Top 10 Questions People Ask Me About Homeschool

I've been a proud homeschooler since third grade. At first, it was hard to leave my friends at school, but it wasn't too long before I fell in love with the homeschool atmosphere. Time with family, taking trips to locations I wouldn't otherwise be able to, the ability to pursue my interests, and a freedom I hadn't experienced before were the main highlights resulting in much closer relationships with my parents and younger sister. For these past nine years, homeschool has been one of the best things that has happened to me.

However, despite my enthusiasm for homeschool, there are many people who are curious, and some even skeptical, about homeschoolers. It's a foreign group of students. An unusual type of family. A rather odd decision. Without further ado, I give you ten top questions people ask me about homeschool (and my responses).

1. Why did your parents decide to homeschool you? // Why are you homeschooled?
Probably the most common question I'm asked, my go-to answer is simply: because my parents felt that God led them to. No, they aren't "anti public school" people, they simply felt God was calling them to pull me out for awhile. At that time, they thought it was only going to be for one year to correct some attitude issues I was having. However, by the end of that year they decided to do . . . one more year. And so on until eventually I hit high school and we realized unless God suddenly changed our course, I would be homeschooled the rest of my education until college.

2. Do you like being homeschooled? // Do you wish you were in public school?
YES, I love being homeschooled! I would never trade homeschool for public school. Nothing against public school students, but my personal preference is absolutely homeschool. When I think about just my few years in a public school surrounded by ungodly influences and how that affected me, and then I hear about high school experiences . . . . *shudders* I'm so blessed to be educated from home. The closeness as a family, trips we can take, and bonds I form with other homeschoolers are among my favorite aspects. I enjoy talking to skeptics and proving all their ideas about "homeschoolers" wrong. And I'm so grateful not to have an hour plus long bus ride to school each way. It's much faster to wake up and walk to my desk.

There have been times I've wished I was in public school, but only to have more friendships, and to be a witness for Jesus in the public school system. I would be challenged but so grateful to have more opportunities to share my faith with non Christians, and help them find the love and hope of Jesus Christ.

3. What's it like to be homeschooled?
I like to think it's a lot like public school in the sense that I still have school every day, still have the same core subjects (plus many more awesome subjects), and still have a schedule to keep. However, it is also understandably very different. Instead of spending two or more hours on a bus, I can use that time to do homework and visit with my family. I can help more easily with projects my family has, take more vacations during the off season (like to Disneyland and Yellowstone Nat. Park), and study more subjects I enjoy (i.e. cinematography, photography, calligraphy, marine biology, apologetics, blogging, Constitutional literacy, horses, etc.).

4. Do you do school in your pajamas? // Is it nice to sleep in till ten every day?
Unfortunately, I don't do school in my PJs, though I probably would if I didn't have to feed our horses first thing in the morning. As for sleeping in, I can't have that luxury for the same reason. Country life = no sleeping in. :) Besides, even without the horses, I still need to be up and start school by 8 in the morning. I don't sleep in as late as I want. I have a schedule to keep just like other students, although from time to time I can sleep in a little longer.

5. Can't you just take the day off and catch up another day?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It's not quite as easy as it sounds to "just take a day off." True, I have more flexibility choosing which days to do school, but I still need to get in five days a week, and I still have work on the weekends. So although I am occasionally able to take a day off to participate in an event, it's not always as easy as it sounds to catch back up on what I didn't do that day. I don't have infinite days to take off/make up; even if I got sick, that day just becomes my "day off" for the week, but I still need to complete the assigned work later.

6. Does the state give you your curriculum and grade your work? // How do your parents choose your curriculum? // How do you take tests?
Although some "homeschool" students have state textbooks and curriculum, these are more accurately considered independent studies students. I'm the type of homeschooler whose parents don't use a single program, but they select which subjects I'll take that year and then choose the best books they can find for that subject. It's a lengthy and pricey process, because the state doesn't provide funding, but the textbooks they've found for me have been almost all from a Christian perspective, extremely well done and interesting, and taught me far better than many other curriculums that I've seen. Sometimes, they find them through hours of online research, and other times through recommendations or attending homeschool conventions. Through some of the material they've found, subjects I had never enjoyed much made sense and came alive and these became some of my favorite classes.

As for the tests, I grab a pencil and start filling in answers. Simple as that. Like I said above, my curriculum, therefore my tests, are not state generated or graded. They come with the various curriculums my parents have chosen and my mom grades them using the teacher book/answer key. On occasion, she generates her own tests for a given subject. Few of my tests are only true/false or multiple choice; they are fill-in, short answer, or essays so that I must demonstrate a true understanding of the concepts.

