Summer Barn Dance

June 19, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

Just a few weeks ago, we had the privilege of hosting a barn dance in celebration of our friend Sam’s (Samantha’s) birthday! It took a while to prepare for, but we all absolutely LOVED the dance. 😀 It was the first one our family had been to.

Sam wanted Megan and I to take some pictures, and of course we happily obliged. 😉 Today I’m going to show you a few of my favorite photos, from decorations to dancing. Enjoy!

I got to help with the decorating, which was super fun. 🙂 At first we tried hanging streamers from the loft, but it was too damp and humid and they just sort of hung there limply. So we took them down. But while we were hanging them we found this gorgeous moth! Isn’t it striking?

Don’t these blue gingham tablecloths go perfectly with the barn dance/birthday/picnic atmosphere?

Our magnolia tree is blooming, so Megan suggested we use some of the flowers for the table. I’m so glad we did, because I had no idea they’d be this beautiful! And they smell amazing.

Unfortunately they are rather prone to closing up into buds, but they’re still pretty that way too. 🙂

We also had bouquets of ferns from our woods, chamomile daisies from our pastures, and larger daisies that Sam brought, which they had dyed blue with food coloring! 😀

I enjoyed making “place cards” for the food, even if I didn’t get around to labeling everything. 😉

Sam brought these lovely stamped paper fans (because boy was it hot that day!).

She also brought a bunch of paper medallions and some balloons to hang from the loft. They looked so pretty!

They set the speakers and such on haybales, which made it seem more like a barn dance. 😀

Hee hee, I quite like this picture of Sam’s sister Jesse. 😀

And this one of Sam. 🙂

Oh, and it was so funny – Sam and I wore almost the EXACT same outfit! Identical shirts and only a tiny bit different skirts. XD She was going to do my hair to match hers too, but we ran out of time, so it kind of looks like an octopus in these pictures. O.o Next time I shall remember to put it back before the dance. XD

Megan took the picture before and this picture from the loft. Aren’t they so neat?

Okay, now we’re finally ready for the barn dance part! One of the ladies from church was the “caller,” who patiently instructed all the dozens of people in how to do each dance. We learned the dance slowly first, without music, and then did it once or twice with music before learning a new dance.

For each dance, we lined (or circled) up in the middle of the shop floor and usually did a short sequence of steps that ended in being whirled off to the next partner, where you repeated the process until the music stopped.

We learned quite a few dances including the Virginia Reel, the Caroline Promenade, the Spanish Waltz, the Basket Weave, the Snowball Reel, the Patty-Cake Polka, the Posties’ Jig, and one or two more which I don’t remember the names of.

I think my favorites were the Basket Weave and the Spanish Waltz, although they were all fun.

I didn’t get pictures of the Posties’ Jig, but HA HA WOW. It was a 10-years-and-up dance for good reason: it had a lot of steps. Our group kind of epically failed at it since we got so mixed up and confused, but it was HILARIOUS. We laughed at ourselves so much. XD

My brother Logan was my partner for a couple of the dances, which was nice because our heights are a good match. 😀

One thing I really like about barn dancing is how changeable it is. You don’t stay with one partner for long, which adds to the excitement (and confusion, but XD). It’s also very fast-paced, which makes it feel like a game.

And I think it’s great that whole families, even younger kids, can participate in most of the dances.

I’m so glad Sam chose to have a barn dance for her party, and that we got to come. 🙂 Hopefully we can do one again soon!

So there you have it! At the end of the dance I was EXTREMELY hot and sweaty, and my feet were so sore from going barefoot on concrete for a whole day that I could hardly walk, but it was definitely worth it. XD XD Next time I shall 1) put my hair up and 2) wear shoes. *nods*

Have you ever been to a barn dance? What dance is your favorite (the Virginia Reel, Spanish Waltz, etc.)? Do you have a favorite picture?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

Setting Up My New Bullet Journal + Tips & Tricks

June 14, 2018November 12, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

I’ve been looking forward to posting this for quite a while! I recently used up my second bullet journal and bought a new one, which I absolutely LOVE so far! Today I’ll show you how I set it up, as well as some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way.

For those of you who don’t know, bullet journaling is kind of like a planner, but it’s more of a system than a certain notebook you buy. Part of its appeal is the limitless options for customization, which makes the system pretty hard to define. But basically it’s a way to keep all your lists and notes and journals in one notebook. Click here to see the BuJo website for more information. And reading the rest of this post might help too. 😉

THE MATERIALS

To begin with: the actual journal itself. I got this Essentials grid dot journal from Amazon, and it’s my favorite bullet journal I’ve owned so far!

Its features include…

a hardcover, easy-to-manage size of 8 1/4″ X 5 3/4″
light, evenly spaced grid dots for writing/drawing guidelines
decently thick paper
an elastic strap to keep the notebook closed
a ribbon bookmark
a paper pocket on the inside back cover

The cover is kind of a boring black, but you can decorate it with washi tape, metallic Sharpies, paint pens, etc. So far I just put a strip of washi tape down the spine and wrote a title with a white gel pen.

