an artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.

i've noticed most people on my "links" list have updated lately, so i felt guilty and here i am, typing.

i really don't have much to say that i haven't already said. as far as life's events and decisions go, we're still playing the waiting game.

so onto something that i can think and dream about no matter where we are or what we get paid for.


i need to get back into art.

i have this hidden passion or creativity that sometimes (ok, really most of the time) gets tucked away behind the everyday habits of just getting through life and has nowhere to go. i've always had this desire to create beautiful things and i usually funnel that passion through pencils or paintbrushes. even collages. i'm not really that great at it. i couldn't paint a woman standing in on a dock with the wind blowing her skirt around her ankles, even if i wanted to. maybe i haven't explored it enough to feel successful at it, so i tend to steer towards just plain design. i love simplicity and, therefore, usually end up creating a painting that doesn't even fill up the entire canvas, has only 2 major shapes in it, or just is a bunch of colors and lines.

even still, i end up content and feeling somewhat talented. like i have something that makes me, me. like i have a "thing". a talent. something that makes me special and admired. it's almost the way that i try and show who i am or even, who i'd like to be by creating something that shows people something about myself in a way i know they'll never be able to see any other way. i'm not great at it. maybe not even good at it. but i love it.

and i've lost it recently. i haven't picked up a magazine clipping, a charcoal pencil, or bottle of acrylic in so long. i think i'm too busy trying to find something else that could make me unique instead of just doing what i love to do. perhaps i was waiting for that stage in life where i was "settled" and could focus on things like art or hobbies that have nothing to do with the world around me and the life i am so wrapped up in.

well, if that's so, then i may as well never think of myself as an artist.



The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. -Emile Zola

Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known. -Oscar Wilde

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. -Thomas Merton
(I'm making Tim proud with this one)

welcome home, tim.

this weekend, tim went to knoxville to go to an Old Crow concert with Bill, a UT game with Ben, visit Crossings, etc. needless to say, i was very jealous and wish i was able to go along. i'm actually surprised he came back.

friday started out alright, with a solo trip to Va Beach to check out some pretty cool stores i'd been wanting to go to. i bought myself more than i needed to, and then felt guilty for spending so much money. i do now have my own pair of chuck taylors, which was probably my favorite purchase of the day. i don't regret those. i'm definitely a victim of retail therapy.

while he was gone, my parents left for a cruise to Bermuda. jealous again. sarah's staying with us for the next week, so i get to play dog-sitter and sister-keeper. she and her friends are my favorite high school girls ever, so it was great fun to help fix hair and makeup for Homecoming this last weekend and host the slumber party after their dance. i also have to brag on Hope- my sister's bff that won Homecoming Queen WHILE wearing her football jersey. that's right. she's the only girl on a varsity football team in the district.

this was all after pulling off a Fall Festival for church for what we expected would be 1000 kids- all inside due to the 3 days of downpour that we had, going to walmart to stock up on food for the group of girls staying at our place, and walking up the stairs to find our apartment door open at 10:30pm. good thing i could run across the street to Lindsay & Nick's and make him come check EVERY nook & cranny in the apartment for killers-including the dryer.

add church to that, which is also a work day for me. making sure teachers are there on time, finding subs, passing out food drive bags, and preparing breakfast for 50+ volunteers.

by the time Tim got home on Sunday night, i was absolutely drained. to say the least. i cried for absolutely no reason, and then took a nap that lasted for almost 5 hours.

