The Happenings of October

Wow...
I've been really bad at this...
Again...

SO....

The good news is that I don't have a torn meniscus. In my knee, the knee I hurt?

The bad news is.........no one has any idea what is wrong with it. My knee is super weak, so I'm going through physical therapy to see if that helps.
And let me tell you, physical therapy hurts like crazy.
So, three more weeks of this and then we'll see if it helped.

So, what else did I do this month? I know there are still four more days, one of which is Halloween, but that will be its own post. ;)

It was my brother's 19th birthday. So I took him to see Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day.

Then I took the Handsome Gnome on a Celebratory Date!!! He got an amazing grade back on a paper, so, I decided that was a good excuse to go eat good food and watch a movie. 

We went to see The Judge. A very interesting movie. It was good, though it did make me cry, several times.

Also this month, I got a haircut. And my sister did it for me. Yes, I was nervous, but I think she did an amazing job. :)

And probably a highlight of my month was when Handsome Gnome surprised me with flowers before we went to church!!! I loved them so much. :)

Then, the state fair. Woohoo!! So much fun. I went with my brother and sister, and Handsome Gnome and his brother. We had a great time! This makes three years since I became friends with this handsome guy, and they have been the three best years of my life so far.

These scrumfy things are jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese and barbecue, wrapped in bacon, and then fried. They were amazing. AND! They were 'fancy' fair food. They were made locally instead of in a traveling food truck.

Also this month, I have been able to write a lot in my story! I finally hit 50,000 words, and I think I'm on the last two chapters. It'll hopefully be soon!!
I'm also doing this writing contest thing where you write a 50,000 word novel in one month, the month of November. I'm not sure if I'll make it to 50,000, but I'll be completely happy if I make it to 20,000 words in one month! That'll be the most I've written in one month. :)

So, more to come later! I'm going to try to not get distracted again and write more. Hopefully...

Weekly Happenings: Beach, Knees, and Mothers

Hello peoples!!

Wow....long long long week. There has been a lot of stuff going on! This would be why I haven't sent in a blog post since last Friday.

So, beach retreat!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ohmygoodness one of the best weekends of my life so far! I made a few new friends and strengthened my relationship with my old ones. The focus of the week was what relying on God might look like.

 My small group for the weekend. :) Such a great group of people!

People who got pies in the face. ;)

 Such a beautiful place.

So, after this weekend, I got reallllllly busy. My mom had surgery on Monday and I had my appointment on Tuesday.

So...the big question. What did I find out? What is wrong with my knee?

The doctor is quite confident that I have a torn meniscus. Yay... I've been hobbling around on a torn meniscus for almost a year now. And its just been slowly tearing worse.

I have an MRI scheduled for Wednesday just so we can make sure that is exactly what it is. Then, an appointment to talk about the next step. (Probably surgery...AHHHHHHHHHH....)

So. With taking care of my mom, my appointments, work, and the retreat, I've had a pretty busy week. :) It hasn't necessarily been a bad week, but it has been long.

Okay, I'm going to try to post more often, but it may be easier for now to do a post on the weekends. I don't know, but we will see!

Until next time. :) Farewell!

Knee Updates and New Chapters

Hey peoples!! Woohoo! The weekend is almost here! I survived another week at work. And I hope you have too!

I have my next appointment on Tuesday!! Yes, I am pretty nervous. I have never had an MRI before and I'm very claustrophobic... However, they told me since it's just my knee, I shouldn't have to go all the way in, just my legs. 😊 So that is reassuring.

My story!! I had been working on the same chapter for three days. It was hard getting back in the groove of writing after not writing or looking at my story for two years. However!! After much editing and writing, I finished another chapter!! 😃 I finally finished it and I'm pretty sure my groove is back. I forgot how much I love writing. I didn't have the time in college, so now that I'm done, it is so much fun remembering how much I do!! So, be ready to here more about my story in the next few weeks.

