{{tying the knot}}

News of a Romantic Nature ...

This is going on, guys:

Yep. After two years of being an official couple, Daniel asked Abigail to be his wife. Get that? My best older brother is marrying my best friend, probably by October. Furthermore, I got to be in NoVa when he proposed which meant that instead of waiting a week or two to celebrate, I was bludgeoning the car window for them to open the door probably two hours after the initial proposal when I pulled up to his apartment. We had an impromptu ice-cream party and toasted the happy couple with some Martinelli's and Abigail informed me as we sat side by side on the couch an hour or two later,

"You're doing your happy-wiggle."

Yeah, apparently that's a thing. Anyway, I'm so terribly TERRIBLY excited about this, and I want everyone who reads this to leave a big old fat comment if you can. I mean, it's an ENGAGEMENT, people! <3

♫Nothin could be finer than to be in Carolina in the mor--or-ornin'!♪

On Saturday Rachel and I accompanied Daniel down the well-traveled roads leading to the Taylor's house. :) I always have a good time on road trips with these guys. 

We had fun hanging out, singing, and going over to the pool for a nice swim. 

Then on Sunday, after church and some chilling time, we went over to one of the Taylor's neighbor's houses for a picnic for Sam and Anna!

Having a great time with friends:

Rach and Goldberry

Mr. Taylor

More of the wonderful NC people!

What made the picnic truly Southern was the pecan pie and sweet tea. ;)

This was taken by me bird-watching from a distance. ;)

Then Molly, Anna, Jenn and I took the little boys on the trampoline. :)

Anna and David--aw!!

Jenn with Rufus. 

Zach is my little buddy. :)

Molly with her little big nephew!

It was a very wonderful weekend and I used Daniel's phone there near the end to snap some pictures, and I thought you guys might like to see what we've been up to. :)

Avast thar! Be ye friend or foe?

Yesterday Daniel, Rachel, Abigail T., and I trooped over to a harbor close by to check out this event called Harbor Fest/OperationSail. There were around 51 ships, both naval and tall ships, that were docked in a strip of 3 1/2 miles long! We had a great time and Rachel got to do some hands on researching for a certain writing project in the works. :) Here are some of the pictures I was able to take before my battery died:

I think this was the same one that fired twice and scared the wits out of us!

Some of the crew aboard the Cuauhtemoc.

A Mexican sailor at the wheel.

Daniel was a bit disturbed by the deepness of the water we were inches away from

This hammocks were rawther comfortable!

Sailor's knots were abounding....

See? Told ya.

A straight-up shot

Ropes galore!

Rachel was very excited and impressed that this one carried a "moon raker". (the toppest sail a ship can have)

Very pumped up researcher person. ;)

I loved all the tons of masts, flags, and pennants!

This was a neat shot. :)

Reader's Digest Condensed Ramblings ;)

Good news. My camera's back up and running!!!!! I'm so glad that I finally got a new battery charger (had a kinda big to do with trying to get the right one delivered to me...) and as an add-on blessing, I was able to replace my lens cap that was lost 2 years ago! I'll be able to post pictures up here once I find my missing cable.....:P
On another note, we are all excited because tonight Daniel is coming back from 10 days up in DC area at helping at the iGovern camp. I missed him alot, and am really looking forward to seeing him!
Oh! On Wednesday night we got to watch a Celtic Thunder concert on our local TV channel! It was pretty great, though I do miss Damian and Paul......oh. And does anyone else get irritated with those fiddle ladies who think they're "all that" in all the Celtic groups? I mean seriously. I'd much rather listen to the fabulous voices, than watch you prance around. ;) One of my favorite songs was when Daniel Furlong sang "You've Got a Friend in Me". That was fun. And the newish guy, Emmet was very talented as well. :)
Anyways. I cannot believe it's already June 9th! I must admit, I haven't even changed my calender over yet! I've been busy and these past 9 days have apparently gone by with great speed. ;P
We also are expecting a visitor this weekend! I love company. Especially this company. :)
                  "Company, company, where would we be without company?"
Sorry. Had to do that. ;)
Well, just wanted to dabble on something and let you all know what's been going on over this way.
Later!
~Sarah
Hey, if you guys want something to brighten your day, get you tongue-tied, get you laughing, and all that good stuff, try doing the beginning of this:  (Also, check out the translation! It's very interesting..)

You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed....*insert gigantic ear-to-ear grin*

"They're a couple!!!" "A couple of what?" 

And if you needed clarification, Abigail and our wonderful Gentleman are officially together! xD 

**lets out very loud and very excited squeal**

Yes. We are so thankful to the Lord and the way He's working in our dear brother and good friend. :) Love you both so much and will be praying for you in this exciting season!

-Sarah

Put your vote in!!!!!! :)

ATTENTION!

Hey you guys! Our brother's band, Paid in Full, is competing in a contest to open for the 

Christian group Third Day at their concert in June, and need your help!! 

If you have a Facebook, all you've gotta do is to click here and vote for "Paid in Full" once a day til May 18th. We're really excited about this potential opportunity for the guys, and would love it if you could help us help them out! 

Thanks so much! Let's try and get them tons of votes!