SETTING IT UP

My supply list for setting up my bujo includes the following:

Essentials grid dot journal
washi tape
ruler
micron pens (sizes 04 & 08)
regular pencil
Pilot G-2 07 black ballpoint pen

Here’s my simple cover page. I’ve always kept my bullet journals pretty simple because I do most of my journaling in the evening before bed, when I don’t have a lot of time to make it fancy. This BuJo is very minimalistic, but I still think it’s pretty. 🙂

On the first spread I have a “Fonts” page on the left and a “Quotes” page on the right. (Well obviously. XD)

I do my Bible journal in the evening as well, where I copy down my favorite verse from the chapter I read. I added the “Fonts” page because I often run out of interesting font ideas. 😛 Do you guys have any handwritten font suggestions? I also like having a place to put quotes I find in the books I’m reading, hymns I’m singing, songs I’m listening to, etc.

bujo 8 — Ugh, you can tell there’s no more softbox lighting here. XD

I love this page! Maybe because it took forever. XD Seriously though, it was one of my most time-consuming spreads. :[] I allowed myself space to fill in 17 books each month, but sadly I don’t think I’ll fill them all up. In my last journal I did read 17 books in a month (in May), but I only read 4 books in January and March. *ashamed look*

Here we have “Birthdays” on the left and combination of a wishlist and prayer list on the right. I was so happy I thought of this 12-layer cake for the birthday page format, but… it didn’t turn out quite as cake-like as I’d hoped. XD Oh well, it still works fine. For the opposite page, I divided the page in two because in my past bullet journals I didn’t use a whole page for either subjects.

I kept this whole spread blank for writing down notes – ideas I thought of, questions to ask pen pals, blog posts I want to make… anything else that doesn’t fit in my other pages.

The left page is available for either more notes or a new list. The right page is a place for my goals, whether unrealistic or practical. 😉 It’s pretty much a long-term to-do list.

Now for my monthly set-up! I used my 08 micron to write the name of the month in a font that’s both simple and pretty (are you starting to see a theme here? XD). I’m also going to use the gorgeous navy washi tape for each new month. I thought about adding doodles of important happenings on each month’s cover page as I go along, but I’m not sure I want to ruin the nice clean page now. XD Maybe I can use the blank page to the left?

On the left I have a sort of monthly overview, and on the right I start in with my daily journaling. I’ve never used a calendar before, but I think it will be nice to see at a glance what important events are coming up. Monthly goals are pretty self explanatory, so…

The right page is the part of my bujo I use the most, and the only daily section I have. I don’t have habit trackers for everyday chores and such because, well, I do them every day anyway. 😛 Instead, I just write a few sentences about what I did/what happened that day, and then make a short to-do list for tomorrow.

And that about wraps it up! Before you go, here are a few things I’ve learned from bullet journaling so far:

TIPS & TRICKS

If you make your BuJo too complicated, chances are you just won’t use it. (Or if you’re like me you’ll still use it and just be frustrated. XD) The time it takes to set up a page should correspond with how long it will last. Time-consuming pages are just fine for spreads that will last all bullet journal long (like my “birthdays” page, for instance), but don’t go as all-out for pages you’ll have to remake each month. For daily things, I like to keep it as simple and easy as possible.
Make a halfway mark in pencil for ease-of-use. It’s nice to have things centered, but it’s sooo tedious to count the dots and divide them up each time you make a new page. Instead, do that just once, and mark the center on the edges of the pages for a great shortcut. Now you can check the mark before centering your titles.

Use washi tape for easy pops of color, and to mark important pages. Washi tape is a nearly fool-proof way to add color and interest to your bujo. If you wrap the tape over the edge of the page like I did with my “June” page, you can see it even when you close the journal.
Get a bullet grid journal and one with a pocket for random lists. I suppose I’m a bit biased since I’ve only used a bullet grid journal, but I HIGHLY recommend them over just a regular lined notebook. It makes measuring and writing things a whole lot easier, plus it looks prettier! I’m also really enjoying the paper pocket at the back of the Essentials journal. It’s great for holding lists that I thought of after I already set everything up, or temporary lists that I don’t need to put in the BuJo anyway.

Hopefully this post was enjoyable and helpful! Do you have a bullet journal, and if so, do you have any tips for me? What lists/page is your favorite in YOUR BuJo? What was your favorite of my pages?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and please have a lovely day!

***Allison***

Introducing… The Summer Bored Games!

June 11, 2018June 11, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

I’M BACK! And I’m SO happy to be back, because I have some very exciting news! Clara, Megan, K. A., and I have been working on a secret project for months now, and we are FINALLY ready to show it to you guys! *grins* Ahem. I am proud to present… The Summer Bored Games!

The Summer Bored Games is a fun and creative way to bust boredom this summer, with dozens of wacky challenges, from thoughtful missions to completely random activities. Collect points by completing challenges, and enter to win an awesome prize!

CHALLENGE HOSTS:

Clara // Clara & Co.

Megan // A Barefoot Gal

Allison // A Farm Girl’s Life

K. A. // Cuddly Critters Blog

CHALLENGE RULES:

We four hosts (Clara, K. A., Megan, and I) will take turns posting a challenge post, one a week, for the month of July.

Each post will include 35 challenges, ranging from 1-4 points each – the harder the challenge, the more points you earn! Super hard or courageous challenges earn you Mega Points, which means 10 points instead of 1-4.

