A Quick Tag...

Happy last day of September! Wow, this month has just zoomed by.

I've been tagged the Honest Scrap Award by... Jare & Lib, ElizabethMarieKauffman, and IvoryDancer! Thank you, all!

Here are the Rules:
1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share ten honest things about yourself.
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

1. I'm sort of a picky eater. I don't like meat, but I'm not a vegetarian, per se. Just picky.

2. Ever since my horse died, I've been reluctant to get back into horse stuff.

3. I'm procrastinating right now as I write this.

4. I don't have any "real life" friends besides my family. I wish I did.

5. I won blue and purple ribbons at the state fair in 4-H, for photography! *squee*

6. I've stopped reading The Bones of Makaidos. I don't know why, but I can't get into it like the other books.

7. I'm weak, but I'm trying my derndest to get stronger.

8. Acne is my worst enemy. Die, acne, die!

9. I always have trouble writing about the bad guys in my stories. They always seem cliché.

10. My eyes hurt when I use my computer, so I'm going to handwrite my novel this year!

Some bloggers who have inspired or encouraged me are:

1. Earwen

2. Elizabeth J.

3. Bracie

4. The Reluctant Dragon

5. Bekah

6. My brother, DTH Rocket

7. And my sister, Hepzibah, who has three blogs.

Everyone, be sure to check out these awesome blogs!

Note: If you are one of the above and have already done this tag, you don't have to do it again. I'm just letting you know that I like your blog. :)

Archery at the State Shoot

This past weekend I participated in the 4-H State Shoot! Other years, my whole family has been involved in events from shotgun to the wildlife knowledge bowl, but this year, it was just me. I competed in the senior class for bare-bow, no sights or releases. I've always competed in this class, but this was the first time that I went with a recurve bow (I always used compound Genesis bows before), so I was both excited and nervous. Back to the way Robin Hood might have done it!

There were a LOT of kids there, from little fourth graders all the way up to graduates from high school (13th grade). I was put right next to kids with fancy compound bows equipped with sights and weights and all sorts of doo-dads so that they hardly look like bows anymore. At least I wasn't really competing against them, but they made my scores seem pitiful. I got 187-- not bad, and a lot better than I've been getting while practicing at home, but it didn't seem like much. 300 is a perfect score.

Anyway, we came back on Sunday to see where I placed and maybe attend the awards ceremony. I went up to the boards and scanned it carefully. I found my name and blinked rapidly a few times...

I got first place.

What?!?

I just about fell over. Luckily, my parents were behind me. I checked again. Sure enough, my score was the highest in my category, and the next highest score was 145, not even close!

The only disappointment in the whole event was that I'm just a few months too old to go to nationals. And they're in Texas this year, too. *sigh* Oh, well. I had plenty of fun at State.

Now I just need to get my own bow, and I'd like to start working on my medieval dress, and if I could get my hands on some leather, maybe I could make a new quiver, belt, and arm-guards...

Musings on a Shy Grasshopper

This evening, while I was watering my white pine sapling, I saw the sun shining on the wet needles and I ran to get my camera. When I came back, I noticed that I had a guest. A grasshopper had taken up residence at the very top of my little tree. I tried taking a picture of him, but I soon discovered he was camera-shy! He kept moving around to the other side of the branch to hide from me. But I just walked in a circle around my tree until he finally stopped hiding and let me have a peek at him.

I'm not very fond of insects. Yet as I looked at this tiny, frightened grasshopper I saw beauty. The almighty God of the universe created and cares for all seemingly insignificant bugs because they please him and bring him glory. God knows how old this hopper is, and how many stripes are on his body, and what he sees with those dark eyes. God gave him a place to perch in a nice young tree, away from cars, robins, and other potential dangers. God provides food and water and warm weather, and the grasshopper lives to give God glory.

Jesus said, "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" and "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you!" (Luke 12:24, 27-28)

I admit that I often feel about insects the way this grasshopper felt about me-- I'd rather just hide! But if God loves bugs, maybe they aren't so bad after all. And if God so cares for a tiny insect, how much more will he care for you and me!

A New Cover for My Novel!

I was out taking senior pictures for my brother and my cousin this afternoon, and towards the end of the day, we discovered a tunnel under Main Street and I instantly thought of my novel. I handed my camera to my brother and made him take MY picture for once, as I ran through the tunnel.

Then I brought it into Photoshop and played around with color, levels, and my new "tech" brushes. And voila, I became my main character, Kimble Haansvoy, STEW agent 1121!

(Click to see a really large version) What do you think?