What started it all

My quest to get quotes and words on my walls started with a desire to get this verse of Scripture in my house. I have it on a plaque but I really wanted to have it written on my wall. Finally I get to have it done- I chose a soft copper color which looks great on the blue walls. This room is our entry room- we see it soming and going and will serve as a reminder to al of us Whom we serve.

My Laundry Room

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like doing laundry. It is my most hated house chore. A few years ago I decided to paint my laundry room the color called Kalahari sunset- named for the Kalahari desert in Botswana. I hung a batik I got in Kenya on the wall and try to believe I am in Africa when I am in there doing laundry (and yes, I know that the women in Africa are not using a maytag washing machine to do their laundry- but hey, its my dream) And so it seemed appropriate that I add the words, "I'd rather be in Africa" to the walls of my laundry room.

The Kitchen AKA.....

THE GATHERING PLACE
I love how this looks on the soffit over my stove. The kitchen surely is the gathering place in my home and so this expression was perfect for this spot.

And Let Me Not Forget...

My iPod skin.I have to tell you, I know this is silly. I know there is no need. I know. I know. But still...I love this silly little decorative covering for my iPod. I think I will have to order more and change from time to time. Yeah, this Uppercase Living bit is going to be dangerous for me.

What in the World??

How bizarre is this? Back in 2004 I took Kyle, Shelby and one of Kyle's friend's Paul on a four week trip in an RV to see a bit of our country. While driving in Custer National Park in South Dakota we saw a strange looking car coming up the road. We heard music and saw all of these fishes glued all over a blue car. We had no idea what it was and was just thankful to have one small bad shot of it to prove we had seen it. Fast forward now a few months and I am sitting at work, waiting on a patient, so I pickup a Readers' Digest to leaf through. And there I see this article on the Shashimi Tabernacle. No we were not hallucinating- there really is a car covered with sea creatures singing. IF only all the answers in my life were so easily answered.

Why you might ask am I writing about this now, 3 years later... Because I have been clearing out some stuff from my cropping room and finally found the original article and had to scan it to add it to the album. See, It pays to clean

Randy Pausch

This morning I watched a You Tube clip from a man named Randy Pausch. He is a professor at Carnegie-Mellon and was participating in a series called "The Last Lecture." This was for the prof to imagine they were going to give the very last lecture in their lives and so, what would they say? For Professor Pausch unfortunately this is not just an exercise in theory but in reality- he is dying from pancreatic cancer. His positive attitude is inspiring and his message is great- take the time to watch it.
Go to YouTube and search on his name and watch all the clips from his whole lecture- It is worth the time.

Revolve 2007

I have shared quite a bit about my Women of Faith conferences but this weekend I got to go to Revolve- a teen girl conference. I went with Shelby and 2 other moms with 3 other girls up to Hartford for Friday night and Saturday. The conference allows the girls to experience a greater Body of Christ than in their church- it is really cool to sing praise with 7,000 other Christian girls and their moms all at one time. There are also some incredible speakers and performers who all share the message of God's love for them and how precious they are. They talk about a lot of the issues the girls face every day and give them a message of hope. Who doesn't need that? I was just so glad to see the 4 girls we brought participate and enjoy being there. I can't wait until next year's program.

They Guys of Revolve

One of the things the people at Revolve realized over the years is that if you get some guys to perform in the program the girls will come. So this year they booked some amazing music artists- KJ-52, Chad Easthamand Hawk Nelson. Add a couple of guys into the drama team and you have a recipe for success.

KJ-52 is a Christian rapper- quite the experience. I actually liked his music but refrained from doing the hand pumping and jumping- I think shelby sppreciated that.

The drama team presented important issues in a way that made it easy for the girls to hear. The great thing about it is that their skits open up opportunities for conversation later on.

Chad Eastham talked to the girls about guys. This year his message was are you a treasure or a target? It was great to see how focused the girls in the arena were on listening to him speak and how clearly he shared his lesson.

Hawk Nelson

Picture this, you are in an arena with over 7,000 teenage girls. The host announces that next up is Hawk Nelson. All of a sudden it seems like the whole arena seating area empties out as all the girls run to the floor and up to the stage. What a trip! This group certainly has its share of fans among the attendees at Revolve. Their music is a little rock a little punk but very fun. It is embarassing when you realize that you are a 45 year old mom, standing on the floor photographing a band and you are bouncing along with all the teens. Actually I think that if Shelby could have seen me she would have been embarrased. But all is good- she is thrilled that I got so many photographs of them, especially the bass player.

The Women from Revolve

While most of the excitement (read screams...or should I say...SCREAMS!!) were reserved for the guys at the conference there were plenty of women there too. These ladies were so talented.. some musically, some athletically, some artistically, but all communicationally (is that a word?) I loved how they held the girls' attention for 2 days as they shared their stories of how faith has worked in their lives. Their ability to simply share their stories and speak so clearly about their belief in Jesus was inspirational.

This is Jenna Lucado. She is Max Lucado's daughter and her message about searching in all kinds of places for fulfillment that can only be met by having a relationship with your Creator was awesome. Apparently her dad is not the only talented preacher in the family.

Ayiesha Woods' music was really powerful as well as fun. Shelby felt the most moved by her songs. I think the first thing she did when we got home was download some of her songs on her computer.

Brie Reed was our host for the weekend and was way too cute. An Australian with a unique accent, Brie kept the girls involved in the event and all of us laughing.

This program packs some amazing speakers as well as voaclists. Each person has their unique story and shares it so openly with all the girls in the arena.

