO WRONG!

Hannah! You came! And Emily knew and didn't tell me!

I actually SCREAMED I was so excited!

I loved that, I can't express it Hannah and Em, I just loved being with both of you again! And, you are so right, next time you come, we should go for walks at night again. That was so cool, we saw a shooting star! It had a really long, greenish tale and it was actually moving pretty slow. That was awesome!

It was just like old times, except maybe it was even better! And we saw Twilight together too, now Em wants to read the books!

I miss you again Hannah!

Here are the pictures! They can't capture the joy and fun we had though. And we were pretty much posing in all of them. Em, you got some random pics though, right?

So, enjoy, Hannah, you better read this and laugh at the awesome pictures!

God bless you all! I hope you had great Thanksgivings!

~TARA

We're like this!Hannah, your hightops really are awesome! So cool!That's right! I put the Superman pic online! What now?! lol, that was too great!

Don't get it? Who does? (But, if you have the DVD for A Series of Unfortunate Events, now I can't remember if it's in the actual movie, but I know that it's in deleted/extended scenes. Jim Carrey does a 'Time Machine' thing, back to when Dinosaurs RULED the Earth! Well, yea, something like that. Go ahead and laugh, we were ;) And no, Emily was Not hurt in the making of this film, or of the other one either!

SORRY!

Hey you guys!
First off, I am so, so sooooo sorry that I haven't updated in over a week!
I felt really bad about it, but, in my defense, I had a pretty busy week.
I had a Spanish test on Tuesday and on Thursday! Don't worry, I studied hard,(Spelling counted, ahh!) and I know I passed the test on Thursday with 100%, that made me feel pretty good. I had a History test on Thursday as well, all about Angel and Ellis Island. I'm not sure how I did, I know I got some wrong and I guessed on a few :( I'm thinking I'm going to get a 'B'. I had a Science test today, too! That was brutal. We had to memorize Newton's 3 Laws earlier this year, and for this test we needed to have Pascal's, Archimedes's, and Bernoulli's Principles memorized. Yuck! But, I crammed the night before, (I don't recommend it), and also in study hall and the hour before science(luckily I have science last hour), and then in class right before we took the test. Also my friend was quizzing me throughout the day, thanks Em! :D
My excuse for Monday night is this: English poster. I was up 'til past midnight working on it. He said 'No homework over Thanksgiving weekend', I came to school Monday, and apparently poster's were due Monday! Over half the class had no idea, so he said he wasn't grading them until Wednesday. I get really stressed and anxious if I don't get stuff done, so I had to do the whole entire poster Monday night because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if it wasn't done. It actually turned out pretty nice, and I got to take a short break to watch Leno's Headlines, I like that piece, he's pretty funny.
The other nights I was working on Christmas cards. Handmade, from the heart. Yea, I'm only making 13 as of now, but I should make some for my family and my mentor too. Otherwise they're all for friends.
I'm kinda in a bind, and I feel really bad about it. I don't know what to get/make my friends for Christmas. I already decided that I'm probably only going to give a few people actual gifts and the rest of my friends will just get cards. I feel kinda bad that I can't get them all something. But I do want to give everyone a candy cane, maybe that will make up for it. My friends that I do want to give presents to, well, I can't really think of anything. Well, except for one of my friends. Two actually, now that I think about it. But that leaves a lot out. I'm going to have to think about this some more. I am putting a lot of effort (and love! :) into the cards though. I like them.
My blog isn't the only thing I've neglected this week. I'm not used to spending my evenings making Christmas cards, and I'm not used to not having a lot of time to do whatever I want, so I didn't practice my guitar this week, (I know, that's really bad), I didn't go on YouTube, I didn't check my email very often, and when I did I only opened like one before I logged back off, I didn't get to spend hardly any time with my dog or cats or my rats. I did get my rats a new toy, they seem to like it.
Well, that's pretty my apology to you all and my excuses, I'll tell you more about my week/last weekend in my next entry!
(Before my mom makes me go off the computer and go to bed, I am so tired!)
God bless!
~Tara :D