the blessing called Camp Klema

Blessing is the word I have come up with to describe my experience at church camp this past week. We arrived home Friday afternoon, but we had family here this weekend and my mother and I are preparing to leave the state again tomorrow, so I have unfortunately been too busy to sit down and type out a proper retelling of my week. It included a lot of sitting in hard chairs, sweating in Texas summer heat, and making sure not to step in ant piles. It also included sharing a cabin with girls that I love, hearing some great teaching, and singing and experiencing some of the best worship I have ever felt. The food was decent; not amazing, but definitely not bad for camp food. I liked having a few hours of free time each day, rather than scheduled "activities" or "recreation." We swam, walked through the woods, canoed, watched kids get blobbed, and watched a lot of random funny games that teenage boys make up when they're bored, including one that I believe was called Ninja Destruction.

Some people--a lot of people--go to church camp and have this time away and so Father shows them something amazing. He teaches them something they need to know, reveals something they've wanted to know, convicts them--always for their benefit. But this camp, for me, I think was simply a gift from Him. I left my cell phone and my iPod at home; I didn't have to keep in contact with anyone. I had a week away from the chaos and drama and worries and junk that go on in daily life to just soak in His presence. And one of the main reasons I went to camp was to really make these kids my church family, because I'd been lacking that since freshman year, and I know that I need it, no matter how good my home life is, how Christian my parents are, I need more than them.

I was sad not to go to Arts Camp with my dance friends; especially after hearing their stories, but I don't regret making the decision to go to church camp instead. Father could easily have spoken to me through either one, but Arts Camp would not have taken me away like church camp did. I made the right decision.

I even left my camera at home, so I don't have any pictures to share with you. Amusingly, the camp was somewhere I had actually been before. Quite a few years ago, our former youth pastor at GFBC, Tim, took us one Saturday to a ropes course--turns out that it was at this camp. :) Ah, familiarity, haha.

Camp Klema

Church camp begins today. :) I'll be back Friday afternoon, probably with plenty of stories.

Praying this is a great week for all involved.

<3

Okay, detail time. HBP ramblings alert.

If you continue to read this post, you will encounter several Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince spoilers. In fact, that is just about all you will stumble upon for the rest of this entry. If you have not yet seen the movie and do not wish to have its secrets revealed to you, I advise you to stop reading now.

Still with me? Want to know what I thought about the movie?

One more chance to turn back. This is it.

(via google image search)

Okay, I love Harry Potter. I do; I admit it; I know I'm a nerd. I've read the books more than once, own the movies and have seen them over and over. But as much as I enjoy them, I also very much enjoy laughing at them. So, in no particular order, these are many of the thoughts I had while watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today for the first time. They're not deep and they're probably not worth reading, but if you're interested, enjoy.

-What the heck is Harry thinking reading the Daily Prophet in some random Muggle cafe?? Hello--breaching the secrecy laws much there, kid? And flirting with the waitress? Where did that come from? That is so random! And Dumbledore's just like, "Oh sorry dude, but we've got places to go."

-Also, Dumbledore, awkward to the extreme: walk into Slughorn's house, clean up, "Gotta pee." Dumbledore should not use words like "loo."

-The Burrow was awesome.

-I totally did not mind Luna getting Tonks' role of rescuing Harry from the train. As evidenced by my earlier post, I quite like Luna Lovegood. Also having her notice that Harry put the lucky potion into Ron's drink (or thought he did) was nice. Just gave her a bit more time, and gave us a chance to see the lion hat that is so beautifully Luna.

-Also very much liked Ginny. Except in the scene where she hides the book. That was dumb. Harry totally got away with almost killing Malfoy? I don't think so. And it didn't allude to Ravenclaw's diadem like it was supposed to. But then again... Harry never finds out he may need to look for something of Ravenclaw's. OMG IF THEY LEAVE XENOPHILIUS LOVEGOOD OUT OF DEATHLY HALLOWS SOMEONE IS GOING DOWN.

-The astronomy tower was also really, really neat looking. But lol at the end when Harry's like, "Wow it's really pretty; I never noticed!" Yeah Harry, that's because you've never been to this tower before.

