if you find a dead computer...

...You will know that I have been there! This computer just ate my entire post. My post was my "87 things about me" and it was long. It was also perhaps a tad too horsey, but besides that, it was a perfectly good post. And I am now very mad but I have to go so I can't redo it. Grrrrr! Heads-I mean PCs- will roll!

VERY IMPORTANT EDIT: Never mind! If you find a very happy computer with a new mouse and on "sleep" permanately and whatever else computers like, you will know that I have been there! The computer didn't eat my post, it published it. Hmmmm.... Me and PCs is definately a love-hate relationship!!

my 87 things

Here are 87 things about me...

1. My full name is Sara Elisabet Young
2. Elisabet is Swedish for Elizabeth
3. It is pronounced "ah-leesa-bet"
4. I just got voted speaker for my class at IUPUI
5. that means I have to represent my class in the speaking contest
6. I am not particularly excited
7. And I didn't think I would win
8. and i am going to be super nervous
9. but I will survive
10. tomorrow I have a Physics test
11. and I should be studying for it right now
12. my favorite colors are pink and green
13. together!
14. I love Oreo's
15. and Starbucks
16. but I don't go there all that much
17. I am planning a trip to Kentucky Kingdom
18. on May 27th
19. it will only cost $15 per person
20. and you should come!
21. i sleep with a blankie
22. When I was four I had a blankie some one made for me
23. I couldn't sleep without it
24. But on my fifth birthday I decided to give it up because I was a big girl
25. and i succeeded!
26. but this fall my mom bought me a fleece throw because I always get so cold in the winter
27. I slept with it and wrapped it around me when I studied and huddled under it and read the funnies at breakfast time
28. I guess I will give it up when I turn 18
29. I will be 18 on May 13th
30. I can't believe I'm so old
31. neither can most people I know since I look young
32. but alas it's true!
33. i can't wait to go to Purdue
34. but I am going to miss my friends sooo much!
35. and my family, despite the fact that they annoy me sometimes
36. and my kitty Misty
37. Misty is a silver-shaded Persian
38. she is fluffy with whitish-silver fur and a squished face
39. I think she is beautiful
40. most people think she just looks grumpy
41. I love horses
42. the horse I rode today was being annoying
43. he doesn't want me to ride him
44. tough luck!
45. I have been to Sweden about five or six times
36. for both my aunt's weddings
47. for my grandma's funeral
48. (and yes Bekah, I'm still sorry I missed you being in "The Sound of Music" but you do understand that I had to go)
49. for my Grandpa's 75th birthday
50. and a couple times just for fun
51. I have also been to London for a few days
52. it was fun
53. I have never been to Disney World/Land
54. I have never been to an amusement park
55. which is why I'm going!
56. I love to shop
57. especially for cute spring skirts
58. I want to wear one in my senior pictures
59. I want another one of my pictures to be on Breezy
60. Breezy is a horse
61. he is a dark bay Appaloosa
62. but he looks like a QH
63. he is not the ornery thing I rode today, by the way
64. I taught Breezy to jump
65. that was verrrrryyy fun!
66. I miss riding him very much
67. I had to quit because I work most afternoons
68. but sometimes I take off work, stay the whole time for play practice, and go ride him
69. I probably just "wasted" 20 of my things on horsey chatter
70. well, too bad, that is who I am!
71. I can't wait for summer time
72. I am tired of being cold
73. I am tired of school work
74. I want to graduate
75. I am graduating with Mr Baumer's class in Avon on May 21
76. I will have to give a speech
77. I have had a LOT of practice giving speeches
78. and if I win the semi finals round I will have even more...
79. I love God
80. I wish my speech could be on that
81. my teacher told me that the more liberal my speech is, the better chance I have at winning
82. I told him I am not altering my opinion for anybody
83. he said he didn't mean it like that
84. so then what did he mean?
85. I would die for my beliefs
86. well, the ones about God, not the ones like "Oreos rock!"
87. I need to go study

And that is all there is. I hope it wasn't too boring. Maybe I will do a non-horsey version later.

nothin much goin on...

