Maria von Trapp - Ladies in History

June 28, 2015
Maria von trapp was more than just a singing woman who married and become the mother of 7 kids, as you have seen in "The Sound of Music". In January of 1905, Maria was born into a sad situation. Her mother was her father's second wife, after his first wife died not long before. The life that Maria had as a child was rather confusing as she lived with her uncle (who became her guardian after her father died when she was 3)..so she never really had a family life. 

In her teen years, Maria had a sense of adventure. She loved climbing the mountains near her dear home in Austria. After many days of summer freedom, she felt God telling her to do something more with her time. At this time, Maria didn't fully understand who God is, but she did know that He was Mighty and wonderful. I think that came from the many hours spent in nature.. So, she jumped on a bus and headed to the nearest Abbey. She was very sporadic. ;) 

Maria found life at the Abbey odd. She couldn't understand why you had to have so much silence and prayer. She tried very hard to fit into the life at the Abbey and to become a nun... but it just didn't work with her attitude. Thankfully, she was allowed to be a teacher for some of the young children near the Abbey. She greatly enjoyed this! After a few months, Maria was called by one of the mother nuns. She was going to go be a governess for 7 motherless children. The thought of leaving the place where she felt called was very hard... Maria actually became mad at God! 

 She did enjoy being a governess for the children though...and after a while Captain Von Trapp asked her to marry him. Georg had fallen in love with the woman who had captured his children's hearts. Maria found this very strange and went back to the Abbey in utter anger. A nun was not to marry. That was simple to her, but one of her mentors at the Abbey told her that she thought that God wanted her to marry the Captain and mother his children. Because Maria had much respect for the mother nun, she went back to Georg and accepted his proposal. Maria told herself that she was really marrying the children because she loved them. But after a while, she did indeed find herself in love with the man she married. ;) 


As you know in the movie, Maria Von Trapp and her family left Austria because of Hitler demanding that they would change their political views. Georg was a strong Christian and would not turn his back on his Lord...so they left Austria. As they traveled around, they started singing as a family to earn some money. They became widely known and even traveled as far as America! After a while though, they became sick of travel and settled down in Vermont. (Sadly, Georg died right before this in 1947 due to lung cancer..) They started a lodge which is still in use today. ( there were MANY funny stories about the lodge and the starting of the gift shop, etc, but it would take too long to tell ;)).

 In the end of the book, "The real Maria" (written by her), she tells of how she had a very happy life..she married a wonderful man and had an amazing family. She felt blessed beyond words! And the best part about the whole book for me was in the end when Maria tells of how her daughters prayed and prayed that she would see the difference between Catholicism and Christianity. 

 After her daughters brought her to hear a sermon about the difference, Maria walked out a different woman. She felt very confused and after talking with her dear girls, they explained that they had felt the same. They then continued to tell of how Christ died for your sins without any strings attached. Maria was amazed.  She wrote that she felt that she now had a relationship with Him and not a guilty feeling about following the catholic laws and such. Maria loved the Lord!

 Maria died in 1987 after a heart failure at the age of 82...she never remarried after Georg died 40 years beforehand. She lived a happy life with her family and her new home in the mountains of Vermont. 

Did you know any of these random facts?
Have you watched "The Sound of Music"?
What was your favorite picture?


Raging storm clouds

June 27, 2015
Look...wow. So I took these pictures like within a day apart..without thinking of placing or anything! And, yeah, that storm was a wild one. If I could, I would upload a few videos I took of the torrential rain and winds. I think I could sit here all day comparing the two photos..so amazing what clouds can do!!

Random things that just keep me going:

 Such as taking 4 mile bike rides with your older sister (feel the burn! ;) ) and seeing our neighbor's beautiful horses each time at a distance. But..just this once, the horses were close to the fence, and they let me pet them! Score! 

Or seeing my home in such stunning beauty! I simply adore my country home..with all it's trees and shade. Our amazing swings and driveway which has been turned into a magical chalk world. My quiet little get-away spots..garden, lilacs in May, berries throughout the summer, apples in the fall...and my comfortable bedroom basking in the most amazing blessing God has ever given us, sunlight. 

Geesh, why am I so poetical right now?! Maybe it's part of this cold, people. lol! Sorry ;)
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 Annddd.. I'm doing some little changes to my blog. I think I'm slowly trying to warm up myself to the idea of redoing my design. ;) You see, I'm not big on changes.. haha! So, with some help from my sisters, I have changed the font size and some other little, unnoticeable things. Let me know if you think the font size is annoying.. ;) One other thing, for all of those who look at my blog through a mobile device, let me know if anything on the blog doesn't work for you. :) I want to make everything enjoyable for all! :D

Have you ever pet a horse?
What is the longest bike ride you've ever taken?



Too much ketchup..

June 15, 2015

Have you ever had a day that is just meant for relaxing? Well, last Saturday was just like that. My family and I got some stuff for a cookout and headed out to the park! I kind of realized once we got there that it was warmer than I thought it was..I then regretted the choice of my long sleeve shirt. :P 

 After a while of watching my siblings play on the awesome tire swing, Bree, Sarah, and I decided to go along the footpath in the woods that brings you to the river. Ah....the river! As we goofed off (you know, running down the steep parts laughing all the way...haha!) we snapped tons of pictures. I got quite a bit of blurry ones. ;) We finally found a little spot where we could easily get into the river. I have never felt a more perfect temperature in a river...ever! It felt as sweet and warm as the air..but it had strength and soft movements. I could have stood there all day, letting it run through my fingers, but the girls reminded me that we had to get back before the food was all gone. ;)

 So, after hotdogs, chips, soda (sorry people, I call it soda.. I know some call it pop..or soda pop. lol!), cookies, and those orange packing peanuts we all call cheese puffs. We were stuffed.. of junk food. haha! I kind of decided that swinging wasn't going to be a good idea after I ate so much. 

