Oh, Blogger, how I've missed thee!

Dear Emmaus Bible College,

I just want to thank you so much for taking me off your mailing list for my years of jucco! It meant a lot to me that you never seemed pushy in your phone calls or letters, and although I heard the Emmaus talk at camp a million times, it wasn't all that bad! Thank you also for filling the minds of young-folk with good, Biblical knowledge! We need more of you in the world!

Now it's time to transfer, and I got your letter again. Thank you, Emmaus Bridal College, but I'm already engaged.

Your Friend,
Grace Page

Cat Farm

I wish I had pictures for this post, but I don't, so you'll just have to bear with me.

So you know how most front doors actually have two doors? On a typical house, one might see a glass/screen door, followed by a pretty wooden door, and when you leave one open, it's okay because there's still a glass door.

Anyway, our house is in the country and we like to have very open windows so lots of sunlight can be let in. As some might say, "We're not really drapes." OUR front door is a glass storm door, followed by a glass door with a wooden frame.

Our pets like to whine to be let in on the other side of our storm door.

Recently, my father added one of those fancy contraptions to our outside door. You know the type: It has a tube and uses air to keep the door from slamming... and then towards the end it shuts quickly? Yeah, normal people have those, and we just got one!

Yesterday, we all came home from a trip to Halstead, and by the time we were all inside taking our boots off, the outside door was still wide open. The cat was a little too late to sneak inside, and got the main door slammed in her face. "Look at the cat!" my dad said, with an anticipating grin on his face. We all watched and waited for the cat to realize what was happening before she took off running, but she just continued to meow and beg to be let in.
Finally, the door slammed shut with just enough time for her to pull her tail in. She turned around with a bewildered expression on her face (if cats can have expressions) and we all laughed at her.
"What are those things called when you have pet ants?" my dad asked. "Ant farms?" I said. "Well, this is a cat farm!"

Recent Happenings

I haven't written, but I've been feeling the need to write for a while now. Here are some recent things that have happened:

• The biggest deal is that I got engaged this Thanksgiving while at Immanuel Mission in Arizona, visiting my Aunt Anne! My favorite quote from the trip was this: Dale: "So Joel, what was your favorite thing that you did on the trip?" Joel: "Grace getting engaged!" It made me laugh, and reminded me of another similar quote from three years ago... Sarah: "So Tim, would you rather have a girl who's really athletic, or one who's really musical?" Tim: "Uh... Grace!" Aw, you both are so sweet!
• Me being engaged leads to me thinking about a wedding, which is quite an adventure when you're on a tight budget! We have a place down, and a date (June 26th, by the way!) so now I can, for the most part, relax. I am getting ready to go on an excursion with my maid of honor to search second-hand stores for a hidden gem of a dress waiting for my expertise to fix it into something wearable... who knows? Maybe we'll find something!
• Speaking of my ability to sew... This blog post has mainly been an excuse to procrastinate a bit more of my task to finish five bridesmaid dresses for a wedding coming up on New Year's Day. Wanna see some pictures?! These are of my sewing adventures so far:
  

Here is the old Pfaff sewing machine I have to work with. She's actually pretty sturdy, and if anything goes wrong, my dad is a great help to fiddle with it for a while.

When I got to this point, Joel said, "Oh, so it's gonna be an Aladin wedding, and all the girls will look like Jasmine?" just to tease me, of course, but he tried one on for a picture!
I've gotten a lot further since then, but I am very ready to get these finished so I can focus on my own wedding! I am determined to have fun with this all, and to only focus on what really matters.

It's Coming!

These last few months have been very interesting, but I am so ready for them to be over.
Wish me luck! We leave for Texas on Thursday!
We'll be sure to not mess with it while we're there.

One day in Spanish Class...

Ayer, en la clase de español, mis compañeros y yo estabamos aprendido gramatica. La professora hablaba de comparasiones de igualdad, y nos preguntό para ejemples. Mi amigo Charlie siempre me llama “Dale” porque el cree que es un nombre comico. El escribiό “Dale es tan arrogante como mi tía.” Despues de compartiό con la clase, la professora dijό, “She’s gonna get you back!” y yo creía que fue un buen idea. En la proxima vec, recordé que Charlie tiene muchos gatos. Compartí con la clase, “Charlie tiene tantos gatos como una vieja loca! Se rieron.

