Esther's Story, chapter 1

I'm sure plenty of people have seen One Night With The King, but how many people know that this story is inaccurate?

Esther is not her real name. Her name was Hadassah. She was called Eshter because of the region that she lived in.

Ahasuerus was the king. He reigned over everything from India to Ethiopia (which was over 127 provinces). By the way, if you have ever seen One Night With The King, then you know that in the movie, they call the king Xerxes which was someone else entirely.

Anyway, Ahasuerus's reigned over all this land so he decided to show off his riches by throwing a huge party.

In Ester, chapter 1, they go into pretty good detail about the splendor of the king's palace, which was called Shushan, just so you know.

Apparently, the king's court was very beautiful. There were white, green, and blue tapestries that where fastened to marble pillars with purple linen cords and silver rings (purple was a sign of wealth). The beds where made out of gold and silver (beds may have been the reclining couches), and the floors where red, blue, white, and black marble.

So, the king threw a 180 day long party. Afterwards, he threw a 7 day long feast. Each of the different Princes and Nobles had wine goblets made from gold, each of the goblets looking different from one another.

During the time that the king was throwing this feast, the queen, Vashti, was having a feast for the women.

So, on the 7th day of the feast, when 'the king's heart was merry with wine', he sent his men, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, his chamberlains (personal servants), to get Vashti.

A lot of people think that he wanted her to come out naked. From what I understand, he merely wanted her to come out in her royal crown because he wanted the others to see how beautiful she was.

"...To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on." Ester 1:11.

No where does that really say that she was told to come unclothed. I'm not really sure why people assume that.

It does however say that she refused to come. And that that made the king very angry.

So the king asked his wisemen (who's names where Carshena, Shethar, Admantha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These guys where the Princes of Persia and Media,) what they thought he should do.

So Memucan decided it would be best to have Vashti locked away. He thought that because she rebelled, other women would hear about it and start rebelling against their husbands. This could very quickly become a huge problem. He thought that perhaps, the king should give the office of Queen to another woman.

King Ahasuerus liked this idea very much. So he sent letters into all the provinces that Vashti was no longer queen and that all women should honor and obey their husbands.

Okay, this is the end of chapter one. I will be doing a chapter by chapter story of Esther over the next little while.

Until Chapter 2,

Cheers!

A random post about a Sunday.

Well, since I posted my Halloween post today, it's only fair if I write another post about today.

SO here is my post ABOUT TODAY.

So, this morning, after I got up, I literally didn't do anything. I was tiiiired.

Yesterday, we had spent the night at Sharon's house because we went with her and her mother to the Grist Mill in Bakersville. It is the last water-run Grist Mill in North Carolina.

Our homeschool group likes to plan educational field trips like this, and since we are on the yearbook staff, we try to make it to as many of these as we can.

Anyway, after that, we spent the night with Sharon. I was sooo tired last night that I almost couldn't stay awake...although I managed to stay awake for 2 episodes of The Walking Dead.

And then after that...me and Daddy decided to watch Rise of the Silver Surfer.

While we were watching the movie, Mom decided to go ahead and set back the clocks, so a two hour movie only took us one hour to watch.

Anyway, this morning I was tired...to say the least. After the movie, I had stayed up until midnight on Facebook, talking to Nathaniel.

So today was Mrs. Ormand's birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. ORMAND!

 ...and as such, she decided to follow her fangirl trail for a while and see Celtic Thunder (her favorite people), so Sharon is here today and tomorrow.

Mim and her are watching Silence in the Library right now... one of the best and yet creepiest Doctor Who episodes of all time.

But this morning, Sharon showed up around 11:30. I was in the shower, so I didn't know that she was there for a while...

After I got out, I had about 10 minutes to fix my hair and makeup, grab my bag, and rush out the door.

Daddy's birthday is on Tuesday (election day), and we decided to go to Hob Nob Cafe with the Mikkola family (except Jeremy, who lives in California).

Mrs. and Mr. Mikkola

Mom and Dad

Sharon (trying not to be in the picture) and Miriam

Me and Nathaniel (guess who is who)

After eating lunch (which was really good), Nathaniel invited me to come play Ultimate Frisbee at the park. So we went (and Miriam and Sharon came along too). 

It was freezing cold outside (well, when the wind was blowing anyway) and that made catching the frisbee really hard. But I had a great time anyway.

