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  1. I haven't felt much like posting picture of the day entries recently for some reason, but my husband just scanned this one for me and I really like how it turned out so was motivated to post today.

    I did this one with prismacolor premier colored pencils.  I did use blending with the big flowers.  The rest is just plain old coloring.

    hummingbirdsugarskull.png.2cc6870a1bb825

  2. well okay so my ex and i are on good terms i guess

    this is going to be weird as hell because i'm still salty but we shall see

    pray that i'm able to keep my composure and not try anything stupid

  3. Elvis

    Elvis Presby
    Latest Entry

    For any of you interested in traveling vicariously I thought I would share some pics from our trip to Italy last month.  It was absolutely splendid!  I only missed eating gelato one day, but ate it twice on another day to make up for it.  :icecreamsandwich: (Ice cream sandwich emoticon will have to do).

    We spent 4 nights in Rome.  One of our days in Rome we took a day trip to Naples and Pompeii.  That particular evening we were able to eat dinner at usual time for Italy.  We tend to go to bed early and it was really hard for us to wait until 7 or 8 to eat dinner!  We spent 3 nights in Florence and on our last full day we took an afternoon trip to see Pisa.  We also stayed up late enough that night to finally get to try the restaurant directly across the street from our hotel.

    It was really hard to believe we were seeing all these amazing things.  It's humbling to walk the same roads, and be in so many places where such important historical figures have been.  I think that the oldest thing I have ever seen in the US has been the San Antonio Missions.  I was moved beyond words when we visited the missions.  Visiting all these breathtaking places in Italy had me moved to tears a few times.

    The Firenze Marathon was during our time in Florence.  There were people from all over the world running the race and also cheering the runners waving their flags.  This wasn't long after the Paris attacks, and there was a great show of French flags there.

     

    I really could write about this trip all day!  If you would like more details about any of the pictures, just ask!IMG_0766.thumb.jpg.ae74a64f27e144a90e516IMG_0768.thumb.jpg.d9bdb35f1d62ea550ac91IMG_0778.thumb.jpg.a1d1aad086234fe8476e9IMG_0795.thumb.jpg.356129106d95f6eb8d93cIMG_0834.thumb.JPG.88c459cbc3b630883fed4IMG_0860.thumb.jpg.9ffc24b11994b295da72eIMG_0880.thumb.JPG.87753050584604121a16aDSC_0126.thumb.JPG.e97bd0e27e4731fa10711DSC_0142.thumb.JPG.67256dbfe4c1baadbe85bDSC_0178.thumb.JPG.148619f76f8ddb1d67584DSC_0210.thumb.JPG.29a83a2c865d7ec722250DSC_0210.thumb.JPG.29a83a2c865d7ec722250DSC_0235.thumb.JPG.0a5f343aef172bd332a0fDSC_0248.thumb.JPG.bc356b1e989a00e1d2c97DSC_0279.thumb.JPG.698cf0a4c8981f35de852DSC_0282.thumb.JPG.941579696821823bb8d4aDSC_0291.thumb.jpg.8d12dae26d1e1959159e4DSC_0317.thumb.JPG.ed44b2eda45fb89400e88DSC_0321.thumb.JPG.abdfd4a055a37041ef871DSC_0344.thumb.JPG.30a9a4e649b0a07238071DSC_0347.thumb.JPG.f55060fb494a7268bc9d3DSC_0363.thumb.JPG.8d766a44eff7c79b1be57DSC_0369.thumb.JPG.fd6469e7b7fe8c25f3042DSC_0387.thumb.JPG.9e5d5e21e0bbbba0b04c9DSC_0090.thumb.jpg.d74518e275445b04e83a4DSC_0153.thumb.JPG.6fbf4ef6bab4d2fcf715e

     

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  4. FUNDIEFARMER.thumb.png.a6c0d5ce56c6bb082

    Hello friends.

    You know, school is great. I am a huge proponent of lifelong learning, and I appreciate all of those things that I learned in school. Henry VIII had a pet marmoset (awesome!). We put a man on the moon (also awesome!). Photosynthesis (extra awesome!). But you know what? Aside from my passions, that's not really what I've needed in real life. 

    Yes, the knowledge is invaluable. But it's not, say, opening a savings account that has mad restrictions on it. Or finding out what it's like to have to replace a whole air conditioning unit- and completely restructuring the air conditioning design of your house. 

    Ah, life.