Now, I'm going to be gone for a couple of days again. I am going to the beach!!!! I love the beach. I'm going with my college Bible group. So, I get to make new friends and bond with my old ones and also learn about God and worship! I think it's going to be an amazing weekend and I'll be sure to tell you about it when I get back!

I'm still working on the post about 1 Peter. Trying to figure out how to break it up and such. I will definitely have it ready by next Monday! It is something I'll be working on this weekend as I relax on the beach. Because of my knee, Handsome Gnome has made me promise to just sit and not do anything else.... Humph is what I have to say... But I accidentally ran last night because I thought I was burning the lasagna I made for supper. And of course, my knee hurts a little worse. So, sit I shall. No running through the sand for Lovely Gnome....

Anywho... I hope y'all all have an amazing weekend and I'll tell you about mine on Sunday!!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," -1 Peter 1:3

Picture!!!

Yes, I know I already posted today, but I just finished fixing supper (which I haven't done in awhile) and wanted to share!!!

It's called Summer Risotto and I also grilled zucchini and brought out turkey for a bit of protein.

So tada!!! :D Summer Risotto and zucchini. Everyone that ate it thought it was yummy, so I call that a success.

Doctors, Cars, and Risotto

Yes, I was unable to go to my training today. My knee was killing me so I had to cancel. Two hours on my feet would have caused me to be in a lot of pain.

So instead, I went to my grandparent's house!! A couple of weeks ago...wait. Did I tell you about the award I earned a couple of Sunday's ago??? No? Well, not this past Sunday, but the Sunday before I earned an award. I changed my third tire in the span of 5ish months. That has to be some sort of record. Anyway, my tire was flat as I drove down the highway and a car pulled up beside me to let me know it was. (THANK YOU RANDOM GUY!!) I was driving 70mph down the highway on a flat tire....needless to say I would have smelled the hot rubber in about five minutes because the smell knocked me out when I pulled over and got out of my car. So, I had made it to the point to where I was attempting to get the lug-nuts off of the tire when a man pulled up to help me. (Once again, thank you random other guy.) Lovely Gnome's way of getting said lug-nuts off of a tire is hopping up and down on the wrench. I'm only 5'2"...and let's just say Handsome Gnome says I weigh .7lbs when holding a 50lb weight. So, hopping up and down on a wrench is the only way I can get the lug-nuts off. However, the man pulled over and I got to sit and watch him change my tire. I was also in my church clothes so that didn't help either.

Anywho, this story leads me to today's story. My grandpa and I went to the tire shop to get my car realigned and a new tire put on it so I could have a spare again. I have been a super cautious driver this week without a spare...

After that, I finally went to the doctor about my knee, and got referred to a specialist. I will probably end up having to get a MRI. SCARY. I am so claustrophobic. But apparently all I'll have to do is put my legs in, not my top half. That makes it a bit better.

Now, I am sitting here writing this blog post and thinking about my next Bible post. There wasn't one for last week, sorry about that. Finding out that we are going through John threw me off a bit so I'm studying 1 Peter for them now. I am working on it though!!! I love this first part of 1 Peter. It is all about the hope we get from knowing Jesus. Without Him, we have no hope, but with Him we do!!! There is a little preview. ;)

Also, to help my mom out a bit, I am fixing a supper dish that she wanted to try. She is feeling a bit tired so I thought I'd tackle the dish for her. It is a summer risotto which sounds delicious. Wish me luck dear readers!!

I may have an update for you on my book tomorrow. :)

This Week's Happenings

So, if you can't tell, this week has been pretty busy. Started Tuesday and finally ended today! So now, dear readers, I am back to tell you about it.
Also, I get a bit distracted. If I'm not listening to music or something, I tend to not keep my focus on what it is I am trying to accomplish. Which is something that I figured out in school.

Anyway...

Where did I leave off? Monday night? So, first off is Tuesday.

Tuesday was my training and introduction to the garden where I am volunteering!! Hopefully I will be able to pursue this and it will help me figure out what to do in the future. I go to another training session tomorrow and then I will be ready to head out into the garden to help!!