Tim and I both played hookie on Monday, cancelled our responsibilities for that night, and told real life to back off for one more day.


the up sides to the last few days:

fall weather is finally here.
i have an entire box of brownie mix at home.
ruth ann sent us a package with a nice Starbucks gift card at JUST the right time.
october will be over TOMORROW.

fence philosophy

so i really have no idea what my/our life's gonna look like in the next few months. we could still be here in virginia. we might not. we could still be a family of two. we might not. i could still have dark hair. i may not. ok, that's a little far, but the point is-i am learning to be okay with not knowing.

i've felt a little stressed/worried/pressured the last few days/weeks about things here in virginia. trying to figure out if i like it, if it works, if it's the best thing for us, if there's something out there that i'm more passionate about, or if i've just lost my passion from wandering around york county. it's a big deal, this grown-up thing. i also know the rewards of sticking things out and being dedicated, but that doesn't mean that change and something different or other decisions are necessarily bad, either.

i don't really recall any time in my life when i "just knew" that God wanted me somewhere. i saw the open and shut doors, the advantages or disadvantages, weighed my options based on my knowledge of "the long run" and made a decision the best i knew how. so far, it's been a pretty flawless process. i've ended up in my life healthy, happily married, educated, and wanting not.

but i also strongly believe that God may give us choices to make. He lays two (or three, or four) in front of us, and says, "It's up to you. I believe you'll choose wisely. Either way, serve me." And He lets us decide one small section of our life's journey and then gets to work helping prepare us further for that choice. Free will, right?

maybe i'm just doing some wishful thinking. maybe i'm on my tiptoes looking over the fence and thinking, "ooh, that grass is greener." maybe God's going to sit me/us down and say, "ok, guys. here's what i have. what do you think?"

scary, huh.

indiana's the wrong place to be breaking apart

so we're back from Indiana....ella and tim are, in fact, best friends. just like he predicted. i've never seen a boy and a baby so enamored with each other...other than her daddy, of course. we got to play "house" for awhile and help take care of the baby, cart her around to youth group, church, downtowns, restaurants and outlet malls. this weekend was food for the soul. tim and i took it all in while we could. we loved being with kenny & nicole and having a chance to spoil their baby girl. we went shopping, fed our Starbucks addiction, watched our shows, ate at Cracker Barrell and played speed scrabble-all memories for us. we got a chance to share in each other's lives even though we're close to a third of the way across the country.

we also go to see tim's parents and sarah...which was awesome. ruth ann had the usual roast, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, etc. etc. for us on Sunday afternoon. we took naps and watched some good movies. tim finally got to see Reign Over Me- one of my favorites now. i missed goofing around and making faces with sarah. tim usually doesn't laugh as much as she does.

i sat in the airport, trying my hardest not to cry. i didn't want tim to see how much i'd fallen in love with indiana, too. of course, he saw. there we sat, thinking and doubting. we wondered if we'd ever find a place to settle into. we wondered what would make us happy. we thought about teaching, dreaming, ministering, starting a family, and sharing life with close friends.

we both had tickets in our hands, so we both got on the plane and came back.

one year completes the circle

i was reading old posts of mine on xanga, the blog i used to keep up. it's always interesting to go back and read something you've written a long time ago, especially if it's in the form of journaling due to the usual emotions that go along with it. i was reading entries from last October, when i was pretty well into student teaching, looking forward to going home for the holidays, barely getting into planning our wedding, and really struggling with what i was going to do with my life and where tim and i were supposed to be living. i was so ready to be moving on, starting something new, and enjoying life without being in school.

i've realized it's taken me a full year to come full circle.

even though i'm not in school anymore, but in some strange way or another....i'm at that same place again.

still trying to figure out what i want to do with my life. i'm confused about a job that i saw God place so obviously in front of me, and now i sit for hours at my desk wondering what else is out there. tim has a steady job, but still has no idea what he wants to do, either.

we miss Knoxville like you wouldn't even believe. Crossings, a church plant that i was a little hesitant about, seems like the kind of faith movement that's right for BOTH of us. the weather, the artsy city, the countryside...it's got it all.


we've settled down together....and in turn, become more restless.
how is that fair?


ps. happy one month birthday, ella grace gooch. we get to finally meet TOMORROW!

the alphabet versus the goddess

i was in Borders yesterday, exploring the Psychology section, a section that i would frequently visit (and purchase feverishly from) at McKay's in Knoxville. i was interested to see what was considered "new release" in big shot bookstore psychology.

an interesting title caught my eye: The Alphabet versus the Goddess: The Conflict between Word and Image.