    Some of these lessons you probably already know. You'll read the posts and think, "Honestly FundieFarmer, I thought you were smarter than this!" Others you'll read and be like, "...and then there was that", and leave scratching your head. And I mean maybe at some point you'll learn something. At least you can laugh with (or at, your choice!) me the whole way through. 

    I know I'm young, so some of you adultier adults are probably wondering where I'm getting off writing this blog (especially since a previous edit said "wiring" this blog, which really says something about this whole idea.). Well, it's because I'm hoping anybody who has to go through this can circle back to this chronicle of trial-by-error. If you want to add a blog, holler at me. I think that's allowed in the TOU? If you don't, well that's just bully for you. 

    And who knows. One day when you have to do insert-weird-thing-I've-done-here for the first time, this might just be a hilarious resource for you.

    Or maybe just hilarious.

    Whatever works.

    Catch ya later, alligator.

    FF 

  5. Grad Student, Bad Student.

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    This is my first blog post here and that is because I am very on edge here and cannot complain anywhere else as all my other blogs are linked to my life and people that know me. So, allow me to paint a picture for you -- one of an insensitive, rude, obnoxious character who has for some reason decided that we are friends. We'll call him Nettles for a code name to represent how annoying he is.

    I cannot explain how much I am not friends with Nettles. I do not speak to him unless spoken to. We are not Facebook friends. I do not have his phone number. He just happens to be in my program. We. Are. Not. Friends. 

    A Brief List of Infractions:

    (1) On the first day of class, the professor handed out handouts for us to take notes on that follow along with his powerpoint. As this is graduate studies, this is above and beyond the call of duty for him to do. Nettles immediately asked if he could also pre-three-hole-punch these handouts for us. (Spoiler: Professor cannot, and will not, do that.)

    (2) Nettles has a tendency to hijack office hours and prevents anybody but himself from getting help due to his endless questions.

    (3) We are more than 3 days behind in class because he also asks many useless questions. They may be about something Professor has just said 5 seconds ago, or they may be about something that is physically impossible, or they may be weird personal questions for Professor about his life and, oddly, spelling preferences.

    (4) Professor is colorblind. Nettles has asked, "If we draw diagrams, can we do them in two colors or just one color?" Professor gave exasperated sigh and said, "I...don't...care" because he probably won't notice the color difference anyway and if it's color coded he can just borrow one of his own grad students to read it. Nettles does not seem to understand how colorblindness works.

    (5) Nettles lives with my three friends. He borrows their food without asking.

    (6) Friend Berry brought beer over one night for movie night with the other three friends in Nettle's apartment. Nettle's was not invited, but since he lives there, we can't really stop him. He, however, invited himself to Berry's beer, coming out of his room by saying, "Oh I'll have some beer" and pouring himself a glass.

    (7) A second guest had food there for himself which Nettles simply started eating off the counter without asking.

    (8) Nettles consistently brags about having lost his job.

    (9) Nettles continually interrupts other students working on group projects and asks things like "WHEN IS THAT DUE?" when he isn't even in that class.

    (10) The worst infraction, by far. This is the reason I am writing this and not my paper. I cannot focus. I am still upset. Today, we were sitting in our classroom before the arrival of our professor. 

    It is known to my closer friends and co-workers that my grandmother has very advanced dementia, likely Alzheimers, and she is in a nursing home not far from my program. My friends, being my friends, asked how my Thanksgiving was and I explained to them, privately, that it was strange and macabre and quite honestly depressing to make a centerpiece in a conference room of a nursing home and try to ignore the fact that Grandma keeps trying to eat the cloth napkins. Nettles hears me say, "Yeah, Thanksgiving was kind of weird..."

    so Nettles says, very loudly, loud enough for the entire class and Professor who has now shown up to teach, "OH ANTIMONY I HEARD YOU HAD SOME FAMILY STUFF GOING ON FOR THE HOLIDAYS DID THAT GO OKAY???"

    a) I don't know how he heard that because I never would have told him this private information because We. Are. Not. Friends.
    b ) now all of my peers know this...thanks.
    c) oh and my professor. great.

    My first reaction to this is to freeze and not respond...so he goes,

    "OH DID IT GO BADLY?"

    forcing me to say between clenched teeth, "It was fine." because now that Professor is in the room, I can't say things like, "Don't speak to me."

    I was so upset after this incident that I spent the rest of the lecture short of breath and increasingly dizzy. 

    That is all. 