-Tom Felton was brilliant. I do not like Malfoy. I do not feel sorry for him. But he was played perfectly, I thought. And I still like his clothes. And his mom was pretty brilliant. I was very glad they kept that scene (though Narcissa wasn't nearly hysterical enough). I was expecting Snape's house to get cut from the movie, but I was rather thrilled to watch him slam the door shut on Wormtail. :)

-Oppositely, I greatly disliked Dumbledore. Now, I'm not enamored by Dumbledore anyway, but I just really can't seem to like the way Michael Gambon plays him. I was not pleased with his performance at his death, although I thought everyone else did very well. I did like him in the cave, but that was about the only time. He really gets on my nerves in this book as well, though. And it really, really annoys me that Gambon rarely ever wears the Dumbledore glasses. Every time I think of Dumbledore, I think of those half moon spectacles, and somehow it doesn't seem to be Dumbledore without them.

-Freddie Stroma was sadly not given enough of a role to really play Cormac McLaggon to the extent of the obnoxiousness McLaggon possesses, but I thought he did brilliantly.

-Jessie Cave did a good job with Lavender Brown, but she wasn't what I imagined. She was excruciatingly annoying. And I'm sad that she just seemed to be some random character, since she hasn't been included in the movies so far.

-I was really confused because there were those twins, but they weren't the Patil twins, but the Patil twins were credited though I never noticed them in the movie, so I thought those other girls were supposed to be the Patil twins, and I couldn't figure out why the heck they couldn't keep the same actresses. But the internet movie database is rather helpful in at least clearing up some confusion, if not all.

-These movies really do an awful job of explaining things. I do understand, I suppose, why so much of Dumbledore's lessons with Harry were cut out because honestly, it was a lot of talking and it would not have made for an exciting movie, but still. In the book, Harry has a darn good idea of what he's looking for, whereas the movie leaves him with NOTHING to go on as to what the horcruxes might be. So I wonder how they've dealt with that for The Deathly Hallows. Also Tonks, why are you looking like that when you can look like whatever you want and "Sweetheart"? Really? Okay, sure. When was that supposed to have happened, eh? (Though I love Tonks and Lupin; it was just awkward in this movie.) BY THE WAY HARRY YOU INHEIRITED GRIMMAULD PLACE AND KREACHER AND HE'S GONNA BE REALLY HELPFUL NEXT MOVIE. The only reason I can come up with for them including Kreacher in The Order of the Phoenix movie is because of his role in The Deathly Hallows, because in OotP they didn't even let him carry out his purpose (lie to Harry about Sirius leaving the house, causing Harry to rush to the Ministry). But I suppoe the CG money ran out for this movie.

-Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! Beautiful! :D

-The love potioned Ron! Hilarious! :D

-Harry "on" the Felix Felicis! Amazing! :D I read an article the other day about how this was more like the real Dan Radcliffe, hyper. Hahaha.

-The Inferi! Terrifying! They were great. Crawling out of the water onto the island they totally looked like an army of Gollums. Hahaha.

-So, y'know, I remember there being a battle of sorts at Hogwarts whilst Malfoy/Snape if offing Dumbledore. A battle in which a certain Bill Weasley gets rather injured by Fenrir Greyback (who disappointed me...looked nothing like I expected), but all is well because the lovely Felur Delacour, his bride-t0-be, does not mind and therefore earns Mrs. Weasley's respect and affection. Ring any bells? Again, wonder what they've done to account for that next movie, seeing as how the trio escapes from the wedding when Death Eaters attack it and begin their big adventure.

-Instead, Bellatrix (who is played wonderfully) is just going to walk along the table (why are they even in there?) and set Hagrid's house on fire. Okay. Sure.

-I suppose it isn't really that important why/how Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. At least they told us. I'll be happy for that slight explanation.

-Sort of like after seeing OotP I was pleased that they lessened Harry's angsty yelling crap, I was okay with the lack of obsession with Draco Malfoy and figuring out who the "Prince" was.

-LOL SHE HAS NICE SKIN!

-Another PS: aren't they supposed to be learning how to apparate? (This is a rhetorical question. Yes, they are supposed to be learning, I'm almost done re-reading the book.) They'll have to magically (no pun intended) know how by the next movie. There's rather a lot of apparition in Deathly Hallows.

