Visual Dare: Stuck

Well, here is my entry for the lovely Miss Angela Goff's 'Visual Dare' she hosts on her amazing blog.

~~~

Why?  Why shouldn't I be allowed free?  I've been good.  I've taken this punishment with nothing but completely silent tolerance.  I've never left, even after all this time.  I've been staying in this prison, waiting until "the day".

Well, when will it come?!  I'm tired of this.  It's been more than I deserved.  I want to be again, to laugh again, to run.  This has gone on long enough.

I'll just free myself.  Why not?  Maybe they've forgotten.  If not then I suppose they'll just have to face me.

Now, what were the magic words?  Oh yes, "hold your breath".

~~~

Let me know what you think! :)

 

Summerishness

Now that June has come, things are really beginning to feel truly like summer.  It felt like summer when school let out back in May, but something about entering June just makes the summer seem so much bolder, at least to me. 

Usually summer is my least favorite season because of the scorching hot Georgia weather that is normally so humid you might as well go swimming through the air.  But this year things are different. 

I'm loving the bright warm sun and the long evenings.....

And the wildflowers/weeds-with-blossoms that are everywhere...  They're just so happy. :)


The other day I went outside and took many random pictures of all the pretty things. (Hence the pictures above.)  It was some extremely enjoyable fun and I highly recommend it. :D

I think part of my excitement for this summer comes from the fact that it's my last summer as a high school student. *yikes.*  Therefore, I'm kind of determined to make it a special one.

I've contrived a list of goals to accomplish this summer in order to hopefully make it more memorable. Not any kind of serious goals like conquering the world or winning the Nobel Prize...

Much more practical goals.  Like completing my novel's very-rough-draft, dancing in the rain, learning to speak at least 3 sentences in Hindi, getting a job, spending lots of time with my amazing family and friends, and painting so many pictures my hand will feel like it's going to fall off....

I'm just so excited to see what this summer will entail :)

What about you? Do you have any amazing summer goals? Or any other random comments regarding summerishness? I would love to hear from you!    

  

Contest Entry

Here is my entry for the Once Upon a Time writing contest....  I had fun writing this, but I've put off posting it until the last minute because I wasn't sure if I liked it.  But I decided I do :)

(347 Words)

---

            The lady sat peering out the window at the dripping trees in her rocking chair of wood.  Her face sculpted a solemn look filled with knowledge that could only have been attained through centuries.  She rested in front of her television, but her thoughts were deeply placed elsewhere.

            As the rain beat against her cottage roof and the chair rumbled across the hard floors, she started to hum a soft tune.  Once she began, everything throughout the small room seemed to faintly glow, and all other sounds faded.  On the mantle above the fire, the doll with the golden hair looked like it might smile, the top on the floor seemed on the tip of spinning, and the teapot on the table appeared it was going to pour itself.  Everything within the room had small glimmers of life.  The rain began to stop.

            Her small notes ended as a motor car parked outside the cottage.  The room became dull again, and the rain began once more.  A young gentleman jumped out of the car.  The old lady carelessly grunted.  Edward was always easily prone to panic.

            The door swung open.  “They know, Grandmother,” panted Edward.  “Come, hurry, we must go.  They know!”

            “We shall do no such thing,” the lady said, never taking her gaze out of the window. 

            “But we must!”

            Three men suddenly entered through the door way.  “You’ll be coming with us, Mrs. Morte, and your grandson,” smirked the leader.

            “Is that so?” she asked coolly, placing her sharp icy eyes upon them.  Beams of light choked the room and then vanished as quickly as they appeared.

            Edward stood breathless, his grandmother with a crooked grin on her thin lips.  Where the intruders once stood were now three candles.

            “We do not run, Edward,” she said bitterly. “Have I taught you nothing?”  Her face returned to the window.

            Slowly Edward exited the cottage, never glancing back.  As the door closed and he started pacing toward his car, he heard faint humming creep from behind the walls.  Sparks of sun light seeped through the trees.

---

100th Anniversary

The 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic is today.  At 2:20 this morning 100 years ago on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner, which was the largest built ship of the time, became fully submerged in the Atlantic Ocean.  

It all started around 11:39pm on April 14, 1912, when the Titanic lookout Frederick Fleet, whose binoculars had been lost, spotted an iceberg.  Less than one minute later, the Titanic fatally hit the iceberg.  Sometimes only about 10% of an iceberg is visible above water.  Therefore once spotted, though it was ordered for the ship make a sharp turn, there was no way of avoiding the iceberg.  

Captain Smith ordered the ship to be inspected about a minute later, and Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder, did so.  At midnight, Andrews informed the captain that the ship had only an hour and a half to remain afloat.  

Imagine that.  Knowing you have an hour and a half left to your life.  The very thing considered "unsinkable" would bring you to your death of either drowning or hypothermia.  It was completely unexpected.  The idea was not even considered until the hit.  And for many people, their arrogance cost them their lives. 