Participants collect points by successfully completing challenges. You don’t have to do the challenges in the order we list them, and you obviously don’t have to do them all (but then you won’t get as many points). However, you must complete any weekly challenges in that week alone for those points to count. If you miss a week, feel free to do the challenges just for fun, but they won’t earn you any points toward the giveaway.

HOW TO REDEEM POINTS:

In each of the challenge posts, a survey will be provided that participants can use to send their points from the completed challenges to a host blogger for a chance to win a prize (host bloggers are not eligible for the prize). However, if a participant would rather conquer the challenges just for fun and not win a prize, they can simply complete the challenges however they wish and not worry about keeping track of points.

PRIZES:

Prizes come in a three-tier winner system. Participants are entered for a chance to win the prize corresponding to their point range.

If, at the end of the challenge, you have 0-50 points, you are not eligible to win a prize. If you are in the lowest prize tier, which is for participants with 51-250 points, you have a chance of winning a $5 Amazon gift card. If you are in the middle prize tier, which is for participants with 251-400 points, you have a chance of winning a $10 Amazon gift card. If you are in the top prize tier, which is for participants with 401+ points, you have a chance of winning a $15 Amazon gift card.

At the end of the challenge, we’ll tally up each participant’s total points, fit them into the proper point tier, and random-generate the winners. If you work hard, you can earn yourself more of a chance for more of a prize!

DATES:

Challenge Post #1: Clara & Co. on July 2nd

Challenge Post #2: A Barefoot Gal on July 9th

Challenge Post #3: A Farm Girl’s Life on July 16th

Challenge Post #4: Cuddly Critters Blog on July 23rd

Challenge Winners: Clara & Co., A Barefoot Gal, A Farm Girl’s Life, and Cuddly Critters Blog on July 30^th

HOW TO SIGN UP:

The challenge is open to participants worldwide, and to ages 10-18.
Please get a parent’s permission before signing up.
Please sign up just once, on any one (but not more than one) of the hosts’ blogs.
Sign up to participate in the Summer Bored Games 2018 with the contact form below! (If you’re on WordPress Reader, the contact form probably won’t show up until you visit my actual blog.)

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

If you’re excited for The Summer Bored Games and want to let others in on the fun, we’d quite appreciate if you could share this post to Pinterest, Facebook, or other social media, repost it on your blog, or tell your family and friends! Even if you don’t win a prize, you can still have fun competing with your siblings or friends to see who can get the most points. 🙂

IN CONCLUSION:

Here’s a helpful (and pin-able) infographic to sum up the information above. 😀

SBG (15)

So. Are you usually bored during summer? Do you think the Summer Bored Games sounds fun? Will you sign up? ARE YOU EXCITED?!

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

Birthday Harvest {2018}

May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

Today I am excited to FINALLY show you guys some of the gifts I got for my birthday! It took me a while to get this all prepared, but I’m pretty pleased with the pictures because… well, I shall tell you in a bit. 😉

Anyway, first the obligatory disclaimer about how this is the obligatory disclaimer that no, for those of you who have a nagging doubt, I am NOT trying to brag about my gifts (I never saw any posts like these that were, but oh well), I am simply making one of the practically useless but quite entertaining birthday posts that I enjoy reading for some reason. XD So hopefully you enjoy it too!

Now that that confusing paragraph is out of the way, let us move onto…. another disclaimer: these gifts are in no particular order. 😉 Also for the background I used a white sheet (that took a while to iron) and some confetti from Clara’s amazing birthday box.

NOW! First, some super cute succulents from my sister Megan! (Also I REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS PICTURE. 😀 )

These succulents are really fuzzy and soft – kind of like Lamb’s Quarter.

She got these succulents from Leaf & Clay, by the way, which I think is a great site!

Sweet Laura sent me this adorable pot – I actually had seen it before on Amazon and loved it. 😀 (Fun fact: I was obsessed with pandas when I was little, and I still like them.) Doesn’t it look SO CUTE holding a succulent?

My Grandma and Grandpa gave me this lovely dish. I believe it was my great-great-grandmother’s. O.o So that’s pretty neat. 🙂

My dear friend Aria gave me this bath bomb, which I can’t wait to use! I always take showers, but Megan and I actually have a jacuzzi ( :O ) in our new bathroom at the big house, so I shall use it when we move in to celebrate. 😀

I don’t wear very much makeup at all, so my makeup collection is pretty sad. XD Aria sent me this and I think it’s so pretty!

I was so happy to get this paper because my other scrapbook paper isn’t cardstock, and I love the thicker paper. Plus this is so cute! The amazing Clara gave me this gift. ❤ (Psst, if you like this, you should check out Megan’s giveaway to have a chance of winning it!)

I love the metallic accents on this journal from Aria! Also it’s good to have new notebooks since I use mine up for school, like *cough, cough* CHEMISTRY. Eh.

Stickers! I actually have very few stickers, so yayyyy! Also I love these colors. One that cracks me up says “buy more stickers.” XD

Clara gave me this really fun washi tape crafts book! I got a lot of good ideas from this, heh heh. I really want to do some sort of washi tape wallpaper in our new bedroom like in the second picture.

