update

so, summer is nearing a close and it's been keeping me fairly busy. swim lessons are in full swing, and only a couple more weeks are left for the season. then we take about a 2 month hiatus until the new rec center is opened. after it's built, mind you. i've still got a couple of private lessons i'll be doing, but things are slowing down as we near the end of our busy season.

since i haven't heard back from the ad agency i interviewed with, i'm assuming i didn't et the job. it really sucks. i really do want a full-time job, but i know i don't want to sit in a cube all day long. and while i enjoy teaching/managing swim lessons, i don't think i want to be doing that the rest of my life.

on a few happy notes, i finished with counseling. some of you may remember i started on a journey back in october of 2005. here is where it all came clear to me. i have been going to counseling for a few months now and my counselor said she thought we were finished. of course i'm not always happy, and of course i still miss my mom, but i've learned how to cope and process in a healthy, God-directed way. so that is exciting.

a friend of mine has agreed to disciple me and i'm super excited about that. we're still setting up our first time and what all we will be going over, but this is such an answer to prayer. see, i had asked a woman i knew a few years ago if she would disciple me, and because of things going on in her life, it just wasn't the right time. i was a little discouraged, but i knew it wasn't anything personal. however, i haven't asked anyone since. maybe i was afraid i'd be told no again, or maybe i just gave up too soon. but God put it on my heart, and i asked, being okay with whatever the answer would be. we both prayed about it and now we are on our way.

more good news, my friend sharon and i are leading worship out in tyler on sunday. we used to lead worship together in our college group and in out worship band, philippi. we are both really excited. this is something else i've been praying about, an opportunity to lead worship somewhere again, whether as the lead worshipper or just a part of a team. well, i get to do both. we are trading off leading out. i can't really describe it, but it just feels so good and right to be doing this again. like she and i are supposed to be doing this.

i've also been doing a little more photography. my bro-in-law went to prom with a friend a couple months ago, so i took my gear over and we did pictures in the house. i also am taking my youngest bro-in-law's senior pictures. we finally got around to do one shoot, during the week it wasn't raining here and we were both available. i'm also going to be taking more pictures of the hill family. we haven't scheduled that yet, though. "special k" is already 7 months old. i can't believe it. we need some updated pictures of him. and i'll also be scouting locations and taking pictures for my production company's upcoming film. i really want to save up for a better still camera. but i also want to save up for a video camera, too. decisions, decisions.

well, that's about it for now. more to come later!

one of my favorite bands EVER

so the goo goo dolls have a new song out. it's from transformers. i love these guys. josh and i hope to go see them at the end of august, but we're not sure if we can afford it. i've wanted to see them live for a loooooong time. eventually. *sigh* enjoy the video!

in memoriam

i wanted to take some time today and thank all the veterans and current military men and women for what you've done and what you do. whether you believe in the causes you fight for or not, you still serve our country. sometimes i take for granted how blessed i am to live in america. sure, it has it's problems, but i live in a country where i can practice my faith freely, where i don't have to be afraid to say the name Jesus, where i can worship my Maker publicly and not in secret. thanks to those who made that possible and to those who continue to fight for us. my prayers and thanks.

random factoids

so i was checking out a really cool blog i found, kpinion, and i commented and was asked these five questions by kpinion. here are my answers:

1. If you were stranded on a tropical island and found a crate with a life time supply of one food item, what would that item be? (keep in mind you will most likely be eating this item day in and day out until your rescue)

chocolate chip granola bars. though if asked this at some other point in time, it would probably be different. i figure granola bars are somewhat healthy and i could still get my chocolate fix

2. What is the playlist of your all time favorite album culled from any and all artists and genres?

gosh, this one will take me forever!! just a few, in random order(i have such a wealth of musical knowledge i have to sift through, here!)

name - goo goo dolls
take my life - third day
worlds apart - jars of clay
superstition - stevie wonder
sailing - christopher cross
someone like you - van morrison
i love to tell the story - hymn with extra chorus by me
come away - nickel and dime
obsession - david crowder* band
for what it's worth - buffalo springfield
i believe - blessid union of souls
refine me - jennifer knapp
by your side - sade
standing outside a broken phone booth with money in my hand - primitive radio gods

that's the album at this current time. i love music and have a music library over 100gb, so it's a little hard to whittle it all down to just one album. let's say this is disc one, disc two to come later...


