Nathan and Miranda arrived here last Saturday. Among other things we did that day were playing basketball at the gym. Robert was here, too, last weekend and last night. Sunday we went to church services, and (some of us) watched part of Old Yeller and part of Anne of Green Gables. And Nathan and Robert played Axis and Allies on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, Nathan and Miranda and I went to the Field Museum in Chicago. They have a new exhibit there about horses, which was interesting to me since I like them. We also went to exhibits on Egypt and the Americas/Ancient America/something like that. On Tuesday Mom and Nathan went to get a desk for Dad, and I took Miranda to the historical house on the next block. I stayed up really late that night going over some notes to send my doctor, and then on Wednesday I went with N and M to the forest preserve. I actually thought it was kind of boring, but we did get sunshine and some exercise. On Thursday the two Floridians went downtown again; they took the train and visited the Sears tower (now the Willis tower) and Millennium Park. It was St. Patrick's Day so they got to see some green water, too. Thursday evening they and my parents and I went to the FC Chorus performance in Sugar Grove. Miranda's roommate is in the chorus. I knew a lot of the people in the audience, from camp or other places, and talked to some of them. And there were two people in chorus whom I met at a homeschoolers camp back in 2003; I didn't know that they would be there Thursday night. I got to talk to both of them a little bit afterwards. Friday saw some cooking and cleaning, and then in the evening the Vogeler family came over and played spoons and Bible trivia with us, and we ate brownies and ice cream and sang happy birthday to Nathan because his birthday is next Wednesday. After the Vogelers left, I did something with the laundry and some other things before M and N and I watched the second Narnia movie. That was their last night here. They're supposed to be on the plane flying back right now.

Tomorrow my brother Nathan and his girlfriend Miranda are flying from Florida to Chicago to see us! They're planning to stay with us for a week. I've been thinking about it so much.

My mom left for Texas today to go and be with her sister whose husband just passed away. I'm in charge of cooking, etc. for my dad and I while she's gone for a week and a half. Also I want to clean up the house somewhat, start following a better schedule, and visit and talk to some people. What are your plans for next week?

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to tell you all that I have the most awesome big brother in the world. I'm not talking about Robert. He is okay, but Nathan is the absolute best big brother ever!

Once again I haven't posted on here in a long time. The last few months have been difficult. I could really use prayers for direction and to trust what's true. And to not be so uncertain about all kinds of things.

We had two little boys, one a baby, the other a toddler, staying with us for six weeks or so in May and June, while they could not be at home. So I learned about taking care of babies! I turned twenty in May! My cousin Kari who's a couple years older than me stayed with us for a couple weeks in June while she was interning or something like that at an animal hospital. She and I went horseback riding together one day, and she came to Bible study with us one night. (She wasn't here on the weekend.)

Skipping ahead, this past Thursday my mom and I went to Indiana to pick up some things from a farmer there. He's Amish and there are a good number of other Amish people in the area. We saw a few driving down the road in horse-drawn buggies, and there was even a hitching post in a store parking lot with maybe a dozen horses and buggies standing by it! Then on the way home Mom and I stopped at the Indiana Dunes. It was evening and there weren't that many people there. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't too cold to walk in the water along the beach. We saw the sunset; it was really pretty.