Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Shooting September

Top 10 - September
(Most of these are with the new camera)
1. Its hard to say goodbye
2. Vintage pearls
3. View from the top
4. Country kid

5. Labor Day
6. Little Turkey :-)
7. The secret of life is letting go
(Facing the Giants)
8. Best seat in the house


9. Okay, not awesome pictures, but def. a fun night.  We had a broadcast journalism student and a film student stay at our house last weekend, Kelley & Gillette.  Kelley taught us all HEAPS about our cameras, and we went to the park for a midnight photoshoot.  I love random educational field trips.
10.  I did not take these pictures.  It was a noteworthy day however.
My family painted CJ & Kris's house in an afternoon.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

night class, Tuesdays

I love Tuesday nights.
My church has an AWANA program for the kids in our community. We meet every Tuesday night for games, Bible memorization, singing and skits.

 
I've worked with the Cubbies (3 & 4 year olds) for a few years.
This year, we have 13-15 of them most nights, with only 4 of them being from our church.

I have to tell you about "B."  He is incredibly, dangerously cute.  He's a little squeaker, like a chipmunk.  Very wound up, and compulsively loving.  He hugs you often.  One night, he ran up to hug me.  I leaned in, and much to my surprise this tiny little chipmunk gave me a Wet Willy!  Hello. Let me tell you, if your attention is drifting that'll bring you back real quick.
 
Stuff I've learned from Cubbies:
  1. Random is in.  The more unrelated the story, the better.  Such as... "Um, my daddy didn't take me fishing one day a long time ago."  "I had a pink birthday party last week."  (7 months ago)
  2. When addressing ladies, "Yes Man" means the same thing as "Yes Ma'am" to a 4 year old.
  3. It is possible to pick your nose and suck your thumb at the same time with the same hand.
  4. I am not soft enough, according to Jacob.
  5. Action is good.  If there are no actions to your song, improvise.  Spin or something, just keep 'em moving.
  6. A raised hand or urgent question means I have a new wound I must show you. Dylan: "Hey, I gotta question to ask you teacher."  Mrs. C - "What's that?"  Dylan: "Look at my rugburn on my chin!"
  7. Underwear is optional.
  8. In coins, value is totally determined by quantity.
  9. Potty breaks, and often.
  10. There's a tattle-tale in every crowd.  She is the self-appointed enforcer of every rule that has ever passed our lips.
  11. Everything in past tense is yesterday, future tense is all tomorrow.
  12. If you want to be held, hold your arms out and cry a little.
  13. Hide-N-Seek = chase us until you're ready to pass out Teacher!  And then do it some mo'!
  14. Chasing becomes much more exciting when the adult is growling.
  15. I am not ready to be a mother.  Naturally I will never have 15 three & four yr. olds of my own, but still.  I love them, but I lose all confidence in my abilities as a child tamer on Tuesday nights.
  16. BOYS ARE SO DIFFERENT THAN GIRLS.  This year, it takes 3 experienced ladies to sit with 5 boy Cubbies in Council time, and 1 younger brand new leader to sit with 9 girl Cubbies.  Boys are busy.  Boys have a short attention span.  Boys are constantly hitting each other, it seems to be how they relate.

I love these kids.  What I like the most is that in Cubbies, we get to set the foundation for most of them of how they percieve God.  How they can trust Him, love Him.  And they do trust Him, love Him and believe all the Bible stories 100%.  Child-like faith is beautiful.  Some of the questions they ask about Jesus sometimes floor me.  And, they make me laugh every week.

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Pig of Happiness

This is the ultimate subject....
a happy pig.

I have to share.

His happiness became too big. It had to find an escape. And so it was that it began to leak and seep from inside him into all the other pigs. Now all the pigs are happy.


Thanks for emailing this to me Steph, you're awesome. I love that the Pig of Happiness made you think of me.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

he kinda likes me

You'd probably be excited if I was your auntie too.

A video from today...


Little boy, you have my heart.

(even though you did push the button)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

the birthday cake

Dana's birthday was yesterday (so was her baby Charlotte's).

I remember when she turned 6 (or maybe it was 5), and my Mom made the most beautiful cake for her I've ever seen in my life.  In my little eyes it was the ultimate birthday cake.  Nothing will ever be better.  Period.  End of story.

I don't know if you remember it Dana, but it had all these pretty ladies with big beautiful ballgowns.  

Oh it was wonderful and magical and spectacular.  I'm sure Mom has a picture of it somewhere.

Happy birthday girls.

Monday, September 13, 2010

neato frito: friends

I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends.

Gillette
















Gillette is one of the coolest, classiest young women you'll ever meet. She's sweet, bubbly, stylish, smiley, encouraging, upbeat, talented... Yeah, all that. She was on a state officer team a couple years after me. We went on a few 4-H trips together, most memorably Canada.
I'm excited to announce she was ANCHORING on MT-PBS tonight. Woohoo! Unfortunately I didn't see it because I don't have tv. I feel a little bit cool to be able to say that she'll be staying at my house one of these weekends.

