Here's a little something...

I'll try and write a short post for now.

So I've been having fun drawing/imagining/storying my OCs in AUs! 

Gios imagination contains various 'lands' in which all his friends and relations feature in exciting new roles ;) above is pirate Gio and medieval Gio. Along with 'supporting' roles.

Roman era 

Soldiers(look. At Francis.) and the original idea that started me off- Cowboys!!!!

Supporting roles 

More cowboys( bonus points to anyone who knows who all those characters are in their regular context!!) and space age. Ryn was looking at that one and all of a sudden goes 'Gio looks a little...spacey' and proceeded to then laugh hysterically. 

So that's that. I think putting your OCs in alternate settings is great for fun and practice. 

Also who doesn't like to draw their charries in all sorts of adorable costumes? If you want clarification on who any of the drawings are, tell me, it's just a little hard to type extensively on here:) good night!!

News

I'm so sorry I haven't posted! My computer is out of commission at the moment and I can't really post satisfactorily off of iPod or iPad. I have a lot of posts I want to write though and I will as soon as I can. 

I'm a bit worried what I'll do if I can't figure pay my computer problem before NaNoWriMo 😳

blog award tag

Ok, I've been nominated by two nice people for this tag!!! So I;m combining them and answering all the questions in one post. 
Rules:
 1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and post the link to their blog.
          2. Answer the questions the blogger has provided.
          3. Nominate four other bloggers.
          4. Create ten questions for your nominees and notify them of their nomination.

from Maggie @ http://homewardtraveling.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for the nomination, Maggie! I just refollowed your blog, for some reason it wasn't coming through email, so hopefully I'll be able to follow it better now!!

 1. What is your favorite time of year? 

Hmmmm that's hard. I love all the seasons! I love spring, everything new and trembling and scented everywhere with the mist of fresh leaves and wet earth and green life. And I love summer too. The heat and the way the colors look vibrant- except in the evening when everything turns to a perfect gold. And fall- especially late fall when everything looks so dead and bleak in shades of brown and tan and deep purple-red.  Waiting for a blanket of snow to hide it's seemingly barren shame. And winter. Early winter goes in with late fall- a little snow just adds to the blank raw beauty. And then real winter- powdery snow and Christmas music and... little brothers stuck in the house. Oh dear. I still can't pick a favorite but for sheer aesthetic purposes late fall/early winter wins out.

   2. If you could spend however much money you wanted on one piece of original artwork, who would the artist be and what picture would it be? 
Whattttt. The very first thing that comes to mind is 

Le cafe de nuit(the night cafe) Vincent Vangogh

Or anything by Van Gogh.
But there are soooo mannnny othhherss...

An Indian Prince by Philip Alexius de Lazslo

Girl with the Pearl Eariing by Vermeer

I honestly could go on ad infinitum. Way too many. Those three come to mind first though.

   3.What is your favorite genre to read?
Um... historical fiction? Classics? Anything with good characters really. That's the important thing to me.
   4. If you could choose one of your OC's to meet, who would it be and why?
Francis because I love him more than life. But I would want to meet the others too, don't be so mean and exclusive! 
   5. Do you listen to Owl City and/or Sleeping at Last? If so, do you have a favorite song from them and what is it?
 I don't, but I love a lot of Owl City's lyrics!
   6.What is your favorite warm beverage? 
Probably.... tea. Or cocoa.

From Melody @ http://bloom4jesus.blogspot.com/

Thanks Melody! Also for being one of my most devoted readers! I always appreciate your honesty and always hearing from you <3
 1 - Favorite book/series? What  specific things about it do you like?
Ugh you guys! I don't really do favorites, I love a many things a lot with various parts of my heart. For a series I guess maybe Viking Quest? I love L.M. Montgomery short stories... Dickens... Gaskell... LES MISERABLES... The Rope Trick and others by Alexander... for non fiction C.S.Lewis... Like I said I love good characters, but I'm not sure I could definitively say WHAT makes a good character for me. I probably should delve into that question at some point. Those are some things I like though. Also the older I get, the more I honestly enjoy The Bible. As literature, not just as God's Word, even. But obviously that too.

