Freaky-Eyed Rick

A few posts ago, I told you about Rick's spontaneous eye dilation. Well, Rick gave me permission and here's the picture. Very strange...

More Pictures from D.C. and the Wedding

Finally! I'm putting some of the 280 pictures I took on our trip to D.C. and Pittsburgh on my blog.


The kids' favorite activity... riding the Metro. Gracie is off to the right. They loved the speed.

The Library of Congress. The kids were looking at the Capitol Building across the street. We had taken a tour of the Capitol earlier in the day.

Ty and I had planned this shot for months. We got it from watching Garfield 2.

My AMAZING parking place!!! The van is at the far left of the picture, the White House is on the right. I turned around from taking the pictures of the Washington Monument to take this picture. You can touch me next time you see me.





Cannot for the life of me remember this guy's name at the moment. I'll correct it when I can.

These two pictures were taken at the Jefferson Memorial. We were on the back side having a snack of carrots, sodas and water. We also did a study on perspective. Pretty cool, huh?

This is the little cabin we stayed in while visiting D.C. It was a KOA in Maryland. Really fun!

The Puffy Shirt... from Seinfeld. One of my favorite episodes. I took this picture for Evan. It's part of the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

This is at the National Gallery of Art. I have a print of this Rembrandt in my living room. It was really amazing to see the original.

The kids and I wanted to see the Impressionists. We walked into the room and were overwhelmed by what we saw. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Pisarro. Wow! I almost cried.

THE WEDDING

Patrick, Gracie and Meghan at the rehearsal dinner. We ate at Six Penn Kitchens in downtown Pittsburgh. Delicious food and fun times!

Bill (my Dad-in-law), Meghan's brother Todd, Todd's wife Brooke, Meghan and Margaret (my mom-in-law) at the dinner. As you can see, it was a general love-fest. Both families love each other.

Standing around outside the museum for cocktails in between the ceremony and the reception dinner. That's Chip and his wife, Chip married the lovely couple.

Here they come!!! Aren't they gorgeous? Like Ken and Barbie... only real.

Gracie LOVES her Uncle Patrick!

Isn't her dress amazing? She is so beautiful. I'm very grateful that she also has the beauty of a heart that trusts in God.

Weird expression on Patrick's face but I still love this picture. It looks all sweet and relaxed, when in reality, Patrick has a death grip on Brody's hand to keep him from running away... we were trying to pose them for a picture. Why doesn't the 3 year old understand that?

Eat your hearts out ladies! That right there is one good-lookin' man. And he's aallllll mine!!!!

Well, that's only 20 pictures out 280. But your get the overall flavor of the trip. Sorry it took so long to post them.

Ready For Heaven

Sometimes my selfishness sneaks up on me and punches me in the face. I think I'm so generous and loving. Then I'm confronted with the fact that even my ways of showing love are selfish. I need affirmation, attention and affection. None of which are horrible things but I don't just need them, I demand them. And if I don't get them, I feel rejected, unloved and ugly. Oh how I hate my sin...

Random Things

Well, thought I'd post some random memories from the trip. If you were there and have more, leave a comment.

On the trip home, we saw a church sign that said "Download your problems to Jesus." Boo thought they should get points for being technologically savvy.

Also on the trip home, there was a sign that read something along the lines of, "I WON $91,632! ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE." The only problem was that the man in the picture looked miserable. It was really very ironic. I was glad that Rick saw it too so that I had someone to laugh with me about it. Rick, if you read this and remember what it said exactly, leave a comment.

While at the beach, we went to Alvin's Island. It's what my father calls a 'jip joint', a place that sells cheap souvenirs. While there, I bought my kids airbrushed t-shirts. Then Kara showed me her henna tattoo. I thought to myself, 'Now that's neat.' So I went to just look. Next thing I know, Thomas and I have committed to getting matching tattoos. Only problem is, we can't agree on which one. I want a cross, he wants a skull and crossbones. And after a very tragic game of paper/rock/scissors, I had a skull and crossbones henna tattoo on my arm that matches an 18 year old boy that I used to babysit. Sad but true.

Yates can do the most amazingly accurate impersonation of Addison. I mean it's just crazy. Emma and I almost drowned from laughing so hard.

KimHill called and asked if we wanted to come swimming today and since I have about three places on my body that aren't sunburned I said yes.

Every night while at the beach we watched a movie. Sounds fun... only one problem. Movie doesn't start until 11 pm. But since the girls stayed up, so did I. Night 1: The Truman Show. Night 2: Nacho Libre. Night 3: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Truman Show I've seen a hundred times.

Nacho Libre... I laughed until my head was pounding. Holy cow! That's a funny movie. It's really stupid but man, it's funny! "I'm really concerned about your salvation... and stuff." I guess you had to be there.

Raiders of the Lost Ark I slept through. I have never made it all the way through that movie.

Poor Boo could not stay awake for long. She took naps. Her poor, pregnant body would just sorta shut down. I remember what that was like. I'm really glad that it's her and not me. Sorry Boo.

