Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!

This is just a short post to commemorate the birthday of two fantastic Hobbits! In honor of Tolkien week and the Tolkien Blog Party hosted by Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice (you can read all the other Tolkien week brou-ha-ha and excitement by going there) we shall give Many Happy Returns of the Day to two of our favorite halflings! (Well, except for Pippin and Merry and Sam. They're our favorites too.)

The first: A ringbearer in his time who aided the dwarves on their quest to the Lonely Mountain, reclaiming their homeland and helping in the defeat of the dragon Smaug: Bilbo Baggins!

 And his cousin/nephew (but Bilbo is referred to as "Uncle" so we'll go with that), also a ringbearer on the quest to destroy the One Ring forever! Happy Birthday Frodo Baggins!

Notice how they're both SMILING in those pictures? That makes me happy. They're finally smiling for once! :D 

This is also to wish a happy birthday to two of my dear cousins. Let me explain:  There are ten children in my cousins' family (I'm not going to use names, sorry) and of those ten, two boys were born on Christmas day about eight years apart and two were born on September 22, the birthday of our two Hobbits, eighteen years apart. YOU GUYS! I'M A COUSIN OF BILBO AND FRODO! WHICH IS JUST ONE MORE REASON TO WISH THEM (all four of them) A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Blow the party horns! Pull the party poppers! Dance! Sing! CELEBRATE! HOORAY!

*Ahem* 

That's my last shebang for Tolkien week. So I will say "One last goodbye" (:P) and leave you with this cheery bit of video to end your week. Just...please don't dance like Frodo? Please? Thank you! 

Note: Ok yes I know I posted this the day before the birthday! I wanted to get it out so I wouldn't forget. To avoid confusion, their birthday is September 22. I posted this the evening of September 21, for time reasons. :)

2017 Tolkien Blog Party Tag

Okay. I know, I know, I said I wouldn't be posting much now that college is in full swing. But--but--a TOLKIEN BLOG PARTY? One does not simply not participate in a Tolkien blog party! ;) First off, thanks to Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice for hosting the party! (Actually, I've never done this before, but hey! there's got to be a first time for everything right?) 

And without further ado, the questions of...LOTR-ness! 

Think, think, think! How shall I answer these?

1. How long have you been a Tolkien fan?

That's tricky. The thing is, I can't remember a time when I didn't know that somebody named Bilbo Baggins existed. I think I always knew about Hobbits (thanks to my dad who read the book to us at a very early age), but I don't think I really know what happened to them. I guess I have been a life-long fan. I grew up with them and The Return of the King came out on I believe my 4th birthday! Also, The Battle of Five Armies came out on my 15th birthday, which is an interesting bit of trivia!  

2. Has your love of Middle-earth affected your life?

Absolutely! I CANNOT have a real conversation without alluding at least once to the Middle-earth sagas and can't see the real world without making parallels to the slightly less real one! 

3. If you had to take the One Ring to Mordor, which character would you choose for your sole companion?

I'm sorely tempted to just say "Sam" because well, that's what Frodo did and it worked out pretty well for him, right? But I think logically I would have to say Gandalf. He always seems to know what to do and could whack me if I started doing something wrong. But he isn't mean and I know I could always trust him. 

4. Which is scarier, Shelob or the Balrog?

Shelob, because BLECH spiders! 

5. Which two towers do you think Tolkien was referring to in the title The Two Towers?  (i.e. Orthanc, Barad-dûr, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, or Minas Tirith)

Orthanc and Minas Morgul were what Tolkien was referring to, but I think Peter Jackson was alluding more to Orthanc and Barad-dûr. 

6. Whose wardrobe would you like to have?

Ooohhh...wow. I think I'm going to say something rather unorthodox. I SHOULD say Arwen or Eowyn, but I'm not. Can I have Pippin's scarf? 

And then for the rest maybe Bilbo's wardrobe. I am exceedingly jealous of his cozy bathrobe in the first movie and overall he seems to have very comfortable, practical taste. (And the acorn buttons. They're the best!)





