My world is a playground

the sonia stamp of approval

2010-02-02T11:09:00.008-06:00

1. sling bag purses - the first one i bought was in 7th grade. it was a knit, olive green bag and i fell in love with the style. i hate it when purses fall off your shoulder or its awkward to hug someone because you are trying to keep your purse from falling off. this is the cure to those pet peeves. i am one who doesn't like to feel restricted in my movements (i sprawl out in bed, i wear sweatshirts and t-shirts so i dont feel like i have to fidget to keep my clothes in the right places, etc, and i wear tennis shoes so my feet dont slip out of my shoes). all you do is put your head and one arm through the handle and BAM: purse freedom.

2. crab rangoon - the most delicious food in the entire world. if someone had a pick-up truck and loaded it with crab rangoon. then they realized, "hey! i dont even like this stuff...now what do i do?" i would take it off their hands for free and eat ALL of it.

3. ingrid michaelson - she is one of my very favorite music artists. in my opinion...her two best songs are you & i and the way i am. the latter's music video is scary so i dont watch it but its a beautiful song.

4. sensual amber fragrance - bath and body works rocks my face. they always come up with flowery smelling stuff or fruity stuff. i LOVE this. my boss got me every product in that line for my bday (body gel wash, body creme wash, the gel handsoap and foaming one, the lotion, and the cream....huh....no body spray??? lol). it rocked the house.

5. golden retrievers - mazie is the new addition to our little family. she is fabulous! she has the potential to be a naughty little girl (just like any other dog) but with some rigid training and a close eye, she is becoming quite the law abiding citizen. she always wants to be with us and loves it when we pay attention to her or love on her.

photography snob

2010-01-29T11:28:00.006-06:00

in college, i had the coolest roomate EVER. bethany and i like photography. i started really enjoying it when i first got into college and now its my passion...my FAVORITE hobby.

we would sit in our room 'doing hw' frequently...as the college life requires. occasionally we would check out deviantart.com and send each other people's poor excuse for photography over IM while we were sitting 10 ft from each other. there were plenty of laughs but lets talk seriously for a second...

pathetic. some of this stuff is just pure crap. MSN news had a little article entitled, '10 things not to buy in 2010' today on their main screen. i figured i would check it out and see what was being phased out now. it turns out...its compact digital cameras. some of them aren't too shabby in quality but if you have used an SLR...goodnight to compact digitals. i don't know that i can ever take a self-portrait with one hand again because that would require me getting a lesser camera.

i like my beefy camera. i like how my arm hurts from holding it after doing a wedding all day because it's so heavy. i like when i go to take a picture of something and i get my camera out and people say, 'wow...thats a big camera.' i LOVE my camera. it is one of my best friends. yeah i know, i know...get help!

anywho...here's the article...

Compact digital cameras

For nearly a decade, compact digital cameras were must-haves for most consumers. But during the past several years, another type of digital camera has been slowly rising in popularity: the single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, from manufacturers including Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus. Although bulkier, these cameras produce pictures that more accurately represent what's in their viewfinders than those that use older technology.
They are also pricier. For example, Canon's digital compact cameras start at $110, while the SLRs start at $570.

BOO. now every kid and their mom is going to think they are a photographer because the picture 'is clear'. i would like to provide some examples of what is going to happen. the following pictures are generally the style of photo my roommate and i would send to eachother via IM. all of a sudden...these people are going to think they have something special (talent). they are going to purchase an SLR or borrow their friend's. they will then take these STUPID pictures with a nice camera. the other thing that sucks? they won't know how to work the lighting.

i just pray to the camera god that if these people actually invest to buy these cameras that they study on how to use it or im gonna lose it. ....maybe i should not be a photography and be a poet instead.

its like a slot machine....but with shampoo and conditioner

2010-01-27T13:04:00.003-06:00

i love grocery shopping. i think its because i get to go buy a bunch of stuff and come home and put it away. if im hungry, i know there is tasty food.

my favorite thing to buy when i go grocery shopping is body wash and shampoo/conditioner. i don't know why....that's just the way it is. EVERYTIME i must purchase one of these items, i get a new brand or a new scent. i love to change up that stuff all the time. i never buy the same kind of shampoo two times in a row.

i really ventured out this time though. i went ahead and bought dove's heat defense. i do something to my hair every morning with an appliance (minus the microwave...i never use the microwave). so i figured i would give this one a shot. i have used tresemme heat defense before and it was okay. i didn't notice any real difference in how my hair felt with that or any other sh/cond. however, this stuff is FABULOUS. not only does it smell good but it actually makes my hair feel soft after i have blowdryed it and straightened it. incredible. now, i also use tresemme's heat tamer spray. as im trying to grow my hair out, i try and protect it as much as possible from my daily wear.

not only does my hair now smell good...i am hoping that it stands against my tests for fire-proofing my hair as well.

dear snapple tea...

2010-01-26T12:06:00.002-06:00

i bought myself a peach tea (snapple) this morning. they are delicious and always come with random bits of info under the cap. i turn the cap this morning to reveal the new revelation. it read, 'A Venus flytrap can eat a whole cheeseburger.'

why would someone know this and what do they mean? could the VF eat a whole cheeseburger in one gulp? can it eat a whole cheeseburger within it's lifetime? is it a regular cheeseburger or one of those shooters/snackers? and why on earth would a VF eat a cheeseburger to begin with? last time i knew...i thought they ate bugs. now, if it said they ate a "cheeseBUGGER" that would have been much more clever and funny to me.

just something to think about....

keep your romantic comedies...

2010-01-13T10:53:00.002-06:00

...because i want the weird and awkward.

this movie is odd. i love it.

liquid love on the go

2009-12-09T09:25:00.002-06:00

im not obsessed...i just like coffee. and yes, i call it liquid love. so what?

instant coffee is NASTY. i love to doctor up a STRONG cup of coffee. its the best thing one can possibly do. add a little cream and a bunch of sugar. fabulous. so aaron and i were up in valpo visiting some friends and their church started giving out 'starbucks via instant coffee because they had ran out of regular starbucks coffee for the visitors. our friend was raving about the coffee and gave me a packet of it (which comes with 3 instant coffee mix tubes). i got it like 2 weeks ago but have been skeptical of trying it. today was the day. its awesome. =)

ill give you a $1 if...

2009-12-04T14:28:00.002-06:00

...you keep your 2 cents.

when we had been married about 6 months, we realized it was time to get a pet. we opted for a sweet little kitty cat. we adopted momo. she was our little princess for a whole year. the queen of the roost. she would sleep on our pillow and ride around on my shoulder as i did housework. come july of 08...it felt like we needed another little kitty. hence, maximus came along.

let me give you a little insight to this before i continue. my mom and brother both developed cat allergies. my mom has had them since she was a girl so we never had cats growing up. we had 2 golden retrievers, a poodle schnauzzer mix (when i was very young), and now my brother has a very cute mutt. dogs have never been an allergy issue. cats never had for me even when i was at other people's houses or when we had momo...but then it happened.

there was a miserable couple days where i thought i was getting pink eye because i was about ready to scratch my eyes out. i couldn't breath and was sneezing all the time (which i attributed to getting a cold). then it hit me. i tried keeping the kitties away from me and then my symptoms would slowly clear. crap. cat allergies.over the next year and a half i fought my itchy, watery eyes with doses of claritan. finally...i just realized...this is silly. i gave away my little kitty babies...which was really hard because i had become so attached to them.

which brings me to my point.

after a lot of talking...we decided to get a puppy. she is a golden retriever and we pick her up from her mom on dec 28. we are very excited! there are bunch of killjoys out there though! everyone likes to give their comments, for example: 'puppies are just as much work as babies' ; 'golden retrievers shed A LOT' ; 'if you have cat allergies, you have to be allergic to goldens' ; 'they are going to chew up everything in your house'. OY VE! i called our vet to see what mazie (that is her name) was going to need as far as vaccinations go when we first get her and she was shocked i was getting a golden when i have cat allergies. i told her, 'well i have grown up around goldens and never had a problem with allergies so i think it will be fine.' however, she continued to give me her opinion.

if you wanna give me your 2 cents...then here's mine...

i strongly doubt puppies are as much work as babies. babies need diapers, puppies go outside once they are potty trained. if they potty in the house all the time, its your fault you didn't take them out enough. babies need to be nursed or bottle fed pretty much all day, dogs need a bowl of food in the morning and evening and a bowl of water. you have to get up feed/change baby in the night, you put puppy in her crate and tell her to go to bed. yeah you are right...babies are just like puppies.

yes, goldens shed a lot. there are 3 solutions for that: a good vacuum (check), a brush (check), and something called the furminator http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000FSN0A4/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2EMARD2PYKYXH&v=glance

you are dumb. people who are allergic to cats are allergic to their dander...not their hair. since these are two different animals (cats and dogs) dont you think they could have different kinds of dander? i know this is abstract...dont hurt your brain.

they might chew up some stuff...but everything? i read a bunch of puppy training books and they all say that when puppy is new to the house to do crate training when she is alone and put a toy in there that is okay for her to chew on. when she is out of the crate. to always have her in the same room as you. if you are keeping an eye on her, how is she going to chew something up? hmm...maybe with her mind? like super powers like matilda?? no. you aren't careful enough. i expect something will get destroyed...but you can put an end to it.

FIN

One Homeless Night

2009-10-06T13:30:00.007-05:00

This is my jump back into the blogging world. It has been too long.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Plan: We met at the church at 5pm on Saturday. We were ready to set out to walk to Columbian Park/The Cove to camp out for our homeless experience. I knew that this was going to be a miserable night but was looking for a learning experience. Call me crazy but I enjoy being forced to be greatful for something. The walk to the park was about 3 miles and has always seemed like such a short drive to me. The majority of us had piled on layers to keep warm for the coming night and we quickly began to sweat and shed layers. This was miserable. My feet began to get very sore from the long walk that I am unaccustomed to. My neck and back started aching (maybe it had something to do with being on my feet all day from the photo shoot I did earlier) from my backpack that I carried. It didn't seem heavy but it began to feel like a sack of bricks. The more I sweat the worse I felt. To be hot and sweaty and not be able to take more layers off but its cold outside is a weird feeling. We then got to our "camp", set up our "sleeping" spaces, and awaited 7am to come when we could get out of the cold and rain.

The Thoughts: I am a grazer. I prefer to not eat giant, whopping meals but to snack here and there. I figured this whole "no food for 14 hours" thing would be a peice of cake since I dont really get that hungry. Well, I didn't get hungry. A group of teens went off to beg and to experience what a humbling thing it would be to plead with someone to feed you. A couple guys were turned away at one establishment (which we won't name) and another joint gave them a to-go container full of fries. These are teenagers...everyone knows how teenagers eat. If you open a container of ANYTHING, they FLOCK; grabbing and stuffing food down as fast as humanly possible. These guys walked into our huddle of "homeless" people and said "We only have enough for everyone to get 2 fries." I felt something I never felt before. I actually felt sad! I looked around at everyone taking their two fries and some of them nibbling and some enhaling. I felt blessed that I was important enough to receive ANY fries....let alone 2. I also felt grateful to our "providers" who received a blessing and witheld from chowing them all themselves and brought back to us. What a selfless act.

I do not hate many things. One thing I hate....is to be cold. After the long walk I was very appreciative of the cool breeze. I was hot. Then something interesting happened. I was still sweating a little from the layers but the cold breeze with the sweat...made me REALLY cold. So I put on another sweatshirt. Still cold. I put on my coat. Still cold. I put on my hat, ear muffs, two pairs of gloves and a scarf. I was semi-warm. For a little bit. Within an hour I realized that it didn't matter how many layers I had on. It was raining and there was enough wind that it was blowing the rain on us and there wasn't really anywhere to go to get out of it. The rain was cold and it was only 40 degrees out or so. I had on at least 4 layers and a blanket and was frigid.