Wednesday.
Ah, Wednesday. Small group! We started our Bible study that night. You'll never guess what we are studying!!!! JOHN!!! So, it was pretty amazing. It was alot of fun and I learned new things. This is something I like about studying the Bible with other people. I can see things I might not have seen before, or I can show them the things I see. It was alot of fun getting to know the girls a bit more and studying John 1:1-18 with them. I look forward to this week and the next installment of John!!
Because of this, I will be doing a different book of the Bible in my weekly Bible posts. Perhaps 1 Peter, another one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Thursday. What was Thursday? OH YEAH!!! I went on a wonderful date with Handsome Gnome. :) We ate Applebee's  and watched the Expendables 3. Yes, I watched it before I watched the second one, but he said I wasn't going to be confused by anything. I wasn't and the movie was great!! Jason Statham and Antonio Banderas are some of my favorite "shoot-em-up" movie actors. And they are in it. But probably the highlight of the movie was Harrison Ford. He ranks right up there in the top ten of my favorite actors. I love the Indiana Jones movies and I like Han Solo, so...yes. He ranks way on up there.
I always enjoy going on dates with Handsome Gnome. Since he is back in school, it is harder for us to go on them.

Friday and Saturday, a conference!! I went to this college Bible conference hosted by my church. It was an amazing experience!! I went with Handsome Gnome and a few other of my friends.

 Yes, the guys sat on the ground to stretch their legs out. It was great.

I learned a lot this weekend. Lots of amazing speakers and messages. We are sent and meant to go and spread the Word. Whether it is nationally, internationally, in the workplace, or a village. God sends us anywhere and everywhere.

Sunday was a normal Sunday. Early to church, brunch with my friends, and hanging out with my family. I did go to the mall with my mom and sister and found a pair of $50 jeans for $17. Yes, I did. Don't judge...this isn't normal. I don't do this often. I had a gift card and decided to go get a new pair of colored jeans.

Today, Monday. This was a long work day, but I survived!! I also decided on going to a beach retreat with my college Bible group. I know some of my small group people are going and it will be a good time for me to get to know them a little better. Plus, its the beach. I love the beach. I want to stay at the beach forever. Sorry, sidenote. I just love the beach. And the weather is supposed to be nice!!!

So, yes. I didn't fall off the face of the earth! I have just been really busy. I had a great week, and a great time at the conference.

Now, off to watch Person of Interest with the family.

Getting Close!

Hello peoples!

So, I've been working on my book. Guys. I'm almost done!! After editing and reading it to remind myself what my 16-17 year old self was envisioning has been difficult. However, I think I'm close!! I will still have major editing to do, but I'm almost done with the writing process. I plan on publishing it, so, I will definitely let you know when I do!

So, in addition to my job and writing, I'm trying out teaching. I'd love to be able to teach kids, but whether or not I can actually do it is the big question. I know I'd like to write a study guide/plan for teaching environmental science, but I want to see the kids actually see and understand what they are learning. This is why I would want to teach and why I want to teach my kids one day. I was homeschooled and loved the experience.
Anyway, tomorrow I head out for volunteer training at an outdoor garden. I get to be one of the people I always wanted to be in high-school! However, this will be my first real experience at teaching. Tomorrow is just the training, but I am still nervous. This volunteer work will help me see if this is what I want to do though, which is good! I would love prayers as I try and figure this out.

I also just finished reading Mockingjay this morning, part of the Hunger Games trilogy. And oh my word....I haven't recovered. It was emotionally traumatizing. I have been waiting because everyone I knew that had read it said it made them miserable....but, I survived. I'm not sure what I am going to do when the movie comes out.

I also, for some odd reason, have started playing solitaire on my computer. Its the only game on my computer, so...when I want to waste time, it is what I do. My sister thinks it is really odd. I guess I am a bit odd.

