Hello dear ones! Welcome to Virtual Friday :). Today I want to share pictures from a most beautiful place in the virtual world of Second Life: Notre Dame. The creator did an awesome job with this real life replica. I love the details on the statue below.
Visit Notre Dame in SL: Visit The Oasis (234, 125, 25)
Enjoy the pics! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello gang 🙂 Want to remember the Alamo? Come to the virtual museum in Secondlife. There’s tons of info and great replicas. Enjoy the pics! Click on the pics to see them larger.
There’s a great memorial in the chapel
Remains replica
Visit the museum and learn a bit about history at Visit UTArlington III (156, 126, 22)
God bless and remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
Hello dear ones. I’m still on my “Around the Virtual World” series where I take you to Virtual places inspired by real life. Today I take you to the Battery Park replica in SecondLife. Enjoy the pics 🙂 (you can click on them for a better view).
There’s some beautiful artwork on display
The Crystal Carousel. I’ve never been there in real life so I didn’t think this was real. Upon further research I found there is an actual Sea Crystal Carousel in Battery Park. I want to visit it in RL now 🙂
You can check this out on the grid at Visit WaterWay New York (146, 71, 24)
God bless and remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
PS: For those of you new to my blog, here’s my first Virtual Friday post with tons of info about SecondLife:
https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/virtual-friday-beautiful-places-in-second-life/
Hello friends, today I’m combining Virtual Friday and Media Saturday. First off, there’s a great replica of the Oval Office in SecondLife. They did a good job on it. You can click the pic for a larger version.
Visit the virtual Oval Office in SecondLife at: Visit Sialimonus (203, 233, 72)
Secondly, we went to see the movie “Brave” and we loved it. The movie is a beautiful tale of parent and child learning to accept each others differences and love each other no matter what. There are two issues that may bother parents. First, there is magic. Second, there is very mild violence.
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“Brave” is a Disney-Pixar film about a red-haired Scottish princess named Merida. It takes place in the 10th century. Merida is an arrow shooting tom-boy. Her mother Queen Elinor wants her to be a proper princess. Mother and daughter often butt heads but it gets worse when Princess Merida’s mother wants her to get married. How will the groom be chosen? A contest of skill. Merida will do anything to change her fate….even ask a witch for help. As Rumpelstiltskin says in “Once Upon a Time”, “Magic always comes with a price”. The spell backfires and Merida must find a way to break it.
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There is a large scary bear and mild almost slapstick fighting among clans. Michael wasn’t scared one bit. What bothered me the most was the will-O’-the-wisp, a spirit light that led Merida through the forest. It was a minor player in the story though. I simply had a talk with Michael about spirits and how people either go to Heaven or Hell. Also that if he ever sees any strange lights like that he needs to rebuke it. Demons take many forms….may it be sprite or fairy. The real life version is nothing like the kind in stories. People seek these things in Wicca and it is REAL. Michael knows the difference between make-believe magic and real witchcraft. I find honesty is the best policy in parenting. Overall, I enjoyed the main storyline and honestly I teared up a bit.
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Well, God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello friends 🙂 In honor of Independence day I’ve got a patriotic virtual replica. God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: there’s a museum too
The Statue of Liberty in Secondlife:
Hello friends 🙂 Welcome to Virtual Friday. This is the day I take you into the virtual world of SecondLife. There are some amazing places in SL but there are also dangerous places. That’s why it’s good to have a guide. I am that guide :). A couple of weeks ago I started an “Around the World” series. There are many replicas of real world places in Second Life. These sims are often educational and just plain fun (especially if you can only afford to travel by couch).
Today, I take you to Virtual Egypt. I am not including a link because this place is not completely family friendly. If you choose to look this place up yourself be warned. There are several nice spots to take photos and enjoy scenery….outside. But inside (esp the temples) it is not always safe. This is a role play sim so you may run into avatars pretending to be ancient Egyptians. Many of the buildings are people’s SL homes. So who knows what’s inside. So take it from me….be safe….stay outside of most of the buildings.