Aaron and I had scoped out a spot to sleep where we thought it would block some of the wind. This was an interesting experience. I am going to say these next thoughts with the understand that God is ultimate in all things. My husband is my provider. He is my comfort, my security, and my shelter. If I need something, I know he will provide. He is my hero. There we lay on the very cold concrete with only a 1/2 centimeter of cardboard to cushion. I am wrapped up in his arms and still shivering from the thorough cold. I had been unable to fall asleep for what seemed to be several hours. I had curled up into a little ball trying to keep warm and without knowing it had tensed every muscle in my body for too long. I now had a bit of a charlie-horse problem in all my muscles. I looked at my husband and realized....he is trying the best he can to keep me warm and there is simply nothing more one can do. It was the most helpless feeling in the world to know there were no more options and my husband had no more resources for me. It then hit me like a semi that our sense of security is a joke. It doesn't matter where you are in life; it can be taken away as quickly as it came and you can be left with NOTHING to comfort you but your thoughts and God.

I stood up to stretch out my muscles because they were sore. I looked around the cold, misting, empty waterpark and felt very lonely. I thought everyone was asleep from me. I am the one praying for sleep but it will not find me. I decided to go for a walk hoping to warm up when my husband looked up and asked me if he could come too. I guess I wasn't alone in my non-slumber after all. We walked around one of the buildings and saw Josh Crabtree and Ray Nipper. We just stood there with them for a while. None of us really talked....we just waited together. Waited to go home. I felt increasingly lonely even with these people standing around. I thought....the only thing keeping me going with this...is the thought of going to church and then heading home at 7am. What would the hopelessness feel like to NOT have that thought? To think....this will be my life tomorrow too. Friends of ours, Billy & Stacy Spencer, told Aaron & I a story once about a homeless friend. He was mentally handicapped. He had been severely beaten as a child by his father with an extension chord and had severe scars. He was homeless and had no money. Bill tells the story of when he heard him sing the line, "The Lord has not failed me yet."

FIN

our break from reality

2009-05-03T21:29:00.006-05:00

aaron and i have spent the last week on our vacation. we went to lake geneva, wisconsin from tuesday evening to thursday late afternoon. there is a camp through our denomination up there and they have a 'retreat center' for covenant staff. so we went up there and stayed for a few days to unwind and begin our vacation. it was really nice. we didnt do very much of anything which was a great contrast from our usual life activities. every meal we made a point to eat at a new restaurant (a local place...or at least somewhere we had never been). for us, that is a big change of pace since my husband is a man of very predictable eating patterns ;) (aka picky...) here is a quick run-down of my restaurant assessment...

tuesday dinner-next door pub and grill. it was pretty tasty...but humorous. the menu is pretty extensive ranging from pulled pork sandwiches and beer to imported wines from italy and fine pasta. you eat on more or less card tables and puny tv's where basketball games were playing. the people at the table next to us were doctors and were snickering at the latest medical doozy and sipping on their fine wine yet they proceeded to chat with us about the game on tv. it was interesting.

wednesday lunch-potbelly's. i know that this is a chain but we had never been there before. not too shabby. the sandwich i had was really good and aaron and i came to the conclusion that EVERYTHING tastes better with thousand island dressing.

wednesday dinner-popeye's. this is not the chicken popeye's chain you are thinking. it was a seafood place and it was awesome. right on the lake with cool yellow, green, red, blue lights and VERY nautically themed. it was a tad pricey but it was a beautiful view over the lake and the food was delicious!

wednesday coffee-we went to starbucks....we drove around for what seemed like an hour and couldnt find any local joints...and we desired a coffee and a nice chat between best friends =)

thursday lunch-fischer's bar and grill. this was a PRIME location. it was right on the lake and had a HUUUUGE deck out front. it was obviously made more for a bar but when you show up at 2 in the afternoon for lunch and its raining...the bar aspect isnt really prominent with people. the menus were just printed on white computer paper. the waitress spilled a sprite on me and ruined one of the handy-made menus. the food was pretty tasty and the company (the people sitting at the table next to us) were entertaining. its when a 75 year old lady orders 2 brandy's, a 50-something lady orders 2 cosmos and the guy downs 3 beers at 2pm that you know it should be pretty interesting.

i digress, that was the first half of our trip. we then headed 4 hours south to visit our wonderful college friends. tyler and jenny were some of our very best friends during our years in missouri, were co-best man and maitron of honor in our wedding, and are the expecting mom and dad of our fake niece or nephew (we will find out on wednesday!). also, we were able to spend a lot of time with bjoe (aaron's roomie from college). i know it was really nice for aaron to spend sometime video gaming with him and of course playing card/board games. we also got to go to lunch with him on sunday afternoon and we both really enjoyed talking and laughing with him.

i always drive away having had a great time with the myers: playing board/card games, laughing, ...farting/pooping..., and eating. i never leave though without learning some things whether it be from them or others. they are very refreshing to be around and always energize and revive me to head back into our real life. everything about them is inspiring: the way they do ministry, their desire for a wonderful future for their family, and just their overall general attitude. i am so greatful for such wonderful friends =) they are so incredibly uplifting and you find them so few and far between that you hang on to them...for life.

laundry theifs, sex appeal, and expectations

2009-03-10T11:14:00.002-05:00

all of the snippets of a post you are about to read, all occurred around the same time. thus being the need for all them in one post...unless you would rather i wrote three separate posts in one day...which im thinking you wouldnt want...it would just be confusing.
-------

laundry theifs
something is amiss. i have a pair of favorite socks. they are black, thicker ankle socks. they are the perfect balance of warmth and softness. just the right cut that they never fall down when my sneakers pull on them. i bought 6 pairs of them in college. i now have...one and a half. yes i said one and a half. there is one pair of socks and then just one sock that has a few bleach stains on it. what the heck?? the majority of the time i do laundry on a weekly basis. i take our hamper downstairs to the laundry room. i set the hamper on top of the dryer. i load in clothes into the washer. when that cycle is finished, that load goes into the dryer and in goes the next load to the washer. i am anal and so i always check to make sure no clothing items are left behind from the previous load and check in between the two appliances...for fear one has decided to make a fast escape.

there is never anything left behind. so why is it that INEVITABLY, there is one or more socks left after all the laundry is done with no mate??? what happens to them? is there a little troll in my dryer or washer who has a sock fetish? mind you...we do have someone in our house with a bit of an obsession for the sock culture. it is our kitty momo. it is not uncommon to find a sock in the bathroom, one on the couch, one in my bed...or the like. but i doubt she is stashing all these socks somewhere...

sex appeal
i dont like it but i understand it. it can be an effective way to get someone to buy a certain product...it just sticks the product in their mind...not necessarily because the person who is being portrayed to have owned this item is good looking but they use that "good looking factor" to simply get you to remember the product. well if someone is going to attempt this aspect of marketing...i figure they should at least be decent at it. aaron and i were working in our office at home the other day and he pulls out a box for an external CD-ROM thing. im busy cleaning and hes just looking at it and says "have you ever noticed the picture on this box?" i said "no" and went over to check it out. there is a blonde lady on it with her shirt tied up to expose her stomach. i guess she was pretty but the really odd thing was that she was eating a stack of CD's. ...I dont quite understand what they were going for here. here she is looking all sexy and eating CD's...i had no idea that was supposed to be attractive. maybe im just out of touch with the hip,upcoming things now-a-days. aaron said something to the effect of, "thats not sexy...thats just weird". haha.

(side note: there is a commercial on tv for a cadillac and a woman is driving. the commercial is obviously made for woman...it is the only commercial i have EVER seen that has actually made me want to buy the product because of the marketing. they basically make this woman look powerful but she still loves dark chocolate and stilletos....and the car is a beast but she makes it look sexy. very appealing to women...kind of a power hungry thing i guess).

expectations
for some odd reason a completely random saying popped into my head this morning. i just thought "nobody ever said it would be easy". hmm...that is pretty self-explanatory. however, sometimes i find myself complaing about why life is so hard sometimes and then i think...nobody ever said that i was going to be a piece of pie...so why do you have those expectations? a friend of mine has hit a rocky patch in her marriage and i dont know all the details but its looking like they have called it quits. i just thought the same phrase...nobody ever said that marriage was easy...so dont pretend like its going to be. every married couple has those days where they think "oh boy...what did i get myself into?" however, for aaron and i its different. when i think that, in turn i know that we are in it forever, divorce is NOT an option, and we make whatever it is work.

nobody said that marriage would be easy, so dont expect that it will be

new found understanding

2009-03-07T14:31:00.002-06:00

jennifer knapp is probably one of my favorite christian artists. she has this really awesome deep voice and kind of a bluegrass....rock feel to her music. she is just fantastic. her lyrics are also really unique and im basically all about them.

one of my very favorite songs is called 'hold me now'. i have heard it probably around 50 times or more (considering it is on one of my favorite CD's). i have listened to the words and thought them to be very thought provoking and really powerful...but i understood something different today.

i was cleaning the house and kind of tuned out to whatever was going on around me but all of a sudden i heard the lyrics from her song...

Let he without sin cast the first stone if you will.
To say that my bride isn't worth half the blood that I've spilled.
Point your finger and laugh if you choose to say my beloved is borrowed and used

wow. it made me think about all the times that i judge people. when i say judge...i mean their faith. when i see people who dont live it out...its easier to wonder what the heck they are doing with some of their choices. i would not compare myself to those who were threatening to stone that oman...casting all the blame on her. however, every sin is the same and even if i do this to a lesser degree, i am still judging her/him. this isnt a habitual thing for me but it really put me in my place for those times i have done it. i like how her lyrics are written...from Jesus' view point and it really portrays His love and devotion to us. it kind of reminds me of how a husband might speak of his wife...as if people would say she isnt worth it and he thinks that is the most awful thing they could say.

talk about humbling.

what makes you different?

2009-02-17T23:31:00.003-06:00

so i had a thought provoking...thought. it seems to me that we treat people who are closer to us differently...than the average joe or just a good friend. i dont just mean tell them a deep dark secret that you have kept for the past 20 years. i mean general attitude. it just kind of dawned on me very recently. the way i talk to someone at the grocery store...i do not always talk to my husband the same way....why not? what makes me think i need to be sweet and polite to the random lady at walmart....verses being that same sweet, polite woman to my husband...or any very close friend for that fact. of course, i would have a heart-to-heart confrontation with a close friend...but i doubt i would go up to someone at walmart and tell them they have a problem. what i am talking about is general attitude. where i might get a little short fused with a good friend and SHOW my frustration...i would not do the same with a stranger or someone that i knew less well. why??? why are those stranger's feelings and self-esteem all of a sudden more important than my very closest friends and family?

this has provoked a lot of self-reflection with in me very recently...i have also noticed the same occurrence in my own life. someone will make a snide remark, show how frustrated they are or snap at me and i think "i never saw them treat so-and-so like that....why are they more important than me that they get preferred treatment?". im pretty sure everyone can relate.

maybe making some suggestions in how i can correct this in my own life would be helpful. i know i cannot correct it in other people....each of us has to "pull our own weight" so to speak.

time is a tickin...

2009-02-03T10:05:00.003-06:00

schedules. to do lists. appointments. it seems to be how i run my life.

this can be so frustrating some times. how does one get out of that time limit mind frame? there are certain things i stick time limits on that really shouldnt have time limits. you should do what you do and when it is done, it is done. it is frustrating to stick a time frame on something, and that time frame is possibly unrealistic..., and then go over that time limit only to find disappointment and feel there is no way out.

kind of a depressing post i am aware. i could use some advice from those of you who have the mind set of everything being in time. how do you deal with it? maybe my faith isnt strong enough...to rely on God for all things...maybe that is the problem...

which one is not like the others?

2008-12-31T14:42:00.005-06:00

the answer is seemingly obvious...to the untrained taste-buds. i am a loyal coke drinking. i'll drink pepsi but i will hate it. i loooove coke products. yes, the containers which hold the harmonious liquid of heaven are all different but so is the fluid that will soon course through your digestive tract. i do NOT like plastic bottles of coke...it tastes different. canned coke is good. HOWEVER, if you want a really good coke, you have to go for the glass bottles or the fountain coke. why do they all taste different???? who knows!?!?!? it doesnt make sense. im sure if you want to get all technical about it it has something to do with the shape of the bottle and the carbonation and what not and the air exposure but seriously? it makes that big of a difference? i think something foul is at hand and someone needs to put a stop to this tragic conspiracy...someone is obviously out to ruin one form of coke after another and we must put an end to them. (ps try coke with lime or vanilla coke...also awesome)

all hail the pumpkin pie!