Before we left, I made two Cd's for the trip. The first one was pretty mild. Andy Gullahorn, Nickel Creek, Sean Watkins, Derek Webb, Norah Jones. CD #2 was not mild. Adam's Inside This Skin, Toby Mac, Nirvana, The Darkness, Beyonce, DC Talk. Clean lyrics and strong music.

While there, we listened to Inside This Skin several times. I'll try to post a link for it. Anyway, this song is my favorite. Not just of Adam's but it's like my favorite song. Stokes choreographed it. The youth will hopefully do a 'music video' of it for the Talent Show. It involves James Bond, Satan, machine guns, Robert Palmer-type dancers and other strange things. We laughed our butts off. Stokes is hysterical.

Since we were travelling in 4 different vehicles, we had walkie-talkies. That was way more fun than I thought it would be. I enjoyed listening to Adam, Rick, Stokes and Corey picking on each other. All four of them are so funny. They're quick witted and sarcastic... my two favorite qualities.

At one point, one of Rick's eyes spontaneously dilated. It was very, very strange. We were at the amusement park when Rick walked over to Stokes and I. When I looked at him, I was startled. It was the freakiest looking thing I'd ever seen. He thought I was teasing him about his eyes being so blue. I had to take a picture with my phone and show it to him before he believed me. Rick and I were concerned but Stokes was clueless. He just thought it was hilarious. It wasn't until I started making some calls that he took it seriously. I talked to Dr. Bedsole and he said it was probably fine. Getting sunscreen or cologne in your eyes can make it do that... weird. I have the picture. If Rick says it's okay I'll post it.

While eating at Pineapple Willy's, we started hearing this really lound popping noise. It sounded like it was right where we were. Boo thought it was Stokes but I was sitting right next to him and knew it wasn't. He and I thought it was one of the kids but it was really close. The sound was loud and fairly rhythmic. POW! We started looking around and realized that it was the disposable camera sitting right in the middle of the table. Every time it popped, the flash would light up. We got it off the table because we were afraid it was going to explode. It had a short in it and smelled like it was leaking chemicals. Come to think of it, I'll bet that was what happened to Rick's eye. He handled the camera the most. I wonder if he got some of the chemicals in his eye? Anyway, at the time it was kinda scary and funny at the same time. I wonder if the pictures can be developed?

Well that's all the memories I have at the moment. If I think of more, I'll let you know.

Here are a couple of pics. I didn't take a camera, these are from my phone. They're not all that great. Hopefully, Kasey, Kara, Emma and Bren will send me some.

Stokes and Corey at Pineapple Willy's. Corey's holding the defective camera.

Rick. My new friend. He's getting married in less than 2 weeks to Jessica's sister Stacy.

Adam and Stokes after an invigorating go-cart race. Adam kicked butt. Stokes (aka: Mr. Competitive) couldn't get past Bren.

I'm tired and don't want to mess with rotating this picture. Turn your head if you want. This is my van of girls. We had so much fun together!

Can't wait for your comments.

Too Much

Where do I start? I have too much to say...


I got home today from being 'an adult' on the Sr. High Beach Trip. Wow! That was so much fun. I'm pretty sure that I enjoyed it just as much or more than I did when I was a youth. We went to Panama City for about 3 days. Stayed at the same retreat center that I stayed at when I was a kid. Swam in the same pools, sang some of the same songs. It was very nostalgic.



Let's see... where so I start? Ummm... How 'bout with the cast of characters?


Stokes - the earnest, only slightly high-strung youth director.


Boo - the tired, mildly pregnant chaperon and the only other grown-up girl


Me - the oldest person on the trip, goofy and prone to verbal diarrhea


Adam - the cool, funny chaperon who looks like he's way too young to be there.


Brandon - the brain of the trip, looks like a marine because of new haircut, finds the same things funny that I do, therefore providing comic relief.


Rick - the thoughtful one, also looks way too young, friends with Adam, pianist, really funny chaperon


Corey - the quietly funny, superior speaker, expert at practical jokes and sarcasm. thinks I am insane.


Well, that's the adults. We had 4 girls and 7 boys. All the kids were well behaved and interesting, and only one who was slightly annoying... those who went know who I'm talking about.






Okay, ten reasons why I think Corey Nolen thinks I'm a fruitcake. First, let me say I have no idea why I even care.



1. On our first meeting, I threw a banana peel at him and yelled "Catch!"



2. I actually told him that the girls saw the waistband of his underwear and now call him 'Ralph Lauren'.



3. On the phone, I made a joke to him and he just handed the phone to Stokes.



4. I am a fruitcake.



5. He gives me the "this woman is a nut" look.



6. I got a henna tattoo.



7. My tattoo is a skull and crossbones because I lost a game of paper/rock/scissors with Thomas and now we have matching tattoos.



8. On the trip home, I started following Rick on the interstate. Only it wasn't Rick. It wasn't even a Suburban... it was a Tahoe.



9. Various moments of verbal diarrhea.



10. I really am a friutcake.

Anyways, like I said, I have no idea why it matters. I like Corey. He has a great speaking voice, he should be a D.J. He has a lot of wisdom, I learned a lot. Plus, he never brushes his hair. You've got to admire that.

Well, more later. Bye.