Driving, Doors, & Dentists

Thursday, three weeks ago, was the day. The day scheduled to go into town.  The day that the fearsome orange cones would be waiting for me. I knew exactly how they would be set up near the curb in the back lot of the little blue building. Everything was well prepared for despite everything that seemed to go wrong.




I had gotten my fifty hours down. I had practiced numerous times. Then the suburban didn't pass inspection.
Waiting and waiting forever for the part to come in. When it did come in the morning before the test, there was one other thing missing.
Plan B: borrow a friends vehicle. It even had the same dashboard as Herbie, our suburban, so I felt comfortable in it. (Plus it is shorter than our suburban-yay!) So we trade vehicles that morning and drive to town. Where is their insurance card?
After a couple phone calls and time spent searching through the glovebox and console it is found.
At the library I practiced the dreaded task over four times--perfectly. Yes!--this is going to be easy.
Drive over to the little blue building. In the back lot I practice some more--success!--despite the fearsome orange cones and the crooked curb.  After watching me the lady said that practicing on Thursday's wasn't allowed. whoops!
Park. Go inside. Fill out paperwork. Walk outside with the same lady who told us that practicing wasn't allowed on Thursdays.




Check lights--all good. Drive to the back lot.
Attempt one: "I think I'm going to hit the curb, may I try again?" "Yes."
Attempt two: I hit the curb. "Whoops, I hit the curb." "I didn't feel anything, try again."
Attempt three: I hit the curb. "Well. I can't let you try again, I'm only allowed to give three tries. You seem to know what you're doing, but you're just cutting it too sharp. Practice some more and come back next week."
Failure.




My mom put it this way, "That is just God's way of closing the door to you driving by yourself right now. We tried everything to get your test in today, but He kept putting roadblocks in our way. I don't know why, but He has His reasons and your best in mind. We don't see the big picture, but He does."

Now I just have to wait until Sep 29th(the day with the next open spot) to take it again. Hopefully I'll have more time to practice parallel parking with my dad before then! =)


That afternoon also held another dreaded appointment--a dentist appointment. ugh. Dentist appointments usually leave me with a headache from sitting in the dreary and cold room for two hours--or however long it takes them to do all six of us. (not to mention it smells odd too...) 
Anyhow, all went well, considering. I can't go to the dentist without thinking of this song...=P...





(so, I had planned to post this right when it happened, but I didn't have time until now to finish writing...)


Have a wonderful evening!

Love in Christ,

Tuesday's Tips -CSS Basics Text

I've posted many tutorials on how to create different things for your blog. In each of those tutorials I've mentioned ways that you can customize the object. I've gotten several questions asking for more ways to customize the CSS. So I'm going to start a little series on CSS Basics. Some of the topics will include backgrounds, borders, text styles, links, and more. That way you'll have a better understanding of what CSS codes you can add to customize the tutorials. =)
Last week I covered borders, and this week's topic is on text.

Font-Family

font-family:Century Gothic, Verdana, "Arial", Sans-Serif;
this section picks which font the text is in, simply put the quotation marks around the font you wish to be used

Font-Size
font-size:110%;
font-size: 20px;
this section determines the size of the text, you can choose a specific size in pixels or by percentage 

Font-Style
font-style: italic;
this section determines whether your text is italic, bold, underlined, or none

Font-Color
font-color:#BAB9B3;
this section determines the color your text is, use the html color code ([here] is an online color picker, use the number at the top)

Spacing
letter-spacing:2px;
this determines how far apart the letters are, they can be positive or negative numbers

Alignment
text-align:left;
this determines where the text is aligned; left, right, or center

Transformation
text-transform:none;
this determines if the text is transformed to uppercase, lowercase, or none


The Big Picture
This is an example of what a finished section of html for text would be:

font-family: "Courier", Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, System;
font-size: 100%;
font-color:#000000;
font-style:none;
letter-spacing:0px;
text-align:left;
text-transform:none;

This is another example:

font-family: "Century Gothic", Arial, Times New Roman;
font-size:120%;
font-color:#f5dc4c;
font-style: none;
letter-spacing: -1px;
test-align:left;
text-transform: none;

If you have any questions, let me know.

