Owl City

Owl City just made a cover of my all-time favourite song: In Christ Alone. For a free download, check out this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?o2fl6ya69lnlt22.

While downloading this song (my internet cut out halfway through, not impressed!!) I happened upon this blog post. It is probably the most beautiful piece of prose I've read in a loong time. So here's the link to it for you to enjoy: http://owlcityblog.com/2010/09/06/you-had-me-at-hello/#more-1162.

Steph's shoot

Thought I'd share with you folks some photos of the first photoshoot I've done. My cousin Steph came up for a week and a half, so we took Ollie out for a spin one gorgeous fall afternoon. Here are some of my faves. For all the photos, check out Steph's facebook album.

 Freakin awesomeness!!

 I think this next one is my fave.

 Errr, yes. Her socks are mismatched :D

 And just cuz having a self-timer rocks:

These are all 100% unedited (like I'd have time to do that these days??) so you're seeing the real image. I'd like to get into more PS editing when my laptop is up and running again...

Happy Tuesday!

A Special Sunday Afternoon

The glimmer in his eye was unmistakable as he walked through the door. He plopped himself next to me with the enthusiasm of a four year old, although the boy himself is 11. With a bit of coaxing he sang the Apostles' Creed and other songs we learned at camp, his eyes intently following my finger as I traced the words on the paper for him. He listens sporadically as I tell him about David & Goliath - the story peppered with him telling me about his DI, asking about the bus, and wondering if there are any left-over cookies.

Just a few days prior to seeing him again at Sunday School, he visited me at work and sincerely asked, "Why don't you come to Church anymore?" I couldn't help but smile. Since Sunday School started this year, I haven't been able to make it. This young boy and I were special buddies last year; I would help him sound out his words during the lesson and trace his letters during the activity. During Youth Camp we spent an entire week together.

There's a special place in my heart for this youngster...even on days when he tells me he hates me and that he hates coming to Sunday School. Even on days when he's got my arms in a vice-lock his eyes intently boring into mine, telling me he doesn't want to do something. I know he can't help it. I know he's misunderstood by his peers.

On the same token, I like wish there was more I could do to help him, to erase all his pain and take away all his frustration. But then when I think about what I'm desiring, I realize that I can offer this to him.

What greater love than that of our Heavenly Father? What better eraser than that of His Son's precious blood?

 Our greatest battles can't be faced alone. We need God to help face our giants as David did.

The woes and wonders of being a cyclist

I don’t have a car. My wheels are my shoes, or the two round things that happened to come with my bike when my dad bought it for my mom. Sometimes I drive around our family tank – the 2001 Astro Van. It’s indestructible! It’s survived two “L” drivers with just scratches! (and none of those scratches came from me, FYI :) ) On the rare occasion I can drive around my dad's brandspankingnew Ford Truck. However, on days like today, when my mom is working and has the tank and my dad is working and has the truck, I bike to work. Normally this isn’t an issue because the weather has been pretty nice so far.

Today was the exception to the rule.

See this picture? Imagine that, but about 10x as cloudy, and add a lot of rain. Oh, and make it super cold; cold enough that when I’m pedaling along on my bike I can see my breath. Add also huge trucks passing by as I’m biking along the highway, splashing me with mud every time. And also add those crazy manic drivers who need to torment every pedestrian/cyclist they see by swerving dangerously close to them.

Needless to say, when I hopped off my bike to toss it in the back of my dad’s truck, I was drenched. Mud, rain, dirt…it was wonderful! Fortunately I thought ahead and put my huge sweatpants on before I left to protect my work clothes. In this state, I could only think one thing. No, it wasn’t how much I wanted a car. It was more like; please don’t let anyone see me like this. Looking like that in the middle of town is hardly conducive to happy memories; I don’t care what anyone says!

Riding my bike isn’t all bad though. For example, look at this next picture. 

This was taken one gorgeous fall day – another day when I had to bike to work. The bike ride isn’t long, and is mostly downhill (yuss!); but riding along that beautiful fall afternoon with the wind whistling in my ears,the sun playing with the clouds above, and the tall mountain peaks rising in the distance – nothing can beat that. God conducts a marvelous orchestra of sights and sounds!

Riding around on my bike for a summer and a fall (but hopefully not a winter!) will definitely make me appreciate a car much more than if I had gotten one right away. For now though, I’ll enjoy not having to pay for gas, insurance, or repairs. Life is grand, despite the fact that my bike seat isn’t terribly comfortable :)

The Abstract

Not many people find beauty in the abstract because it doesn’t make sense. Like this photo, for example. Right after I got my new camera I was experimenting with different shutter speeds at night time. This unique photo resulted from a long shutter speed while I was walking down the street in the dark.

I decided not to get rid of this photo because it drew me in. The different patterns and varying depth of light made for an interesting, abstract photo. It is beautiful in its own way, just not what you might expect from a camera like mine.

Just like people. We’re not all the same. God has created each of us a different way. Some of us might be more “abstract” – not what someone else would expect. Others live life in routine, the same thing day in and out. God’s master hand has created us all different so that the “collage of life” you might call it is interesting and diverse. How boring and unoriginal would it be to see a collage slapped together with the same photo in each slot?

Rainbows and Windstorms

I figured I can't really start a blog without posting something on it. So here it is: first official post. I also figured I couldn't really do a first offical blog post without posting a picture, since I do sort of intend this blog to be a photoblog. So here it is: first official blog post with a picture.
I took this photo one Sunday morning after a huge windstorm the night before. Fortunately nothing was damaged, and the only thing that went wrong was the fact that the power was off for most of the night and we had little hot water.
So it got me thinking - something so uncomfortable like a windstorm can bring about something so beautiful as a double rainbow.

How true is that for life?