Current Experiences

Good morning, readers!

It's been a few days since I last posted and that is because I have been sick in the last couple of days and the weekend before that was pretty busy. I'm hoping that this post will be worth the wait.

I thought I would make a post about things that have been happening recently called "Current Experiences."

Friday, March 22, 2013

This was a fun day. I didn't have any online classes that day, but Rocky Mountain had an event that reminded me of how profound American history can be. At 9am on Friday, President Lincoln came for a visit. (By this, I mean a presenter came dressed as Abraham Lincoln...) He talked about how he loved reading and learning throughout his entire life, and what it was like to live in a log cabin, his days at school, and other aspects of his life. I wish I had pictures from the event to post here, but unfortunately, students aren't allowed to bring cameras or use phones in school assemblies. However, I found a link to the website of the historian and presenter that came as President Lincoln: http://www.abelincolnalive.com/index.htm
As the afternoon rolled around, at 2:30, it was time for the annual RMCA Upper School Spring Talent Show. This is always a fun casual event where a few students sing a song or two, play an instrument, or do an act on stage. This year, I decided to pull out my clarinet and play a piece that I've been working on for about a month called "Concertino for Clarinet in E flat major by Carl Maria von Weber, Op. 26." I think a lot of people enjoyed it, (and yes, of course some students were bored by the fact that it's a classical piece) and some said that they were impressed by the difficulty of the piece as well.
Friday night, however, was the best part of the day. My family and a friend went to the school Parent/Teacher Organization Sock Hop Event. It was a lot of fun to dress up in rolled up jeans, a sweater set, and converse with a high ponytail for the night and do 50's dances. There was also stuff like a photo booth and hula hoop contests (which my brother completely dominated). Here are some pictures I took:

Picture of people in costumes at beginning of event

Scarves and hats for photo booth

  

Caleb hula hooping

Caleb after hula hooping for a very very very long time...

Sunday, March 24, 2013
My dad made an excellent sermon for Palm Sunday on the Day of Atonement called Passion for the Kingdom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6lfXl5cFAo
After church, our family attended our youth group leaders' baby shower. It was fun to see all the gifts that they were blessed with for their coming daughter. We also made pages that would be put into a scrapbook so that they could teach their daughter Bible stories and verses based on the pictures and writings on the pages we made.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Since my siblings and I had no homework last night, we decided to rent the new movie Lincoln, which was particularly exciting for me after watching the presentation on Friday. I strongly suggest it to people that enjoy American Civil War history and don't mind spending a few hours watching it. However, the movie is PG-13, so I would not suggest that very young people watch it, since it has intense themes of war and violence and some language. What I liked about it was that the actors seemed to know and respect their characters very well in order to play their parts excellently. The movie had a main focus on Lincoln's second term as president as he strived to pass the 13th amendment (the Emancipation Proclamation), and end the Civil War overall. Watching the presentation on Friday and then the movie on Tuesday night was eye-opening to me, to see how influential Lincoln was as a leader of the country, and how firmly he stood in his beliefs. Also, while the movie did not portray this at all, it was interesting to find how much he was influenced as well, and that the special revelations he had as president led him to become a Christian.

Today
In about half an hour from now, I will be going over to the other building at my school to dress up as Clifford, the Big Red Dog for young kids at the school Book Fair. My friend, Andrea will be playing Emily Elizabeth, and I get to take pictures with them and read a story (pictures hopefully to come). Then, this afternoon I will have jazz band rehearsal.

That's a taste of what has been happening recently in terms of fun events. I hope to post again very soon.

Question for Readers: What events have stood out to you lately? Were any events similar to each other that made you discover or remember something influential in big or small ways?

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!" --Psalm 111:10