Luego, un otro hombre no entendía la frase y el dijό, “Michael Jordan casas tanto como coches.” La professora fue paciente y le ayudό. El dijό, “Michael Jordan teno casas tanto como coches.” Finalamente, despues de más ayuda, dijό, “Michael Jordan tiene…” Todos los demas fueran impaciente, y yo pensé, “TANTOS, TONTO!!” y empecé a reirse.

Another Thought I like to Think

"You can tell you're in Kansas when..." is something that always runs through my head when something seemingly normal happens, and then I realize that if I weren't a Kansan, I'd think it was strange.
I came up with three such phrases in a single trip in my car yesterday when each of the following actually happened:

"You can tell you're in Kansas when it's raining when you leave the school, then it's really sunny, and then it rains again, and is sunny again before you arrive at your destination."

"You can tell you've spent most of your life in Kansas when you go over an overpass and your ears pop from the altitude change."

"You can tell you're in Kansas when you're on the highway and you drive past a farmer (in typical farmer wear) with his hands in his pockets surveying the task before him. Which, of course, is to replace a wooden billboard with a sign that reads "GOD LOVES YOU!" in giant red letters."

If I had a dollar...

"If I had a dollar for every time that happened in a movie..." Dale exclaimed, as once again we saw someone sneaking into a hospital at night to kidnap a patient.

It then got me thinking of what other things in movies I could get dollars for. What scenes are overdone? What would get me the most dollars? Readers, please comment with your idea(s) of what would be the most profitable to put in the blank spot below.

If I had a dollar for every time ____________ happened in a movie...

I'm not going to make an excuse...

... of why I haven't been writing.

But, I will give you just another plain 'ole post.
Coming home one afternoon, I walked past Joel at his normal spot by the computer, and I did a double take.
"Joel what happened?!"
"I followed in your footsteps and crashed Daddy's electric bike! Give me some skin!
...or should I say gauze?!"
Instead of bumping my fist against his blood-soaked bandage, I got out my camera and took a picture.
"This would make a great blog post."
"Unless I get to it first!"

New Blog

I have started a new blog, dedicated to quotes I gather, and dreams I have. Here it is; check it out!
http://quotesndreams.blogspot.com/

Summer Plans

I had decided not to spend the entire summer at Kansas Bible Camp this year.
...which, of course, for the first time in five years left me with a very empty couple months in my calendar. They filled quickly, though.
Tim and I will be traveling to Georgia again this year, and I am very excited to visit his family.
My good friend Mirtill is coming to visit from Hungary, and I am so very excited to catch up.
I am going to be sewing dresses for a wedding.

The main reason I wasn't at camp, was because it would be good to begin working. After LTC ended, I decided it was a good time to really start filling out applications. Money is such a silly thing, but I felt like I could use some. I paid $7.00 to get my car washed (After Tim and I realized we couldn't do it on our own) only to get a long scratch along one side of my Saturn!
Last Friday I was out job hunting with no luck. Hobby Lobby told me they weren't hiring, and a bakery didn't have any applications left. I decided I should take a break and stop by the car wash; I had called them earlier and they were expecting me. The general manager came out and spoke to me about the scratch, and was very nice about it. I told him that I wasn't angry, and just that I wanted him to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with the machine. He let me sit in the air conditioned convenience store area while he watched the video of my car going through the wash. The girl behind the cash register beamed at me and asked, "Are you applying here?" I told her about the scratch and then added, "But I am job-hunting at the moment." She told me that it was a great place to work, and let me use her pen to fill out an application.
The general manager came back with my seven bucks, two free car wash tickets, and no idea how the scratch got on my car. I had to assure him that I didn't want them to fix it, and then he saw my application. He sent me right away to have an interview with a regular manager. It was short and not awkward, and the guy seemed really impressed with my past experience at KBC, my GPA, and that I ran cross country.

I had another interview today with the general manager and was extremely nervous. What else could they ask me? I already told them everything. As it turned out, he just wanted to tell me what to expect at the job, and then I had to pee in a cup for a drug test. By then, I figured I was hired. I'm excited about a very flexible schedule, and they're excited that I want more than just a summer job. I will pick up some work pants tomorrow, and on Wednesday, I begin my first day as a "Team Player" as they call their employees.

