we can start moving forward

I like everything about this.

Love's Definition

This song has rocked me since the first time I heard it, but especially lately.

greens and blues

The calendar said it was summer, and I believed it.

So I drove until I found a nice, wide stretch of grass.

I found the perfect spot.

Under a tree.

And as I laid there curled up under the canopy I realized: I find Jesus the most in my failures, mess-ups and weaknesses. When I recognize my sin, I recognize Him even more.

John Charles

I can't remember the last time I called my dad to chat, but I did tonight. He'd been on my mind all day.

It was a sweet, sweet talk. He's so much softer then he ever was when I was a kid. I guess time and pain and weakness change your perspective on life.

I found out that he hiked Mt. Olympus in his younger years (in the Olympics). He could talk about his hiking adventures all night, and I'd do anything to hear his voice so I asked as many dumb questions I could think of to keep him going. The hike to the base of Blue Glacier took 4 days down the Ho River, through fields of wildflowers and rainforests, until they got to where they camped on top of the glacier. He said he could hear the glacier creaking and cracking while they slept. Then they summited. No big deal.

Apparently he's also a fan of horse races. News to me.

And he told me he thinks I'm so smart, and he wished he told me that a long time ago. Oh, dad...

At one point, he told me he used to be a runner. I never knew that! I said "Dad, I'm half you. I love hiking and being outside and playing sports and running because of you. Mom never liked that kind of thing." I think it made him happy to hear that. I love that I'm my dad's daughter.

Here he is, helping me waddle along. Doesn't he have great hair and great forearms?

He's still in pretty good shape. He rode his bike 20 miles just yesterday. I think it's cute to picture him peddling along, because he never rode a bike when I was growing up.

I found some photos from the day he & my mom married. He's so handsome to me. And my mom has awesome legs!! (Side note: she made her own wedding dress. Go mama.)

People were always naturally drawn to him.

Just look at him.... I would've fell for him too. Again, go mom. She knew what was up. She is PUMPED - look at her face!

Some things I got from my dad: my smile, my prankster ways, my ability to put people at ease, my love for nature, my impatience, my desire to be loved, my simple-mindedness and my love for beer.

Happy Fathers Day, Daddio. You are so loved, by your daughter, who is half you.

Francoise Nielly

The man is amazing.

I want to understand the shadows and terrain of the face like he does.

What once was lost...

...now is found.

Kill the fatted calf!! I found my ring!

Seriously - this is a big deal. My little sis the silversmith made me this silver ring and set it with a citrine gemstone. (Say that sentence 10 times really fast.) Lately, if I think about how I misplaced it, I'd get this little stab of sadness, picturing it in some field or parking lot or on some strange girls hand.

I was doing a deep-clean of my room tonight, organizing important papers, putting my paintings in a safe place, and assorting my lip gloss by color...when I found it. What a relief. It's a ring I hope to have forever.



Ignore my alien hand.

Secrets are My Fave

Someone out there is a real sweet person. I got back from lunch today and found these two peonies on my desk. They're huge, and they smell so lovely! No one seems to know where they came from. And honestly, I don't want to know. I like wondering. And I like knowing that someone else out there has a secret to keep...that they gave flowers to a girl today, and she doesn't know where they came from.

Which reminds me of an encouraging word my friend James gave me last summer:

"You are the fragrance of God. You permeate darkness and penetrate the unmoving. With gentleness like a wind, a breeze, you fell great borders and stone gates. You are His scent. You smell like Him. You awaken the vivid memories that turn hearts, bring tears and take us back to the moment of first love."

truth for me today

finding my heart now

peonies on my desk

I wish they never died and fell to pieces.

Fierce was the Wild Billow

Fierce was the billow wild, dark was the night;

oars labored heavily, foam glimmered white.

Trembled the mariners, peril was nigh;

then said the God of God, "Peace: it is I."

Ridge of the mountain wave, lower thy crest;

wail of the tempest wind, be thou at rest.

Sorrow can never be, darkness must fly,

where saith the Light of light, "Peace: it is I."

Jesus, Deliverer, come thou to me;

soothe thou my voyaging over life's sea;

thou, when the storm of death roars sweeping by,

whisper, O Truth of truth, "Peace: it is I."

Best Camera Challenge Results

Last January I entered a photo contest with some of my iphone favsies. You can see my entries here. If you have some time to check out others entries, do it - you won't be disappointed.

The winners were just announced, and sadly I wasn't one of them. Still, I was so inspired by everyone else.

Here is the winners gallery!

My particular favorites are Merit Award Winners Jayms Ramirez and Michael DeAngelis, and Places Winner Philip Drucker.

Congratulations everyone!

Chisel Me

Pastor Norm ended yesterdays talk with this video.
Ahh, I can so relate.

Sometimes this is all I can say.

Accident

Here's a watercolor I did a few months ago that was completely accidental. I was working on a flower, got bored and started a face. The way it ended up looks like the flower is meant to be in her hair, but they started out completely separate.

I want to get really good at faces and expressions.

Who is John Galt?

I've been making my way through a very well-worn Atlas Shrugged (on page 188 of 1084), and Ayn Rand is blowing my mind. What an incredible writer.

Some excerpts that need no context:
_________________________

He glanced at her and did not answer. Then he said, "I like cigarettes, Miss Taggart. I like to think of fire held in a man's hand. Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips. I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours. When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind - and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression."
_________________________

"Francisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?"

He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long time is that none of us has ever been permitted to think he is born a d'Aconia. We are expected to become one."

He pronounced his name as if he wished his listeners to be struck in the face and knighted by the sound of it.
_________________________

"Francisco, what's the most depraved type of human being?"

"A man without a purpose."
_________________________

The three of them set out every morning on adventures of their own kind. Once, an elderly professor of literature, Mrs. Taggart's friend, saw them on top of a pile in a junk yard, dismantling the carcass of an automobile. He stopped, shook his head and said to Francisco, "A young man of your position ought to spend his time in libraries, absorbing the culture of the world."

"What do you think I'm doing?" asked Francisco.
_________________________

And I just found out there's a movie coming out. The book was published in 1957, but I love that the story is timeless enough to create the film in a modern setting, 50+ years later. She was ahead of her time. I can't wait to see the movie, but I want to finish the book first.

May Day Clean at Heritage Park

Home

I can't wait to sing with my kids someday!
This video melts me every time.



I've seen this a few times, and I just now noticed that at 1:48, she says "One day I'm gonna whistle??"...too cute.

As a kid, my favorite song to sing with my stepdad was Dance, Dance, Dance by The Steve Miller Band. He'd get out his 12-string every night. I'm pretty sure he's one of the main reasons I love music so much. So I look forward to times like that with my kids. (And they won't care how bad my guitar playing is.)

Here's the original Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Me. U2. Qwest Field. June 4th.

"U2 is not a rock band really.. I dont think so, I think its like we're a folk band or something. The LOUDEST folk band in the world... but once in a while.. there's a song, that makes you want to burn the house to the ground." - Bono

I'll be there.
And I'm seriously pumped.

Yeeeee!