Yo

Gotta Run.. Off to have din-din with B at Chuy's and then the Del Castillo show. And maybe a little stereovolt later. Living large on a thursday night. :0)~ Woohoo.

Borat

My brother as Borat. A little scary, eh. The mustache is photoshopped I am sure. But the hair and eyebrows are real. And his hand placement - I am not sure whats up with that.

Yo

So, you'll be happy to know that in 10 weeks I will be able to get in to see my doctor and make sure I don't have brain cancer or something. Not that that's funny at all. I am just minorly amused that I call for a doctor appt and the soonest they can see me is 10 weeks. I just need some blood tests and general checkup. For some reason I am afraid I will get MS or diabetes even though I have none of the symptoms. And someone said I probably won't just "get" MS. Guess thats good. I don't really like doctors offices much. Has anyone noticed the scales in offices now. Or maybe its just my doctors office. But the scale is huge and has bars on the sides and looks like something you would weigh cattle on. What's up with THAT!

U2-3D

Oh man, oh man... it was WAY too cool. With U2 being my all time favorite band I had to go see the 3D movie. Now although it wasn't as good as seeing them live it was way cool. Bono in 3D in your face is never a bad thing. He took off his glasses a few times and that was just weird. I am not sure I've ever seen him without his shades. Well, I don't want to ruin anything for you so I won't say anything else. It was just way cool. Ignore any negative reviews you read. :0)~ Also on another musical note (ha-ha) the soundtrack to "I am Not There" (dylan biopic) is really great too.



ok, a few more thoughts on the U2 movie. One thing to know is it is an hour and a half ALL in 3D. So watch out. It will rock your world. I was listening to a JR Woodward (Kairos) teaching recently about "Is Bono a prophet." You should check it out sometime. You can also check out his blog on the subject at http://www.jrwoodward.net/jrwoodward/2006/02/is_bono_a_proph.html You might agree with it but you might not. But for me, yes Bono is a modern day prophet in a loose sense of the word. Bono is not sitting on his rock-n-roll butt and preaching but doing nothing. He is out there meeting with politicians, heading up campaigns to serve the underserved, writing and preforming songs that make you think and even lead people towards Christ, stretching our conservative beliefs. He's an activist. He's connected to our culture. I liked this comment by JR, "We must learn to embody the truth in a way that connects with our culture. Bono causes me to increase my desire to know Christ and to know the culture." I don't agree with all of Bono's views, but then again I don't agree with all of Mark Hagen's views either. But I sure respect them both. One topic that I've heard come up often with Bono is the idea of "coexist" with the letters of coexist being the symbols of different religions. Now how does that work out? Isn't there only one way to heaven? Well, yes. Thats not what the Coexist campaign is about. It seems to be about peace and stopping war. But I don't want to go too deep here about all that. Anyway. Bono and his songs do make me think, and often act. I want to act more often.

random thinking...

So, been thinking about this since a couple weeks ago. It’s not exactly earth shattering so don’t get that excited. JB and Sandy were talking about the Hannah Montana concert (I think its tonight) and were saying, “you HAVE to get your kids these tickets.” And I was thinking how retarded that is. As a parent I am SOOO not going to be getting my 5 year old kid (or even 10 or 12) $100 -$1200 tickets. If they want to mow lawns or petsit and earn the money themselves than I might let them go but I so don’t think it’s a parents responsibility to buy them expensive concert tickets or Wii’s or Ipods or plasma TV’s or even cell phones. I think parents are “responsible” for providing food, water, basic clothes, shelter, and the opportunity to get a high school education. And that’s about it. Ofcourse, I will want to provide more for my kids but I don’t think I HAVE to give them everything they want. When I was a kid it was a big treat to go to McDonalds for dinner, we would get a cheeseburger and then split a large fry with the family, we might have split a coke too or maybe just water. I don’t remember the beverage thing. I do remember it being fun and a treat, but I did want a happy meal sometimes for the toy. We couldn’t get happy meals b/c of how costly they were but then my dad got a new job and we had more money and Rachel and Daniel were born and then we would sometimes go to McDonalds and we’d get a Happy Meal. That was pretty cool.

And then I heard a commercial about “oh, your dating life is non-existent… well, you just need easy braces. If you had straight teeth that would make all the difference.” Yea, whatever. I have great teeth. I am very picky about my teeth. Spent lots of money on braces to correct my teeth and keep them straight. I love my teeth. And I have a cute smile. Having straight teeth does not equal having lots of dates. Stupid commercial.