Interesting...

This morning, my mom showed me a bird's nest she moved from the yard to the patio. She liked it because it was full of colorful trash, so she put it on the patio for others to see. She showed me this morning because it had a toad nestled in it's damp, round hole.
"Look at this, Grace! there's a toad in this nest!"
"Oh no! looks like we're going to have some Basilisk problems!"
"Huh?"
"um... nevermind."
Hours later, he was still there, so I moved him from the sun and took some pictures.

...in which I crack myself up about the Church of the Latter-day Saints... AGAIN

Timmy: So now I have to drive to Wichita, work out, drive home, get all dressed up, and then drive ALL the way back out here for my piano final before going to Bible study!

Me: Ooh! so you'll be all dressed up for Bible study?

Timmy: Psh! No! I don't want to be all dressed up for Bible study!

Me: Why not? You'll look like a little Mormon!

Timmy: Your mom's a Mormon!

Me: Don't you mean, my Moms' are Mormons?

Happy Mothers' Day!

This Mothers' day, I wanted to post about my own mother. I decided to pick one small aspect of my mother that I love: her dictionary. My mom has her own personal repertoire of words at her disposal, words that others seldom use, and words that no one else ever has used. Although we often tease her about her vocabulary, this is a very unique trait that makes her who she is. I'm sure my siblings will agree that we enjoy getting to know my mother better as we try to decipher the Alice Page Dictionary.

Here are just a few entries:

Supiy Money - Extra cash saved up for an emergency. The Quechua Indian word supiy means "fart" and originally was used in the Denny family to describe money that one sat on to hide during a board game so others would not know how much they had. Now it can be applied to any object saved and hidden.

Drape - A person who loves to put heavy curtains over all their windows, leaving their house dark and musty.

Chinsey - Cheap, lacking quality

Hoity-toity - higher-class, or unnecessary extravagance

White Patty/ Heifer - a derrogatory term for a white girl

Joelly-Bolly - a nickname for Joel. (occasionally Paully-bally)

Ouchywawa! - an exclamation reserved for when a child gets hurt. Often the child will stop crying and laugh at the word.

Oblong - Not a square, not a circle, not a triangle. Sometimes used to describe rectangles.

A Couple - two or three

Adventures with Grace

On the way to school this morning, I brought my camera along. In February, there were some beautiful picture opportunities that I missed because I lacked a camera. I took this picture even though there weren't many good photo opportunities... yet!Almost to El Dorado, and this is what I saw! I had underestimated the storm's impact on this route. I took a picture to document my predicament for my History teacher, whose class started in 25 minutes.
I tried to take another road. After driving 20 mph in sticky mud that splattered my storm-cleaned car, I realized that I would A. get stuck B. break down C. come across more water, D. take way too long to get to class, E. get lost, or F. all of the above. So I turned around.
Here's a bridge I crossed.

Finally I got going again... still in the wrong direction.
After the third "High water" sign (ironically enough there wasn't one for the original road I took) I decided to take my chances and travel on it anyway.
And it worked! The water had gone down, and I made it to class after an hour and a half on the road! Because I left early, I was only 35 minutes late to my 55 minute class.

A Few Things About my Life Now

The Neighbors happen to be my relatives. As I was arriving home a little bit ago, I looked over to watch Benjamen, Lydia, and Phillip riding their bikes in the front lawn. As soon as I looked, however, Phillip tipped over on his bike and landed on the lawn, while Lydia rode over both him and his bike. This made me do a double take, this time noticing Uncle Shawn. He was watering a tree with a hose in one hand, and failed to notice the accident because he was smiling and waving to me with his other hand. By this time I had forgotten to slow down for my driveway, and nearly went into the ditch.

The Traffic in El Dorado is horrible. It's normal to stop at every stoplight. It's normal to get cut off by someone driving 10 under the limit. It's normal to get cut off by someone who will make an immediate turn. It's normal to get simply cut off. It's normal to drive slow in the left lane, leaving the right lane fairly empty. It's also normal to get stuck behind two cars in each lane driving next to each other at the same speed. A few times this semester, I have gone through residential neighborhoods, looking for a better way to get straight to my classes, thinking "There's got to be a way, I just don't know about it yet!" I finally was told by my friend Jenny the whereabouts of this road. Now I can leave ten minutes later to get to school! After Bible study on Wednesday, Tim stayed with Aaron, and in the morning, we cruised through town on our way to class, forming a Caleb Humig Motorcycle sandwich the whole way.

