Rings, Hobbits and Second Breakfast

Suilaid! That's hello in elvish. Guess what! I've been watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring! I love those movies! Here's a couple funny videos that relate to LotR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)

Ok now to be serious. One thing I love about The Lord of the Rings is how Tolkien put parallels to us and God in it. And better still, it isn't as obvious as the one's in Narnia so it makes you think!! Here's one I like.

Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

This is so true! I look at our world and think "Why did this have to happen? Why is everything so bad?" when I should be thinking "Sure, this is pretty bad but I don't have to worry about it. Just take it one step at a time and let God handle the rest." Here's another one.

Gandalf: There is only one Lord of the Ring and he does not share power.

Again, truest truth ever truthened out by a truthful source! (quote by David Moraes) Now I'm not sure which lord Gandalf would be talking about in Middle Earth but I know that here, it undoubtedly refers to God. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he doesn't share power, whatever we may think. I don't know about you but to me, that is oh so encouraging!

Well those are my thoughts for today. My weekend was pretty boring so I have nothing else to report. Navaer!

Superstitious?

I woke up this morning and realized that today is Friday the 13th. Any of you readers superstitious? Well here's a song for you about superstition. Ladies and gentlemen, the great Stevie Wonder!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OJsYwLs7yE

I've had a pretty good day for it being Friday the 13th. This morning I was talking to my dad about college and CLEP tests. He started researching some stuff and decided that I don't have to take the CLEP tests!!! *cue music*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnHksDFHTQI

Don't you know what this means? It means that I don't have to study for any more generic tests after the SAT!!!! My life just got a whole lot brighter! On top of that, it's only noon and I'm already done with school! AND my family is all gone for most of the day! My mom probably won't be home until just before I need to leave for work. That's about two hours! So what shall I do? Read? Write? Watch a movie? Hmmm... maybe a little of everything. Tonight after work is our missions thing at church. So when I leave, I won't be home for a while. But I'll be with Kate so it's all good!

Right now, it's off to figure out some lunch. When do I ever get a whole pizza to myself?! :D Laters!

Heavenly Music

Ok I'm officially procrastinating now. I'm supposed to be doing my Biology outline but I had some muse to blog so I need to get that out first.

This morning I was reading Psalms 42 and a part of verse 8 says "At night his song is with me." That got me thinking, God has a song! I wonder what it sounds like? I know it's unlike anything we've ever heard, being His music. I imagine it's soft and sweet, rolling and flowing like the gentle roll of the waves on the sea. Maybe it sounds something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU

I can't wait to hear God's song someday! In the meantime, here is another good song that makes me smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeBHslEB3v8

You lucky reader. Two songs in one day! But I should be getting back to my Biology homework now. Until tomorrow.

A Miracle

Hello everyone! I'm not dead! I am alive and all in one piece! Yesterday took me on quite a roller-coaster though. I woke up and immediately told my mom about my mistake (thank goodness my dad was at a breakfast meeting). She was very surprised but just told me to e-mail him. So that's what I did. A few hours later, he called my mom to tell her about his meeting and didn't even ask to talk to me! After she hung up, my mom told me that he seemed fine. My mistake was inconvenient and expensive but not life-threatening. When he got home, he just smiled at me and said "Well, everybody makes mistakes. We'll just sign you up for another date." So here I am, alive and well and taking it in January.

During the hours between my e-mail and his phone call, I wrote up my will. So I could die any day now and lots of people would benefit. Thought I'd share it with you. Here it is:

The Last Will and Testament of Casey Ruble

First, Kate gets all my books and my three posters of France. Garrett gets my laptop, my digital camera, my stereo and my room. Shannon gets the money in my checking account to by fish and my imaginary pet dinosaur Rover. Jess gets my copy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The money in my savings account will do a few things. First, take some out to repaint my room for Garrett. The rest should be split in half. Half will go to Garrett for college and the other half will go to Living Streams Community Church for any needs there. Maisy can keep any clothes of mine she likes (she will grow into them). Gavin gets my coin collection and Lucy gets my stuffed animals. All my other possessions can be divided up between family and friends, given away, sold or whatever my family decides to do with them.

So there you have it! I can now die in peace. At the moment though, I'm off to eat lunch. So I'll say goodbye with a wave and a song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkSwF42cOm8

My Last Goodbye

Okay so remember what I said about the SAT not being that important compared to other things? Well now it certainly isn't. I found out that due to some mix up, I missed my SAT date. It was supposed to be last Saturday. You can probably imagine what will happen now. That's right. My dad is going to eat me alive. And you are all invited to my funeral. So, here's where I say goodbye. God bless and keep you all!

Singing Like an Angel and Dancing Like the Devil

I am one happy girl! My boss loves me and gave me an extra day to work because she likes having me there!! Also one of the biggest things this week (drum roll please)............... I GOT THE CHRISTMAS MIME FIGURED OUT! And it's all totally God's doing. His inspiration all the way. So I am a very happy girl and here is a song all about it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Worz1tf1Dc8

Just Like Vincent

Hello again! I find myself done with homework and it's only Friday afternoon! Might as well blog. :)

The other day I was reading Psalms 39 and verse 6 says that man is but a phantom. The things the world thinks are important will soon pass away. Think about it! Good grades, nice job, college degree, amazing SAT scores, not of it matters!! Now I'm not saying that I'm going to go drop it all because it is the world and we live here so I should do my best at those things too, but it got me thinking. What really matters in this life? After a while, I came to the conclusion that it all boils down to people. And not just people but also making disciples of them! Jesus came to earth to teach, preach and save us from our sins. Before he went into heaven he said "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19-20) You know that children's song 'I'm in the Lord's Army'? Well it's true! God has recruited us to bring people to him. THAT is what is important!

