Why I love my dog

This is Junior, fast asleep with his tennis ball.

My girls, who deserve everything

Abby and Leanna in Onley, VA

For you, I will do whatever it takes. For you, I would walk through Hell itself. I love you.

Swirleeee!

This is an example of some of the random stuff I enjoy doing, especially with inquisitive little minds watching. :) Basically, I used food coloring to view the natural pattern of the water. It's done by finding something big and clear; the rounder the better, but cylindrical will work, too. Then you stir in a circle until you get a good little whirlpool going, and then put drops of different colored food coloring in at different intervals. The trick is not to do too much, and to do it quickly. Try it with your kids, it's fun! My niece had a blast with it. :)

Mud Bath!

Angel

Left to Right: Angel, Kalen, and Kristofer. Taken in Hobbs, New Mexico last summer.

Anytime you feel like you've forgotten how to have fun, go watch some little boys play. These guys were always thinking up something. Life's short; play hard! :)

Homemade Neon!

My newest photography adventure: aperture priority shooting.

This was done with a laser pointer on a white wall. (The darker the surroundings, the longer the shutter stays open.) On average, it takes about 4.5 seconds to create an image like these, with all the lights off at night (lol).

Jordan Loves Me!

Pictures drawn just for me by a little girl named Jordan.

These are from a little girl named Jordan, who is seriously one of the sweetest kids I've ever met. Her 3 dogs have all been through Puppy class with me, and two have been through Intermediate training, as well (the third just "graduated" puppy today). Altogether, we have spent about ten months in training, not including any time between classes. It's pretty cool to watch her grow up (as well as the puppies, lol). These are my favorite gifts. Jordan loves me! :)

Worth the Fight.

My friends, Katelyn and Danny, at their wedding last summer.

Remember what it means when you say "I do". It's not just some ritual we do. "I do" means "I love you so much I don't ever want to live without you, and I promise you and God that I will stand by you, even when it sucks." Value your spouse. Some things are worth fighting for.

Glass Coins

This is just a random bit of photography that I decided to try, and it came out really cool. Due to the movement of the coins, you can actually see through them in the photo. Nifty, huh?

OCD in action

Can we say, "Obsessive Compulsive"? (Smile, people, jeez...)

"You wanna piece of me, punk?"

Creepy bird that was following me in Hobbs, NM last summer.

Sooooooo, two cheers for God's sense of humor? Hoo-RAH! :) (Imagine a little straw hat on his head, and a piece of grass hangin' out of his beak...haha!)

January Sky

This picture was taken tonight (about ten minutes ago, actually) in my backyard in Portsmouth, VA, by me.

What does a crazy person do when it's five hundred degrees below zero out? (Okay, so really it was like 28 degrees, but still...) I'll tell you. A verifiably insane person might set up a tripod and take pictures of the (absolutely gorgeous) night sky. Said person might even hold their breath while pushing the shutter button, because the fog coming out would disrupt the picture. Thank God I'm not that much of a freak. Pffffffffff. (Dude, you should see the pics of Orion!) :D

Believe in...

B E L I E V E !

There are many religions available for your perusing, but you don't need religion. You need hope. You need something real. More than just lip service and mimes.

The thing about believing is, you can't do it without meaning it; you can't fake it. Sure, you can tell others you believe in something, but at the end of the day, when it counts, you know. Do you believe? Will you believe? No one can do it for you.

Beach Babies

Dylan and Abby at the beach last summer, in Nags Head. Pic by Amanda A., photoshopped by me.

Appreciate the moments that are simply perfect.

Hope for the morning

My friend, Jason, at a local park.

Tonight, I have faith that prayers will be answered and hope that the morning will bring something better. I am very, very tired, so good night.

To my girl ♥

Picture taken by Becky W., photoshopped by me.

To my beautiful girl, whose world is being torn apart right now.