2 - How old are you? What is your favorite age? 

I am 17. Is this my favorite age so far or one I aspire too? I think 25 sounds like a good age. 

3 - And, what is your favorite book quote?

Wha. I really don't have one. Here's one from Les Miz I like-

"There is a point where depth is tantamount to burial,and where light becomes extinct."

Uplifting, I know. It's speaking of humans and their levels, so to speak, and this is referring to evil men. I just really like it, I don't know why. One more-

"Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the attitude of the body may be, the soul is on it's knees."

Les Miz has a ton of quotes I like. 

4 - What is your favorite season and why?

See above.

5 - What's your favorite thing about yourself?

Hm. My artistic/creative abilities? 

6 - How would you describe your parents

Loving, Firm, Careful, Human, Christians. (Not that I'm worried you might think they are aliens lol!! You know what I mean. I love them a lot <3)

7 - What career do you want when you "grow up"?

Ok this is a difficult answer. I WANT to be a singer. Classical/Classical Crossover/ Christian. But I don't know yet if that's what I feel is God's Will. I'll always pursue art, and I have a draw to missions as well. Ideally, I'd like to be able to combine all three. We'll see. 

8 - What is one word you'd use to describe yourself?

Contradictory. I.e. paradoxical. 

9 - What music artists do you like?

Another hard question. I like a lot of varied music. Classical Crossover/ Popera- Jackie Evancho, Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe, Il Volo, I'm sure I'm missing some... I don't always listen to all their songs or agree with them in some ways but it really is(to me) the most beautiful of genres. I'd love to perform and record some CCM music made over into Classical Crossover. I also like Opera- Natalie Dessay(if I could have anyone's voice, it'd be hers) Maria Callas, Vittorio Grigolo, Placido Domingo... some of them do crossover too. I like a lot by the Pettit team, and the Galkins and Frazors too. Some very selective CCM. Aselin Debison. Disney. Piano. I'm expanding my musical horizons a lot these days so this list is hardly exhaustive and I expect it to grow.

10 - What would be your dream vacation?

Either the beloved Italy, or a stay in an English Manor somewhere in the middle of a moor(like in the Secret Garden).

So there is that! These things are the hardest thing for me because like I said, I just don't have favorite... anything! 

 Who to nominate....???

How about these lovely people! I know they aren't four. But that's ok. 

Anna @ http://somethingsplendidstudios.blogspot.com/

Angelina @  http://atouchofrandomness.blogspot.com/

Evelyn @ http://intothewesternwild.blogspot.com/

And my questions...

1. What one song would you sing if you had the chance to perform for world leaders and a huge crowd? (I'm being really mean here, I'm not sure I could answer this. Even if you don't sing- if you could is the idea. Or, if you don't sing, what singer would you want to sound like for this performance? You could even write one. A song, I mean. This is a hard question.)

2. What three garments do you love to wear the most?

3. What topic can get you the most fired up in a discussion?

4. What can make you cry?

5. What do you most love to write about?

6. Do you have siblings? How many? What are they? (Ok that sounds odd. Tell us about your family structure is that better?)

7. How old are you? Your birth month? Do you like this month? Why/Why not?

8.What is your favorite thing about yourself? Least favorite? Why?

9. What three places would you most like to stop on a trip around the world?

10. Who is your favorite author and why?

Ok I'm super tired... Thanks again for the nominations! Have fun with my evil questions, feel free to skip any!

Good night!

wait...

Ok wait maybe the trip post did work.... can someone let me know if it come through? Thanks so much.

note

Ok, so I have a post all ready about my trip BUT for some reason blogger isn't working for me to publish it. I have no idea why, maybe it's the pictures?? It's bothering me a lot. Anyways, I'll keep working on that.  In the meantime I wanted to update you all real quick-

1.I have been twice nominated in a blog tag, I'm going to combine them in one post asap.
2.I am doing inktober, but I'm going to just do one long post at the end of the month,
3.I'm going to do NaNoWriMo too, and I just had an inspiration for my novel earlier. It's a long story, but let me say two things-
if you smell a weird smell for two days and then your Carbon Monoxide detector goes off(or whenever it goes off) GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. Personal experience speaking. I'm really thankful God protected my family because to be honest we could be dead now. We had firemen at our home for three hours earlier today. It's been a long day. (And now I'm a little paranoid, but God protected us this far and His Plan will come about in the end no matter what happens. So I'm trying not to stress.)
However, a news reporter also came(mom told him no story and he left quickly so no sadly I didn't become famous on the news) BUT he was cute and gave me my NaNoWriMo idea. I'm not saying anymore about it for now.