Approximately 706 people were saved on the sixteen lifeboats and four collapsible lifeboats the ship had on board.  The lifeboats could have held from 65-40 people, though some departed with as few as twelve.  This left around 1,517 people to die in the disaster.  Between all the classes(including the crew), about 157 women and children survived, and about 374 died.  Of the men on board, around 332 survived and 1,360 died.  Whole families were killed, including the infants and elderly.



I've had a keen interest the Titanic for several years now.  I even started writing a book about it, which is currently in the back of my "creative writing closet" because I kind of over planned it, and need to take a break.  Why do I have an interest in it?  Well, it was not a result of seeing Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's characters fall absurdly in love in the oh-so-famous film.  I think it all started after reading this fictional diary of a girl who was a passenger of the ship.  The whole subject fascinated me.  The sadness of the disaster, yet the beautiful memories that are left of the ship.  It was a floating work of art.  "Women and children first".  A major act of true chivalry from a huge group of people.  A rule that was mostly held during the sudden disaster.

Stories like that of millionaire passenger Benjamin Guggenheim, who once he realized that the last life boat had departed and that he had no chance of surviving, went to his cabin with his valet where they dressed in their evening suits, and then returned to the deck.  Guggenheim was reported to have said, "We are dressed in our best, and are prepared to go down like gentlemen."

The elderly Isidor Straus turned down an offer to board a lifeboat.  His wife Ida also turned down the chance with the words, "I will not be separated from my husband.  As we have lived, so we will die together."  And they did.

The band who played until the very end.  Supposedly the final piece they played was the hymn, "Nearer, My God, To Thee".  All the members of the band were lost.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown, who took charge in her lifeboat and rowed toward the rescue ship, the Carpathia. 

Captain Edward John Smith:  It was supposed to be his last voyage before retirement.  The captain was last seen on the bridge before he went down with the ship.

There are so many breathtaking stories that occurred during the Titanic's maiden voyage that ended so abruptly.  The event of the Titanic is an example showing us that even during that extreme time of panic and desperation, there were people who sought to find and give hope, even when they knew there was none.  It is a story of bravery, courage, and honor earned most respectfully.


My resource for this blog post was the book Eyewitness Titanic by Simon Davis (DK Publishing, Inc.). It's a wonderful book with lots of amazing pictures.  You should check it out.  :)     
      

Just to Let You Know....

I'm about to start playing with the look and layout of my blog, so if you notice anything acting weird, that's probably why..  Hopefully I'll be able to create a new look quickly..  Sorry for any inconveniences!

Many Things...

Yeah I know, I'm pretty bad at posting regularly.  I haven't forgotten about my blog, honest.

I think my problem is that I really don't know what my plan is for this blog or how I want it to be, and I'm still trying to figure that out.  I have a tendency to over think pretty much everything, especially when it comes to this kind of thing.

I have an extreme level of shyness to the blog world at this moment in time, but I'm hoping that will wear off soon.  I'm not very extroverted, and I've just been having a hard time finding something to blog about that was moderately interesting.  It's kind of overwhelming.  But I realized the other day that I didn't get a blog to write perfection, I got a blog just to write.  

I know by far I am not a superb writer.  But I'm hoping this whole blog experience might increase my writingness.  Or at least help me to get these words out of my head...

I'm working on setting my blog "goal" for posting and all that stuff..

Anyway, there have been some wonderful things that have happened this past week or so, and I'm gonna share them with you:

Well, for starters, my best friend went to her cardiologist yesterday, and she received great news: her heart murmur is gone :) This has been something that I know has been weighing over her shoulders, and now it is no more :D God is just amazing beyond what words can describe.


Also, I received my first letter from my Compassion Correspondent child in India about two weeks ago!  This was the sweetest, most humbling letter I had ever read.  In reading it, I could really see this precious little seven-year-old's strong faith in Jesus :) I am so glad I am able to write him :)


Well that's it for now.  Oh! I'm going to visit a college this weekend..  This is exciting, just a little scary in a very eye-opening way...


I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful weekend!!      

Five Sentence Fiction: Tattered

     Well, here is my Five Sentence Fiction entry for this week..  I've been enjoying participating in FSF.  It's really all I have been posting recently, but that's about to change...

Tattered

     The knight looks dizzily through the pouring rain at the lifeless bodies lying around him.  He is suddenly reminded of the pain, and throbbing nearly overcomes his thoughts as he falls to his knees in the mud-thick ground.  Was it really worth this?, he asks himself seeing his men, his friends, butchered around him while he clutches the spear lodged firmly in his stomach.  Gazing to the ground before him he sees the flag, the symbol of a despaired cause, withered and ragged while half sunk in the earth.  Suddenly his limbs grow weak, and he collapses as the razed world around him grows heavily dark.

     

     ...This completely contradicts the title of my blog.  Haha.

    

Five Sentence Fiction: Enchanted

     So I was so caught up in homework, studying for the wonderful SAT, and attending a weekend conference at my church that I nearly forgot to do Five Sentence Fiction..

     Here is my entry.......

