The iPhone

Mom got an iPhone.

I never thought she'd do it.

Mom, texting?

Yikes.

The guy at the store was laughing at me.

Because I knew a whole lot about phones.

And mom was like "Uhm. is this one good?"

So I helped her set up everything.

And we sat on the couch next to each other and texted each other.

Which was weird.

Considering we were sitting right there together.

Emma said I needed to update.

I will.

Soon!

I promise!

Meet Malee..

After two years of waiting.. and waiting.. and waiting... we finally got our elephants back. They were sent to Tulsa for what was suppose to be a year, to meet this male elephant..... Finally, after two years, the Oklahoma City Zoo got what they wanted. A baby elephant! <3 Guys.. Meet Malee.. And her mom and aunt.. [I can't remember their names..]

I took about 50 pictures of her with her mom and aunt..

and about 120 of her all by herself.

♥

-Anna

A picture loaded post [Part 2]

part two of the Michigan pictures. these were taken on Sunday.

Micah.. with his mouth full of something..

my uncle - my dad's brother

dad and my uncle

Elijah and Ethan - my cousin

sloooow motion

this is Joshua and my grandpa

dad and my uncle [that game was tons of fun, but I wasn't very good at it]

lets see.. my mom - on the right - my aunt and Elijah

Rachel, Abi, Elijah, Aaron and Jacob [cousin]

my dad and Micah. eating again :-D

And then we all went inside after playing around outside and had popcorn from this lovely machine. in paper bags also! popcorn and paper bags = ♥

-Anna

A picture loaded post [Part 1]

I don't think many people knew I was going to Michigan Labor Day weekend. in fact, I didn't even know I was going to Michigan until the day we left. so here are the pictures from the trip. I'm splitting them up into a few posts, because there's a lot. a. lot. let see.. there was Abi who sneezed every other second. we say she's reloading whenever she sniffs. I'm serious. that kid has sneezed more times in a day than I have in my entire life. its crazy. oh, the reason Micah has no clothes on... car sickness. Rachel and I wrote a really stupid story on my itouch. maybe I'll be brave enough to post it someday. its.... bad.

yes. it was pretty crowded

Aaron insisted on doing the 'peace' sign in almost every picture. crazy kid.

Rachel's expression here. priceless. cracks me up every time.

this was the last picture I took in the car. Joshua was filming me.

Rachel's hiding from me. we had to share a bed. *die*

Aaron was the only one who got his own bed. sort of. [at the hotel]

the bridge that crosses the Mississippi

The Mississippi river. I'm quite pleased with this one. considering it was taken from the car!

this one didn't turn out bad either.

by the way. most of these pictures are pretty horrible. it wasn't my goal this weekend to take great and wonderful pictures. does that make sense?...

I'm scheduling the next post for tomorrow =)

-Anna

oh and I now have 27 followers! When I get to 30, I'll have a giveaway/contest.

Is 0 + 0, 0?

I'm afraid so. my siblings are crazy. they beg to do math. I'm having a hard time writing blog posts lately. my mom started a blog [*gasp* yes. she really did. and she said I, [me] convinced her to start one. right. so... go over and check it out.] by the way, what she said about me. Its true. but you can ignore it if you'd like... that's my excuse for not blogging. helping mom set up her blog. and she asked me what she should write for her first post. I said "Hi, hello, how are you?" and ta da, the first post, is complete. my first post was horrible.

our chickens have started laying. just lovely. everyone [well almost everyone] wants to go collect the eggs. but I'm watching. before you know it, they're going to be complaining and saying "but I did it yesterday, its your turn now".

and that's all for now. because I can't think of anything else. the heat makes everything.. hot. so mostly we just stay inside and stare at each other. not really. school. and music. though my violin pegs are slipping which means - anna can't play her violin - which means - sadness - which means - more piano - which means - printing tons of sheet music [just got Love Story meets Viva La Vida by Jon Schmidt. Its amazing. I suggest listening to it, if you haven't already. I love it. and Turkish March, Chariots of Fire, and my favorite - besides Love Story - 10,000 Miles. ]

-Anna

Once again. Anna posts. About?

I sit here staring at my blog, and I can't figure out what to post. I hate it when this happens. I want to post something, but what? And so I'll leave you to be baffled by my brothers magic skills in this video of his. He's. so. cool. >.<

-Anna

-And I forgot to mention, I finally got most of my pages up.