Miriam was playing with us when her ribs stared hurting her again. She fell down the stairs a few days ago and now she can't run around without her hurting herself. So her and Sharon went and walked around the track at the park for a while.

After playing for a little while longer, Nathaniel and I had to go sit down...our huge lunch was starting to make itself known.

Then Mom and Dad showed up and we went to the Mast General Store just up the road. 

And then we came home.

And Miriam and Sharon started watching Doctor Who.

And I started posting on my blog.

Anyway, that is my day (so far).

Cheers! 

   

Halloween 2012

FYI: I started writing this post on Halloween when I got home...and I obviously didn't post it then...so I'm posting it now.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

So, today has been a very...interesting day.

Not bad, just...very strange....different than what I'm used to.

An average Halloween (they never really are 'average') is me, going to the mall, dressed up like a book character. When I was younger, I would have gone trick-or-treating.

Me and my sister usually do something. Dress up. Last year, her, Caleb, and I went to the costume contest at the mall.

This year was different.

So this morning, I got up and rushed to the window. Hurricane Sandy has been giving us some bad weather up here in the mountains. Not so much where I live, but in the areas around me, people have been snowed in pretty bad.

So, when I looked out the window, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sandy's super storm?

Nope, just barely any snow.

So, I skipped (and by skipped I mean staggered) downstairs to make breakfast.

Breakfast was cereal.

I'm not usually that...un-creative, but we had cereal, so why bother making extra food?

After that, we decided. And the result was...WE CAN MAKE IT TO TOWN.

Except Mim didn't want to go. That usually means that I need stay home. But today, she decided to stay home.

So, I got dressed, and hurried out the door with mom. Dad had gone ahead of us.

When we got there, Mom and I were hungry, so we went to Tucker's for lunch. While there, I called Nathaniel, since he was supposed to meet us at the mall.

He was in the parking lot.

So, he came in and sat with us while we finished eating. He was already in his costume (that I will reveal later).

We went to the bookstore afterwards and sat there and talked.

And talked.

And talked.

Then, I realized that I needed boots to complete my outfit.

So, I took my mom (who had the money) and Nathaniel shoe hunting...which didn't take too long.

I ended up with a really nice pair of boots that will be good for at least the rest of the fall. Maybe all winter.

So, after that, we went back to the bookstore.

And then, I thought it was already 5, so I went to change into my costume. Turns out, I was an hour early.

Then Caleb and Miss Karen got there.

While I was Katniss, Miss Karen was Effie Trinket.

Caleb was the headless horseman...

Caleb is in the front...yeah, his costume was...disturbing...

You can't see my costume very well in this picture, but there are others, soon to come.

After that, I got hungry. So did my mom. So did Nathaniel.

So we went to Panera for dinner.

Mom had to go back to the store (she was still on the clock).

While Nathaniel and I ate our dinner, the Doctor showed up.

SEE? He was there! Except he is usually a pirate...but he was the Doctor today!!

After that, we went back to the store. When Tanion got there, we went trick-or-treating around the different shops at the mall. Not everyone had candy, and once Caleb and Tanion got candy, there was only so much that Caleb could eat, since he was allergic to peanuts.... he ended up with 12 pieces of candy....

Anyway, so after that, I went with Nathaniel out to his car because he had a computer for me.

Earlier in the day, Dad had given Nathaniel a box and told him not to open it until later. I was pretty sure I knew what was in the box, so I begged Daddy to let Nathaniel open it whenever we went outside.

So he did.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand:

He got the Carrot Top Alarm Clock that has been sitting at the bookstore for...oh...about 6 years. Nobody would ever buy it, so they eventually just stuck it back in the box and it has been just floating around ever since.

Not anymore!

Well, I've posted all this and you still haven't seen my full costume...and I haven't said what Nathaniel was (cheers to those of you who have already figured it out btw).

There really are no very good pictures of me in my costume...this will have to do. Here is me and Nathaniel, holding the books that we are from. You already know that I was Katniss (or you know if you have been following my posts), and Nathaniel is....wait for it....ARTHUR DENT!

Okay, well, after all that, we came home (Mom and me anyway, Dad was still at work) and Miriam was home. She had gone trick-or-treating with our cousins who live right down the road, Kesha and Paige. Buuuut they had had to go to church so Mim had to come home. 

Anyway, that was my epic and strange Halloween this year.

Cheers!