Remember that some things have to change, and change can be good. Remember that I love you, and no matter what I'll never abandon you. Call me any time, text me a billion times a day, steal my hairbrushes, and cry on my shoulder as much as you need to. I love you, so much. I wish I could keep you from ever feeling an ounce of hurt. I can't do that, but I can help you get through it all. You're an amazing person, and I love you. God has big plans for you--you aren't just an ordinary girl. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently.

You are beautiful, inside and out, and you're going to make a big difference in every life you touch. You already have.

I love you, Becky Boo.

Love, Me

♥

Storm a' Comin'

Hobbs, NM in summer 2007

The land was so flat, we could see storms coming literally from miles away. How foolish

would it be to see the storm coming and not prepare? We cannot always be prepared for

what life throws our way, but when we can, it makes it so much easier to weather the storms.

Love you, Cynthia! :)

This is my friend Cynthia. This pic was taken a few years ago and I really couldn't tell you who took it.

Don't be afraid to laugh like nobody's watching. It's good for ya.

Take me to the beach!

This pic was taken a couple of summers ago at Oregon Inlet, in NC.

Why did I choose this photo, you ask? Because it's that time of year where I start to miss the ocean, the beach, the waves, the sea. (*sigh*) It's time to go to Nags Head, I'm missing it terribly! :( I could never live too far inland, I'd go mad...hehe.

If it's real, it doesn't have to be pretty.

From left to right: my niece, Leanna, pinching my husband Andy's nose; my sister, Candice; my dog, Junior, who is giving kisses with all his doggy heart to my brother-in-law, Bobby.
Love might hurt a little sometimes, and it's not always pretty. But if it's real, and you were a part of it, who cares?

:)

"The Old Man"

Out at Mom's, where I grew up. This will soon be part of my backyard. Suffolk, VA. Dec. 2007

Just another demonstration of nifty handiwork.

Who's cooler, Jesus or Harry Potter?

This was the scene at Barnes and Noble outside of Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake, VA, July 20, 2007. This was the day before "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" , the seventh and final book in the series, was released.

The store was to start selling the book at 12:01 a.m. It stayed at full capacity with a massive line outside the door from about 8 that evening. If you walked outside the store, you had to wait in the line. People forgot to eat, went without smoking, even let their car battery die as opposed to going to turn the lights off. Kids had school the next day, adults had work. Nobody cared. We were Harry Potter nuts. We saw people in costume, and there were people in every nook and cranny in that store, sitting on the floor or some even sprawled out reading. It was a blast. The picture at top was taken at about 1:30 a.m. as we left, book 7 in hand.

How amazing would it be if Christians, "Christ nuts", came to events in this fashion? How awesome to have churches at full capacity with lines outside the door, because there were so many Christians dancing eagerly outside the door, desperate to get inside for just a glimpse of what God had to say? Imagine, your pastor jumps up there with his Bible, yelling, "You have GOT to read Luke 24! Dude, I don't wanna spoil it, but he RAISED FROM THE DEAD! Awesome!" Or let's talk about the ultimate love story, superhero powers, eternal life, unfailing love, streets of gold. Imagine, little kids asking for camelskin clothes for their birthday, so they can pretend to be John the Baptist.

..

Some of us have just become numb to the amazing things in that classic book. The greatest story ever told. But where is the passion? Okay, I'll be the one to say it:

..

DUDE, He's the SAVIOR of the WORLD! SWEEEEEEET!

Faith Like a Child

My husband, Andy, and our nephew, Aiden. Last summer in Hobbs, NM

Aiden has no doubts. Uncle Andy won't drop him, Uncle Andy won't hurt him, Uncle Andy won't let his head hit that fan (his sister smacked the crap out of him, though...lol).

Even though Aiden has no control over his life at this moment, he trusts and is happy. No worries, Uncle Andy's got me.

.............

Enjoy the ride. He's in control, even when you aren't.

Just pretty

In New Mexico last summer

Sometimes the simplest things, when inspected more closely, are quite magnificent.

My path

Out at mom's house, New Years Day

"I'm learning the path is thin, and the grade is steep..." --The O.C. Supertones

Me? I'm learning that choosing the right path is easy if you stop trying to decide.

