Eagleswings

I'm moving...

2006-10-23T23:46:00.000-05:00

...at least in cyberspace.

TJ has redesigned his website and in the course of the redesign we decided to add me as a contributer to his blog since I don't post here all that often. So if you want to see Allen updates or find out what is going on in our lives please visit TJ's website.

Allen at 2 months

More Pictures

2006-09-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

I've been told that I have been remiss in posting pictures of my handsome son. He is now coming up on 4 weeks old. He seems so big to me, but I'm sure he is only a little over 8 lbs. He is becoming much more alert and is awake for longer periods of time. We are positive that he smiles in response to us and spends a great deal of time taking in this world.

New Baby

2006-08-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

As my baby ticker points out, the baby should have arrived. Though only 5% of babies come on their due date, mine wanted to make it close. Timmothy Allen Draper III was born at 12:28pm on August 16, 2006 - just one day after his due date. He weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Brand new baby

Less then 2 hours old.

One day old

Three days old

Eating my words

2006-07-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was younger and my mom and sister would fix bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwitches, I would declare in no uncertain terms that I would never go through all that work just to make one sandwitch. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them, I just didn't think they were worth the work of toasting bread, frying bacon and slicing tomatoes. Well, I've had to eat my words. Tonight is the second time that I have made bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwitches since I got pregnant. I claim that it is all due to my pregnancy cravings, but I must say that I enjoyed them immensely.

In conjunction with my cravings for BLTs I also had a craving for zucchini casserole today. This is my grandmother's recipe so I apologize for the approximate amounts. I usually just guess each time I make it. I also usually forget to put on the buttered bread crumbs and it still tastes wonderful.

Harvest Fresh Zucchini Casserole

1 med. zucchini, sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1 med. onion, diced
3 slices bacon, crumbled
cheddar cheese
butter
salt
buttered bread crumbs

Layer vegetables in a baking dish. Dot with butter and salt to taste. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake covered at 400 deg. for 20 min. Uncover and bake for another 10 min.

Enjoy!

Pregnancy Update

2006-07-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

As you can see I added a pregnancy ticker to my blog. I had wanted to do it for a long time, but I couldn't figure out until recently how to get it so it was above the posts instead of imbedded inside one. It really wasn't all that hard once I figured out where to put it in the template.

Anyway, I'm 36 weeks along and really looking forward to meeting this little guy. Being down to my last four weeks is a little amazing. August 15 still seems like so far away, but I know that it will go by quickly. As of next Tuesday, I will be able to have the baby at home, so I will feel better once we past that landmark. Though I show no signs of going into early labor, I still worry about it. I really don't want to have to go to the hospital if I can avoid it.

I've been feeling fairly well. As far as being in the third trimester is concerned. I can get pretty uncomfortable, but nothing that is really hard to handle. I feel like I have a lot of energy. At least until about 8 or 9 at night and then I just want to crash.

I still have a bunch of sewing projects that I would like to get done before the baby comes. Currently I'm working on a baptismal gown. I'm hoping to get that finished up today. I'll post pictures when I can. The other projects I want to complete are:

baby sling
baby quilt
2 crib sheets
nursing dress

If I get these all finished in time, it will be a miracle.

Our new car

2006-06-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

After looking for a new car for about a week, we found one that was perfect. Well, "perfect" in the used car sense of the word. Until then we had been making due very well with TJ's Ford Ranger truck and my Ford Escort. Unfortunatly, we had to take my car in for repairs and the estimated amount was in the vacinity of $3000. Thankfully, we learned the advantage of having a car for almost 5 years and knowing what and what had not been replaced in it. Thus, we knew immediately that some of the repairs "needed" sounded highly questionable. Planning to take the car back to Peoria to have some of the repairs seen to we decided not to have anything repaired at that shop.

However, this event got us thinking. The Ranger was a '93, my Escort was a '94. Since my car was a 2-door neither of the vehicles are very convenient for a car seat. Though, my Escort gets 35 mpg, the Ranger is a gas hog. Not only does it only get 22 mpg, but it also requires premium gas in order to work right. At this point in time it costs nearly $50 to fill the truck up with gas. After much deliberation (it was a big deal for TJ...he had done alot of work on the truck), we decided we didn't really need a truck and so we should get rid of it and get a newer car (with four doors). Thus the quest for a late '90s model four-door sedan in our price range. We also narrowed it down to prefereably being an Escort (we have had great success with my Escort).

After test driving a few cars, TJ decided that he didn't really want to settle for less than a manuel transmission, thus, our pool of choices was narrowed down even further. Thankfully, the Lord answered our prayers by providing a '97 Ford Escort in excellent condition. It was a four-door and a stick. What more could we ask for? Since it was at a dealership TJ had decided beforehand what trade-in value he would take for his truck. TJ didn't think there was any chance they would offer what he wanted for the truck...but praise the Lord, they did and we drove away with a newer car that gets better gas milage for a difference of only $1,300.

Unfortunatly, as with any used car, there have been small things that needed repaired on it. It needed new tires (which greatly improved the drivablility of the car), an alinment, a tie rod, spark plugs, air filter and the last thing to fix is some little valve that has to do with emissions. But despite this we have been very please with the car so far. It gets 35 mpg so we are hoping that we will see an improvement in our monthly gas bill (which lately had been getting out of control, due to the truck and rising gas prices).