Outside there were lovely gardens and the architecture felt authentic.
another nice picture of a peacock
The Nile 😉
royal ship
Egyptian Vases
The Great Pyramid- there are certain structures that aren’t very interesting in the virtual world. This is one of them. I believe I would have to actually see the great pyramid in person to feel any sense of wonder.
This is just a lovely picture…
Well, God bless and remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover
Hello friends and welcome again to another Virtual Friday. It’s time to go around the virtual world with me. Surprise surprise! SecondLife has a Machu Picchu. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to the real thing but it looks good and the school that put this together has a bunch of posters you can click for info. This will be short and sweet today. I only have a few pictures. Enjoy 🙂
The real Machu Picchu is in Peru and it’s an Incan site 7970 feet above sea level. That’s a lot of stairs….
Look they have llamas 🙂
It’s really hard to get good pictures in a place like this. It’s just too big. Those of you who know SecondLife will know that if you move far enough away from something it completely disappears. Photography is completely different in the virtual world. Virtual Machu Picchu is nicer in person….ummm avatar. Oh btw that’s my flying horse in the back :).
Well, I’ve had a long day. Time to write in my book then reward myself with Zelda. God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello friends 🙂 I hope you’re having a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Also Happy Pentecost! I’m combining my weekend posts for a special. Today I’ve got a delicious recipe to share with you and I’m taking you to a special place in the virtual world. I don’t have anything for Media Saturday but since I reviewed the Avenger’s last week I wanted to show you my newest peg doll set. (Pic below)From Left to Right: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Black Panther, the Hulk, and Hawk Eye. They’re not perfect but boy did they take a long time to paint.
I’ve decided to start making peg dolls for boys since my son will soon outgrow the other sets. So I made an Avenger’s peg doll set and Michael loves it. He keeps begging me to add Black Widow (who I don’t really like) since she does turn out to be good at the end of the 1st season of the Avenger’s cartoon. I also plan on making a city-themed box for them and eventually villain peg dolls. I’ve also got to make Thor’s hammer and maybe some arrows for HawkEye.
Moving on……..the recipe below is great for dessert or breakfast 🙂
Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
A video showing some of the best places to geocache
It’s time to go around the world….well the virtual world. This weekend I’m taking you to Santorini Greece in SecondLife. This is a beautiful replica and I was able to get some gorgeous pictures. Enjoy the pics 🙂 Remember you can click on them to see them larger.
Santorini Church
If you get a chance to check out any of the virtual places I’ve posted, then please leave me a comment with your experience. Also, what are your plans for Memorial Day Weekend? Or Pentecost? I’d love to hear from you!
God bless & Remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
Hello friends, today I’m doing a weekend special…a combo of Virtual Friday, Media Saturday, and My Family Rocks! Sunday. I’ll be discussing the Holocaust and also the loss of our twins we were going to adopt.
#1 “Life is Beautiful” review
Let’s start with a media review of the Italian film “Life is Beautiful” or “La Vita E Bella”. Here is a brief synopsis from Wikipedia.
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Synopsis on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Beautiful
“Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella) is a 1997 Italian film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni, who also directed and co-wrote the film), who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp. Part of the film came from Benigni’s own family history; before his birth Roberto’s father had survived three years of internment at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
My review:
“Life is Beautiful” or “La Vita e Bella” in Italian is one of my favorite movies. It’s rated PG-13 simply because it deals with the Holocaust. This movie covers so many things…love, pain, fear, laughter…..hope. I have seen the movie with subtitles and also the English dub. I prefer watching it with subtitles and listening to the Italian. There are certain sayings that don’t make sense unless you hear them say it in Italian. Now if you don’t like foreign films please give this movie a chance. I had a friend in Highschool who didn’t think she would like it but at the end of the film she was crying.
