A day at the park =)

I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves... they do a better job than me anyhow =)

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Flower Power!

Today Solly and I went for a walk (Post about that later) and took a lot of pictures of flowers and stuff. I thought I might as well post them here (because there are not enough flower pictures in the world =) )

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Random Photo of the day

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Speak Lord,

...for Your servant is listening.

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Wednesday

I feel like my blog has not only been somewhat neglected lately but it has been very weighty as well. Just all my posts on thoughts I have or things that have been running through my head and not very much "fun" stuff. =) And I haven't used very many pictures in them either ;-) So to break from the pattern, here is a good long picture filled catchup and random info post for y'all!

To start things off, here are a few pictures from Solly's latest photoshoot! =) I ♥ them

Seriously... so much cuteness...

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I just love this picture, I don't know why other than I feel like it sums up a lot of me and my thinking self. I think sometimes maybe I think too much and when I get started thinking on a topic I will stay with that same topic for months just thinking and thinking about it until I feel I have come to some sort of conclusion or have been able to put my thoughts into action.

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These were Solly's and my easter baskets from AC &H. You will note that we both got matching stuffed bunnies that we sleep with every night. I sleep with the Big bunny (aka the nanny bunny) and Solly sleeps with the baby bunny and when I leave we will switch and he will have the Nanny bunny forever and I will have the baby one. =) It used to be that way to start with but he liked mine more than his, so we switched ;-) Reverse psychology people!

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I have been using my spare time to catch up on projects and start a few new ones. I've been making hair dooies out of leftover ribbon and lace and such I have had laying around. This one has to be my favorite... I just LOVE it!

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I took this picture the other day and thought I would share it because for some reason it appeals to my artistic eye and it was just random. I always take all my makeup out like this and then decide what I am going to use. I am not sure why I do it that way but it might have something to do with the fact that I also make Solly eat his food groups out of different bowls and in 3 bite cycles. Which is weird and when I feed him he never gets food on his face either. EVER. I figure I will get over it when I have kids and more important things to do than make sure their face is clean at all times and that they eat their food in odd numbered patterns ;-)

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I have been packing my stuff and decided to try and sell my goldfish tank on craigslist. =) So I had the picture (which reminds me I need to list that) and thought I would post it just for fun. Both fish died and we buried them, well... Solly and I had a funeral and buried the one... the other one kinda ended up in a mausoleum of sorts and that is all I am going to say about that! ;-)

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As I mentioned above, I have been packing my books and stuff for Katie to take when she drives from WA to NE later this month (June). I have a lot of books. Like a LOT. This is my mid mess picture. =) All my drawers and cupboards and everything are all empty now, so there are just a few random things left, and shoes, mercy! I collected a lot of shoes out here! But if I have too much for Katie, mom said I can keep my stash there with her and come get it someday ;-)

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Well folks, that is all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed my pretty flat matter-a-fact descriptions and the very odd assortment of pictures! I fear my creative caption juices are not flowing right now ;-)

♥ Me

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I fought for you

Ive seen a lot of military tributes and such over the years but I think this video has to be the best of them all. Really, watch it.

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Dan & Megan [Sneak Peek]

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Unforgettable

Today I met a young man that I haven't been able to get out of my mind.

I was sitting as the only white girl in the back of the bus with several ghetto dudes who were dealing pot. Right there in front of me, packing the bags and passing the money and everything. I had Solly in my lap and we were reading stories; trying to ignore the marijuana market, foul language, lingering cigarette smell, and several days worth of BO surrounding us.

I was feeling very vulnerable and scared back there kinda hoping that they would just get off and this wouldn’t go south. The ring leader (aka the young man with the big bag of weed) spoke up and told me my baby was really cute and nice. I thanked him and then, out of the blue, he said with a particular indignation and sadness, "So that is what you got huh? Boyfriend just left you and left the lil man huh?" I clarified that I was the nanny and he complimented my nannying saying I was a great nanny and that he betted I would be well prepared when I had my own kids.