this book intrigued me. i started reading the cover flap and discovered that it was actually a guy's thesis on how written language has a "masculine" effect on culture because it uses the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls linear thought. if you consider visualization, vision, and seeing the "big picture" or an abstract thought process as right brained (or feminine), then his theory makes sense. he explores several different people groups and events in history and writes that society has moved from a feminine way of thinking (when groups of people prayed to the goddesses of the earth, and had no written language, their cultures based completely on character and told stories) to the movement of written laws and literature and therefore became more masculine. he then explains that society could possibly be moving back towards the feminine way of thinking with all the sci-fi and fantasy-like media, movies, music, etc. he thinks society could be meeting an equilibrium of both ways of thinking. he says that visual orientation is moving its way back into society, especially with the rise of power in women authority/political figures.

oh, hillary. you might have a chance.

many people have opinions about his book, mostly saying that one way of thinking is good and the other is bad.

what do you think?
is it good for society to have a linear, practical, masculine way of thinking.....or a visually-oriented, abstract, visionary feminine way of thinking?


what's sad is that he implies that no one is using their ENTIRE brain-only one half at a time.








this is totally a dr. ketchen conversation.

the first of october

the weather is finally looking and acting like fall could happen sometime soon. i'm excited. i'm with tim- when the fall weather gets here, you're just automatically in a better mood.

helped out with another wedding this weekend, a fall wedding. it was beautiful and made me want to do mine all over in the fall. sike. but it was beautiful.

the children's ministry job is still going well. i'm sloooooowly learning how to lead, and i miss teaching more and more every day. thought about subbing on fridays, but then i remembered that i need that day as my "sane time" before i head into another weekend of ministry. it's a hell of a lot harder than i thought.

we're going to see Kenny & Nicole in less than 2 weeks and i'm SO excited. we're really ready to meet Ella Grace, and from what i hear, she's ready to meet us, too. we miss watching Grey's with them and the Wolfs, playing games, and just being the 4 of us. the only part i'm okay with changing is that there is now another person to learn how to play Nerts.

we have a lot of things to look forward to in October, one being Montebello this weekend! it's not going to be the same without the carloads of JBC friends to bring, but it's Montebello, and it's freaking awesome. apple festivals, picking our own pumpkins, camp fires, beautiful trees, s'mores (how excited am I??), hugest sleepover ever. good times. heck of a tradition.

i'm learning how to cook a lot more, now that i'm addicted to Take Home Chef and have my own kitchen stocked full of fun Pampered Chef toys. it's hard to cook for just two, and Tim tells me i have to stop baking and cooking so well to keep him healthy.

this is a random post and i don't really have much else to report. my apologies.
but life is moving along and the seasons are changing.

uncertain september

so tim and i are going on 3 months of being married.
ella grace is already 2 weeks old.
i'm entering my fourth month of being an associate children's minister.

life is weird right now.

i'm not sure why, but it is. i don't know if it's because i feel like i'm supposed to be settling in, but i don't feel like i am. it is home, though. it's where my parents live, i went to high school, i grew up in an awesome youth ministry, and got married at my home church.

maybe i'm just so programmed to live in a temporary state in my life, so that i'm always looking forward to what's next. we knew this is where God wanted us, the plans just seemed to lay themselves out. the timing, the job, the apartment, the people we already knew. it was all set out in front of us, and it was exciting. we knew this would be the perfect place for us to get on our feet and get established in all things life before we "really knew what we wanted to do".

but every day, i dream and think about what's to come. i think about moving closer to friends. i think about how much i miss teaching, despite how ready i was for a break.

i know tim doesn't see life in virginia the way i did. his job is just a job, and that wears on someone. his opportunities to do ministry are there, but i sense that he's not "free" to do ministry like he'd really like to. and that wears on me. we'd both really love to find somewhere we can engross ourselves into it. maybe we can, we just have to do it.