We spent a good few hours and the park and then headed home to the ice cream waiting in the freezer. You got it..a total junk food day. :D I then grabbed my book (haha, I'm stuck on these Christian westerns..) and sat down while my the rest of my family watched the new Gruffalo movie. Have you ever seen these REALLY cute movies? There are two of them. :) 

 Oh, and something exciting to tell you all! I am officially going to be taking drivers ed this October, so if you could be praying that my nerves won't be sky rocketing, that would be amazing. :D I'm planning on writing up some blog posts about it, but I don't know how many pictures I'll be able to include... I mean, I really can't take photos during class nor when driving! ;) I might be able to snap some when it isn't my turn behind the wheel though! 

Did you take drivers ed? If so, what is your favorite part about driving? How often do you go to parks??
And what is your favorite ice cream?



Will Write for Dresses -- eShakti dress review

June 4, 2015

About two weeks ago I told you about my eShakti dress that was coming in the mail for me to review. Oh, those two weeks were near torture! I waited and waited for the email to notify me that they had shipped my dress..and then once it was shipped, it just happened to be Memorial Day weekend. So I had to wait an extra day. :P Haha! 

I then proceeded to wait..checking the status of my package often. Something I wasn't very happy about was that my dress from eShakti came from India..
The day that the package came I waited and waited, and then when the mail lady came she didn't have it. So, I was on the lookout for some sort of truck.*Bree just squirted me with a water gun* back to the story..  Finally IT CAME! 

I quickly grabbed a picture of the package (Yes..because a friend, HEY YOU, wanted me to. ) and then tore it open and gasped with delight. It was just amazingly beautiful! I changed into it and was sad to discover the neckline was a little low and slightly gaped when I bent over.. Then Super Sewing Sister (aka Bree) quickly fixed that for me. Ah, thank you, Bree!  She had to take out at least 2-3" inches of fabric just to make the neckline higher than it was before.


We waited until the sun was starting to set to have to photo shoot... Oh and technically the "headband" in my hair is the sash..but I liked it in my hair better. ;) 

I think my favorite part of this dress is the cool, summery, fabric! It is so light and relaxing that I was totally comfortable in it. AND THE POCKETS! Ohh, they are the best! Hahaa..at first, I thought that I didn't have pockets in my dress. Just as I was saying to Bree, "well that is going in the review.." my hand slipped into the pocket that I was searching for. Oops! 


Picking my dress was actually very simple. I think I took an hour- at the most. I looked through them all, decided on the possible ones, and then did the definite "yes" or "no" thing. At the end, I was left with this dress and one other. I looked at them and was like, this is the dress I want! Then, I realized it was the first one I had opened. lol! Another great thing was that you are able to change necklines, sleeve length, and dress length on most dresses, making it possible for me to dress modestly! 

I was shocked to discover that my dress was $80! I mean, I am a thrift shop girl here...so, seeing prices like that are crazy to me! Of course, I didn't have to pay the price because this is a dress review, but I must say, I wouldn't be able to afford a dress like these even if I wanted to. So, that is one downside to eShakti. (Also, I don't usually shop online, so this might be low pricing compared to some..) I was very happy with their product though!! 


So, overall, thank you eShakti for making it possible for ladies to choose modest clothing. I will truly enjoy my dress this summer..and you may just see my dress on here again. ;)

You can check out their:

Have you ever gotten an eShakti dress? Do you ride your bike in a dress? lol! Have you ever discovered secret pockets in a favorite garment of your's?



* I do not agree with (nor like) everything on eShakti's website or social networks.


Time machine moments (2)

June 1, 2015
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Carrots.

Mud.

Fields.

I'm a country girl, through and through. When we moved to my beloved home 10 years ago, I had just turned 6. Oh, such a wonderful age to start exploring God's wonderful world! And one thing that I have always loved is dirt...haha, I know. :D So, one day our farmer friend called and told my mom that he had some left over carrots in the fields... that started the adventure. My dad, two sisters and I hiked out to the field with some big bags. It felt like it was forever away..oh, my little legs made traveling a lot slower. Haha! 

We trekked over the irrigation ditches that surrounded the field..I remember that my dad had to practically carry me over them. I have never really liked being above water. Even to this day, bridges and I are enemies. ;) After that I ran to the spot where the carrots were. The dirt was so dark and squishy under my toes. I was so excited! I mean, come on! My dad was actually taking us into the "unknown" land (I had longed to go into the mysterious fields..) to dig into some dirt?! What a fun experience! I can still remember the giggling fits I had over the strangely shaped carrots that I discovered in the dirt. The giggling got even better once we got back and washed them off! I'm serious.. I think we got enough carrots for an army..and at the time, I didn't even like them! :D Oh well..memories are worth more than carrots. ;) 

 Once we got back home I was a total dirt mess. I can't remember how my sisters looked, but I'm sure they were pretty similar. ;) My mom grabbed the camera and captured a picture of her dirty children.. I'm sure laughing the whole while. haha! Oh to be a kid again. :D

Have you ever harvested carrots?? Do you have any messy kid memories? :D