2008-11-27T23:42:00.004-06:00

oh thanksgiving.
it has came and went, once again.

of course, as usual, i ate way too much. i didnt eat too much at dinner...i ate too much ALL day..so when i had A bite of turkey i was already full. but of course had to top the evening off with a peice of pumpkin pie and TOOONS of whipped cream :)

i enjoyed a GREAT family football game in the front yard. it was obviously not very competitive and thats ok because im not very good. in the movies there are always these scenes of families playing football together and it seems to...perfect. thats what this football game felt like. we were laughing, show boating, it was great :) it was cold so we had our scarves on but no coats because that makes it difficult to maneuver. it was a great time :) i went for a 2 mile walk with my father-in-law (who walks that 2 miler every day) and my aunt peg. it was VERY theraputic. we just walked and watched the land and chatted casually. it was hard work though that im not used to but i was able to keep up fine :)

unfortunetly, i find myself coming down with something. i have been feeling a sore throat coming on the last few days and now im really feeling it. but thanksgiving is a time for thanksgiving!!! not complaining :)

ps if you have not heard this song, then you should be ashamed of yourself. its called suzy snowflake by venus hum. its my new favorite christmas song and it makes me soooo happy that i just sit and smile and laugh...seriously...it has power over me.

anyways, im going to keep hanging out with fam and listening to the first awakenings of christmas music and will blog more later when i dont have all my loved ones around me at one time ;)

if all else fails, i have my dreams

2008-11-23T21:22:00.003-06:00

every once in a while i get these 'brilliant' ideas to start a business. they are EVERYTHING short of brilliant in reality, i just enjoy dreaming for the heck of it. here is a few past business ideas:

-a thanksgiving restaurant. i love thanksgiving so much (and yes, i know it is this week hehe) that i would have a restaurant that everyday was thanksgiving. we would have one HUGE table and all the white people have to wear pilgrim outfits and everyone else has to wear indian outfits. this isnt racist, its the way it was and i want thanksgiving everyday so we are gonna keep it this way.

-a hayride business. my husband and i are gonna wait for my neighbors to die and buy out their lots and fence everything in. we will then give hayrides around our huge yard. we could do that now but with the size of our yard....a hayride may only take about a minute and a half.

i stumbled upon an even more genius idea tonight. i walked out to our recycling bin and there was a HUGE possum rummaging through our recycling...at first i thought it was my cat momo because it was big like her but then saw its icky tale...yelled for aaron to come rescue me and after hearing his reply "its just a possum" i manned up....or womaned up so to speak.

i yelled at it. nothing
i kicked the bin nothing

i realized, this animal isnt afraid of me! so i grabbed the handle with one hand, lifted the side of the recycling bin about 6 inches off the ground (and tried not to touch his nasty tale...which was wrapped around the other side of the handle) and let it fall to the ground with a loud thud. guess what? he looked up at me and..

nothing.

he just stared at me until i was like "possum! get out of here!" and he slowly crawled out of the recycling bin and sauntered, yes i said sauntered, off my deck and under it. he didnt run or anything! as i was watching him strut his stuff i was overcome by the desire to either catch him and bring him inside as a pet or just go up and pet him...torn by such a quick decision in such short time...i stood there and did nothing with my mouth open wide, in fear of his tale. then i realized....he is in my yard!!!

aaron and i seem to have several animals that come check out our yard...maybe its because we are cool or maybe its because they know i am scared of them and will either stay in my house fearing for my life or i will feed them. either way, they keep coming back...so why not turn this into a new business idea?

A SAFARI HAYRIDE!!!
there is a black cat, an orange cat...who seems to have the hots for my female cat, a couple squirrels who like to dig up my flowers and plant their nuts (giggle) in there, a huge dog across the street who snarls and is the size of a horse, and two funny dogs next door named bacon and eggs (my neighbors are possibly of the dirty southern descent). who wouldnt want to come to my safari hayride???

its genius...pure genius

a video is worth a 1,000 words

2008-11-14T13:46:00.003-06:00

i love taking pictures. i take my camera everywhere with me so that at the right moment in time, if i need to document something, i have it with me. i rarely leave home without it. aaron got it for me as an anniversary gift probably about 5 years ago.

my poor camera is sick. on wednesday night, i got it out to take pictures of the game that the junior high kids were playing and i am unable to view my pictures i have taken or take more pictures...i can only record crappy video. i feel even worse for my dear friend bethany. she is...i would say addicted to taking pictures. her camera spontaneously doesnt work. at least my camera can retire to my dresser because i know it wont work...but poor bethany...

i am sad beyond belief. this incident literally crushes my spirit. ugh! when i was trying to describe how i felt...i couldnt think of anything. i couldnt find any picture to describe it, and i couldnt find any words. i found a video clip...

watch here

welcome ...to...leave

2008-11-13T00:32:00.004-06:00

side note: this post is self-evaulation

---

i often feel like i get walked on. the majority of people that i have heard use the previous statement usually mean that they get taken advantage of...or used. i dont feel like people take advantage of me. if i feel someone is asking me to do a lot of things for them and they are just using me, i try and put an end to it. as soon as i realized a relationship of mine had a flaw, and that it was she who was treating me as her inferior, i put a stop to her being allowed to think that way. where i feel 'walked on' is in a bit of a different arena. i let people not care what i think. i dont say the things that people want to hear...i stick up for what i believe in...i do not stick up for what i think. for me, those are two different things. i can stick up for my faith, what i believe the role of music is in church, and what i know my role is as a youth group sponsor. BUT...i cannot sitck up for what i think when it comes to you saying something hurtful and hurting my feelings or i would rather do something else with my afternoon than you...however i wont tell you because i am the easy going relaxed one who just goes with it and doesnt seem to care what we do.

how is it that i can defend my beliefs but not what i think?

i can tell someone if i have an issue with them and be straight up about it. however, i cant just spill to someone how i feel on something...i have to be asked and then again, i doubt you actually care. i feel unlistened to. like if i were to desperatly need to talk about something, you wouldnt care because you have better things to do and im not dare going to bug you with it unless i know you really want to hear it. is this a female mind game? im not sure....hmm...

if someone pisses me off because they did something against their or my beliefs, i make sure we talk. but if they royally insult me...i probably wont say a thing.

im just a door mat...always saying welcome and openly giving the invitation to be walked on. kind of a lonely feeling...thinking that maybe what you feel isnt as important as what everyone else feels...and then...thinking you dont have anyone to share that with.

at least i have my trusty blog ;)

Obama Nation

2008-11-07T08:23:00.002-06:00

this post was originally posted on facebook and was written by clayton wheeler and i couldnt help but spread this note he wrote.

On November 4 2008 I found myself in an emergency room where my roommate had just gone after he disslocated his knee cap, as we were waiting so was the rest of the nation for who was going to be the next commander and chief. When the results came in that Obama was president it didn't surprise me, I had picked him to win earlier last week from what I had seen in the recent poles and early voting. Once he came on I couldn't help but look at those in the crowd hanging on every word that he said as if he were a prophet, it looked like the beginning of a Coldplay Concert only it was just one man who had a few words to say about his long campaign and the future of this nation.

I couldn't help but notice how many people are so hopeful in this man, it's like all our problems are solved and all it took was getting this one man in office. Is this true? Can this man be the savior of this nation? I feel as though all these people in that crowd felt this way, they had this feeling that this man has all the answers to this country's problems. Does he? How can one man solve everything or has one man already solved everything?

As someone who has watched this campaign all year I must say I have been the most dissipointed in the Christians, there the one's who are out there waving there flag and bumper sticker of choice as if we need someone else to save us. My question to them would be isn't Jesus enough, now I don't want you all the think that you shouldn't be concerned with politics the fact is that you should but for a Christian keep your motives in check. We do not live or die by the vote, we live or die by our following of Jesus yes Jesus is still the answer. Another thing is that you need to understand that God has allowed this to happen for a reason and sometimes our will isn't always God's, I believe that all 43 presidents before Obama were appointed by God for some reason and with that Said God has chosen Obama to lead the United States for the next 4 plus years.

I want to leave with the words of the most righteous Woman I know she is my Mom of course, in light of the events she talked to me about them today. She first said that there has never been this great of an African American turn out at any election why? Cause they never felt that they had anyone to vote for, I mean let's look at it how have we treated minority's in the past? You know we talk about looking after the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed and I must say that we failed especially in the 50's through 70"s in how we treated the minority's. I praise God for speaking through a man like Dr King who said that according to Jesus this is wrong and something must be done, God used Dr King because of his passion and drive and finally I believe the U.S.A. has broken down some huge walls by electing it's first Black President and for that I congratulate President elect Barack Obama just like my mom congratulated her African American Friend earlier today.

Now my challenge to all Christians is that you would pray for Barack Obama as he leads this country, and that God may use him to do the things that he wants this country to do.

Grace and Peace be with you.

C-Dub

a dose of warm and fuzzy

2008-10-24T13:01:00.006-05:00

i consider myself a movie buff. i love movies. aaron and i have a growing collection and we thoroughly enjoy quoting, watching, and listening to movies. we think, eat, and breathe ....well...thoughts, food, and air but movies are in there too.

one lazy afternoon, aaron and i headed to a movie store because they had this sign in the window that they were having this HUGE movie sale. that is the moment my life changed.

i was introduced the the independent film industry (aka indie films). one word. amazing. the movie we bought for about $3 is called 'little miss sunshine'. it is by far my favorite movie. the indie films ARE NOT 'hollywood-ized'. they tell the story like it is and...from what ive seen...are pretty clean. i could watch little miss sunshine over and over and never get sick of it. its beautiful. every character just sucks you into their individual life and you can relate with each one. whether its olive who is desperatly trying to be this beauty queen but who is just your average, chubby little 10 year old or sheryl who struggling to keep her family a float and the marriage is on the rocks with the husband. each character has something you will fall in love with...i cannot pick one favorite because they all are. the music is creative and different but absolutely fantastic. the camera work is awesome...all the angles they take and the quality is great.

ive fallen in love with indie films the moment that olive was mimicking the beauty queens on her tv (for a reference for those of you who have no seen it...its in the credits in the beginning). i was thrilled to see my second indie film. 'lars and the real girl'. FABULOUS! if you are going to watch it though, stick with it. it seems like the will take the movie somewhere crass but they never do. its completely innocent and beautiful. the movie will make you laugh hysterically and cry like there is no tomorrow all in one box. again, the music is great in this movie too.

again, i love movies. i have never loved a movie more than these indie films ive seen ('once' is also great but im not going to sit here and list all of the indie movies ive ever seen). im relieved to have found these movies. they are clean and amazing and i wont get sick of them. it makes me sigh with relief that someone finally got it...they got what makes a good movie. if you have ever seen the three amgios...when ned is telling his story about dorothy gish to all the mexican kids, at the end he goes, 'and she looked at me and said, "son...you have got it." and .........UH!!!...' thats what i want to do in that moment....but i usually have a facial expression that resembles this young man below...

learnin me some lessons

2008-10-14T12:05:00.003-05:00

(note: the picture to the left was taken by johanna rubsam, a good friend of mine, a nomad, and a beautiful photographer :D )

my life is filled with the hussle and bussle that is popular amongst americans. we get up and go to work...some of us slave over our jobs and some of us simply 'act' or 'look' busy until it is finally 5 pm and time to go home. is there time for a sit down dinner at the table? no. we have to be somewhere by 7 and we have to stay there until 9 or 10pm. when we get home, do we sit at talk at the table? no. we are too tired and simply plop down in front of the tv to just sit and relax or we go to bed.

this is life...for the majority of us.

i have recently found that i look back on past experiences with undescribable feelings. i remember what it was like living somewhere or dealing with a certain situation and i FEEL differently about it looking back, then i remember feeling in the moment. i would like to start doing more of this 'reflecting time'. i think journaling could be a great idea...to be able to look back, read what i wrote and reflect. i want more opporunities to just 'be'. where i just sit and soak up life. i feel like its going by too fast and i am taking it for grantide.

my political rant

2008-10-06T16:52:00.002-05:00

so here we are, once again, looking towards another presidential election. i firmly believe that this can bring out the worst in people.