Now, seeing that I began to think about the people I know (and this brings me to my title). I have so many different friends and all are like a different color. Jess would definitely be bright pink with her spunky personality and happy-go-lucky attitude. Kate is kind of a mix of the dark blue of wisdom and the neon yellow of spontaneity. Shannon is a mix of the different shades of green; happy, sad, perky but always relaxing. Ben is orange, seemingly harmless before POW, he surprises you in some way. Rachel is definitely fiery red, throwing her whole being into whatever she does. My friends Katie and Becky are probably blue, very calm and collected all the time no matter what. Matt is......... well, Matt is clear (no offense buddy). My life is the canvas and my friends are the colors. They are all special in their own way and I wouldn't leave them out of the masterpiece for anything. If you think about it, my life turns out looking like a painting by Vincent Van Gogh!

Since God gave me all these special people, I need to make sure I give them the attention they deserve and not get distracted by the things that don't matter. I started asking myself, if God came back tomorrow, would he be pleased with how I'd lived my life? Oh how I want to hear the words "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Now I'm going to do something I haven't done before. I'm going to give you a challenge, dear reader. I'm going to ask that you take a big step back, look down at your life and weed out the things that aren't important. Make a mental note of them so in the future, you can prioritize your life by God's standards, not by the world's.

Well, those are my ramblings for today. Have a lovely weekend!

A Light

Yes! I see it! There's a light! A light at the end of the tunnel! That light is called Fall Break that'll be here in three more weeks! And then three more weeks until Christmas break! And then I'll be half done with my senior year! Wow, lots of exclamation points.

So another week gone by. It went almost exactly as I told you it would. Work went well. I did spend the night at Kate's which was awesome fun! We watched 'Confessions of a Shopoholic' and 'Tess of The Durbervilles'. Complete opposites but both good movies. As always, we came up with a handful of new inside jokes. "PROTECT YOUR TUBA!" hahaha Good times. Saturday we slept in until lunch and then baked cookies. Snickerdoodles, yummy! Then I sat at home watching movies and stealing my little siblings Halloween candy. Call me a couch potato if you wish. Sunday was lovely! Church went well and we had lots of girls come shopping afterwards! Me, Kate, Steph, Karie, Ali, Jessica Greene, Leslie and Joyce. What a party! Then I went home and watched more movies with the family.

Yesterday we had Co-op which was the usual. I don't like going. Come on graduation! In the evening, I went with Angie to clean at the B&B again. We were brainstorming ideas for names for the rooms and here's what we came up with: Elizabeth's Room, Isabelle's Room, Caroline's Room and Lillian's Room. I think it's great! Makes it personal to say "You're staying in Isabelle's Room." Also, we solved our Blank Wall problem. Angie has a piano sitting in her bedroom so we're gonna move that out and put some stuff on it to make it look pretty. It should work nicely! But I have to stop my interior designing brain now.

Alright, so we're caught up to this week's schedule. Today is the usual stay at home and do school. And I have a cold! Blech. Tomorrow is Maisy's birthday! I have school, work and then we're going to Small Group at church. Thursday is Jess's birthday! Again I have school and work. Friday is no one's birthday that I know of and again I have school and work. Seeing a pattern? I haven't a clue what I'm doing Saturday but knowing my family and friends, I'll end up doing something or other. Sunday is church and then to work at the B&B with Matt. Maybe we'll get him to move the piano? Hmmmm.....

Well that's pretty much it. Personal stuff going on but I won't record it here for all the Internet to see. Until next time then.

Oh! By the way, in case you didn't know... ITS NOVEMBER!!!

Delirious

I'm sure you're probably thinking "What a strange title." but that's me right now. Just going through the motions. School, work, life. It's all so boring! I want something more! I want to do something! Something big! Something drastic! Something world/life changing! But I haven't figured out what that is yet.

Talking to my dad Monday, it seems I can't do anything right. Come on! I'm working two jobs, excelling in school, saving my money for college, helping mom around the house, romantically free and easy and yet he still finds things wrong. Apparently I need to find a new job because the one I have doesn't pay enough. I'm not allowed to spend my money on anything, I'm to ask my parents for the cash they don't ever have. WHAT?! Well I've about had enough of this. I understand that I need to save my money for college but if I don't leave God some room to provide, He won't. Also, I'm not quitting my job because I love my job! So he can go sit on a tack. Ok that was mean but really. We were at the bank to get my checking account started Monday and when the guy asked me how much I wanted in savings and how much in the checking account, my dad answers for me. EXCUSE ME!! He was talking to ME! It's MY money! Don't you think I should be the one to make the decisions now? I'm glad for his help with it all but I need a little space! Ok I'm done ranting now.

My week was boring last week. The norm. This week hasn't been any better so far. I'm working today, tomorrow and Friday. Saturday's Halloween. I might be going to Kate's to spend the night Friday and I might be helping Mrs. Remmel paint her bedroom Saturday. And I might not be doing anything this weekend. We'll see. Sunday is church and then Joyce and Leslie are taking us girls out to shop for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. One good thing this week. The other good thing was that we didn't have any shoe boxes so my mom and I went to get shoes! Mine are sparkly silver and whenever I wear them, I feel like clicking my heels and chanting "There's no place like home. There's no place like home." I'm gonna wear them Sunday.

Well I guess I'd probably better go eat lunch now. I hear food is a good thing for you. Until next time.