The end of 2010

To everything there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and
a time to die;
a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up
that which is planted;

A time to kill, and
a time to heal;
a time to break down, and
a time to build up;

A time to weep, and
a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and
a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and
a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and
a time to lose;
a time to keep, and
a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and
a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and
a time to speak;

A time to love, and
a time to hate;
a time of war; and
a time of peace.

Ecclesiates 3: 1-8

What will the New Year have for us? What will our Lord have for us?

funk

I am in an after-Christmas-funk. It may be an after-Christmas-before-New-Years-funk, I am not sure.

Our house is full of stuff that needs to be put away, some of it is new and needs to find a home, but a lot of it just stuff that needs to be put away. Dishes from two nights ago (and everything since) sit in the sink wishing someone would just wash them already. New toys sit with old toys wondering what shelf will be there home. This two-week old cold is still resting in my sinuses hoping to be banished by the New Year. Do I sleep, or put things away? Either way I feel like I need more time. Part of why it is so overwhelming is because there is just so much, when I try to start in on one project another catches my eye and I am paralyzed by it all. This is a serious case of post-adrenaline-shut down.

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes, The FUNK is all around us.

I trust the energy will come back...

Happy Birthday Jesus

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

read to me

her love for books is infectious as she climbs in a lap and asks, "will you read to me, please." (if only it was that polite...these days it is more of a demand...but you get the picture!

presents

Every morning, every time she walks past the tree, every time we come indoors, every time she thinks about it; she asks if she can open her presents. She has no idea they aren't all for her.

Indulgent

Ever since I got the cd of our wedding photos from the photographer I was unhappy that he didn't capture this particular pose; a replica of my grandmother's bridal portrait. I wore her dress for my wedding too and thought I had the pose down in my head and tried to explain it to my photographer but the shots were just off a bit. I decided I wanted to do something about this missed opportunity so I hired a photographer to take a bridal portrait, 5 years later.

My friend, Carrie, who I have worked with a few times came to mind and she was totally up for it. We got a glorious fall day with bright sunshine- which is good and bad for photography- and we danced around the National Mall, National Gallery of Art and Capitol Hill till the sun went down. It was a lot of fun and quite self-indulgent. Everyone treated me like I was a bride for the day (they had no idea I was about the celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary), a number of tourists captured pictures with me, and Carrie got some fantastic shots.

a moment

these moments are inspired by the moments over at SouleMama

Introducing: Niles

As is our tradition; the Mister has named our Christmas Tree. We would like to introduce you to Niles, he is a 6'-7' Frasier Fur brought to us by the Home Depot, his scent is lovely and his branches full.

a moment

moments like these make me love her so much.
"I read my doll baby a-book" she exclaims.
she is a nurturer. she loves her doll baby.

OBX

Thanksgiving at the outer banks was delightful. P loved the ocean and running after her cousins.
We are thankful for family, our daughter, and 5 years of marriage. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Trailer

I normally LOVE trailers. All DVDs that I watch, all of the trailer is also watched. Last night at Harry Potter the trailers were some hodgepodge of funny, serious, sci-fi; I am not sure what audience they were targeting but they were fairly ridiculous. This one was the most ridiculous. And when the title of the the movie came- right at the end of the trailer, the audience erupted in laughter (which was really awesome!)...

Cowboys and Aliens

That is the title, seriously, and it looked as stupid and silly as the name suggested. Good Luck guys!

City of Trees

I just want to give a little shout out to my friends over at City of Trees. This is the parent-initiated public charter school that *hopefully* will start educating children September 2012, and *hopefully* one of those kids will be our little P.

Two friends of mine have been working on this for the last year and things are starting to ramp up. They recently signed a contract with FOCUS, a non-profit that helps charter schools through the approval processes, and they have received a grant to fund the effort as they move forward.