There should be 10 days in a week.

Five week days. And the weekend has only two days. There should be five week days and a five day weekend every week. I was explaining to my brother which days of the week I like and which one's I don't.

I don't like Monday because Monday means tomorrow is Tuesday.

I don't like Tuesday because it means tomorrow is Wednesday.

But I like Wednesday because it means tomorrow is Thursday.

And I like Thursday because it means the next day is Friday.

And I like Friday because the next day is Saturday.

But I don't like Saturday because it means tomorrow is Sunday.

And I don't like Sunday because it means the next day is Monday.

What's your favorite day of the week?

-Anna

What do to when its 100+ degrees outside

Start to make no-bake cookies, but realize you have no oatmeal.

So you're stuck with a pan of melted butter and four cups of sugar.

Via

Filling up half a dozen water bowls [Half a dozen times a day]

for your puppies, because they like to play in the water and tip the bowls over.

Via

Stare at popcorn and try to decide what the kernels look like [Besides popcorn]

Via

Write. [Or do what I did and...] Sit in the closest and stare at a piece of blank paper.

Via

Sit in a chair with one of your younger brothers and make weird faces at the camera.

{Mine}

Make weird faces at the camera, while you're suppose to be doing a serious photo shoot

{Mine}

And recently we started reading the bible in the mornings with the little kids. The three older kids have to have one of the three younger kids as their "Bible Buddies" I get fought over a lot ;-) But its been very enjoyable, and I look forward toward it every morning. Its cute seeing the little kids pray =)

Via

And one more.

Don't look at the sun. [I decided not to post a picture, because like I said, don't look at the sun]

What are *you* doing in the 100+ degree heat? [Assuming where you live, the weather is like that ;-)]

-Anna

*note : all but two of these pictures I found randomly on Google. I do not read any of the websites from which they came.

A photo challenge [For myself]

I want my readers to help me with a photo challenge. for myself. I don't want to go out and take pictures of flowers and weeds. I want to work with people more. but I'm having a hard time thinking of ideas. so I had an idea. it make not work well, so we'll see how it goes. but I want my readers to suggest one or two songs each, and I have to base my photograph off that song. in some way. does that make sense? So you'll..

[1.] suggest one or two songs

[2.] you'll have about a week to suggest songs [I'd like to start August 1st]

and then I will try to take a photograph based on one of the songs you suggested

and maybe go a month doing this. every other day. depends on how many song suggestions I get.

tell me if this doesn't make sense. if it does make sense, start suggesting!

-Anna

fifty things

... I want to do before I die [These aren't in any order]

1. meet my best friend

2. go Sky-diving five times

3. ice Skate all day

4. complete Pirates of the Caribbean 'He's a pirate' on the piano

5. write a blog post everyday

6. and actually publish that blog post

7. go base jumping

8. listen to music while base jumping

9. go see The High Kings in concert

10. speak German fluently

11. meet Hailey, Taylor and Emma

12. watch Bleak House

13. drive a convertible

14. sleep on a trampoline

15. meet Hannah Grace

16. fly a plane

17. laugh until I cry

18. go skiing

19. visit Hawaii

20. live in Alaska during the Summer

21. go Scuba diving

22. finish a book I'm working on

23. sit in the middle of the road while its raining

24. learn shorthand

25. watch all three Lord of the Rings movies in one night

26. paint an entire house

27. go kayaking

28. own a grand piano

29. sit and do nothing but read all day

30. ride in a helicopter

31. own a four wheeler

32. ride a motorcycle

33. go to Germany

34. ride in a hot air balloon

35. walk the streets of New York with a snake around my neck

36. yell fire for no reason

37. become a professional photography

38. build a tree house like this or this

39. live in the tree house I built

40. swim in the ocean

41. sleep in a tree

42. say "smock" over and over to someone when they're being annoying

43. play the violin well

44. meet Willow

45. get my own bow

46. have a clean room for one month

47. go camping

48. memorize a book of the bible

49. ride the same roller coaster ten times in a row

50. paint a rainbow on a sidewalk

and now... I'm entering [and sponsoring] a giveaway over at Hannah Grace's blog.

{the questions}

1: Do you write? If so, what sort of things do you write {poetry, short stories, novels, whatever!}

[yep I write. mostly short stories and novels. I've tried poetry, but I'm not good at]

2: What are your five favourite movies?

