Please MOM!!!! PLEEEEEAAASSSSEEEEEE!!!!!

A throw-back to one of my all-time favorite silly Christmas songs!!!

Bug's Christmas Recital

This is a video of my youngest niece's Christmas recital. She was a Christmas Cowgirl. Lauren is the one on the far left at the end of the line.

Sorry it's small - I'm still trying to refresh my Final Cut Pro video editing skills.

Praise God for This Man

This is audio from a sermon by Paul Washer titled "Shocking Message" for youth today that was made into a video and put on YouTube. I've heard this sermon many times, yet fall under conviction each time I hear it.

I praise the Lord for using Paul to speak the truth of scripture against our/my culture.

Silly, Silly, Silly!

I read this joke while reading the Girl Talk blog (you'll find the link to it on the right) but it was a good laugh so I thought I would pass it along! : ) And, it's complete with a silly picture of me and the girls.

Smart Blonde Joke

A cop pulls over a blonde, and says, “Ma’am, you were speeding. May I please see your driver’s license?”

“Oh, well, you see officer, I don’t have a drivers license,” the blonde replies. “I never really had the time to go to the DMV and stand for hours in line…and anyway, all you get are terrible pictures.” The slightly taken aback cop says, “Well, then, may I see your proof of registration?"

“Well, officer,” the blonde says, “this isn’t my car. I wanted to borrow it from my neighbor, because it’s so much faster than mine and I was late for a wedding – that’s why I was speeding – but he said no really rudely, so I hit him over the head with a tire iron and stuffed him in the trunk.”

The horrified police officer backs away and calls for backup, and the police chief himself comes out, along with a squad, to see about this.

“Ma’am,” says the chief, “may I see your driver’s license?” The blonde hands it to him and it hasn’t expired or anything, everything’s okay. “May I see your proof of registration?" The blonde hands that to him, and it’s her car, and everything’s okay. “I hate to bother you,” the chief says, “but may I look in your trunk?”

So she pops the trunk and there’s nothing in there. The chief comes back to her window. “We’re sorry, ma’am. The officer over there said that you didn’t have a driver’s license, this wasn’t your car, and that you’d killed a man.”

“You know what,” says the blonde, “I bet he told you I was speeding, too.”

A Little Perspective For Myself...

Yes, so I think upon reading my last post that I am going to ban myself from posting anything in the midst of a full-on, old-fashioned come-apart! I apologize for the ramblings - but needed to get all the junk out of my head. Now that I feel human again, and I'm not quite as busy, I feel I can post now with sound mind.

It's so funny how I get so incredibly scatterbrained, out of sorts and overwhelmed when life gets so busy. A dear friend pointed out that it seems to be magnified when we aren't getting the sleep we need. And that was last week to a tee for me.

But upon reflection, I see now that my focus and perspective has been off. I had been so focused on the jobs and responsibilities that laid before me, that I failed to keep my mind and focus on the Lord.

So I've chosen to make this post an interactive one. For those of you who follow my ramblings, how do you make time for the Lord and keep your focus on Him in times when family, responsibilities, careers and life in general pull you in different directions?

What scripture brings you the most joy and comfort in the midst of an overwhelming "to do" list?

Surely I'm not the only one with this struggle. And my thoughts today are on the fact that as a single woman, I don't even have nearly the responsibility that many of my friends do that have spouses, children, and homeschool, and even have jobs. So I know I need to get a handle on this in case the Lord has those things for me in the future.


So the pictures that I have posted today are from a recent trip to the zoo and aquarium in Cincinnatti. (If you don't like even the sight of snakes - I will warn you now to not look at the last picture! It's the third one down.) Anyway, just a bit more of God's amazing creation by an amazing creator. How can I not know in the midst of the storm that it's all going to work out??

Just when I think I've learned the lesson of trusting in the Lord, taking a deep breath and not coming-apart, the Lord shows me just how much farther I have to go.

Where are you Peace?????

In the midst of one of the worst days I've had in quite a while, which just happens to be at the tail end of one of the most horrible weeks I've had lately, I'm trying oh...so...hard to find a bit of peace in between photo assignments here at the paper. The picture above is from one of my favorite places, the Berkshires in Western Massachussetts, and I remember that day vividly. I went hiking with a friend in the snow on one of the mountains there (I'm blanking on the name). But OH! It was so beautiful and peaceful and quiet.

So many things have occurred this week and then, aside from a wonderful brunch with a dear friend this morning - my day completely unraveled. I don't like to cry at the office - and only have once (when I was working on a photo story about a cancer patient and his relationship with his daughter who was just 10 at the time - very emotional for me) but I just couldn't contain it today. I was assigned another emotional photo assignment, one of a few this week alone, and I guess too many times I hide my emotions behind the lens.


One of the cemeteries here has an annual Holiday Luminary Display where folks can come out and place a luminary at the grave of a loved one. Fresh and still raw from losing Mrs. Jessie and with thoughts of my dad since the holidays are here, it's a bit hard for me to hold back the tears when talking with others who have also experienced the pain of losing a loved one. The gentleman in the photo above just lost his 10 month old daughter a few months ago. I cannot imagine the pain and pray I never do. Before I left, I placed a luminary at my dad's grave and Mrs. Jessie's grave too. It's a really hard thing to justify photographing someone in the midst of their grief. Yet, I had a job to do and struggled greatly while doing it.

>>Pause my writing to shoot the basketball game<<
So, now that I'm at the tail end of my day, I really just cannot wait to go home and just be. (I'm waiting for some technical stuff to be finished on the paper's website so I can link up the pictures and finish the day.) I really don't think, at this point, I even have the energy to reflect upon the day anymore -- but I found myself crying out to the Lord that I just don't have it in me to be strong anymore. I so want things to change for myself - but shouldn't I be content in where God has me today? Or is the Lord confirming my current path to change through this discontent? Jeese, do I even make any sense??? All I know is, I am not strong enough to work three jobs at one time, yet every three months it seems, all three jobs I work have their busy time all at the same time.

All I'm hoping for now is some rest and renewal and perhaps a lull in the chaos that is my life right now.

Oh those views!!!!

Being a lover of all things Space related and Christmas related, I decided to share a really cool website I found today!

What a better way to count down the days to Christmas than with images from the Hubble Telescope of God's amazing creation!!

Enjoy : )