And I'm thankful for...

• Moments like this (camera dorks happy in their element)
• Family. I have the best one.
• Friends. They make my life sparkle.
• Job. It's the most challenging, frustrating, glorious, amazing experience I've ever encountered.
• My cottage. I never get tired of the water view.
• The Bible
• Blogs
• Email
• My imagination.
• Chocolate
• Cheese
• VCR's
• TV
• My many travels this past year.
• Pictures
• Water
• Babies on the way
• Comments on my blog (hint, hint, hint!!!)

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Around town

I adore "downtown." It's old, quaint and charming. Today in the brisk cool fall weather, I walked around downtown with friends. It was fun to show it off to someone who had never been there before. (We walked down this fun little alley that was too narrow for 2 people side-by-side. The bro decided that he wanted to scale the walls. Of course he had to have proof. There you go.) I know lots of towns have cool places, but I've never been anywhere like this. I was telling my gal pal that if God ever decides it's time for me to move away, I'll cry buckets. As many places as I've been too, this place is still my favorite. And being surrounded by friends that I love too makes it seem even more like the perfect place to be...

cause it's been a couple days

Been sick this week.

Also, started swimming at the local pool. I'm really excited about it. Love swimming, but not good at it at all. Can't wait to be better at it.

Got fun stuff in the mail. Paper stuff. Yummmmm.

Loved the Office and Veronica Mars this week. Oh, and ER. I'm addicted, like back when I was in high school/college in the George Clooney and Anthony Edwards days.

Working this weekend, but definately making time for Battlestar.

Realized the other night that I really watch a lot less TV than I did last year. I know, I know. Hard to believe isn't it!

I recommend this for viewing pleasure. You won't be disappointed.

And this for listening pleasure. Ooo, and this too. They've been on repeat lately.

Been thinking about a bloggy friend lately. Praying for her. I have no reason to complain in life. Truly.

There you go. No pictures, but I PROMISE there will be plenty next week. The whole clan is going to be home for the holidays. Oh, yeah!
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FYI

This week is adoption week on Focus on the Family. Today's broadcast was a replay of an amazing interview with Steven Curtis Chapman. He talks about how his family became involved in adoption (from China) and about the organization he started with his wife Shaohannah's Hope (they, along with many other things, give grants to families who are wanting to adopt, but don't have the $$). It's a really great interview. I am usually teary eyed by the end of it and I"ve heard it several times! You can listen

HERE

BACK

Okay, so tonight was amazing. Now, I know I've poured out my thoughts here often, so I must have talked about how much I hate living so far from all of my gal pals. I usually have to jump on a plane or drive a-ways to see any of them. Well, this past week, something really cool, yes, truly, amazingly, incredible happened. One of them moved BACK!!
So here's the story of me and Mel. We grew up together. Youth group trips, camp, Bible studies, coffee shops, shopping trips. We have a million and one stories. She wrote me letter after letter when I was in college (this was before the wonderful, easy world of email) . I LOVE this girl. She is so kind and generous and taught (and still is) me amazing lessons in life. She got married a couple years ago and moved away. We still saw each other every once in a while when she came home for holidays (not nearly enough). A couple months ago, she told me she was moving back. And, this is the coolest part, they moved back 'cause her husband is going to start a church. They were happy and content where they were...serving and growing, but they felt like God was calling them elsewere. They went. They followed. That's just amazing to me. So brave and so trusting that God has a perfect plan for them. She's about to have a baby in a couple weeks. I don't even need to tell you how excited I am that I get to be around for new little one! I went to get coffee (our old standing "thing to do") with her and her husband tonight. We laughed (oh my gosh, that girl makes me laugh! I missed that so much!) talked and just enjoyed each other's company. I was again reminded how there is nothing better in life than someone who loves you for who you are and just enjoys that God brought you together to learn from each other.

So any of you other girls feel like comin' back.......

Photoshop practice

inspiration found

I love it when I feel inspired to create. Here are a couple things that have created that spark lately.

• this post from Elsie. She has been a big inspiration for me since I found her work in the pages of a magazine a couple months ago. She's an amazing photographer (and scapbooker by trade). So when I found her post, I decided to pull up a bunch of my shots and play with them a little bit (hence the above shot).
• The new Disney commercial with the kid's that are doing something normal like jumping on their beds and then they start to fly like in Peter Pan (probably my favorite childhood story). Everytime it comes on, I stop whatever I'm doing and watch with my imagination running wild.
• The weather has been crazy the last few days. Yesterday, the fog (still loving those pictures). Today, sunny and warm. The colors are amazing in the trees. No humidty and great light. I see the world through the viewfinder of my camera when it's this pretty outside. If only it wasn't DARK when I get off work at night.
• Remembering my trip to Europe last year. It was a year ago this month. I've been looking at my pictures again and remembering all the sights and smells.
• Writing, writing, writing. I go through phases of wanting, no, needing to write. To get my thoughts down on paper. To create through words. I love it! Been filing up my journal lots lately.
• And Big Ben. The first time I saw it I had to catch my breath. Crazy how something so simple just "captures" you sometimes. Pictures don't do it justice.