*this note is ABSOLUTELY NOOOOT about who you are voting for...it is about ignorant, blanket statements.

i am very open and honest about who i will vote for. this november i will be voting for senator obama. i do not care who you are voting for. this is the man i think will run our country the best. this note is NOT open for you to debate me. we all have our differences in opinions and the thing that frustrates me is when others decide to not respect that. a friend of mine is an avid senator mccain supporter. thats fine. i do not understand why he would vote for him after the research i've done but that is his choice. just as he may not understand why i would see that senator obama is fit to run our country.

here are a few cases of things i am sick and tired of. im sorry if you feel insulted if you realize a comment you have made to me is in this note but you insulted me horribly.

case #1
a young lady asked me one evening who i was voting for in the upcoming election and i said i would be voting for senator obama. she remarked 'my grandma says that if you are a christian then you will for for mccain'. oh really? i didnt know christians voted for a certain party....so since i am voting for obama, am i not a christian?...i beg to differ

case #2
im not sure this woman new i was voting differently then her but the point was just made that some people standing out by a street were mccain supporters (because of their signs they were holding) and she made the remark that people who vote against mccain are stupid.
im sorry but i dont consider myself stupid. maybe watch what you say next time because that is a very broad statement. i am voting obama but i would not say that someone who votes for mccain is STUPID. the man i mentioned earlier is VERY smart and he is voting for mccain...so for me to call him stupid would be....inaccurate...wouldnt

you say? we only have a difference of opinions.

case #3
another young lady asked me where i stood with the upcoming election. i opted not to talk about but she kept pushing saying 'its not a big deal' and 'im just curious'. when responding that i would be voting for senator obama, she retaliated exclaiming 'he is the anti-christ!' and 'christians dont vote for him!'.

maybe im being too sensitive but i hardly think so

my father in law and i had a very diverse poltical view in the LAST election and we would sit down and talk about it. both of us respected each other's views and we learned from each other. since when do people get off not being able to just sit and talk? im tired of people always shoving their political views down my throat when all i want to do is talk. dont yell at me about what you believe and dont believe. it doesnt convince me to your side it makes me mad at YOU.

fin

dust in the wind

2008-09-23T08:53:00.002-05:00

generally my life consists of some big moments that really make me sit back and ponder things. lately...there has not been much intense pondering going on. i have been a lot of little quick snippets of things that seem to mean a lot...but maybe dont. re-occuring randoms if you will. my mind is just everywhere at once and it seems like every little thing is a big deal but sometimes i feel the need to blog because it feels good...so here it is...

i bought this caramel drizzle coffee...it tastes great with some sugar and some french vanilla cream but it also smells MIND BLOWING

i got these new wicked awesome glasses and im really enjoying them

christmas is almost here :) i didnt really do any decorating at our apartment last year so i am suuuuuper excited to decorate this year :) we have a tree and ill get to put that up, put up ornaments, rearrange ornaments because my cats keep playing with them, and probably put the tree back up because momo jumps into the tree...or something to that effect.

i got more hours at my job which is great because i LOVE where i work. i have been working at allstate insurance for the last year and a half but the last 6 months i have been at an office here in lafayette. i love my boss and my co-worker, for the most part, is awesome pretty much all the time. we are all women and none of us do the petty gossip thing, which is great! at least i dont and neither does my boss...so nothing goes anywhere if someone does throw out a comment :)

for a while i was feeling unfinished about only doing 2 years of college. i kept feeling guilty...or like i didnt have closure yet because there was still 2 years to go to get my bachelor degree. i think some of it is that no one in my family has ever graduated college and my parents put a lot of pressure on me to 'finish'. i feel like i have let them down. however, i have just come to terms with the fact that i love my job, i want to be a stay at home mom when we have babies, and i love being a wife that has the time to clean the house, cook the meals, and take care of her family. i kept telling myself that i needed to find what i wanted to do in college and go back to school but why? to spend another $20,000 in debt, have my 'dream career', to only quit my job when i have kids and then go back to work to work full time so we can have more money because obviously that buys happiness? i dont think so. i will quote michael scott from the office when he says 'mo money, mo problems'. well put.

i really enjoy taking pictures. there is something liberating to it. i am getting more and more into. it feels like a fire. when i want to take a really awesome picture, and i take about 50 pictures of the same thing and ONE turns out spectacular, its like a high almost. i want more of that. i have dabbled in photoshop before and dont really know anything about it but i have been playing with it more and more. i love it. the more i take pictures and edit them the more i want to do it. sometimes its all i can think about. i am begining to look at everything at different angles and thinking 'that would be a cool picture' or 'how can i make that thing look unordinary with an angle of my camera?'. its like those two thinkings are becoming branded in my mind. again, it feels like a drug. when i find something cool to take a picture of, i cant get it out of my head. two weekends ago, our youth worship band from ECC lead worship at another church in downtown lafayette. it is very old school and i decided to park a ways down and just walk the sidewalk a little before church. as im walking, i saw this AMAZING alley. it is brick and really worn out but really pretty. i just want to go and take pictures of it. thousands of pictures!!!! so anywho, sounds awesome right? well...here is something weird to chew on. when something pops into my head to take a picture of it...sometimes it makes me look stupid. here i am busting out my camera and turning upside down, blah blah blah and it looks....frankly...kind of weird i guess. aaron seems to understand it and generally thinks they look pretty neat but i dont think my other friends get it. if i say 'that would be a cool picture' they tend to look at me like im smoking something. sometimes that inhibits me. all of a sudden i feel like im doing something super weird. to say i like taking pictures is a big statement for me. when someone says that, people automatically assume they are good and if you arent...they scoff. i put my 'artsy attempts' on facebook....that was a brave move for me.

friday's agenda at the office

2008-08-29T11:52:00.010-05:00

the friday before labor day weekend...i have been calling people today for appointments but no one picks up their phones because guess what? they are all leaving for vacations and what not. i am sitting here in my office doing NOTHING....boring. so i am going to blog about the things i do to pass the time today...

8:30am-12:00pm...i was actually busy doing office stuff....amazing
12:01pm...ate lunch/facebooked/answered one or two calls
12:47pm...sat in my chair staring around the room singing macho man
12:53pm...looked up pretzels on wikipedia...it was actually fairly interesting for some reason check it out
12:57pm...busted out some french onion dip to munch on along with some chips/pretzels (i loooooove french onion dip)
1:05pm...called random places to find neutral/organic floor cleaner for my boss (no luck by the way)
1:20pm...banged my elbow really hard on my desk
1:30pm...looked up cool optical illusions on the internet
1:51pm...found organic floor cleaner at menards (those people are good workers. please refer to lucas' blog about the menards workers here)
3:05pm...looked at scrapbooking magazines
3:30pm...checked out cool vacation spots. a few i found were: myrtle beach, wisconsin dells, maine would be kinda cool i bet, vegas just because ive never been there, somewhere in florida..yeah...havent been there either...and stuff...who knows)

hidden treasures

2008-08-24T23:32:00.002-05:00

so to answer any questions that may have already risen into your mind, in the picture to the left, the love seat is in fact hanging from a tree...yeah...great.

i love living in lafayette
its such a great town and im really glad we ended up coming out here

i have found something strange about this town. it seems like every town has a personality of its own. we used to live in valpo and that is a very nice town. it is full of pretty buildings in the downtown area along with history. its a very clean town and most of the houses in that area are nice looking. there is also my hometown, union mills. it is about 20 mins outside of valpo and is a farm community. we are a small town but most of the houses are decent and everyone is really friendly and knows everyone.

now onto lafayette...hmmm where to start. it is about the size of valpo and is a college town. over all it is your average looking city with a side of town (south side) that is a newly developed area and there is the other side (north side) that is the historic area and has many older homes where people have lived for 30+ years in some cases. so overall, lafayette is your average city.....to the untrained eye!

every once in a while aaron and i will take a walk around our neighborhood. say hi to the people sitting on their porches, discuss the different tastes in landscaping, laugh, and just chat about life. a couple weeks ago we noticed that a couple houses down, our neighbor has a recliner on their porch. that is the classic hillbilly thing to do if you ask me. for some reason...i find it really intriguing. i decided to start some kind of scrapbook devoted to the white-trashiness secrets of lafayette. weird? yeah...but its gonna be a sweet scrapbook. this scrapbook will not be limited to couches/recliners on porches or in front yards either.

there is a gas station here that aaron and i stopped at on our way out of town. there were basically no snacks except pork skins and some chocolate skittles. besides the small snack area, the rest of the GAS STATION was a hunting gear shop. above the entrance of the gas station.....just to remind you again...this is a GAS STATION...there were animals heads and various turkeys stuffed on the wall. yep...that will be in the scrapbook too.

this is how i roll...

2008-08-20T13:37:00.006-05:00

-----

so all who know me, know that i like to get a little crazy on occasion. i really enjoy stupid fun, stupid movies, and funny quotes that dont make any sense! somedays i have to remind myself that i love my life...i think everyone does. when i need a little pick-me-up...i usually look at some funny pictures with friends and remember how awesome my friends are and how much i love them. sometimes i watch a funny movie because its okay to be entertained! and sometimes i read funny quotes because they dont have to make sense to be awesome.

here are some stupid things that make me giddy with joy:...

movies

-three amigos

-meet the robinsons

-anchorman

-dumb and dumber

-the grinch with jim carrey

-father of the bride part 1 and 2

-the office, arrested development, family guy, the simpsons, and adult swim (yes i know these are not movies...i am fully aware that they are tv shows)

funny moments with friends

-pretty much anytime aaron and i hangout something stupid funny happens and that is why he is my best friend...cuz he's the most fun

-the time becky's tea pot peed everywhere

-the silver box organizer in me and bethany's room that was taped together, always fell apart, and yet we insisted on keeping the coffee pot that leaked on the top shelf above delp's bibles and school books.....smart? maybe not so much

-the after-midnight beaded curtain massacre of room 219

-kendra's old ford tempo that was rusting into oblivion

funny quotes (WARNING: some of these have been stolen from random people's facebook pages but they are way too awesome for me to not post here)

-" I love the Olympics. It makes me feel so patriotic or something. like, man, i'm so glad i'm not from any of those other countries!" (jaclyn fross' fb)

-" The only reason miley cyrus doesn't have good reviews on itunes is because 7 year olds don't know how to work a computer!!" (jaclyn fross' fb)

-the day i listen to a cat is the day im clinically insane (aaron, my amazing husband)

-*laying on the beach in cancun mexico* i know that money doesnt buy happiness but this is happy enough for me (justin arkkelin)

-anytime 'thats what she said' is used is going to be hysterical...unless you arent good at it ....(thats what she said)

-tarzan can't get killed by cobras, he's friends with all the animals (my little brother ethan)

-*after a long day at the office doing online classes*terry: if i had a bag of meth, crack, and cocaine, i would take them all at once

-*talking about plato's closet*'dont you think that place smells like nails?' (allie)

-it would be sad if one day i was thrown into a mental institution and i found out that all of my friends werent real (me)

-i am the grand pooba of game cube (tanner ashby)

random things that make me happy

-long talks with my dad

-watching lost with aaron

-eating tacos and drinking a cold coke

-going for a walk through my neighborhood and scoping other people's landscaping

-white chocolate mochas from starbucks, espress yourself, or veinna in w. lafayette

-being excited for weekend plans on friday afternoon

-a new pair of socks

-going shopping

-the bob marley drink (i loooove the green!)

