So, I jumped out of a perfectly good plane...

     Yes, you read the title correct. I did indeed jump out of a perfectly good plane... but I had a parachute on. Growing up across town from JumpTown New England accustomed me to people falling out of the sky. You'd walk out of WalMart, look at the horizon (WM is on a hill) and there'd be specks with colorful canopies drifting towards the ground. 

    

     I don't think I ever "decided" to skydive, I believe I just assumed I'd jump once I was old enough. Since "old enough" is 18, I jumped the day after my 18th birthday. I dragged three reluctant* friends with me and we had an incredible time!

*jk... I think they were more excited than me!

AHHHH!!

(Because who doesn't like taking pics with a webcam!) 

     May 27th will start at 3:15am. By 4, Dad and I should be driving towards Boston. I board my first flight at 6:45am. In Dulles, Virginia at 11:10am, I’ll board the plane that will take me out of the US ... to Argentina.

     Myself and 4 other high school juniors are part of a student exchange program. Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) in  New Market, Virginia had hosted 8 students from  Instituto Superior Adventista de Misiones, Argentina (ISAM) over the past few years. Now it’s time for ISAM to return the favor. 

     In January, we got a call from good friends of ours,  the Riveras, who work and live at SVA. Mr. Rivera, the school’s director of English Language Learners, had been asked to accompany the exchanges students. “Would any of the Motts be interesting in joining the group?” Uh, YEAH! After thinking, praying and planning, it was decided that I would take advantage of this incredible opportunity to learn and experience the South American language and culture.

     So here I am. 19 days away from leaving... and I’m crazy busy. (No surprise there!) I have to finish two college classes (Intermediate Algebra and Introductory Sociology), complete any co-op work needing to be done, and practice for and schedule my driving test for when I return. Delightful.

     My summer doesn’t stop there. After I return from Argentina on July 1st (Tuesday), I’ll have a day with my family, take my driving test (Thursday), then head up to Maine on Friday to work at Camp Lawroweld for the rest of the summer.

While studying for a CLEP I'm to take (Analyzing and Interpreting Literature), I was made to analyze this poem. I found it to be beautiful.

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A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

By John Donne 

As virtuous men pass mildly away,

   And whisper to their souls to go,

Whilst some of their sad friends do say

   The breath goes now, and some say, No:

So let us melt, and make no noise,

   No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move;

'Twere profanation of our joys

   To tell the laity our love.

Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears,

   Men reckon what it did, and meant;

But trepidation of the spheres,

   Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers' love

   (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit

Absence, because it doth remove

   Those things which elemented it.

But we by a love so much refined,

   That our selves know not what it is,

Inter-assured of the mind,

   Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,

   Though I must go, endure not yet

A breach, but an expansion,

   Like gold to airy thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so

   As stiff twin compasses are two;

Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show

   To move, but doth, if the other do.

And though it in the center sit,

   Yet when the other far doth roam,

It leans and hearkens after it,

   And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,

   Like th' other foot, obliquely run;

Thy firmness makes my circle just,

   And makes me end where I begun. 

Skiing

Photo Credit: Josiah Wannemacher

Here's an article I was assigned to write for my homeschool co-op newspaper. Hope you enjoy. : )

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I could feel dread washing over me. I gripped my poles tighter, and shifted anxiously on my skis. As I gazed down the slope, my mind reminded me that skiing was a crazy idea and that I should detach myself from those things attached to my feet and walk back down to the warm and safe lodge. My father, who was standing next to me, began to instruct me on how to turn while skiing, how to-- Suddenly, I was bumped by a snowboarder as he exited the ski lift. Down I went, quickly gaining speed. I knew in that moment that I would probably die on that terrible slope; the bunny hill.

On the car ride home I declared I would never ski again. The day had gone hopelessly wrong. While I didn’t die on the bunny hill, I almost did (or so I thought) when Dad took me down Long John, a 2 mile long Green (easy) Trail. Halfway down, just as I was getting the hang of skiing, I tripped and tumbled for about 10 feet. When I tried to stand up I found I couldn’t. Somehow my left boot, which had come free from its ski, had slammed into my right knee creating a huge, horrible bruise (that lasted for over a week). Daddy managed to help me ski down the remaining mile of the trail, and then I stayed in the lodge for the remainder of the day.

Now, 2 years later, I look forward to skiing each year.

My stomach tightens with anticipation as we crest the hill to the entrance of Mount Snow. As soon as Dad stops the car we jump out and start carrying in our ski gear. With our snow pants on, boots correctly tightened, and coat zipped up to Mom’s approval, we traipse outside to our skis. Standing in line at the lift to the summit, we wait impatiently. Exiting the lift, we quickly make our way over to the beginning of the trails that wind down the face of the mountain. Gazing down, I smile with pure joy. Oh, how I love to ski.

The first run is always slightly awkward, being the first of the season, but soon I regain my agility. After what seems to be only a few minutes, we gather for lunch at the base lodge. If we hurry through lunch, we sometimes have time for one more run before our lessons begin.