Now that we have two Escorts it is a little hard to get used to not call my old Escort "the car." Since all we have is cars now, that could be pretty confusing. In hopes of getting out of that habit we were thinking we would call the old car "the old busted" and the new car "the new hottness." What do you think?

Can you believe that?

2006-06-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

It has definitely been a very good first year. I've heard it said that the first year is the hardest. Hmm, not sure if that is true, but if it is then that is great. Looking forward to the rest.

Book Review - To Train Up A Child

2006-05-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

As a prelude to welcoming our new little blessing into our home I have decided to read some books on child discipline. Some I have had on the shelf for a time and some I have borrowed from friends. The first book I chose was To Train Up A Child by Michael & Debi Pearl. This book has been given some flack in the media recently and I had heard mixed reviews about. My husband (who has read it) didn’t care too much for it personally, but I wanted to see for myself what the fuss was all about.

There were many of the practical aspects of the book that I agreed with. For example, disciplining your children before there is a huge problem and you are upset and angry just seemed like good advice to me. However, there were also quite a few practical things that I would not agree with, nor was everything something that would be wise to apply to every family in a broad method. Many of the principles I agreed with, but could not see me or my husband implementing the Pearl’s particular method of applying the principle.

The biggest surprise for me was the underlying Biblical reasons for the Pearls’ method of discipline. Michael states many times in the early chapters that what the parent is doing with his or her young toddler is training, not discipline. He does not advocate discipline until the child is older. What he fails to define is the difference between “training” and “discipline.” Both involve spankings, though the “discipline” spanking is much more severe. At first I was confused by this need to differentiate between the two. To me both seemed to be “discipline.” If your child disobeys you, then you are disciplining him seems like the logical conclusion to me. Pearl’s second chapter finally explained to me why he felt it necessary to make this distinction (although he still does not give definitions for the two words). According to Pearl, a child is born innocent and sinless. He acquiesces to the scripture that children “go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies” (Psalm 58:3), but then asserts (with no scripture back up) that “God does not impute the lie to them as sin.” Thus, because he believes that the small child cannot sin, the parent cannot “discipline” them. However, he knows in his gut that they need to be disciplined, so instead he calls it “training.” The foundation of his whole method is boiled down into this statement. “Before [the child] can decide to do good, his parents must condition him to do good.” This is why so much of his book is dedicated to conditioning the child to obey. I am very uncomfortable with this sort of terminology. Our children are not simply animals that have been blessed with the ability to choose between good and evil at some point in their life (as Pearl’s many comparisons to animal training indicate that this is where his thinking tends). Our children are children of God and they are sinners from birth. They can be disciplined for sin while still young. Yes, they need training, but not conditioning.

To sum up, though the book is not all bad, I heartily disagree with the underlying premise. Because of this, I really don’t see much use for this book in our raising of our children. Hopefully, the next book I read will be much more insightful.

At home to stay?

2006-05-06T07:34:00.000-05:00

This week we are trying out a new internet system. It is the wireless access through Verizon Wireless. Since we don't have a phone line and only use cell-phones we thought this would be the most cost effective way of getting internet. We have a 15 day trial on the hardware to see if it works well enought. Since we only set it up yesterday, we haven't tried it enough to know if it is worth the money. So far I haven't had any problem with it, but it seems to keep loosing connection for TJ. If this works I hope to post a little more regularly. I'm not making any promises, but I'm hoping to be more consistent.

Yesterday, Doug Wilson had a great post concerning the roll of women in Proverbs. Over the past couple years I have been very blessed by what Doug and his wife Nancy have had to say about women and how they should relate to the church, their husbands and their children. This post is another example of his wonderful insight.

Today is the day for moving our home office into a different room. Currently the office resides in the smallest bedroom, while my sewing and other storage things reside in the larger bedroom. With the baby coming we thought it would be better to put the baby in the smaller bedroom and combine the office with my sewing and other storage. It will be cramped, but I think with some smart organization it will work. I had originally thought it would be another month before we moved, but since we got this new wireless system, TJ wants to see if we can get the PC to get signal. Since we would be moving soon anyway he wants to do it now and scout out the room for the best available place to get signal. I'm excited about being able to finally get the baby's room put together. I'm glad that I took the time to other day to organized all my sewings stuff into boxes in order to ready it for the move.

Resurrection Day

2006-04-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday was Resurrection Day (commonly known as Easter). That morning I looked out the window to see that our white azalea bush had bloomed.

We had a family over from church and I got out my china and made napkins just for the occasion. We were treated to a musical concert by the children of our guests. Stasia and Josh played their concert pieces for us and then Josh and TJ played some bluegrass together. It was a great treat.

Feeling better

2006-04-03T22:46:00.000-05:00

I know you all are thinking that I would never post again. But never fear, I have finally made another post. It is amazing how difficult it is to get around to posting when we don't have internet at the house. I may get to the library once a week, but when I do my time is often taken up with checking e-mails and searching for information on the internet. Unfortunatly, that means that I don't post very often.