7. How does your mom teach you these subjects?
I love informing people of how smart my parents are. So I always have an easy answer to this one. The two most common subjects people ask about are my foreign language (Spanish) to which I respond that my mom was a language major, and math. For math I explain that I have video based instruction and then I complete the lessons, but also that math comes naturally to my dad. As for my other subjects, between both my parents and my textbooks, I usually have no problem learning. If they can't help me figure something out, there's always this great resource called the internet. :)

8. What do you feel you're missing out on? // What about graduation? Prom/dances? Friends? High school? Summer break?
This one . . . is a little bit tougher to answer. I know quite a few things I'm "missing out" on, such as drama, secular teaching, etc. but that doesn't bother me. :) As for things I'm missing out on that I wish I had, for several years my answer would have been friends. The only reason this was a problem for me was because I live so far away from anyone else that church was the only time I would see anyone my age, but God finally brought me a few good ones I'm able to see on a semi-regular basis. Another aspect might be sports, but I played softball for a few years at the elementary school when my parents coached. The last thing I can think of at the moment that I might be missing out on is academic competition and brainstorming. As the only student in my class, I am my only competition. My goal is just to be better than I've already been doing, and it would be nice to have a little competition in that respect. Also, it would be helpful to have a class environment for discussing literature books, etc. So the social aspect and sports are primarily all I really miss out on.

Graduation: At this point, I'm the only high schooler in my homeschool group, so there won't be a traditional ceremony, but I'll probably have some form of gathering/party. This has actually been one of the hardest aspects of homeschool for me, even back in eighth grade. My family is wonderful about making things special, but I do wish I had a class to graduate and celebrate with. You could add that to the list of things above that I miss out on, but in the big scheme of things, having a ceremony or class to graduate with isn't necessary. Sure, I would like it, but it's not crucial.

Prom/dances: Again, it's another aspect that would be fun, but it's not too important for me.

High school: Homeschooling high school has been a real challenge, especially for my mom, but we've made it through the first three years. One more to go!

Summer break: Yes, I do get a break for summertime! The biggest difference between my break and that of a public school student is that mine is a little shorter, but only because we exchange the longer summer break to have breaks between quarters. I gladly accept that trade.

9. Are you ever going to go back to real school?
I don't take offense easily . . . but this one tests my limits. First of all, I am in real school. Maybe it's not normal school, but it most certainly is real school. So please rephrase this to ask, "Are you ever going to go back to a public school?" because otherwise it just sounds like you think I've spent the last nine years skipping out on school and when I go back I'll be in third grade. Trust me, homeschool is every bit as real as public school.

Now, to answer the heart of the question, as I mentioned earlier, for several years we thought we would homeschool "just one more year." But as each year came to a close, God told us to keep going. Eventually, we realized that unless God suddenly told us otherwise, we would be homeschooling through high school. This has not been an easy process, and some days we've nearly given up, but no, I plan to finish my last year of school the same way I've been doing it. That being said, my senior year I will likely be taking some classes at a local junior college, but I will not be attending a public high school.

10. Are you going to homeschool your kids?
First of all, that's a long ways off. Secondly, when that time comes, I'll have to see if this is what God and my husband want. My personal hope is to homeschool my children. After having these years bonding closely with my family, I can't fathom sending my children away to school for most of every day for so many years. I'd much rather homeschool so we can grow closer as a family. Homeschooling would be the fulfillment of one of my dreams.

And a bonus question . . .
11.  Do you see your teacher and principal . . . kissing??
Ah yes, a personal favorite. And the answer is yes. Yes I do. I thought about reporting it to the school board . . . but nah. :)

So there you are! I hope the answers to these top ten (or eleven) questions have been enjoyable and educational for you. Do you have any questions about homeschooling? Or, if you are homeschooled, which of these questions have you been asked, and what others have people asked you? Three cheers for homeschool!

Sunshine Blogger + Early Writings Tags

Faith Potts from one of my favorite blogs, Stories by Firefly, tagged me for these two tags. Since I hadn't done one in awhile and the questions looked fun, I decided to give them a shot. I, personally, enjoy participating in tags because through them I'm answering questions that wouldn't usually be discussed, and my readers are learning more about me, my preferences, etc. Here we go!

The Sunshine Blogger Tag

1. Do you have favorite fictional families/siblings and who are they?

I really enjoy reading about the relationship between Kyrin, Kaden, and their other siblings in the Ilyon Chronicles. I laugh at how in the midst of such great turmoil they hold to one another, and are ready to risk anything to save each other. It's refreshing to read about how they lift each others spirits.

Additionally, the contrast between Renna and Brandi's personalities (especially in the first two books of the Blades of Acktar) is extremely humorous.

2. If you could reform one villain (book or movie) who would it be?

Okay, so laugh if you will, but I'd have to say that I would have loved it if Darth Vader could have been reformed and actually live as Anakin Skywalker again, instead of just dying. It would be amazing to have him on the rebels' side.