What have you been inspired by lately? Have you created anything? Share the wealth and maybe you'll inspire someone else....

a foggy day

I came home from lunch today and gasped when I saw these sights across the river. I ran (literally) back to the office, grabbed my camera and spent my lunch break snapping away. It felt to good to take pictures again. It had been about 2 weeks since I had taken anything creative. Nothing had been catching my eye. When I saw this I couldn't say no. The fog was perfect against the leaves. I loved this new effect I downloaded for photoshop (on the first picture). It's called "brownie" like the old brownie camera by Kodak back in the day.
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Can't forget

I've been blessed to travel to lots of places. In this country and out of it. And it's crazy. I get on a plane and step off in a place that I've only seen in pictures. Those pictures were usually what drew me to that place. Images burned in my memory that called me to come and see. Then I get there and see it in living/breathing/life. It usually gives me chills. I have to take a second to catch my breath and realize that I'm not closing my eyes and imagining that I'm there. I take a deep breath and drink in every piece of my surroundings.
Some of those places are a little different. I realize while I'm there that this place is unusual. The sights are amazing, just like I thought they would be. But there is something more. It's almost like a part of me had been living in the place all along. I feel like it's welcoming me. It feels familiar. Like I had been there before and made myself at home.
Hawaii, Prince Edward Island, Paris and Seattle have felt that way to me. When I came home, I couldn't get them out of my head. I could still smell them and feel them and imagine walking through the pictures I had taken. I wanted to go back the second I left. I think about them so often.
California was the same way. I miss it. I miss the sun, the palm trees, the sunsets, the warm breezes. I imagine living there at least once a day. The picture above is my screen saver. When it pops up, I always pause and stare at it for a couple seconds. I'm ready to go back. now.....

eta Jan 31st

When I went to see my sis in October, she let me take some shots of her tummy. Here are a couple favorites. Doesn't she just look adorable! Come on, little peanut! Your auntie is so ready to spoil you to pieces!


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Reason #149....

why I love my brother.

My sister sent an email to the family to see what everyone wanted for Christmas. She's so ahead of the game (getting ready for that little one comin'!!). Here was my dear little brother's answer....

"Now for what I want...
1. Russian mail order bride. Must include all paperwork including greencard.
2. A Lamborghini Murcielago. I would like it in black, but gray is also acceptable.
3. A robot servant. I need a versatile model that can clean my room, make dinner, and wash my car. It must also me able to dance reasonably well.
4. A big machine gun like the one that Arnold uses on Terminator 2 at end. I will also need lots of ammo for the machine gun cause it shoot like a gazzillion bullets a second!
5. An all expenses paid trip to a Shao Lin temple in Chine so that I can learn to be a super kung fu master ninja. I need the one that includes the monkey and crane style because those are most useful for dealing out maximum violence against enemies.
If anyone has any questions, please let me know."

I don't think I need to say anything else...the kid makes me laugh like no other.
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Oh, my gosh....

WICKED!!!! I've been in love with this musical since I first saw it on the Tony's the year it won for best musical. Bought the soundtrack and memorized every song. It's incredible. Always wanted to see it. On Broadway.
Finally, I get to go with friends who love it too. And oh, my gosh, I can't wait. I was listening to the CD today and singing along. Seriously! I get to go!
And I have to admit my love for musicals and theater. It's a deep love going way back to the days of Sound of Music and any Rogers and Hammerstein I could find to watch. When I went to college my love turned into a deep appreciation. At my school, everyone had to do a "Christian service" every semester, which was some type of community work. About 60 hours a semester. Mine was doing backstage work on the musical for the semester. Operas in the fall and muscials for the spring. I was in heaven. The smell of the theater. The energy backstage right before the curtain went up and the lights dimmed. The cast getting their voices ready. The props to set up. The applause and laughter after a great, funny scene. It was intoxicating. I was so sad when I graduated and knew that I probably would never get another chance to do that.
Plus I took class that changed my perpective on musicals forever. We had an amazing professor that taught a musical theater class that I was able to take my last semester at school. We studied a different musical every week. I LOVED that class. It was by far my favorite from all my 4 years of higher learning. I learned a ton. She was a tough professor, but the kind that you really wanted to do well for. I remember that one of the kids in my class was writing a musical for "the Shadowlands" (CS Lewis' life) and he had a guy perform one of the songs in our class with all the lights out except for 1 candle. Still gives me chills when I think about it.
So Wicked it is. In December. And NYC at Christmas will be magical too. Can't wait!


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So last night.....

I saw this.