Clara also gave me this fun doodle prompt book! I was originally going to do one every week but decided that probably wasn’t realistic, so. XD It has some neat ideas in it, like…

Aria also gave me this very pretty and dainty best friends’ necklace. ❤ (The blurry spots have cutouts of the states where we live under them.) I’m trying not to wear it every day… 😉

Aria found me this other giraffe thingy… not quite sure what it’s called, but it’s SPARKLY, and it’s PURPLE! Particularly PURPLE! 😀 It’s also quite fun to shake up.

My grandparents gave me this camera remote, which will be SO nice for using instead of the self-timer. YAY!

Megan gave me these super cute and pretty washi tapes. ❤ I love them, particularly the gold succulent one! 😀

Aria gave me several pretty tapes too. I figured out that the plain white ones are great for painting, like with watercolors, and the gold ones are actually shaped cutouts instead of your regular rectangular tape! Pretty neat. 🙂

Also I took all of the above pictures with my next present: softbox lighting from my Gram and Grandaddy! 😀 Ironically the softboxes themselves are rather hard to take pictures of, so I’ll just use one from Amazon. 😉 Their lights are super bright and especially good for indoor and project photography, which is not my strong suite. Let me know if you guys would be interested in a full-scale review sometime!

LimoStudio 700W Photography Softbox Light Lighting Kit Photo Equipment Soft Studio Light Softbox 24"X24", AGG814

{via}

I had these next two presents on the table, but for some reason forgot to take pictures of them with the rest, so that’s why they don’t have the same background. Anyway, Aria gave me these pretty paint pens! They’re very opaque so you can color over printed words and such – it’s basically like paint in a marker.

She also gave me this mug, which I love. XD Isn’t it so cute and funny? (She calls me a giraffe since I’m tall (5’10”), by the way. That’s why she got me giraffe presents. ❤ 😉 )

And one last present… A DESK FOR MY ART STUDIO! My parents let me pick out a desk I liked and they bought it for me, which I was so happy about! I picked this lovely desk from Ikea:

{via}

Here it is in my art studio! Except… we accidentally ordered the wrong (larger) size, so we’re going to get a new table top that should fit better soon. But otherwise, I LOVE it! I think it’s perfect for the space. 😀

gift 23

Welp, I suppose that’s it. 🙂 So many other people gave me the sweetest cards and envelopes and little birthday packages, but I didn’t have enough space in this already very long post to show everything. 😦 If I didn’t show something you gave, please know that I still truly and honestly loved it and you made my day by sending it. ❤ THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE, for a great birthday! I felt incredibly loved – my family, and myfriends online and offline were so, so sweet! I am now officially 18 – strange but true. Yikes. 😛 Am I too old to use emojis now? I hope not, because they’re very helpful…

Before you go… what is one thing on your birthday list? Did you find anything here to add? 😉 And isn’t the softbox lighting great?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and please have a lovely day! ❤

***Allison***

Old Letters and Other Artifacts

May 1, 2018May 1, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

I’m super excited to finally show you guys this post! I must warn you, though, it’s quite lengthy. I recommend getting something tasty to eat or drink, finding a comfortable spot, and reading on. 🙂

Ahem. Our new farm was founded in approximately 1777 (so it’s not exactly new, ha), and we’ve found some really neat old things while exploring it. These include but are not limited to a very old graveyard, a fairly old house + schoolhouse/cabin, and approximately 100-year-old postcards, books, and handwritten letters, one of which was written in Germany in 1922, and which I laboriously (and not so skillfully) translated. ARE YOU EXCITED? I AM.

First, the graveyard. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not far from the big house, as you can see. And no, that doesn’t really creep me out, in case you wondered. XD I hope you guys don’t mind it… 😉

This one is from 1777, approximately when this farm (and country) was founded! :O At the bottom it says “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.”

Wow, a soldier that fought in the Civil War… O.o (Those blurred out spots are place names. 😉 )

This one is so sad. 😦

Is it weird that I like this picture?

And this one too…

Some gravestones aren’t even marked, which is also sad.

Let’s move on to a… nicer topic, perhaps. 😉 I don’t know how old this tree is, but it’s huge and GORGEOUS.

I love this picture, maybe because it looks estate-ly to me. XD

Next we have an old broken down log cabin. So exciting. XD But this was most likely the original house! After that it may have been the kitchen, then it was a school, then a garage, and that’s where it fell down – the guy that made it into a garage a long time ago just chopped a large door in the side of the wall, which weakened it so that it finally fell down completely about the time we bought the farm. I can’t wait to clear it away because it’s kind of an eyesore. :[] We’re hoping to clean off and keep the chimney and make a patio with a pagoda there!

One day Mom and I went inside the rubble and found a dilapidated cardboard box full of old letters and pamphlets and envelopes and such! It was SO neat! Here are a few of the more interesting things we found.

A vintage postcard from 1922…

And one from 1940…

Look at that little typewritten note at the top… XD XD IT WOULD BE GOOD TO KNOW YOUR RETURN ADDRESS FOR SURE, AHEM. 😛 Also oh my goodness, I just now noticed something – the stamp is a one cent stamp! And now it costs 50 times that… for a letter, at least.

