A Day in DC

Well, I was going to do a philisophical post about "when a tree falls in a forest," but then I went to DC yesterday with Sam, a couple of his friends, and Cody, and decided that would be much more fun to post on! It was an amazing trip. We speed toured the ENTIRE city, and I mean that literally. I mapped it out later--6 miles of walking! And it was so much fun finally having Sam home!

Ok, so any post of DC has to start with a picture of the White House...even if it wasn't the first place we went.

Have you ever been to the Old Post Office? I'd never heard of it before--turns out it's the second tallest building in DC (behind the washington monument) and has an even better view. And it was so cute!

Haha, this was our reflection in the elevator ceiling.

Sweet view!

I like how old this picture looks :)

And then down the dark and gloomy staircase...

Next stop: some memorial I've never been to before. Navy or something? I dunno...but it had a really cool map of the world that you could walk all over!

Home Sweet Home. (I photoshopped the label in afterwards, if you were wondering)

Beth in Israel

Sam wanted to stand in the Black Sea (biggest inland sea in the world he informed us), but couldn't remember which one it was :)

Cody shivering at the North Pole (so cute! ...but don't tell him I said so :)

Ok, enough with the maps. This was the fattest squirrel I have ever seen.

And some birds who were people-watching

Chillin' at the WWII Memorial...
This was the weirdest thing ever! It was counting UPSIDE DOWN!

Cody mentioned that he felt like doing a flip in the grass by the tidal basin...but he was too shy to do one. So Josh promised Cody that if he did one, Sam would too. Yeah, what are friends for? I didn't whip out my camera fast enough to catch Cody, but I got Sam, who was a very good sport. Brother points!

Look closely next time you walk around the tidal basin...you just might be surprised by what you find in there!

The second one is someone's camera, if you can't tell. Poor person.

The JFK memorial is definitely my fav. And these are my favorite pictures!

Did I mention that it was an absolutely perfect day? Perfect.

Inside the Jefferson Memorial

I fee like this picture should be the end of the post, just cause it's so perfect and beautiful, but we weren't done yet!

The American History Museum (which was the whole reason we went down to DC in the first place!) had lines out the door, so we went to the Natural History to see the bugs! This was like the best museum tour ever--no exhaustive class field trip for us! We were in and out of every exibit in under 10 minutes. Whoo ya! Deej had never seen the elephant :)

And these signs in the bug exhibit cracked me up :)

A last word of advice!

Yes indeed! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I Love You This Much!

Ok, so on the back cover of a magazine I was reading was this add for New York Life Insurance. I thought it was so cute! The Life Insurance part might be a little far fetched, but isn't the rest so true?

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A boy is hanging out with a girl he kinda has a crush on, and he bashfully asks her,"Can I buy you an ice cream?" I like you.

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A couple has just started dating (or courting, whatever :), and on Valentine's Day he shows up at her door holding a dozen red roses. I really like you.

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A couple months later, on a date, he tells her to close her eyes. She does, and feels something cool and heavy against her shirt. She opens her eyes...it's a necklace, with a silver heart threaded on the chain, that he bought for her. I love you.

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One day, a year or so later, they are out taking a walk, with the sun setting behind them. Suddenly, he drops onto one knee, presents her with a ring, and asks if she will be his forever. She accepts, and soon afterwards, they are married. I will always love you.

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And then, I suppose comes life insurance? Whatever :)

Aliens Among Us...

And you thought aliens didn't exist. Ha. Shows how much you know. I happen to have proof. It was sitting on my front walkway this morning in the shape of this saddleback caterpiller (the name of which, surprisingly, I found pretty easily online). Don't try to tell me that's not extra-terrestrial.

Oh What a Day It Will Be

I wrote this poem for an assignment in literature class--we were told to write a poem in imitation of one of the poets we've learned about. I chose Emily Dickinson--this poem is styled after her poem 271. (The fact that I'm imitating another poet's style explains all the dashes or other stylistic things you may be curious about :)


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No words—how to describe that day—
In His presence to be—
To stand before my very God—
Oh what a sight to see—

A hollowed thing—to Be before
The one my shape who formed—
Created all the earth—beyond—
With Majesty adorned—

I picture when my day does come—
And would I feel so small—
To cow'r in awe—or dance with praise—
Just can't see through—the wall—

And then—whate'r that day does hold
What I will feel—to see—
That which we none can know for sure—
But oh—with Him—to be!