-taking pictures

-limes, pineapples, and kiwis are really cute fruits

-working in the yard really hard

-a good 80's song on the radio that i know all the words too

-the thought of going to heaven someday

all grown up and no where to go

2008-08-13T11:21:00.004-05:00

so lately, i have been feeling old. and by old, i mean older.

i was just sitting here the other day and realized that i am going to be 22 next month. weird. i know that isnt old by any means but im getting closer to my mid-twenties. aaron will be 24 in october. the closer i get to 30, the weirder life gets for me.

when i look back over the years i dont feel any different. sure i pay my own bills now, am married, own a house, and live 2 hours away from my parents but i still feel like the same person 5 years ago. i still enjoy going to steak n shake at 2am with friends, laughing until my nose bleeds, watching family guy, and doing pointless nothings until all hours of the nights. i hope i never change those things. i want to stay who i am until im 80.

its rare that you meet an old person who still acts like they are 25. i love those people. i met this older lady a little while ago...i think she was about 65 or 70 and she had the sense of humor of a 25 year old. she was hilarious! usually i am uncomfortable around older people because i feel like we have to talk about cross-stitching, flowery clothing patterns, or old-school blue grass bands. im not going to be one of those old ladies. i can honestly say one of my best friends is a lady named kathy. she is 50 but i connect with her just like my college friends. im going to be an old fogie like that, who can still swing with the youngins ;) the only thing i will change, is at one point, i will probably have to change my style of dress a little...but we'll see what i feel like around 60. i will do what i want!

LOST...in thought...

2008-07-30T15:43:00.005-05:00

my random take on anything i feel like taking on...

numero uno

lost is the friggin best show ever! i am soo obssessed :) if im just sitting around and im kind of bored or i am at work not doing tons then i start thinking, 'oh my gosh...i could totally watch lost when i get home!!!' then it makes my day all better. there are so many of the characters i really like that it seems like every 5 seconds i am telling aaron 'yeah, shes my favorite' lol. so right now...my top few fav are claire, charlie, sun, siyed, locke, hurley, and im even starting to like sawyer sometimes. so yeah...even though i cant stand shannon, i did cry when she died...it was a bleak affair *sniff sniff*

numero dos

we are leaving for our glorious trip to cancun, mexico in 4 days!! i am beyond pumped about it :) the past few weeks have just been insane and busy and i am sooo ready for a break. really looking forward to spending some time on the beach, drinking margaritas, sleeping in a really nice hotel room, and hanging out with friends and family. there is also this disco at the hotel and i know how stupid it sounds but i am totally pumped to go and get down with my bad self lol. those are just ripe opportunities for the picking to be stupid and have a lot of laughs with some fun friends.

aaron's brother is getting married there and that is why we are going and their wedding is going to be beautiful! everything has been picked out to match and it will look really nice. i am also looking forward to the reception back here in the states.

after work today, i am going to do a little shopping and pick out a few cute shirts to take with me...which leads into my third numero...

numero tres

i love shopping. there is just something about getting a new shirt or pair of jeans that make me know i look good! some people take it too far and think they need new clothes all the time to get this feeling, i DO NOT. although my husband may want to differ, i am not nearly as bad as the majority of girls. i used to, but not in a looong time. i can count on one hand the number of times i have went shopping in the last year and bought clothes for myself.

anywho, point being, i am getting a few new clothing items for cancun and it helps me be excited about it. i have been talking with all of my female family members about what we are wearing and such and the guys stand around with this complex look on their faces trying to figure out why we need new clothes for a big event. WE JUST DO!!! its how it goes :) if we are going somewhere new or a different big thing, we have to KNOW we look friggin awesome in our new outfit! so to my husband: thank you for understanding and letting me shop tonight, i love you so much!!! ps dont look at my receipts $$$ ;)

when words arent enough

2008-07-16T00:36:00.004-05:00

i am so incredibly exhausted i do not have the energy to really "blog" persay. so instead, i am going to take a different route. pictures say more than words to me sometimes. i was sitting here just thinking about how i am feeling right now and realized i feel a very similiar feeling, INEVITABLY every winter. it comes time for the annual punishment of untangling the christmas lights. i have never felt more frustrated with such a seemingly simple task. you pull one way to make it better and it wrenches the other side into a worse knot. no matter what you do it gets worse. you have to freakin work at those things for HOURS and by that point, christmas is over! guess what? you missed the whoooole thing because of stupid christmas lights! you messed with them sooo much that you missed the good part....tisk tisk. should have just pitched the messed up ones and moved on and got either new lights from the store (which you would probably end up throwing away next year anyways) or had a natural tree with no lights....because real pine trees are not made with lights on them...just fyi incase anyone was confused.

....this blog turned out longer than i thought it would...

....this all represents something bigger that i will get into at a later time when the energy and patience is present.....

the diary of your dog/cat

2008-07-10T10:39:00.001-05:00

Okay...so this isnt usually what I write notes about but my aunt posted this on our family page and I just thought it was too funny to keep to myself! Enjoy!

DOG DIARY

7:00 AM - Outside! My favorite thing!
8:00 AM - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 AM - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 AM - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 AM - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
2:00 PM - Looked out the window and barked! My favorite thing!
3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
4:00 PM - Chased a bird out of the tree! My favorite thing!
5:00 PM - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
6:00 PM - Watched my people eat! My favorite thing!
6:20 PM - Table scraps! My favorite thing!
7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed
hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I
nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.
The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their
feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly
demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made
condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am.
Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was
placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.
However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my
confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this
means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my
tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try
this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.

The dog continues to receive special privileges. He is regularly released
and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously brain washed beyond hope.

robot musical

2008-06-29T22:53:00.002-05:00

i know i am not the only one

most people seem to go through their church services not thinking about what they are singing

last weekend at church i was helping lead worship and i was trying to really make a point of REALLY listening to what i was singing. now dont get me wrongs, i have no problems with hymns....i stand corrected, MOST hymns. some of them, yes i have a problem with. what the heck (or should i say hark...bad joke...sorry) are they saying!?!?!? why should we have to decipher old english in order to understand what we are saying to Jesus...why cant we just say it to Him??? anywho, there are some hymns that i really like (the ones that one can understand). aaaaanyways. the other weekend we sang 'how great thou art' for the millionth time. i have all the words memorized and usually just blow through it to get to the 'good songs'. while i was singing, of course im not paying attention and then i sang the last chorus.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Wow...when i sang that...it blew me away. when i sang the part that says 'and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart' i dont think i have ever wanted to explode with so much joy in my entire life.

good stuff yo

conflict in our church

2008-06-16T08:31:00.004-05:00

i am pumped. in an earlier note i talked about how it has been a looooong dry spell of not reading my bible. well i am back on it! i know its not a big deal but i have 3 days straight reading my bible everyday and God is truly blessing me with it. im finding my fire for wanting to read it and be closer to him burning but unquenchable none-the-less. however, this unquenchable-ness makes me want it more. its been awesome.

i decided to kick-start this bible reading thing i would go through some of my favorite books of the bible to get me pumped up for it. so right now i am going through the book of james...next with be 1 and 2 timothy (also really good).

aaaanywho. last night in james i was going through james 3. vs. 17-18 just hit me like a ton of bricks!!! i read them several times rolling each word over in my head trying to figure out what james meant. the verses read like this:

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness

it made me think of how we handle issues in the church. i dont get to handle issues since i am not a pastor or even on staff but it made me think of our staff at our church. it also made me think of my dad. my dad is good at handling issues in the church. when ever there is a major conflict that needs to be dealt with my dad is always called in kind of as a mediator (he used to be an elder but stepped down). i had always wondered what made my dad different from all of the other people involved in the conflict that he would be called to be a mediator and then i read this verse. my dad handles things in churches by this verse. i have always felt like i am a good mediator as well and i have always thought i was good at being impartial but i have found that i am not as good at it as my dad is.

the last verse though is very thought provoking..."peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."....

hmm...

welcome back

2008-06-12T22:27:00.002-05:00

so i got motivated and read my Bible tonight. i decided to start with one of my favorites books, James (close 2nd being 1 Timothy). so anywho. there are a few interesting things to take from what i read tonight that i want to write down so i dont forget...

james 1:6 'but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.'

so the saying 'actions speak louder than words'...does that apply for my relationship with God too? no matter how much money we dont have at the moment we continue to tithe because that is what God tells us to do. the woman in the Bible who dropped all that she had in there was praised by Jesus...so shouldn't i follow her example? even when i dont feel like i trust God and i flat out question Him...when we keep tithing....he keeps supplying when we are in need.

james 1:12 'blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.'

that verse makes me think of several friends of mine who were really growing in their faith's and then just stopped when it became up to them to stand on their own two feet with it

james 1:27 'religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.'

im not really sure what i think about this but something is brewing. i feel like this verse has soooo much more to say than its face value but i am going to ponder it for a while until something comes to mind.

down in the dirt

2008-06-11T08:31:00.002-05:00

so ever since we bought our house we have been working out in the yard. whether it is pulling weeds, mowing the lawn and raking up all the dead grass, getting rid of stuff the previous owners left that we HATE or just making my husband move all the really heavy bricks from one side of the yard to the other and deciding they shouldnt go over there and having him move them back. i love working in the yard. i dont mind some really hard work and getting my hands dirty but i have not found anything more rewarding than working in the yard. we work really hard breaking this massive stinky sweat. we get calusses. we are so exhausted when we go inside that we can barely keep our eyes open but when its done it looks sooooo nice :) i weeded out this huge area of our yard last night with my dearest friend angie. it looks kickin! im very happy we were able to get it all done (and glad for the company since aaron is gone this week at camp). i only have a little mroe weeding to do and then i think i can plant some flowers in different spots...and im really looking forward to that :D

**the cat picture has nothing to do with this post, its just awesome

literal bob is inspiring...

2008-06-05T12:54:00.002-05:00

...and by inspiring i mean 'makes me want to punch him in the face'. one of me and aaron's very good friends and mentor, pastor bob, has affectionately been given the nickname 'literal bob'. he takes everything literally. you make a jokes, literal bob was raise his ugly head and explain to you why a chicken would never cross a road because chickens aren't raised in cities where there are such things as roads....oh no! chickens are raised on farms and so hey would have crossed a dirty trail maybe but not a road. that was an example of literal bob.

however, the disease i have no come to call it 'literalfashitis' is a fast paced every growing disease. one minute you can detect it easily amongst friends and co-workers and before you know it you have become infected with it. all of a sudden you are taking everything literally and other people are now commenting on you instead of your friend literal bob. i am not in denial, i have become infected with this disease.

here is a little 'literal sonia' for you:::

the other day i was thinking...cliches are the weirdest things. it boggles my mind how some of them were come up with. for instance...it seems that the most used cliches is 'beating around the bush'...what does that mean!?!?!? did somebody literal beat a bush??? it never died so they just kept going around and beating it and it just wouldn't die so when you dont get to the point that is where it comes from!?!?!?!?!!?!?!

FIN

pregnant in swaziland

2008-06-02T15:50:00.003-05:00

mark and kay (their website) are missionaries that came and spoke at our youth group party last night. they are from swaziland, africa and the stories they had to tell were pretty awesome. they are doing REALLY great work in africa and i am totally interested in supporting them for what they do.

they were talking last night about how swaziland has the highest percentage of HIV infected people in the world. it was really sad. in 2004 it was 43% of the nations, 1 million population is infected. 70,000 children in swaziland have been single and double orphaned and are supporting themselves and also their siblings. that is tragic. mark and kay told us that .25% of the government's budget goes to HIV awareness and protection. the one thing that mark and kay have noticed they do is leave out bowls/baskets of free condoms in public areas...but they DO NOT try and change the behavior; just promote 'safe sex'. they have NO form of sex education either. as much as the HIV percentages made me sad...it was the fact that they have no sex education that made me furious.

heres something to think about...

kay told us she met a 'young' lady (the median age there is 18 and and elder would be considered 33) who was pregnant with her 6th child!!! and get this, she still had no clue how she got pregnant! she thought it was something that she caught....

how would that be to keep getting pregnant, know you cannot take care of another child because of the extreme poverty, and never know how it happened...?

halloween 24/7

2008-05-23T22:19:00.005-05:00

are there somedays where you wake up and feel like you are not how other people see you? i had this really interesting 'God moment' the other day. i was sitting at youth group listening to our speaker and looking around the room. while he was talking, i was feeling guilty. what he was talking about was waaaay too close to home for me. i sat there feeling guilty and looking around the room at all these junior high kids, who i know respect who i am and some of the girls who really look up to me. 'if they knew' i kept thinking. i felt guiltier and guiltier as the night on....like i was lying to people about who i was/am. i just kept thinking 'you are lying to people! look at this! you did this and you pretend you didn't!' and really felt like i was beating myself up about it...then it hit me for the first time in my life exactly what forgiveness is all about! it was like a flood of emotion that all of a sudden God pushed out every single thought that satan was discouraging me with and telling me that i am forgiven. those things i was pretending 'didnt happen'....in His eyes....basically didnt. although im sure i will have to account for those someday (which im prepared to do....i hope....i could feel different once facing God but we'll see how it goes) they have been washed away. i know that probably sounds crazy because i have grown up in the church my whole life and i definitely understood forgiveness.....but i feel like....now i understand forgiveness....it was such a great feeling! now every time i feel guilty for something in the past, i can push it out of my mind but not because i dont want to think about it but because i dont have to.