I am now at the end of my 5th month of pregnancy. I am feeling very well, though I get tired easily. Cooking is definately more agreeable to me. In the last couple weeks I have finished a maternity dress and made a lap quilt for my grandma. I hope to finish a shirt and dress in the next couple weeks. I also have some sewing to do for a friend of mine.

Currently, I am in Illinois, visiting my family for Anna's senior piano recital. TJ wasn't able to go with me because he had to work last Saturday. Tomorrow he is heading out to Texas for 10 days so I won't see him until he gets back. So that is 13 days without my husband. I'm not sure how I'll make out, but I'm sure I'll survive. Many women have done so before me.

In addition to the sewing, I plan to keep myself occupied with doing some freezer meal cooking. I recieved my first magazine for my new subscription to Taste of Home. The current issue has half a dozen recipes for reubarb. I love reubarb and I can't wait for it to become available so I can try out some of these recipies. Yum.

I'm still alive

2006-01-22T14:01:00.000-06:00

No, I have not fallen off the face of the planet. I have just been taking a break from blogging recently. A break which I hope to end now. I had a very good excuse for this. Last month I found out that we were expecting a baby in August. Soon after discovering this fact I began suffering from morning sickness. I am hoping that in the next several weeks I will be over it as I am now coming to the end of the first trimester.

One of the advantages of the morning sickness is that the abundance of time spent in bed or on the couch has meant that I had plenty of time to read. So far this month I have finally finished The Lord of the Rings for the second time. I have also read the following books.

- The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by Sheila Kippley
- The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
- King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

I am right now in the middle of Silas Marner by George Eliot, but I must confess that I am having a hard time getting into it. I'm almost half way done with it but I feel like I haven't even gotten into the story yet.

Sausage Supper

2005-12-01T14:27:00.000-06:00

Here is one of my husbands favorite meals and I must admit that it ranks pretty high up there on my list too.

Sausage Supper

1 lb. pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 T. flour
1 can (4 oz) tomato paste
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (4 oz) mushroom pieces and stems
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 can refrigerated buscuits
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

In 10'' oven-proof skillet, brown sausage and onion; drain. Sprinkle with flour. Add all ingredients except biscuits and cheese and mix well. Heat until hot and bubbly, stirring until slightly thickened. Simmer while preparing dough. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Arrange biscuits pieces over hot meat mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 deg. for 12-16 minutes until golden brown.

Note: I just use a 3-qt. sauce pan and transfer the mixture to a Pyrex 9x13 dish before I put the biscuits and cheese on top. It works quite well.

Yum!

Christmas Decorating

2005-12-01T12:09:00.000-06:00

I have finally been able to get started on my Christmas decorating. The first thing to go up was greenery and twinkle lights on top of my bookcases. The glow from the lights is so cheery at night.

This Saturday TJ and I are hoping to get up the icicle lights on the outside of the house. However, we have never done this before so it could be an ordeal.

Thanks to Karen for supplying us with Advent readings this season.

Since this is our first Christmas together we are looking for ways to start our own traditions for the celebration of Christ's birth. We hope to add many new and keep some of the old things over the years.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-29T11:01:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the Draper (and a few Prices) Thanksgiving celebrations.

David bandished the knife to cut his first turkey ever. Bet he didn't know he could do it so well.

Table complete with harvest napkins that I finished making earlier that week.

Anna and I were up by 7 o'clock planning how the meal would go together.

Boaz was a great help in retrieving the hymns from the printer. As part of our celebration we were able to have a hymn sing, complete with TJ providing accompaniment.

2005-11-29T09:47:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken at the Uniting Church & Home Conference in Birmingham, AL. It is of girls from our fellowship.

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter WInd

2005-11-21T10:56:00.000-06:00

It is finally getting cold here. The sky is grey and the wind is chilling. For quick bouts out a warm sweater is sufficient, but if you are out for any length of time then you better take a coat.

Last weekend TJ and I have been blessed to be able to attend the regional conference for uniting church and family. Though we didn't agree with all of what was said, we thought that there were some good things said. I especially appreciated the talks on church government. They were filled with scripture that applied and guided what was taught. There were a couple of the talks however, that have hardly any scripture in them at all. The speaker would make an assertion and when I expected him to then justify his assertion from scripture (and sometimes I knew the scripture was there to support it) he bypassed the scripture and just appealed to common sense. I must say that these talks greatly disappointed me and I couldn't help feeling that we were just sitting through a inspirational talk on how to run a better church. But despite these occurrences the conference was profitable and we had a good time.

For our first Thanksgiving together TJ and I are having his family and my sister and brother over. This means that I will be hosting 13 people for Thanksgiving dinner. Even though this sounds like a daunting task I'm actually looking forward to it. I have been planning things out for the last couple weeks. Today should be the last trip to the store and then I just have to set about preparing the food. Hopefully, everything will go off with no hitches.

A Slow and Uneventful Week

2005-10-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

There has not really been anything going on this week. Just the normal stuff like shopping and cooking. Next week we will be going to the San Antonio Christian Film Festival. We are very much looking forward to this and I will be sure to post about our experiences when we get back.