Walmart is a relaxing place for me. Aaron always says shopping there is what people do for fun in El Dorado. When I first started staying out here, I found it comforting to go there. With a new, unfamiliar schedule, it was nice to take some time to wander through a very familiar store. After hours of sitting in class, it was nice to use my legs (which weren't tired) and to not use my mind (which was). Because it's the only store in El Dorado where you can get anything at a decent price, I have become even more familiar with it. After buying material for two sewing projects and a gift of beading supplies as a gift, I'm embarrassed that I go there that much. I will admit that I know there are two ladies who run the craft section; one at night, and one in the day. The one I see most often is Peggy, and she is very helpful. At least I can hold on to some dignity with the fact that she doesn't know who I am yet.

Home Alone 3

This is in response to a blog post in response to a letter.
Yes... it was my turn to be HOME ALONE!! this isYou know... I actually think bunny ears would improve that picture... just look at those teeth!
I ate out with the ladies from the church, and we had a good time, and I had leftovers!
This is me before I was HOME ALONE! I looked pretty normal.
Over the break I pierced my nose. Most people I've talked to thought it just looked right on me. I can't wait till I am allowed to remove it to put in a more discrete one.


Another thing I did while I was HOME ALONE was to clean and vacuum! and by "vacuum" I mean, I let our Roomba loose in the living rooms. As you can see in the above photo, it left a little "present" for me after I tried to clean it out and put it to bed for the night.

I thought I'd end with a picture of our clean living room (with a mysterious spot on the carpet). Take note of the kitty toy attached to our fan blades. Rids the cat of harmful energy and entertains for hours! We just need to remember to turn off the fans when we leave the house. Once, while we were in the other room, the cat hog-tied herself and could only meow as she was helplessly pulled in slow circles along the floor.

Quote of the Day

My pastor is from Chicago. Sometimes this is very apparent.

"..so they'll take the sacrificial sheep-no, goat-no, lamb! ... heh, just shows you how much...
Man! I was about to say, 'just shows you how much I know about poultry!'"

YOU (fill in the blank)!!!

This is in response to another post's claim that Joel won at the YOU _______! comments. My boyfriend and my little brother are similar in many ways. One way is these jokes. I often will come home only to hear the same things from Joel that I heard from Tim earlier in the day. Here are some of his best:

Grace (about a coat I liked): "It had every aspect I love all wrapped up in one coat!"

Tim: "You have every aspect I love all wrapped up in one WOMAN! (of course, all in his creepiest voice)

Grace: Those hay bales look dangerously tipsy.
Tim: You look dangerously tipsy!

Grace: Now you have two bags to carry.
Tim: Your mom has two bags... under her eyes!

Grace: I just really hope this all works out.
Tim: I really hope you work out!

Well... tell me what you think. Do I have basis for my claim that Tim could give Joel a run for his money?

Mall Rules

Last Sunday, I went to church wearing a new necklace I had bought the day before. Jon and Tim started to tell me about the week before Valentine’s Day, while they were in the mall in the “girl store,” sorting through the jewelry, while on the phone with Sarah who tried to help them find the right one, with no luck. I felt sorry for them, especially when Jon said they didn’t even get the chance to practice sulking!

This caused me to remember the time I taught Jon and Tim to sulk.

We were at the mall, and they had graciously agreed to come along with me to a few feminine stores. I began to notice a set of unwritten mall rules that I had merely taken for granted before. I explained them to Jon and Tim who immediately began putting them to use, with great success.

I have decided to put these unwritten rules into writing.

Considering many exceptions*, there are two main reasons why guys go to the mall.

1. Young teenage guys may see the mall as their only option as a hunting ground for stereotypical, mall-dwelling females. This is most likely because they are too young to drive themselves around and the mall is the only acceptable place for their parents to drop them off. These young males can be found roaming around in packs (safety in numbers), not yet creative enough to find a place to hang out other than their specific targets’ natural habitat.