  6. Sew and Sew

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    ghost
    Latest Entry

    I am getting ready to buy what will probably be the last sewing machine I will ever own and it has been a gut wrenching decision.  There are machines that cost as much as a good used car (upwards of 10,000 dollars) and there are cheap plastic pieces of crap for a couple of hundred.  There are also many, many in-between.  So I started my search on the internet.  First piece of advice that made sense to me…determine what type of sewing I would be using the machine for.  Now on the surface that sounds like good advice and it is good advice but it required me to get honest with myself.  How's that you might ask.  Well, my knee jerk response to that question is I want to do it all.  I want to be able to do beautiful embroidery, I want to be able to sew every type of material from sheer to canvas, leather, and denim.  I want to do it all!  But the question for me is…will I really actually do it.  Honestly, no I won't.  I'm good enough with hand embroidery that anything I want to embroider, I can do without the aid of a machine.  What I do want is a machine that can sew a wide range of fabrics so that's what I focused on.  

     

    When seeking advice I found that most folks I sought out were brand loyal sometimes to a fault.  "Oh, brand X won't handle canvas or leather but I love this brand so much you should modify your wants and buy this brand."  One brand loyal person told me that no household machine can handle the really heavy stuff and if I really want to sew those materials I should get a used commercial machine (after buying the brand they loved for every thing else).  I can only buy one machine so I kept looking.  And after looking high and low and reading every review out there…I found the one.  And I am in love.  I can't buy it until after the first of the year.  I'm counting the days until it's mine, all mine.  I go to the makers website everyday to look longingly at it.  I watch the videos and blow kisses cooing that it will get to come home with me soon.  Yes I know I'm no better than those other dewy eyed fools I spoke of I guess  it is like finding a life mate when the right one comes along you just know in your heart of hearts.  Hang in there Hazel (she has a name all ready) we'll be together.

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    'Iim not one to wax poetic. What's struck me is that we are becoming a family here, so I feel safe saying this. Look....I have several zautoimmune diseases crohns,psoriasis,fatigue,  and a chronically skip off events and fun stuff due to the illness. Lost a lot of friends that way plus I left the fundie church. This is sort of personal so please no trolls. Eating is not fun for me. I also  struggle with men--finding  attractive men who get it.  or even wanting to date me...are almost nonexistent. not surprising since I was the butt if jokes in middle and high school. I'd like to try to make something of myself by so fat I'm stuck as a receptionist.i want more than fundie education( no, I went to an excellent school, but people write me off fairly quickly.) stupid Heath. Any ideas? 

     

    Curious and HA if this OT please let me know and I'll remove. Itmust be awful if nobody cares! Romantically I mean. maybe I'm meant to be a nun. Who knows .....and before everyone gets worried I'm fine..

    meandering thoughts Monday....

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    For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with religion.  I have devoured books and documentaries.  I have been in the front row of lectures.  I have asked questions, read blogs, articles, magazines, etc.  I have learned about major religions, fundamentalist groups, atheism, spiritual traditions, wicca, paganism, the druids, and the list goes on.  I have visited churches listening to sermons from multiple branches of christianity.  In searching through scientific papers, I hoped I would find the loopholes that would allow me to "just have faith".  I have searched high and low.  I wanted answers.  I still do, but these days, in my later years, I realize that answers may not come and that is okay.  I now know that I don't have to have all the answers to live a happy, productive and peaceful life.  I recognize that placing the burden of my life onto someone else's understanding of a supreme being isn't necessary.  I have survived (and sometimes thrived) through much turmoil and joy and I did it without giving the credit for either extreme to an unseen entity.  Those bad decisions were mine - not satans.  The good things I've done and experienced - they were from me too.  My consequences were my own.  My pain was my own and the love that I have for myself and those around me are all parts of me and me alone.  That isn't to say that I didn't recognize that something was missing.  I would look around at other people and see a deeper joy, a collective happiness of sorts and I would wonder - what does THAT feel like?  They would meet in groups and talk about their faith.  They had small meetings, studied books, held social events and played in bands.  There were entire festivals build around a belief in someone outside of themselves that had to power to either bless them with great gifts, give them diseases, take away their loved ones, start wars and impoverish whole nations...they gave all of their power to this outside force and relieved themselves of the responsibility of their decisions and found a way to blame consequences and bad decisions on another 'evil' being.  I recognize that I sound very pessimistic about the whole deal and in no way do I mean to thrash those who find there peace this way.  I simply don't understand it.  I am truly fascinated with the phonomena of faithfulness and those who are able to live their lives this way.  I am really enthralled with the scientific community that has found there way to jesus or allah or buddha or yahweh.  I want to know how they reconciled science and religion. I want to find the line between faith and reason.  Has anyone ever felt this way?  Do you know where that line is for you?  If so, what made you take the leap - on to either side?  My mind is open and I am always learning.