A Busy Week

2005-10-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

This week has been incredibly busy and I have not gotten done any of the things I usually do. TJ’s uncle Bob and aunt Jettia have been staying with his parents this week so that has added to the hecticness. On Sunday evening we went to the house in Centerville to visit. They are working on dry wall this week and it is starting to look nice inside. The blow-in insulation that should save them money on heating and air conditioning ended up making it very difficult to hang the dry wall so it is slow going.

Monday is usually the day I sit down and plan out the week, figure out menus and go shopping. However, over the weekend we discovered that one tire had a busted belt and another was bald. So I went with TJ to work in order to take the car to Sam’s and get two new tires. It took over an hour and I spent the time wandering through the aisles and writing down prices of anything that we buy regularly (TJ watched Aladdin). My project this week has been recording prices of groceries and other necessities in order to find where the cheapest place to buy things is. Through this I have discovered that it only costs an extra 2 cents per ounce to buy name brand Honey Nut Cherrios at Sam’s than to buy the cheapest store brand. And it only costs an extra 1 cent per ounce to buy name brand peanut butter at Sam’s. Since these are important staples to TJ we decided to purchase these products there instead of at the smaller stores. I have also discovered that buying Ziplock bags at Sam’s is cheaper then the cheapest bags at Aldi. However, Aldi still beats Sam’s in many things – ice cream, elbow macaroni, frozen vegetables, etc. However, Wal-mart has the cheapest cottage cheese around. There are also really strange things that I have discovered like the fact that Boston conditioning solution is cheaper at Wal-mart, but Boston cleaning solution is cheaper at Target. Go figure.

Tuesday was a relatively relaxed day. I was able to get the house spruced and get shopping done. I went to Wal-mart and got the oil changed. It took over an hour, but I spent the time pricing things so it was not wasted.

Wednesday I had tutoring and then Jettia, Elise, Johanna and I went to Cool Springs. We met TJ for lunch at Pizza Hut and then went to Wild Oats. While waiting for Jettia to shop there, Elise, Johanna and I wandered over to the nearby Christian bookstore. I must say that I was positively depressed when I left there. The lack of depth in the books on the shelves is appalling. Barnes and Noble was a welcome change when we went there later in the day. The wonderful smell of coffee mixed with books just beckons me to curl up with a mocha and book. After TJ got off of work we all went to Green Hills and visited the Apple Store and spent several hours playing with all the cool stuff. We got home late, but still was able to enjoy spaghetti and garlic toast. Mmmm

Thursday I again went with TJ to work and finished up pricing stuff at Sam’s. In the evening we went to a cook out at his parent’s house. Hot dogs and smores are hard to beat on cool October evenings.

Today I am again in Franklin with TJ. I have tutoring this afternoon and then we are looking forward to homemade pizza and a relaxing evening at home.

Though this week has been enjoyable I feel like I haven’t been home much and I hope I can just stay at home the next several days.

"A good home must be made, not bought."

2005-10-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

[Note: Due to an incorrect button click this post was lost in its entirety, to the great distress of the writer. This is a reconstruction of the post, but due to frustration, is not as long or as developed as the original was.]

Since we don't have internet at home it is hard for me to post regularly on this blog. However, I hope to make a better effort then I have been recently. Since I love making up schedules (though I don’t really follow any schedule for any length of time) I have decided to schedule blog writing. My goal is to post once a week and give an update on what’s new and what I’ve been up to.

This week I’ve began a new project. Since the choir I’m in requires music to be memorized and we will be standing in mixed formation, I’ve been forced to look for means of learning my pieces. Since we don’t have a piano or even a keyboard, I have turned to the computer. GarageBand, thankfully, has the ability to record notes from a computer keyboard and then I can manually add more and edit them. This has worked extremely well for me and has greatly aided me in learning my pieces. As a result of working with this program, I’ve decided to do a similar thing with hymns. I enter in each part on a separate track so that I can choose to listen to just the alto line or all parts together. I’m hoping that this will help me learn my parts for church singings as well as for my own enjoyment.

Here are the books that I have been reading this week

I have also been studying different subjects. I guess I’m a perpetual
student because I just can’t seem to quit. I’m studying two different fields of math (partial differential equations and abstract algebra), Latin and Final Cut Pro.

In addition to continuing to work on my quilting and cross-stitch I’ve added knitting to the mix. Last Saturday I attended a free lesson at Jo-Ann Fabrics and learned the basic knit and pearl stitch. I haven’t had much time to practice this week though.

As for cooking, I made bread (both white and cinnamon) and meatballs. The bread turned out great, however, we haven’t tried the meatballs yet. I think though that I only save $.50 a pound by making them myself, so unless they are really good, it really isn’t worth the work.

