about me

About Me

Hello! My name is Terra. The unusual spelling of my first name is actually my Portuguese grandmothers maiden name! I am nineteen years old and my birthday is April 8. I graduated from homeschooling in May 2003, after being homeschooled since third grade (I attended a private school before). I graduated with a diploma, thanks to the accrediting agency we belonged to.

The most important decision I've ever made is to accept Jesus Christ into my heart and life. I did this when I was five years old. Want to read my testimony? The Lord Jesus is my all in all, and I am very grateful I am able to look to Him in whatever I need, whether it be to comfort, to guide, listen to me, or even chastise me, He is there for me at every moment of my life! Have you made a decision for Him? If you don't think you have or aren't sure what I mean, please click here. My life's purpose is to continue to see what God has in store for me, and to seek Him with my whole heart. God's strength is what drew me through the hard times in my life, and His strength will continue to help me in the years to come. On Christ the solid rock I stand!

My family and I attend a non-denominational conservative church, called Northern Bible Church. My great-grandmother Dorothy helped to found it around sixty years ago! We live on 5 acres of land a few miles from town. One great example of commitment to me has been my parents, who have been married nearly 23 years. My dad is a manual machinist (sort of a dying breed, sadly!). My mom is a mother, teacher, cake decorator, Mary Kay consultant, Avon dealer, Watkins dealer and card stocker in town. My sister, Sarah age 18, is active in 4-H dog competitions (she won 4 out of 5 Grand Champion trophies this year alone with her dog Blue Shadow!), loves the outdoors and reads in her "spare" time. Joshua, age 10, is good buddies with brother Josiah age 8 (most of the time that is!), and they enjoy playing outside together. I really enjoy all of my siblings, and am thankful God gave them to me!

I like to:

(......Hmmmm, where do I start???!! How about the beginning, I guess!)

Ask questions ~ I love to learn new things!

Bike ride, hike, walk, swim, camp, play outdoor games ~ anything with my family in the great out of doors! Er, make that almost anything.... there are some things that I don't like to do ~ like play with or catch bugs, for instance. Much to the dismay of my younger brothers ;-)

Cook meals, homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies, desserts and almost whatever else I can think of! I also like to experiment by writing my own recipes, or sometimes just modifying recipes to suit my (and my family's) tastes. I can happily say most of the time my family enjoys my endeavors!

Dishes........ um....wait a second! - let me change that! Drive our go-carts (yes, much better) around the trails in our woods. Want to see a picture of our go-carts? Dad made them for us kids (though I don't think he minds trying them out once in a while!). The woods to the side of our house are filled with trails through the brush and the trees that we drive our go-carts in. Sometimes we get a "train" of vehicles together with my grandparents and Uncle's family. The vehicles include our go-cart, our little John Deere go-cart, various riding lawn mowers (don't get stuck on the slow one!), a four wheeler, and two three wheelers. We sure have a lot of fun!

Encourage my family, friends and people around me.

Find new rocks for my collection. I have a fairly extensive collection of rocks, minerals, fossils and a few semi-precious gems that I've been collecting for as long as I can remember. I have specimens from California, Utah, South Dakota, Minnesota and even some specimens from Puerto Rico. I actually won a Reserve Champion award at 4-H last year for two boxes filed in my collection.

Garden! I love growing flowers, vegetables and unusual varieties of plants! I've kept a large garden for our family for the last three years, and enjoy it more with each passing summer.

Hide God's word in my heart. Memorizing the Scriptures is very important to me.

I'm waiting, not dating. But I'd LOVE to have a husband and a family someday if that is the Lord's will for my life. And God knows that is the desire of my heart! My job is to be patient, and wait for His timing. See here for more information about courtship, along with inspirational stories and poems!

Just be me! ; -)

Knead bread. I love making bread the old fashioned way! I've made everything from regular wheat bread to white, sourdough bread, egg bread, 7-grain bread and even old world country bread. I can almost smell the warm, homey scent of fresh bread baking in the oven right now! Mmmmmm!

Live for Jesus Christ, my Savior, Redeemer and Lord! Without Him I am nothing.

Music ~ I have a wide range of listening interests, including many hymns, Michael Card, classical songs, a few country songs (I'm Proud to Be An American! as one of them), Carman, Michael W. Smith, Go Fish, and a couple of Sixpence None the Richer songs.

Nifty and thrifty is me! I like to save money, and enjoy learning new ways to do so.

Organize! I like things to be organized around me. What's that you are saying, Sarah? Ohhhhhh, yes. Let me rephrase that slightly - I usually keep things organized, except for when I am cooking. Then my working area (the kitchen) gets a little messy, but I am working on staying neater in the kitchen! And I always clean up my mess when I am done. :-)

Paint. I enjoy painting on birdhouses, glass jars, painting boards and garden furniture. I like to use Donna Dewberry's One Stroke painting technique.

Quit? Nope! I like to "keep on, keeping on" (to quote G.T. from the Halo Express!).

Read, read, read! I love to read good books. Some of my favorite authors are (well, where do I start?) Lori Wick, Gilbert Morris, Lynn Austin, Josh Harris, Jane Austin, Frank Peretti, George MacDonald, Angela Elwell Hunt, Eric and Leslie Ludy, Douglas Wilson, C.S. Lewis, Elisabeth Elliot and Linda Windsor (though the list goes on and on and on, I'm trying not to bore you here). I have three large bookshelves filled with my books, and am already needing another one!

