Apple Picking

It was such a GORGEOUS day for apple picking :) Sarah and I had a GREAT TIME :D Here are some photos of our adventure!

You caught me on the way down

Another week gone, and another week colder. The weather has been SO beautiful lately! A little windy here and there and we had some rain on Friday. Other then that its been beautiful! Today the sun is especially shiny! Sarah and I are going to venture out into a rather non windy, but airy apple orchard and choose only the best for some yummy apple crisp (Photos to come)! This is what it looks like from our home this morning :)

Nothing but blue skies, and sunshine!

This week I finished up working for Elly, a rather unfortunate thing, but I definitely won't be missing the drive there! I had an interview this past Monday for another long term-full time nanny position with some pretty awesome benefits! I won't know about that for another couple of weeks though, meanwhile I am still hunting for anything that may look interesting! Sarah and I went on our second shopping trip of living together yesterday! :D So fun, and interesting to see the patterns we are getting into with our schedules. We have started watching The Office together, I have seen all the seasons, and Sarah hadn't seen them yet so I am soooo excited to watch them with her :D It's even more fun then watching them alone so it is a new experience for me as well. It's interesting to see the things I missed the first time through as well!

This week has brought along another couple of new things as well! I got some super soft yarn to make another afghan with :) It's pretty crazy how far along I've gotten it in about an hour + 4 Office episodes :D I only got 2 skeins of yarn to start so I'll need to take another trip to Michaels and get some more :)

This is about the length of a full size bed.

Another new thing that has come into my life are some new Van "wannabe Converse" shoes :) I almost got these sweet purple converse, but in the end the Van's won my heart over.

Grey shoes yet again, but they are oh so pretty, and on clearance! :)

I have a rather large list of things I need to be getting done this week, and I won't bore everybody with the details, but its a lot! Plenty of free time to do it in this week, but that just makes me feel guilty haha.

I am going to check out FCBC in Loudon today. This is a church Sarah has been attending and loves, so I am really looking forward to going! After that we are going to visit with her family (which I am super pumped about! :), and then head to Meadowledge Farm to pick us some apples, and hopefully find good pumpkins for carving, I am in the process of creating a sweeeeet TNBC (The Nightmare Before Christmas) stencil for my pumpkin! YES! Sarah and I are hoping lots of little children come to our door this year so we can give out lots of candy, but I don't know how busy it actually gets around here, though there are a TON of houses! Time will tell :)

There is not really anything else interesting to report! I am super pumped for my birthday and the trip that is being taken to Mass to hitup Six Flags! (if anybody wants to go let me know!).

 "My Utmost for His Highest" (the book I am reading for devotions) was pretty awesome this morning. It was on prayer, which is great. I have been trying to work on my prayer life since the beginning of this summer, being more intentional about praying for my brothers, and sisters, but not just asking for things to happen in their lives or just asking for something to happen in my life. I really want to strive to have great communication with my Father. I know that I have all the ability in the world to communicate with people. I am doing it right now through this blog, I do it all the time with my roommate Sarah, and all my other friends, I am pretty open about myself with friends & family, there isn't to much that I don't share with people. It brings me to think what do I share with God. Yes he knows what goes on in my life, my inner most thoughts, my deepest desires to strive to be a better daughter, friend, sister, aunt. However, do I take the time to listen? Truly listen? I'm not so sure of this. Do I view prayer as if IT is the greater work or do I view it as something to prepare me for greater works? How should it be viewed? Anywho, I am going to post the whole devotional here because I think it could spark an interesting conversation, and I love to share things that have been meaningful to me, even if it isn't meaningful to you guys right now ;) hehe....

"And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." John 14:12

Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work. We think of prayer as a common-sense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God's work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in me which produces the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God. The way fruit remains is by prayer, but remember it is prayer based on the agony of Redemption, not on my agony. Only a child gets prayer answered; a wise man does not.
Prayer is the battle; it is a matter of indifference where you are. Whichever way God engineers circumstances, the duty is to pray. Never allow the thought - "I am of no use where I am;" because you certainly can be of no use where you are not. Wherever God has dumped you down in circumstances pray, ejaculate to Him all the time. "Whatsoever ye ask in My name, that will I do." We won't pray unless we get thrills, that is the intensest form of spiritual selfishness. We have to labour along the line of God's direction, and He says pray. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest."
There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man's work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.