In order to separate the 75+ students into classes, the ski class students are tested on the bunny hill, which has been prepared with obstacles to test our ability. Usually, I’m one of the last students in line, so I’m able to watch the kids from other nearby schools complete their run. Some fly through the course with ease, while others slowly inch down the slope. Last year, I did fairly well; I was placed in the “F” class – third highest (A, B, C… to H). 

While at times I despise the group ski lessons, as some of my fellow students are extremely annoying, they do help me advance my ability. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend joining a group that participates in ski lessons at a nearby ski mountain.

♦      ♦      ♦

-Autumn Story Mott

Cider Making :: Explained

     So those of you on Facebook and Google+ have probably seen a ton of photos of our family's cider making operation... but, unless you've either helped us in the past or you make your own cider, there's a good chance you don't fully understand how the process goes. Well, here it is, step-by-step:

1. Find an orchard that will sell you drops by the truck load. We recommend Green Mountain Orchards.

2. Gather the apples... Hint: Banana boxes work well... but they melt if it rains...we use plastic bins, instead.

3. Fill a 8 foot truck bed.... or build an equivalent (or two!) out of plywood and 2x4s. Hint: Friends usually make the process faster and easier.

5. Find and acquire an antique cider press. Craigslist is a good place to check.

6. Find a place to set up the operation.

7. Collect clean gallon jugs. Water jugs work best, no washing required. Hint: Try your dentist office- their machines go through a lot of distilled water. 

8. Start by washing the apples and cutting out and bad spots (open wound, really ugly bruise). 

9. Pro tip: Warm water keeps the washers happy. Use a blacksmith forge to heat water if one is handy.

10. Rinse apples twice in bleach water, then place in storage container to await pressing.

11. Grind the apples to small chucks in the first section of the cider press.

12. Slide the wooden bucket over, put wooden cap on and press!

13. Carry bowl full of cider over to homemade filter tower and pour in the top.

14. No filter tower? Sorry, I must have skipped a step. Get some 4 gallon buckets and add spigots to each one. Buy some wire mesh and make into filter screens.

15. Fill jugs with fresh cider. Hint: Three spigots at the bottom makes it a lot easier to fill the gallon jugs.

16. Cap, number and date the gallon. 

17. Repeat process until desired amount is achieved... or until you run out of apples.

18. Clean up your mess and go watch the football game! (Kindly recorded by your neighbor.)

19. Enjoy your homemade apple cider!

-Autumn Story Mott

India :: The Other Side of the Story

     I'm doing a program called CollegePlus. They are a company who works with you to complete college, online, in under 2 years (or however fast you want to go.) One of their features is called "Navigate". It's a 10 part program that helps you find your purpose for doing college. (Kind of like a college adviser.) Anyhow, just recently I completed a section titled "Who Owns Your Purpose?". I was asked to write about an experience when I had "conflict over control" of my life. I decided to write about before I left for India.

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     In April 2012, I was talking with a friend of mine about mission trip opportunities and she told me about a trip to India led by our church's conference youth director. When she told me that she was thinking and praying about going on it, I instantly decided that I wanted to go with her. The mission trip wasn't until January 2013, so I figured I had plenty of time to convince my parents. Not so easy. September arrived without a decision having been made. So I continued to remind my parents about it. October came and went. But it seemed like the odds were in my favor. Then one day at family worship, November 7th, Daddy said he had an announcement to make. I was going to India. Praise the Lord! I was wicked excited.

     I applied for a passport, while at the same time I (and Mom) wrote a fundraising letter. As soon as my passport arrived, I filled out the form for my Indian visa and sent the packet in. There had been worry about one of my parents needing a passport, as well, for me to get my visa, but this company assured us that wasn't necessary. December was half gone when I realized I still didn't have my visa. I called the company. "Oh no, everything is going fine... We're just busy with the Christmas rush..." Later that week I got a call from the trip leader. The company needed one of my parents to have a passport. What?! Mom quickly filled out a form and sent in it - rush order. Oh God, please! Once it arrived, a few days after Christmas, we called the company to see if they would work with us now that Mom had her passport. (Very long story short) NOPE. So we paid them to ship the packet (containing my passport, birth certificate...) back to us. I found another company online and decided to go through them. It was only two weeks before I was supposed to leave.

     I was mad at God. I thought He wanted me to go to India. I thought He had this all planned out. Why?! Was I to get this close and not be allowed to go? But slowly, I began to be at peace with the situation. I read the Psalms. I could relate (somewhat) to David's frustration. But I found comfort in the fact that God was still there, even if I couldn't always see the path I was to go down. So, I knew that if I couldn't go to India I would be sorely disappointed, but I knew God had a plan for my life... India or not. 

     Happy ending. My visa came 2 days before I was to leave. Thank You, Lord! When people ask me what I learned from my mission trip I usually say something about being content and happy with what we have, or that there is always a hunger and need for Jesus, but now I realize that one of the biggest lessons I learned was to always trust God. No matter what.

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-Autumn Story Mott

ThinkGeek :: Why I'm Broke

Hello?! *Buy Now* 

Yes... a camera timer! Why didn't I think of this?!

Oh wow! That's the same lens I rented to use while in India!! But a mug would have been nice, too!

Okay, it looks like I need to marry someone rich. Or win one of those $5000 radio giveaways.

-Autumn Story Mott