And look, some neat old pictures! This was had “Dan, Walter, and Myself” written on the back.

BAHAHA I don’t think this guy liked to have his picture taken, do you? XD

The last sentence… 😦 Still so true.

Sickness and suffering seems to be a common theme in these letters, actually.

Okay, this is tragic. It’s some school paper or other but I don’t know if the student wrote it or just copied it. Nevertheless…

What?! They used triple exclamation points back in 1897? I thought it was a modern thing…

We also found some later typewritten letters. Read the second line up from the horizontal crease in this picture. O.o

The typewritten letter was addressed to “My Dear Darling Sweetheart” or something like that. I thought it was a love letter at first too, but look how it’s addressed:

We even found some old checks! Too bad we can’t cash them in. XD

I believe this is a bank statement. The writing is so pretty, isn’t it? We’re hoping to frame some of the nicer-looking letters. 🙂

And now… *drum roll* I’m proud to present the old German letter! It was SO much harder to translate than I thought, because some letters like the r’s and s’s looked practically the same, there were ink blots and faded parts, etc. I’m sure I made tons of mistakes, but at least you can get the gist of what it says.

Since this post is long already, I took out a few of the most boring/badly-translated/unnecessary parts, re-formatted it just a bit to make it easier to read, and added notes in brackets. Ahem.

Dear Aunt! Wednesday, March 16th, 1922 // Marburg/Lahn, Germany

We have received your letter from February. Brother Heinrich is now quite healthy; he has already gained 12 pounds and is very rosy in the face. [HA HA. XD] We have cared for him well, even in winter, and every evening we warm the bed because he gets very cold. His things are all in good condition – I have washed and mended everything. […]

It was a nice sight when Heinrich arrived here. Crooked, half-tied shoes, old blankets over his arm, frozen through and through, and then the dirty rags of a poor soldier. [Goodness gracious! Also I don’t know if I translated “soldier” right, but isn’t that intriguing? Maybe he fought in WWI!] […]

Before the brother came, I had a family of tailors do the work. But when they saw him, they said, “No, no, we don’t need that, we must take care that nothing happens to him, and we have no time for that.” [I think the writer means she used to have tailors make new clothes, but for some mysterious reason, they didn’t want to work for Brother Heinrich. Do you think maybe his being an American soldier had something to do with it?] […]

And now he [Heinrich] thinks that if he had enough money, he would buy a greenhouse in Charlottesville and sell flowers. The houses here are so high in price that we can’t buy even one for a few dollars, not to mention the high taxes. […]

We cannot keep the brother, I’m sorry to write to you. […] It is better that he goes back to Charlottesville again, where he is used to, and where they sing to him in his old age, and care for him. Here in Germany that is not possible because only locals are admitted [to nursing homes] and he is an American. He has now had his way and has been to Germany. […]

My people do not want me to take on such a burden again as I bore for 40 years – I fed my father for 40 years, and the brothers lived freely and didn’t care about him. [she mentioned how hard it was to care for her father several times. It must have been quite a job.] […]

You meant very well, but now you’ll understand we cannot keep him [Heinrich] here. I am always bound to him and cannot go my own way, which I should and must. So, dearest aunt and cousins, I would like to politely and urgently ask you to send Brother H. a ship ticket very soon, […]

[Okay guys, the next part is where things get interesting:]

The cost of living is almost impossibly high here. The meat is reduced by 2 marks each week: it costs 50 marks per pound. [I researched how much this would be in U. S. dollars today, and it would be $240,806. *horrified look*.] Butter costs 42 marks [$202,193] all winter. A feather bed costs 5000 marks [GUYS. THAT’S $1,600,000. :O :O :O]. You can now imagine how trying it is to have the brother in my house, and once again I ask you to release me soon from this burden. I knew in advance how everything would come about and that was why I was against it. […]

The constantly rising inflation has an appalling effect on the minds. You wrote that you wanted to do something for the brother, so I would like to ask you once more to put him in a retirement home, where he has care and company – here he knows no one.

Dear Aunt, I hope you’ll soon help me sort out this matter and send the ship’s ticket to the brother, because our stock of potatoes will only last until August and there are no new ones to be found. […]

In the hope that this letter finds you in good health, […]

Auguste Hoof Schwaner

_______________________________________

So I looked it up, and in the first half of 1922, when this letter was written, the German mark was worth 320 marks per U. S. dollar. O.o In the SECOND half of 1922, the mark went into hyperinflation and plummeted to $7,400 MARKS PER DOLLAR: you had to use 7,400 German dollars to buy something worth ONE American dollar! Oh my goodness.

Auguste, unfortunately you haven’t seen anything yet. I sure hope they got Brother Heinrich out of there before Auguste’s family ran out of money or potatoes, don’t you?

We’re actually planning to take down the log cabin at some indeterminate but hopefully soon date, and I’m sure we’ll find a bunch more fascinating things underneath the floorboards! Did you enjoy this post enough to be interested in another on what we find when we take down the log cabin or is this stuff kinda boring in your opinion? Do tell!