Okey doke :) That is about all for today folks! I'll post photos from apple picking sometime later today :D

Much Lovin
~R

You know exactly what we’ve done wrong and what we need to do...

Crazy weekend? Yupp, for some reason they never cease to leave! Not always a bad thing but very very tiring. Regardless, I have learned some new things this weekend:

1: Never EVER go to work with an empty tank of gas (leaving purse at home) expecting a check that you can cash nearby to fill up your tank. Chances are you'll have to run out of gas OR go in and get a different check that you can cash.

2: Never EVER go jogging with your mouth open when you can help it (which is not that often)... You never know what might happen, having a bee fly into your mouth and getting stung INSIDE the back of your throat is high on the list of risks you will be taking.

3: Never try and cash personal checks at Walmart when you are in a hurry. The lines are long, and once you get to the register you will find that they only cash payroll and government checks.

4: Never believe that families you babysit for will be home on time. When you are staring at the clock and it gets to be an hour past when they said they'd be home, and they haven't called, you know you shouldn't have been "watching the pot boil."

5:  Never try calling realtors on the weekend, they never pick up.

Those are some of the important things I have learned. Gotta love life experiences :D haha... However, through those things come some rewards as well. You find out you don't have to work Saturday evening after all so you do have enough time to go with your AMAZING sister in law to the ER. Oh, and you also don't have to work Monday because of Columbus Day! So you can spend Monday evening having a "dinner interview" with a family that lives only 25 minutes from you, and has a one year old cute baby girl. Saturday mornings are a great way to spend time with your roommate and sister grocery shopping. You may just stumble upon some funny looking gourds, or begin a new way to "go green" by starting to use those blue resuable bags!

Sarah, and I "planned" our meals for the week! Tacos are on the menu for this evening, and Tuesday evening we are going to make Ian's Potato Vegetable Soup ( The recipe & a photo can be found by clicking Here ). The rest of the week we are kind of in and out so nothing toooo big is planned. I did get some chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches which I have been craving for awhile now :D yea yea... I also got some brownie mix and andie's mint chips which brings me back to my stay in Arizona this past summer! I'll toss the mint chips on top of the brownies & it does make for a delicious snack for the week :)

Other then that it has been a relaxing weekend thus far! I got to read outside on the hammock in this glorious weather today :D I love it when its Fall & the sun is shining! Tomorrow is apple picking with Anna & co. so that should be great :D

I hope you all have a grand weekend!

Gianna Jessen

Part One:



One thing that she say's that really hits home for me is this: "Ladies and gentleman there are things that you will only be able to learn by the weakest among us, and when you snuff them out YOU are the one that loses." How true is that? Not just with abortion, but any given situation. In America and yet, not just in America, but all over the WORLD. Think about that as we go into Part Two:

Tim Burton Fall Journey

Yupp so I have decided that I am going to watch every single movie Tim Burton has ever worked on (Created, Directed, & Produced). Starting with James & The Giant Peach and Ending with The Nightmare Before Christmas to be watched on Christmas Eve Eve (if anybody wants to join me on Thursday night December 23rd do let me know)....

I am putting a list on the right side, and it will get checked off as I complete the movies :)

Complete

Pretty much done with my new layout :D I edited the header and links section in photoshop :)

The Sphere of Humiliation

Some of you know that I've been enjoying reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. A book that my roommate Bethany let me borrow one day for a devotional that I was to do in my Outdoor Leadership Training class. Since then I have been continuing to read it as a devotional book, and wanted to share todays "devo"/thoughts with you guys :D

October 2nd.


"If Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us." Mark 9:22

After every time of exaltation we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they are where it is neither beautiful nor poetic nor thrilling. The height of the mountain top is measured by the drab drudgery of the valley; but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mount, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the sphere of humiliation that we find our tru worth to God, that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at the heroic pitch because of the natural selfishness of our hearts, but God wants us at the drab commonplace pitch, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship to Him. Peter thought it would be a fine thing for them to remain on the mount, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mount into the valley, the place where the meaning of the vision is explained.