Well, that is what my week was like. Till next week…

It's a jungle out there

2005-09-01T09:55:00.000-05:00

The result of all this rain has been more then high gas prices for us, I'm afraid. Before the rain we were a week overdue in mowing the lawn. Now it is getting dangerously high. The house is threatening to disappear. The bush in the front yard is completely undistinguishable from the grass around it (of course that is particually bad because we haven't been weed-eating the grass in the planter and it has been allowed to grow freely all summer). Something must be done . . . which means that I'll be mowing this afternoon. Ah well. Exercise is good for me. The roof is completely finished and that is a nice feeling. No more leaks in the house. Unfortunately, all the rain flooded our crawlspace which was where the weed-eater was. It was completely submerged this morning. TJ believes it is ruined, but my limited knowledge of moters allows me to remain hopeful that a miricle will occur and it will run after it drys out. Thankfully, the lawn mower moter remained over the water level.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2005-08-30T11:15:00.000-05:00

It started Sunday afternoon and has been raining ever since. We had a leak in our roof and the roofers had started putting new shingles on. Thankfully the half of the roof they got done was the half that had the leak in it. So even though there is a river in our backyard, we remain dry and leak free inside. I do believe there is more rain in Tennessee then Illinois. At least there has been this year. Here it may be sunny and hot in the morning and be pouring down rain in the afternoon and then be sunny again before night. In Illinois you can see a storm coming for days. I think this must be due to the hills and mountains in Tennessee. We are headed up to Illinois this weekend for a visit and I hope the weather for the trip is good. I hate driving in the rain and that would mean that I would have to have the windows up and since there is no air conditioning in the car it can get rather stuffy.

Settling Down

2005-08-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

I just realized how long it has been since I posted here. Over a month! Yikes! I've got to be more consistent. I assure you that my lack of posts is not due to the uneventfulness of my life. On the contrary, it is mostly due to the inaccessibility of the internet. It is just not very convienent to have to write posts at the library. I suppose I should be thankful that the library supplies free internet to its patrons. I definantly am at that, but it still doesn't change the fact that it takes at least an hour sometimes two to get to the library and back. The library that is 5 minutes from home is moving down the road so it is not open yet.

I didn't know it could be so hot for so long a time in one place. It has consistantly been over 95 degrees for the past 2 or 3 weeks. I'm very much looking forward to fall. I hope the falls here and as good as they are in Illinois.

More bug woes

2005-07-15T15:16:00.000-05:00

Unfortunatly, I have discovered that ants are not the only bugs around here in Tennessee. In fact, my discovery of this other bug has made the ants seem tame in conparison. The only good thing I can say for this bug is that it eats plants. I know, I know, you are wondering how that can be good. It is good in this sense - they don't want to come inside. By now you are probably dying with curiosity as to what bug could possibly make those nasting sweet-eating ants look tame. Lets try . . .

THE JAPANESE BEETLE

We have an apple tree in the backyard that they especially like. In fact the tree is simply swarming with them. In order to combat this problem I opted not to use large amounts of pesticide. Instead I purchased a relatively inexpensive Japanese Beetle trap from Wal-Mart. This trap came with a bag that the directions claimed should last about 4-5 days. I put the trap up midmorning yesterday. By two o'clock, the bag was completely full and there were more beetles flying around it. I tried to go out and change the bag, but there were just too many beetles flying around and I was afraid they would get caught in my hair (I can't imagine anything worse, except perhaps a bee or other stinging insect in my hair). I did manage in this expedition out to the trap to put a large garbage bag halfway over it before I fled in terror.

I waited about two more hours and decided that I needed to get a grip on myself. I was a big girl and could deal with a few (or not so few) bugs. They don't even bite, for crying out loud! So I set my jaw and went back out to the trap. The bag was still full and there were even beetles inside the garbage bag. I carefully removed the full bag and put an empty one on in it's place. I then tied a knot in the garbage bag and left it out in the sun for the beetles to die. TJ then took them to the trash when he got home. The bag weighed several pounds and had a couple hundred Japenese Beetles in it I'm sure. It will be interesting to see how many beetles we have collected tonight when I get home.

Trapping the adult beetles is not the most effective treatment, though it is all I can do at this point. The beetles come from grubs that live in the ground in the fall and spring, but only cause proplems to trees when they are adults. The best defense is to apply nemotodes to the ground when the grubs are there. Nemotodes are small parasitic organisms that will feed on the grubs and prevent them from emerging as adults. I'm hoping to be able to do this in order to take control of the situation.

Though I was sure this was a Tennessee problem, TJ insists that he has never seen these beetles before. Thus, we have decided that Japanese Beetles are indigenous to Lyles, TN. However, the information says this

This imported pest is generally found east of a line running from Michigan, southern Wisconsin and Illinois, south to Alabama. Occasional introductions are made into western states such as California and Oregon when the adult beetles or larvae are shipped in commerce. The original population was detected in New Jersey in 1916, having been introduced from Japan.

so we must be mistaken.

Curtains

2005-07-15T13:33:00.000-05:00

I have been working on getting curtains up around the house. Here are some pictures.

Office

Livingroom

Kitchen

Spareroom

The only room left that needs curtains is the bedroom and I'm working on it. I just need to get some more fabric and then I'm ready to start sewing.

Wedding Picture

2005-07-13T11:03:00.001-05:00

I was finally able to figure out how to post pictures without using a separate program. This is a picture of TJ, me and my family. We were taking the professional pictures at the time, but this picture is actually taken by TJ's sister, Johanna.