OH! This weekend we went to the lake and I rode on the tube. It was so much fun, however...
I injured my knee while playing volleyball so I have been unable to do a lot of things. I thought that riding the tube would not mess with it, it wasn't like I was kneeboarding or anything. Not only are my legs sore from doing a couple of tricks, my knee won't support my weight very well if I bend it a certain way.
Riding the tube was a lot of fun, but I think I'll be feeling this for awhile.
And don't worry little reader, I am going to be going to the doctor soon about my knee. I went to a nurse practitioner and she told me I only had inflammation... Needless to say I'm going to the professionals this next time. I'm sure I have tendonitis in my knee (I have it in my wrist and elbow) but I'm not sure what else.

Well, this has been one of my longer posts. Until next time!!

Week's Happenings So Far

This week, I had Wednesday off. So!! I went to Handsome Gnome's university campus and got to experience being a large university student. I have only attended (and FINISHED!!) community college. So this was fun! I got to visit a class and watch him as he worked on homework and such.

That night, I went to my small group's first meeting of the semester! This was great and I got to meet a few new people. I'm looking forward to getting to know these girls and study the Bible with them this year.

I got a new computer!!! That's probably one of the things I'm most excited about this week. My old computer did not having more than one tab open, running dvds, and crashed often. It especially did this when I opened up Word and tried typing. This wasn't good because, I am a writer. I could only type when I was online and that was hard when I didn't have wifi to use.
So!! New computer. :) I'm very excited about it.

Because of this, I have started working on my story that I have been writing since 2010. I haven't even really touched it in the past two years because of school. The past few days, I focused on editing it. Now that I finished that part, today starts the writing process again!! I am pretty excited about it. I love writing and this is a great way to keep me busy.

My new space. :) Now I only have my writing materials and my teaching materials around me. I am currently exploring the idea of writing a home-school environmental science curriculum.

Today, heading to the lake and working on next week's Weekly Bible Post. And drinking yummy and delicious coffee...

Man and the Monster

(These are short stories that I write after given prompts from family and friends. You can also post a comment with a prompt of your own!)

Prompt: "The man on the boat was holding his sandwich when suddenly......."

It was a clear, cloudless day. The family was sailing across the lake in their pontoon boat.
Lunch had been made.
Turkey.
Lettuce.
Cheese.
Tomato.
These were put together to make a sandwich fit for a king.

His wife handed him the sandwich. The aroma began to fill his senses and his mouth began to water. Such glorious-ness was this sandwich. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into the soft wheat bread.

This man on the boat held his sandwich when suddenly....he saw it.

The Loch Ness Monster.

He had grown up with stories about ol' Nessie, His father and grandfather spent many of their weekends hunting the beast. His grandfather saw it when he was a child. Now our man with the turkey sandwich, Erik Yordriksson, decided at a young age that Nessie was his grandfather's imagination going wild. No one had ever believed him except his son, Erik's father. Or, that's what mum always said.

But here he is, and there she is. A few yards out from his boat lies a head with monstrous eyes peering just above the surface.

The sandwich slowly falls from his hands into the water below.

Grandfather's childish fantasy just became very real.

John 1:1-5

Something I want to do on my blog is have this kind of post. A 'Weekly Bible Post'. In these, I will post about something I have read in my personal Bible time and write about some of the thoughts I had while reading it! I also have a Bible study I'm doing with my Handsome Gnome. We are going to go through Revelation! But that is another post for another day.

So!! This week I read John 1. The Gospel of John is possibly my favorite Gospel. Though, I do love Luke. And Matthew. And Mark...so...I love them all, I just really enjoy studying John!

Anyway, John 1:1-5. I'm using my ESV study Bible for this.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (ESV)

That first verse, looks a bit confusing, doesn't it? It seems like it is repeating itself. But this first verse is talking about Jesus.

You have to skip forward a little to see where John shows us that the Word named in this verse is really Jesus. Verse 14 says:
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (ESV)

So.

Jesus is the Word. He is the Word brought to us that we are to live by. He is the Word we are supposed to follow. John goes on in the first verse to show how Jesus has been here forever.

