A Thanksgiving Walk

"'Ah! So nice to see you again! It's me this time, Aaron Rochester.
Let me invite you to read the second and final part of my family's Thanksgiving story.
Now close your eyes...

Ivy clears her throat from behind me and peeks around. "Aaron, how can they read with their eyes closed?"
I rub my chin thoughtfully. "I was going to describe what our Thanksgiving hike looked like. It's easier to get a mental picture when your eyes are closed. You've told me that yourself countless times."
Ivy pooches out her lips, and shrugs. "Oh yeah. Well...carry on."
"Alright," I begin, turning back to you; my lovely audience. "As I was saying...

A Winter Wren chirps gaily from overhead as you find yourself on a forest pathway covered in vibrant yellow, red, and orange leaves.
The sound of laughter and chatter falls on your ear as you spot the figures of a group of people coming your direction.

"Ivy, if you take a picture of every single pretty leaf, your camera is going to implode."
Ivy looked over at Caleb with a crinkled nose. ''If it does, I can always have Aaron fix it."
I pulled my scarf closer around my neck, and raised my eyebrows at my twin. "One of these days I'm not going to be able to figure out one of your electronics. What then?"
She snapped a picture of me, and grinned; a dimple creasing her right cheek. "Nah, that'll never happen."
Caleb grimaced, and glanced at Dad; who was batting at a cobweb that had attacked his face."Well, don't you start hollering too loud when that camera finally biffs it."
After our Thanksgiving feast, which we have around three or four in the afternoon, it is our family tradition to take a hike in the nearby forest before returning home to settle down and watch the Canadian Football game on our DVR.
As is the normal protocol, Dad took the lead. Though this particular Thanksgiving, he collected a lot more spiderwebs on his face than usual. Sputtering once again, he rubbed his hands over his face and turned to us.
"Alright, new rule; Aaron, you take the lead."
I shuddered at the thought of running into my least favorite creature, and attempted to do the opposite of pulling rank. "You'd send your youngest child out in front to battle the elements? Alone?"
Mom bit back a smile as Dad narrowed his eyes to ponder the question.
Caleb raised his hands up in the air when he noted Dad's eyes flicking towards him.
"Hey, I'm the oldest. I have obviously been through far more than my baby brother. The Bible says that Tribulation worketh Patience; and Patience, Experience. Me thinks my young brother should be given the chance to learn some great lessons."
Dad nodded slowly. "Hmm, excellent."
I cringed, not being able to argue, now that the Bible had been brought into it.
Ivy grinned, and held out a stick in my direction. "Here, a cobweb wand."
I sighed, and took the stick. But as I stepped ahead to lead my pack, I remembered the last part of the verse Caleb had quoted.
Spinning around, and held up a gloved index finger.
"Oh, one more thing--Your quote also mentions that this Experience I am gaining produces Hope. So in the trying, patience, and experience I'm going through, I'm going to hope that in all of this, my brother will kindly take the lead, and battle the raging autumn spiders."
Ivy lowered her camera from a bright leaf, and squinted at me.
"Oh for goodness sake."
She brushed past me, and yanked the stick from my hands.
"I'll lead. Ya sissy."
Dad put his arm around Mom's shoulder, and laughed. "There now, Ivy saw a need, and took the initiative."
Ivy flashed a smile at me, and began marching ahead.
"Follow me! I'm not afraid of spiders."
As I fell in behind our parents, Caleb clumped his hand on my shoulder and grinned. "Teamwork."
I pushed my beanie back, and shoved my hands into my coat pockets.
"Why lead the way and get covered in webs, when we both know Ivy's going to end up doing the hard work for us?"

Well...Perhaps that statement would have been better off unstated--
Upon realizing that Caleb's and my plan had been to get Ivy to take the webs in the first place, Dad promptly ruled that the both of us were to take the lead...
Without sticks as our defense from the spider webs.

~ Fin.

Alright, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading my short story!

~ When walking in Autumn, do you often run into spiderwebs? ~
~ What are your after Thanksgiving traditions? ~

Alright!
I have been kindly tagged for a NaNoWriMo tag, so I will be returning soon with that!
Until then,

God bless!