Die Ants Die

2005-07-13T11:03:00.000-05:00

We are being overrun with ants. You know the kind . . . tiny, black ants that are attracted to anything sweet. I have declared war against them though and I'm going to win. My first mode of attack was to set out Raid ant baits. However, that didn't appear to be working fast enough for my liking and when the ants found the hummingbird feeder I decided on the second attack. (as a stop-gap I first killed all the offending ants with bug-killer) Attack #2 consisted of sweet-eating ant killer. The problem with this killer is that it has to be monitored constantly. But the advantage is that I get to see it working. Many, many unsuspecting ants eating what they think is a free meal. (Morel: there is no such thing as a free meal) My hope is that the ants will be under control in another week or so.

On a positive note, my bird feeders have been a great success. So far the sparrows are enjoying the seed feeders. There have even been some mama birds feeding baby birds. Now that the ants are occupied with their poison they have been leaving the hummingbird feeder alone. And this morning there was a hummingbird at the feeder. I am very encouraged by all of this. Birds are so wonderful to look at. What a beautiful creation of God!

Finally . . .

2005-07-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

I think things have finally slowed down. Of course that could be because the wedding is finally over and I have been married for two and a half weeks now. After a bout of sickness on my honeymoon, I seem to have fully recovered. The house is getting in order, though there are still some boxes to sort out. Unfortunatly, most of those boxes are books and I have run out of bookshelves. So until more are purchased they will be remaining in boxes.

I'll post pictures once I get them sorted out.

And so it continues . . .

2005-06-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

I feel like I have been running non-stop this past couple weeks. I have been to Tennessee two times since my last post. I have so much stuff to move. The house is filling up with stuff fast. . .I don't know where we will put it all. TJ has been great about keeping it reletively organized and uncluttered. At least the living room and kitchen. The spare room is another story. I think it will have to wait until I move in though. It is mostly my stuff in there and TJ is too busy to go through it. Also, it is mostly stuff that I need to go through. There are ten boxes of books which are looking for a home. Unfortunately, they don't have one at the moment. Bookshelves are high up on the priority list, but it still may be a while before we get them. Oh well, they will be fine in boxes for the time being.

I've made significant progress on the second flowergirl dress. Unfortunatly, it hasn't gone together as well as the first. None of the seams on the bodice matched the seams of the skirt when I went to sew them together so I had to resew some of the skirt. That seems (no pun intended) to have helped a lot, but I'm a little worried about the dress fitting. According to the measurements it should fit, but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of room when I tried it on Abigail last week. If it doesn't fit when she comes next week, I think I'm going to sit down and cry. And then I'll get up and sew another bodice. Thankfully, I think I have enough fabric.

Mom has been cooking like crazy. She is fixing the meal for after church on Sunday (in addition to planning the reception!). We are expecting between 75-100 people so she has her work cut out for her. But she seems to have planned everything well. Most of the food is being cooked this week and then going in the freezer until Sunday. I hope I am even half as good as she is. She is the best. Thanks Mom!!

Flowergirl Dress

2005-05-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

Flower-girl's Dress
Originally uploaded by eagleswings.

Here are some pictures of the dress I have been working on last weekend. It is waiting to be fitted right now and then hemmed. And then on to the next.

I have been having some problems getting the wrinkles out of the fabric as you can see. They will not press out, though I have only used the synthetic setting on the iron. Since the fabric is satin I have been hesitent to use higher heat. I tried leaving it in the bathroom during a hot shower, but it didn't help much if at all. If anyone has suggestings I'd be interested in hearing them.

Four Generations

2005-05-23T17:01:00.000-05:00

Four Generations
Originally uploaded by eagleswings.

My aunt Dianne (my Dad's sister) was born in 1942. Soon afterward this picture was taken. The baby is Dianne. My great-great-grandmother Carpenter is holding her. The woman wearing black is my grandmother, Viva Milleson, and the woman standing on the right is my grandma, Laurel Price.

The Philosophy of Math

2005-05-23T16:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, there is such a thing as philosophy of math. It considers questions such as "Are the principles and theorems in mathematics created or discovered?" I believe that from a Christian worldview mathematics is discovered. Math is not a neutral discipline. Though it is not as outwardly moral as say, biology, it is still moral and cannot be taught from a neutral standpoint. Mathematics, Is God Silent? is an excellent book that discusses this subject. It is perfect for the high school student and doesn't require an in-depth knowledge of advanced mathematics in order to read. It also includes an overview of the history of mathematical discoveries, which is very enjoyable.

The Sewing Continues

2005-05-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

Due to the fact that every spare moment at home is devoted to sewing, I have not been able to get pictures uploaded yet. On a more positive note, I am almost finished with one of the flowergirl dresses. Though I know the second one will be better, I am fairly pleased with how this one has turned out so far. On the outside it looks wonderful. Don't look on the inside however, it is pretty messy.

I keep comparing it to cross-stitch. You can always tell a well done cross-stitch by what it looks like on the back side. A well-done one will look almost as neat on the back as it does on the front, but a less expirienced person's will look great on the front, but the back will be one hugh knot. That is what I feel this dress is - looks great on the front, but the back is a hugh knot. I made a few changes to the pattern:

Reduced the amount of fabric in the skirt
Changed the order of how the sleeve was sewn
Used an invisible zipper

Because of these changes (and the fact that the directions are not as clear as they could be) the lining doesn't hide all the ugly stuff inside. Oh well, it still looks good from the outside. I think that the second dress will go together much faster and now that I know what I'm doing I should be able to get the lining to cover everything.