I don't at all expect everything in the book to be included in the movie, nor do I think it should be. I loved the movie, I really did.

OKAY THAT'S OUT OF MY SYSTEM! :D I really liked the movie and I want to go see it again, probably next weekend when I get home from camp. (Oh yeah, I'm going to camp all week with my church. Should be fun; I haven't been to a church camp since 8th grade.)

Luna

So I finally saw HP6. More on that later, but can I just mention that I love Luna Lovegood?

Yes, yes, I do.

Topicless

I do not know what I wish to write about

I only know that I wish to write

The desire to put letters together on paper to form words

(to type letters words lines on a keyboard)

is irresistible.

From where does this need come

?

Whose idea was it, originally, to write

to use paper as a memory aide

a way to pass things on

a method of sharing

...words.stories.life.

I will be forever grateful for the ability to read and write.

The connection our brains make to decipher symbols/letters and understand their meaning...

think about it.

Really, think about it.

It's awesome.astounding.marvelous.indescribable.

Words: the written representations of spoken sounds

(says my dictionary; who else am I to ask but that grand authority/guru?)

No longer topicless;

the topic shall always be the words that are

written.shared.remembered.

PS: a pretty picture for your enjoyment. outside a hotel room in Fredericksburg, TX

Malfoys

Yes, they're evil, nasty, cruel, and fictional characters. Yes, they're heartless Death Eaters. Yes, they deserve all sorts of punishment.

But have you ever noticed just how wonderful their clothes are? They are my favorite dressed characters in the Harry Potter movies.

Note example: Draco poster for HBP

Note much better example: Papa

Although his dress is deplorable here, but that's to be expected, considering the location.

Hahahaha.

Wow I am on such a Harry Potter kick lately. I sort of can't believe the movie comes out next week. :)

(pictures curtesy of mugglenet and google image search)

Bellatrix Lestrange?

I am not remembering where this comes in in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...

Though I must admit, I think the way the death eaters move, in their swirly, black smoke, is rather awesome.

Bubble Umbrella!

(stripe bubble umbrella from target)

I absolutely love bubble umbrellas! They are so cute. I'd love to own one... and I'd especially love to walk down the rainy streets of London carrying one over my head. The only thing that disappoints me about them is that they cannot come in travel size. Here in Texas we never know when we're going to get a sudden downpour, though we have not had much rain at all yet this summer, and the cute little umbrella I carry in my purse comes in handy often. The last few times I've been in Target I've seen these cute umbrellas; pretty soon I may find myself the proud owner of one. :)

Falling in love with Flickr

This week I have been working hard on the website for my dance studio. I have never used Dreamweaver before, indeed, I hardly know how to use a Mac, but I mostly figured it out. Today, one of the tasks involved was to update the Photo Album page of the site. Whoever built the site had included a page with several photos, but it was slow to load and not organized very well, so I decided to take a different route--Flickr!

I had never before used a Flickr.com account of my own; but I had browsed pictures there before and knew that it would be a nice way to share the studio's photos without dragging down people's browsers. So I created an account and uploaded pictures from the studio computer. Now, Profusion's Flickr page is up and running! And it was so nice and simple that I came home and made one for my own pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it updated with all of my favorite pictures. So far it includes my NYC pictures, a series I took in London of bicycles, and my fireworks shots from the past few years of July 4 celebrations. (I wonder why I have no pictures of New Year's fireworks?)

I feel like I'm selling something. But truly, I'm loving Flickr. :)

Bedtime

No, not right now, silly. It's 4:30 in the afternoon! I mean that I'm looking for a new bed. I grew up sleeping in a rickety brass trundle bed that I was never very fond of, not unlike the rest of my bedroom furniture. My parents apparently expected me to be more of a girl than I was/am. So finally, just a few years back, my parents agreed to let me get rid of the bed. (The rest of the furniture was my mother's growing up, so it remains.) For a while I slept simply on my two mattresses stacked up on the floor, until last summer when my brother came home from school with the borrowed frame a friend had let him use that year. Ketcher has a bed of his own at home, so the frame naturally went into my room. But this fall, that friend needs his bed back, so I am to be left with simply mattresses again, and I have decided that I rather enjoy having a bed. So I'm hoping to get a new one. So far my favorites are from IKEA (of course) but Mom and I will go to the stores soon I expect.