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Photoshoot

So the other day, my friend Liz was over at my house, and we wanted to go out and do something. "Hey," she said, "it's a beautiful day; why don't we go do our own little photoshoot?" Well I thought it sounded like a swell idea, so off we tramped to the meadow near my house... and boy did we make some memories :)

Twirling
(thanks to the tripod, for letting both of us be in all these pictures)

:D

Me: "ok, Liz, pretend you're telling me a secret"

(We would take turns calling out cues after I'd pushed the self-timer button on the camera :)

Liz: "My turn! Look like you're really scared of something over there."

Is she beautiful, or is she beautiful?

Well, when we were done in the meadow, we went across the street to climb on this fence. Unfortunately, the fence wasn't climbable, but the lighting was breathtaking!

Liz: "Ok, Charlie's Angels!"

I love this one. She didn't know I was taking the picture, so it looks like she's just absorbed in her thoughts.

shadows of a model

Found It!

So here's the quote by C.S. Lewis about christianity that I was referring to in my earlier post:

"If christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple, if he has no facts to bother about."

So, if you're ever exasperated by how complex christianity seems, be encouraged :) The very fact that it can be so hard to comprehend is actually an encouragement that it could not have been created by human minds!

The quote is from Lewis's book Mere Christianity, which I would totally recommend. Although the doctrine occasionally deviates a little from Covenant Life's, his insights into the basics of Christianity will blow your mind and strengthen your faith.

Huh?

So one of my friends sent me this great little quote by email, and I just have to share it with you all:

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If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, then we would be so simple that we couldn’t.

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--Emerson M. Pugh

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Which reminds me of a quote about Christianity by C.S. Lewis...but I don't have time to look it up. So that'll be a later post :)

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Thanks for sharing that Joanna!

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Eve's Innocent I Tell You!

Ok, so in my Women in Literature class, we've been reading some pretty interesting stuff. This week in class, we studied a very clever poem arguing that Eve was completely innocent of the fall of mankind. I think this poem is worth quoting, not because I agree with it (in ANY way), but because...well, it's so fascinating! If you take it seriously, you'll be offended; if you read it as a testemant to her brilliance, you'll love it. She twists scripture in an awful (but very clever) way, and I'll warn any guys reading: the way Lanyer removes the fault from the woman is to lay it all on the man :) So without further ado, for your reading enjoyment:

Eve's Apology [i.e. formal argument] in Defense of Women

By Aemilia Lanyer, 1611

"She [Eve], poor soul, by cunning was decieved;

no hurt therein her harmless heart intended...

But surely Adam can not be excused,
Her fault though great, yet he was most to blame;
What Weakness offered, Strength might have refused,
Being Lord of all, the greater was his shame:
Although the Serpent's craft had her abused,
God's holy word ought all his actions frame,
For he was Lord and King of all the earth,
Before poore Eve had either life or breath.

Who being framed by God's eternal hand,
The perfectest man that ever breathed on earth;
And from God's mouth received that straight command,
The breach whereof he knew was present death:
Yea having power to rule both Sea and Land,
Yet with one Apple won to loose that breath
Which God had breathed in his beauteous face,
Bringing us all in danger and disgrace.

And then to lay the fault on Patience' back,
That we (poor women) must endure it all;
We know right well he did discretion lack,
Being not persuaded thereunto at all;
If Eve did err, it was for knowledge' sake,
The fruit being fair persuaded him to fall:
No subtle Serpent's falsehood did betray him,
If he would eat it, who had power to stay him?

Not Eve, whose fault was only too much love,
Which made her give this present to her Dear,
That what she tasted, he likewise might prove,
Whereby his knowledge might become more clear;
He never sought her weakeness to reprove,
With those sharp words, which he of God did hear:
Yet Men will boast of Knowledge, which he took
From Eve's fair hand, as from a learned Book.

If any evil did in her remain,

Being made of him, he was the ground of all...."

