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. 

Beach Trip!

One of my dearest friends, HB, who you have seen in a previous post, and I went on our first 'road trip' to the beach to visit my grandparents and see the sights. :) We had a grand time visiting my sweet grandparents, touring the town (HB  had never been there), drinking coffee, eating food, buying stuff, and having a picnic on the beach. :) 

We only had one truly traumatizing experience. Well, I had a traumatizing experience...As a younger child, I would swell up from mosquito bites (a lot), but for the most part grew out of it by age 10 or so, with a few 'swell ups' here and there. It just so happened, that HB and I had slept on my porch the night before our road trip and some mosquitoes enjoyed sucking HB's and my blood. By mid-afternoon the next day (the day we left for our trip), my right hand was swelling quite a bit, although the bite on my left hand was still normal...We arrived at my grandparents' house. My right hand was becoming alarmingly large, and my left hand was beginning to puff...Things were looking grim, but I was still optimistic; at least it was the weekend! Around 9:30pm, I went to wash my hands before getting a snack and glanced in the mirror. To my utter horror, there, on my nose, was a bright red mosquito bite. 

With dragging steps and a face full of horrified shock, I entered the guest-room, where HB was checking her phone. When I shared my news (or, rather, she saw my nose), she started roaring with laughter ("'A good friend will help you up when you fall. A best friend will laugh and try to trip you again."), although she was sympathetic.

Forgive the gruesomness, but here's what my hand looked like:

You can't really tell, but it was so huge I couldn't make a fist...

Now imagine that on my nose. Not. Good. 

Dear Grandmother felt my horror and dug through her cupboard, found some sort of topical medicine, and glopped it on the bite.  HB then stuck a band-aid on the medicated bite. I was still in horrified shock. Then we trudged  to bed. 

I was finally succumbing to the idea and was comforted with the fact that God had a reason for allowing all of this, and so fell into a restless sleep, imaging the looks on the faces of my fellow employees when I walked into work Tuesday. 

Thankfully, God graciously kept the swelling on my poor nose down, and HB and I spent the day sight-seeing, picnicking, and visiting (two massively swollen hands couldn't keep us from having fun.).

 

Grandparents fed us tons of delicious food.

We were a bit overwhelmed, having just went out for coffee and doughnuts.

And so, with full stomachs and happy hearts, we gave our hugs, bid our adieus, and drove home. :)

Summer Days...

I feel as though I've fallen off the face of the earth, even though it's been only a few weeks since I last posted.

With school coming to an end for Summer Break, I started working at the law firm I interned at during the school year. I confess that having two jobs is slightly crazy, and I may have entered the pass-code belonging to the doors at the law firm as the pass-code for the mailbox at church on more than one occasion. :facepalm: 

 

This week, I've been filling in for a legal secretary, and let me tell you, it's fun, terrifying, and boring all at once. In my free time (in between revising documents, entering time, creating new client files, and answering the telephone, placing calls, etc.), I've been working on a bulk mailing project. It takes up about 85% of the work day and I feel like I might start dreaming about typing names and addresses on a white background with a stiff keyboard that, for some reason, especially doesn't like typing "t." 

All in all, it seriously has been a blessing to have work, and work in such friendly atmospheres. 

On a glorious side-note, after being addicted (as in, no coffee in the morning = massive headache and grogginess) to coffee for eight+ months, I have now been coffee-free for nearly three weeks! It really was a pain to depend on a cup of brown liquid that oftentimes tasted yucky. 

It was only possible because I was sick one weekend, and decided that since I already felt bad, I might as well skip my coffee and suffer just a bit more.  I'd say God's timing for that cold/sore throat bug was just about perfect, since I had already been cutting down a bit. 

Hold fast to Jesus!

~Sonia

p.s. ...I typed this post up a few days ago, before the work week ended. Just thought I would mention that.  ;)

p.s.s. And, because I like to add pictures to my posts if at all possible, here's a picture of me enjoying the summer by sitting on our porch swing in my swimsuit after washing Sven.

So happy the weekend is here!!!

Downton Abbey Fashion Show

Pollywog (16), Sweet Pea (13), one of my dearest friends and I were excited to be a part of a Downton Abbey era fashion show. There were pictures of the actual event, but I don't have them yet. Hope you enjoy these pictures, though. 

 The lovely lady on the right is one of my dearest and longest friends.  Even with a 15 year time difference, we still make it work. Mind-blown? ;)

So blessed by her friendship. And our costumes were incredible (mine may look a bit familiar).

It was fun having two different costumes, although my sister Pollywog and I felt pretty scandalous changing from full-length 1890's dresses to 1920's flappers. I don't have a picture of Pollywog's other dress yet, but let me tell you it is one of the most gorgeous dresses upon which I have ever laid eyes.

 

'Model' poses. :P

Love these girls so much. Sweet Pea had the most adorable girls' basketball suit. 

I'm hoping to post more pictures soon, if they turn out. :)