.................the other little half of this post......................

i need some suggestions. i have been/am guilty of using the phrase 'i dont read my Bible as much as i should'.....that is basically a flat out lie for a couple reasons. numero uno: its not that i should read my Bible, its that i read my Bible. it is a privalege that a lot of people dont have and i should take advantage of that! numero dos: its not that i dont read my Bible 'as much as i should'...umm...basically i dont read my Bible. that is horrible! not because its the 'Christian thing to do' and 'im supposed to read my Bible everyday to be a good Christian' but that is my way to God and i still dont take advantage of that. there was a time in college (i believe my freshman year) where for a few months i read my Bible every morning. it was the most uplifting time of my college days, honestly. i could feel a difference just in my mood and how i viewed my day if i missed a day or ended up having to push back my quiet time a little. i can honestly say i haven't had a 'routine' since then...that was like 2 years ago...how sad.

my need for suggestions here comes into play now: i dont know where to start. i want to get back into reading my Bible but im not really sure how to get back into the routine. i do know one thing though, i get more out of and pay more attention to reading smaller 'snippets' than lengthy passages. any suggestions of where to start???

*i would miss you...

2008-05-20T07:56:00.002-05:00

one of my best friends from high school recently had a tragedy strike her family. she lost one of her younger brothers (James, 14) in a train vs. car accident. its really sad, especially since he was only 14 and hadn't experienced life to the fullest yet. i would not say that this thing has hit me hard. yes i've known him a long time...since about 5th grade when christine and i started getting really close through softball but i wasn't ever really close with him either (i was closer to her youngest brother, Ryan). however, whenever someone i know dies, it causes me to 'evaluate my life' so to speak. i start looking at each person i love and just being thankful that they are here.

the other day i was just thinking 'what must that feel like?'. a brother is so special in so many ways. the one that was born to be your best friend and the person who is almost most naturally like you is gone. it would be like losing your other half. i tried to imagine what it would be like to lose my own brother and i don't know what i would do with myself. i love my little brother (now 18) more than life itself. he has been a best friend my whole life. we spent hours playing outside and i would even make him play barbies with me (even though he usually used GI Joes and would kill my barbies or start some kind of mass war....whatev). all those memories are soooo powerful. i dont care what he has done, i love him so much and would do anything for him. i am so happy and blessed to have such an awesome brother who cares so much about me. he will just send me random text messages saying 'thanks for being such a great sister' and telling me he loves me. who could ask for a better sibling???

random memories:::

-the time ethan ate a garlic vitamin because dad and i told him it was chewable

-our fort in the woods behind our house where we would play until dark after school everyday

-saving the giant buffalo from being thrown away in the garbage

-random late night trips to steak n' shake and baskin robbins

-playing our NEW super nintendo for 3 days with no food and barely any sleep

-'freaking out' in the car on the way home/'rapping out' to crappy music

-christmas eve mac n' cheese while watching christmas story

-holding him when he was a brand new baby. i 'bought' him a little alligator that opened its mouth when you squeezed his tummy. i was the proudest big sister in the whole world! i loved holding him and helping mom feed him.

-dressing him up in potato head jewlery, baby doll clothes, and girlie tea hats ;)

scary responsibilities

2008-05-01T21:42:00.003-05:00

so the other day, i went out shopping with a couple girls from our junior high youth group. i had been thinking for a little while about doing some kind of purity/self-image study with a couple girls from the junior high and when we went shopping those girls said the same thing. they said they wanted to do something like that.

so i've been trying to think about what study would be good. i think going through this book would be awesome. it deals a lot with how they view themselves and how they view sexuality in this point in their lives vs. how the boys view it. this is kind of how i viewed that it would work (of course I am into interpretation via God hehe): we would go through the book and meet every week/every other week but do a chapter a week. if the girls were consistently going, i would get them each a promise ring and make kind of a big deal of them getting it and getting their cards...maybe we would all get really dressed up and go out to dinner and i would tell them about it as a surprise or something. the thing is, if they dont really participate, i dont want to "waste" my money in buying them something like a purity ring if they didn't do the course to really understand what it means.

i need thoughts/ideas, please comment!

weak stomachs shant read this!!!!

2008-04-30T21:33:00.004-05:00

so recently, aaron and i have been very blessed but cursed at the same time...its been really interesting.

long story short, someone we know through a good friend GAVE US his timeshare in the cayman islands (pictured left)! all we had to do was pay the processing fee and now we can swap timeshares and travel anywhere in the world without paying for a hotel...how awesome?!?!?!? so that was a huuuuuge blessing. aaron is sooo busy with stuff at the church that i dont feel like i get to see him much but at the end of our day when we are both tired so it will be nice to have somewhere nice to go on vacation every year :) we also bought our house last month and we loooove living here. we just put in a little pond in the backyard, bought our first lawn mower and i bought some flower seeds that i am looking forward to planting once it gets a little warmer out. we are also REALLY looking forward to going on a mini-vacation with our really great friends tyler and jenny next month to missouri. we are going to get to see a lot of our very close friends graduate so that will be awesome too. we got our passports for our trip to cancun in august for my brother-in-law and his fiance's wedding so that will be great. there is definitely a lot to look forward to. i also am looooving my job. my boss is great and i have never enjoyed a job more. i also really like my co-workers, they are so much fun to hangout with.

however, i have experienced some horrible "revenge" the past few days. maybe the universe is mad because things have been going so well for us that it decided i needed to be punished. so if you have a weak stomach, stop reading now.

the universe's evil plot to stain my grateful time of bliss began saturday night. there i was with my husband, having some papa johns (uguguggugug....tasty *drool*). so i was tired, went to bed. little did i know, i was doomed. i woke up at about 2am and was on the commode until 4am!!!!! lets just say it was taking the back door ;) so anywho, after that grueling ordeal (not only the raw seering pain but an embarrassing first for my new marriage. then on monday night, i decided to have re-heats of my pizza (not thinking it was the pizza that made me sick) and i woke up at 4am puking...(also a first for my new marriage). so the past few nights, not getting so much sleep at my prime REM cycle. so today (wednesday) at 6am I wake up so a hoooorrible pain my shoulder (long story short: i hurt it several years ago in a horseback riding incident and have problems with it that are ongoing) so I have to go to the chiropractor because I can't even move it without pain. so it is still a little sore but muuuuuch better after the doc checked it out. finally, i sit down to have a nice dinner of grilled cheese and chocolate milk and BAMB my stomach begins to churn and it hits me like a ton of bricks...i think i'm lactose-intolerant (which is basically a death sentence considering my favorite food is cheese).

so i am very mixed up at this point in my life. cayman islands or runny poops for the rest of my life; new house or perm. shoulder pain; great job i love and a vaca in cancun or nasty puking....hmmmmm....

fathers and daughters

2008-04-05T21:31:00.007-05:00

there is a very special bond between a father and a daughter. i cannot even begin to explain it in words. i have always looked up to my dad. whatever he did, i would do. (i.e. he would tap a cracker or a cookie on his plate to knock the crumbs off so they wouldn't get on his shirt...i would do the same; he'd sigh after taking a long drink of ice water...so i did too; if he began to be interested in a new hobby...i tried to follow and learn about it so we could talk about "our new hobby". my dad and i did hit a rough patch for a couple years but that is long behind us now. i have always seen my dad as a very wise man. i can always look to him for wisdom and it is a privilege for me to listen to his many many insightful thoughts. he is a man that will stand for what he believes is right no matter what other people say or think. he is a natural leader. he is a man who fears God. i have always felt admiration towards my dad but tonight i felt a new feeling for him. he emailed me his sermon he is working on at church. long story short...there are situations going on that he is not happy about how they are playing out (i've heard the stories and i totally agree with him). his sermon is called "is the church a safe place". i told him earlier, "you pose an intriguing question there dadio". indeed he does. if we can't bring our "dirt" to the church for fear of judgment or resentment, in the ONE PLACE we should be able to...then is the church a safe place?

i read his whole sermon and i have never been more PROUD of my dad. it brings tears to my eyes because i'm so proud of him.

dad, keep doing what you are doing

love you,
sonia
(aka big sa, walahockers, googey woogey, and stinky feet)

"Humility is the key to unlocking intimacy with God. Only the humble in heart are allowed into the inner sanctuary of fellowship with the creator." --bob marshall

couch potato gone mad!

2008-03-20T10:53:00.002-05:00

im not even really sure what to think about this but it is the CRAZIEST thing i have ever heard. who does crap like this????

click here to read news story

hyper-sensitive

2008-03-12T12:06:00.002-05:00

I dont know what it is but this article on foxnews.com has really gotten my attention. there is a mom of a 2-year old and she leaves the baby in the van (locked, alarmed, with the hazard lights on), walks 10-FEET AWAY with the car still in plain view for 5 mins, and she lets her other children and a friend donate some money to the salvation army. she walks back over to her car and is arrested. wow. these are not the kind of people cops need to be wasting their time on. they need to spend their time on people who leave their children in the car to go in the store where they can't even see the car. this is equal to a cop pulling people over for going 2 miles over the speed limit. does that ever happen? no. because they are looking for the people who are doing 10 or 15 over.

stupid

read article here

lean not on my own understanding

2008-03-06T20:39:00.003-06:00

matthew 6:25-34

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 3132 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

the battle of my feeling organs

2008-02-29T19:06:00.003-06:00

i have two organs that seem to control my decisions. one is my brain...she has the logic and reminds me of what all the smart things to do are and helps me rationalize all my options. the other is my heart which is where my gut feelings come from along with my wants and desires. i hate situations that make these two battle. i wonder what it would look like if someone started a tv show that was cage wars for these two organs. in my version of this tv show, my brain would win the world champion heavy weight belt probably about 98% of the time. well tonight i let my heart win. i was offered a job that was good money and my brain kept telling me that it was a good move and that this money would be great but my heart won. i don't want to leave for work at 7:45am and get home at 6pm every night and then head to youth group, small group, worship practice or whatever else i am doing at the church. my heart says that is not the life i want regardless of how much money i make. everytime i would think about this job i would get really depressed and just want to cry. my heart stood up to my punk brain and said, "yo homie, you ain't welcome in my hood no mo' " and that was that.

people do what???

