Sunday, March 13, 2011

Photos_Weekend Match Up Wrap Up

Match the left column of people and things to the right column of my weekend events correctly and win a prize of respect and admiration! Answers are below but not upside down. Good luck!


And the answers are...
Resources:

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Photos_The Scottish Invasion


Scottish band Trashcan Sinatras gave my brother the night of his life last night by playing a private house show in his living room for about 50 people. They ate his jambalaya, were incredibly polite and charming, and gave meaningful song dedications to their audience (although some weren't there for their dedication). 

In post-celebratory fashion, Robbe and I have been talking in a Scottish accent all day. And by Scottish accent I mean I end up sounding like Scrooge McDuck from Mickey's Christmas Carol. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Words_Yes, I Know...

A late eighties video game just threw up on my site. I think I'll let it sit for a little while until I can't stand to look at it anymore.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Words_Now Lent It Out

It's the season of changes, my friends. This person's moving, that person's having a baby, she's leaving her job, we're hiring him and her, they're getting older, he's having surgery, she's going crazy, we're growing apart, you're growing closer... so many things are happening at once and in the midst of it all, sometimes I feel I'm at this perpetual standstill. My view of myself and where I'm going and what I'm doing and the decisions I have to or will have to make can be so overwhelming in the "big picture" but then so incredibly small and meaningless. Both perspectives leave me paralyzed and confined to my daily grind. If there are changes, they are slight. If there are opportunities, I tend to over-analyze; sit too long; waste time, as usual. I would like to order some balance, please. With a side of healthy assertiveness and motivation--no--active motivation! I would like to have an idea, act on that idea, struggle through the idea, and follow through with the idea. The final product doesn't have to be pretty (yes it does) or mind-numbingly original (yes, please) but something that I can hang my hat on, put on my mom's fridge, whisper about it at night to my Care bear.

I feel like everyone's racing by me at warp speed and it's all I can do to keep up. I have so many valuable resources around me but I don't use them. Why. Because I'm stubborn and love to do things my own way at my own pace and in my own timing. I can only get so far with this strategy. And it's not even a strategy. It's my "default" setting. It's time I find another setting.

So, in this time of lent, I'm not giving anything up. But I'd like to shift my focus from so much of me me me to preparing for Easter. For forty days, Jesus prayed relentlessly to his Father before his death. I can hardly pray one out of forty days. But I hope to push aside my agenda and delve into the unknowns of this great sacrifice that I'll celebrate in April but should really be celebrating all the time.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Photos_A Raych Arles Crafternoon

Countdown to my dear friend Rachel's wedding vows: 50 days 
Rachel's Crafternoon Shower (in lieu of a traditional bridal shower): 33 days ago
Crafternoon Agenda: To make four different kinds of wedding decorations and get fat while doing it (thank you buffalo chicken dip, cheese dip, spinach dip, salsa and queso dip)
What I said when I arrived: "I will do anything BUT stamping. I suck at it."
Craft I was tasked with: Stamping
Lesson Learned: I conquered my fear of stamping


And of course we had to take a peek at Rachel modeling her wedding dress! 


Until April 16th...<3

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Photos_End of February Playlist

If you ask me, I would love to get this in the mail... 
If anything, please bless your ears with #9. 
Trust me, it's quite a treat.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Words_Weddingness, Shortness, Godness

For shame! Bad blogger! Bad blogger! I just gave myself a virtual spanking. *Pause* I'll never say that last sentence again. To attempt to redeem my BBB (bad blogging behavior), I should give you a chance to win... (looking around my room for something valuable) an extra copy of the movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves! ("What do we need that the forest cannot provide?") But instead, I'll just give you a two week recap. (Unless you really want the extra copy and I can send it to you.) (Seriously.)