Well, the title just about says it all! Not much is going on with me. I have another speech on Tuesday, but this one is only 3 minutes long because our professor wants us to only give one point out of our three-point persuasive speeches. My speech is on litter. This particular point is on how litter kills humans as well as animals and plants. Did you know that 25,000 car crashes per year are due to debris on roadways? (Like, you see some trash and you swerve to avoid it, and end up crashing.) Also, up to 90 of those crashes result in death per year. Eeek! Watch out for that McDonald's Happy Meal bag up ahead! It could kill you!

Last night I baby sat for a family that got my name from someone else I babysat. The kids were cute and well-behaved. It was a great evening! The brother was nice to his little sister, even though she took his toys and stuff (she's only two). It made me wonder what I was like as a little kid. I highly doubt I was nice to kids who took my toys. Actually, I don't remember much about being really little but I do remember one dream I had when I was probably five or six...



Once more, my dad was in the car parts store getting something for one of his beloved babies (meaning, the cars, not us.) My sister and I got bored and started wandering around the dusty dirty old store. To our surprise and delight, we found a box of puppies in a box on one of the lower shelves, along with a little brown dog. We started playing with the cute little puppies, who were furry and reddish-brown with floppy pointed ears. My dad finished up his dealings and came to find us, along with the store owner. When the owner saw us, he yelled, "Don't touch those! Those aren't puppies, they're foxes!" We dropped the creatures in shock. The guy went on to explain that he had found the abandoned foxes and brought them back. His dog took care of them like they were her own, but he still didn't think two little girls should be playing with them.



So now when my family feels like teasing me, they just go "Those aren't puppies, they're foxes!" That's the only dream I've ever had that I can remember all of it. I used to dream a lot, and really strange ones too! But now I think I'm so tired when I finally do go to sleep that my brain just rests instead of coming up with weird dreams.

So nowadays my dreams are in real life. Like, my dream of going to Purdue is coming true! My dream of having a horse has not come true yet, but Baron's owner lets me ride him whenever I want. Sadly, though, I haven't had time to go up there very often. Oh, well, life goes on...

movie review

When I went and saw poor Chipmunk Bekah we watched part of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." And then yesterday, I saw the rest of it. And here is my highly valued opinion (did you recognize that sarcasm?):

The best thing about the movie is the graphics. They are so cool! And in the extras on the DVD you can see some of the artist's sketches, and boy can that guy draw! It doesn't look realistic, but as the artist dude explains, it's not supposed to. It has a very old-fashioned feel to it (except the violence is more sophisticated...if that makes any sense!) and it's set in the 1940s. Now I want a job designing stuff for movies. The guy got to sit around and get PAID to doodle and invent different robots, plus the costumes for all the people!

The next best thing is that the movie lacks all the...umm, I guess I mean, a lot of the sex and crap Hollywood likes to produce. There is one scene where the girl gets knocked out and winds up in bed, and I'm going oh no I don't want to see this, but it actually ends up being really funny. I think they say a couple bad words, but not every time something bad happens. Which is good, because bad things happen about every five minutes, or more often. And Polly Perkin's beautiful perfectly curled blonde hair stays perfectly in place...pretty much, anyway. And she never trips in her high heels, even when she is being chased by robots. Quite impressive, if you ask me.

Well, that is the end of my review! Have a nice day :-)

babysitting and contemplating

Currently I am babysitting. Why do they call it that anyway? The kids are not babies and I am certainly not sitting on them! But to get on with the post...

Nothing profoundly interesting has been happening. This is the second time I'm babysitting this weekend so I haven't had much of a chance to get out with friends, although my sis and I did go downtown this afternoon. And I did not almost hit anyone!! I got a teeny bit lost and burnt rubber trying to get out of the steep ramp out of the parking lot, but that's about it. Yay!! Maybe I'm not a blonde after all! I got a cute shirt and something for Amber's birthday...shhh...

Last night (after babysitting!) I was reading my Bible and thinking and I ended up staying up til like two writing this poem. Usually I am the one telling Jessica to go to bed since I get up earlier, but this time she was like "When are you gonna go to bed?"

Anyway, the reason for the poem was a) I have been reading waaaay to much poetry for school and it was on my brain, and b) I was thinking about something. I was going to make this post be about it. But instead I am going to post the poem, which is incomplete and its meaning may be a bit ambiguous... I was a bit unsure about posting poetry since you guys might think it's really strange. But then again, it doesn't really matter what you guys think since in the end I only have to answer to God! (Not to say that I don't care about all of y'all!)

