Haley Brooke!

This is Haley.

(Haley,I know this picture was taken a couple years ago (before your braces got taken off), but it is one of my favorite pictures of you!

Haley has been one of my best and most faithful friends. I wish you all knew her.

Yesterday was her 16th birthday! HaPpY bIrThDaY to my sweet friend!

    Haley and I used to do a lot of stuff together. We used to ski together and make epic crashes into icy little trees...that ended well for only me. We used to talk and walk and share our hearts...we still do, but without the walking. We share a mutual love of chocolate and coffee...i think food in general makes us both happy. We both love to read and write...I better stop with the mutual interest thing...the list would be really long if I got into every little detail :). When we visit eachother we dance, sing, laugh, eat, take long walks, and just be totally unreserved...I'm not going to go into any detail because it would be way long and some things are better left put simple...with snickers from those who know how we are really).  Well we used to do a bunch of stuff physically together, but I moved away and you would think that it would be harder to keep up a relationship, but I think that God strengthened it and drew us closer together. . Now we look forward to visits(in which we do all the stuff listed above(except the skiing), we talk on the phone, write letters, email, and send 12 Days of Christmas boxes!

    Anyway, I love Haley because she loves the Lord and seeks after Him. She is also concerned for the spiritual condition of her family and friend's souls, which I appreciate. I have enjoyed our times of encouraging one another and sharpening each other. Haley is thoughtful, deep, funny, beautiful, generous, loving, understanding, creative, helpful, and soo many other things! I am blessed to be able to call her my friend. I love you, Haley, and I can't wait to see you!

Haley sent this poem to me in one of the Christmas boxes...this is exactly how I feel about her:

“Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are -- chaff and grain together -- certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” 

Last Week in Phx...

 
So last week we were at the home school convention in Phoenix. It was so so so hot...I think 108. I am not even tolerant of the 90 degrees we get here in Flag. SO...the wretched heat made me more thankful that I don't live anywhere in AZ but Flagstaff.

I didn't take a single picture of the convention simply because we didn't bring our flimsy little camera...Plus what do you take pictures of at the convention? The booths? I think not...it is fun to walk around and all that and the speakers were great, but nothing extremely notable and visually exciting.

The key note speaker was Todd Wilson...he was awesome! He was so real and fun. Even though I am not homeschooling anyone at present, it was an encouragement to me. Also Steve Demme was there from MathUSee. He was great as well.

It was odd...there was this one girl there who has no idea I exist and that I know who she is..but I do. Creepy, I know. So I follow her blog and she follows my friend Holly's blog. Also my friend Haley follows her blog, but none of us know her. We actually I thought she was a friend of my Oakhurst friends and they thought she was my friend. She isn't. SO it remains a bit of a mystery as to how she lives so close to me and how she knows my friends and...all that. Yes, it was odd. I almost introduced myself to her, but Amelia was falling apart and making a show of herself because her toe hurt...as only Amelia knows how to do...I love her, but she is very dramatic when she wants to be. :) I was trying to make her stop while talking to all the various people who kept talking to me. Man, we know how to keep each other on our toes...So I didn't want to add another component to the little Gindorf freak-out session.

Also, there was an incredible storm followed by incredible gyros, followed by incredible traffic.

As we were heading back to Flag, the sky was changing and had this tornado-like hue of yellow, black, and purple. It was just plain odd. I'd never seen a sky so...so...freaky. I guess we have watched too much of the show "Storm Chasers" because we were all trying to find the various kinds of funnels that might have formed into a twister. Not to mention the crazy wind that Mum was putting up with as the driver of our large car. Then the lighting started and the wind got worse...plus we had to stop for dinner. We were still in Phoenix, by the way.

We went to this little Greek restaurant which we had been to once before. I got to eat one of their gyros...so.incredible. It's as good as food gets. People always mispronounce "gyro"....just take the "g" off and you've pretty much got it. :) So while we were eating, we were sent this incredible storm...trees were snapping in the parking lot, the rain was soaking anyone who stood in it longer than 3 seconds, the sky was black, the lighting was like a web the had captured us, and the thunder was deafening. aaannnnd..We were stuck in Phoenix. So we waited it out in the little Greek place for a while...then switched to the Starbucks next door...call me crazy, but I got a frappucino...it wasn't that cold.

So we decided the rain had lessened a little and we made our way out onto the freeway. WELL, there was an accident, apparently. There was no sign of one...but it nevertheless it took us 5 HOURS to get to Flagstaff...I almost fell asleep in church the next morning. There..that is your story for the day.

Ok, so yesterday I wished rain on someone...and guess what...it rained! The Sender sent us a nice black storm...I was at Bearpaw, though...and we had to get out of the pool. That's okay. So then some of us girls went to the mall. I was still soaked in my swimsuit. I needed a dress for the wedding we are going to, and I found one! Hoorah! Then we went to McDonalds and I got my traditional cone...it's cheap. ;) Then we walked BACK to the mall...I was still in my wet swimsuit. It was quite the day, I tell you!