3. If you could work with/be the apprentice of/learn from one historical figure (hero or not) who would it be?

I can think of multiple people present-day, but a historical figure? I would say Paul, but it would take a lot more courage than I have to face everything he did. Another option might be George Muller. It would be incredible to watch how God showed up every time he was in need.

4. Have you ever dreamed (when you were asleep, of course) that you were in a book or movie? If so, which ones?

I have a vague recollection of dreaming I was in Acktar, from The Blades of Acktar, but I can't recall any specifics of the dream. Such a pity . . .

5. What are you favorite kinds of book titles (e.g. one word, a reference, symbolism, with a certain word in them...)?

Short, catchy titles are my preference, but symbolism can also be appealing if it is done well. In book series, all the books should have a similar setup for the title. That's not opinion—it's fact. :)

6. If you could be the "sidekick" of one fictional character, who would it be?

Hands down Leith Torren from, once again, The Blades of Acktar. He is the coolest book character to ever exist. To tag along with him would be incredible!

7. If you were a superhero, what would be your power?

I ask this question with my friends all the time, and I think I have a different answer every time. Invisibility or flying would be amazing (or some form of stealth), but I might prefer to read minds at my discretion.

8. If you entered a fictional world, what is the worst thing that could happen to you?

Well, I suppose it would be the same as in this world—dying. Or maybe being captured and tortured and then dying. That would be worse.

9. What kinds of book covers do you like?

I tend to gravitate toward covers with a single graphic than ones with collages. Occasionally, it's fun to have something from a scene in the book on the cover, because I enjoy reaching that spot and suddenly realizing that's what's on the cover. And, like with book titles, the covers in a series should have a similar setup. Lastly, the titles should be in a fancy but still easily readable font.

10. Which fictional character would you want as your sidekick?

Considering that I would be the sidekick to most of the characters I'd want to hang out with, I can't really answer this question. Book characters are far too incredible to be the sidekick to an average girl like me. XD

11. What fictional character would you want as your arch-nemesis?

I'm going to cap off this portion of the tag with a final reference to my favorite series once again. Bet you can't guess what my answer is going to be. If you said the evil King Respen from the Blades of Acktar, that would be correct. Although I don't totally understand why I would want an enemy . . .

That was fun. :) To all you who haven't read the Blades of Acktar, I hope you were still able to enjoy my answers. To those of you who have read it, I'm sure you agree with my answers. :) (Faith, I think I have you beat with TBoA references. XD)

Now, onward with Part 2!

The Early Writings Tag

1. What horrendous book did you write as a child? 

Me?? Write something horrendous? *acts offended* Okay, okay. Truthfully, far more than I can count. While I never finished a book, I have lots of stories I could share. Three or four years back, I finally stopping writing one at about 20K. It definitely qualifies as "horrendous". *cringes* Just looking back over parts of it is sending shudders up my spine.

It is a story very typical of me back then. The main character is a young teenage girl, Amber, just going into high school. From the first page the story is filled with horses, *gasps in shock* lots of attitude, and some depression. XD No wonder I only got to 20K.

2. What did you learn from it?

Oooh, lots of things . . .

• For instance, don't write a story that is basically about you! A good author can take a situation they've never been in and make it perfectly realistic.
• Speaking of realistic, stories NEED a logical plot. If you don't, it won't hold the reader's attention. (And don't copy the plot of a book you've read—this story made me guilty of that.)
• Your main character needs to be believable.
• Don't have too many characters. Readers don't like stories when they have to work to remember who is who. Have simple names and a few key characters.
• Reading back over what you write helps you identify areas that need work and improvement.
• Outlining of some form is a must to keep track of plot, characters, etc.

Here's a snippet from chapter two. It's totally unedited and I chose to leave it that way so you could get an accurate picture of my writing style back then. (I can't believe I was proud of this at the time I wrote it!) Try to enjoy. :)

~

. . . Once Amber entered the barn she was greeted by a chorus of excited neighs. Her first stop was to scratch her horses, Willow and Dusty, on the forehead. “Hello, my dears.” She then grabbed several treats and put them in her other pocket and the halter and bridle. “Hmm. I think that I'll ride bareback today.”

She first haltered Dusty, then Willow. Willow she tied to the railing while she lunged Dusty. After several minutes of walk, then ever so little trot, Amber cued Dusty to stop and come to her. Palming a treat, Amber sighed as she thought over all the enjoyment that she had had with Dusty before she injured her leg. “Oh, Dusty. Why'd you have to go and bust up your leg? We had so much fun galloping through the field.”