Laura Wilkinson is an Olympic medalist in diving. She spoke with the girls about her experience in stepping out in faith when she took on training for the Olympics.

Rachel Hockett is so adorable and has a beautiful voice so we all enjoyed her singing and hearing her witness.

Natalie Grant has so much to share as well. Her story about self image and self esteem had the moms crying along with more than a few girls.

In retrospect this weekend was a wonderful time for all of us. The girls had fun, laughing and singing and even a little dancing. We moms had fun watching our daughters participating in a celebration of the girls. I wish someone had been around sharing with me the wisdom these people did with all the girls in the arena when I was a teen. Actually a lot of it was good for me to hear too at my age. I hope that everyone walked out of the event with at least one message spoken about so much this weekend- We are all children of God- He loves us and we are precious to Him. We are all treasures and should be treating ourselves accordingly and expecting others to treat us that way too. Can I hear an AMEN!!?

Meet my future son-in-law

OK, I really have a teenage daughter in my house. After watch Hawk Nelson at the revolve conference this weekend Shelby has announce that she is going to marry Daniel from the band. Luckily when I was taking photos I got a lot of him so I scored big time with her. I am glad that I don't have issues with piercings and tattoos because I thinkwe would have a problem here. I didn't see any tatts but I am assuming since the other guys have them Daniel has them too. I have to admit I think he is a cutie too. Welcome to the family Daniel ;)

Reality check

Last night I had the opportunity to be one of the night time hosts to a group of homeless people in my area. Every Wednesday night in September my church served as a shelter for people from our area that are homeless. We have dinner together, watch a movie and visit with each other. I have done this through out the years and feel so lucky to have been able to do this. I have learned so much from my visits with these special guests. When we first started in this program I had many misconceived ideas about people who are homeless. I was not the only one. I remember so many people from the congregation that did not want us to participate. There were all kinds of fears. Looking back now it seems so pathetic those fears... this program has been such a great blessing to those of us who have been able to serve. The thing that is hard for me is that I will probably never see these people again, they move on from this program to something else. I won't know how their story grows. They have made me far more aware of how easily anyone can slip into their situation. I wonder if I could handle it with as much grace as they seem to. Their openness to share bits of their life stories with me humble me and at times embarass me- I have been so spoiled and take so much for granted. They thank me for all that I have done when they visit but it is really I who need to thank them- They have been great life teachers to me. I pray that God will bless them on their way.

Fireworks display

Whooo Hooo

You are all in trouble now that I have figured out how to do one off these slide show thingies from aol. This blogging stuff is way too fun

something new

Brag Alert

I know I already posted about Jay's wonderful work but I had to add to it. Last night we went up to the house with the pond to photograph everything at night. Jay does a lot of creative "Lightscaping" and this home's property was a dream to do for him. It definitely seems unreal when you walk up to the pond, the lights create such depth and beauty. There are lights that simulate moonlight shining down on the lawn, specialty lights shining up, Level of brightness, color of light...it goes on and on. All that this means is that when you walk up to the pond you feel like you are somewhere magical. Wish I could bring you there but the photos will have to suffice


This is a shot from the home's driveway. Even from out in the street you can see a little bit of the feature.

Jay seems to know which trees to feature and then designs around them. Here he added a softer light to the rocks at the base of the tree as well as some lights going up the tree. It just looks amazing as you walk up on it.

This is one of my favorite shots and spots. Just sitting there in the evening would be a joy. I don't know, maybe the homeowners will find me out there every once in awhile LOL. The landscape designer's pond stalking wife.

Uppercase living alert

I finally got a chance to go through my starter kit for Uppercase living and decided to play with a word for my front door. UL has a pack of transfers to use on your door for each season of the year. There is a Happy Harvest for Fall, an Enchanted Spells sign for Halloween and so on. I decided to put the Welcome on our main door. I was amazed at how easily it went on and how great it looks. I can see this is going to be dangerous... don't stand still next to me or you may end up with something rubbed on to your forehead ;)

Boasting Post

Ok, If you don't like smarmy boasting posts just pass on by. I am so impressed with Jay's creativity and skill in design. The other day I went to visit him on a job. He had designed a pond and series of waterfalls for a client not too far from home and I wanted to see them. I could not believe that this pond was not naturally in this backyard- It was just so well laid out. He has also been working on the lighting and I will head there one evening once he is done with it to get some night shots. But just look at how beautiful this project is- jay you are awsome!

Andiamo Bike Ride

This morning was the Andiamo Bike Ride heading out from Creskill. Jay is one of the sponsers of the ride and her always gets a group to meet up at his shop before heading to the ride. This morning there were over 30 motorcycles there before 8:30. A quick bite of a bagel, sip of a coffee and they head off to meet up with the thousands of other riders. This year SHelby rode with her dad and I grabbed a few shots before heading to church.

Women Of Faith- Philadelphia

Its that time of year again... the time when I pack up with a group of friends and head to some city to attend a WOF conference. This year it was Philadelphia again. We went to the Franklin Institute of Science to see King Tut- see if you can recognize my friends on the pendulum staircase..You win a prize if you do. This weekend is really about Christian Fellowship with these ladies and I am so thankful I am able to make it.

Those little blobs up there really are my friends

Carol and Leah enjoy a wonderful, strike that, nutritious, strike that, edible?, box lunch

This weekend isn't about the food, its not about the museum, its not about anything more than spending some time with friends learning more about our relationship with Christ Jesus, Amen!