Today...today I wished rain on someone else! Guess what! We are having this gigantic storm. The lighting struck REALLY close to our house...the thunder made me jump. Emma says her toes went numb, she jumped, AND her skirt ripped. My toes usually start aching when something scares me...weird, I know. Man, this thunder is HUGE...of course I can't really wish something on someone...it was more of a request to the Sender.

This picture is me...it is small, sorry. It says "And will you dance with me when the rain falls?"...I just saw it and liked it...I hope you do too!

This is me as well. I like to stand in the rain, did you know that? Heehee!

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain"...heehee! Just not when there is an insane amount of lighting right outside your door!

So I think I'm caught up now! Thank you for reading Madeleine's Ramblings... :) Also I got to have a date with Dad this week. It was nice and we were sent another amazing sky...it was a rare one. 


TTFN!~Madeleine~

Camping

   I am totally cheating.  I shouldn't be able to copy and paste things that I have written a long time ago JUST so I have a blog post for today.  I am doing that, though.  I know I post a lot, but if I don't then I will stop all together!  So, until I get into steady and nicely timed blogging habits, you will have to hear from me more than you probably want to.  There, I've said my piece. 

Yes, I wrote this a while ago...it's the camping feeling! Does anyone know it? :)

      "Tall old plastic cup in hand, I walked across the dirt to the tent, the ice making a diluted hollow clink as I moved. I crawled in among the sea of pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags to my spot at the end of the tent. I lay down on my cool blankets, and then flipped my pillow over. The blue tent cast a strange light and I could see the shadows of trees swaying back and forth painting me in moving color.  All was peaceful. The wind pressed against the tent walls, stirred the leaves on the tree above me, and calmed my mind with its sounds.  The birds conversed sweetly with each other forming a tune of cheerful melody and contented harmony. I took a sip of my Arnold Palmer and closed my eyes as memories of previous camping trips danced in my mind and heightened my senses to the familiarities of the present one."

Okay, and I'm editing this post so I can include a video!  This is Ian eating Mr. Grasshopper's second leg.  I have to say, it was a very beautiful and vividly colored leg.  Ian's confidence was high at this point because I let him eat the first leg with a chocolate chip.  Leg # 2? No problem!  That's my brother! :) <3 He said he was pretending to be Bear from 'Man vs. Wild"...

P.S-name change # 1

Ok, so I changed my blog name to "Madeleine's Musings"...because I really just like my full name better than my nickname. I say "# 1" because if I ever find a cooler name than "Madeleine's Musings"...then M.M is going to have to go. Something with a ring to it, you know? Something that has to do with writing..or something that screams "Maddie!"..preferably some long word that I could never remember the spelling of (that would be a lot like me)....I have yet to find that ultra creative name, though. So we are sticking with the obvious. The blog for the writing down of my musings...:)

This is a very fuzzy picture of some of my old church friends in my empty green and brown room.  Karah painted that room with me, actually.  Yeah so these people are Lily, Morgan, Trevor, Jimmy, and Luke. I miss all of them.

"A Piece of Monsoon #2", For Lack of a Better Name For It. (Oh I remember what I called it: A Monsoon Dome Personified)

  “Piece of Monsoon #1" Is really quite different from this one and no, you haven't missed anything. I didn't post that one; it is one I wrote months ago anyway. This little personification (P.O.M#2 aka M.D.P...I like to name stuff, can you tell?) is something I wrote on the 9th of this month. This is the type of thing I write all monsoon season. I am writing this post on the 14th and posting on the 15th.  So...here we are. I promised a couple of you that I would post something other than rambling...I'm not sure if this counts.

Don't laugh at my over-dramatic style of writing. :) (Excuse the grammatical errors!) Man, I can't believe I'm letting you read this...


"He crept up above them filled with power and passion...unbeknownst to most the show he would give this time. As he stretched across the last skyline the last bit of cheery sunbeam was suffocated and the city was covered in the eerie, vivid light he cast. The colors exploded against his dark ominous figure as he prepared to unleash himself. After this one-sided battle was finished and the power given to him was spent, the true colors of the city would flourish. His job for the Maker was one of might and awe......one that pointed to the heavens...one that was a great honor...one that was to be done well...one that revealed the power of the Maker Himself. The worker let himself go at the thought of his duty. Slowly, at first, then with a flash he began his work in full force. He let out a yell of strength causing surprise and jumping among those who he covered. Some of them ran out under him in thrill and thankfulness, receiving his display with thought of the One who sent him, while others took cover and watched from their cozy shelter. His gray self shook with awe at what was being done through him with his ardor...it was grander than even he thought it could be. After several hours of tremendous and overwhelming zeal, he lightened up and crept forward with a slightly withered, but still feverous sigh. The storm moved on and regular life resumed for the inhabitants of the city and many were thankful and consumed with awe...including the cloud."