After tying Dusty to the rail, Amber turned her attention to Willow and began their warmup routine on the ground. “Now, you had better be good today. I'm tired of being bucked off.” After only a little walk and trot, Amber signaled Willow into a canter. “Easy girl,” Amber called as Willow tossed her head. Little by little, Willow dropped into a trot again as if thinking, “If I slowly move down a gait, maybe she won't notice. It's too much work to canter.”

“No, Willow. I told you to canter. And I mean it!” Eventually the head tossing stopped and Amber slipped the bit into Willow's mouth. “That's one thing that you are good at, girl.” However, when Amber stood at Willow's left side to mount, Willow kept sidestepping and moving away. “C'mon Willow. Let me mount. You're acting just like the Arabian that you are. Well, Mom and Dad warned me about this even before I got you. Stand still, will you!”

Eventually Amber was astride Willow with Dusty's lead in her hand as the threesome walked toward the gate that led into the field. Nearly a half hour later they returned cantering to the barn were both horses were untacked, brushed down, fed, and watered. Then Amber turned out each of the other horses in the barn into two separate paddocks except for Hank, who she gave his medication to and cleaned his severe wound on his side from being kicked. She then headed into the house to take a quick shower before dinner.

After her shower, Amber darted into the dining room just in time to grab Jonathon's hand on her left and Brian's on her right. “So glad you could join us, Amber” Alex snickered from across the table.

“That's enough, children. Let's say grace.” Dad calmly interrupted the coming squabble.

 

~

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me, my favorite books, and my early writing. For me, this has been an encouragement to see how much my writing has improved over the last few years. Thanks for reading, and thank you once again, Faith, for the tag!

Summer Has Come . . . and Gone

*crickets*

Well, hello everyone! You may or may not have noticed my extended and unplanned absence from the blogging world. Rest assured that I have not forgotten about all of you, my wonderful followers! I'm dropping by today to recap my summer and attempt to justify my blog hiatus. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be able to accomplish in the coming seasons, but I truly hope that I'm able to post more frequently. I still plan on posting my blog birthday Q&A which has been mostly written for a month, just not finalized. For now, and without further ado, here is a taste of my summer months:

JUNE

Toward the beginning of the month, I was briefly reunited with my best friend from first and second grade. It was enjoyable to see her and catch up a bit. My grandparents came to visit one day, and we all were blessed to see one another.

I finished my sophomore year of high school midway through the June, and after that my family and I left on vacation to Lone Pine at the base of Mount Whitney, the same location where I attended the movie-making camp last November. I was relieved to finally have some time to relax and unwind after a hectic last month of school. We did a lot of sight-seeing, hiking in 110 degree weather, photographing, fossil hunting, and—of course—reading. :)

Horseshoe Meadows outside of Lone Pine. About 10,000 ft.

A creek near where we stayed while in Lone Pine.

The Alabama Hills where many famous westerns have been filmed.

The following week we spent focusing on cleaning the house, going through papers that have stacked up, etc. Near the end of June I had a marvelous time at my best friend's eighteenth birthday party. (Happy Birthday!!!)

JULY

The first week of July found me counseling at a Christian camp for kids aged 7-13. For five days I had a great cabin of nine and ten year old girls. I came back exhausted with lots of stories from my second time counseling. It was a fabulous week!

From there I had one day at home before I was whisked away with my sister to spend several days visiting my grandparents in Pacific Grove. The weather was lovely, (especially compared to the extreme heat back home) and we were able to participate in several fun activities. Whether playing in the sand, taking selfies, talking with my grandparents, going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or on a whale watching boat, I enjoyed my time immensely!

Whale watching. :)

The flag off the back of the boat.

Most of July was jam-packed with many smaller activities, so that looking back now I'm seeing that I was away from the house much more than I was home all summer; this has probably been the first year I've been away from my family this much in a summer. Of course, all the activities were good ones, like finally getting to go to the beach with my best friend and that family. (I had the best time! It was the first real time I'd gone to the beach all summer.)

Panorama of the beach I went to

To cap off my month, my family and I went back to my grandparents' and hiked around Jack's Peak. Then my parents went home and my sister and I spent a few more days there finding treasures at garage sales (I got a really nice tri-pod for a dollar!) and watching fireworks (it was my sister's first time seeing real ones).

The view of Monterey from Jack's Peak

My family and I on the trail

That's me. :) Always with my camera.

This was the first time I tried the fireworks setting on my camera.

AUGUST

Day one of August brought with it a new experience for my sister and me. We rode both our horses down to a neighbor's arena and, as much as I enjoy riding in open areas, the confined space gave us so much freedom. I absolutely loved our time together and with the horses out in the middle of God's beautiful creation!

I'm riding Baylie, my sister is on Dream.