2008-02-24T14:15:00.003-06:00

im just going to be honest, i think i (like most semi-adults and adults) do not really understand children. although i was a child once, i look at other children now that my maturity level has passed laughing at boogers and not being able to say the word "poop" without giggling (okay...i lied...i still laugh about both of those) in a different light. i dont understand them. the weird things they do...do not make any sense to me. i see no rhyme or reason. for example: the other day aaron and i were on our way to find our dream house and we pass this house with a kid, maybe about 4 years old, in the yard shoveling snow in his diaper!!! no shoes, no shirt, just a diaper. besides the fact of me wondering what the heck his parents were thinking and after aaron and i stopped laughing uncontrollably i wondered what was going through that kid's mind. did he not realize that it was only about 35 degrees outside??? i can remember weird things that i did when i was really young and they made perfect sense to me then and now that i look back on them and remember what i was thinking...i realize...that was pointless. i need to find this kids name and contact him in 20 years, see if he remembers this event, and ask him what he was thinking. i remember when aaron was living in missouri during the summer for some summer courses, my brother and i went down to visit him. across the street from where he was living, there were these kids (whom i call ghetto). it was the middle of summer and the little boy was running around in his diaper and his sister was out there with him. the boy then proceded to get his little fishing pole (which probably had barney on it or something) and fish in a water puddle on the side of the road. of course his sister had to top this pointless act by sweeping the yard....which has grass....and dirt....and is meant to be dirty. just as i was wondering, "where do these kids think of this kind of stuff? sweeping dirt...outside and fishing in a puddle in the road which has no fish....what will they think of next??" i realized where they got it. a father-type figure emerged from the house and proceeded to run from one door on the porch to the other door on the other side of the porch in circles yelling. not only that but he then ripped off the mailbox on the house, dumped out some dirt and chucked it into the yard........

i guess i dont understand people in general...

ps the picture posted is my husband at a young age (yes he is vacuuming the house with sunglasses on and a stuffed moose riding on the vacuum)

2008-02-12T11:37:00.000-06:00

sometimes i don't know what to say in my blogs even though i know how i feel...but this picture basically sums it up

down the drain...

2008-02-06T19:44:00.000-06:00

long story but we didn't get to see the house that i originally wanted. it went back to auction. we went through a bad realtor and some expensive, definitely not worth it homes. hopefully we will find something we want and like and is worth the money. but anywho, we refuse to be completely discouraged. we are just going to keep praying for now. well...for the next while or so about this home but FOR NOW i am going to go eat with my friends and sleep because it has been a long two days.

i've got hiiiiigh hopes

2008-02-04T09:33:00.001-06:00

aaron and i are going to look at houses tomorrow. im reaaaally excited :) this is the house i want really bad! it's the perfect first home. 2810 Margesson, I can just see it now with a little mat that says, "Welcome to the Arkkelins" right outside the door. I am so excited to go see this one. I think I am going to struggle a lot though because this is the one I want and all the others, I am just going to see them so I don't just see one house and buy the first one I see. but I LOVE THIS HOUSE! everything about it rocks! it's huge, its cheap, virtually no lawn (which is good because we don't even have a lawn mower), and the inside interior decoration is beautiful (that was a lie). For example: this green and yellow monstrosity is their living room....ewwww...dentist green and yellow...what were these people thinking!?!?!?!? the upstairs family room loft thing is royal purple and the kitchen is black and white checkers and red. the kitchen is the only bearable room in the house but still...it would be re-done shortly after we moved in. so anyways, i need to remember to be impartial even though this is the house i want to just buy, i need to be patient.

denial is over

2008-01-28T10:17:00.000-06:00

i hear random people say "admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery"...and i hear people say that whether they are just joking around or not. i am going to admit right now that i have a problem with hording things/wasting. i have the hardest time wasting things...whether it be time or food. i feel guilty if i throw something away that still had a little in it...even if no one will use/eat it. i wish i knew where this came from because sometimes for me...it's a little confusing. sure it has it's funny moments...like when aaron and i have had some milk in the fridge for a long time...and he goes to make something and asks me if its still good and without a thought in my head i always say, "yeah its fine". haha. after a glance into the plastic jug of milk-ie substance, once can clearly see...that the liquid is not "fine". it has become two different colors, #1 a white milk like curddle and #2 a clear watery substance. that is not safe to eat. i have (on more than one occasion) ate 2 week old pizza simply because it is in the fridge and i feel bad letting it go to waste. now don't get me wrong, i wouldn't eat moldy bread or anything...i would just cut the mold off instead of throw away the whole thing. i get stomach aches often just because i ate something out of the fridge that was questionable about 2 weeks ago. i realized i needed to do something about this issue because my eyes have been opened to how it hurts my loving husband. i have seen the look of disgust and disdain on his face too many times after i finish eating some bad cheese on a taco. today is my new start...my new start to eat only foods that are not past their expiration dates! (side note: the picture for this post DOES say "maggot motel" on the fridge, i thought it was appropriate)

my bags are packed, i'm ready to go

2008-01-25T09:48:00.000-06:00

high: its friday and this weekend aaron and i are going to a youth sponsor conference dealie in chicago
low: my job
..............................................................................................

well...i am ready to go!!! i am getting really excited to be in Lafayette and spend time with all of the youth group kids...who rock by the way (literally...they are awesome musicians). i am ready to meet some new people and hangout with some old friends so it should be great. i can say though that my job here is growing old...my boss must be bipolar or something because i never know how his mood is going to go. sometimes he is reaaaaally nice and treats me like i'm an employee that actually matters but other times he treats me as though i have never worked here before and i'm incapable of brushing my own hair. its annoying and i can definitetly say i'm ready to leave that behind. the week after superbowl sunday i am not working but we aren't quite moving yet so i am going to take a week to prepare myself mentally for the move. i have been involved in ministry for a while with aaron and its hard to be the woman behind the man. as a female, i take things personally and when there is argueing or something hard going on in the church i tend to take that home with me. i'm going to spend that week just hanging out with God and asking him to make me strong for what we are about to get ourselves into...and just pray that we make it out alive :)

hittin' the dusty trail once again...

2008-01-16T09:46:00.000-06:00

high: scrapbooked for like 3 hours last night...plan on doing the same tonight

low: i don't want to call this one guy back at work...he bothers me

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growing up...and still today...whenever it would be time to head out on a family vacation or even if it was just to go grab some ice cream with my dad, he was always say "okay, lets hit the dusty trail"...does he think he's a cowboy? i'm sorry dad...but there are no "dusty trails" out here. yes...we live in the country but we have paved roads...the real country out here has at least gravel but no one drive's that...it'll ruin your car. anyways, aaron and i are hitting the dusty trail, rolling out of town, saddling up the horse....or car. we are heading to lafayette, in and are very excited about it! i am very excited for his new journey in this media position and know he will be great at it!!!! i am a little nervous about what the future holds for me but i won't let that discourage me. this is a happy time and also a learning time! woo hoo for God!

RANDOM SIDE NOTE:

what is it about scrapbooking??? is it buying all the cute little things and organizing them on a colorful page? is it having the chance to go through all the pictures and just remember good times? is it having an activity you can relax and do in front of a movie at home? i have no idea but i'm addicted. i love doing this...of course...like anything else, i need to be in the mood to scrapbook or it won't be as much fun and my pages don't turn out as creative but i'm often in the mood to scrapbook. my brother-in-law and his fiance gave me a michael's gift card for christmas and aaron gave me permission to spend a little as well. i was pretty excited when i got home last night with all my new stuff :) i look forward to doing more pages tonight

man of constant sorrow?

2008-01-14T11:12:00.000-06:00

high: go home to a wonderful husband
low: wish i could go to michael's to buy scrapbooking stuff

whenever i do something wrong...over...and over...and over i try to just own it...that that is the thing i do wrong and i need to keep working on it. i am a woman of constant worry. i know it probably sounds crazy but i worry about everything. i'm not sure why my mind is wired that way. if an issue comes up, i worry about it. i have been helping out with the hospitality team at church and before i get there, i worry about whether or not i will have to make coffee (!?!?!?). people like me need to take a break to let their minds breathe otherwise...i might blow something up. with extra stressful situations, naturally, comes more worry with it. aaron and i are in the process of heading back to indiana. i am worried about a lot even if i don't need to be. there are certain things that calm me down when i'm really worried...i need to start doing more of those. here's a few...
1. taking a walk
2. working out (running, swimming, etc)
3. spending time with my husband
4. spending some time with God
i need to start doing all these things more often. for me, to relax is to take it slow...not to run around driving all different places even if i am "getting away". i need to sit...and not do anything. christmas was not relaxing for me, i have never been more exhausted in my whole life. we spent christmas eve with my family (drove 2 hours to get there), then we spent a couples days with aaron's family (drove 5 hours to get there and then we ran around in a small house like chickens with our heads cut off), went back to indiana (another 5 hours), came back to illinois (another 2 hours), went back to indiana the next day (unexpected but none the less...another 2 hours), drove back that night after a flat tire (another 2 hours), drove to lafayette (3 hours) and then stayed up all new years eve night with a bunch of highschoolers and jr. highers and then drove back to valpo...it was EXHAUSTING. rewarding but exhausting. i need a real vacation...possibly not until april when we go to Florida with Justin and Carrie and Noah (camping). reeeeeally looking forward to that.

greetings 2008

2008-01-05T22:09:00.000-06:00

Here is the inevitable new year's survey...

What was the best part of last year?
hands down, it was getting married to me high school sweetheart

What was the worst part of last year?
finding out my grandma's breast cancer is back

What was the biggest surprise of last year?
aaron surprising me and meeting me at my uncle's house for christmas

What are you most looking forward to next year?
being in lafayette doing ministry with bob and looking at houses to live in :) and going to adam and sarah's wedding in cancun...and going to florida with justin, carrie and noah for camping

Is there anything you are not looking forward to next year?
paying money for a downpayment on a house...

Which new years resolutions did you keep last year?
i don't make new year's resolutions, they are code for making a promise i will keep until february and then i'll feel really crappy about not keeping it

Which new years resolutions did you break last year?
umm...none?

What will be your new years resolutions next year?
none

Which resolution are you most likely to break?
umm all of them

Which resolution are you most likely to keep?
none of them, i always break them

What will you be doing on new years eve?
well i WAS hanging out with a bunch of junior high and high school kids until the wee hours of the morning (aka 8:30am). it was a blast!

Who will you be with at new years eve?
i was with bobby mac, aaron, and about 150 teenagers....a couple of them being sarah ritter, andrew something, and billy van alstein...yep and then shout out to emo, andy, and the other kid i played hardcore euchre with

Who do you want to kiss to see the new year in?
umm...my husband

Who will you probably end up kissing to see the new year in?
my husband

What was the best song of last year?
well...kiss by prince was pretty kickin' but i was getting into fergie's song clumsy

What was the best TV show of last year?
family guy duh

What was the best book you read last year?
until we have faces by cs lewis

What was the best film of last year?
meet the robinsons or wild hogs

What change would you like to make to your life next year?
i would like to be more optimistic about life and not worry

What change would you like to see in the world next year?
umm...world peace, ch i don't know

to open your eyes wide means...

2007-12-11T23:15:00.000-06:00

...to look at something from a completely different view. i feel alive when i travel, whether it is for mission work or for pleasure. to see the world in a new light is refreshing. we as americans go through life with such a selfish attitude. we never think about all the different cultures in the rest of the world. honestly, i find myself often going through my life only thinking of myself. what my needs are and what i do and don't like. in the moments that i feel most alive and am painfully aware of how living i really am, i am also reminded that other people feel the same way, no matter where they are. about 7 years ago i went on a mission trip to chennai, india (then named madras). it was one of the most monumental things in my life that shaped who i am today. it gave me a new outlook on what it really means to be in need and what it really means to reach other people...not on just a spiritual level but simply on a personal level, where we are both human beings and we connect even though our cultures are worlds apart. i will never forget some of the moments i shared with these people that didn't speak my language and we communicated by the minuscule amount of tamil i knew and our body language and facial expressions. there are few times i have connected with people in my own language like i did without words in india. here's my bold statement of the post, people need to get out of this country, for a time....i don't care how long. if you have not been out of the country, then you should seriously consider it. i don't mean just go to a resort, but REALLY get into the city
and the culture of the people. it will change the way you think forever. i'm not sure why but i've been reflecting on my time spent in india often this last week or so. its good to reflect so whatev ya know? after india, i was in belguim for a little under a week (i was in india for a 3 1/2 weeks) and it was sooo neat to see the change in cultures from the same side of the world. this is where i was a lot in belguim (we were there during the "football" game against portugal...they gave us a bunch of free tshirts and flags so we rooted for them lol). anywho, go somewhere and experience something new!!!! eat food that looks scary to try, attempt the language and watch them laugh at you, and wear the things they wear just to try it out (even if the indian women decide to undress you at church because you wrapped your sari on the incorrect side....and they might....it happened to me) but live it up!!!!!!! breathe all the culture that's around and dont be afraid to try something new and different because you haven't lived until you do!

its beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS...