Organic peanut butter tastes like paste! I opened a jar today and tried to stir it but I made a major mess. I lost the first inch of the jar trying to stir it. It was quite disgusting looking but I figured it would taste ok. But nope. It tasted like glue. I think I better go back to my peanut butter with corn syrup in it. Oh well. Or maybe they make organic peanut butter with cane sugar in it. That would probably be ok.

Lions

"Too often our prayers revolve around asking God to reduce the odds in our lives. We want everything in our favor. But maybe God wants to stack the odds against us so that we can experience a miracle of divine proportions. Maybe faith is trusting God no matter how impossible the odds are. Maybe our impossible situations are opportunities to experience a new dimension of God's glory." from In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

I have mentioned before that a root issue in my life is fear. I think thats pretty common so I am not shocked by my humanity or anything. But I have found I am pretty comfortable in it. And thats something to worry about. I really take very little risks in life, I don't stretch myself much (if at all), I am content just being me, I pray for security, I like having a life plan, I love having a stable job. I am seriously waiting for God to crush me someday. I fear dreaming bigger sometimes. Just today I had two people tell me I wasn't really living - they used slightly different words, but I knew what they were saying. Both people see my artistic side of my life as bigger and more important than I am seeing it. Yes, I want to be a photographer. But am I willing to take that leap and quit a perfectly decent job at UT. You all know the answer. Nope. And until recently I was pretty cool with that. I'll just work and do photography and art on the side. Then last fall I got whacked up side the head. I didn't have TIME to do my art and photography. I didn't do an art fair I wanted to do b/c I was too busy. I didn't take more opportunities to learn from a glass artist b/c I didn't have time. I squeezed in pottery but my hands and head were in two different places. I actually turned down photo jobs or didn't follow up b/c I had no time.

I am searching for more balance this year with it all. But you know. I am still me. And thats ok. As I've been reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" - yes-freaking long title - I've been inspired by some of it but there is another part that I am like, dude - chill out and be rational. Some of the stories in the book are absolutely crazy! Now I know God can ask you to do crazy things. I love it that I have friends that are "idea people" but I also like it that God made me more grounded. I just have to find the balance. So who knows what this year will hold but I am going to let myself dream bigger and expect God to teach me some wild stuff.

A couple years ago someone asked me about what I wanted to do in life, and I had two different paths. I had the married path and the unmarried path. I realized recently I put a whole bunch of cool stuff on the "married path" - and my "unmarried path" was about as safe and lame as I could imagine. I am going to try to squish those paths together more. I did do two things that were on my married path last fall. (I gotta take small steps friends. :0)

a little pottery

A piece I finished back in November but just planted the jade plant in it last week. It was my first attempt at this shape. I was afraid where the clay was folded that it would crack when fired b/c of the thickness but it turned out fine. I let it dry really slowly for 6 weeks before firing it to make sure there was no water in it that would have made it crack.

Here's a close up of it. The texture was made with a piece of coral and the glaze is khaki that went brown in the kiln. Very nice and earthy. It has a hole in the bottom so hopefully it will drain ok. It's about 10" across.
And here is an 11" tray. It has iron oxide rubbed into the texture and then coated in white to give it a grayish color with brown accents. Fun, eh.

scandalous quotes

1. "I like to see MY man naked, thank you very much."
2. "In 20 years I could be a grandpa, and you still might not have had sex."
3. "Its always about uterus' and bladders."

My friends are fairly normal but they say the oddest things sometimes. Surprisingly none of these quotes are by Nathan or Shaun!

This week I've learned...

1. Pay attention to labels - an organic "juice box" with 7% juice is really just slightly flavored water.
2. Pay attention at work - not noticing your boss hasn't been at work in 3 days is kindof bad.
3. Animals are sneaky - i think the animal in the ceiling is now in the duct work
4. Get a deposit on photojobs - self-explanatory
5. Weatherstripping - when applying it around a doorjam make sure the door will still close
6. Rudy's sausage AND cream corn - don't eat a bunch of both at one sitting
7. Mirrors - they make a bathroom feel bigger and lighter - I finally put the mirror back in my bathroom after a year - i hated getting out of the shower and having a mirror right there so I took it out. I decided that was stupid so I put it back.
8. Cooking - cooking for one isn't much fun.
9. Read Milk Cartons carefully - my milk expired Jan1st, I thought it said Feb 12th so I've been putting it on my cereal - I thought the cereal tasted a little funny but figured it was just b/c it's organic. Maybe thats why I threw up yesterday.

Em

I've always loved Emily's expressive eyes. Love the soft glow of this and her long hair. I like her short hair now too but it's just a different look.