Have faith, trust, believe. And stop trying so hard.

Look up

Pictures taken just outside of my work a couple of months ago; it was about an hour or so before sunset.

(click on the close-up, it'll take your breath away)

..::..

Don't ever get so busy getting where you're going to look up, look down, look for miracles, beauty--look for God in all things.

This day was a very bad day for me, just an overall crappy day at work. I walked out, and happened to look up. And I stopped in the middle of the parking lot and just smiled. (Then, of course, I grabbed my camera, haha).

.......................................................................

Today's challenge: stop worrying so much about what's going on.

Look up.

.........................................................

He's there, I promise. And He's waiting for you to see him.

Hundreds of failures

This picture was taken from my mother- and father-in-laws' backyard in Hobbs, New Mexico this past summer.

The lightning was beautiful that night. I watched it dance around the field and I was in awe. I stood there with my camera for forever. Had to be a couple of hours. Everyone thought I was crazy, and I had some okay shots already. I could have quit then. I had plenty of shots of the lightning. I was freezing cold standing out there (it was nighttime and windy, and I was in shorts and a tanktop), and my arms were getting tired. I had hundreds--literally hundreds of photos that I had to manually delete that were nothing but blackness, with three little dots. (I used the three "dots", or lights, on the left hand side of the photo as a level point. I couldn't see anything in the blackness, so I had to have something to go by.) I remember the lightning hitting everywhere but where I had my camera pointed. It was frustrating, but I kept going. Snap, snap, snap. Pictures of blackness. Pictures of lightning, and they were beautiful. And then, finally, THE picture. This one. The culmination of my efforts. All the cold, the aching, the looks I was getting, the manual deleting that took forever...it was all worth it. It melted away when I saw this picture, and I was giddy. Completely nuts about it.

And when I look at this picture, I can't help but think that God put that lightning there at just the right moment, for me. He smiled and said "okay, okay, here ya go." Daddy let me win the game, and I've never forgotten the hundreds of failures that it took to get to that moment. How much more I appreciate what is given when I have to sacrifice to get there.

What's Missing?

As beautiful as this scene is, it is missing something immensely important.

Church Bus

What do you see when you look at this picture?

An old raggedy bus? Uncomfortable ride? Hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Do you think of school buses, church buses, mission trips and visitations?

Okay, I'll tell you what's in the picture. This is a picture of a man named Earl's home for a night. This is a picture of the only shelter that man knew. This is a picture of the warmest, safest place he could find. This bus was sanctuary.

Look at the picture again. Go ahead, I'll wait. Now, this time, imagine it's 20 degrees or colder on a windy night, and this is your bedroom. Imagine you have no pillow, no blanket, only the clothes on your back. I know, I know. What's the point, right?

The point is this: DO SOMETHING. If you can make a difference, do it. If you don't know how, find someone who does and then do something. Poverty is everywhere, in every city, affecting someone every second of every day. We have the ability to make a difference, to change the way it has to happen.

For a short story about the man that slept on this bus, click HERE.

Arlington National Cemetary

Arlington National Cemetary

My friend/coworker, Becky Yorks, sent this picture to me. She wrote:

"Attached is a photo I took in May of 2007 during our annual Navy Cadet field trip to Washington, D.C. We visited Arlington National Cemetery and had just come down off the hill from seeing the changing of the guard. This trip is always a very moving experience for me.

The tombstones just seem to go on and on, which could be terribly depressing, but each one served our country and that is so very impressive."

Many thanks to Becky for this.

Christmas Clover

This picture was taken in my mom's front yard on Christmas Eve. Random beauty in the midst of a bunch of dead leaves.

Ever notice that we appreciate those small things that we had forgotten only when we are surrounded by things that aren't so pretty?

Dear Mommy

This letter was found by my two neices, Abby and Leanna (6 and 3, respectively) earlier this weekend. It was in a dresser that used to be mine when I was a child. This was written by me, before my father died, which makes it pre-1993. Other than that, I couldn't tell ya. Pretty cool, though. Oh, and Candice is my sister. :)