"If Thou canst do any thing. . ." It takes the valley of humiliation to root the scepticism out of us. Look back at your own experience, and you will find that until you learnded Who Jesus was, you were a cunning sceptic about His power. When you were on the mount, you could believe anything, but what about the time when you were up against facts in the valley? You may be able to give a testimony to sanctification, but what about the thing that is humiliation to you just now? The last time you were on the mount with God, you saw that all power in heaven and in earth belonged to Jesus - will you be sceptical now in the valley of humiliation?

Some pretty crazy stuff in there. I think it is so true though. When I am "up on the mountain" it is so much easier to "see God" or to "live for His glory." I want to do work harder at doing those things fully when I am "in the valley." It can be just as if not MORE beautiful there then it is on that mountaintop.

Anywho, I thought some of you would appreciate this. I appreciate my roomie for sharing this book with me :)

You've poisoned me for the last time, you wretched girl! - Dr. Finkelstein

As most of you know I have a slight obsession with all things Tim Burton. More so his animation projects like Nightmare Before Christmas/Corpse Bride. He's genious. All that to say that most people don't realize he's got smaller projects out there too that are just as awesome! They are his shorts. These are the things that make me excited when talking about him. It was so nice before the new generation got into this new Nightmare before Christmas faze! Now, while I am excited that other people like Nightmare before Christmas, I do not like how over rated its now become. It is unappreciated as an art. It is loved now because it is a great "emo" movie for "emo" kids to watch, and perfect as a setting to dress "emo"... Yes I am stereotyping now. I used to be one of those kids. However, I am talking about really appreciating Tim Burton as an artist, not just being part of the "in" crowd.

Anywho all this excitement is stemming because I finally just watched 9 (the movie is already about a year old and didn't get a lot of mention). This is a movie that he PRODUCED (there is a big difference between, producing vs directing fyi)... His produced movies hold so much more Tim Burton essence which makes me happy. A lot of his original drawings were used to create characters for the movie, which I was excited to see. Anywho enough about this. I'm not really into blogging reviews or thoughts on movies and that whole rotton tomatos deal, but the only thing that excites me about Halloween really is an excuse to carve a pumpkin into Jack Skellington. He is the Pumpkin King after all :D I don't know. This time of year makes me go a little Tim Burton crazy. So I've decided to share with you all one of his first original animation shorts. Vincent Malloy :)




OH OH OH - Just as a sidenote. My car is fixed! WOOHOO! The o2 sensor blew through my muffler and that is why my muffler was broken as well... So SWEET... Killed 2 birds with one stone and now my car is as silent as can be :)

....On the Road Again!.... Or so I thought?

Part one (written 9/24): YIKES! Last night was quite the adventure indeed! I started my occasional babysitting job in Chester, NH. There are 4 kids. Jodi is 13, Colin is 10, Ethan is 7, and Keira is 4. Most of the time they keep themselves occupied, which I guess can be a good thing. Their parents are really laid back, but it makes me sad because all the kids want to do for long periods of time is watch movies or play video games. Next time I am going to see if I can get them outside playing :) I played a lot of board games with Colin, and Ethan though which was nice. Right before bed me & the three youngest ones watched Lilo & Stitch, and ate some healthy popcorn. When the kids were finally settled down in bed is when I realized how exhausted I actually was! So on my way home I was running out of gas even though I thought I had enough to make it home go figure, and me being as broke as I am didn't have any cash on me, just the check that I had recieved from babysitting that evening. So I booked it to Concord which is a little closer then Pittsfield and ended up running out of gas right outside a friends driveway which I consequently spent the night in in my car :) That was an adventure all on its own. (Sarah you rock!). So this morning I woke up to Sarah knocking on my car window hehe. I called my Dad and he came and put gas in my car so that I could go to the bank, cash the check, and fill up the tank. On a brighter note I found out this afternoon that I got the full time nanny job that I have been waiting this week to hear about. This means I can fix my car's noisy muffler, get insurance on my car, and start saving for Sarah's and my apartment which will hopefully be located and lived in before Christmas!