Megan

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

*A cold breeze blows, a leaf swirls past*
*Two shadowy figures come walking through the early morning fogginess*
*They stop, and start waving. A light clicks on, and they are recognized as the Rochester twins.*
"Hi! Ivy here. Since Megan has apparently gone poof, my brother and I have stepped in to write up a blog post."
*I frown and cross my arms in front of my chest.*
*ahem* Guys, I'm right here. I've just been busy! I haven't had time to-
*Aaron's eyes widen* "Ivy, listen! Sometimes I can still hear her voice, off somewhere in the distance."
Okaaay, I'll just leave you two to your craziness. But if you get into any shenanigans...remember who writes your stories, eh?
Ivy; "Hmm, she has a point. Come on, bro. Let's get to the reason for our hijacking this laptop."
*The light clicks off, and you are transported to a kitchen where the savory smells of roasting turkey, pumpkin pie, and other culinary delights greet your nose*

Ivy looks up from her position in front of the oven. "Hey mom, could you toss me that hot pad? I think my sweet potatoes are finished."
The Rochester family was hard at work preparing their yearly Thanksgiving supper.
Mr. Rochester was bent over the turkey, carefully basting the bird; as was his assigned kitchen duty.
The task of overseeing, and perfecting the pumpkin pies was Mrs. Rochester's job, which she took very seriously.
The twins' brother Caleb, who was four years their elder, always took it upon himself to make sure every dish and utensil was spotless, and the kitchen as free from clutter as he could keep it.
Utilizing the hot pad her mother had chucked to her, Ivy pulled out her dish of piping hot sweet potatoes, and set them on the stove top.
"Dad, is the turkey ready yet?"
Mr. Rochester replaced the lid on the turkey roaster and wiped his hands on his borrowed apron.
"Nearly. I'd give it ten minutes."
The backdoor swung open at that moment, and in came Aaron; a steaming pot in his hands.
"Make way, hot potatoes coming through!"
He shuffled to the sink, and there he placed the steaming metal pot.
Caleb backed away, and frowned at his younger brother.
"Aaron, that pot is covered in soot and charcoal, what did you do to it?"
Aaron chewed his lip, and tilted his head to better look at the blackened bottom of the pot.
"Hmm, I guess I turned the flames up too high on the burner..."
Caleb removed his glasses indignantly; rubbing the fog that had condensed on the glass.
"Burner is a good word for it. My spotless sink is ruined."
Mrs. Rochester tisked from where she stood at the kitchen island, pressing the pumpkin pie crust.
"Oh Caleb, it's nothing a little scrubbing won't fix."
Caleb grunted in response as he replaced his glasses.
Ivy slid a bowl over to her twin, and grinned. "Here, mash the potatoes in this." She shifted her look to Caleb. "Would you like me to scrub the sink for you, Caye?"
He shook his head, and rolled up his already bunched sleeves. "I'll do it."
Aaron dumped the potatoes into the offered bowl, and returned the burnt pot to the sink.
"Sorry it's so messy."
Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it. If the mashed potatoes weren't my favorite part of the meal, I might complain a bit more." A grin cracked through his frown, and he winked good-naturedly.
Aaron grinned as he pulled out the potato masher. "Saved by the love of food. I love Thanksgiving."

(to be continued)

Thanks for reading, we'll be back soon to share part 2. :)
Hope you enjoyed, and happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

God bless!

Megan Ivy

Summer Reading

Hello!

Happy end of summer, everyone!
I honestly can't believe that it's nearly autumn already...But as it's my favorite season, I can't complain. ;)

But I digress from the initial intent of this post...

In case you're interested, here is a list of the books I have read this summer!
Listed according to Author. :)

George E. Sargent:

The Story of Charles Ogilvie

This little book was beautiful. It shows you how important it is to seek, and follow God, even when others condemn or ridicule you for it.
I read this book in short order, as it isn't very long, and I enjoyed it greatly.












E.D.E.N. Southworth:

1. Ishmael or, In the Depths
 

While I haven't quite finished reading Self-Raised, I'm nearly finished, and I'll tell you, these books are AMAZING.
Book one, Ishmael, tells the story of young Ishmael Worth, and his struggles as an unloved, penniless orphan, to the height of his well-earned success in the field of law.












 

2. Self-Raised or, Out of the Depths

Book two, Self-Raised, tells the continued story of Ishmael Worth, and his adventure over seas, from Washington DC to Edinburgh, Scotland. With shipwrecks, smugglers, villians, lawsuits...this book is even more exciting than the first, and I can't wait to see how it ends! Though I'll be a bit sad when it's all over...












A.L.O.E.:

Pride and His Prisoners

Wow. A really convicting book on the many faces of Pride, and the extreme danger of it.
Told in a rather allegorical sense, it was fascinating.
Definitely a recommended read.













Ken Ham:

The LIE

A handbook for apologetics! This was an interesting, and informative read.















Gospel Reset

 "The gospel message hasn’t changed, but the way in which it needs to be presented in a secularized culture does need to change. It’s time for a Gospel Reset!" - Ken Ham
This book is a must-read, I daresay. We need to know how to relate the Gospel to the world that is ever-changing, and this book reminds us of the Foundation the Christian faith was built upon -- One we must use to tell others about our Creator and Savior.









