Driving, Babysitting, and Riding

"...and beginning in her sixteenth year, she..." - Future history book.

Well, not that I'll be in a future history book, but if I was, what would it say?

I was looking back at some the other posts I made on the blog and I had to laugh. It's like looking at pictures of yourself as a toddler or at an old story you wrote. I feel like I've matured a lot since then---hopefully I have. There's a few things in particular that I have gotten better at.

For example, instead of merely mowing the grass as driving practice, I have been driving to and fro on our gravel roads for some time now. In fact, a few days ago I drove on the highway for the first time---fun, but nerve wrecking. :)

I am not quite ready to get my driver's license, obviously, so I won't be doing that right away. But other things are keeping me busy.

I have been helping out our neighbors, the Pelcs, by babysitting their children---mostly on Friday mornings, but also whenever they need me. They have four little children, three girls and a boy, and I have grown so fond of them! Sometimes I refer to them as mine, lol.

The Pelcs are one of the sweetest families I know. I have really gotten along with Mrs. Pelc...she is so sweet and we have a lot in common...and for a while now I have considered her a good roll model. Both she and Mr.Pelc are home school graduates, and all together they are a good, christian family. Sadly, they are going to have to move at the end of the month. I'll really miss getting to see them, but I plan to keep in touch. I'm going to send the children birthday cards. :)

After they are gone, I have few other mini-job opportunities that may come to fruition. We'll see. :)

One thing I have been doing for fun in my spare time is writing. Well, let me correct that. I have been doing a BUNCH of research in preparation for writing. Just recently have all the pieces began to fall into place. The time period I am trying to write about is really complicated---it's the 1400s, or more specifically, the Wars of the Roses.

It's a lot of fun, but challenging. I won't be finished with it anytime soon. I also have to be careful how much time I spend on it, because I don't want to become obsessed. There was one time in my life when I was so fixed on writing a story (that I ended trashing, mind you,) that I wasted a whole summer thinking about it all the time. I don't want to do that again.

So, despite the fact that my WotR (Wars of the Roses) story is very historical, it is also partly fiction, so I am only doing it in my afternoon free time.

There was something I did a week or so ago that would (sort of) count as research.

As a birthday surprise, Mom and Dad had arranged for Chloe and I to ride horses for the first time! 

Some of our other neighbors own horses, and they were kind enough to let us come over to learn about and ride them. Mrs. Sabrina taught us a lot: how to lead a horse, how to brush, halter, and saddle them, and of course how to ride.  

My horse's name was Star. They call her sorrel because of her reddish-brown color---my favorite color horse. She was so beautiful, and the whole experience was amazing (and good for WotR research, though I wasn't thinking about that at the time, lol).

When we first got there, I was a little nervous but remembered to keep my self calm because horses, like some other animals, can sense your feelings. But I got over it quick enough. It was so much fun! I was able to mount and dismount all by myself. It was just like I had imaged it to be.

Chloe and her horse, Lyst.

I love this picture.

By the time we left, I was so in love with Star that I didn't know what to do with myself. I knew I would like horses...I had imaged talking to them, riding them, and leading them so many times before that when I actually did it, it felt something like a distant memory.

I hope to go back sometime. Maybe do some work in exchange for spending time with Star.

Well, for now, I've got to go. Work to do, lessons to learn, people to love and encourage...and "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be under tribute." See you later!

~ Lindsey