Enchanted

     As the sun's last glimmer of light begins to set beyond the horizon, as a chilling breeze begins to rustle the tree top leaves, that is when they appear.  They come out from the bushes, down from the branches of the tall oaks, and out the cracks of hallow trees.  Soon their merry laughter fills the air as they flutter their wings from one spot to the next.  They begin to sing notes so clear, yet so soft, as they twirl and dance with each other, all the while spreading lifeful light throughout the dark depths of this forest.  I slowly step closer, trying to get a closer look at the entrancing sight, but with the quick snap of the stick under my foot they are gone.

... I kind of threw this together suddenly.  Let me know what you think! I thoroughly appreciate any feedback..   

Five Sentence Fiction: Yearning

     So this is my first time ever participating in Five Sentence Fiction.  I was informed about it by my super cool school teacher who sometimes participates in it on her blog, so I decided to give it a try........

    

 Yearning

     Their mouths are dry.  Their feet stained with blood from walking leagues upon the sharp rocky ground.  The sun beats waves of flames on their backs.  They have abandoned everything for this, this that had so abruptly diminished in their land.  They keep walking, walking with the desperate hope of finding that which has been lost, its memory forever implanted in their skulls. 

     

     

     ...Let me know what you think! 

The Greatest of These

1 Corinthians 13:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 

3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 

6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 

7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

     I absolutely adore this passage.  It's one of my favorites, and since Valentine's Day was this week and there was all this talk of love, I thought I would read it again. :)

     In this passage, Paul describes love.  When I reread verses 4 and 5 I really realized how strong love truly is.  It is a very powerful thing, and so often do I throw the word around carelessly, such as: "I love pizza", or "I love NCIS".

     True love is strong.  As verse 8 says, "Love never ends..."  Never is a powerful word.  Never ending means eternal.  Love is eternal.  Christ's love for us is eternal. Wow. :)  That leaves me speechless in wonderful amazement.

     Love lasts, even in those terrible times when everything else seems like it will crumble.  We can always count on God, because He loves us.  His is patient and kind, it isn't rude or resentful.  His love for us is true love.

        

Snow! I think...

Yesterday, immediately following church, I went on a trip with the girls of my youth group to "Snow Mountain" at Stone Mountain Park, and might I tell you, it was AMAZING!  I had never been to Stone Mountain for anything before, so I  had no idea what to expect.  I was not prepared for the extreme amount of happiness that was about to befall me.
We all arrived at Snow Mountain dressed in our heavy coats, gloves, and winter boots in the 60ish degree weather because we had absolutely no idea how cold it was going to be sliding on tubes in the "snow".  I hadn't the slightest thought as to what it was even going to look like.  Once we were checked in, and we came to the attraction, I was finally able to set eyes on it.  It was this huge slanted ramp type contraption that was covered in this icy substance.  While waiting in line, we all saw other people sliding down in their tubes, and a strong wave of excitement came over us.  
We grabbed our tubes, which are kind of like the ones you use to go tubing on a lake, and rode this escalator belt to the top of the "mountain".  The ride up was almost as fun as the slide down. =)  At the top, I waited in line until I reached the edge, and then I sat in my tube and was pushed off.  I really don't like heights, the feeling of falling, and people pushing me down heights so I will fall, but this was an exception.  I haven't had that much fun in a long time.  It made me feel so adventurous.
After everyone had had enough of the ice tubing, we all went to the bottom and played in this huge area that was covered in SNOW! At least, it looked like snow, and was cold like snow.  So, I'm just gonna say it was snow.. We all had this huge snowball fight, and by the end of it, we were all shivering and wet.  I haven't been that cold all winter =)

Well that was my wonderful, exciting, adventurous Sunday...  I hope everyone had a good weekend as well!          

1st Post! =D

     Hello! I'm Mary Margaret... This is my official first time blogging, and I'm super duper excited! :D I love to write, but I've never done something like this before, so we'll see how it goes..
     I had thought about starting a blog for a while, but I wasn't sure about it.  Then my best friend got one and assured me of how epic it truly is, so I decided to start one. I don't really have any specific purpose for this blog.  I just plan for it to be about the happy random things and experiences in my life. But not in an overly optimistic perky way.  The name?  It doesn't have a deep, poetic, symbolic meaning to it. I chose the name because I plan to write about things that are encouraging to me.  Things that give me hope.  And might give someone else hope :D Who knows..
     Well, I'm a Christian.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us all from our sins, and that believing and trusting in Him is the only way to heaven.   We don't deserve His perfect, merciful, graceful love, but He loves us anyway.  Isn't that amazing?!  I try to be a good "I.D. badge" for Him everyday, but unfortunately I'm continuously unsuccessful. 
     I'm homeschooled by my marrrvelous parents along with my two younger siblings.  To get my socialization time I attend a school for homeschoolers that meets three times a week and I have amazing friends there.  I also have a wonderful youth group that I am a part of, and I love it.
     I live in a wee little town in Georgia.  However, we just got a Dunkin' Donuts, so we are moving on up in society.
     Weeeelllllll that's it for now I suppose. I'll try to post as often as I can...