Haha, you gotta love it. So pretty much:

Poor, weak Eve was decieved, but Adam should have been strong enough to refuse! After all, he was Lord of the Earth, and had recieved the command not to eat the fruit straight from the mouth of God! Eve's weakness was just that she wanted a good thing--knowledge--and was decieved into taking it. But Adam wasn't decieved, and if he wanted to eat it, no one was strong enough to stop him! Eve, simply because she loved her husband so much, offered to share her newfound wisdom--and now, Man is the one boasting about his knowledge! Not only that: if there was any evil in woman, it must have been the man's fault anyways, because she was made of him!

As I said, I absolutely don't agree with this poem, but you've gotta give Lanyer a hand for how clever she was :)

Fall Is

This is a little poem I just whipped up while I was trying to explain to my brother exactly why I think Fall is so wonderful. I'd like to polish this up sometime and add to it, but I wanted to share it anyways, because it just about sums up my thoughts on the season.

Fall is...
Cool fresh air filling your lungs
The echo of traffic whizzing by
The first dark trail of pencil lead
scratched onto an unmarred notebook sheet
The hefty weight of a new textbook
as you flip through the smooth, cool pages
The smell of a barbeque just past the trees
The crunch of leaves underfoot
Smoke wafting up from a fireplace
drifting past piercingly blue sky
and autumn leaves.

I Can Ride My Bike With No Handlebars

So there's this song that one of my friends at work loves to listen to. She loves it because the lyrics are so fun, and the beat is so catchy. But there was always something about it that caught me off guard; I couldn't hear the lyrics very well, but there was something sinister in the way he sang what should have been innocent lines: "I can ride my bike with no handlebars."

Curious, I looked it up the lyrics online. Here's a basic summery of the song: (It's really long, so these are only snippits) You can also listen to the whole thing here.

(Disclaimer: I don't know anything about the band that wrote this song or any of their other music. All I'm writing about is my take on this particular song)

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I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

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Look at me, look at me

hands in the air like it's good to be

ALIVE

[...]

I can tie a knot in a cherry stem

I can tell you about Leif Ericson

And "I'm Proud to be an American"

Me and my friend saw a platypus

Me and my friend made a comic book

And guess how long it took

[...]

-

Look at me

Look at me

[...]

I can design an engine sixty four

Miles to the gallon of gasoline

I can make new antibiotics

I can make a computer survive aquatic conditions

I know how to run a business

And I can make you wanna buy a product

Me and my friends understand the future

I see the strings that control the systems

I can do anything with no assistance

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Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone

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And I can split the atoms of a molecule

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Look at me

Look at me

Driving and I won't stop

And it feels so good to be

Alive and on top

My reach is global

My tower secure

My cause is noble

My power is pure

I can hand out a million vaccinations

Or let'em all die from exasperation

Have'em all healed from their lacerations

Or have'em all killed by assassination

I can make anybody go to prison

Just because I don't like 'em

And I can do anything with no permission

I have it all under my command

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Because I can guide a missile by satellite

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And I can hit a target through a telescope

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And I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust

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I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars...

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Now this song sticks with me too...but not for the same reasons as my co-worker. I feel like it sneaks a glimpse at the very roots of pride. I love how it starts out with something as simple as riding your bike with no handlebars. Big deal. Just a little something to be proud of. But slowly the song progresses to bigger and bigger issues. Still not problematic though: mostly neat scientific advances. But something changes: no longer are we just talking pride, we've added power. And authority--the ability to change the lives of millions, for better or worse. And in the end, pride--the same pride that leads one to boast about being able to ride a bike without handlebars--leads to the destruction of the world.

So I appreciate this song because I think it is a sober reminder of the seriousness of sin. I think it shows what the path of any man would be without intervention from God. And the sight isn't pretty.

Montgomery College, here I come!

Well, yesterday was my first day at MC! It was a rather funny day, and since a lot of people have been asking, I figured I'd share it with you:

-Right before I left, I printed off directions from google maps, which I didn't notice took me to the wrong part of the road I needed to be on. So there I was, sitting in a neighborhood somewhere vaguely near my destination, completely lost and needing to get to my classes! Fortunately, I called my mom and, after a lot of "do you recognize this road name? How about this one? Go that way you said? Oh, oops, I just turned left "...etc she managed to get me back on the right road :)

-At MC, I headed in to class, still a good 15 minutes early! I found my room, opened the door, and sat down in a chair. Introductions had already started, but something didn't seem right...the board said something about Chem 101 and the teacher was a woman. This was my room, but I knew my class was Chem 100, and I was pretty darn sure that the teacher was a guy! Well, I was right :) Turns out that Chem 101 (the class before mine) was doing their introductions at the end of class...and I decided to make a hasty retreat back out into the waiting room. After all that drama, Chem class went very well, and I think I'm going to enjoy it.