So, here goes...

Sometimes I think I rule
My lofty name is writ
Across the wide blue sky
On elevated throne I sit.
Today my life is solely mine
My destiny I grasp!
The future, it looks fine
I pick, I point, I choose,
"Away with that; this shall be"
Others flounder and fall
Trip over endless decisions
But not me, queen of certainty!
Nothing will bring me down!
Not pomp nor circumstance!
Nothing will work! Nothing!
I am above the teeming masses
You see, I am a child of the king
No privelege shall be denied
I will hold the potent force
Borne of heartfelt pleas
Which directs life's course.
I of royalty surely will hold
That power, that crystal ball!
But something lies forgotten
My heart hears a whisper, a call,
A soft gentle reminder:
"In your veins runs humanity
Adoption made you royal.
Life's paths are governed by Me."
Knowledge floods my soul
My heart twists cold with fear.
No power have I! I know not
If curse or blessing is near.
Confusion reigns and I do not
The sky no longer shouts of me
My boastful crown tumbles.
Wicked child! Dare beg no mercy!
Lowly humbled servant! Your duty
You remembered no more.
Yopu deified your rotting flesh
But now you sink to the floor.
The clouds shall hail on you!
But once again the voice is heard:
"No, my child. Do not fear.
I am with you. I am your strength.
Trust in Me, I am always near.
Happenings may bring doubt
But My plans shall never fail.
I gave up my life for you
Into My hands was driven the nail.
Now all I ask is this:
In faith, let go, let fly,
All plans and worries, all schemes!
Ask not where nor when nor why,
For My plans are always the best."
My hands were clenched and tight
My heart beat fast and strong
Could I give up the power
That I now found to belong
To my king and only Him?
Dare I believe? Dare I trust?
I belive, I dare because now I know
His ways are best and they are just.
My future brings no shudder
Tomorrow holds no hidden dread
For all my days now rest
In Him who gently led
Me to the streams of living water
To streams of certainty
Because my life no longer is run by me!


Well, actually scratch that about it not being finished because I just finished it! Of course some fine tuning could definately be done, but I have spent enough time on this post, I think. Math homework beckons...shall the call be answered? No, it shall not. There is always tomorrow. And tomorrow night. Maybe my next poem will be on how to cure laziness...

shopping

If you're a guy you may want to skip this post...

Friday I went shopping with Amber, Ellie, and Jess. We went to Plato's Closet, which is kind of like a Goodwill except they pay for their stuff and they only buy "cool" teenager clothes. They're also a little more expensive. I sold them some jeans and a pair of capris that I just plain am never going to squeeze into so I didn't think it was worth keeping them, and also a T-shirt that was really cheap. I got a cute lil pink shirt with the money they gave me for the jeans and stuff and had one whole entire dollar left over.

Then we went to the mall and tried on prom dresses! I tried on this one pinkish orange one that I totally loved. Actually, I pretty much love any one that I try on, as long as it fits! They just make you feel so gorgeous. I dont' think I'm going to the prom though so I probably will never get a dress like that...sigh. Actually, I do have a prom dress from Goodwill that cost $4 but it's too big.

Then on Saturday I went and visited poor Bekah, who had her wisdom teeth pulled and looked like a chipmunk. It was kind of funny actually...hee hee Bekah! We watched part of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (which was pretty cool actually...it would be fun to do the graphics for a movie like that!) and then I went and got my mom from the mall. We ended up in the junior's department in Parisian (not my mom's idea, in case there was any doubt...) and I tried on some pink skirt suits. I want to get one for my graduation. I also want some cute shoes but they can't have too high heels or I will probably trip and end up on the floor.

And then on Sunday I just did school work...I finally got around to writing my extra credit essay for Mr. Long's class. And once I got into it I did indeed get into it. It is supposed to be a minimum of 2 pages double spaced but mine is 4 pages 1.5 spaced (which I guess I need to go back and fix). I like to write. Unless it's for Eng Comp.

Well, I hope that wasn't too boring, no profound thoughts for today! I can't wait til spring! It will be so much more fun to ride when it's warm out.

Have a cheery sunny week!

dumb blonde

I know that, on occasion, I have made fun of blonde people, some more than others. I have also laughed realllly hard at some good blonde jokes. However, I have recently discovered that I am even more blonde than I thought. Therefore, I am going to attempt to not make fun of blonde people, although I retain the right to laugh at good jokes.