Then . . . my mom made the "dangerous" mistake of leaving to go visit her family in Los Angeles. That left my dad and his crazy awesome ideas alone with my sister and me who pretty much go along with his insane ideas. Thus was born the newest addition to my family's collection of home movies. We planned and filmed a ten-minute western complete with Indiana Jones music, horses, explosions, and chase scenes. It is truly . . . epic. And didn't have to leave our property to create it. Hours upon hours were spent with planning, filming (in trenchcoats and 100 degree weather), and editing. We had it finished by the time my mom got back and surprised her with it. She decided to never leave us home alone again. :) It was such a fun time!

Lights . . . camera . . . action!

The day after my mom returned, my sister and I left again, this time for LIFE Camp! It is always one of the top highlights of my year, and this week at camp was no exception! I was part of the high school group which did additional amazing activities and had fantastic classes that I thrived on. We studied the incarnation of Jesus Christ, in addition to how we can share our own testimonies to bring others to know God. The activities included watching The Nativity, painting Christmas sweaters, and making gingerbread houses. (Guess the theme—Christmas. :P) Non-Christmas related activities were traveling to the beach with the other high schoolers and best of all, just hanging out with my amazing friends. My sister and I recreated the Battle of Wits scene from the Princess Bride for the talent show. I was Westley and she was Vizzini. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to watch the movie! :) My cabin became the prank cabin of camp, and that was incredibly fun. I already can't wait for next year!

The Battle of Wits from the Princess Bride

Being in the high school group, I only got about five hours of sleep a night, (part of that was because the latest I got up was 5:30 and we didn't go to bed until around midnight) so I came home utterly exhausted. Two days later I began my junior year of high school. Yes, my junior year. I can't believe I started the second half of my high school years. So far, school has been going well. This semester, I'm taking Physics, PreCalculus with Trigonometry, American Literature, and studying worldviews and world religions. I am truly looking forward to the rest of this semester. I have a feeling it's going to go great!

 ~

And that brings you up to date! Now maybe you'll understand why my blog has fallen to the wayside over the last few months. I truly hope that I'll be able to get some more posted in the coming weeks. Stay tuned, and thank you for sticking with me through my crazy busy life! God bless you all!

Bethany

P.S. I updated my both my written profile as well as my profile picture. Let me know your thoughts!

I just recently made this from a picture my sister took.

I am an aspiring teen writer with enough ideas alone to fill volumes. I enjoy living in the country where I have many scenes to photograph and hardly a car passes all day. I love reading and blogging. Interacting with horses is another hobby. My newest interests include screenwriting, cinematography, and making movies as well as operating my amateur radio. I adore The Princess Bride, and if you don't that's truly INCONCEIVABLE! My imagination is one of my best qualities, and I'm definitely an introvert.

Most importantly, I seek to honor God in everything I do, say, think, and write. Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to have you join my wonderful group of followers! You all mean the world to me!

~

Another note: An idea I've been mulling over in my extended absence is possibly doing some posts regarding defending the Christian faith. It's a subject I've studied and my family is passionate about. The Bible says to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within us, and I would love to share some of my knowledge with you. The Bible is true—from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation—and there is evidence. It's not a blind faith. Please let me know your thoughts. I'd enjoy knowing who is interested, and if you have any specific areas that you would like more information on. Thank you!

8 Reasons Why Summer Isn't My Favorite Season

Why eight reasons? you may ask. I'm afraid I have no suitable answer. Just sit back and discover why I'm not your normal student who can't wait for summer.

True, I enjoy the break from my studies and the camps I'm blessed to attend. However, I'd rather that summer was winter. I'm a girl who loves the rain and cold. That being said, you can guess my first reason:

1. Summer is hot! So very hot. Here in central California, temperatures in summer can range from in the 90s to 115 degrees! There's nowhere to escape the perpetual blistering heat. Give me freezing temperatures and a jacket instead.
2. Being so miserably warm, there's not much I can do outside on these days. It's often far too hot to work with the horses or take a walk, and even stepping outside feels like you were hurled into an oven. One of the only outdoor activities of summer is swimming, and many times our small pool is too hot to be refreshing.
3. In the absence of school work, other things still fill up the schedule, allowing for few days of pure relaxing to sit and read a good novel or write.
4. Summer means that I'm far away from winter! I'm happier the closer I am to December with Christmas and my birthday. :)
5. The days are far too long. This means that while it enables me to get more done, it's also many more hours of scorching temperatures to endure.
6. Even though I don't have school, I usually still have to wake up early in order to tend to outdoor chores that should be done before it gets too hot. This includes watering the plants, working with the horses, and attempting to get a breath of cool air before the merciless sun rises too high in the sky.
7. No matter how hard my family works to keep the house cool, my upstairs bedroom lacks a fan, and it gets rather uncomfortable in the afternoon.
8. Living so far away from my friends, I still don't get to see them much more than I do during the school year, except when we go to camp together.

