Maria Kart!

We just got Mario Kart for the Wii last night... so if any of you have it too let us know so we can play online! 

From BJ's Birthday...

...at the Reds game.
...at the party

More from BJ's Birthday

Well now it's been over a week, but thought I'd still share...

Baby Time

Pray for my friend Kate! She's having a baby boy tomorrow! This will be their second one... Here's my post from when Miss Lilly was born.

We love you Matt & Kate!!!

Obsession

...Layla's obsession with eating what little grass we have...

Layla...

...how much do you like the cats?

Layla...

...how much do you like eating mulch?

Dogwoods & Flowers

I love love love bringing fresh flowers inside - I was able to find these during a walk around our neighborhood. :)

We love you Josh...

...and we miss you. It's hard to believe its been eight years.

I got my hair chopped again...

This is my first real use of my iMac's Photobooth (this is me in my office). How fun! :)

BJ's Birthday

We had a great time this weekend for BJ's birthday.
I had a few surprises in store after the reds game...




(...and if this photo is any indication... we lost)... including a surprise party back at our house. Lots-a fun! :) BJ got a new camera so the best pictures are on it.

Random places...

...in and around our house yesterday... The ampersand was an idea I stole from Pottery Barn - I was so excited to see this at Marshalls for $10. Just a little spray paint (it came gold) and it looks just like the $80 original. :) Now what to do with it....


The little plant will hopefully become a nice pot full of peppers. :)

From our back deck... makes spending eight hours in the car each week worth it. :)

Lazy Afternoon...

These are from yesterday... and pretty much self explanatory.

Earthquake!

For a second I thought... maybe BJ has laundry going and the load is off balance. There is just NO WAY its an earthquake. No. Way. I'm dreaming this or I'm off my rocker.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24195650

Happy (early) Birthday BJ!

Tomorrow is BJ's 27th birthday! Happy birthday hubby!!! :)

Congratulations Chad!

You're a rockstar. :)

Ignite Retreat

BJ and I spent the weekend with our high school students at the Ignite Retreat. Here's some of my favorite photos... we love these kids!






This one is the absolute best... here's BJ impersonating the creepy gnome.

Above our mantle...

...is this awesome photo that BJ took by our pond. I *heart* it. :) If you couldn't tell I love the color scheme of black, tan, and white. I know its boring but I just love it! :)

Photo Wall

Here's the photo wall I put together in our dining room (actual photos hopefully coming soon) with IKEA frames. If this looks easy to do... it wasn't.

Important Update!

BJ just called - he just bought two more trees. Now we have 110 new trees. I'm telling you - I need to put together an INTERVENTION. :)

Cauterizing the Nerves of Compassion

I heard this talk by Shane Hipps last night (visiting Mars Hill) - and played this part three times to let it really sink in - I really related to this. He was comparing oral/tribal cultures to our culture in the digital age, and technology’s paradoxical effect on compassion and empathy....

"The electronic age is creating a spirituality of empathy at a distance. This happens when (through all of our technology) we begin to experience the weight of planetary suffering. It is the vicarious experience of September 11th. Right after that it’s the tsunami. Shortly after that a hurricane. And then the ongoing death, genocide, starvation of the world. And here’s what happens - because we’re vicariously experiencing this – we have the empathetic encounter – we see those images and we say ‘this is terrible! I can’t believe it, what can we do?’, and we unleash billions of dollars… for about a month. And now all of that money dries up because you’ve got Hurricane Katrina to take care of, and after that who knows what’s next.

And it actually has a strange paradoxical effect. We are connected and we care about all the things that are going on in the world, but in fact because there is so much of it to comprehend the natural psychological reaction is helplessness, hopelessness, numbness and apathy. The feeling of ‘what can I do?’. We become cold (got to take our kids to school, got bills to pay) – and the overwhelming global empathy has the effect of cauterizing the nerves of compassion."

This last part hit me the hardest. I'm still processing what to do with it.

Life has been...

...cra-a-ZY! Work has picked up a TON this week and now I'm wishing I didn't hate the slow times so much. Why didn't I just appreciate it?!! I'm reworking a huge site with a huge time crunch. It's a mess right now but if it interests you you can see the test version.

In other news... BJ has developed (and he'll admit this too) an addiction to planting stuff. We put in 3 new trees last night (bringing the month total up to LITERALLY 108 trees) plus a plethora (that's for Kate) of shrubs (including Lilacs, yea). We have a pretty good planting routine down though. I know the drill. Clippers, check. Gloves, check. Green thumb, ...oh, crap... where did I put my GREEN THUMB?! :)

Meeting Miss Sadie!

This weekend BJ and I headed up to Columbus to visit Jess and Ryan. It was (as always) SO GREAT to see them again! We got to meet Sadie for the first time - she's so amazing and tiny! :)




While the baby was sleeping we rocked out.




Side Note: If you've tried calling I left my phone at Jessica's!