Thrown a Curveball
Part Two: So God has a "fun" way of throwing in lessons when you least expect it. Now to figure out exactly what that lesson is! Here is whats up in the life of Renee at the moment! :) My first day of work went really well. I enjoyed getting to know baby Connor, and he was doing great getting used to me watching him! Elly (his Mom) is super nice too, and we actually have a lot in common. Day #2 of work started out quite nicely. I got up at 6:30, brushed my teeth, shoved whatever breakfast I could down my throat, and headed out the door. Well little did I know that right as I was going to leave town my car would decide to give up its life and die right there at that traffic light near the little car wash on the end of town. It just shuddered, and died. Because I have power brakes those also died, and I was on a slight hill. So I was pretty much scared to death as I started rolling backwards. Thankfully there were no other cars behind me so I was able to back it into the car wash parking lot. I then proceded to start my car again, I made it to the edge of the parking lot and as soon as I stopped to check for cars it died again. I knew it wasn't just one faulty accident and that there were more serious problems that I am not capable of dealing with haha. My tracphone also ran out of minutes so I couldn't call home, and even if I did I would not find anybody there as they had already all left for the day. So what does a girl do? She walks home. It took me a good while but I finally made it. Red messenger bag/laptop and all. Of course there are some pretty steep hills on the way home, but nothing I didn't handle just fine :)



I made it home finally and called my Mom, she was able to get it towed to our family's mechanic. However, he is not able to look at it until this weekend. Then I needed to call Elly. She didn't answer so I shot her a quick email in the hopes that she would get it before 9 (when I needed to be there) (It was not about 8:30). I didn't hear from her until about 9:20. She asked how the car situation was and I told her that it wasn't good. My car couldn't be looked at soon, and all the other places I tried were booked up for a month. So then she said that if I couldn't come in that day she was going to have to find somebody else to watch the baby (for good). I understood though because she does need somebody to watch Connor. Its not her fault my car died, but its not my fault either. She wasn't angry or anything, I just felt super bad and she did too because she does like me watching her son. She emailed me around 10 and asked how the hunting for a car to use was going. Not good at all. So I told her her best bet would probably be to find somebody else. At this point I am super angry and frustrated, I had done all I could do to find the car and the job this summer and as soon as I get both they are on the line to be taken away. So I pretty much just got in my PJ's and sat and wallowed and slept for 3 hours. I'd pretty much given up on the situation. Eva gave me a call around 1. She said that she leaves about 20 minutes earlier then I have to for work, but she could pick me up, and then she gets out of work right when I would be driving back to Concord from work. So it works out perfect right? Well, I called Elly and she didn't answer so I emailed her. She emails me back shortly later and says she had emailed somebody else and would feel bad if she said no to them twice (It was somebody she had said no to so that she could choose me to watch her son). So she was going to wait to here from that lady, and if she didn't then I most certainly could have the job because I was her first choice! So I hear from her a little while later. She hadn't heard back yet and wanted me to come in today and then she'd figure it out from there. So I left with Eva this morning, and drove the CRX to work. At work Elly informed me that she really didn't want to lose me as a sitter, but she still feels bad about the other woman & the saying no twice situation. She also said she wished she would have waited another hour to hear from me because then she wouldn't have to make that decision. At this point Elly says even if the other woman wants to work for her then she wants me to work for a couple of weeks. I'm thinking she wants the other woman to say no with her having to feel guilty by saying no. So I will have at least 2 more weeks of work, and who knows what will happen after that. I'm sure there will be more details soon.



Regardless today was a GREAT day with Connor. His smile was pretty much endless, and he slept a lot. My arms are going to be JACKED by the time this is over. He's only 2 months but holding him for a long time gets tiring! Especially when he is asleep.



So what am I to learn from this? I'm still trying to figure it out. However, I know that it happens and all day I've been trying to figure out what God is trying to teach me. Then I got to thinking about it. Does God really need to have a lesson for me in order for this stuff to happen? I don't think so. I may learn something from it, and I know I need to absolutely rely on Him to get me through what I am going through with this situation. But does that mean he MEANT for me to learn from it? Not necissarily. I'm beginning to realize that God doesn't need to always have an agenda for the things he does :) Often it is just my flesh thinking that he has an agenda. Who knows maybe it is something I need to learn.