Now you can understand why I'm not a fan of summertime. ;) It's simply too hot to be enjoyable. Still, I can't deny the benefits of not having school, or sitting in the cool morning hours sipping a hot drink with my parents. As with every season, there are both positive and negative sides. I just tend to find more negatives than positives in summer.

Care to share your favorite and least favorite seasons with me in the comments? Does it get hot where you live? Thanks for reading!

March Highlights 2017

Yet another month in 2017 has come and gone. So much has occurred this March, so bear with me as I try to summarize. :)

~Summary~

Within the first few days of March, my mom began getting her dental work done, and while it will take several months yet to complete it, she is no longer in as bad of pain as she had been. Thank you for all the prayers!

Besides this, March started off with a friend coming to stay and watch our house while we took a trip to Shaver Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The first day of the trip, however, my family and I spent in Bakersfield for the Christian Youth Film Society's 23rd Film Festival. This organization is the one that hosted the camp I attended last November and that has inspired me to begin my own movie-making journey with my youth group, some other friends, and family. It was a very formal event with a dinner and then the evening showing of the short movies that had entered the contest. I enjoyed my time and especially was glad to get to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen since the camp. Additionally, the couple who opened their home to us that night were involved in the festival and movie industry. (One was a judge of the movies, a producer, and an author!) Both were very sweet, and I loved spending time with them.

The following morning we headed up the mountain to Shaver, where we found several inches of snow that had fallen the previous day. It's a running joke with us and our friends up there that whenever my family comes—it snows. :) We spent the next few days sledding, cross-country skiing, and (in my case) catching up on some schoolwork.

Life slowed down a bit after the Shaver Lake trip, but was still busy as usual with youth groups, school, and other day-to-day events—not to mention the difficulties that daylight savings brings! During this time, I was also introduced to a book series, the Ranger's Apprentice, which I have really been enjoying. My church also had a breakfast last Sunday that was very fun, and I was thrilled to have one of my friends from another church visit with his family. Also, now that my family is all official HAM radio operators we have been building an antennae with one of the teachers of our class who also attends our church. In addition, one day this month my grandparents came down for a much-enjoyed visit. I've also gone on several fun horseback rides this month now that the ground is drying up a bit.

This last week has also been filled with birthdays every-other day. Literally! Last Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday had a combined five birthdays of people I know, one of which was my sister. So, happy birthday to Samuel, Abigail, Cheyene, Nichole, and Ruben! I hope you all had wonderfully special days.

For my sister's birthday, my family returned to Hume Lake for the youth pastor's retreat. It was so different than when I went earlier in the year with my youth group and the campus was swarming with high schoolers! This time, there were very few people, no snow, and no structured "activities" per se. As a family we hiked, explored, took pictures, helped work on building the summer camp set, relaxed, played games, and did a hidden-transmitter hunt. I was excited to get lots of reading done as well. Of course, I have to mention that we played Apples to Apples—probably one of my favorite games. :) The weather went from clear and sunny to foggy, cloudy, rainy, and finally hail as we were leaving and visiting Sequoia National Park and the General Grant tree.

To top off my month, I was able to go to a friend's birthday party. I had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone there and I was glad to get to know some more people better. It was a party I won't soon forget! (All for good reasons. :D) Thanks for inviting me, Samuel!

~Reading~

March was a very successful month in terms of books. I'd recommend all of them. My total number of books? Nine. Total pages? 2,633. Not bad if I do say so myself. :)

1. Out of Time: A Time to Die, Nadine Brandes (389 pages)
2. Circle C Milestones: Courageous Love, Susan K. Marlow (186 pages)
3. A Seven Wonders Novel: Shadow of Colossus, T. L. Higley (384 pages)
4. Left to Die, Ivy Rose (116 pages)
5. Martin Generations: Martin Hospitality, Abigayle Claire (386 pages)
6. Circle C Adventures: Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home (expanded edition), Susan K. Marlow (195 pages)
7. Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, John Flanagan (249 pages)
8. Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge, John Flanagan (262 pages)
9. Ilyon Chronicles: Samara's Peril, Jaye L. Knight (464 pages)

Every single book on this list was wonderful! However, I would like to specifically mention a few.

I have been waiting for months to read A Time to Die, and it did not disappoint me. It was a different style than I'm used to, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the plot.

Courageous Love is likely my second favorite book out of the Circle C Milestones series, and while some spots broke my heart (and there was certainly a major aspect to it that I wasn't expecting), it was a wonderful book!

Abigayle Claire did a delightful job on her new novel, Martin Hospitality, and I had a hard time putting down the book! It was well written and I found myself in love with the characters and plot.

Thank you so much to Alex and Samuel for encouraging me to read the Ranger's Apprentice series and for loaning me the books! I'm loving it so far!