(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70160839)

(http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00120597)

Friends

During my vacation, I reconnected with two girls I had not seen in years. The three of us were friends in preschool, but Hailey (right) moved away to Ohio before we started kindergarten, and Jacqueline (left) relocated to Pennsylvania during elementary school. We have seen each other a few times since their sad departures, but we have never all been together again, until now. It was a short meeting, but it was enjoyable. The ways we have all changed make me wonder if we would have become the same people if we had always been together, or if we would even have remained friends. As it is, I love them, and I love the way I have become who Father wants me to be. I am thankful to still know them, however distantly, because I hate loosing contact with people. The Michael W. Smith song comes to mind called "Friends." Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them.

Happy 4th of July, America!

Okay, since the formatting is so terrible on my NYC post, I'm going to try to keep things simple here. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day. Mine was quite nice. I shopped with my mom and then ate dinner and observed fireworks with a great friend. The fireworks did not last as long as I would have liked, but they are expensive, and I was watching for free, so I cannot complain. Here are a few of my favorite shots; taking pictures of fireworks can be tricky. Again, the rest of the pictures can be found on my facebook.

Vacation 2009

Between my mother and myself, we took over thirteen hundred photos on our vacation to Ohio/New Jersey/New York City. I sifted through and chose just over one hundred to post on my facebook. I have chosen only six to share here.


Central park was not at all what I expected. For one thing, it is enormous. For another thing, there are giant rocks all over the place that are absolutely fantastic. We only made it through about half the park; we turned around after visiting the museums of Natural History and the Met. Isn't this couple cute in their rowboat? Also, I only wish it was this GREEN here in the deep, hot south. It is beautiful.

Across the street from Ground Zero, we visited St. Paul's Chapel, and cute little church that survived the September 11 attacks despite the close proximity to the Towers. Throughout the chapel memorials have been erected to the lost loved ones of the terrorist attacks. Countless paper cranes, patches of fire and police uniforms, pictures, cards, and signs are very nicely organized along the walls, leaving all the pew space empty for services. This is the front window and gorgeous chandelier. The cemetery behind the church was also very breathtaking.





This probably looks familiar, but we stumbled upon it while trying to find a bus that would take us back uptown; I am so very glad we did. The sign reads:
THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO
FOUNDED SEPT. 13, 2001
BLESSED OCT. 4, 2001
TEMPORARILY RELOCATED OCT. 5, 2006
WILL RETURN TO WTC MUSEUM A SIGN OF COMFORT FOR ALL

We did not visit Ellis Island, but we rode the Staten Island Ferry in order to get lovely shots of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. And the ferry ride was a very nice opportunity to rest our aching feet.










The Metropolitan Museum of Art was delightful and I especially enjoyed the roof. A large, steel, modern art sculpture dominated and there were views of the treetops of Central Park and protruding skyscrapers of various buildings. Does the sky look ominous? It rained the majority of the time we were in the city, but I am a fan of rain, and it only downpoured once. :)




Last but very far from least, a shot of Times Square. I chose one featuring the poster for In the Heights because that is the musical I chose to see, and it was a good decision. The storyline, music, and especially dancing was fantastic; I really wanted to see something I had never seen before, or even heard the music to. It was something totally knew and it did not disappoint me at all. Times Square was exactly what I expected, full of people, sounds, colors, and life. I loved it.




All in all, our trip was a ton of fun. I cannot wait to get back to New York City.




but PS: London wins, no contest. :)

also PS: Sorry the formatting is so bad... I'll work on that for my next post of pretty fireworks from tonight. :)

Sorry that it has been such a long time.

But tonight I want to share with you.

Philippians 1:1

I thank my God every time I remember you.

This applies to so many people in my life. I have been blessed with amazing relationships; parents who love Father and have taught me from birth about His love, teachers who genuinely care about me, dance instructors with passion for sharing Father's love through our movement, friends who will do anything for me. I am so grateful for all the amazing people Father has let influence my life, in one way or another. I love y'all.

Mom's home, so NYC post with pictures soon, I promise.