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The first half of the movie is a love story. Guido and his buddy move in with his uncle. Guido becomes a waiter at his Uncle’s hotel. Guido saves a school teacher, Dora from falling out of a barn window. Throughout the film Guido finds hilarious ways to surprise Dora…for instance pretending to be a school official just so he can ask her on a date. It gets funny when the REAL official shows up. The problem is that Dora is engaged and she comes from a wealthy family. Dora’s mom expects her to marry into wealth as well. We also find that Guido is Jewish and there are many racists people…including Dora’s mom. Guido is super funny but he’s also very romantic. Girls get ready to swoon. The guy may be partially bald and goofy looking but his poetry rocks :).
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The second half of the movie we see Dora and Guido are married. Their union has caused a rift in Dora’s relationship with her mom. Guido and Dora have an adorable little boy named Giosuè (sounds like Joshway). Giosuè is just as witty and goofy as his father. He’s also charming and too cute for words. Giosuè helps Guido in their bookstore. We see racist graffiti on the door and you know we’re about to see Nazis. The whimsical fairytale beginning takes a turn for the worse. Guido, Giosuè, and Guido’s uncle are taken to a concentration camp. Dora isn’t Jewish but she begs to take the train too.
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There are some disturbing scenes so be warned. This is about the Holocaust. Guido never loses his sense of humor though. Guido tells Giosuè that they are in a strange survival game. The winner gets a big tank. Guido does all he can to protect his son from the horrors of war. The child even escapes the gas chambers by refusing to take a shower. He has to hide the rest of the movie. Guido finds ways to get messages to Dora despite their separation. Overall, the end is good…..bittersweet. The film makes it’s point: Life is beautiful and worth fighting for.
Life is Beautiful trailer
#2 Virtual Israel in SL~Holocaust Memorial Visit Israel (30, 135, 25)
There is a nifty spot in the virtual world called Israel. Don’t think you’ll ever get to visit the real life Israel? Take a trip in SecondLife to this tourist sim and see the sights! 🙂 The Israel sim has tons of info on the Israeli culture. I had hoped to show you pictures from the Yad Vashem Children’s Memorial, a SL Holocaust memorial based on the real life memorial. But it was under construction :(. This sim has been around for awhile so I’m sure the memorial will be back up soon. I’ve got other pictures to share with you though and here’s a little info on the RL memorial.
Yad Vashem Children’s Memorial in Real Life. Excerpt from: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/childrens_memorial.asp
“This unique memorial, hollowed out from an underground cavern, is a tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the Holocaust. Memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead, are reflected infinitely in a dark and somber space, creating the impression of millions of stars shining in the firmament. The names of murdered children, their ages and countries of origin can be heard in the background.
The children’s names are taken from Pages of Testimony in the Hall of Names, Yad Vashem.
The Children’s Memorial was designed by architect Moshe Safdie and built with the generous donation of Abe and Edita Spiegel, whose son Uziel was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of two and a half.”
Western Wall
The Western Wall in Sl is awesome. You can click the picture and write your own note for the wall. Then the people will put your note in the real life Western Wall :). Another good reason to visit the virtual world.
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea was fun. Enjoy the pics 🙂 It really looks like I’m floating and then sinking in the mud lol.
Tel Aviv
Amphitheater
Dome of the Rock
Church of the Holy Sepulcher (click on the pic to see it larger)
Anywho, speaking of the virtual world….I haven’t been on in awhile. I visited the Christian orphanage where my avatar lives to find it has vanished :(. That’s a common occurrence in Second Life. Unfortunately, people can’t afford the tiers and many wonderful sims disappear off the grid. The RL economy affects the virtual world as well. So I went to a free hotel to change.
There’s a good reason for renting in SecondLife. The hotel was free but some strange person stood outside the door telling me to open the door. I told them the room was private and to go away and they refused…until I threatened to report them. So after I visited Israel I found a new rental. There’s this great kid village with the cutest pastel cottages. There was only one rental left and I got it 🙂
ok moving on to a heavier situation…..
#3 Honoring our Twins in Heaven
I’m pretty open and real on this blog…especially on my Sunday posts when I talk about my family. I do this because I pray my experiences can help others. I’ve been considering talking about a huge issue that I deal with and so many others deal with too: Secondary Infertility.