so what's going on? am i just not good at being content in my given situation? have i lived in a state of anxiousness and looking forward to events for so long that i've trained my mind to do the same? do i need to struggle through the uncomfortable insecurities of the present in order to grow and be ready for the future?

so for now, i'm loving this virginia home.

happy birthday, baby gooch!

i'm really trying to get back into the habit of blogging at least once a week. hint- it encourages me to do so if i see comments. :) seriously, though...i love being able to share a little bit of how life is now that everyone who was my life before is all doing life in different parts of everywhere.

today, we're celebrating a birthday. nicole FINALLY went into labor this morning, and i am SO EXCITED. but it hit me...we were all so ready for this baby to be here, but now that i know they will actually be holding their own child today, their vows in flesh and blood, it's like it's news all over again. i can't even begin to imagine how that feels. hopefully now, tim and i can put our trip up to see them on the calendar and get to hold their tiny miracle for ourselves sometime soon. then i can give her the tiny faux leather & fur snow boots i bought her the other day. this is going to be one hot kid.

this last week, i really felt like i went through the ringer in ministry. i'm really getting to the point of finding out the in's and out's of how this all works, and even then, i know that it will still take awhile (if ever) before i'm there. i finally dealt with my first "explosion" of unhappy people on Sunday mornings. i knew it would happen, and now i can say "ok, well now that that's over..." but i really ended up going through a week of fear, doubt, insecurity, and then coming through it with a lot more under my belt and a really good idea of what i need to do. unfortunately, i have a hankerin' (i miss tn) that that won't be the only time i learn something like that.

tonight is a little bit exciting. i'm being commissioned into full time ministry with a little mini-ceremony tonight at the start of the elder's meeting. it's kindof the equivalent of being ordained into ministry, but not as fancy (in my words). just my family, tim, maynards, nick & lindsay are going to be there, with the rest of the church staff and elders, of course. so it will be quaint and small, and meaningful. just some news that should be shared. definitely not as exciting as a baby being born, though. come on.

well, life is happening, and taking me with it. it's been interesting to see how i've been growing and being stretched and twisted throughout the last few months. i always thought that once i got out of college and got married, that i'd finally be a "resting point" and feel like i've gotten somewhere, but i really think now is the time i'm starting to feel the momentum of being molded through Christ. weird.

God's always gotta keep us moving. as my old friend Chad says, "keep on truckin'."

labor day banana splits

this weekend was truly a weekend. four days long, and nothing to do but eat good food, visit with family, and take naps.

my aunt jen and uncle joe came into town this weekend. they're the kind of relatives that can call us up and ask, "can we come visit?" the truth was, they are having their floors in their house redone, and they had to escape the smell of ether. just as well, i was excited to spend time with them without the craziness of a wedding weekend.

we had tuna steaks, corn on the cob, caprise salad, a five pound bag of Hanover's pretzels (which we ate in entirety), and our best menu- banana splits for dinner.

if i could describe my aunt jen, it would be a description similar to a character in a children's storybook. she is beautiful and graceful, but loud and bold at the same time. she has lived through tragedies in her health, marriage, and family. she knows every aching heart that comes at her, and can recognize character traits in you that you didn't even think you had. she loves to read aloud, even to me at 23. she is well-read, well-versed, and can pull the deepest doubts and fears from you after a simple conversation. she recognizes God in everyone, and has a contagious learning streak in her that makes you want to know everything about everything. she is talented as a seamstress, a chef, a mother, a grandmother, a medical nurse, a sister, a wife, and a prayer warrior.

after this weekend, when the boys all sat in the den for what seemed like all day, watching movies and eating pretzels, the ladies sat on the deck under umbrellas strung with white lights and our ice cream, talking for HOURS about our lives and the people in them. we talked about the women we've become, and the women we'd like to still be.

it was refreshing, to say the least, to enter into more of an "adulthood" after those few days. i was really included as a "grown up" and got to talk freely about marriage, faith, friendship, and food. i think i've learned more about becoming the woman i want to be in those 4 days than i have ever sat down to really think about.

