Painting with Light

This past weekend, Mother's Day weekend, we went down to G.R. for the annual LSSDS Dulcimer festival. So.Much.Fun!!! As usual, we spent some time down at the river.

On Friday night, we did some painting with light. If you haven't done this before, you simply must! It's so much fun. All you need is a tripod (or something incredibly steady to put your camera on) and some flashlights. We used flashlights and laser pointers.

Some of these pictures are a little blurry because either A) the people moved after we focused the camera, before the shot was taken or B) They moved when the light was on them. It's harder than you think to hold perfectly still for 15-30 seconds! Our group of participants was Daniel (brother), Emily (sis-in-law), Carrie (sister), Bobby Duke, Blake, Jessica, Josh, and me. My parents helped out a little on some as well.

Josh's name. He's there, but he didn't get the flashlight on his face before the exposure finished. Sad day. And he didn't want to be in anymore! So, my husband will be remain shrouded in mystery.

Moi!

Here is my brother, Daniel, cussing. Those who know us know that this is as close to cussing as our family actually ever gets. Unless you count "crap" as a cuss word....which I don't ;)

This is probably my favorite one.

Double light saber stab! This is a little morbid, what with all the blood and stuff, but that's how we roll :)

This one was a lot of fun to do. Daniel punching Bobby's head off

Supposed to be super fast punches

Ok, I won't leave Josh shrouded in mystery. Here's a picture of us on Saturday down at the river

The Negotiator

I've been feeling pretty down and very stuck-in-a-rut lately. I don't know why. I mean, life is pretty good right now (really, it is! Even my panic attacks are at an almost all-time low! Praise the Lord!) but I'm just feeling blah. Kinda like this (er, minus the "ded" part lol)

I feel like I need to get away and do something. I need a break from everything here to clear my head and get back on track! I just want to pack a bag for me and Josh and go have fun somewhere for awhile. Awhile meaning 7-10 days, minimum!

Obviously, I have a major itch to travel right now. Like, horrendous case of poison ivy type itch. That's bad. I really want to go overseas again. I love the States, but I want to explore more of the world. High up on my hit list right now are Greece, Italy, Ukraine (specifically Kiev!), and Israel. I've been perusing all the usual suspects : Travelocity, Kayak, CheapTickets, and Priceline. Scoping out all the options and how to get the best deal. And I've come to one conclusion.

I'm Cheap.

I admit it and I embrace it. I always shop sale racks and am not afraid to barter. Why would it be any different for travel?? Which brings me to.....

I love the Name Your Own Price feature on Priceline.com. Back when Josh and I got married, this is how we got our hotel in Houston the night before we left for Jamaica on our honeymoon. I put in a paltry amount and low and behold, it accepted it! We got to stay at a really nice hotel for pennies! Ok, so it was a Marriott... which I realize isn't the most extravagant hotel ever, but when you were lucky to get to stay at Motel 6, Econo Lodge, or a Super 8 motel (high living!) instead of a 20 year old pop-up trailer with glow-in-the dark dinosaurs on the roof, the Marriott is pretty darn magnificent!

Now, I'm not knockin' the camper by any means. I have a lot of fantastic memories in that little green Coleman with orange plastic beds! I spent many nights staring at those dinosaurs, praying the bear outside wouldn't come in and mangle me. True story. All good times. And I hope to someday have my own little pop-up trailer so that I can torture my kids by making them sleep on the furthest outside bed where the bears can get them because it's their brother or sister's turn to sleep on the inside bed. I absolutely plan on sticking my hand up the side from the outside and grabbing them, scaring them half to death. And I most certainly will hold their underwear out the door while yelling "Wooooooooweeee!!!" and shaking them around. Heck yes. If I had to go through that, you can bet my kids do too.

But I digress. That was a whole other rabbit trail. My point is Priceline and the wonderment that is Name Your Own Price.

Since I'm cheap and since I really want to go somewhere, I've been naming my own price all day, just for kicks. Unfortunately, my idea of cheap is the airlines' idea of "Absofreakinglutely Ridiculous". *sigh*. Normally I wouldn't play roulette with our hard-earned money, but I figure it's most likely not going to get accepted (glass half empty, anyone??) and if it miraculously was accepted, well... Josh loves me and would forgive me as we dined seaside in Italy. Right?

