time for a new post

FYI, Simon had a great birthday. He slept on the couch most of the day. Then when I got home he rushed to his food dish and ate until he burped. Then he slept some more and often farted in his sleep. My mom gave him a piece of "human food" for dinner as a birthday present - I think he swallowed it whole.

Fiona graduated from college ... congratulations my friend!!
You should watch the panda video on her myspace. You will laugh.
Fiona, look how far we have come ...



Jonathan and Lindsey celebrated their first anniversary. CRAZY!!
I can't believe it has already been one year since their wedding! Congratulations you two :) Below is a picture of Lindsey and I at a summer camp more than ten years ago. Good memories.



Route 56 Camp is in ONE MONTH!!! Ah! We are getting down to the wire. I am finding that all I can think about is Camp - it's the first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing I think about when my head hits the pillow. I think I'm in love! Well, we are praying for 56 children to come - we have four signed up so far so you can pray with us :) It's going to be SO much fun!!!

I have acquired a love for coke/pepsi with lime and a tasty fish taco. I think I've eaten eight or nine fish tacos in the last week. It's sick, but I'm not going to stop now - I'm on a roll!! Thanks to Ben for inspiring me to add lime to my refreshments. You are my hero.

So, my laptop crashed about two weeks ago. I was fairly devastated because I was told it was unlikely I would get everything (photos, schoolwork, etc.) back ... but I prayed to the Restorer and He was/is faithful! I got it ALL back and spent about 12 hours loading it back onto my laptop. Thank you Fry's for the new hard drive and my handy-dandy three year warranty! (and thanks, Dad, for the laptop)

Children are great. I think we (adults) need to purposely spend more time with children - they change our perspective and just make life ONE HUNDRED TIMES more fun. Tonight, I drove home two young boys after an event at church. The eight year old rolled down his window and said, "wow! it is SO windy tonight!!" (cute) Then the six year old exclaimed, "look - a rocket!!" His brother corrected him by pointing out it was only an airplane. But he explained, "No, this one is a rocket. Rockets look different and I know what they look like". (cute)

My brother leaves for Hume Lake next Friday. I am sad ... it will just be me and the parentals in the home again :( But it's only for the summer. When he's gone I miss our late night bathroom talks - we sit on the bathroom counter and talk for hours. Our conversations usually end with us laughing and making faces in the mirror. It's great.



I am taking a conflict management class right now. I would perhaps like to avoid the class altogether so I could avoid the "testing" (by the Lord) that inevitably comes along with it. But, I am learning a LOT ... I can't afford to tell you what I'm learning because you might hold me accountable to it if we get into a conflict. HA!

I end with this quote - "You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants."

happy birthday

Guess who is celebrating his birthday this week??? . . . Simon!
And you are all invited to join us for this BIG event :) We will be celebrating Simon's sixth birthday this Wednesday night with a barbeque and a trip to the local dog park (one of his favorite places). Everyone is invited ... and you should bring your dogs too! Simon loves people so the more, the merrier. Gifts will be appreciated.
Let's make this a really fun party that Simon will love!

what kind of love is this?

we stutter and we stammer til you say us
a symphony of chaos til you play us
phrases on the pages of unknown
til you read us into poetry and prose

we are kept and we are captive til you free us
vaguely unimagined til you dream us
aimlessly unguided til you lead us home

by your voice, we speak
by your strength, no longer weak
we are no longer weak
and by your wounds we are healed

don't touch me

Okay, here is one more video for the evening. The acting is SO bad
. . . and the commentary on the side is incredible. Simply amazing.

music video

An amazing Swedish music video --- "I Wanna Love You Tender"
It is courtesy of my brother's friend. You will laugh.

bug in my room

I'm still up ... writing an essay for school. Only five more pages to go!

There is a nasty mosquito eater in my room that enjoys leaving his spot on the ceiling to come down and fly around my head. I've tried to smash him about 100 times but he is SO stinkin' fast that I can't get him. And Simon is practically in a coma on my bed - he is sleeping with his head on my pillow and his tongue sticking out (not much of a protector). I keep telling the bug to die, but he won't listen to me.
I'm thankful he eats mosquitoes, but tonight I want him dead.

who you are

"First and foremost, find out what it is you're about, and be that.
Be what you are, and don't lose it ... It's very hard to be who
we are, because it doesn't seem to be what anyone wants.
But, of course, it's the only way to truly fly."

berries and cream

You must watch this amazing video (courtesy of Fiona & Amanda)

When you've watched the first, you may enjoy this one too

vocab lesson

A couple weeks ago I was on the job and driving around Clairemont Mesa while talking to myself (as most people do). I saw a rather interesting/strange woman walking down the street and I declared out loud, "wow, she is one shady lady!"

Then I had a revelation . . . . . "that woman is a SHLADY!" I quickly sent a text to Robbie and shared this great new word. I even explained that it could be used with a man = "SHMAN" (of course).
He sent a text back warning "Watch out, shman at 10 o'clock!!"

Please feel free to include both words in your vocabulary.
They can even be pluralized to shladies and shmen!

route 56 at knotts berry farm