[oh I have more than five favorite movies.. but I'll just do five. By the way, these aren't in order.

1. The Great Escape

2. Pirates of the the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl

3. The Caine Mutiny

4. Batman Begins

5. The Emperors Club

3: Five favourite music artists/bands? {Not in order}

[1. Tenth Avenue North

2. Frank Sinatra

3. The High Kings

4. Mary Chapin Carpenter

5. Bing Crosby]

4: is there a song that you could just listen to over and over again without getting tired of it? What is it?

[uh huh. oh yes. Love story meets Viva la Vida by Jon Schmidt. {I'm not a big fan of Taylor Swifts "Love Story" but I love what Jon Schmidt did to it.} I suggest listening to it ♥]

5: If you could meet one blogger {that you haven't already met!} who would it be?

[i want to meet... Emma, Hailey and Taylor and Hannah Grace. Yeah that's more than one...]

6: Who inspires you?

[people and such]

7: What are your favourite things about summer?

[hm. other than absolutely hating summer.. Kidding.. Poor Summer. I'm not a big fan of Summer though. Probably Swimming. And ice cream.]

8: What is your favourite season?

[fall or winter. when its cold or freezing.]

9: If you could chose a different day for your birthday, what would it be?

[ well I'm perfectly fine with the day my birthday's on.. but I guess February 29th ]

10: Your three favourite bloggers?

[i have more than three..]

11: If you could change your name, what would it be?

[Either Elisabeth, Ellie, Raine or Skyler]

12: If you could go back and change something about your past, would you?

[oh yes definitely.]

13: Coke or Sprite?

[coke and sprite. probably sprite? though I like both..]

14: Do you play an instrument? If so, what? And if you don't, do you wish you could?

[yes. I play piano and violin.]

15: Are you a city girl [or guy] or country gal?

[i suppose.. country gal. {that word drives me insane}]

alright. that's all for now. notice anything different about this post?

-Anna

Lets go flying

Up. Up. and higher. {Do you like tire swings?} i do. I'm trying to find a tire. A tire that doesn't turn my hands black when ever I touch it. A tire that can hang from a tree and spin around and around, until you're so dizzy you fall off.

I'm not sure what I should post about. I don't have much to post about. I feel bad posting just photos all the time, but I deleted my photography blog, I wasn't happy about it. Maybe I'll start over? Sorry I haven't been blogging much, Summer came fast

We got 22 chickens, two puppies, one snake, one turtle and one cat. All in all, we have 27 animals to take care of. That's really not that many. I think my parents are trying to turn our entire yard/house into a chicken farm. Chickens, chickens, chickens. We got this wire wrap around fence for the puppies, but I think its been used for the chickens more than the puppies. We got a 10x10 kennel for the puppies, but I think its used for the chickens more. We have this gigantic dog house for the puppies, but I see the chickens in it more than the puppies. My Dad and Joshua are building a big chicken coop for (ahem, drum roll please) the chickens. Dad said he'd build me one , with air-conditioning and a floor. (Kidding, though he said he would) I would paint it bright green, and inside I'd have clouds painted on the ceiling. We're going to have a lot of small {ish} large {ish} "buildings" in our yard. Speaking of puppies. I wanted to tell you we got a new puppy. My favorite puppy, Lacey (We named the two puppies we got, Cagney and Lacey) was hit by a car last Friday. So my mom got another puppy (Since Cagney was used to another dog being with her, we didn't want her to be alone.) We named her Lacey-too. (Yes, I do mean too) Mom said if there is a Cagney, there is a Lacey too. (If you click on the names, it will take you to a picture) if you want to see more pictures of her, go to my flickr page here.)

-Anna

Something I always thought was weird.

Slipping on a banana peel. Have you ever slipped on a banana peel? Sure it happens *all* the time in books (Cheesy books.. And when you're the clumsy person) But I have yet to slip on one or see someone in real life slip on one. I know for a fact rats on skateboards slip on banana peels all the time. Who leaves their banana peels on the floor? Sie bekommen, was ich sage? Yeah. I thought so..

-Anna

A conversation between Rachel and I, while climbing a tree

Rachel wanted me to climb her "special tree" with her earlier this evening. So I went with her. (I have climbed this tree before, I don't know why she wanted me to do it tonight!)

We have quite a few pine trees on our property, and her "special tree" just happened to be a pine tree. I don't mind climbing pine trees, but they are definitely not my favorite to climb. Too much sap! And we were going to the top. Great view up there...