Verse one states 'In the beginning was the Word,' meaning Jesus was at the beginning. The beginning of what? In the footnotes of my Bible, it explains that this verse is showing "Jesus' existence in eternity past with God." (ESV 2019) Meaning? Jesus has been since the beginning of time itself. Which is forever. Let that explode in your head for a moment...

Now, the verse follows to say that "the Word was with God". Okay, so Jesus has been with God since the beginning of time. BUT. This next part shows the deity of Jesus: "the Word was God". Jesus is God. God is Jesus. (Head explosion)

So basically, I think in these first three verses, John is explaining the deity of Christ.

In verses 2-3, John states again that Jesus was at the beginning with God. God, and Jesus, created the world, created us.

But verses 4-5 show the awesomeness of why Jesus was here.

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." ESV John 1:4-5

Life. Light. God's grace. "Life" in these verses, I believe, is talking about God's grace. Because we are dead in our sins, dead without His love and grace, like it says in Ephesians chapter 2. Jesus came down to earth to bring us life and shine through the darkness of sin. This is why I love these verses. They remind me of the grace I have been shown through Jesus!

So, these have been my thoughts on this reading. I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I do! Telling my thoughts on these things helps my walk with God, and I hope in sharing it, this helps your walk also.

Labor Day Rescue!

Labor day. A great day off to do whatever you want. So what did we do? We went to the lake!!

So I, my family, my grandparents, and Handsome Gnome went on an adventure!

The day was beautiful, though maybe a little on the warm side. The water felt great! And the company was wonderful.

However, what does my title mean?? Well...there were two rescues that need mentioning.

First rescue, ours.

We just finished floating around in the water and taking pictures. Everything was going great! And now, it was time to sail off again and find somewhere a bit shadier for lunch. The ignition key was turned, the engine started, then nothing.

Nothing.

We were in the middle of the lake and our engine wouldn't crank. So, my dad and grandpa started digging around and tugging at wires.

A blown fuse.

You can catch those on the end of a fishing line, right?

Anywho, they tried figuring out how to make it work long enough to get us back to the marina. A boat drove by to see if we were ok. YAY!!! He had the kind of fuse we needed at his dock and brought it back to us and a boat to boat hand-off was performed.

We set off again and everything went great!

As we were floating around, cooking supper on the onboard grill, we saw a suspicious looking scene. In the middle of this little cove was a raft with someone on it waving something. There were other boats around, so we were going to keep going, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the rafter.
Deciding to check it out, we found this little older couple whose engine had given out. The lady was the one on the raft trying to signal for help since their waving and boat honking wasn't bringing anyone to their aid.
So, we hooked their boat to our boat and pulled them back to the docks.
I'm so glad we saw them and decided to stop! I will definitely be watching out better for these type of people now that I have been on the receiving end. So many people had passed them by before we finally stopped.

So, those are the rescues of Labor Day Rescue! Exciting, right?

Hope everyone had an amazing Labor Day!

Gnomely Weekend

Its been pretty chill this weekend in the life of Lovely Gnome.

Saturday, I took a real day off. I didn't do much at all except lounge about. Really productive, right? Although, I did work on my first Weekly Bible Post. It should be ready by tomorrow!! Woohoo!!

Today was a bit more exciting!

First off, went to church with Handsome Gnome and some of our friends. This is always fun! I enjoy getting to spend time with these people.

This morning, my pastor preached on Psalms 88-89. Have you ever read Psalms 88? Talk about depressing. It was really interesting though! My pastor mentioned how Psalms is written like a Christian's walk through life. We have the up times, and we have the down times. Psalms 88 is apparently a down time. But, there are also the good times, like Psalms 89.

After church and a bit of brunch from Bojangles, we headed back to college campus to watch Inception! I was the only one out of the four of us who hadn't watched it, so...it was for my benefit.

What did I think?

Well...it didn't confuse me, sorta, which kinda confuses me. It was a very interesting strange movie. I'd have to watch it again is what they all tell me. ;) Apparently it gets easier to understand as you go along. One of my friends saw something he hadn't seen before, and this was his 7th time watching it...so who knows.