  7. Musings of a (Future) Music Therapist

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    • 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) - Matt Redman
    • 4 Chords Song - Axis of Awesome
    • Abide with Me - Traditional/Hymn
    • Amazing Grace - Traditional/Hymn
    • Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin
    • And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love - Traditional/Hymn
    • Angel - Shaggy
    • Anything But Mine - Kenny Chesney
    • Away in a Manger - Traditional/Hymn
    • Because the Night - 10,000 Maniacs
    • Boom De Ya Da - Discovery Channel
    • Born This Way - Lady Gaga
    • Brave - Sara Barielles
    • Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
    • Bring Him Home - Les Mis
    • Broken - The Sheytoons
    • By Way of Sorrow - The Wailin' Jennys
    • Count on Me - Bruno Mars

    ...To be continued.

  8. Hanging On By My Teeth

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    beckerbuns
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    At the end of December, 2014, I was forced out of my little duplex and sent scrambling for a place to live.  My own mother had decided that she would take my son in, but would not take me in.  This was not for any good reason that I could discern.  I am not a user of drugs or alcohol, nor a gambler.  I have always maintained employment.  I do not abuse anyone and I get along great with my mom.  She had just decided that she would rather I be homeless than help me.  It hurt very badly, because we had always been close, like best friends, and now she was basically dumping me onto the streets if I did not find somewhere to live.  A friend started a youcaring fundraiser to help me with moving and storage costs, but I knew I was skating a thin line between having a place, and living in my car or on the streets.

    On the day after Christmas, a friend offered me a place to stay in the nick of time.  I would be able to live in her mom's house while the mom was in the hospital.  When the mom came home, I would be her nighttime caregiver in exchange for room and board.  I was incredibly grateful and knew how lucky I was. 

    Going from a two bedroom, one bath duplex with lots of storage to one bedroom with no storage was my challenge.  I had managed to get rid of a huge debris bin (dumpster) full of stuff the previous May (therein lies a whole other story), but still had years of accumulated stuff to go through.  I was, of course, short on time, so I wasn't able to be thorough, but I paid to store what I ended up keeping.  I budgeted $500 per month; it ended up costing me $319 (which I'm still paying).

    I came to the new place with my bed, my desk, a dresser, and my computer, and a few boxes of clothes and minimal other items.  I used the kitchen and jacuzzi occasionally and otherwise stayed in my room.  I saw my boyfriend daily and went to work daily and otherwise I basically avoided people.  I worked swing shift and spent many morning and weekend hours ensconced in my room, curled up in bed crying and depressed.  The depression crushed me so badly I felt like I couldn't get out of bed even if I wanted to.  I had my daughter with me on alternate weekends and even on those mornings with her I could barely get myself out of bed, which distressed her and worried my mom.

    At some point... And I can't even pinpoint when it was... I came to the realization that I needed to see things differently.  Living by myself, away from my kids, really sucked.  But I had a boyfriend, friends and family members who loved me.  I had a job.  I was in relatively good health.  I don't know how it happened, but I started thinking differently, making the best of my situation.  My boyfriend and I cooked interesting new dishes that we found online, in the beautiful kitchen we had at our disposal.  I started spending more time out of the house when I had my daughter over for visits.  I went to the library.  I made an effort.

    I don't know why I turned that corner, but I am convinced that doing so saved my life.

  9. The Bible Virgin

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  10. Bible belt agnostic

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  11. Testing Corner

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  12. Weekend Baking

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  13. christmasSOCKing's blog

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  14. HPF's Spectacular Scotland Sojurn

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  15. The Shit Show That Is My Life

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  18. Raised in Rebellion

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  • Posts

    • noseybutt

      Posted

      4 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

      You are probably correct - as usual, it's about the money and the power. Jesus is a very distant third, if He is in the running at all.

      Nathan Pearl just took over the NGJ business ministries. His daughter Ashley is running the NGJ social media. NGJ is also republishing TTUAC, allegedly a new edition with some changes:

      TTUAC_Newcoversameshit.thumb.png.6952c42bfa40ffc44e225ccb1ad8ebe2.png

       

      Well now. Who is going to take one for the team and compare it to the original?