Graduation and Wedding Planning

2005-05-19T14:46:00.000-05:00

I've done it! I've finally graduated from college with a bachelor's in mathematics. However, I could not have done it without the help and support of my family and friends. I hope to post some pictures from graduation soon.

Now it is on to wedding planning. I can't believe I'm getting married in less then a month. It is all happening so fast, I'm not sure I can keep up. There is just so much to do. The goal is to focus on one day at a time in hopes of holding off the panic from all the stuff that is on the "to do" list. Here is the list for today . . .

Meet with photographer
Cut out fabric for the flowergirls' dresses
Write more thank-you notes (for shower and graduation gifts)

Double E's

2005-04-19T08:40:00.000-05:00

Environmentalism and evolution that is. I've been thinking about how environmentalism and evolution relate recently and I've come to the conclusion that they really don't relate much at all. In fact, I would say that they are pretty much at opposites to one another.

According to dictionary.com "environmentalism" is

Advocacy for or work toward protecting the natural environment from destruction or pollution.

and "evolution" is

Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.

Now, there are of course other definitions to these words, but these are the most common and are thus the definitions I would like to focus on today.

There is one type of environmentalists that focus on saving the Earth for future generations. They get distressed with the way we are polluting and destroying everything. I would guess that almost without exception an environmentalist is an evolutionist. It appears to me that these two things are opposed to one another. If everything is evolving, shouldn't the world just adapt to the environment? Why are they so concerned about keeping everything "liveable?" Wouldn't it make more sense to just assume that we would evolve to be able to breath pollution (and maybe we would even evolve to a point where fresh air would kill us)? Sure, people will die in the process, but isn't that what evolution is all about? Hundreds of generations of creatures dying in order to perfect an organ. Evolutionists should not be surprised at that and it makes no sense that they would resist that change.

The other type of environmentalist is the one that views humans as horrible creatures. Their reasoning is that we may be at the top of the food chain, but we got there by deceit. This view holds that the other creatures in the world are much better then we are. If they also hold to evolution, then that doesn't make sense either. Evolution is all about the survival of the fittest. So by definition the very fact that we are on the top of the food chain means that we are the fittest. So why are they so down on themselves that they are there? If we aren't superior then another creature would be at the top of the food chain, and evolution would still be preserved. It is these type of environmentalists that are greatly concerned with the extinction of animals. But if you assume evolution, on what grounds is this concern? Evolution demands the extinction of animals - ones that can't adapt to their environment. So if an animal becomes extinct (even if it is by human hunting) that should be viewed as a natural process of evolution. If a creature disappears because it is hunted to extinction by another animal, we don't bat an eye, but if humans hunt it to extinction then that is cause for great distress. But if humans are nothing more then over-developed animals, how is this distressing? They are just doing what evolution demands that they do.

My whole point in this is to show that environmentalism is contradictory with evolution. In fact, environmentalists must assume the dominion mandate in order to further their cause. Christians should and can be much better environmentalist then evolutionists ever could be. Christians are to have dominion. That means taking care of and protecting. So Christans have a reason for protecting animals from extinction, we have a reason for not poluting our environment. We have a responsiblilty to take care of what we have been given. And we have been given the world. Evolutionists can claim no such thing.

It's about time we as Christians woke up to our responsibility and stop letting the environmentalist beat us in our calling.

Old Photographs

2005-04-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Grandma & Grandpa
Originally uploaded by eagleswings.

This is a picture of my grandparents, Ralph & Laurel Jean Price. It was taken a couple years after they were married. They were married in 1941 in Russell, IA. My aunt Dianne was born in 1942. At that time they were living in Peoria, IL and Grandpa was working for LeTourneau. Grandpa was greatly impressed by LeTourneau's work ethic. He gave all of his workers free lunch under the condition that they listen to him preach the gospel. Grandpa continued to work for LeTourneau until he moved his company to Texas. At this point my grandparents moved back to Iowa.

Patriarchy

2005-04-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have been listening to the revised sermon series on patriarchy by Rev. Pete Hurst. When he first preached these sermons I tried to listen to them, but he painted with such a broad brush that I was unable to actually get through them. However, he has since revised them, clarifying things. These revised sermons are very good, in my opinion. They address some of the concerns I have had with the "patriarchy" movement today. Many of these concerns center around the idea that instead of giving principles the "patriarchy" movement lays down certain criteria that must be followed (i.e. homeschooling, women not working outside the home, etc) and if a family doesn't follow these things as outlined by the leaders, then the family is somehow blasphemeing the name of Christ. Here is a quote that seems to sum of this attitude.

Some are so used to Mr. and Mrs. "Super Christian" coming along and telling them what to do they haven't grown up to live in the liberty that Christ has given them and serve Him and figure it out for themselves. You are not to live for someone else's approval. You are not to live with someone else dictating to you what to do. You are to live for Christ.
~ Pete Hurst

These sermons can be found here.

I also came across this article on Vision Forum - Preaching the Word in the Family Integrated Church. Since much of Rev. Hurst's arguments are pointed at the Family Integrated Church, I thought it was encouraging that Vision Forum is taking a stand on the important issues in order to guard against the pitfalls that are common among those that emphasize the family. Here is a quote from this article.