2. Other guys may be found shopping with a female. This is divided into two further categories:

a. Gay guy with female friend (this doesn’t occur as often, especially in Kansas)

b. Guy with girlfriend. In this case, 96% of the time, the man spends his whole time trying very hard not to look like the previous category. The following, is what I taught Jon and Tim, and hope that many other men will be able to use it in similar situations:

First, it is extremely important to hold the proper pose. The man will, of course, cross his arms. This is either because he does not want to appear the slightest bit comfortable in his surroundings, or he actually is intimidated. Any extra manliness is desirable, so the fists can be pressed against the underside of the biceps for the classic Uncle Rico Technique. The man should then attempt to hover close to the female (to make it apparent that he’s with her) yet far from the clothes (to make it apparent that he’s not interested in the act of shopping). The hard part is the proper face to hold. One should try hard not to let his face settle into a worried or defeated expression, yet to lift the corners of his mouth, even at the slightest angle, would maybe look pleasant, and he doesn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. He normally will settle for some kind of scowl, like the kind high school boys use for sports pictures. Of course, this whole façade is ruined when the female, absent-mindedly asks for the guy’s opinion, which puts him in a dilemma. He knows that his girl wants him to look at that which he’s been avoiding and say what he thinks. He normally mutters an “Uh… okay.” In the deepest voice he has, before losing his scowl in order to glance painfully at the doors, in case they might disappear at any sign of interest on his part.

*The writer of this article would like to make the claim that when she goes to the mall with her male friends, they are normally not shopping, and fit under the “exceptions” category, along with grown men, small boys, and mall walkers.

Just Wondering

I often wonder about things, as most people do, and I am going to try to start putting them on here as posts.

About 30 years from now, I'll be about 50, and I can suspect that my kids (if I have any.) would begin talking about the past decade and the styles and fads that had passed. What would they call it? The 20s? How will I know which 20s they're talking about? The 1920s or the 2020s?

How I Live Now

Life has changed immensely, as I thought it might, and I have some major changes I'd like to put into a list.

1. I live with my Grandma. It's very close to the El Dorado campus (where all my classes are) and I couldn't ask for a better place to be this semester.
2. TV has replaced wireless internet as Thing to Occupy Grace's Evenings. Although I can't facebook, email, or blog as often, I find that the TV is less addictive, something I can do homework with. It will be a good experience to not waste the time I have on the internet.
3. I am in class 24 hours a week, and I work 12 hours a week. Excluding weekends, I try to sleep 40 hours during a week. When you add 6 hours of driving, that's 82 out of 120 hours in my week. That leaves me a little less than 8 hours a day to eat, make/pack meals, shower, use the restroom, get dressed, and do homework. Mirtill told me that it's still not as much as high school, so I probably shouldn't complain.
   
4. I got a job through the school sewing costumes for the theater department. It's fun work, and I find myself wanting to sew more things at home, not just tunics and man-tights.

As I am trying to get into the swing of things, I will probably find time for blogging soon.

"So THIS is what Amish people read..."

At a visit near Yoder, My dad and I stopped at a restaurant to eat. As we were waiting to pay, I looked at a book rack. Half the books featured a lovely farm, and an incredibly beautiful girl staring off into the distance with titles like, "Sarah's decision." One cover even had a beautiful guy on the front, with blond curly hair and a pink background.

2008 Year Review

• February: After babysitting some cousins, I caught something (or quite possibly several things in a row) and was sick for two weeks straight. It really helped me appreciate life and good health.
• Odyssey of the Mind: I participated in my last OM competition, with some of my favorite people, and had a blast.
• Track: During my last ever track season, my coach finally realized that the mile was the race for me.
• Dressed as a dork for prom
• Graduation: I finished high school, and celebrated with other friends by going to a couple parties, and playing Ultimate Frisbee on the brand new grass of the school’s football field.
• Summer started with a random trip to the park, when we all played in a fountain with little kids. This later became the location of our new Bible Study.
• At camp I had great times with my friends.
• Staffing…
• Counseling… (this picture taken during a candy feast while campers were in quiz)
• And Camping for the last time.
• Timmy bought us plane tickets to Georgia to visit Trey and Beth Griffith!
• College Started and I improved my drawing skills.
• Jon, Tim, and I drove to Arkansas with six 2-liters of cream soda to visit Charles!
• I had a Halloween party.
• My family and some friend went to Arizona for Thanksgiving.
• The semester ended and Eden came home from Peru. The whole family was together for Christmas!