So that's my story for tonight... I really will work to get my trip post up soon! Lots of love<3

trip

My trip to BJU(with pictures!!!)

First of all
I was really
really
nervous.

I was sick most of the ride.

Not lack of trust nervous
just anticipatory, being around a lot of other teens(many of whom were Very Loud Boys)
I'm a long way from my house, what if I get sick on this bus??? I will look bad if I fall asleep
kind of nervous.
Also at one point we played a 'game' in which we had to switch seats. I almost broke down. Thankfully I made it back to mom without mishap(and yes I know I sound like a two year old, i know ok?? I was S.T.R.E.S.S.E.D.)

leaving maine!!

i honestly don't know(or want to know) what this sign was trying to imply. very unnerving.

in the bus.

glamour shot of the bus:)

Thankfully no mishaps occurred(though I did almost get sick once) and we arrived after 6 hours in a truck and 18 hours in the aforementioned bus. (We were able to spend the night in Conn. before getting on the bus. A lady (from the church where the bus was picking us up)kindly let my mom and I use her family's missionary apartment.) When we got there a nice girl with red hair helped me find my room. The girls from my dorm were all outside having a little singspiration- all their voices in the night air, singing familiar hymns, was beautiful and comforting, and a wonderful first impression.

door to my dorm, with a nice little welcome sign...( i didn't actually take this when i arrived)

dorm

I made it to my dorm, met my room mates, got ready for bed and fell promptly asleep. For your reference- girls in dorms area little loud(not as bad as boys on buses) and somewhat silly.

But I was tired enough that I fell asleep anyways.

In the morning I woke up quite early. I showered and got ready and then decided to head to breakfast a little early so I could take a leisurely walk across campus.

my residence hall- Margaret Mack

along my walk...

mural of 'the last supper' on the fine arts building.

walking...

at the bridge of nations

May I just say- the campus at BJU is beautiful. Especially at 7:30 in the morning. The buildings are all yellow brick, and not garish yellow but rather a warm, Mediterranean, ochre color. Well groomed lawns, verdant trees and bushes and the occasional nicely dressed student completed the picture. The fresh morning breeze calmed my nerves slightly.

 I found the welcome center, but since I was really early no one else was there. So I went outside to wait for mom. I sat in front of the bridge of nations, watching the fountains and writing in a diary I kept for two entries. Mom didn't appear so I eventually went back inside. Several people came to chat with me, so I wasn't standing awkwardly waiting for mi madre. She did arrive after a while... she had gone to my dorm to get me and had since been waiting while I was across campus waiting for her. She was worried. I felt bad.

 We ate a bite of breakfast(mini cinnamon bunssss) then we went to a welcome presentation. The video we were shown was incredible- great cinematography and computer animation. Then we took a tour of the campus. Our tour guy had red hair and generally acted a lot like my younger brother(i.e. he talked a lot and about many and sundry things). That was comforting, as to be honest I was a little homesick.

I have to say everything was in such a blur that I can't completely remember everything, esp. not in order. Over the course of two days, I:

sat in on the Drama in Singing class(I got to have a mini concert as the class was performing art songs,one of which was The K'e- its a beautiful song.)

Ate every meal in the dining common(I thought the food was great! Not too fast foody.)

dining common

attended chapel(which was being led that day by students, but it was great anyways!)

in the lobby of the chapel building

coming out of chapel

visited the Museum and Gallery(if you ever have the chance to visit it- DO SO. One of the finest art collections in the world- according to others, it's the only one I've personally been to. Even the furniture is antique. I couldn't take pictures but trust me on this. We went back again the next day and I bought postcards, which I'll try to post...someday.)