i now have a new challenge. or maybe it's not new- maybe i've never challenged myself with it before. but i have to decide who i want to be. i want to be able to sit on the porch under white lights and share with my newly married neice and sister-in-law how my life has molded me into the woman i am.

my new favorite things

Snickers Dark Chocolate
Sunday lunch
Banana Coladas
girls' nights w/ tim
s'mores
mountain biking
high heels
Cajun Talapia from Applebee's
tshirt sheets
LA Ink
Take Home Chef
tim's old blanket
Wednesday night small group
vintage food ads
painted fingernails
Peanut Paradise smoothies w/ soy protein
yellow
working out early in the morning (gasp!)
library books
Rachel Clemons

another wedding & unfinished offices

lindsay and nick are now officially husband and wife. she was probably the most perfect bride i've ever seen, and nick was probably the most nervous groom i've ever seen! the weekend was full of fun friends and laughs. the girls went and got our nails done, had a dance party, fashion show (really it was only Summer & I), fancy bridal breakfast, jacob came in town for a long weekend, and we stood through one of the hottest weddings ever, trying to stay still with sweat dripping down our legs.

it's so much fun to share in the same season of life with friends. it's pretty easy when it seems like EVERY one of our friends is engaged. it's also very nice to relax and be a part of the celebration without having the stress of being the bride!

i'm starting to settle into my new job. the new school year is starting, and even though i'm not teaching, we have a pretty hectic September along with everyone else. summer events are over, but new teachers have to be recruited, trained, given supplies, and kids have to be promoted to their new classes. this job is all about the people skills and the details- sometimes not my biggest strengths.

i'm a little overwhelmed as i sit here in my office, which is still being pieced together. countertops are just waiting to be taken apart, books on the floor, pictures not hung up. i think once i get a good workspace, i'll feel a little more at home and productive. i'm also overwhelmed by the responsibility of being answerable to so many people who are older than me. i've gained the respect of knowing what i'm doing by my degrees sitting on the shelf, but the every day nervous pit in my stomach that i'm going to run into someone who finds out my secret- i'm still not sure what i'm doing. But until then, I will love people as much as I know how and take it one day at a time.

We're excited about this fall coming up, with summer schedules maybe calming down a little bit. Nick & Lindsay won't be in wedding mode anymore, so they can hang out and do neighborly stuff with us. Our small group is slowly becoming a "Newly Marrieds" group, but we're spreading the love of speed scrabble and mountain biking to everyone we can get our hands on.

We're planning a trip later this month to go see the Gooch family- baby Gooch needs to arrive soon so we can start packing! I'm absolutely and incredibly excited about that trip- I know it will blow me away to hold her and see her with her amazing parents. Let's just hope we don't come back with baby fever!

Well, this has been more of an update on our activities lately, but with those of us who don't live close anymore, sometimes that's nice.

Fall will be hard here on the east coast.

dragonflies and the art of bicycle maintenance

Tim and I have taken up mountain biking. It's something we've always said we'd like to do, so when Dad asked us want we wanted as graduation gifts, we knew this was our chance to get something as a gift that we would never be able to afford ourselves.

Mine is blue (as shown) and Tim's is red. These bikes are incredible. Tim's taken his out on more rides and mini adventure races than I have, mostly due to VBS week. He and a few more experienced bike racers in the church have taken him and Nick (Lindsay's fiance) under their wing and shown them a few good trails around the area.

My parents bought a pair, too. I knew that would happen, given the time that I got a new car and Dad bought one for himself as well. It's awesome to have something for the four of us to go do together. We've ridden everywhere from neighborhoods to the battlefields, and recently, Mom & Dad & I conquered a pretty tough trail full of drops, roots, fallen trees, sand, etc.

My shining (and slightly novice) moment was when I flipped my bike on the trail, rolled the bike off me and stood up thinking, "That was awesome." Lindsay might not appreciate the bruised legs I'll be baring in her wedding, but I'm a real biker now. I can't help it.

