School and a Surprise

So, amazingly enough, mostly to me, I am done with my classes for this term, or at least the part that I was worried about. I completed my Academic Strategies with the best grades I have ever gotten....100%! Course it was the easiest class I have ever taken, but thats besides the point. ; ) My other class went well also, but it was harder for sure. I studied hard all morning yesterday to add to the studying I had already been doing, and decided to take my final for Med. Law & Ethics early so that I could get a lot of things done working with Dad. I was pretty happy with the result. It was not as good as I had wished, but hey, it was a 200pt test! I felt good when it was over! 

After all that was said and done, I headed down to Adam's to set up for something I had been thinking about for quite a while...my parents 25th Anniversary party! I actually had thought about it months in advance, but lacked the motivation to plan it on my own. I was spurred on by my Uncle a few weeks ago and then my Aunt helped me plan it. God really worked out the details so well. He always does. :) Every single person I invited offered to bring food. The result was an amazing spread! My gift to them was to send them for a night up to the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT. Yes, this is where the real people the Sound of Music movie lived after they came here from Austria. It is a really beautiful place, and very well done up. My parents loved it, and while they were gone I got to bake cakes and make LOTS of phone calls. 

The whole things worked out because Adam's birthday was on Sabbath, and Gail decided to have a bon fire get-together on Sunday evening, so with her permission I used that as the guise to get my parents to their party. :) My Mom was surprised. My Dad is a Coulter. Nothing gets by him. Anways, it went really well, and I am so glad it happened. The weather didn't quite cooperate, so we got smushed inside the house like a bunch of sardines, but it was so much fun! Adam's Dad even made home-made ice cream. :) 

Well I guess that about wraps it up. I will post again tomorrow concerning what is happening this week. Hope everyone is doing well. 

Adios.

The newest addition...

Well, what do you think?!

New Bike!

So, now there is another motorcycle in the Howe family. For those of you who know Adam well, you are all shaking your heads. ; ) Don't worry, this one actually has potential! And....its a Harley! Adam was bit by the Harley bug a while after my parents got theirs. He resisted it for a while, but soon that was all he could talk about. So, after after four hours, which should have only taken two...horrendous traffic, to get to Springfield, Massachusetts, we had the bike. It is quite unique looking and I will post some pictures as soon as I take them. It needs some work, but it will be something when its done. Lets just say some guy walked all the way around a convenience store to watch us drive by last night. ; ) I know Adam enjoyed that. :) 

It was all that I could do to drag myself out of bed this morning after crashing at midnight, but time spent with heaven and a fresh start to the day with a walk up the hill set me in running order. God is so amazing! Its incredible what fresh air, good food, sunshine, and words of wisdom from the great Author Himself can do for a soul. I am sure I will be well exhausted by tonight, but for now I am just enjoying God's beautiful morning. 

So long. 

Lately...

So, life is happening, and its running away from me. It seems crazy that I am almost at the end of my first term of school. Next week holds many challenges for time and work and my brain. I have a big paper to write as my final project for Academic Strategies, and a comprehensive final for Med. Law and Ethics. I have come to appreciate both classes immensely. I have learned so much about myself and the field I am going into. 

Its seems so funny to think that I will not be joining the rest of my college chums in returning to the South this fall, but I know God worked this out for a reason and I leave my twinge of sadness in His hands. There are many people that I long to see, some of which are not returning to Southern either, aka Emily, Jessie, Bri, Phoebe and hopefully I didn't forget anyone else. The good part is that I am really enjoying my summer. Even though my time is filled with work and school, I am able to really appreciate the sunny days, my early morning walks up our road, the cute baby bunnies, and the cool summer breezes. All these things seem more beautiful and amazing than I remember. Maybe that is because I actually have time to think about them and really realize their presence. God is so amazing! He created so many beautiful things for us to see! I am beginning to see Him in all of the little things in a way I never did before. 

Also, I am crazier about fresh vegetables now than ever before! :) My lunches and suppers have been filled with fresh cucumbers, beans, peas, squash, zucchini, blueberries, rasberries, broccoli, and cabbage. It is amazing! I love having food fresh out of the garden. Oh yeah, I forgot about the beats and greens. Man those are good! :) Ok, I will stop bragging about my veggies. 

I believe this is squash... :) Its fun picking too.

Ok, well since I can think of anything else to say, I will stop blabbing. 

Adios Friends. 

Baptism!

This sabbath we got to enjoy watching the beautiful gift of new life in Jesus while we were up in Vergennes, VT visiting Adam's cousins Christy and Andrew Charlestream. It was a beautiful day and we rode the motorcycle up there with my parents. 

It was so warm out, and we had worn our heavy coats all the way up, that it was all we could do not to jump in ourselves. It was a really neat place to have it and there was a boat and a few kayak's that gathered to watch. Their parents, Glee and Cathy, played their violin and viola as we sang their favorite hymn. One of the most beautiful parts of the whole thing was this next picture.... 