3. Describe yourself in five words.

spunky
unique
caring
faithful
growing


4. What is something about yourself that you find individualistic and you love it?

i go back and forth on this, but i would have to say my voice. most people who hear me sing tell me i have such a unique voice and that i don't sound like anybody they've ever heard before. trust me, i'm no whitney or mariah, i don't have that kind of power, but i think i can have a lot of passion in my voice. right now i'm in a period where i really do like my voice

5. What is a "most embarrasing moment" that you tell with pride?

i don't really seem to remember getting embarrassed too much. this didn't really embarrass me but i fell down the stairs at my high school graduation. not full-out smack-your-face-on-the-floor kind of fall, but more in the my-shoe-caught-on-the-cable-on-the-steps-that-really-shoulda-been-taped-
inside-the-step-so-i-lost-my-balance-but-was-able-to-recover kind of fall. i still love to tell that story, it always makes me laugh!


so there you go! now for the rest of the game.

1. leave me a comment saying, “interview me.” (or any comment at all; they tend to make my day)
2. i will comment/e-mail you with 5 questions of my choosing.
3. you then have to include your answers in an update of your blog. or if you don't have a blog, get one; they're all over.
4. you will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. when others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. and thus the cycle continues.

have fun!!

i said this while totally trying to be serious...

"i've always heard the expression 'like duck off a water's back'"

what a way to switch around words accidentally. josh and i had a good laugh about this one. again, i was totally trying to be serious.

thank you gregory and the hawk

so i can't really stand beyonce, but this is fantastic. by the way, if anyone wants to buy me their album, it's on itunes.

so sick

so i've been in bed for the last 6 days. and it sucks. i finally went to the doctor today, because i had started to get better, then got worse with different symptoms. i have a nice sinus infection. so that explains why it feels like i'm swallowing a bowling ball everytime i swallow. or breathe. or yawn. or cough. or blow my nose. God bless antibiotics. trust me, i try to treat it at home, and most of the time that works, but this was just awful. i wanted to cry but it hurt too much. and then i wanted to cry because it hurt. but i'm starting to feel better. i had wanted to post on the 25th, but i was sleeping most of the day. i'll try to put that post up in the next couple of days. i just wanted to let you all know that i'm still here. i'm going to bed now. good night.

you've got to be kidding me

so a rhode island school district has decided to change the name of the easter bunny, stating that the easter bunny is too much of a Christian symbol. instead, the critter is now being renamed "peter rabbit".

in response, a state legislator has introduced "the easter bunny act" in order to protect traditions this country has held for over 150 years. he states this act would protect all cultural and religious symbols that have been traditions in this country, for example, it would protect a menorah from being called a candelabra.

i'm not upset that they want to take the easter bunny away. frankly i could care less. but obviously the school superintendent has no idea where the easter bunny even came from. a lot of people don't know where it came from, or even where the name "easter" came from. a little history, if i may.

when i was little and in sunday school, i remember asking where the chicks and bunnies at easter came from. i was always told that we had those animals at easter because they were on the mountain at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified, and that they were there at the resurrection. this is all lies. could there have been bunnies and chicks there? who knows. but that's not where they came from. easter was originally a pagan festival. a fertility festival, celebrating spring and the birth of all the things that bloom and are "birthed" in spring. the festival is named after the goddess of fertility, eastre. that's where the bunnies and eggs come from; they are fertility symbols.