Weddingness
As you may or may not know, I'm going to be living with a boy for the rest of my life pretty soon (cooties fo life b's) and when something like this happens, the next steps are usually pinning down how much alcohol I'll be consuming leading up to when I walk down the aisle. Totally totally tote. Tall. Lee. Joke. Allllll joke.* Seriously though, it's probably good to start with when and where this great event will take place. Right now we know, well, neither. Apparently you have to be either a gazillionaire to throw a decent wedding or you have to be perfectly happy with your guests eating out of their hands or feeding them Rufio-style where they just imagine the food and it somehow appears (an imagination wedding...not a bad idea). The good news is that throughout this discouraging process, Robbe and I still love each other (right, Bobby?) and I have had the most amazing help from dear friends and family. The bad news is that we haven't actually done anything yet and the stress is looming...mounting...pressing...I see something shiny...*gasp* a knife! It's stabbing me!!!

Sorry.

The only things we DO know are:

1. who we're marrying (check)
2. who our bridesmaids/groomsmen are (check)
3. who we want to photograph our wedding: The Amazing Brandon Werth
* Beware of mind being blown if you visit his Web site

If you are bored, healthy, funny, sad, rich, silly, hungry, stupid, good at singing, like coupons, are double-jointed, mildly athletic, and good at making sentences, then we would like you to pray for us because we need it. Or you could also just send us money.

The Future of Short People
I recently had dinner with dear friends Katie and Nikki and shared with them how Robbe and I have been making a mental list of professions our children could have when they're grown. You might be thinking, 'What are you talking about? Your kids can be anything! Anything at all!' Well, guess what, you don't know me or Robbe at all then. Robbe and I suffer from a little something you might call, "We short" thus drastically limiting our hopes and dreams for our children.

The list we've made so far that we believe they could excel in are:

  • badminton
  • tennis
  • music
  • writing
  • track
  • photography
  • crossword puzzles
  • soccer
  • dance
  • baseball/softball (until they're 13)
  • corn hole (only if they don't excel in any of the above)
  • thumb wrestling (until they're 11)
  • origami
  • Did I already say tennis?
Things they cannot excel in because of their body limitations:

  • basketball
  • modeling
  • football
  • weight-lifting
  • WWF
  • winning fist fights on the school playground
  • being at the bottom of a cheerleading pyramid
Katie eagerly threw in her two cents, suggesting they could be a jockey (hey, thanks Katie, I'm 5'2" and a quarter--don't you ever forget that quarter--and Robbe's 5'6" so I'm banking on my kids not falling below 4'11" but thanks for the vote of confidence!); a wrestler (hey, thanks Katie, I can't wait for my kids to have cauliflower ear and jump into skin tight leotards while appearing as if they're getting violated by another equally short, leotard-clad wrestler); and finally, her most passionate suggestion: an actor. "Actors are short, they could totally be actors!" I'm not sure how many actors Katie has met but I'm guessing it was someone short which completely justified her repeating this adamantly a few more times throughout the night. Her best suggestion was sent to me via text, post-dinner a day or so later. My phone buzzed and there it was, a shining beacon of light for my future children: "Your kids could be divers!!!" Yep. Annnnd it's added to the list.

Faith and Love
God is all around and working so specifically, even when I'm not personally acknowledging him or devoting time to prayer and studying his Word. The Bible study I "attend" (my attendance is atrocious) had our pastor come speak this past week on a new series, delving deeper into what our church believes and the thoughtfulness behind how each service is constructed. One of my favorite and most striking things he said was how every service is orchestrated to 1. preach the gospel and 2. if anything, make people say to themselves: "I'm forgiven." What a ridiculously amazing gift and promise. He threw out the question, what would it look like if we really lived like we were forgiven? I'll be thinking about that for awhile.

The church Robbe and I attend when we're in PA is the Harrisburg Brethren of Christ. Today Pastor Woody spoke on Revelations and one of the things he said that really stayed with me was how once we've died and entered the afterlife, we'll realize how much more we should have given of ourselves, of our belongings, of our money. I love and hate that because it's 100% convicting/depressing/humbling yet 100% mysteriously exciting/humbling at the possibilities of what God could do if we would just say 'Yes. Take it. Take me.' This is also something I'll be thinking and praying about for long time.

Thanks for reading.

*not a joke at all; actually very true