-Sarah

Movie Review: Captain America

Miss Abigail Taylor has been down this past weekend to attend our county fair, which was a blast, until it rained. Then it was still a blast, but we deemed it best not to go see the bull-riding in all the mud and mist. Instead, Daniel took Abigail, Sarah, and I to see Captain America. I had heard about this movie from my brother and cousin and several other people, and I thought it would be fun to see. I like super-hero movies just fine...Spider-man wasn't memorable enough for my selective memory to remember it. Batman was good to watch once or twice, but then I was set for a long time. But once I heard that Captain America was set in World War II and chock full of 40's costumes, I knew I wanted to see it, if for no other reason than as a historical fiction film.

But I wasn't prepared to love Captain America. (Movie and Hero) The movie surprised me, made me laugh, almost cry, and leave feeling that I had seen a slice of noble manhood still alive. The ideals in the movie are commendable: Truth, self-sacrificing love, honor, nobility, diligence, courage.

 

There was 40's fashion...and red lipstick. :)

The film starts when a very (and I mean *very*) scrawny Steve Rogers is trying to enlist in the military. The only problem? He has a list a mile long of conditions, not the least of which is asthma, that make him unfit for duty. Everyone says he'll die if he ever even leaves New York City. Steve's a little guy with a big vision, and a bigger heart, and he has the right idea about war: When asked if he wants to go to war to kill Nazis, Steve replies that he doesn't want to kill anybody...he just doesn't like bullies, and he's out to save his country. It's a simple answer, but Steve Rogers is a simple guy.

Through much pleading and repeated attempts at enlisting, Steve is befriended by a German scientist  who gets him into an army boot-camp.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when the scientist and Col. Phillips are arguing about which soldier to pick for their "lab-rat". Dr. Erskine (the German scientist) is arguing in Steve Rogers' favor. When asked why, Dr. Erskine throws a grenade (turns out to be a dummy) into the midst of the line of men. Everyone scrambles for cover. Everyone, that is, except Steve. He dashes to the grenade, throws himself on top of it and yells for everyone else to get to safety.

That's the kind of man Steve Rogers is. That's the kind of man it'll take to save the world.

After a series of events scrawny little Steve Rogers is transformed into a tall, powerfully built man, with the new name of Captain America.

It sounds cheesy, but this is one hero that doesn't disappoint you. He's a nitty-gritty hero. He doesn't blast people to oblivion with super-powers. Sure, he's abnormally strong and can jump rather long distances, but he's in the trenches, so to speak, with his fellow soldiers, and is working as hard as anyone. Harder, even.

 

(I would ditch the hermes-wingy-things on the side of his helmet...makes him look like an owl.)

Then we come to the Bad Guy. A Big Bad-Guy who is every bit as strong as Captain America, and dastardly into the bargain. He calls his group of soldiers "Hydra" and his goal is to "harness the power of the gods" which was, supposedly, Hitler's goal. He's an evil character, and that is portrayed to a T. Everyone cheers when this guy *is* blasted into oblivion through his own (inadvertent) doing. And hey, I always knew Elrond's eyebrows were mean for a purpose. ;)

The lady in the movie, Peggy Carter, was on my good side. She is beautiful, poised, and deep. She isn't one of those pretty girls who get mad at their man every scene, won't talk to them, slap them once or thrice, and then kiss them at the end. She is the milk to Captain America's cookies. Or something to match the cheesiness of this amazing hero's name. ;)

 

I felt like the nobility of Captain America penetrated even to his relationship with Peggy. I loved it. And it's because of a certain date he missed with her that I teared up. Ahem. *clears throat* 

Over all, I give Captain America a high rating. Hero's with the self-sacrificial "AW!" factor are high up on my list. It was a great (perhaps a tad idealistic) American Hero movie, but who really cares? There are dozens of quote-able quotes. There was some great humor, and fantastic one-liners. I laughed as often as I caught my breath and wriggled with anticipation. Captain America is the kind of guy I felt like could, perhaps, exist somewhere on this earth. He was more realistic than most super-heroes. (Okay, sorry to those of you who like Spider-man, but seriously? Shooting webs out of your hand? Not so much.) I'm dubbing this movie with Four out of Five Stars. It would have been 5 stars complete were it not for a couple of things. And those I will address now:

• 1. There was some language. Granted, it's an army movie so it's not surprising, and the language is certainly not quite so bad as Batman, but it was there.
• 2. There are some chorus girls in short little outfits that are doing a patriotic bond-selling show with Captain America...I'd have your little pieces of paper ready to cover that part of the screen if any brothers are watching. ;)
• 3. Apparently (and I looked away because Daniel said it was coming) there is one rude part. 
• 4. I thought the evil bad-guy's red face and head was a little freaky. I don't much like skull-ish things...I liked him with skin better. ;) But that's just a preference, not a moral issue. :)

But if you can fast-forward or look away during these few parts, I highly recommend Captain America for it's values, it's gung-ho Americanism, and it's red-white-and-blue appeal. After all, what's not to like about an under-dog with a huge heart who suddenly gets gunt-wrenching strength and saves the country? ;) As we walked out of the mall and over to Daniel's little car I said, wistful, "After watching such a movie, I feel like we need to ride away in a nicer car." Daniel laughed, not too offended by my frank analysis of his Subaru and replied, "Let's just call it the Super-ru."

And so we are. We even played Captain America and zoomed over the high-rise bridge to effect rocket-booster noises. It was a good movie, a good time, and a good night. :) ~Rachel