And last but not least, I have to mention Samara's Peril. How could I not? It was just as wonderful as the previous books in the series and I love the new twists!

~Writing~

Again, another slow month in terms of writing. I got less than 1000 words done on my Dragon Chronicles, but did accomplish some writing on other projects. I would have certainly liked to write more, but hopefully April will prove to be more profiting with Camp NaNo and such. (Any other campers out there?)

~Photography~

With all of the trips this month, I've had plenty of opportunity to get some cool photos. I'll limit them all to a few.

This is where we stayed at Shaver Lake.

The flags hanging over the ice skating rink at Hume Lake.

My sister at Hume Lake.

At Hume Lake.

The Bakersfield orchards.

This is where we skied at Tamarack Ridge.

Hume Lake

Some of the giant Sequoia trees.

On a ride. :)

~Great Quotes~

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see." -Winston Churchill

 "Church isn't a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken." -Jefferson Bethke

"Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they're big, flashing signs that something needs to change" -Gretchen Rubin

~Blog Posts~

To visit any of my posts in March that you might have missed, here are the links:

February Highlights 2017
"Tu" v. "Usted"
Dear Readers . . . .

I also got several more followers in March, so I'm really excited about that. Welcome and thank you for joining my little community!

Another thing I wanted to point out is the poll that I ran for a week toward the end of this month. I asked what sorts of posts I did that were your favorites, and the order of which you said you enjoyed them are as follows:

1. Life Updates
2. A tie between Photos and Writing
3. A tie between Reading, Books, and God
4. Blog Tags
5. Writing Challenges

Thank you to everyone who voted. I appreciate your feedback!

Unfortunately I haven't found much time in March to read many other blog posts, but I'd like to let you know about a cool challenge that was posted on Andi's Blog by Libby to help grow your spiritual walk. Also, since the beginning of the year I've found and enjoyed reading multiple new blogs. Give the authors a hearty welcome to the blogosphere! You know who you are. ;)

Alas, we have come to the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my month. Now it's your turn—tell me about yours!

February Highlights 2017

Pauses. Sighs. Scratches head. Sighs again.

How should I describe February? It was a relatively "normal" month. At least, as "normal" as my life ever gets. :) While I didn't get half as much done as I'd hoped, I still accomplished a decent amount and I'm pleased with the overall results.

~Summary~

Okay. I figured out how to describe the biggest portion of my month—stress. For the greater part of February I have been studying like crazy for my amateur radio test to get my operator license. The test was Monday night and I had the most amazing feeling going into it. Instead of being horribly nervous like I thought I would be, I had total peace. Even during the test and while waiting for the results, I wasn't very nervous. And guess what? I passed with 97%! I'm so thrilled. Yesterday morning I got my temporary call sign but I hope to change it to something more personal. I am officially an amateur radio operator! Yay!

Besides radio classes, studying, and lots of school, I've also been continuing to attend two awesome youth groups and build stronger relationships with my friends. My younger sister went to Hume Lake at the beginning of the month and had a wonderful time. While she was enjoying the snow, I had a wonderful time staying with my marvelous grandparents. I always love sitting and talking with them, and I had plenty of time to do so!

A few weeks later we went to Pacific Grove to visit with my grandparents again for a birthday. It was a nice time, and we got several more great sunset pictures. How can you not get good ones when the sun is setting over the ocean? #beautiful ;)

That's my Dad taking a picture. ;)

It was also an interesting experience in that because of all the rain and wind storms, trees were falling left, right, and center and power was out in Pacific Grove for over 24 hours! We toasted bread and heated water for coffee over the fire and managed just fine. By the time we needed to turn on the oven for our pizza, power came back on. Perfect timing. Can't go without the pizza. :)

All in all, it was a good month despite the stress. I would ask for prayers though for my Mom, who found out yesterday that she has to have some major dental work done. Thanks!

~Reading~

February started out as a very good month for reading, I was ahead in my plan for reaching 10 books despite the short month but then it came to a grinding halt as studying grew more intense. I managed to complete only three for a total of 738 pages plus about half of the book I'm in the middle of, A Time to Die, which will be added to March's book list.

1. Land of Shining Water: The Icecutter's Daughter, Tracie Peterson (331 pages)
2. Chiveis Trilogy: The Gift, Bryan M. Litfin (407 pages)
3. Ilyon Chronicles: The King's Scrolls, Jaye L. Knight (397 pages)

However, I can say that all three books were extraordinary! I'd highly recommend all of them and I can't wait to get book three in both the Chiveis Trilogy and Ilyon Chronicles. Hopefully March will enable me to get a significant amount of reading done now that the radio test is behind me.

