Happy Father's Day!

This Father's Day means a whole lot more to me. I can't help but think that my dad could be gone, taken away to Heaven by a heart attack.

For those of you who don't know, on May 17th my dad had a major heart attack. The 'widow maker' artery in his heart was 100% blocked. This we didn't know. He had been having severe pain in his arm from a pinched nerve for three weeks, and that night the pain just wouldn't go away. So my mom took him to the ER.

In the morning, after a long and suspensful church service, my friend's mom, whose house we were staying at, told my sister and I what had really happened.

My dad had been rushed to a different hospital in an ambulence minutes after getting him checked out. There, they put a stint in that artery. Four days later, on Wednesday, he came home.

My dad treasures his life now. More so than before. And we do too. Without him, I don't think I could make it. He's made me the person I am today, with the help of God and a few precious others. He really is the best father a girl could hope for.

I'm gonna give a shout out to all the dads out there: Happy Father's Day! You guys are God's treasures!

I have more to say, but I need photos and they're only on the other computer, so perhaps another time.

~Shae

The Gift of Music

So I've been reading this book called The Gift of Music by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, and it's about music (well, obviously :]), and great composers and their influences. And it's opened a whole new world for me. Now all of a sudden I want to study music and composers and travel to Italy (well, I've wanted to do that for a long time), like they did.

I've even tried to compose some stuff, but I'm not very good at it. It's all missing something. First I tried the piano, since I composed stuff on my flute all the time, but never really remember it. I found this great background tune, but it needs a melody, something I just can't find! So, while talking to someone on the CleanPlace forum, I downloaded Finale Notepad, which is this free composing program. It's actually really neat! Notepad is free, while if you want to upgrade you have to pay money. Perhaps someday I'll get there. I've already had a lot of fun with it.

If you'd like to download it, go here: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/
The information is asks you is bogus, so make it up *chuckle* I didn't really for a lot of it, because I wasn't aware that you could fake it, otherwise I would have.

Anyways, this book has begun to open my eyes to a lot of things I didn't know about composers and music. In the secular world, teachers don't mention that Bach, and quite a few (actually, probably most) composers were Christians! And the whole reason their music was so good was because they got their inspiration from God. Also, the Psalms have been used for thousands of years as key inspirations for songs. I've even figured this out by listening to comtemporary worship music, or other Christian songs. They're a great place to find the words you can't. :)

Check out this book if you get the chance. It's great!

Well, I've got to run so TTFN!
~Shae

Prince Caspian!

**Beware of spoilers**

YEA! So finally the long-awaited sequel to the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is here! My family being big Narnia fans since I was small, we went to go see it on the opening night at midnight with some friends. And what was my reaction! I LOVED it! Surprisingly maybe even a little more than I thought I would.

Yes, it was much darker than LWW, but I liked the feel of the movie. The battle scenes were pretty sweet. As for the actors? I don't like who Peter turned out to be. He seemed arrogant and too grown up for my liking. Not the Peter we remember from LWW. But I need to stop comparing. Susan was, well, Susan. Edmund and Lucy both did a great job, though, to me it seemed like Edmund's part was more minor than before. Probably because he'll be in the next movie, and Susan and Peter won't.

As for Ben Barnes, the guy who plays Prince Caspian. He was a good actor, I'll give him that. I liked the way the Telmarines had slightly Spanish accents. He pulled it off real well. There was just this bit of romance that practically ruined the whole movie (and Caspian's future <_<).

Half the time I was obsessing over costumes. I loved every one of Susan's dresses! (except her school clothes XD).

The movie was not like the book. There were a lot of good things they kept in, but so much more was added. I was glad. Prince Caspian, to me, is the most boring book in the series, and I was glad they added more color to it. Some of it got out of hand *coughCaspianandSusancough* but most of it was done really well.

All in all. I liked it. No, loved it. I will definetly see it again (well, at least when it hits the cheap theaters), and I'll certainly buy it.

For Narnia! :)
~Shae