-After Chem, I had ten minutes to book it across campus to my Women in Literature class. The teacher is hysterical (in both senses) and class looks like it's going to be reeeeally interesting. (First question: "So what are some of the myths about women that exist today?")Fortunately, I met another christian girl already in my class, who I'm really excited to get to know.

-Aaaand so, that was my first day at MC! I'm really excited about this school year; the classes look good, but I'm really more excited about the relationships that, Godwilling, I'm going to be able to make over this semester. I'd really appreciate prayers for both aspects!

Interesting Thought on Kneeling for Prayer

Ok, hear me out on this one. You know how in all the old books and movies, at the end of the day the main character would diligently kneel down next to the bed and say his or her prayers? Not just the fictional ones either...it was a common practice even in the earliest days of the bible:

Daniel 6:10 Three times a day [Daniel] got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker

Acts 9:40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

Ephesians 3:14 [A Prayer for the Ephesians ] For this reason I kneel before the Father,

So obviously, kneeling was just something that you did if you were going to pray. Now I don't know about you, but I never kneel when I pray. I don't even think about it. But the other night, I did think about it. I was sitting in my bed praying silently as usual, trying to concentrate on God while my mind kept wandering just as it normally does when I try to devote myself to prayer. In exasperation, I decided to try praying the old fashioned way--out loud, kneeling on the floor next to my bed. It felt a little funny ("I hope no one walks into my room right now..."), but you know what? I was able to really concentrate on what I was praying for and think of more things that I wanted to pray for than I ever have been able to while lying on my bed.

Now why would kneeling help you to pray?

I don't have an expert opinion, but I have an idea. When I got off my bed, and took the time to say my prayers out loud, suddenly my mind-block was gone. You're taking yourself out of a distracting situation (ever fallen asleep praying? I thought so) and fully formulating your thoughts (speech takes more effort than thinking, so you'll concentrate harder on it). And the likely result is longer, more intense prayer.

Oh and I just thought of this as I was writing my post: kneeling has always been a position of humility and respect. When I was looking up the scriptures above with the keyword "kneeling", most of the references were to people kneeling to those in authority, either in thanks or petition. So when we consciously put ourselves in a position of humility and submission before God, God rewards the behavior.

But don't just let me tell you. These are just ideas of mine...you all could prove if they are actually true. I'd love it if you'd try kneeling down for prayer one of these nights and see if it makes a difference. Let me know how it goes... it can't hurt, but it just might help.

A Brief History

Ok, right from the beginning, I'd like to take a moment to share my history with blogs, as well as to explain why I have started this one:

It all started around 2005. Blogs had just become popular, and one of my close friends, who was at that time creating new blogs every couple of weeks, convinced me to make one. I named it Allie's Little Corner, made a post or two, and then promptly forgot it. Eventually, a year or so later, I remembered my little blog and was curious as to what happened to it. After digging around the deep dark recesses of the web, and attempting many different passwords, I re-discovered my blog. I attempted to post more faithfully at it, but it was a rather pointless project. I was very protective of my identity and so only allowed five readers: my mom, dad, grandma, brother, and one friend. Needless to say, the blog again did not last long, and I again abandoned it.

Now fast-forward to 2008. This year I have been very active in photography, and have enjoyed posting my favorite pictures to flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/chickadee5). However, when my flickr began running low on room, I decided to start a photoblog! I deleted my old Allie's Little Corner blog, which had become entirely useless and created Silver Maple Photography. However, after its creation and my subsequent single post, I realized that a photoblog really didn't serve the purpose I was looking for. Except in a few rare cases, I prefer the format of flickr better for pictures. So that blog's gone bye-bye.

Ok, so obviously I have a rather sorry history with blogs. Why then did I create this one? Well, because throughout the days and weeks, I have been realizing that my life is filled with many interesting experiences, memories, and lessons that I would love to share. I'm hoping this can be a place where I can share those thoughts, whether it be through normal blog posts or through picture posts that display something about my life. Only time will tell if this blog outlasts its predecessors, but I think that it will, and I'm excited to give it a shot.