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Infertility has become a dirty little secret in our society. Many couples suffer in silence because it’s not something we like to talk about. It’s just too painful. Anywho, we have been trying to have more kids for over five years….since little man was born. I was told my ovaries were weakening fast and that was a couple of years ago. So it would be a miracle for us to have more kids but….I still believe in miracles :). I’m praying the natural doctor I’m going to will help out with this and also my other health issues.
Back in 2010 my husband met a lady who was going to abort her twins. We naturally begged to adopt them. We were so excited. We met the lady and I felt the babies move. There was a connection. I went home and made a baby registry. Our whole family had dreams. Michael wanted to be an older brother.
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But those dreams shattered when I got the call…..the lady was miscarrying. We spent the weekend with her and I was there during the miscarriage….praying etc. There was alot of craziness that I won’t go into but the birth mother didn’t want the babies. I never carried the twins in my stomach but I’ve always carried them in my heart. They are in Heaven now and I believe they know that we loved them. That they are wanted. And I wonder if my Dad (who died shortly before them) is looking out for his grandchildren up in Heaven.
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When it happened I never fully grieved. I was already broken up because of my Dad dying. Only a few people knew we were even adopting. A couple of people told us they were sorry but for the most part the whole situation was forgotten (except by me). Maybe people just didn’t know what to say. I pushed the grief down deep inside…tried to ignore it.
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We didn’t have any bodies to bury. We broke ties with the lady for the safety of our family. So we have nothing…not even an ultrasound pic. I just remember the moment I felt the babies moved. I wish people would’ve said more about them….validated my feelings. It just felt like the twins were forgotten and never honored. Like people forgot they were real.
Well, lately I’ve been on a Christian infertility forum and I’ve met some amazing ladies. One of them gave me the inspiration to go to the natural doctor. I’ve also met many ladies who have lost children….some by miscarriage..others by adoption. My situation is a little strange since the twins we were going to adopt miscarried. But the mother did not want them and I did so desperately want the babies. I have been so encouraged by these sweet ladies…to let myself grieve and to finally name the children. We thought of names when they were dying but we never got to have a service.
So tomorrow we are finally having a memorial service for the twins, Autumn Grace and Caleb Zachary. They never had a funeral so we are burying a memorial box with baby clothes and trinkets. My son drew them pictures. I’m writing a letter. This weekend I let myself fully grieve over the loss and the painful things we dealt with in the process. For the first time my husband and I talked about how old the twins would be now and all the things they would be doing….they would be one and a half…learning to walk and talk. I had a good talk with Michael and finally acknowledged that he has siblings in Heaven. He was so young when it happened that he forgot. I thought I couldn’t become more broken after my dad died…I was wrong. But not allowing myself to grieve (because I wasn’t their birth mother) just made things worse.
So I’m glad the twins will finally get the memorial they deserve. How about you? Have you ever lost a child? What did you do to help yourself through the grieving process? How did you honor their memory? Please feel free to comment.
If you are dealing with infertility or loss please find a good support group. It’s a painful thing and many great women before us have experienced this…..Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah….ladies from the Bible who all longed for a child. Secondary infertility is painful too in it’s own way. We’re in this struggle together and our Heavenly Father DOES care. I know Jesus Christ has wrapped his arms around me throughout this whole process. I don’t know what His plan is….but I know He loves me.
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God bless and Remember The High King Lives!~Amber Dover
PS: this is the song I listened too when we were going to adopt them. It’s a love song but the words seemed appropriate. “I knew I loved you before I met you…I think I dreamed you into life…”
I knew I loved you by Savage Garden
Note: I was going to do another weekend special but I have so many pics from SL I decided to just post everything late. So Happy LATE Virtual Friday 🙂
Hello friends and welcome to another Virtual Friday! 🙂 Some of you may not have read my previous post about The Rose Theatre in SecondLife so here’s the link: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/the-rose-theatre-in-secondlife-a-late-virtual-friday/
I was very pleased to receive a compliment for my post from the creator of The Rose Theatre. The place is just exquisite and I feel like I’ve heard from a celebrity :). It takes true talent to make that kind of masterpiece. So if you haven’t seen the place yet then please check out my link above.