Also. What was your favorite “old thing” in this post? Have you ever found neat artifacts like these? Thanks for reading this long-winded post, my dears, and please have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. GUYS, GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE FAST INTERNET NOW! (*Update* Okay so it’s supposedly unlimited, but after we use up our high-speed data it cuts us back to slower internet. Not as bad as before, but still…) That means I don’t have to drive 10-30 minutes to a library to use their Wi-Fi, and therefore I can make posts more often! *grins hugely*

Macro Photography + Lens Review

March 31, 2018March 31, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

Well that was a rather unanticipated mini-hiatus, huh? I think this is the longest break from blogging I’ve taken in… I don’t know, a very long time. 😛 As usual, it was because of our agonizingly slow internet and hectic moving schedule. *sigh* Anyway, I won’t elaborate on my excuses anymore – must make the most of fast Wi-Fi while I have it! XD

Today I am excited to present a review of this Fotodiox Macro Extension Tube Kit, plus some close up pictures I got with it!

I got the kit for Christmas but have only lately really learned how to use it. It definitely has its quirks and difficulties, but overall I LOVE it and I’ve had so much fun playing with it.

The kit comes with five pieces…

only three of which are the actual extensions (the other two attach the extensions to the lens and camera body).

The extensions are 28mm, 14 mm, and 7 mm: the higher the number, the more macro the photo will be. You can screw them on and off individually and in any combination. The pieces all seem very sturdy. It IS a little hard to screw the normal camera lens onto the respective attachment, but it works okay.

Here are some variations of… um macro-ness? XD

The amazing thing about this kit is that it’s only $12.59 on Amazon! Isn’t that incredible? Considering how high lenses – or really anything DSLR related – usually cost, I think it’s a huge bargain.

Now granted, it isn’t the easiest to use at first, as aforementioned, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty fun.

For one thing, you have to use manual mode. This isn’t a problem for me because I always do anyway, but it’s something to consider.

You also have to manually focus the lens, by which I mean move your camera back and forth until you get just the right distance away from it that the subject is (mostly) in focus. This makes it practically impossible to get a clear picture of a moving subject or an object that’s spiky or generally not very flat, like these:

Not surprisingly, the longer your lens extends, the closer up it gets. Also basically the closer up you get, the harder it is to take pictures. Because besides the things I just said, one, it will require pretty bright light (or high ISO/low shutter speed) to compensate for the zoom; and two, it will have a TINY f-stop/aperture, which means the portion of the picture in sharp focus is very small, like the first picture below.

(By the way, this EXTREMELY WEIRD thing is called a cedar apple – and no, it’s not edible. XD You should look them up – they’re so strange!)

You can see how much more subject area is in focus when you use a 14mm versus a 28mm:

And I believe this is just with the 7mm, although I’m not entirely sure what extensions I used for any of these pictures because it’s rather hard to keep track of. XD

I prefer to use something like the 7mm + 14 mm instead of all three together. Even the 7 mm by itself is a lot of fun, though it isn’t super macro. However, you can still get some super neat photos with the full extension, it’s just a bit harder to work with:

One thing I love about these extensions is how soft and dreamy they make the lighting. ❤ They’re also super good for bokeh, although this specific picture isn’t a great example of that…

The colors are also usually quite vibrant, as you can see here. I didn’t edit this at all!

And there you have it! I hope you guys found the review helpful and interesting. 🙂 Before I go I wanted to show you a few more macro photos I’ve taken recently. Enjoy!

Weeds are great for macro photography because they look a lot prettier closer up. 😉

I also love how the extensions work with water drops! (Well let’s be honest – I just love water drop photography in general. XD)

Another photography subject I love is eyes. ❤ I tried to get some shots of my own eyes, but it was pretty hard to do as a selfie. :[] Oh well, I think the blurry ones still actually look pretty!

Ahh, I really like this last one! Se the reflection of me holding the camera? It looks like my pupil is the lens. 😀

OKAY OKAY I LOVE THESE NEXT ONES TOO EEP. I’ve always wanted to get a good picture of a cat’s eye, and I finally did! Ahh, the color and texture is just gorgeous. ❤

Good thing Tom was sleepy or he would have moved around way too much. XD

Hee hee, isn’t his nose cute?

This is an ear, in case you were wondering. XD I actually like the softness of this picture too.

I could go on, but this is a long post already, so we’ll stop here. XD *sigh* That was fun.

So tell me. Would you consider buying this extension kit? What was your favorite photo? Do you like taking close-ups, or do you prefer a different genre?

Thanks for reading, dears, and have a wonderful day! ❤

***Allison***

P. S. I was going to do photography tips in this post, but then I was like, “Clara has done such a good job saying what I would just repeat, so…” XD Click here to read a super helpful and beautiful post with lots of great photography tips! And follow her blog while you’re at it – IT’S ABSOLUTELY WONDERMOUS. ❤ 😉

If you DO happen to have any photography questions left over afterwards, by all means please let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer them, perhaps in a later post. 🙂

Thoughts On… {Adversity}

March 20, 2018 | Allison

Imagine there were once two small stones who lay near one another in the streambed of a rushing river. As the years went by, dashing water and larger rocks both tumbled over them, and eventually the relentless conditions ground the first into smaller and smaller pieces until it was an unrecognizable heap of sand. But something different happened to the second stone.