the church and missionaries decided to celebrate a "christian" holiday on the same day as a pagan festival in order to try and convert non-believers. they let the pagans keep their festivals, but only by adding christian themes to it.

this superintendent said he wants to change the name of the easter bunny so as not to offend those that are not of the christian faith. personally, from a christian stand point, i don't want the easter bunny as a christian symbol. but it is a cultural symbol. what i find really interesting, though, is if you go to the school district's academic calendar, friday, april 6 is a holiday for the district, a good friday holiday. if the superintendent really wants to make a difference and allow for all religions, then all the jewish holidays and muslim holidays should be school holidays as well.

i don't care if you want to rename or get rid of the easter bunny. just know what your reasons are and if your reasons are legitimate and factual. i did love one response at the end of the article from the state legislator. "By the way, Peter Rabbit stole cabbages and that's not a good role model for our kids"

a quarter of a century

that is what my age will be come this friday. i don't feel like i'm going to be 25. what i think 25 should look like is not at all what i look like. i don't know how to explain it, really, but it just feels weird. part of me still feels like a teenager, and i could go into all the psychological explanations of feeling that way because my mother died when i was a teenager and a part of my psyche will always feel and be fifteen blah, blah, blah, but i just don't feel like i'm turning 25. again, i can't really explain it, that's just how it feels.

for my birthday, josh and i are taking a long weekend and going down to houston. we're staying with one of my best friends, bethany, and we're going to visit my only surviving grandparent, my mom's mother, while we're down there. we haven't been able to go visit her since she was moved to a nursing care facility, so we'll be glad to see her.

we are also getting my present while we are down there. it's something i've designed and have been thinking about for a long time. what it is, i won't say, but i will post pictures after i return. other things i want for my birthday? well, here's a few:

a subscription to paste magazine
a flickr pro account
a video camera (i'm dreaming, i know)
i-tunes gift cards
gift cards to places like barnes and noble, circuit city
a year-long (or two or four) gym membership
anything from here

in other news, we settled our lawsuit about a month ago and came out on top. the bills are paid and we were able to get a replacement for the laptop that was trashed. we are no the proud owners of a black macbook and it has been so nice to have a laptop again. josh has been able to use it at school and i've been able to go up to starbucks and get online a lot more frequently than getting out to the library. oh, and just for the record, please don't use farmers insurance for any of your insuring needs. they were absolutely horrible to us. in fact, i wouldn't have been surprised if they tried to blame josh for sitting inside a store that their client drove his vehicle into from the way they were treating us. horrible. so please, stay away from farmers insurance.

i've discovered i've lost 10 punds so far this year. that's encouraging. my husband put his arms around my waist the other day and asked "have you lost weight?" i said i think so, 'cause i've noticed my pants fitting a little bit looser. so i weighed myself and sure enough, 10 pounds lighter than they last time. i'm on my way and i'm at a good pace for my goal. maybe i can even speed it up a little bit.

i just finished a temp job and will be looking for more work after we return from houston and after my father gets married at the end of this month. i'm also applying for some internships with some production companies in the area. if i can't get paid, maybe i can get some experience so i can get a job that does pay.

lastly, i'm going to be recording in the near future. i'm hoping to put out a cd, a small one, by the end of this year. i'll let you know more on that as it develops. well, that's about all for now. but don't worry. i'll be back soon.

let there be light!!

we finally have electricity in our apartment!! yea!!!! we've been living off of 2 extension cords for some time now, and we've been managing, but it's nice to be able to flick a switch and have light emitting from the fixture on the ceiling. we've been using strategically placed floor lamps, and they've worked, but it's so nice not having to tote them around to illuminate areas of the apartment.

plus i feel better about us not overloading a single outlet anymore. we had extension cords on extension cords. i think on one of them, we had 7 different things plugged into it. yikes!! thank you Lord that there was no fire caused!! now we can actually plug in the mini fridge we have. ahh, convenience! i hope i don't take this for granted.