7. What do you think an Ent Draught would taste like?

Homemade root beer (or maybe ginger ale, whichever one works). Like the really good kind that you get from small companies up north and nobody knows about!

8. Where in Middle-earth would you like to live?

Right here. :D 

9. Do you have any Tolkien-related opinions that surprise other people?

I don't like to correct people's pronunciation, but I am very strong-minded that "Tolkien" is pronounced "toll-KEEN" not "toll-KIN." The Letters of JRR Tolkien: Letter #347
I am nearly always written to as Tolkein (not by you): I do not know why, since it is pronounced by me always -keen.
Also, people hate on Elijah Wood's Frodo. I don't, really. I think he was very young to play Frodo (he was what, 18?) but considering that I think his portrayal was very good. Very good. The first time I watched the movies I was like, "Nope, he stinks!" but each time I re-realize how well Wood played Frodo. I mean, Frodo WAS supposed to be 40 years old, but...still. (I could ramble on for a while, but I'll stop  now.) 

10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotations from the books or movies.
I have a couple up on my sidebar! But here are several more:

Again, thank you Hamlette!!!! Loved it! And I'll leave you with one little picture for your enjoyment!

Notice Thorin is in the same stance as Grumpy from Snow White is usually in! :)

As the School Year Begins...

That title's not depressing at all, is it?

Hello all! This is a very short, very quick post just to say...that the summer is officially over. School (college, in my case) has begun and oh boy here we go! I'll be heading down to school again today (I commute, so it's about a 45 minute drive every day back and forth from school), the first of many days.

Needless to say, I'm going to be VERY busy these days. I'm taking 18 credits in this first semester alone, which is 9 classes (WHAT!!!!!) with varying amounts of credits. Two are zero credit. And so I'm not going to have as much time for this blog as I did over the summer. I will mainly be trying to keep up-to-date on Saturdays and Sundays, so if you comment and I don't respond for a while, please don't be mad at me! I WILL respond eventually, I promise! I might be a little late to see things both on my blog and other folks'. 

Well, that's it. That's all I have to say. Talk to you later, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Vaarwel, Atsiprasau, Tchau, Mihi, Hwyl Fawr, Proschay, and Mar Sin Leat. Bonus points to anyone who can guess these languages! 

"Let us not say farewell--but as the French have it, au revoir!" 

Me going to school

Announcing...a book review!

It's taken me long enough to get this out there! I planned on writing a review as soon as I finished, but of course it took a little while longer. Anyhoo, here it is. My review of C.S.Lewis' The Space Trilogy (comprised of Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength)! 

The Space Trilogy--C.S.Lewis 

And here's a great Lewis quote that I found, just as food for thought.

In terms of money...we have no money...

So remember back when I said I was car-shopping? Well, I was. Now I'm not anymore. The reason for this is, quite simply, that I finally BOUGHT a car! (Which is, along with purchasing college textbooks, why I have no money.) AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

What you say after buying a car and realizing that you finally don't have to spend hours searching online anymore.

Yes, I bought a car. Me, my dad, and my younger-but-taller brother drove out to Grand Rapids, almost 2 hours away, one Friday morning to a conference celebrating the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (no offense meant to anyone who does not agree with Protestantism, but that's just where we went that morning) where we listened to a few sermons, wandered among book tables, and went to eat Burger King. (I had a grilled chicken sandwich, which I'd never had before and discovered was quite delicious.) Ahem.

After that, we drove down another hour to Kalamazoo, which is where we had seen a pretty good car listed on Craigslist. We test drove it, talked to the guy selling it (we prefer private party sellers), and it was pretty clear that I was going to buy it. And so...I counted out a great big pile of cash (bye-bye, savings account...), shook hands with the seller, and drove away. I drove that home while my dad drove his car. And my brother rode with me just cause. Then we stopped for dinner (at Arby's, which was super healthy after already eating fast food) and I drank something caffeinated, which may or may not have been good for me. Ah well, we made it home safe.