Alas, none of my bids have been accepted yet though. I don't understand why any of the airlines won't accept my bid of $250 for an overseas flight! I mean, c'mon! Work with me American! Work with me Lufthansa! Work with me Continental! C'mon William Shatner... Flex your bargainus maximus for me! I'm on a budget here!

I don't truly think I'll get anything, but it's worth a shot. I was shocked before, so maybe, just maybe I'll be shocked again! Maybe some head honcho at one of the Airlines (Hi Mr. Gerard Arpey! Remember me? I used to work for you! Give me a deal!) will see this (ha ha) and pity me and tell "them" to accept my bid, therefore giving me the trip of a lifetime! I'm not holding my breath...

In the meantime, I will go day dream about walking the streets of Jerusalem, visiting the Acropolis, seeing the Colosseum , or hanging out with my awesome cousins in Kiev...

A girl can dream, right?

A Smattering

I am a terrible blogger so apologies to the 4-5 people who actually read this silly little blog (and who likely already know most or all of this!). Here's a quick rundown of what's been going on with us lately.

1. We moved!! The house is incredible and we're loving it! We've almost got things put away, but pretty much every room still needs work. We haven't hung any pictures yet. I can't wait to get that done so it really starts to look like home! Hopefully next week we can get to that! The 'hood is great, our neighbors are great, the space is great! I need to get some pictures up, but honestly, I just haven't had a chance. Hopefully soon! Come on by!

2. This weekend is the Dulcimer Festival in G.R. Can't wait!! The weather has been gorgeous and we've been dying to go camping. We're looking forward to relaxing by the river, hanging out with family and friends, and listening to great music. We'll probably only be camping one night this year though which is a first for me.. I've NEVER in my entire life missed a night. It's for a good cause though because.....

3. We're going to the Pregnancy Lifeline gala on Saturday! I'm totally stoked about it. God has been laying a possible ministry idea on my heart and I want to find out more about this organization and see if it might be a good partner. I really have no idea how I would begin this ministry idea, but literally a few days after He brought it to my attention, this opportunity came up. Voila. We'll see.

4. I'm considering breaking up with Facebook for a variety of reasons. I'm struggling with that though because it's such an easy, convenient way to keep up with family and friends overseas. It's just turned into such an annoyance though. It's almost like a popularity contest and it's so "ME ME ME" driven. I'm just as guilty as anyone, but regardless, I'm considering pulling the plug. Strange timing since Josh JUST joined too. Ha! I kinda want to bring back the old fashioned letter writing era. I used to write letters like CRAZY and I really miss that. Modern conveniences like FB, email, and phones that can call anywhere for nothing, have almost put letters into extinction.

5. I still am employed. Things are ever changing up here, but they haven't told me to stop coming yet. I'm working for someone now that is a lot better, which is good. I'm actually keeping fairly busy. And the crazy people have stopped being so crazy all the time. Granted, there are still days here that make me want to scream, but things have quieted down. Or maybe I'm just so used to it that I've given up caring how much I dislike it.

6. We're debating going to Jersey this summer. We'd really like to, but we're not sure if we can swing it because we're going to California in November for a wedding. I'm not sure if I can wait until then because I NEED to get away... We shall see. If we go to Jersey, it'd probably be in July or August.

7. I am very sad that 24 is ending soon. What will the world do without Jack on Monday nights?! Oh yeah... probably go out and live life instead of rotting on the couch. And I speak as much to myself as anyone! I'll miss 24, but it'll be nice to not have to give an hour or two up every week. I'm not giving up Chuck though. Nope. Sorry. Not unless Jesus calls me to and right now, I don't think He is.

8. Josh is still busy with his studying through Liberty. He seems to really be enjoying his classes. I'm very proud of him! He has way more discipline than I ever did in school. He comes home and studies every night, never complains, aces his tests and quizzes, and is just doing a great job!