Moving on, so I finally got to do some exploring. Little did I know that the orphanage I was staying at moved! Thankfully I was able to find it and get set up again. I usually look at the destination guide on secondlife.com for ideas. Every once in awhile I find a gem but it’s rare. Last night, I explored three places. So here are my pictures & reviews straight from the virtual world of Second Life.
#1 Easter Egg Hunt @ a nifty store Visit 1 Prim (172, 124, 247)
It took awhile for things to rezz but I do have a slow viewer. My computer can’t handle the new viewer. The above pic is before all the flowers rezzed. I don’t remember the name of the store (shame on me) but they had beautiful Easter decor and alot of vegetables for sale. This hunt took awhile because the eggs were small. Thankfully each egg contained a clue to find the next one…..or I would have never found them all. What’s neat is that every time you find an egg you get a free surprise from the store (like flowers, a bridge, Easter decor etc). I have no where to put any of it because I live at the orphanage but maybe someday when I can afford my own land again…..
Aren’t the flowers gorgeous? These pics are lovely. You can click on them to see them a bit larger. Yeah the problem with being a child avatar is that your legs never quite fit over the furniture….sigh. At one point of the hunt I nearly gave up but I persevered & found all of the eggs. I won neat prizes and got to keep the basket with eggs as a souvenir :)! Below is a pic of me near the church. I love the stained glass window. I wish I had some in RL at home.
#2 Terracotta Soldiers Visit Tenth Rua (75, 78, 235)
This was a short trip. Basically you go underground and see a replica of the terracotta soldiers that guard the Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s grave in China. It was a nice replica. I was a little bored but if you’re a big history buff then you may enjoy this. I’m sure it took the creator alot of hard work to make the soldiers and set them up. This goes to show that Second Life is great for seeing the world without actually leaving home 😉
#3 The Mystic Forest Visit WaR Island (173, 168, 22)
This is the description on the SL website :
“Visit this land of magic, elves, goblins, nekos, tree houses and butterflies. This forest is connected to the “other side” — so you’ll never know who you’re going to meet next. Is it friend or enemy? Sometimes worlds collide! This land is a beautiful, unique place where everything can happen.”
This is a role play sim so I caution you. It’s always important to get an observer tag so no one will bother you. This place took the longest to rezz and when it did I wasn’t that impressed. Sorry just being honest. Maybe if I had more time to explore then I’d see it’s full beauty. The best thing about The Mystic Forest was one of the shops as you head to the actual forest. They have a fairy cave. You can pay 5L and this jar will give you a random fairy egg. So being the big kid I am….I just had to get one. So I decided to leave and come back. I took my fairy back home to the orphanage and waited for it to hatch. I named her Bellarose (after a character in my book).
I hope my landlords don’t mind the big fairy home. It wasn’t many prims though. I filled it with some flowers & with doll furniture. Of course Bellarose needed a mini tv lol. You can set the fairy to roam around a certain area too. Anywho, so I went back to the Mystic Forest and was able to take two pretty pictures. I dressed the part of course with my fairy costume.
It’s pretty at night.
Anywho, I’ve got several more places to explore: Astoria (Lord of the Rings sim), Transilvania (yeah they spelled it wrong. They didn’t mention vampires so hopefully it won’t be scary. I hate scary.), March Military Expo (for my hubby), and Old Europe Market fair. I’ll let you know how it goes. I did visit London City Victoria…and let’s just say I didn’t like the atmosphere.
Well God bless & remember The High King Lives! ~Amber Dover
PS: The closer we get to Easter the more hunts you’ll find. Do a search on the website. Let me know what you find. Also, if any of you have suggestions for nice family friendly places I can explore in SL, please leave me the links in the comment section. Thanks! 🙂
Welcome! My name is Amber Dover. I am a homeschooling mom, happy wife, and a devout follower of Jesus Christ. I am also a writer. I am currently working on "The Truth Seeker's Chronicles" (an inspirational fantasy/allegory). You will find everything from craft ideas to writing tips on my blog. So please pull up a chair and hang out :)
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