Downton Abbey Fashion Show: A Few More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the Downton Abbey era fashion show. :)

Pollywog's 1995 dress. This picture truly does not do it justice at all.

Her dress was gorgeous.  

 

 Sweet Pea and her girls' basketball suit. I so wish we had got better pictures, but one must be thankful for what one has, yes? :) Sweet Pea is such a doll. <3

Blurry picture of Pollywog being assisted off the stage after 'modeling' her lovely gown.

 

RB modeling her incredible dress and fantastic hat.

 

 Awaiting our turns to take the stage. :)



Lovely friends, these ladies are. Of course, Pollywog is great, too. So thankful for the opportunity to dress up and have such a grand time with friends

who are also followers of Christ!

Fantastic Sibling Moments Post#7.5: Lost and Found Continuation of Post #7

The Sunday after I posted Fantastic Sibling Moments Post#7: Gubby Mocks High-Heel Practice, as we were heading out to the car (I was in heels again, dressed for Resurrection Sunday) Gubby solemnly (yet with a grin in his voice, however that works) shared the following wisdom with Mini-man:

"Never walk in heels, Mini-man. They're dangerous. I hurt myself." 

Those little guys. I love them so, so much. 

Summer Vacation Weekend

Having two jobs during the summer doesn't leave much time for a summer vacation, so I've been doing various vacationy things on a few weekends. Last weekend was probably the most summery vacationish vacation, and it was a blast.

It started off with a fantastic weekend (Friday evening through Sunday afternoon) at my family's cabin, where a dear friend and I enjoyed spending time at the lake, watching movies, taking walks, and visiting the local church.

Noodles, juice, and Ever After, one of the sweetest chick-flicks ever!

During our movie, we nearly caused ourselves to faint blowing up our floating devices for the next day at the lake. I was done first, hence the gloating face on the left and the slightly miserable face on the right. ;)

 Eventually, we both had our floaties full of air. Such a feat requires celebration. 

Such a sweet friend, this girl is!

 ...It being late, coupled with the fact we had just watched a chick-flick and nearly depleted our oxygen stores, my floating doughnut became a fantastic tutu. 

Before heading to the lake, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the local restaurant, consisting of french toast with peanut butter for HF, and eggs, hashed-browns, and sausage for me (the joys of being lactose intolerant.) We also had orange juice in place of coffee, which made our breakfast feel even more special! 

 Pre-sunburn. ;) 

 Thoroughly enjoying ourselves, still without the realization we were morphing into lobsters. 

I am so blessed to have a friend like this cutie! 

I think we were beginning to have an idea of our impending doom.

So beautiful! 

Alas, when we arrived back at the cabin, we stocked up on after-sun lotion (which, I might add, is not easy to find in a town so small you could walk the span of it in probably ten minutes), canned peaches, Chobani yogurt, bagels, and a few more movies. 

Such a beautiful neighborhood!

Monday, which concluded this 'vacation weekend,' included a trip to the fair, where HB, HF and Pollywog (16) went on rides, got our rings cleaned for free, shared an elephant ear, ate expensive food, and wandered around aimlessly looking for freebies and exhibits with names we recognized.

One must be excited for a ride, even a Ferris Wheel. 

 Pollywog and I preparing to ride on the Vertigo,

 a two-seater variant of the Yo-yo.

HF and I had never had an elephant ear before (well, I had part of a cold one last year), so we split one. It was rather delicious. 

 Still smiling after the elephant ear!

And so, Tuesday morning found us back at work, thankful the weekend had happened and mournful it was over. 

This weekend was also fantastic, but I shan't bore you with those details after such a long post about last weekend. ;)

Freedom in Perspective: My Independence Day Post, One Month Late

This is my Independence Day post, drafted on July 3rd and posted yesterday. ::sarcastically grins::   Life has been crazy busy and I hadn't found time to check it over for typos and all that yucky stuff. ;)

 I've had a few moments to ponder what we're celebrating. I have so many threads of thought flowing through my head that it's difficult to put it in words that make sense. 

We are so blessed to live in a country where freedom is proclaimed. Liberty is huge here in America.

Many people declare proudly how "free" America is and others gloomily moan about our loss of true freedom, breaches in our constitution, etc. I confess that I am one of those people at times. But when you really think about it, it's all about perspective.

I know there is so much truth in the fact that we, as a country, are going downhill and that evil is being embraced by our highest levels of government. I also realize that WE THE PEOPLE have voted them into office, WE THE PEOPLE being the majority and larger cities. 

This tangent of thought reminded me of the quote, "With great power comes great responsibility." In this case, it could be changed to, "With great freedom comes great responsibility." Freedom is intrinsically connected to power. With freedom we have the power to chose, the power to vote our leaders in, and we have the power to act upon conscience and convictions. 

This freedom a blessing when Christ is the center. Proverbs 38:2, "When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue."

 On the other hand, freedom is a curse when Self is the center. Sadly, this is the case for most Americans.  With the freedom we have, we are losing liberty.  It seems as though the American Dream is all now about temporal pleasures and money; Our freedom has been misused and blatant sin is becoming more (outwardly) visible and even encouraged. But all of this is a result of our freedom, the freedom lacking Christ as the center. 

Instead of freedom in Christ, America has become openly enslaved to sin. On my way to work this morning, I was reminded of Rome and how all the wealthy and not-so-wealthy were living in pure debauchery. I won't go into details, but anyone who has read about ancient Rome knows what I'm talking about. The book of Romans also talks about it (along with freedom through Christ :D). 
So yes, there is cause for gloom about our so-called "freedom."

HOWEVER, one must remember that we as Christians currently also have freedom. We can worship Christ openly, we can share Him, and we can choose not to go the way of the world. We may be a minority, but we do still make an impact on our nation. There are godly leaders in our government, though they be few and far between.  The Constitution will not easily be revoked where it says that Freedom of Speech and Religion shall not be infringed. So many other people and nations gather to worship in secret, not knowing if they will make it home again, yet they do so gladly. Many are tortured and killed for not denying their faith. How much more should we, who may freely proclaim our Savior, appreciate this blessing? 

So I would say, this Independence Day, let's put our freedom in perspective and remember to be thankful. 

Taken by Clari this 4th of July. :D

With the great freedom we have, let's show America what Christian responsibility in action looks like.