Instead of getting worn down by the surging flood, it simply stood fast and let the water polish it into a smooth, gleaming pebble. Instead of getting crushed by the grinding force of the other rocks, it simply rolled past, moving slowly down the river. One day, it arrived at the sea, and all was gloriously calm.

Now, dears, you can probably see where I’m going with this, but let me ask you a question: as the river of life passes by, do you let the hardships polish you or shatter you?

It’s so much easier to shatter, isn’t it? It feels like the constant trials and pressures of life cannot help but grind us into sand. It’s not hard to just give up and give in to self-pity. In fact, it’s far too easy, for me at least. And sometimes it almost feels good, in a miserable way.

But we’re missing the point – or rather becoming bristling full of points instead of allowing them to be smoothed away. How we react to adversity profoundly influences how others perceive us, and this is especially important for Christians. Since we put our identity in Christ, it influences how others perceive Him. If we act like God’s not strong enough to carry us through everyday life, it begs the question, how in the world could He carry us through death? We’ve got to show the world that trials don’t define us – God does.

Here’s another way to look at it. The other week in small group, one of the men was talking about how problems can come between us and God, and he compared it to an eclipse. I thought that was a really good analogy. Our worries are like the moon orbiting the earth, until one day they eclipse everything else. Did you guys watch the last eclipse? Do you remember how the moon hid the sun? Its dark circle looked just as big as the light, even though you knew it was really many times smaller.

So when it’s dusk in daytime and everything slips sideways and you are falling off the edge of the world, don’t forget, dear, the sun will come out again. It’s still there, shining and shining, and however big and dark the moon’s shadow seems, the sun is infinitely bigger and infinitely brighter, and in its blazing light, all shadows fade away.

So when hardships surround us and we do not break, when people wonder why we’re still fighting, we tell them, we persevere because we have a hope beyond this world. We tell them, because when we hit rock bottom, the Lord is polishing this rough stone into a diamond of such brilliance that it will reflect his glory far brighter than before. And we tell them, it takes harsh sand to grow a pearl.

Grow a pearl, dear. Be a diamond. Shine, don’t shatter. And when adversity threatens to eclipse all, hold fast to the Son.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4

***Allison***

Moving On {Part 2}

March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 | Allison

It has been way too long since my last “Moving On” post, and we’ve had quite a few adventures since Part 1! So, shall I catch you guys up on the news? Alrighty then. 🙂

Let’s see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, right before our cousins came to help us paint. Well… they actually didn’t paint much, but my aunt did. XD The kids played Dutch Blitz when we weren’t needed. We’ve all been playing Dutch Blitz a TON lately, and it’s so much fun! Have you played? Not many people have that I know, of but sadly it’s pretty hard to explain without showing you… Trust me, though, it’s great. XD

So now the Cedar House is all painted and furnished and it looks GREAT! We still have a few things to fix up before it debuts as an Airbnb, but it’s come a long way. (For instance, we replaced that carpet in the picture above after I took the photo.) Would you guys like to see a tour of the house once it’s finished?

Another thing we’ve been doing is learning to use the rebaling machinery. Part of what we do at the new farm is sell hay and straw, as well as make people’s large, unmanageable bales into smaller ones. Dad runs the machinery, the boys usually get the haybales prepared, and the girls usually stack them on a trailer. It’s hard work, lifting hundreds of 40-pound bales, but it’s good for us. 😉

The hay pictures are all in black and white because the light and surroundings usually weren’t the prettiest. XD I think they look really neat in B&W, though!

I guess Logan did help stack that time… maybe because I was taking pictures. XD

A few weeks ago we semi-officially moved down to our new place. We still have to go back to our old farm to pack up stuff and work once in a while, but we’re mainly down here now. 🙂

Since we’re mostly going to be down here, we brought all the live things we have to care for: namely, pets and plants. 😛 I really loved how the plants looked in the back of my car for some reason. XD Does it looks Pinterest-y to you?

They looked so pretty against the cedar siding. 🙂

We also brought the bunnies up! Most of the bunnies stayed huddled together at the back of the truck, but Basil was hilarious – she hopped up on a cat crate (with no cat inside) we put there and stayed on top almost the whole time. What made it funny was it was really windy up there, and her fur got blown about every which way, like she was under one of those super strong hand dryers that ripple your skin. XD She didn’t seem to mind, though. Maybe she liked the fresh air.

We also brought the cats down, but that was a little more… um, interesting. They were RATHER scared, and once Jinx decided he simply couldn’t wait to use the litter box till we arrived, so… yeah. He didn’t wait. IT WAS BAD. XD XD Ah well, we survived, and the cats are safely in the Cedar House now. 🙂 Maggie, our yellow lab, is quite enjoying the new space too, I think!

Dad had to stop to check on a vehicle at one point and I got some more lovely pictures of mountains at the overlook. ❤ You could see everything SO clearly!

Finally we arrived at the pineapple gates. I don’t know why there are pineapples at the farm entrance, but it’s pretty funny. Especially because one of the pineapples is literally yellow and green with lichen, and in exactly the right places! XD

In case you’re wondering if we have animals at our new farm, we don’t. Except for pets, of course. 😉 We’ll probably get chickens later (just not 24,000 like we used to have!), but for now the only livestock are the cows in the leased pastures. They’re not ours, but they are pretty cute. 😉 They also look lovely in the golden hour! Then again, what doesn’t?