Rachel : "Just go this way, and you won't get stabbed by branches"

Me : "My hair is stuck!!" (Yes, I have a habit of that happening)

Rachel : "Careful, this branch is about to break."

Me : "If I break my neck, its your fault."

Rachel : "Okay!" (She snapped the branch in half."

Me : "Uh huh. And how do I get up now?"

Rachel : "Swing up on that big branch."

Me : (I placed my hands into a great big branch of sap.)

Rachel : "Oww! My hair is stuck!"

Me : "Yick. I have sap all over my hands, and my hair is still stuck."

Rachel : "I got it! I'm at the top."

Me : "Great. I'm going to climb my own tree."

Then Rachel started talking with a British accent about sap in her mouth, and I said something in German... Then it took me ten minutes to get down (My hands were sticking to everything I touched, and it was difficult getting my hair unstuck with sap on my hands!)

Took her forever to get out of the tree. (She had made it to the top.) I then talked her into going to take pictures with me. Sadly, we didn't get very good ones, my older brother, helped us.

(In an annoying sort of way.) See!

Yeah, thats my brother. He wouldn't let me post any other picture of himself.

Random post.

-Anna

Reactions when a wasp is in the house

I'm slowly writing up a long post with pictures and other random things. But its taking a while. So I thought I'd write a blog post with some random reactions and weird saying my family says. At my new house, it seems we are infested with wasps. Usually on warm days if you look out the window, you'll see my older brother running past with a stick and a can of wasp spray, yelling. He enjoys its, and everyone watching enjoys it also. Usually we get at least one wasp in the house a day. Unless its raining or the weather is cold. (Today we had a wasp in the house, and its cold today!) So, I thought I'd share the reactions of all my family members when there is a wasp in the house.

Dad : "Joshua can get it."

Mom : "Where is the wasp spray? Is it in the.."

Joshua : "Somebody bring me a broom! And a cardboard box!"

Rachel : "I'll go in my room."

Abi : "(She's usually the first to notice one. She got stung by one last summer, so she's terrified of them.) Rachel come on! (They usually both go and hide)"

Elijah : "**laughs** I got the fly swatter! (Elijah loves killing bugs, typical little boy.)

Aaron : "**continues to do whatever he was doing before."

Micah : "Anna!" (He says my name "Nana!")

And MY reaction.. Usually I don't care, or I'll run for my shoe.

All the boys enjoy killing the wasps. And Joshua wants to make a smoke bomb to throw in the attic. (Careful, my brother really does make bombs/smoke bombs. )

Joshua : "*talking to me* What's it like being the most annoying person in the entire universe?"

Me : "Annoying." (He says I'm annoying! Sheesh.)

--

Me : "I miss living in Germany, don't you?"

Joshua : "*nods* I miss living in Germany."

--

Me : "The murder wasn't accidental."

Kyleigh (One of my sisters, er.. Friends. She could pass for my sister though)

: "Of course not! It was accidentally on purpose!"

--

Aaron : "I just teasing myself."

--

Aaron : "Its floofy."

--

Micah can't talk much yet, but here is a little "sample" of his conversations with himself. (He talks to himself on the phone)

"Hiiieee. Momee? Dadee!! Nana! Bop. Hiieee. Bop. Nana!!!"

We've taught Micah some sign language. He can say "Please, More and Thank You." I've tried getting him to do it on video, but of course, he'll only do it when you don't ask him to.

So here is my very random post, just because I wanted to post something. And couldn't really think of anything else to post. Besides pictures, and I think I've posted way too many picture posts over the last few weeks. But I do have to leave you with one picture.

(He's forever trying to steal my camera!)

My room has been turned into a Paris Dress Boutique (Title says it all)

Another picture post

I couldn't think of a title

*So* I have scheduled blog posts to post themselves every other day, while I'm gone, But this "blog party" looked like fun, so I thought I'd join in. I've already posted once today (But it was just a picture, so it really doesn't count. Right?) So here it goes!

How would people describe your personality? (If they could only use ONE word.) Are they right?

Zesty. (Mom said it, not me!) And I guess its right.

Who is your favorite blogger? Why?

One of my favorite bloggers has to be Olivia at "Oh, Horsefeathers".

Her photographer is amazing, and she's very inspiring!