Steph & Rach

















My currentish/formerish coworkers. I mostly like them because we celebrate/d Ice Cream Thursdays together. Steph, aka The Nosepicker, aka Pregnant Lady, aka Agent X is very fun. And random. And very good at layering. She's like the Energizer Bunny of spunkiness. She is also in the middle of an office garbage can war with the Tan Man.

Rachel. What can I say about Rachel? I find that its good to ask her as she's just starting into a story, "Now Rachel, did this REALLY happen?" It helps remind her to check her exagerations before they blow out of proportion. She was the intern. Do you think she ever got me a cup of coffee? No. Pff, what's up with that? Last time I checked, that was the #1 job of newspaper interns.

Just kidding Rach. :-P You're pretty cool inspite of your insane ego.

Oh yeah, welcome to my blog girls. Now you can cyber-stalk me.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Cora and the carnival

This video shows you exactly what I meant about Cora.
Cora's got texture. I call her "Crunchy PB".
Some of you know, I LOVE texture. And Crunchy Peanut Butter is probably my favorite. So for Cora to earn the name of Crunchy PB is probably one of the highest compliments you could attain from me. Its the perfect blend of crunch, salt and sweet. That's Cora.

And here is a slideshow of the carnival pictures. I have to say, this is currently my FAVORITE night just lately. I'm pretty happy to have rediscovered my friends ... and....
do you know how much fun it is to scream at the top of your lungs for a couple of hours and its perfectly acceptable?

Count me in for next year!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Jimmy

Meet Jimmy, the carnie.

I was shooting pics at the fair yesterday, and as I was wandering through the carnival he caught my eye.
I quickly averted my gaze, but it was too late, he already saw the smile creeping onto my face.  He started beckoning to me, as they are prone to do.  I was shaking my head, "No, I don't want to throw a dart.  No, not even a free one."  But that wasn't what he was asking.

He was so excited because he thought I was some bigshot photographer with my fancy camera and big ol' bag.  He was asking me if the pictures were going to be in the newspaper. He was so eager that I finally just turned around and smiled and asked if he would like me to take his picture.

So I did.  I took a few.  I asked if he had a name, and he said "Jimmy So-and-so, and proud of it.  I'm not really a carnie you know, I'm just experiencing life."  So he pulled out his name badge and asked me to take a picture of it so I wouldn't forget his name.

Jimmy fascinated me.  I don't know his story, but he's just one of those people that grips you with curiousity.  I was so bummed out that I didn't have any tracts to give him, so today I made prints of his photos and went back to the fair to give them to him.  I also gave him some gospel messages on CD and a Chick track.  It turns out that Jimmy is already a born again Christian.  That's what he says anyway, and I kinda have a hunch that he really is.  He said he'd pass the CDs along when he got done with them.

Pretty amazing the people that cross your path.  I think running into Jimmy has potentially changed my life.  I realized that people love to have their pictures taken, and I should use my camera as a tool to reach people.  I have big ideas.  Maybe more on that later.

I wish Jimmy all the best and I hope God will use his life.  What an opportunity to reach people as a carnie!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

movie night

It is time for a hypothetical girls movie night.
(I know it won't happen.  This is just pretend.  Don't burst my bubble, just say you're in)

This is my list:

  • 7 Brides for 7 Brothers
  • Anne of Green Gables
  • Return to Me
  • Oklahoma!
  • Quality Street
  • Mrs. Winterbourne
  • Sound of Music
  • Wild Hearts Can't be Broken
  • Princess Bride

Okay, so who's coming?  And what other movie will you bring?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

County Fair

Its here. County Fair. Woohoo! I love it. Its in my blood.

Some of the younger, rowdy girls from church have talked me into going to the Carnival with them tomorrow night.  I'm a little concerned.  You see, Cora (18) is one of my favorite people.  She's so serious and sensible that when she gets excited it really means something, unlike myself who lives excited.   The power her rare excitement has over me is frightening.  I'd probably follow her into a snake pit if she went enthusiastically.  So my fear is that I'm going to find myself hanging upside down or at the top of the ferris wheel tomorrow night. 

Oh well, you only live once, right?  If I die tomorrow night, I want Kristy to have my Kirby Vacuum, Jay to have my sewing machine, Tim to have my stapler, Mom to have my computer, Dad to have my RMS gift card, CJ & Kris to have my gun, Jayme to have the fudge sticks I've been hiding (bottom right desk drawer behind the cd cases), Dana to have my new camera and please donate my organs.

I was the Mutton Bustin' champion of 1992.
7 years old.

Awesome, right?

Me (age 9) and my very first of many beloved pigs, Petunia
You may take the girl out of the country, but I'm afraid you'll never be able to take the country out of the girl.