This was another movie marked off Handsome Gnome's (and my) list of movies we need to watch. :) Here is the list so far and the ones marked off that I have now watched:

- Dark Knight
- All of the Harry Potter movies
- Inception
- Hitched
- Expendables 2
- Troll 2 (Best worst movie I've ever watched....)
- Letters to Juliet (This is my addition!)
And finally,
- The rest of Arrow (Superhero TV show)

So, we've watched most of the list. Only a couple more to go! And yes, we love action movies. That is my kind of movie. When people think we are nuts, I give proof to it by mentioning that Handsome Gnome took me to see Robocop for our first official Valentine's Day together. (And yes, I LOVED it. Romantic movies are nice, but nothing beats a good superhero/action movie. ;) ) But if you look at the list, two of them are chick flicks. His favorite and my favorite.

Now!! This afternoon and evening, I went to the lake with my family and grandparents. That was fun! We scooted around on the lake and grilled supper on the boat. (Portable grill, not a campfire. Silly people.) And I get to do it again tomorrow!! Yay for a day off to spend with my family!!

Anywho, this is Lovely Gnome, heading out. Time for much needed sleep.

Random Day in Lovely Gnome's Life

These posts are simply just 'Normal Posts'. :) They will contain thoughts and experiences for that day or several days (depending on how well I keep up with it).

So, today was pretty much an average day. I worked. I drank coffee. That's what my days almost always consist of. :)

However, there is something new I've started today! I began working on a 'Weekly Bible Post'. This will be another category here on my blog.

 

This is my work space. It has my crafting and teaching stuff all within reach of my chair.
I'm working on the 'Weekly Bible Post' in this picture. I have my caramel coffee, my notebook, and my extra large ESV study Bible. (And yes, that is an Avengers pen...)

I also had a huge blessing this afternoon. About mid-week, I realized that money was tight. I had signed up to go to a college conference, drove a lot, and had other random expenses this week. On my drive to work this morning, I talked to God about it. This afternoon I had a sweet note from my employer (I'm a nanny) with a gift card. A little extra gift this week. It meant so much to me.


I'm thinking about crafting a bit tonight. I mostly use these things called SMASH*books, though I do scrapbook a little. I'm just not the most organized person in the world. I know I'm definitely going to work on my schedule for this Nature Study class I'm helping teach, but more about that later! On a day I'm actually teaching it.

Tonight, I am hanging out with my family, watching a new tv show that we like called 'Person of Interest' and eating hot dogs. Yes...very healthy. Though they are organic, so not as bad as they could be. ;)

Today has been a very good day!

My verse today comes from my favorite Psalm, chapter 103.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" Psalms 103:1

Hello Blogging World!

Hello Friends!

I am the Lovely Gnome. Yes, not my real name, but who puts their real name anyway? I am attempting to try my best at blogging. I've been a sporadic blogger in the past, but I hope to fix that now!

Some of you may be readers of my previous blog, Teen Jesus Follower. To you I say, welcome back!! My life has been pretty hectic as I transitioned from my teenage years to adulthood. But now here I am! I'm out to try again.

This blog is going to be my place to write about my experiences, my stories, and of course, about my walk with God. For those of you who read my previous blog, you know things have been rough and I have had my struggles throughout college. Now that it is in my past, however, I am striving to strengthen my relationship in Him and follow what He wants me to do in my life!

Why 'the Lovely Gnome'? I'm glad you asked. It was the idea of my wonderful boyfriend, the Handsome Gnome. I was having problems coming up with a name, and this is what he suggested!

A little more about myself before I end this post.
I am a writer, scrapbooker, and very much a nerd. You will soon find out that I am a die-hard Marvel fan and I love pretty much anything BBC.
God and my family are huge and crucial parts of my life. They have helped me through so much and I love them all immensely! This, you will also find out.

Anything else will probably be revealed in later posts. These are just the major things I can think of at the moment!

So...here we go! Are you ready? I think I am. Its time to start over. To start a new blog!! And to brave through adulthood with God, family, and friends by my side.