We were beginning the trail this last Saturday morning, and I was riding across a wooden bridge in the middle of what couldnt' be named as anything else but just plain swamp, and three dragonflies flew right alongside me for what seemed like minutes.

They kept right in step, flying next to me and never running into me or leaving my side. It was as if we both were of the same make at the time, both thinking, "yeah, I know. it really is beautiful out here. can you imagine what it was originally supposed to look like?"

oftentimes, when caught up in a moment of awe at nature's beauty- even in such an urban area of Virginia- it's as if God reminds me:


"You think this is beautiful, but I really wish you could've seen its orginal plan."

makes you kinda ache, doesn't it?

now that we've been living here

I miss those days
I miss those days
Autumn is falling
And I won’t be going away

I miss those years
I miss those tears
The tears that were falling
Cause no one was calling my name

A thousand people just like me
All frightened and excited to begin
I miss those days
They won’t be coming back again

I miss that life
I miss those nights
Looking for someone
To hold and to cherish
To love me despite

The thousand people I tried to be
Just like everyone
I was looking around for me
I miss those days
It felt good to be sad and lonely

But I am happy now
Oh so happy that I’ve found you
And I am quiet now
Yes, and quite content
Now that we’ve been living here
Cause I’ve got everything I’d ever needed
And half the things I’d ever want
And I miss those days
But if they came back
I would miss you so much more


This song nails it. I can't think of another that exists and would describe the way I feel about fall approaching next month and not returning to JBC.

For the last five years, my life was created and molded by the people and teachings of Johnson. I fell in and out of love several times there. I fell back in love unexpectedly and found my husband. I became who I was by the people I loved and the friends that I made. I met lifelong friends, people who, when I think about being so far from them, makes me physically hurt from missing them. We grew up, learned, fought, cried, laughed A LOT, played, grew tired, grew strong, and loved each other with everything we had in us.

The last verse is where it gets me, though. Although I absolutely cherished every moment I had at school, I wouldn't go back for the sake of having to take back the first 2 months of starting a life with Tim. Now I have, wrapped up in one person, someone to grow old with, learn, fight, cry, laugh, play, grow tired, grow strong, and love with everything I have in me.

"I've got everything I've ever needed here,and half the things I'd ever want."

I miss the hell out of Johnson because of the friendships I left with, but life goes on for all of us, and it's not the last time I'll get to laugh and cry with any of you.

But for now, this is my place.

life after the fact

so it's been over a month since i've last blogged, and a LOT has happened.

i will spare the silly details, since most of you were a part of our big events in the last month.

i can say that our wedding was the best day of my life. not only because tim and i were getting married, but because i was in a constant state of feeling overwhelmed by the friendship, love, and FUN that we all shared. it was a beautiful day and i everyone who meant everything to us was a part of it. tim and i are still spinning from the feeling of being surrounded by our best friends and our amazing families. so to those of you who made it sooooooo special....THANK YOU doesn't even cut it. we were blown away.

i'm now into my second full week of being an associate children's minister. it's been another overwhelming experience, and one that is both exciting and scary at the same time. there are some great perks- a new apple powerbook, my own huge (but still very empty) office, flexible hours, awesome co-workers, working with my mom every day, etc. i'm still in the state of trying to wrap my mind around the incredible amount of vision that someone has to have in this type of a ministry. we're getting ready to add on a new children's wing, start new curriculum, and pretty much explode into new extensions of ministry we didn't think possible a year or so ago. it's an incredible amount of responsibility but God has been in the details and in every volunteer that's welcomed me so far.

tim and i are officially settled into our new place, and me being the picky and precise person i am when it comes to decorating, i'm still "considering" where things should go on the walls, colors for each room, etc.

dad bought tim and i nice mountain bikes for a graduation/wedding present, and my parents ended up jumping on the bandwagon as well. now the four of us can go ride all over the battlefields, the beaches, or wherever we choose!

we're headed to IN this weekend for another wedding reception and to say hi to alot of people that I won't know:) my parents are coming as well, so we're loading up mom's new car w/ plenty of The Office dvd's, snacks, and things to keep us happy for 13 hours one way. another chance to see our friends and just get away - i love it!