It was a simple conversation, but it broke my heart. He was one of those guys that I could see SO much potential in. He wasn’t a thug, he was just… probably doing all he had known to do all his life.

I am not sure what it was exactly, but there was something that was in him that was different than the other guys. They were all very respectful of me as much as I would hope for from their crowd, but he just stood out.

Maybe it was just that I saw so much potential in him and wished I could have offered him a real job or sent him through school and seen him succeed.

There was something about his tone and manner that made me think maybe 19-20 some years ago he was a little boy on a bus with his mama and no daddy.

Maybe it was the instant connection and tenderness I saw in his face and heard in his voice when he asked about Solly having a dad.

Maybe it was the moment of sympathy and vulnerability or a raw pain that I saw flash through his eyes when he assumed I had been abandoned with my little boy.

I don’t know what it was.

But something about him was different and utterly unforgettable.

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Just one?

This post really isn’t as much of a thought or an idea as it is a lot of questions; or series of things I have been mulling over and want your input and thoughts on.

I often on and off wonder, if I am doing enough for the kingdom of God in the way I live my life. Or rather, am I doing as much as I ought to? Maybe could I, or should I, be doing more? I have always thought of myself as a rebelutionary of sorts. Not the kind that made the best grades or succeeded at everything they put their hand to and became a business owner at the age of 16, but just an ordinary rebelutionary who strove to excel in the mundane ordinary life things. And God has always had His hand upon me in that and I know it and people have told me that they could see it all my life and He has brought me where I am now and will continue. '

But what if I could do more than I even think is possible. What if I gave more of my small little salary to aid causes that are spreading the gospel or freeing slaves instead of thinking that some family with a steadier income and more money or a more established career person will give what I think I can’t?

This specific situation has been bugging my heart recently, and I just have to throw it out there. I was reading up on some orphanages in India, where they don’t want baby girls because of the extra expense (paying a dowry to get her married as opposed to having a son and getting paid) or because they want sons to care for them. In short the girls are malnourished and die by the hundreds for lack of care. I was reading about an orphanage that had people drop baby girls off at the door all the time and just leave them to be taken care of or die. In 2007 this orphanage was charging less than $450 to come adopt any of their kids. India sent out a request or plea to Europe and other western nations begging them to come adopt their children that are unwanted.

For less than twice the amount I just spent on my plane ticket to go home, I could pay the fee minus plane tickets to bring a child home from India.

I was kind of floored.

To be honest, while I have always wanted to, I have never considered myself in a position to even consider adoption. I am 19 and unmarried. Legally I have to be 21 to adopt from India, but if I was 21 and unmarried or even a newly wed or even had a small child or two of my own, would I consider myself in a place to do something like that? What if I was a 24+ year old girl living with my parents waiting for prince charming… would I consider adopting a child? Would I lay aside my dream or ideal of the perfect family… the whole first comes love then comes marriage… THEN comes the baby in the baby carriage ideal? But, someone has to take them in and as the Brandon Heath song says: “What if I’m the one?”

Why couldn’t I adopt a baby as a single 21yr old? If I was legally able to and could support the baby and me financially and had a place to live… why not? Even as a young single mother I could give that baby a better home than they have right now. Does it have to be a mother and a father right away? Would God provide me with a man that would be okay with that? Do good Christian guys even consider girls that have adopted a child? Does that even matter? How much of my life am I willing to give? Sometimes I wonder if I have a “Yes, God I will serve You with my single years however You want, but I expect my future to be picture perfect” complex.

What if I made a choice per His leading and DID adopt a baby girl from India in those single years, that would affect my picture perfect rest of my life… significantly. Maybe I should just wait… but…maybe not.

Or what about the Human Trafficking cause. Setting girls just like me free from the horrific bondage of a sex slave. There are tons of places that need people like me, but it comes with a price, my life and investment of time. Am I willing to set aside my dreams to go to a land where I don't know people, to be in danger myself, to help others? Are those things too big or too hard for one little me and one big God?