Also if you have any suggestions for a topic for me to cover for Tuesday's Tips--I'd love to hear it!

Have a wonderful day!

Love in Christ,

A hallelujah...

I walked outside onto the deck as I slammed the screen door behind me. Sigh. What a very unproductive day. I had been such a grouch. I set my Bible, notebook, and pen down on the table, thud.
Just then, I happened to glance up at the sky...this is what I saw

A small snatch of the sunset. I wanted more. I wanted to see the whole picture.

Leaving my books where they were on the table I raced up the mountain clutching the camera close. Hoping I wasn't too late to get a glimpse of the big picture. Breathless, I staggered to the top. Barely able to hold the camera still enough to take a photo, unblurred, in the fading light. 

The sky was on fire with God's glory. Radiating it to all who cared to stop and notice. To all who care to stop. and notice. and praise!
At camp it seemed so easy to do that. I was outside all day every day and I was able to notice and praise God for who He is. Yet, at home it is so much harder. I am stuck inside with school, chores, more school, and I don't take the time to appreciate God's glory. I have no excuse. I am called to praise Him. It doesn't matter that I have a history assignment due. That I am not caught up in German. I am called to praise
"God doesn't ask me to be perfect; He asks me to Praise." --Ann Voskamp
The sunset reminded me of this song:

What can I do?
by Paul Baloche

When I see the beauty of a sunset's glory,
Amazing artistry across the evening sky
When I feel the mystery of a distant galaxy
It awes and humbles me to be loved
By a God so high

What can I do but thank You,
What can I do but give my life to You
Hallelujah, hallelujah
What can I do but praise You,
Everyday make everything I do

A hallelujah, a hallelujah, hallelujah

When I hear the story of a God of mercy
Who shared humanity and suffered by our side
Of the cross they nailed You to, that could not hold You
Now You're making all things new by the power
Of Your risen life

fifteen: small glimpses of sunsets, magnificent. --Like the small snatches we are able to see of God's glory!

Tuesday's Tips -CSS Basics Borders

I've posted many tutorials on how to create different things for your blog. In each of those tutorials I've mentioned ways that you can customize the object. I've gotten several questions asking for more ways to customize the CSS. So I'm going to start a little series on CSS Basics. Some of the topics will include backgrounds, borders, text styles, links, and more. That way you'll have a better understanding of what CSS codes you can add to customize the tutorials. =)
I'm starting off with borders. Next week I'll cover fonts.

Where can you place borders?
You can place borders on the left, right, top, bottom, or all around.
border-left:
border-right:
border-top:
border-bottom:
border:

What types of borders are there?
Borders can be solid, dashed, or dotted.

What size can borders be?
Borders can be any size. Simply specify the px(pixel) size you want. (ie. 1px, 2px, 14px, etc)

What color can borders be?
Borders can be any html color.  Here is an online color picker, use the number at the top. (ie. #F73666, #CEF736, #9649A3, etc)

The Big Picture
So for example, a border code would look like this:

border:1px dashed #f5dc4c;

(first listed is where the border is, the width, the type, and then the color)

Another example would be:

border-bottom: 3px dotted #f4f4f4;

You can also list more than one border for the same section like in this example:

border-bottom: 3px solid #f4f4f4; border-left: 3px solid #f4f4f4;

If you have any questions, let me know.  Have a wonderful evening! =)

In Christ,

Words that Matter...

"The gift list is thinking upon His goodness -- and this, this pleases Him most! And most profits my own soul and I am beginning, only beginning, to know it. If clinging to His goodness is the highest form of prayer, then this seeing His goodness with a pen, with a shutter, with a word of thanks, these really are the most sacred acts conceivable. The ones anyone can conceive, anywhere, in the midst of anything. Eucharisteo takes us into His love. I am struck and I long chime: Daniel is only a man of prayer because he is a man of thanks, and the only way to be a woman of prayer is to be a woman of thanks. And not sporadic, general thanks, but three times a day eucharisteo." --Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts (ch 3)



(eleven: early morning light for using my shutter to see His goodness...)

"But the only words that really matter? Are the ones I live. This convicts me.." --Ann Voskamp