9. I just realized that it's already May 3 and we haven't had a single tornado warning. Dude. Where am I?! Not that I am complaining! ** before I could finish this post, the wind started fiercely blowing as a storm is apparently blowing in. I don't think it's tornado-worthy though!**

10. We got a new car! I love it! It's a Honda Accord Crosstour. I NEVER thought I'd own a foreign car, but here I am, driving a Honda. It's super awesome though. We really loved our Jeep, but it had been acting up lately and we were afraid it was going to have something major go wrong with it. So, we decided to trade it before it was too late! We ended up leasing the Crosstour which is a first for me too. I've always been leery of leasing because of all the horror stories out there. But it just made sense for us right now. I have a habit of wanting to trade my car every 3-4 years anyway, so it just made sense to have a smaller payment and the option to trade in 3 years! We'll see how it goes. Either way, I am loving the new car! So fun to drive!

And lastly, 11. My wonderful in-laws got us the Word of Promise set for Christmas this past year. I've been keeping it in my car for the last few months and listening to the CDs. So far, I've made it through Matthew, Mark, John, and I just started Luke. I have been in a major funk and felt like I needed to start fresh at the heart of Christianity. It's been AMAZING. I really can't put it into words. I have always had a habit of putting in a CD and forgetting to change it for weeks, sometimes months, so I've been listening to the gospels over and over and over and over. Just pounding it into my head. It's really been incredible. I want to move on to other parts of the Bible, but I just don't feel like I'm ready to yet. I just want to keep chewing on the Gospels. Every time I listen, I catch something new. Anyway, if you are looking for a great audio set, check it out here. It's read like a play in a sense in that different actors play the voices. There are sound effects and it just really grabs you. Check it out.

I think that's basically it in a nutshell!

Jurassic Daniel

Finally got the video to load! This is my brother Daniel doing his Jurassic Park impression. He's awesome :)

Psalm 96

Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.



Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does



Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.



The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!



Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.



O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.



Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts.



Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him.



Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly.



Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!



Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth. - Psalm 96


* all photos taken in our neighborhood

Happy 23 1/2 birthday, Carrie!

Today Carrie let the entire Facebook world know that it is her 23 and 1/2 birthday. So.... when she got home from work, we had a half birthday for her! We sang half of "Happy Birthday", Mother made her half a cake, and I made her half a card.

Here's the half-birthday girl with her cake and card


Trying to represent 23 and 1/2. It's much harder than you'd think


Reading her half card


The inside of the card


Again, with her half cake, half card, and an Army man!


Happy half birthday, Carrie! Let's hope the second half is just as good!

I caught it...

The travel bug, that is!!

For the last few weeks I've just been DYING to go somewhere. We had been planning on taking a big trip in March because it'll be our 5 year anniversary (WOW! Has it already been that long??? Awesome!) but we had to push that trip to the wayside when we decided to build our house. So, we have no travel funds at the moment because every penny is going towards our new digs. Not that I'm complaining! Very much worth it! But... I still have that itchy bite that the travel bug was so kind to give me.

We're hoping that once we get settled we can save up and take a trip in the fall/winter or just wait until our 6 year anniversary in March 11. We shall see..

In the meantime, in no particular order, here are the places I am just DYING to go right now. Apparently I have expensive travel tastes so who knows if and when I'll ever get to go to some of them!!


Israel



Back to Jamaica



Kiev, Ukraine


so that I can see these wonderful people that I miss dearly (Michael, Angela, Nathan, Abigail, and Josiah)

Japan

So that I can see these awesome friends and their little girl! (John and Mayumi)

Australia. No particular place, I've just always wanted to go there really bad.

I would LOVE to go back to Ireland!

Hawaii, because any sane person wants to go there at least once to say they've been

Back to LBI because well, I love it there

Egypt

The mountains somewhere in the States. I'm not picky... anywhere. But preferably either somewhere there are not any bears (ha, yeah right) if we're tenting it, or I'll have to be in a cabin/RV/Pop-up. I don't do bears. *shudder*

California

So I can visit my old roomie!!

Camping. Somewhere at least 2+ days away and we'd have to be gone for at least a week. Again with the no bears thing though. Tent = no bears zone. Cabin/RV = bears ok. Not really ok, but at least I will sleep at night that way.

Greece (or just a Med cruise will do!)