Kayli

Here are some pics from the little photoshoot I did with Kayli at Christmas. She's 3 now and too cute. She's talking quite a bit now and enjoys all things girl like putting on pretty dresses and having her hair done by my mom. She also likes to read books - well - have them read to her. She's only 3. The big excitement of the day was her going to the bathroom on the pot. Oh, the excitement of a 3 year old.

Christmas2007

A few pics from my time home in Virginia.

Travis, Rachel, me, and Daniel.

Daniel in a sweater mom knit for him. Handsome, eh. I am not sure what's up with his million keys hanging out of his back pocket.
Dad in his new A&M sweatshirt. Yes, I bought it for him. Sorry. It was slightly on sale atleast.

Dan and Rachel. Not sure if he's blessing her or about to squish her head.
Travis, my chic-fil-a hook-up. he-he. I guess I'll keep him as a brother-in-law.
Rachel and Travis. Yeah. They are really happy together. It's cute.
Kayli and her new bubbles. Between her and mom I think they spilled most of them. She's wearing the purple pajamas I got her. They have glow-in-the-dark feet. How cool is that?
Mom and her cup of coffee. Isn't she cute?

2008

Wow, it's already 2008. I think most of me is pretty neutral about starting a new year. It just doesn't seem as big of a deal like when I was little. But then there is a part of me that’s like, whoa, where have the years gone, what have I accomplished, am I where I want to be. And I think for the most part, yep, I am cool with who I am and where I am. And I am still dreaming/planning/thinking even when I am not really expressing that. I do fear dreaming too big, or talking about what I want to do sometimes b/c I am afraid of disappointing myself or others. I figure if I don't say it out loud then if I don't accomplish it no one will know and then I wouldn't have failed. Kindof dumb I guess but its reality. A friend pointed out recently that a lot of my "issues" are rooted in fear. Well, yep, they might be. But we all do that. I fear being unaccepted even when I know people like me, I fear losing my job even though I could probably go get another one, I fear my house burning down b/c there is a stupid squirrel in the attic chewing things, I sometimes fear staying single and supporting myself forever, but I also fear getting married. I fear not being good enough, but don't even know what I am measuring myself against. Sidenote - we got bored Christmas Eve and decided to measure how tall we were - "we" being my siblings - well, Rachel and I are within a 1/4 inch of each other. we "think" I am taller but Daniel was the measurer and well, he's not great at it. :0)~ We do know that Daniel is much taller than us. He was coming in at 6'2" and Rachel and I were 5'4". So, back to fear. Yep, fear does seem to affect my views quite a bit. And maybe it’s keeping me too grounded and I should step out of my comfort and do and dream bigger. With Liz back in town that could potentially happen but I will proceed cautiously b/c that’s who I am. I won’t be jumping on a plane to Africa anytime soon.

I’ve also been thinking about value lately. I really value my friends. Some might think I value some too much and my loyalty does seem to get me hurt more often than I’d like. But somehow it’s ok. I have a handful of friends who seem to let me be me, mess up, say retarded things sometimes but seem to know it’s not permanent. Last year was an interesting year of being hurt by those close to me. But I don’t want to go into that here. And I’ve realized some of the hurt was rational but some really wasn’t. But feelings aren’t always logical. Crap.

I thought I had more “real” stuff to say but I can’t seem to think clearly right now. I went to see the Dylan movie. Today was the last day it was in the theater here in Austin so I figured I shouldn’t wait any longer. Smart, eh. It wasn’t really what I expected but it was interesting. Some of the characters did a great job. The main theme that seemed to run through it was Dylan never asked for people to follow him. He’s just who he is. He didn’t want to be labeled. And when labeled he would do something outrageous to remove the label from himself. I did feel like I didn’t “get” some of the movie. But then again, we aren’t supposed to “get” Dylan anyway. I find him very interesting though.

Well, I better call it a night. Hopefully the squirrel will behave tonight.

Stupid Animal

Well, I am planning on going to bed but currently the retarded animal in my attic is making alot of noise banging around. I am just REALLY hoping he doesn't fall through the ceiling or chew through something and set the house on fire. I think its a squirrel or other animal atleast that big. This is no mouse or small lizard. The whole buildings attics are all connected so I don't know if this is something the homeowners association covers or something I have to deal with as it affects 4 townhouses. I left a note tonight on the HOA's presidents door. We'll see what happens. Let's just say that I am less than thrilled the animal is banging around all night for atleast the last 3 nights - at first I thought it might be on the roof. But the neighbors have confirmed its inside. Sounds like its hammering something at the moment. Lovely. I have an unrealistic fear that my house will burn down so this animal is not helping anything.