2007-12-05T15:43:00.001-06:00

high: giving christmas gifts

low: spending money on christmas gifts

-----------------------------------------

im going to be straight up honest, i love christmas, its such a great happy time and everyone is in a good mood (FINALLY). people suddenly smile at one another without wondering if they other person is going to stick them with a knife which is concealed in their coat. my family has never been big on anything that is fun...lol...that sounds bad but here it is: my family doesn't do anything on christmas (i've worked the last 2 so that other people can spend time with their families), my dad goes to bed by 7 and doesn't play games, my mom is consumed with her own stuff, and the rest of my family is so spread out all over the place that we don't see each other (even when we all lived around the same area though, we were disconnected). so i'm pretty pumped for this christmas, i've never had a reaaaal family christmas where everyone gets each other gifts because they want to (in my family, it was you had to until the kid was 18, then no more gifts). i'm excited to spend christmas with aaron's family simple because they geniunly care about each other and they like spending time together, i'm pretty stoked about that. i just love being in the christmas spirit!!! all the christmas songs, the lights, putting up the tree, snow, all the good smells of cinnamon and pine trees...its good.

i also really love giving christmas gifts but sometimes its so hard because it can get really expensive! it's so funny that people do christmas gifts. when you really think about it....it's like, "hey, spend ourselves crazy and feel stressed over money together and then we will trade all of our stress by giving each other stuff that we probably don't NEED, and it will be like we traded money.".....crazy.....and who started this tradition of giving tons of gifts on christmas anyway???

where to begin...

2007-11-18T22:18:00.000-06:00

...i dont even know where to start on this blog. there are about 80.5 billion things running through my mind...all of which are freakin awesome....so i am going to condense it into a few key points and if you don't get all the story behind it...umm...then....well....we need to hangout more i guess...

1
the greatest feeling in the world is to see a friend accept Jesus

2
special moment: when my friend (and i will let him be aaron's friend too) was baptized and made that decision in his life on saturday night, i was in tears because it was just soooo moving and i looked over and saw another friend crying....and we were excited together...not sure why but that moment has stuck with me all weekend and makes me happy

this whole weekend i have just had this exciting feeling...like i just want to jump up and down and go crazy with someone but to be honest...i have NO IDEA what i'm soooo excited about. i was this excited even before mike got baptized this weekend and for some reason i'm still pumped...i hope i an channel this energy into getting up in the morning...

...like that will happen......

2007-11-10T11:41:00.000-06:00

high: going to applebee's tonight with aaron

low: i have to be here at work with nothing to do

..................................................................................................

random topic numero uno...

whenever it gets this time of year (by "this time of year" i mean freakin cold outside and it gets dark really early) i get in a really weird mood. for me personally, i am more productive in the morning time when i first wake up and when i am warm...i am less productive when i am cold end of story. all i want to do is crawl into bed under a bunch of covers and not do anything but man, when its warm out i'm like superman getting stuff done. so this time of year i get really lazy because i'm always cold and it gets dark really early. i hate it.

random topic numero dos...

i'm not going to lie, i absolutely loooove still shot photography! take these beautiful mugs and the tea, the colors are just perfect and i love the soft glowy look of the picture. still photography makes me really happy (much happier then when i look at action shots....boooring). anyway, someday i would love to have a nice camera that could zoom and stuff (haha). *notices aaron is probably reading this* i loooove my camera now...i would like one that zooms though....so....buy me another one *blush*

random topic numero tres...

why go to work??? who needs money? here's what i say, we take mad fishing lessons and a few hunting trips which i could take with my cat momo (or as we recently started calling her "huntress") and then i quit my job, still with me? well guess what, most people spend there time at work wishing they were somewhere else...like...a beach. yeah....a beach. just laying there in the sand...feeling the breeze and its sooo warm outside. WELL GUESS FREAKIN WHAT??? you don't have to have money to just live on a beach!!! you can fish, you can hunt, and if you get really crafty, you could build your own place! the people on gilligan's island didn't need money to survive so why should i? i could live on an island (where i always want to be anyways) and just live. that obviously makes the most sense to me

Fin

olive garden for 99 cents!?!?!?

2007-10-26T13:30:00.000-05:00

oh yes ladies and gentlemen....this is it. the beeeeest boxed pasta i have ever had!!! i would definitely choose it over olive garden....i'm in love

my last post

2007-10-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

my previous post is a song "Shaking Like a Leaf" by Rich Mullins....just for the record.....

...surrounding me...

2007-10-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

Well, sometimes my life
Just don't make sense at all

When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something
I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band
Is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

the destiny of a "stick person artist"

2007-09-18T23:08:00.000-05:00

so i was watching dead poet's society the other night and robin williams' character makes a really great point. he has three young men walk in a circle, each following the other and the start out with their own rhythm and stride and soon they start stepping the same and in a beat. williams' points out the fact that we all start out with our own individual way of doing things and eventually we are drawn to conformity....its one of our needs as humans and the hard part is to stand against it and continue to think and act in our own way.

i will never forget a moment from my childhood. i was sitting at this little brown kid's table in our foyer and i was drawing and my mom asked me what i was drawing and i told her it was a picture of her and i told her i wanted to be an artist when i grew up. i truly believed that i had talent and that what i drew was genuinely good. in my eyes...i had done my very best and was satisfied with who i was and what had come from my crayons.

now...in all true...the picture i drew was far from "artistic". actually...i can make a re-creation of how i drew it exactly... here it is...

*cough cough* so anyways...it is funny to me how when i was young i was soooo sure that my drawing was one of the best that i had ever seen. now...i realize that this is far fetched in comparison to conformity of our adult lives. perspectives change with growth, maturity, and experience (i.e. my perspective on whether my drawing would make it in the art world or not). however, isn't it funny how we are no longer sure of ourselves as adults as we were when we were children. why is that? where do we learn in life that other people's opinions should scare us???? why not live our lives to the full potential and let God and ourselves be our own critics?

i'm not trying to be all "anti-conformity" in every way but there is a point where we start convincing ourselves that we "couldn't" do something just because we were too scared of what others thought. one other thing that i'm reminded of is a shirt my dad used to wear when i was younger. it has a bunch of really huge scary fish on it and they all have gigantic teeth and they are ALL swimming on direction and there is one "Jesus' fish" (i don't think blogger has greek letters available to actually spell out the name of the Jesus' fish....haha) and he is just swimming the other way. he looks so much different than all the other fish and he is the only one swimming against the other fish. i know this probably seems kind of cheezy but it makes me think more about how we conform to those around us.

life is not a race.....its a saunter

2007-09-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

high: i'm finally home and i'm going to have waffles for dinner, clean the apartment up a little, and maybe scrapbook while watching arrested development with my man
low: in the shower this morning i cut part of my finger on my razor and its kinda gross and it hurts

oh man...so much going on, so here's where life gets crazy starting with 1......

1. i was in a class all day friday (i got up at 6am and got home at 7pm) and saturday (i got up at 5:30am and got home at 6pm). so whatever, class all day and stuff and i was tired, well then i have to come home both nights and study for this stupid insurance licensing test....

2. i study all day sunday and get up at 4:30am (!!!!!!!!!) to go take this stupid test. the day before the test i called to make sure i had all the right identification stuff so everything would go smoothly because some of my stuff says marshall and some says arkkelin. my boss payed about $400 for me to take this class and the exam so there is a lot at stake here. well....as it turns out, state doesn't know what the freak their doing and the ladies tell me my identification stuff is wrong and i can't take the test because i don't have my marriage license. so i cry....a lot (i'm already freaking out about the test, definitely didn't need them freaking me out more) and aaron faxes our marriage license so they will let me take the test. when i go in to take the test i'm still shaking and on the verge of tears...

3. i bomb the first part of the test. i missed passing by 5% and i'll bet it was because of those evil ladies. now i have to pay $100 to go take that one portion again

4. after driving around in the ghetto of aurora for about 40 mins i found out today that i can't go take it for another two weeks because my social security card won't be here for another 10 days and then i have to go renew my license and retake the vision and written exams....

well i came to a realization today...i was sitting at my desk wallowing in self-pity and i realized, "what for?" this doesn't even matter because its all gonna burn anyways. it might sound kind of depressing but i felt free lol its a good attitude to have when something gets me down...the attitude of "whatever, because i'm going to heaven so i don't care". i make too big of a deal over everything and its doesn't matter that i can't take it for two weeks. that just means i don't have to study tonight my butt off tonight and i have two weeks to save up $100.

what life is about............

2007-09-04T20:28:00.000-05:00

the past couple of days i have been thinking a lot about what life is and what really matters. i have always known the life is not what you have but who you do life with. when i feel financially strained i remember that i have a husband who loves me and i don't need "things" to make me happy because i have my best friend and i have more fun with him and he offers more joy to me than anything that i could buy ever could. i really like looking at pictures and one of my favorite categories of pictures are of old people who sincerely look like they love each other with no end! that is what i want.... i also thought a lot about how our generation and america in general has distored love.....my heart goes out to all the girls in the world who give themselves away sexually and emotionally so that they can, for a brief instant, feel the warm closeness of a man who "loves them". how misguided they are...that is what makes my heart sad. my heart aches even more for them because they honestly think that to give themselves away on any man's whim is going to find them true love, when in fact, its the exact opposite.

statuesque kicking and screaming

2007-08-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

high: i'm going to scrapbook later tonight and hangout with my husband
low: i don't want to unload the dryer and put away the clothes

**a high and a low of every day is a good way to keep you optimistic about the day because the high usually makes you forget about the low**

sometimes i think i read too much into things...i let things bother me too much. last night aaron and i had a conversation just about community christian church and what we were doing here in illinois....and it made me feel panic-ie (i don't think that's a word but whatever....i'll do what i feel like). suddenly i had that feeling that's like "my life has no purpose....i have no goals......the world is going to end!!!" it was kind of crazy but none-the-less my emotional self could not handle the overload of feelings.

i went into the bathroom and was popping some zits (sometimes the most stress relieving activity one can engaged in) and i was just thinking over and over "what are we doing here???" i began rolling around in my mind all the different places we could go where we felt needed and where we could be having a goal of what we were doing.....and suddenly.....i stopped and just looked at myself in the mirror. it's funny.....i'm not one to claim that God "speaks to people" audibly...so to me this is kind of strange. i literally heard the words in my head as if i was reading them and it was in my voice and it was like i said it to myself.....but i didn't....it said, "be still and know that I am God".......

i was and am blown away. its like....God was saying, "stop freaking out! just sit still and let Me handle it!" i was just like..."wow.....sorry God".... then i thought about that....be still and know that I AM GOD. its so hard to be still though when all you want to do is be in a panic and fix everything yourself. it was really comforting to hear that. and also right after i kind of heard that i had a VERY slight amount of doubt creep into my mind and i heard "i am God"....and was just like......yes.....yes You are.

jumping in head first

2007-08-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

so here's the deal...i'm not going to give one of those intro blog entries, i'm just gonna go....ready set go!

r ndo
a .m

it's soooo beautiful today! the sun is really bright and it feels so warm yet there is that breeze that makes you glad there is one otherwise you'd be sweating to death. anyways, i was walking out to my car and this dragon fly flew across my head and i stopped and watched him just flying around. so...for some reason this made me think....where is he going? if you look around and watch people, animals, whatever....everyone and everything has a place they are going. dogs are sniffing to find a place to leave a dump so someone steps in it, people are rushing to work...even if they are just going for a walk they are doing it fairly quickly just so they can get home and start dinner or whatever...even birds never just fly around....they are hunting for food, building a nest, or feeding their babies. i want to be more like that dragonfly. i want to fly around and have no clue where i am going and what i'm doing but i'm enjoying every bit of my journey....yeah...

the journey of the unknown destination....that is that little dragonfly.