  

Alright! I think that's it for the books I've read this summer, except of course, for the books in the Bible I've gone through, which consists of Job through Hosea thus far. (I'm following a "Read-the-Bible-in-a-year" program, which I have done for more-or-less the last ten years.)

~ What books have you read this summer? ~
~ Best book this year? ~
~ Are you excited for autumn, or are you desperately clinging to the final days of summer? ~

Thanks for reading!

God bless!

Megan

Of Dragons and Plot Bunnies

Hi ya'll!
It's been a while.
Can you believe it's already November 8th? I sure can't. It seems like it was just August 1st...

Anyhow...
I have been reading, writing, and painting in my free time lately.

Reading:
I must recommend this new Trilogy I have recently come across, and devoured.
It took me only ten days to read the entire trilogy. It was fantastic.

The Remnant Trilogy

Fantastic books about what Noah's life could have been like before the Global Flood. Written by Tim Chaffey and K. Marie Adams.
I highly recommend them; they're funny, heartbreaking, entertaining, intense, amazing, and fantastic!

Seriously, go check them out!

Writing:
Been working on reaching my 100,000 word count goal on a story I've been writing for about two years now. Perhaps one day it'll be finished, and I'll self-publish it.
It's a story about a young Irish man, and his struggle with many things in his life including a vengeful co-worker, a friend struggling with his Faith, long-lost family secrets, surprising new family members, and learning to put his trust fully and wholly in God.
It's...a work in process. ;-)
(this is my plot bunny. It started out as a NANOWRIMO project two years ago, and I've been slowly working on it since then.)

Painting:
All watercolor paintings below...
So I painted the dinosaur painting I used for the picture for this post.

Behemoth! One of my favorite dinosaurs. 

Fun fact: The word dinosaur wasn't invented until 1841, by a guy named Sir Richard Owen.

Next, my first attempt at a bird of prey:

The American Kestrel

A commission-of-sorts from a friend who is a falconer. The Kestrel is such a pretty little bird! Barely the size of a pigeon. I never realized how small they were until I looked up pictures!

And lastly, my favorite, a baby red kangaroo:

Ruby the Red Kangaroo

This is a darling little Joey that I have had the privilage of meeting. She's the cutest little "roo" I've ever met.

Well that's about it for this post.
Here's a writing prompt, before I go, since I've not been posting those lately...

~ How is your Autumn coming along? ~

~ Has it snowed yet where you live? ~

~ Did you remember to set your clocks back? ~

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed this post!

God bless!

Megan

Writing Wednesdays #006

Greetings!
This blog post is coming to you from the beautiful state of Kentucky!
We've visited the Creation Museum three times so far, and the Ark, also thrice since arriving! Both places are so amazing. I highly recommend that if you're ever in the area, definetly visit these places!
Ok, so onto the prompts.

Since I didn't get to post last week, you get extra this time. ;-)

~ Which did you like the best? ~
~ How's your autumn going so far? ~

Hope you enjoyed the post!

God bless!

Megan

Writing Wednesdays #005

Happy Autumn!

I'm back again to give you a few more writing prompts.

 

~ Which one is your favorite? ~

~ How is your Autumn going so far? ~

~ Do you like Musicals? If so, what's one of your favorites? ~

See you in the comment section!

God bless!

Megan

 

Writing Wednesdays #004

Bonjour mes amis!

It's beginning to feel like Autumn here in the Great Northwet;
chilly mornings, rain, warm days and cool evenings...I love it! 

It has inspired me to paint! Here is my latest acrylic panting:

An early autumn morning

Well anyways, here are a few more writing prompts! 

How is your month going so far? 

Feeling autumny yet where you reside? 

Which prompt do you like best? 

Lets chat! 

God bless! 

Megan

Busy Days

Happy September!
Just one question...Where did August go??
I mean...Didn't it just start like, last week?
Anywho...
This has been the busiest summer I think I've ever had.

But the year ain't over yet!

So here's what's going on for me these next few months:
From the first week in October to the first week of December, my sister Tiffany and I will be working at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky!
That's approximately 2,300 miles from home. *terrified scream*
It's gonna be fun. I'm excited to be able to work alongside like-minded folks, and be able to talk to the thousands of visitors about God and His wondrous creation!
I'm also excited to see the life size Ark. It's gonna be so neat!

Besides that, as you writer folks probably know, NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month, which is November, for y'all who might not have known.) :-)
is just around the corner...
I haven't decided if I'm going to attempt to write the full 50,000 words this year, as I have no idea if I'll have time with my work schedule.
But I hope to get at least a little writing done if possible!

So if my posts are random, few and far between, or completely non-existent...I thought I would give y'all a heads up. 😉

~ Have you ever visited the Ark? ~
~ What are your plans for Autumn? ~
~ Are you planning on participating in NANOWRIMO this year? ~

God bless!

Megan