well, back to work. it's vbs week. 'nuff said.

jwb

my dad's coming tomorrow to help me move back home, and we're both pretty excited. i'm a daddy's girl for sure. i may be a spitting image of my mom, but i've inherited the sarcasm, tough love, and sometimes stubborn reasoning of my dad. we'll pack, clean, and eat out with friends. i'm excited. once dad gets here, that means only 1 day of class, and i'm home free.

i get by with a little help from my friends

this weekend was the first one in a long time that i actually wish it was over. at this point, i'm just thinking we could've gotten 2 days of class over with instead of just had saturday and sunday. but then i remember how this weekend was great fun with some friends that i will miss as if my own head fell off, which i hope never happens.

a few highlights:
starbucks' new orange creme frappuccino.

speed scrabble 2 days in a row.

i felt nicole's baby move! i have to admit, it was an incredible feeling. i swear she gave me a high five from inside the womb. we're gonna be bff.

nicole, kenny, taylor, & i made a giant speed scrabble puzzle in record time as a team effort.

picking tweet up from the side of kimberlin heights b/c he ran over a pair of PLIERS that got stuck handle-first in his tire. i almost didn't believe him. neither did roadside assistance.

seeing bill & betsy pull over to help us with our "emergency" and then laughing and leaving us with the plier-ed car.

re-living stories about how dangerous the jbc dorms really are.

tara's dress-up game in mine & lindsay's give-away clothes.

bill wolf leading worship.

wedding dresses w/ HB. crazy.

spying on new people moving in with lindsay through closed blinds.

s'mores w/ the girls (again).

seeing bill & betsy every day no matter where i went (walmart, side of the road, church, etc. i will miss just knowing they're out there somewhere.)

tackling kenny outside the admissions office & scaring him so bad that he drooled in his goatee. priceless. for one who's notorious for pullin' pranks on me, i won today.


i guess looking back, those were two days i wouldn't give back. alright, alright. court, just take your time and enjoy your friends. i wouldn't have half the crazy life i do without them.

balumtimeth's day

dave barnes is one of the most entertaining musicians i've seen yet. he's just plain goofy. and hot. (shh)

here's a homemade video of him just being plain silly at home. it's about valentine's day, if you couldn't translate that from the title.

things i've learned lately

kenny can juggle.
you can make a half-decent clay animation video in about 2 hours.
every cd in the entire world is a different length.
computers break sometimes.
i might like that tim has to wear suits for his new job;)
you can pick your own seats ahead of time on flights.
indiana is farther away from virginia than i thought. (gooches, don't go.)
i'm happiest when my friends are happy.
fake eyelashes suck.
jacob and i have a lot of funny memories.
a girl's favorite diamonds are her own.
i don't like rap. any kind.
the word "cuiba" in portugese means anything you want it to be...they think it means anything from "onion" to "teacher".
i'm going to miss knoxville's market square.
how happy and worry-free i am becoming now that school is REALLY ending.

i can hear the fife and drums...

anxious to get back home, i thought this post appropriate.

these pictures are from downtown historic yorktown beach. the first picture is a shot of the shops along the beach including the new ice cream parlor and the local pub. the sunsets along this beach are to die for, and the fishing pier just aways down puts you in the path of some incredibly interesting locals.

the second one is the victory monument, where the langley air force orchestra proudly takes its place every july 4th and creates music that would give any american goosebumps. i'm sad to say i'll miss another virginia july 4th this year-we'll be on our honeymoon. yeah, shucks.

i've gotta say that i really think i do live in one of the coolest places on the mid-eastern coast. right in the middle of the "historic triangle" as they call it, we are close to williamsburg, jamestown, and of course, yorktown. we've lived here the last 9 years, and it's where tim and i will be heading back to. it's got character, for sure. battlefields, military posts, the largest naval harbor in the country, beautiful historic buildings, etc. i can't get enough. and i'm only two weeks away from heading back for more.