Let me explain....

It all began on Saturday night. I was driving downtown to Allen's party with Jeremiah. (The rest of my passengers had decided to go to the mall early and thus did not need my taxi services. At least that's what they told me. Now, it seems more likely that someone told them some scary stories about me driving...) My dad gave me directions to the mall garage but somehow I totally blew it. Therefore I was driving around downtown aimlessly in a bunch of traffic with Jeremiah telling me where to go. Part of where to go included switching lanes which I attempted to do. However somehow I missed the fact that the light was red and therefore almost hit the person in front of me. It scared me, in case if you were wondering. It doesn't happen as often as some of you might think! Thankfully I didn't have a heart attack and instead somehow got into the garage. Once inside, after minor difficulties in getting the ticket related to not being close enough to the thingamajiggy, I drove around and waited endlessly for the 98% of people who were not nice enough to let me in and finally found a spot. Then, we went in to the mall and thankfully we weren't late because Allen wasn't there yet. So I got to relax and talk to some peeps and try to forget that I had almost caused a dent in the back of somebody's car.

Then Allen got there and we all stood around talking and semi-trying to divide into groups when the security guards got suspicious and decided to kick us out. Who knew that having like 25+ people standing around in the mall, not to mention that they were planning to (gasp!) take pictures of merchandise they weren't planning to buy was against "Codes of Conduct"? Not poor innocent little me, of course. So we all went to the Blackwood's. This is where my blonde-ness kicks in again.

First, I couldn't find the exit to the parking garage. (Yes, I did manage to start the car, and back out without hitting anyone, thankyouverymuch!) Then, I did find it but ended up driving past it so I had to drive around the "block" again... grr! I did do one thing right though (or so I naively thought...): I pulled out my ticket and put it right next to me so I wouldn't have to look for it when we got to the cashier. I guess it must have fallen because when we got there it was not where I put it. We looked all over the place and couldn't find it. Finally I ended up paying the lost ticket fee, which was (whew!) only $2 on weekends. Then we got moving. Jeremiah (not dumb blondie here) had the directions and we were OK until one road split into two and I took the wrong split. We drove around for a while, and figured it out (with mostly one of us doing the figuring out and the other doing the trying not to hit anyone) and got to the Blackwood's. Yay! The party itself was fine and fun and dandy.

And that is pretty much all the trouble I had that night. I don't know if I could have handled any more evidence that yes, I am a blonde. Thankfully Jeremiah handled all the taking-and-giving of directions so I didn't get lost on the way home.

Well, after going over that again, I am feeling very incompetent. However, I have to go to class in ten minutes (speech...whoopedoo) so I shall have to shrug off the feeling and get on with life... Leave blonde jokes if you must...

poem

Sunday morning, very bright
I read your book by colored light
That came in through the pretty window picture.

I visited some houses
Where they said that you were living
And they talked a lot about you
And they spoke about your giving.
They passed a basket with some envelopes.
I just had time to write a note,
And all it said was "I believe in you."

Passing conversations where they mentioned your existence
And the fact that you had been replaced by your assistants.
The discussion was theology
And when they smiled and turned to me,
All that I could say was, "I believe in you."

I visited your house again on Christmas or Thanksgiving
And a balded man said you were dead
But the house would go on living.
He recited poetry
And as he saw me stand to leave
He shook his head and said
I'd never find you.

My mother used to dress me up
And while my dad was sleeping
We would walk down to your house
Without speaking.



Well, peoples, what do you think? I think it's beautiful. It's written by a guy in a 60s band. It's called "Hymn".

However, sadly, I think that the "balded" guy is right: this person is never going to find God, or at least not find God in the places where he's looking. The author makes a valid point that God is often missing in churches, but he thinks that he can just make up his own way to God. That is not the case. Although, the song starts with the person reading the Bible, so perhaps eventually he will come to the right conclusions.

I just think that it's so sad when people are looking for God, and they turn to the modern church and don't find Him. Instead they find elaborate worship services, fancy feel-good sermons, people with hangovers from Saturday night, and other such completely un-God-focused things. Of course, there are still good churches but the ones that are human-centered are rapidly gaining ground. And it is up to us to stop it!

Please let me know what you think about this poem and topic!