  Ok, I couldn't imagine a girl storm dome...so I made it into a guy. Emilieeeeee.....I told you not to laugh (yes, Em, it came from that one notebook of mine)! This is seriously how I actually think about clouds. I just decided to write it down. Hope you were amused by this! Always give thought to God and how he sends the exquisite storms as tools that display his strength! You don't have to go run around in it like me, but do notice the grandeur and enjoy it!!! Also, if you aren't the sit-in-the-rain-for-fun type and you would rather be inside to watch it...drink coffee or hot cocoa.  That is one set back to being in the rain.  It just isn't the same if you suddenly want coffee, but refuse to go inside for it. :)

 Have you ever heard someone so opinionated about clouds...my goodness.

THE END.

Halo...post number eleven

Sooo my friend, Courtney(Tialla)Rising wrote A BOOK. Is that cool or what? She is a big inspiration to me as a writer. The little scribblings that are in my notebooks and in my "book" document on Word hardly qualify me to write a real book. I would * love * to, though...patience in writing about the same plot for an entire book doesn't sound like me. I rather write little things. So I do. Courtney, however, has that gift of patience and perseverance. :) I can't wait to read her book and see what she has been working so devotedly on for the past few years!

                                                She just made this cool book trailer:

  Check out her website at www.therubyvial.homestead.com!

I had to say something about this being the eleventh post.  Eleven is my favorite number in the world!  Sorry for that piece of useless info...:)  BUT there will never be another number 11, so...oh well.

Ok I am editing this post because I do not want to do two posts in a day...so I am adding on instead.

So Amelia and I have this daily ritual of dancing.  It is kinda funny. :)  We sing the only sentence we know of "I Could Have Danced All Night" from 'My Fair Lady' and then we "dance".  Yeah, we are still working on it.  I dropped Amelia in the end of this video actually...oops.  I don't think we even know the tune to the song, but we could care less...we are having fun.

Choir Concert Songs

 

I finally figured out how to get movies from my Ipod onto the blog.  So here are a few videos from our May concert, "How Can I Keep From Singing".  The sound quality is super bad, but oh well.  Credit to Rachael Dingman for recording these(I'm not blaming her for the bad quality, it's just how the ipod's video recorder is :)). Let's just sound better in real life..not as mumbled,weak, and overwhelmingly bad..;P This isn't really meant to be a video, so don't expect to watch anything.:)  Oh and our Choir is called The Children's Choral of Flagstaff, by the way.  It is a really good experience!  We learn a lot about singing in a group and reading music.  The choir directors are great and it is so much fun to have accomplished a full concert of music! 

This is Festival Sanctus (Latin). Again, sorry for the terrible sound quality! It makes us sound bad...really bad.  So this song was sang with all the choirs except for the young men's.  The first part of this song didn't get recorded..it was only an intro though before we all walked to our places on stage.

                                           Hashivenu..it is Hebrew. This one was really fun to sing! All of the different choir age groups sang this one except for the young men's choir and the Kindergarten-2nd grade choir.

   I have way more videos, but it is takng a really long time to load them, so I will wait another day to post them.  These are just the first two songs. :)

Why do you keep changing your background picture?

Soooorrryyyyy!! there are some cool pics out there, so I am constantly changing one...I hope I find one that I want to keep soon. What I really want is a picture of a storm, but I can't find one. Oh well, that notebook paper will do for now.  Notebooks are, infact, one of my favorite things, SO I guess I'll keep it until I find a storm picture. Or until I am prompted to change it by one of my friends. :) Here is an after-storm pic taken from our house in Oakhurst:

Sorry for the random post...I felt an explanation was needed.

And So It Begins!!!!

  So yesterday we got our first REAL monsoon storm!  Some of us from church just sat in it getting soaked for a while..it was wonderful!  Then we went and played football...with about 4 on each team because not everyone loves the rain as much as we do. :)  (I thank Courtney for being our one loyal audience member..:))  So we were all slipping and sliding on the grass and the mud puddles with the football...this was by far the best day of the week ( I think I can safely say this even when I haven't experienced the rest of the days this week).  I'm going to share some of my favorite storm verses!  I am going to save the others for my future storm posts..yesssss, I'm sure there will be more. You all know how I am when storm season hits!! I just love the rain!!

As we in Arizona enjoy the rain, let's remember the power of the One who sends it!

Job 26:5-14
“The departed spirits tremble
Under the waters and their inhabitants.
  Naked is Sheol before Him,
And Abaddon has no covering.
 He stretches out the north over empty space
And hangs the earth on nothing.
 He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
And the cloud does not burst under them.
 He obscures the face of the full moon
And spreads His cloud over it.
 He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters
At the boundary of light and darkness.
 The pillars of heaven tremble
And are amazed at His rebuke.
 He quieted the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
 By His breath the heavens are cleared;
His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.
 Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

P.S- I will try to get some good pictures of the storms soon.

Behold Our God!!

I think I have a new favorite song!  Mr. Borman, from our church, was in charge of worship yesterday and he introduced this song to the congregation. I had only heard bits of it on the radio before.  It is a glorious and worshipful song with beautiful words and an amazing tune.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!