Oh yeah, you're probably thinking "Well, all of this is great, but what IS the car? What does it look like?" Well, it's a 2004 Chevrolet Impala and it's silver. It's a nice, not-too-small but not-too-big size, sturdy so that it won't fall over in a high wind, but small enough to get decent gas mileage.

Ok, so these are stock photos, but it's pretty much what the car looks like.

We were really thankful to find such a good deal. For the age of the car it is in extremely good condition, maybe a couple spots with surface rust but nothing worse, no mechanical (or whatever) problems, only 70,000 miles on it. And a decent price, when compared to similar vehicles. So yeah, I went to the Secretary of State (the sketchy one that's open on Saturdays) today and got my license plate. And I'm sure I'm understating everything--I mean, that was the biggest purchase I've ever made in my entire LIFE and probably the biggest until I have to buy my second car in hopefully over 10 years or a home someday. Kind of intimidating.

Anyway, just wanted to give an update on that situation. Don't worry, I'm really financially fine! Just like Dave Ramsey says, I paid cash for my car and didn't go into debt. And just so you know, I'm not "into" vehicles, so car posts are in no way going to become regular with me! :) Thanks for reading!

Thankfully I wasn't stuck with something like this...

What's up Doc?

Yeah, I know. Bugs Bunny. 

Hello there! I have been rather busy lately, running here and there, doing this and that, and thought that this post title was very accurate. It fits the hectic last-weeks-of-summer-break attitude that most of us have around here!
So, without further ado, here is what's up, Doc:

Writing: 

Uhhh...yep. I've been slacking off, of course. I did finish typing out the 2nd draft (I handwrite my first drafts, so this is the first typing) of my 5th book, which is chronologically the 1st prequel, but as I wrote it the 2nd prequel (yes, it's complicated). Also, I've been working a bit on the 1st draft of the 6th book, which is chronologically the 3rd prequel AND I'm writing it last. Ha. There's at least some semblance of order! Then working on editing the second book in my trilogy, which thankfully, needs I think a bit less editing than the first one and I'm about halfway through the first stage of editing. 

Reading: 

• Exiles by Jaye L. Knight (the fourth book of the Ilyon Chronicles). It was quite good! Thanks Natalie! (Read her latest post about it here) 
• That Hideous Strength by C.S.Lewis. This summer I read the other two books of the Space Trilogy and I need to finish it. 
• Other people's blog posts :D

BLOWING ALL MY MONEY ON BOOKS AAAAAAAGHHHH!

Ahem. Sorry about that. It's just that I discovered that for college, one must buy textbooks, and to buy textbooks, one must spend money. So I bought all 12-ish of my books and spent a grand total of $754.17.  Lemme say that again.  Seven hundred fifty-four dollars and seventeen cents. I mean, come on people! How expensive can schoolbooks be? At least I could borrow my brother's Amazon Prime for free shipping (at least for 8 of 12 books). And I get to read Stephen Hawking's A Briefer History of Time or whatever it is for school. Whoop-de-doo. 

Oh well, that's college for ya. I'm getting ready for that in a couple weeks, which I hope and pray will be a good transition from being homeschooled all my life to a public university.

Gallivanting:

Which basically means going around to different resale stores not particularly searching for anything, but just to get out and do something. I was able to go with a few different friends over the past week or so, and it's such a good time! Even when you don't find anything (such as when I ALMOST found a complete, old set of LOTR books, but didn't buy cause it was missing ROTK) it's fun. 

Gallivanting also can mean going different places as a 'last hurrah' before the school year. My family went up to Tawas yesterday, just for the day and to see some relatives who live up there. We ate too much food and had a good time. Plus I got to try bubble tea for the first time ever, which was interesting. The kind I had was actually rather good--tolerable at the very least--and I may have to try it again sometime. :) 

Car Shopping:

...yes...it's fun. So far I've driven 3 cars. One was nice to drive but had a terribly dirty interior (and it hadn't been used in soooooo long that there was a wasp nest on the thing-where-you-put-gas-in). One was nice-ish to drive (if I'd had more time) but REALLY messed up. One was really nice inside but I wasn't crazy about the way it drove and there was a strange clunking noise. So now I'm back to the drawing board. Or back to Craigslist, as the case may be. 