I am proud of these friends for their vision and for the way that they making their hope and desire a reality for their kids and other kids in our city. The education options in this city can be depressing but every time I see the movement behind City of Tree I feel that lift.

If this is exciting to you check out their website or follow them on facebook.

comments

Great to see some old friends in the comment section. Thanks for joining us...and thanks for commenting!

Raggedy Ann

Phoebe kept telling us, "I don't need a fwig."
We finally got it on for a few shots...

Our neighbors Andy and Sunita were so excited to see Raggedy Ann; Sunita's favorite childhood doll!

Phoebe in the Spring

Phoebe in the Spring, originally uploaded by 207 Living.

We took a trip to Berkeley Springs, WV this weekend to celebrate the mister's 40th Birthday and to see the beautiful fall foliage. Click on the picture to see some of what we saw on this enchanting trip.

Holy Week

For some reason I sat down today and processed through some of the pictures we took during Holy Week last spring. Maybe because Advent is peaking through the fall leaves? (It will be here before we know it!)

The last few years I have appreciated more the changing of the seasons within the church calendar. And with that I have explored some of my own creativity through aesthetic worship. Last year I designed and helped execute the aesthetics for Holy Week at our church. We are a young church that doesn't have a closet full of alter frontals, banners, or even candles. So with the help of the mister and some friends; banners were made, and alters were decorated to help tell the story of Palm Sunday through Easter Morning.

Here are some of the pictures from our services. (The stuff from the Easter Vigil was made for 2009 and reused this year).

A Poem for your 40th Birthday

Do you recall your younger days
before the Internet,
when MP3s and DVDs
were not invented yet?

Pac-man, Pong, and Donkey Kong
were games you liked to play.
"Who shot J.R.?" and "Where's the beef?"
were questions of the day.

Cordless phones the size of bricks
helped some communicate.
Actresses with fitness tapes
helped chunky folks lose weight.

Designer jeans and mullets
were considered cool and sporty.
If you remember all these things....


You must be turning 40


*from a card the mister received

Making a Plan

Last night a few friends and I gathered around the computer to verify the opening day of the Harry Potter Movie. We are working on our plan to experience the movie together before we all take off for Thanksgiving. Oh, I cannot wait to see this!

Book 7 is on my night stand ready to be read- again- before November 19.

life is so full of life

This month has been so full...full of fun, family, friends and forty.

We have been on the go since the beginning and we just keep going. After we got home from Nebraska, a dear friend had her third baby so we got to hang out with her second child for the day while they got used to their baby girl. Then my Aunt Lalani came for a three day visit which was full of chatting, knitting, sight seeing, and general Phoebe play.

feeding the ducks with Aunt Lalani

Last weekend we had a fun trip to Pittsburgh to see the mister's family. We saw almost all his Aunts and Uncles, his parents, a few cousins, a sister, and some of P's cousins. Phoebe continues to be obsessed with her cousins. Every morning she wakes up and says, "my cousins?". So, we look at pictures.

playing with Opa and Cousins

Tonight a few of my girlfriends are coming over to make a cute little fabric garland for the newest baby in our community (mentioned above). This little girl, Olivia, is going to be one of the most awesome little ladies, she has great parents and TWO! older brothers plus she has jet black hair and blue eyes...what could be better? So, we are showering her momma with lots of love and lots of pink.

Today also marks the beginning of the wedding weekend for Claire and James. We have 4 friends staying with us, a rehearsal dinner to attend, wedding to celebrate, and lots of hang out time in between.

And just to make the celebrating go a little further? Sunday will begin Matt's birthday week; a lovely little dinner with neighbors to start the celebration of year 40!

Life is full! And so fun!

here we go...

here we go..., originally uploaded by 207 Living.

Phoebe and I have been to Nebraska...and now we are back. We had a great time; playing outside, visiting horses, playing outside, picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, playing outside (you get the idea), and Phoebe got lots of time with two of her uncles! Now we are home, just in time for another trip this weekend.