What if I committed to a year long missions trip around the world? What if I moved to Mexico and served. Just served. I feel like there is so much to do, but I have never really thrown myself out there and done any of it. Perhaps my calling isn’t to be some big, maybe it is just to do little things well. I really don’t know, but I still wonder.

Maybe I could be doing more than I am… maybe I’m the one… maybe not.

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Go Down, Death

In the car on my way home from biblestudy yesterday I was listening to a sermon from Focus on the Family where they read this poem. People don't really talk or write about death a whole lot unless it is a bereaved family or family member mourning their loss. We skirt the subject because it makes a lot of people uncomfortable and it has a certain fearful quality to it. More so fearful for some than others of course, depending on how you life your life, and who you serve, be it God or not. Personally I dont "fear" death at all. Death will be a welcome sight for me when my time comes because it is the end of my labors here. However, at the same time, I have a very healthy fear (I think) of being prepared for when death arrives and living my life as if each day could be my last.

All of that said, This poem "Go down, Death" has to be one of the most beautiful works I have ever read on the concept and action of death. While it is fictitious, in that we cannot know for sure (until we die) if this is exactly what plays out in heaven, but still, when I think of the thought and the care God puts, even into death, it just makes Him that much more unbelievably great and all powerful!

Weep not, weep not,

She is not dead;

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

Heart-broken husband--weep no more;

Grief-stricken son--weep no more;

Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more;

She only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,

God was looking down from his great, high heaven,

Looking down on all his children,

And his eye fell on Sister Caroline,

Tossing on her bed of pain.

And God's big heart was touched with pity,

With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,

And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:

Call me Death!

And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice

That broke like a clap of thunder:

Call Death!--Call Death!

And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven

Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,

Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons,

And he leaped on his fastest horse,

Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.

Up the golden street Death galloped,

And the hooves of his horses struck fire from the gold,

But they didn't make no sound.

Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,

And waited for God's command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,

Go down to Savannah, Georgia,

Down in Yamacraw,

And find Sister Caroline.

She's borne the burden and heat of the day,

She's labored long in my vineyard,

And she's tired--

She's weary--

Go down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn't say a word,

But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,

And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,

And out and down he rode,

Through heaven's pearly gates,

Past suns and moons and stars;

on Death rode,

Leaving the lightning's flash behind;

Straight down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,

She turned her eyes and looked away,

She saw what we couldn't see;

She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death

Coming like a falling star.

But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline;

He looked to her like a welcome friend.

And she whispered to us: I'm going home,

And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,

And she lay in his icy arms,

But she didn't feel no chill.

And death began to ride again--

Up beyond the evening star,

Into the glittering light of glory,

On to the Great White Throne.

And there he laid Sister Caroline

On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,

And he smoothed the furrows from her face,

And the angels sang a little song,

And Jesus rocked her in his arms,

And kept a-saying: Take your rest,

Take your rest.

Weep not--weep not,

She is not dead;

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

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Shirt Makeover!

Okay.. so I found this shirt in the goodwill pile that I thought was really cute... just waaaay to big for me!

Case in point...

and....

Please excuse the one eyed dope face, really, I don't look that creepy all the time

The first thing I did was to bring in the back on both sides because I dont really have a very big back and when I put in the elastic for the high waist I didnt want an extra back puff. Highly successful method. ;-)

I then used my AWESOME serger and just made a seam on either side of the back and tada!

I marked the bodice below the bust line for the elastic....

Cut it straight in half!

Pinned it back together and sewed it in a small zig zag stitch (to preserve the stretchieness) at 3/8th seam allowance, and then folded the seam allowance up towards the top of the bodice and sewed it at 1/4th of an inch to made a casing for the elastic.

Wala! The finished product!

It was at this point that I realized something... this looked like a maternity shirt, so, if you are a size small and want a maternity shirt... do this!! I don't really need a maternity shirt right now, but it was a free project and hey... a learning experience!

yep, see... no belly at all... nothing but sheerly awesome abs.. that you ummm cant see O:-)

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