(I have a ton of other "favorite" bloggers, I had trouble picking which one!)

Be brave – tell us something very random and weird about yourself.

I'm having a hard time with this one. Okay..

This may not weird.. But its random?

I can't concentrate on doing anything in a messy room.

Its just too hard!

Do you have a strong desire to do something you’ve never done? What is it?

Oh I have many things I would love to do that I've never done.

But here are a few.

: Go Skydiving

: Go Bungee Jumping

: Visit Germany

: Teach myself the violin

Movies: Action, Drama, Romantic Comedy, Documentary, Comedy? What are your favorite genres?

Action: Lord of the Rings.

The Great Escape, Pirates of the Carribean, Red, Iron Man,

Drama, such as The Count of Monte Cristo, Sneakers,

Unbreakable, Fracture, A few good men,

Men of Honor, The Emperor's club

Little Dorrit, Cranford, Return to Cranford,

Wives and Daughters and North and South,

Fly away home,

And Thriller.. The Village, Mission Impossible..

You get the idea

(*NOTE* Most of these movies I have listed, I have watched with Clearplay)

Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study?

Fiction and Biographies mostly. I do enjoy True Stories and Non-Fiction sometimes.I'm not going to list all of them though, too many.

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner,

Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?

Rock, Classical, Country (Not all Country), Jazz.

Some of my favorite bands :

Kutless

Revive

Sidewalk Prophets

Thousand Foot Krutch

Newsboys

And then there is Frank Sinatra,

Bing Crosby.. Irving Berlin.. Lots.

If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?

This is a hard one. I asked my mom,

and she didn't even think about it. She said "Hawaii".

Strange Talent? Can you juggle basketballs, put your legs behind your head or perform some other strange feat?

Messing up on making cornbread.

I can never ever make it right.

What’s something you consider yourself to be good at? (Don’t worry, it’s not bragging, it’s acknowledging a God given gift).

(I asked my mom about this one also, she said "Baking Cookies")

But I don't think I'm very good at that,

I've messed on two batches this week.

And I can't think of one.

I'm horrible at these kinds of posts.

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?

Old Books, Leather, Coffee and Melted Chocolate!

When you leave a social gathering, do you wish: You would have talked more or You would have talked less?

Neither. Usually I just talk when I want to add in something,

I'm not much of talker around social gatherings.

Unless I know the people really well.

What is your greatest fear or strange phobia?

I'm not sure. I guess I'm always afraid someone is

going to come up from behind me and scare me.

(*cough cough, Joshua*) So at night I kind of look around

corners before actually turning corners. >.<

Are you a hopeless romantic?

No... I sure hope not.

What movie or book character can you most relate to?

If you really must know..

Laura Ingalls Wilder. (Mom thought of this one once again.)

Some reasons :

She thought she had a perfect older sibling,

when she really didn't.

(Okay, I've only thought that a few times.)

She was stubborn

She wanted to be more adventurous,

she wasn't content in one spot.

And she wrote =)

There is a lot of other things we have in common,

but that gives you an idea.

---

And thats it. I have skipped a few questions, only because

I couldn't think of answers for them. Bad me.

And I guess that's it for now. (The next few posts will be pictures posts,

I'm moving, and won't have internet for a while.

Thank goodness for "scheduled" blog posts)

(Also, thank you so much for all the comments I've been getting!

Its awesome getting so many comments on just one post!)

Gotte segne!

Just a few things before I disappear completely.

I know. I've haven't been blogging much. I'll tell you about that soon.

I shall be disappearing soon, for a few weeks.

Same reason I haven't been blogging much.

I should probably explain now. Though I know most of you know why..

We are hoping we'll be able to move into our new house a week from today.

Thats right, a week from today.

I'm really disliking this moving process.

I had to pack up all my books.

And return almost all of my library books.

And the boys went to a airsoft war today.

While the girls stayed home and bought a fridge.

Bought a fridge. Isn't that exciting? Not really. Quite boring actually.

Spring is finally on its way. Along with thunder and rain.

And flowers and tornadoes. Lovely combination.

I'm going to start a garden when we move. A big garden.

With lots of peppers and tomatoes and watermelon.

And onions. Green onions. Lots of onions!

I have had fun editing pictures for this blog post.

I discovered Picnik not to long ago. I love it.

I WILL be posting something else in a few days. I'm excited.

Now I shall end this random post with one last picture.

Gott segne!