~Writing~

While I still didn't write nearly as much as I'd hoped to, I did accomplish more than 4,000 words on my Dragon Chronicles, which is actually a lot considering everything else. I also set a record for the most amount of words I've ever written in a day—the new total is 2,612! That was a happy day. :)

I've also been continuing to edit for some friends, and I'm finding that I really enjoy editing. Another accomplishment was writing my first draft of a synopsis for my Dragon Chronicles. I'm really glad to have come up with something that I think I like for it.

~Photography~

It was a good month for photography! With all the rain, there were lots of rainbows and everything looked fresh. In addition to the sunset pictures I have above, I also got to do a brief photo-shoot with my sister and our horses.

In a "normal" year of rain, this river is half the size. (Taken in January.)

This is one of my favorite pictures I've taken! Isn't it gorgeous?

All the above pictures are © Bethany R.

~Great Quotes~

A found a few cool quotes this month that I thought you might like too.

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” -Annie Dillard

"If you ask me what book I'm reading I'll either go into a long winded and enthusiastic summary of the entire thing or just lift the book to show you the title and keep reading." -I can't find the author

I don't think this counts as a quote but . . . here it is. :)

~Blog Posts~

I managed four posts in February, the most popular of which was my January Highlights post, followed by A Question of Honor Cover Reveal and Faith Leads to Understanding. I was delighted to find that I got several new followers this month as well—welcome to the blog! I'm so happy that you found me. You helped me reach 40 google followers!

As far as other blogger's posts, I'll just mention two things here. The blog tours for both A Question of Honor and The Princess and I have begun! Both books release March 3, so if you are interested, be sure to check those out! Click on the book title to view each author's first post of the blog tour. I've been too busy to participate in either, but know that if I could have I would have! Congratulations Jesseca and Rebekah! I'm so excited for you both!

Wow, I guess a busy month calls for a long post but I didn't anticipate this being THAT long. Well, if you read all of that, thanks! I hope you had a great February and have a delightful March!

Horsey Photo Shoot

Here is my promised post of the horse photo shoot! The other day I went out to the horses with my Fujifilm and decided to take a few pictures. . . . :-) More like, A LOT of pictures! But I have managed to narrow them down to my eight best shots for you plus two of scenery. The Appaloosa (spotted horse) is Dream, and the bay (brown with a black mane and tail) is Baylie. Enjoy!

I love the look on Dream's face!

The view as I was photographing.

I love both their heads in the picture!

This reminds me of two things: the cover of Dark Storms Rising, and Jesus returning!

What did you think? I hope that you enjoyed it! A few things:
1) For those of who are considering helping out with the quilt raffle, the due date is December 6.
2) The Veterans Day answers will be postponed until the 17th. Please leave your answers by the 16th!
3) Don't forget the Writing Challenge! The due date is November 28th.

Thank you all for reading! Have a super day! God bless you.

The Little Colt

I have asked several of you if you would be interested in reading essays and other things that I write in school. So far, everyone has said yes. Thus, today I wrote a (very) short story. (It's only 380 words) However, I thought that you might enjoy reading it.

My assignment was to write a very short story based upon a picture. I chose a picture of two chestnut horses, a mother and a foal and came up with this. Enjoy!

In a lovely green pasture behind a perfectly kept-up red barn on an immaculate racehorse farm lived a little colt. For awhile, the little foal was content to remain beside his mother, enjoying the grooming that he received daily from the grooms, but slowly grew discontent, for though all would say he was pure Thoroughbred, far back in his blood was the heart of an Arabian. When he was nearly three-years-old, the young horse received his first trophy in a race.

As he grew into a fine racehorse, he was treated handsomely and given a pasture to himself. Yet, he did not desire to be alone. Over time, he felt his wild desire to be free grow within him until he could not hold it inside any longer. He was tired of the constant training and racing. He was weary of the grain to keep him energized.

Finally, he decided to flee from this organized life into that of a wild stallion. During the night, he nickered a goodbye to his mother and friends over the fence, and lit out toward the far end of his pasture. As he neared the fence, he let out a shrill neigh and lifted his front legs over it. He landed solidly on the other side and shook his mane. He was free! Nothing could stop him now!

He used his wild Arabian instincts and his Thoroughbred speed to carry himself far from the farm where he had been held prisoner his whole life and sped off into the crisp cool night. For days he traveled, enjoying this newfound life. Those instincts led him safely to water each day and eventually to the company of a herd of lost horses. This little band of mares the stallion took over and led them away from all civilization.

Though his master searched for him for weeks, they never found his carefully picked trail that led him to freedom. And it is free that he lives even today, with no fences to contain him; no grain to fatten him; no training on a track to work his steely muscles. His fence was the horizon; his grain the sweet grass; his training on the rugged countryside with his herd of mares. It was here that he was content.

Reminder: My writing challenge due date is TOMORROW! Shortly thereafter I will post the winners!