Spent a great deal of time in the fine arts building

bust of Giuseppe Verdi in the fine arts lobby.

Was able to talk to the head of the voice department and sing for her. She was encouraging and gave me a name so I may FINALLY be able to actually start pursuing some voice lessons!

went to Missions advance(a missions prayer/presentation group)on Thurs. and a presentation on missions in France on Fri.

visited the library(fun fact:it's the same size as the library at Alexandria, according to David the tour guide. Now don't talk to me about the library at Alexandria.)

me in the library(the only time mom took pictures of me, looking like a total nerd)
also I found this really interesting book on Hitler and the doctor who influenced his mental health or lack thereof... that was a good book. I want to finish it really bad.

and finally we were able to meet with:

 a.our pastors daughter 

and b. The Lewis Carl family, former missionaries to Venice(I mentioned him before, as a note on one or two chapters of the intro story. Which I really should name by the way.) 

We were able to see his wife and kids for the first time in a while, they were unable to come when he was here in the spring for our church's missions conference. He is a real encouragement to me I must say- first of all he's a fellow artist so he understands from that point of view, and he shares Ryn and my burden for Italy.(In case you haven't been able to tell by previous posts, or if you're a new reader- we are a little obsessed:) He loves it at much as we do, and he's actually been there, he's been serving in Italy for I think 15 years. He misses it:( He has a true heart for God and His Will, even though he can't be in Italy, and it's just a blessing to see and hear as he talks.

 After we saw the family, he showed us around the arts building. We left to go do other things, such as meet my admissions counselor. Then he met us again to introduce us to Vicenzo Antignani, a science professor from Naples! We sat and talked about Italy for a while and Mr. Antignani made us real Italian espresso! (It was very strong and I didn't get through my whole cup. But it was good!) That was a blessing as well and very fun. After that we went back to his office and talked a little more, Mr. Carl showed me his Italian Bible-it was so fun reading familiar words but in Italian! I want to get my own copy.

I stayed in Mom's apartment the last night instead of the dorm, we agreed it would be easiest to get ready in the morning that way. In the middle of the night someone called the fire department, which kept us awake for some time(apparently there was flames and smoke coming from their bathroom fan. IDK.)

And at 5 the next morning got back on the bus. The ride back wasn't as bad since I knew what to expect. We stayed the night in Conn. then headed out early Sunday morning and were back in time to make it to the evening service. I'm honestly still not caught up on sleep- we had special meetings all the next week and have been generally super busy. Also I stay up too late.

mcdonalds coco has a ton of whipped cream and chocolate syrup- to disguise the fact that it tastes like chocolate scented cardboard. Yuck. Don't buy it.

I think the trip taught me a few things- I was thinking on the bus, our walk with God is sort of similar to riding a bus. We choose to get on the bus and know where the final destination is, but in between times we have to trust the bus driver to get us there, with the right stops and on the right roads .

It helped further cement my realization that a life lived with in God's moral law cannot then be outside his will. I'm going to eventually do a full post on this at my other blog, Ponderous Thoughts. And that anything we do, as long as we aren't violating His commands or our conscience, becomes our ministry. That's why he's gifted us all different- so we can serve him in diverse ways and touch all people, not just a certain group.

And also, I think BJU is probably the college for me. It has a high level of academic and artistic excellence and an incredible Christ-centered mentality. Every thing you do and everywhere you go, God is there. There are Bible verses posted all over(over the drinking fountains and even in the bathroom stalls!) and missionary cards on the dining hall tables, just to name a few small ways. You can feel a Godly spirit pervading everyone. Of course there were a few people who didn't act quite as well as others, but overall I was amazed by the truly Godly atmosphere. And I was thankful to be able to specifically focus on my three main interests- singing, art, and missions.

So anyways, that's that for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting somethings, but this is a good overview. Thank you all for your prayers and for reading! I'll be at more regular posts soon, such as a tag I've been...well, tagged in, and more! I;m super busy lately but I really want to post so I should get to it.
God bless!

did I mention it rained most of the time? I didn't expect to be cold, it's supposed to be balmy down south! My hair was very curly indeed.

selfie time before getting on the bus

and on the bus