I understand that we live in a day when the attack against the family is coming from all sides. Because this fierce war against “the seed of the woman” and “godly offspring” which was announced in Genesis 3:15, we must fight for the biblical family. In my lifetime, we have seen the collapse of the practical implications of the creation order in the home and in the church, and we need to respond. But, we must be clear. While we are fighting for the biblical family, our message in the church is not the family first. Our message needs to be the God and His Word first.

~ Scott T. Brown

Successful Learning

2005-04-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm learning after all. Both of my tests last Friday went very well. If the scores can be trusted (which for me they are usually pretty accurate) I am successfully learning the material. That is very encouraging as I would hate to spend all this time studying and not learn anything worthwhile.

Quotes

2005-04-12T11:28:00.000-05:00

Christ was from the line of David, according to His human ancestry. His last name was Davidson. But He was the Son of God as well.

~Douglas Wilson

"Love Covers A Multitude"

The Library

2005-04-12T09:47:00.000-05:00

My sister and I have our own library (though almost all the books in it are mine). It used to be my old room, but because I ran out of space for my bookshelves (it isn't a very big room), my sister graciously let me move into her room with her and we use my old room for a library/study. I love books. Sometimes I get the time to read them, but even if I don't I love to look at them. I love to be in my library and just know that I'm surrounded by books that are mine. Books that I could read if I had the time. So much information to be absorbed. So many things to learn. When I have the chance to relax I like to spend it in the library. The only thing better then a brand new book is an old book. I love used book sales. You can find so many treasures there. A couple years ago I found a copy of Pilgrim's Progress that was printed in 1863. I also have a bible from the same time period. These are probably my oldest books and they are my favorites. They are from an era when they were oftentimes the only books people owned.

Unfortunately, the library hasn't been a source of comfort recently. The reason for this is because I haven't cleaned it up in several months and there is hardly room to walk in there now. I can't relax very well in a room that is messy. But since I also don't have time to clean it up, I find myself avoiding it. And when I do have the time to clean it up, it will be to pack up all those precious books for their move to TN. And I know that I won't see them for a while, because I don't have enough bookshelf space for them. But they will still be there, waiting for the day when I'll unpack them and put them back on the shelf. And I'll have my haven back.

Rest after the storm

2005-04-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, I guess it really hasn't been a storm, but I was pretty stressed out yesterday. But all the studying and work paid off and both tests went really well today. Praise the Lord! We shall see on Monday whether I really knew what I was talking about.

TJ is coming tonight for a weekend visit. In fact he should be here in about 45 minutes. There are many good things to a long distance relationship, but right at this moment I can't remember any of them. I just know that I can't wait to see him. Unfortunately, this weekend will be very busy as we try to get some wedding stuff done inbetween a rehersal and choir performance.

Engagement Picture

2005-04-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

"Rachel and TJ2"
Originally uploaded by eagleswings.

This is TJ and my engagement picture.

The Clock is Spinning

2005-04-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it very much feels like there are simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Such is today. Tomorrow I have two major math tests. I need to do well on both tests in order to do well in the classes. And it would be nice to know that I'm actually learning something. For me, tests do indicate how well I know the material, so I always view them as a kind of litmus test. If I don't do well, then I know that I need to hit the books and be more diligent in learning.

On top of those tests, this week is the week to send out wedding invitations and it takes forever to address them. I think I may have half of them addressed, but I'm not sure. For some reason they don't send any extra envelopes with the invitations. Do you know how hard it is to address invitations in pen without making any mistakes? So far I've only made one, so I think I'm doing pretty good, but it is slow going.

2005-04-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted here. Over three years in fact. I figured since I'm getting married soon, I should get in the habit of blogging so that I can stay in touch with all of my friends and family. It will probably take some time to get the hang of this, but I am determined to give it my best effort.

2002-02-14T17:41:00.000-06:00

Now that I seem to have gotten the hang of this, at least partially, I better tell you a little bit about myself. I am one of three children and live at home with my parents, sister, brother, grandma and multitude of pets. We live on a small farm, and our claim to fame are our milk goats. We also have too many cats and four dogs (two are puppies). I currently attending Christ Church (PCA) and am a math major. I love reading - theology, classic literature and of course books on math. Science (the study of Gods creation) is one of my favorite interests. I could go on and on forever but I will stop here.

2002-02-14T17:34:00.000-06:00

I am so web illiterate it is not even funny. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put a weblink in a post. If anyone knows please tell me. Also, how do you put links on the side of the blogger. If I ever get this figured out I will be surprised.

2002-02-13T15:56:00.000-06:00

It is such a blessing to work in a Christian company. We had a staff meeting today and the director of operations was encouraging us to have theological discussions during office hours. And boy do we do that...the debates we have are increadible. It is wonderful how Christians from all different denominations can interact and get along with each other. Unfortunatly, I have missed out on these discussions recently since I have been going to school.

Here is a great website (www.fractalus.com). I recommend anyone who is interested in mathematics or art to visit it.

2002-02-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

I seem to have gotten this running...so we will see how this goes.

2002-02-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

Well this is my first blog. I don't know if I will like this yet. This may totally blow up in my face...I don't seem to have the best of luck with my computers.