Eating and Sleeping:

This may sound rather dull, but the end of summer usually is the time I sleep in the most, knowing that when school starts I won't get that...uh, privilege, I guess. Weird thing is, I like to get up early but I don't like to WAKE up early if you see what I mean. I like getting up early once I'm out of bed and awake, but it's the waking up part that I simply cannot stand.

Watching:

How could I have forgotten this Very Important section until now???? *Smacks forehead* 

• Oliver Twist (BBC, the 1985 version...someday when I can, perhaps I'll review it).

Oliver had a different actor when he got older, but little Oliver is simply adorable!

• The first two episodes of Cranford with some friends who hadn't seen it before. That was fun! 
• A bunch of other random movies that I won't bore you with listing...
• Some episodes of Spongebob, because of my brothers.

And now I find that I don't have a 'wrap-up' for this post...so I will wave and awkwardly say "Good-bye!"

The best coloring page ever

My Daily Walk, a.k.a "I never knew there was this much green in the whole galaxy."

Hullo there! I have just returned from a Very Long car trip! That is, I suppose it was only 5-6 hours, but it was Very Long when 6 of us kids were riding in the back of a large van with only 7 seats between us. Along with all our cargo: backpacks and duffel bags, sheets, towels, a guitar (yep), seventy boxes of food and drinks, and a bunch of board games, books, and things. Oh, not to mention our pillows. All 8(ish) of them. And my younger siblings' stuffed animals. And...well, you get the idea. We went up to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (or the U.P. if you prefer) to spend a vacation week at a little cottage on a tiny, private lake called Piatt Lake. It's owned by a Bible conference society or something, and is quite a nice little place in the middle of Hiawatha national forest.

It is sooooo beautiful up there! I'm just going to share a few highlights from our trip.

• The lovely view from our cottage deck, where I could just stand with a cup o' tea or coffee, listening to the silence.
• Eating tons and tons of tasty food, getting ice cream at a small place in Newberry called "The Scoop." Living on the water makes me hungry.
• Hearing somebody call their kid "Lando."  Like, as in Lando Calrissian? 
• Two chipmunks, affectionately named "Teedo" and "The D.L.F" (by me) who would annoy us when we ate outside--one time, one was so close to me it was eating out of my hand. They didn't seem overly afraid of us. 

Aren't they adorable???

• Hiking through the beautiful, lush green woods of the Upper peninsula (even if it was a bit muddy) and being blown away by the beauty of God's creation

The pictures don't do the lighting justice by a long road.

• Chillin' with the guac from my chip hat, or rather, sitting inside with my notebook (I drafted like 16 pages!!!) and listening to my brothers' stir-crazy rainy-day madness. Somehow it was decided that Cinderella would henceforth be known as Cinderooble. Not sure how that happened. 
• Jumping off smallish cliffs of sand and bouncing down the sand dunes! 
• Reading books: "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis and "The Secret-Keepers" by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Standing on a giant dune with 500 feet to the waters of Lake Superior beneath me, the closest to flying I'll ever get. It was majestic. One wrong step and we would fall, on the edge of a precipice, but with such a glorious landscape. It was awe-inspiring indeed, and I plan to return someday so I can run down the huge dune. 
  
  
  
  
• Seeing two Bald Eagles sparring in midair and getting it on video! Seeing a little baby bear in the wild (from a distance, that is) as well as hearing the eerie cries of loons.  
• Kayaking across our "home lake" to a place where the water seemed like glass and all was silent. It's called "the lagoon" by the residents of the lake, and I can truly say that some of the places seemed magical. 

A view of the lagoon

• Just...doing stuff...I guess....getting totally carried away in my book that I was writing and hardly being able to stop. It was lovely. 

Although I loved it up north, we didn't get to swim, really, it was already too cold (which is why I wouldn't want to live up there all the time--wouldn't be warm enough for my liking), and I was exceedingly glad to be home! To sleep in my own bed that doesn't smell like a stranger's house, to have the comfort and convenience of home...it's good to be back.