When we first started staying in the Cedar House we didn’t have many forms of entertainment, so Mom thought of Four Square! We laid out the pattern in masking tape on the basement floor, and we’ve been having a lot of fun playing it as a family. 🙂

Another fun thing to do here is go fishing! We haven’t caught fish every time, but once we caught nearly a dozen in one day! That was fun. I’ll have more pictures from fishing in a later post.

Ooh, and one super fun surprise we found was a box of really old letters! Part of the big farmhouse was built in the 1850s, and I believe the farm itself is even older. We found some letters from the 1880s! Isn’t that amazing? This letter is one of my favorites, although it’s from 1922, so not quite as old. But LOOK AT THE HANDWRITING. (I blocked out part of the address.)

Isn’t that amazing?! We haven’t read it yet because it’s in German, but we should really translate it sometime. 🙂

Now I shall end this post with a sunset over the pond. ❤ I love sunsets in general, and reflected sunsets are twice the beauty!

Phew, that was a lot to cover in one post. I hope I didn’t leave anything important out… XD Oh well, I can always tuck it in later if need be. I hope you enjoyed the update and the pictures, and tell me…

Have you had interesting experiences traveling with pets? Have you played Dutch Blitz or Four Square? And would you be interested in a post with more about the Cedar House when it’s finished, or about more old letters and other interesting artifacts we’ve found?

Stay tuned for more posts like this in the future, because we still have the big house to finish fixing up. Man, it’s taking a while. There’s just soooo much to paint and work on. Ah well, it’s going to be incredible when it’s finished, and I can’t wait to move in!

Well, thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day, dears!

***Allison***

Bubbles, Selfies, and Strange Goings-On

March 8, 2018 | Allison

Hello, dears!

I was originally going to post a “Moving On” episode, but I’ve been doing a lot of complicated, less lifestyle-ish posts lately and I felt in the mood for a good ol’ photography post – one of my favorite kinds to read AND write. 🙂 So I’ll save the moving post for a later date, and hopefully you enjoy these various portrait photoshoots in the meantime! 😀

Bubbles

One day when the sun was setting and it was lovely and golden outside, I asked my littlest sister Carmen if she wanted to do a bubble photoshoot with me. She agreed somewhat reluctantly, but started having fun once we commenced, as usual. XD

It was fun, but VERY difficult. The hardest part was getting the bubbles in focus. I could have used a higher f-stop, but I wanted the nice blurred background and… anyway, these are only a fraction of the photos I actually took. XD

Another difficulty was that the bubble wand handle was broken and we kept having to fish the rest of it out with a, um, small scissors. Why didn’t we use a tweezers? You know, I’m not really sure. XD Maybe we couldn’t find it, I forget. Anyway, it worked… sort of. 😛

I can’t believe I got a picture of a bubble popping! I wasn’t even trying, which is probably how I got it. XD

After Carmen got too cold and went in, I attempted to take pictures of just bubbles by myself. IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY HARD. The wind always blew the wrong way at the wrong time, just as I clicked the button, of course. *sigh* Oh well, out of perhaps at least a hundred, I DID get a few good ones. Two, in fact. *weak smile* I do love the color, though! (They aren’t edited.)

Selfies

Guys, I practically NEVER take selfies (although I do use the self-timer occasionally). Why? Probably mostly because it’s such a stereotypical teenager thing to do, and thus I don’t (XD). Anyway, the other day I found a charming patch of speedwell, a weed with adorable tiny blue flowers, and decided hey, why not. 😛

Oooops, didn’t exactly point my camera at the right spot… but it works! XD

An edited one just for fun…

Hee hee. XD This might be my favorite.

Strange Goings-On

My sister Megan and her friend MacRae do very strange things together. Trust me on this – VERY strange. Like taking rocks for a walk or racing earthworms. I don’t know if Megan wants me to tell the reason behind these pictures yet or not, so for now let’s just say it’s another of their interesting ideas which they wanted me to photograph. Heh.

That blob of fur in MacRae’s lap is my rabbit Willow. XD

BAHAHA, poor Willow is a little alarmed at their antics…

GOOD JOB, WILLOW. Escape is obviously the best option here. I don’t know what Megan’s doing here… contemplating the taste of a spoonful of mayonnaise? XD

And then Willow, who was obviously the star of the show, got some headshots…

What do you say, does Willow look good in a mustache? True, she kind of already has one… XD

Since you never really saw her eyes, I had to include one last one so you can tell that she is actually a living creature. Hee hee.

And that’s it for today! I have another sisters photoshoot but it’s pretty long, so I’ll save it for its own post. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed these! Which was your favorite photoshoot, and which was your favorite picture? Do you feel sorry for Willow? XD

***Allison***

P. S. Speaking of bunnies, I have some sad news… Diamond and Lily are gone. 😦 Lily was got really sick so we had to put her down, and I don’t know what happened to Diamond – maybe she just died of old age or something. *sad sigh* I’m really glad we still have the other four bunnies, though, and hopefully we can have baby bunnies again soon! But… RIP Lily and Diamond. 😦