In other exciting news today upon my arrival home from work I found a letter waiting from one of the cutest little 9 year olds ever! I got a letter from one of my little campers from camp this past summer. This is what she said:


"Dear Renee,


I hope to see you next year. I miss you and I told you I will send you a letter. I wish you can visit. I am in the 4th grade. I still remember everyone. Plese write back. I am going to be 10 next year. I still remember my name it is Monkey. Goodbye!!!
Love Gabby
Monkey is the nickname she was given at camp by me and my co-counselor Shannon because she would want a piggy back ride all the time, and never ceased to want to cuddle. I am going to have to write her back soon.



This evening I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies for the fam. They came out great! I'll have to get a photo of them tomorrow as I am to tired to do so right now. The agenda for tomorrow is work, and sleep. Friday will be working and sleeping. Then enjoying a nice weekend off!



Did I mention Season 7 of House, and The Office started? Yes they did! So pumped :)

The Fox, The Crow, & The Cookie

I deleted this blog for awhile. Not because I didn't want to use it. I just wasn't. Lately I have been wondering why. Why not blog? The more I thought about it the more I realized that I should. Most of you guys know that I end up writing "Mega Novels" in my emails or letters. I think this is mostly because I am not good at shortening what I have to say, or figuring out how to say things effectively in a short manner. My conclusion is this. I like to think I am a pretty open, and honest person about myself. At this point I think I am going to bring my blog back, send you guys the link, and just enjoy writing. If it gets read great, and if not then at least I know I didn't bombard you all with a ton of emails! :D I also deleted all my old posts, I need a fresh start. And so it begins.

Where am I now? Well, reminiscing over something Kira wrote in a paper for school that I had helped her with. This is the end of the essay.

"As things slowed down at about four in the morning, everyone fell asleep around me. I realized that the night would soon be over, but in a sense the posse too. It had flown by so fast, I could have blinked and I would have missed it. It was hard to believe then, four of us squeezed together in the little car; we were so close, inseparable, right? What was going to happen to each of us? Because inevitably we are all going to grow-up and things will change. All the stuff that we have done together, just being the stupid teenagers that we are, would we even remember any of this night or even all the endless time together? I know that we are all going to move on and continue our lives, but even as it is happening I want to grab it and slow it down. I wondered as the others slept if they even realize that this little piece of heaven that we have made for each other is not going to last..."

"...After all this great adventure, I have decided that what ever happens to us will happen. It is weird though how when I am around them things are timeless, you get so lost in whatever we are doing, that unless you take a step back you will forget that it will not always be like this. That night was one of the times that I realized that, I would miss these kids when they finally grow-up."

I try to read that at least once a year. I keep a copy of that Soulfest essay in my hopechest. Where are we now? Where am I now? YIKES! Not where I ever thought I would be that is for sure. Kira is in Arizona which means I am 2,733 miles from one of my closest, and most dear friends, my sanity really. Derek is getting ready to leave for the air force, and Jon is working, creating videos, and working on musical things. I am sitting here writing this. Ready to leave for work, and thinking about what the next few months are going to bring. Turning 21, moving out of my house in with my dear friend Sarah, working, being content living life as a single person. How did it get to this? How did we go from 16 year olds loving life, and loving each other, to adults loving life, loving each other, yet never getting to see each other? Being adult? Being responsible for anything and everything? It seems like a huge responsibility, and it is. However, I still think I am on the boarder of who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. I am content where I am at. Not complaining in the least. Excited for what God is doing? Most definitely! I didn't realize then that the friendships I had, and have now would take so much balance, and work to keep up. I am definitely up for that challenge now, yet I have only begun to figure out how it works.

Listening to the new Anberlin CD: Dark is the way, Light is the place. It is pretty good thus far, but I still like the old school stuff better right now. It'll grow on me. Check it out if you get the chance though.

Have I mentioned I miss Houghton? YUPPERS! I do. A lot. I had a wonderful skype date with Bethany (my roommate) last night. It was good to catch up! Now just to skype every other person on campus and I think I should be all set for a week or so. My next planned visit is October 22nd-24th so I'm pumped!