Send letters to friends, pen pals and family via e-mail and snail mail. Also, talk to friends and family via Instant Messenger. Also, sing ~ but not in front of people! ;-) (though I have sung in a choir for church; that wasn't so bad).

Teach. Lately I've been helping to teach my younger brothers. My mom homeschools Josh (4th) and Josiah (2nd), and I help by teaching them their Language Arts, phonics, spelling and reading. I love to teach little ones, and plan to homeschool my own children someday (Lord willing, of course), and decided that helping to teach my brothers would be a good 'learning' experience for me! And besides, it is a way for me to keep learning even after I've graduated!

Uhhhhhh (what starts with a 'u' anyways???). Hmmmmm..... I think I might have to get back to this one.

Violin! I have played violin for the last 4 years, and have just begun lessons again after a three and a half year break. I am learning how to arrange hymns and how to fiddle. Yippee!!! Also, I have played piano for the last 10 years or so (I wish my playing testified to that, I'm not very good), and love to learn hymns, classical pieces, some ragtime and also arrangements .

Write Articles, Stories and Poetry. I've written lots of articles, short fiction and non-fiction stories, essays, reports, poems and have recently completed my first novel. Praise the Lord for His good gifts! He is my all in all.

Yarn....I enjoy crocheting and knitting, and would like to learn how to tat (it's on my to-do list). My mom and Aunt's Kathy and Ava taught me how to crochet when I was just a little girl, maybe 8 or 9. Grandma Dee (my namesake, actually) taught me to knit a few years ago, and I'm still learning!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... sleep?? (I couldn't think of anything else!).

I also help out at church; serving in the kitchen at pot blessings and funerals, in the nursery with the 'littler' members of our church, playing prelude once a month, helping with bulletins, playing or singing special music once in a while, teach my friend, Beth's, Sunday School class if she is gone, and help with Vacation Bible School as the kindergarten teacher.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always liked to write little stories. For the last two years, I've been working on my first book, a novel. Recently I completed the over 200 page, 91,587 word manuscript! I'm hoping to publish it. I have it sent into a literary agent at this time. Hopefully I will hear from him soon! I have plans for a second book, and will be starting on that as soon as time allows. ;o)

This coming spring I plan to branch out into an 'entrepreneurl' experience.' After apprenticing at a local nursery for the last three years, I've decided (with much prayer I might add) to open my own greenhouse. I know it will be a lot of work ('cause I've been through it for the last four years working at Midway!), but I know I am up to it. God provided almost all of the supplies for my little 18 by 20 greenhouse for nothing or next to nothing (my kind of prices, by the way!). I've started to prepare by saving many varieties of seeds I grew this year.

I write to nine friends (ages 7 - 26) and also to nine grandparents and other relatives in my family. A few years ago a family friend suggested that my siblings and I write "Grandparent Letters." Well, once we found what they were we thought it was a great idea. Here's how it works: Every month or every week (depending on what you decide and how much time you have) send a letter, or a picture, or something special to an elderly person in your family or someone that you know of. It will bless them more then you can imagine!

While I don't watch a lot of TV, there are a few movies that rank among my top favorites. Find them here on my favorite movie lists.

Every year when the end of July rolls around, there is always a frantic, mad rush at our house. Why, you ask? Part of the last week in July and the first part of August is fair time around here. This last year, I entered over one hundred items and won approx. 18 white ribbons, 32 red ribbons, 45 blue ribbons and 3 Grand Champion and Best of Show ribbons (along with three trophies in 4-H). I entered everything from some of my canning to homemade bread baskets, gift baskets to a work apron I sewed, a Love-Lies-Bleeding flower to a winter squash, a garden bench I painted and a weed exhibit I made. So you can see the need to prepare in advance for such a large event, can't you? Thats what I tell myself after each fair, and before I know it, I'm busy with other stuff and practically forget about the fair until the beginning of July. Sad cycle, isn't it. Maybe someday I'll be more prepared! ;o)

I do pretty much most of the cleaning, cooking and baking, housekeeping, gardening, canning and the exedra for my family. While I realize these skills aren't glamorous, I believe they are important for me to learn now, while I'm still at home. And don't worry, I haven't been called "Cinderella" too many times (pretty much the only times I can remember when I'm scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees!).

Someone recently said to me, "You're doing everything there is to do now! What is there going to be left for you to do when you are 50?!" Of course, they were only kidding. But I do have many interests, responsibilities and commitments. And in my extra time I work on this website. ;o)

At this time, I am taking a three-year writing correspondence course from the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. I have a personal mentor, Les Stobbe, who is a committed Christian eager to see me grow and flourish in my writing career. The Christian Writers Guild mission statement is as follows, "The Christian Writers Guild exists to educate, train and support writers who desire to promote a biblically based, Christian worldview through their writing."

Well, I think that's about all for now. I hope you've enjoyed your visit to my website! I'll be updating it as time permits, so make sure to come back and see whats new. God bless you! He alone is the victory!

Love Terra Ann