Andrew came up out of the water shivering as if he had been blasted with a -40 wind chill. As they were standing together after they got out (Andrew still shivering) Christy wrapped her arms around her little brother to keep him warm. If you knew these two siblings personally, you would know how much of a shock it was to me. ;) What wonderful compassion we should always have on our fellow man!

I never cease to be reminded lately how important it is to be there for family, whether they are going through times of celebration or times of trial. When we first got there, I was looking all around to see where Chrissy had gotten to. Just as I was looking off to the right I was almost tackled by a pair of arms being flung around me by the girl whom I sought. It is so nice to see people whom you haven't seen in a long time! As for the other type of family needs, I entreat you all to pray for my Aunt Diane. She has been battling with gallbladder cancer for several months now, and is getting extremely weary. The chemo and many other procedures done for her have left her weak and tired. In a world of pain, I restrain myself from asking God the question "why" but "what" can I do in this situation. Though the most painful aspects of life befall us, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is still here. So many aspects of my life have been ravaged with pain, but God always brought me through it, and even brought many good things out of it. "For now I see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." 1 Corinthians 13:12

~Take heart dear friends in pain. Jesus has a plan for you and He will bring you through!

Weekend in Maine

After a wonderful weekend in Maine, I am back at home. It was a really nice time of relaxation and revival. Upon getting there we parked the camper and headed down to Sam's, a grinder shop up there, where my parents ordered a special one for me...without the cheese. :) Sadly for them, the order was mixed up and all four grinders came back without cheese. Somehow it was my fault for being different. 

After that they dropped me off at my friend Laura's house where I knocked on the wrong house and had to be told to go two doors down. When I got there, I intended to catch up with Laura and take my Academic Strategies class. The first of the two things I accomplished...very well! The real story is that I tried for a half an hour and couldn't log in to my class. So, Laura and I made the best of it and munched on some cookies as we talked. :)

The next day I spent the morning getting schoolwork done in the Freeport church, who happily let campers use their wireless internet. My parents went on a motorcycle ride while I did this and enjoyed the Maine sites. We caught up later in the afternoon and went a few stores in Freeport. It was all very sad for me who didn't have money to buy anything, but I survived (This is coming from a previously die-hard shopper).

On Friday Adam came up on his motorcycle. He left at 7:00a.m.! I was impressed. :) After he arrived we coupled up and got on our motorcycles to go to Cooke's restaurant. I was surprised that the waitress didn't look at me cross-eyed when I ordered all side dishes of different vegetables. I even topped it off with a piece of strawberry pie...Mmmm yum! 

Adams bike acted up a little after that so we headed back so he could figure out what it was. It turned out to be nothing big, so we took a quick trip to L.L. Bean. (for those of you who don't know, this is an amazing store of the east full of everything you will ever need for camping, hiking, canoeing and kayaking, and hunting and fishing) It was nice to be back in our old stomping ground. 

Friday evening we went to the big tent to hear Lee Venden speak. The message was awesome! It was very hard to leave and go to the youth meeting Sabbath morning, but there were people that I really wanted to see there. I was able to see Scott and Andrea, my beloved friends who took me in and let me sing in praise team while I was at Pine Tree Academy. I also met their beautiful daughter Reese. She is sooooo cute! It was a lot of fun to see everyone again. 

That afternoon we took another ride out to Portland Headlight. I love the ocean! It was beautiful. So for a minute I will stop babbling and give you a taste of Maine...

 

So, to wrap things up, it was a wonderful time. I was so glad to see those of you that were up there. Sadly, there were still some of you that I wanted to catch up but didn't see. To you, I am very sorry, but I hope we can meet or talk sometime soon. 

Adios!

Finally the rain lets up!

After several weeks of ongoing rain we are finally getting some sunny days. The only casualties were my work clothes last week when Dad and I had to lower a boiler into a basement during a downpour. I survived, but my mental health is thanking the sun for the uplift. 

On Sunday I tagged along with Adam and his Mom and we picked up his Dad from the airport. He had been gone on a business trip for over a week and was very happy to be home. After his long flight and unexpected delays we hauled him off to Rochester, NH to look at a Harley Adam was thinking about buying. I should mention that we didn't even get there until about 8:30 p.m. It is a very long story, but the gist of it is that the bike wasn't quite what Adam was hoping for, and the whole experience had Gail (Adam's Mom) and my stomach doing flip-flops. He ended up turning it down, much to our relief, and we began the long trip back home at 10:00 p.m. It began to rain later in the trip and we made it through a thunderstorm before pulling in at 1:15 a.m. It was a long night!

To all of my campmeeting going friends, I will be up there on Wednesday night, though it is not likely you will see me then. I have class on Wednesday night as well as Thursday night at 8:00 so I will sadly have to wait for the meetings until Friday night. There are so many people I haven't seen in so long and I look forward to catching up with all of you that will be there. And to all of you that have responded to me since this blog, I thank you! Its been great hearing your feedback and voices and messages. 

Well, since my brain is tired still from the late night and I can think of nothing else interesting to say, farewell friends.