      Nose goes.

    • hoipolloi

      Posted

      4 minutes ago, noseybutt said:

      Michael Pearl is the cult leader and he will feel the need to pontificate on some bizarre and arcane reasoning when the truth is likely much more logical: he wants to keep the money and the power and the esteem and allowing for occasional divorce makes all that possible. To stay true to the teaching would mean distancing from half of his kids and that would be cruel.

      You are probably correct - as usual, it's about the money and the power. Jesus is a very distant third, if He is in the running at all.

      Nathan Pearl just took over the NGJ business ministries. His daughter Ashley is running the NGJ social media. NGJ is also republishing TTUAC, allegedly a new edition with some changes:

      TTUAC_Newcoversameshit.thumb.png.6952c42bfa40ffc44e225ccb1ad8ebe2.png

       

    • formerhsfundie

      Posted (edited)

      3 hours ago, Bassett Lady said:

      We have looney relatives on both sides of the political spectrum but the place they overlap is a desire to buy raw milk and organic foods. 

       

      OMG this is so funny you guys mention the raw milk thing, because as a homeschooling fundie kid in the 90s there ended up being a black market/raw milk ring that operated through the local library (small town). We would collect giant jars of raw unpasteurized milk from the fridge there (deposited from a local farm). It was an open secret advertised by word of mouth in the fundie homeschool community. 

      I loved skimming off ladles filled with cream from the top and using it in the baking I did for the family. Looking back, I'm just glad none of us got seriously ill.  But since this was before the internet really took hold it shows how longstanding these beliefs really are.

      Edited by formerhsfundie
      • Upvote 1
    • Melissa1977

      Posted

      23 hours ago, Brittany15 said:

      I think the fact that the bont kids post things all the time about their dad and not their mom perhaps reflects negatively on their relationship with their dad. They feel more secure with their mom and don’t have to post praising Instagram posts to get her love and attention. I see the posts about their dad as a way to get positive attention from him (and perhaps keep away negative attention). It’s like they are trying too hard for marlins approval 

      They have been raised to worship their father, not their mother. There is a disturbing picture where Marlin is sitting in the middle and all his kids and wife and around him, adoring him like an idol. At least, Duggars or Bates mothers had the spotlight, were the bee queens (not that I envy their position!), but Bontragers don't give wives that special treatment. 

      • Upvote 3
    • noseybutt

      Posted

      Based on the quote posted by @TrueRebel1, I'm going to say her parents have changed their ideas on divorce FOR THEIR DAUGHTER already but of course won't preach it publicly. Michael Pearl is the cult leader and he will feel the need to pontificate on some bizarre and arcane reasoning when the truth is likely much more logical: he wants to keep the money and the power and the esteem and allowing for occasional divorce makes all that possible. To stay true to the teaching would mean distancing from half of his kids and that would be cruel.

      Well duh. All of it is cruel.

      23 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

      WTF does the following even mean?

      She must be functionally illiterate. Even considering her (and her parents') belief in "rules for thee but not for me," does she even read what she writes? CTBHM was first published in 2004 -- the year she & James got married. IOW, the book was written in this century, the 21st century. 

       

      I'm laughing at your summary. Because yeah. Apparently 2004 was the time for marrying and 2023 the time for divorcing. Women saved their marriages and now women are saved by fleeing their marriages. All ordained by the unchanging Bible.

      Nothing to see here, people.
       

      • Upvote 1
      • Haha 1
      • I Agree 1


  • Recent Status Updates

    • 47of74

      47of74

      If I had the scratch this would make a good party bus....

      · 0 replies
    • Kiki03910

      Kiki03910

      Penumbral eclipse!
      https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/world/full-march-worm-moon-penumbral-eclipse-scn/index.html
       
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    • Kiki03910

      Kiki03910

      It's almost MLB Opening Day! WOO FUCKING HOO!
      · 0 replies
    • 47of74
    • 47of74

      47of74

      Went here tonight for dinner

      They have a kind of Juicy Lucy called the Blucy - which is a type of Juicy Lucy with blu cheese.  When my mom, sister, brother in law, and niece were up last weekend we went to the 42nd street location in Minneapolis.  Tonight I went to the Como Ave location instead.  Yeah, it hit the spot.
      · 0 replies
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