you know, i have to tell you.... i really, really have missed taking pictures.... my camera has been sitting here staring at me... and i've just not taken the time with it.... BUT i did just develop some photos that i took over the last month.... and thought you might enjoy some of these....


'pancho' east jordan, dec 06


'a splash of red & a new habit' holland, feb 07


'little rascals' holland, feb 07


'going nowhere' east jordan, dec 06

as habeeb says, i am now officially part of the statistics of the blizzard of 2007.

wouldn't you know it.....

* a frozen waterpipe - thank you, Lord, for not letting it burst... and yes, now it runs hot water, although i can't turn it off with the faucet. any ideas, anyone?

* coming from kalamazoo today, i took the otsego exit and hit an icy patch.... before i knew it, I sailed right over a metal pole, up a snowbank and onto a street sign which is now at a permanent 45 degree. again, thank you, lord, for keeping me safe.... my car is okay, i'm okay, i didn't get a ticket, and i didn't even mind paying the $40 for the tow truck to pull me out. i'm just glad to be safe!

ahhhhh... spring, where art thou??

in the spirit of superbowl commercials.... one of my favorites from 2003

twilight '06

good folks.

i know it's been too long.... i can barely explain where the time has gone..... every so often, i manage to make it back to 'chicken scratch' and peruse it, but truly lack the motivation or creative muses to put something down. but seeing that people have been checking in on me even when i just make a 'peep,' makes me feel pretty special.... so gracias.

can you believe it's the first week in FEBRUARY???? lately i seem to be reliving the freaky moment when i realized that i only have 5 more weeks of research and writing before my first draft of my capstone paper is due. okay, i'll give it to you straight-up. i'm way behind and though i may work better under pressure, at this point i'm praying for a miracle and a full realization that it's not by my strength, but only by His.

do you ever name your past year? i mean, i'm still looking for a word to describe 2006.

so, some of you may have heard about this blizzard that hit the mid-west and michigan in particular..... we've been dumped on.... and pretty much stranded in our homes over the past few days. but it was quite enjoyable.... lazy, really. i convinced rodrigo that we needed to help the critters in the woods - so we bought some bird seed and brick of bird trailmix and then a corn thing that hangs from a bungee cord for the squirrels. i'm now an avid birdwatcher. i have a fat woody woodpecker who is a regular at the feeder - i named him 'albert.' and then there is a beautiful red cardinal who sometimes allows his spouse to come..... let me tell you - that dash of RED in the midst of white, gray and brown is so stunning. even albert's red head and blue back stand out.

deep, bold colors. primary colors. what a beautiful gift to the world .... can you imagine if life were only in black and white? (yeah, i know ... there's a movie out about that.)

i made the mistake of picking up a gardening magazine while waiting in the check-out line the other day. i'm ready for spring and to work in my garden. again. deep, bold colors.

there's much to ponder. i hope you are all doing well......

******************

by the way, i received an email out of the blue on sunday.... from a guy i grew up with in germany.... it makes me sad to think that i have forgotten about some of the people from that time in my life. i haven't heard this guy's name in 19 years. he now lives in the canary islands. 19 years.

peep. i'm still alive.

tryin' to keep up....

leaves, leaves, and more leaves... even though we got jipped out of fall, the leaves have fallen and have been trying to take over my lawn....

did some rakin' with two friends yesterday which resulted in 7 big black bags of leaves and 5 more piles of leaves to get rid of.... so, despite the rain and the wet bags, i decided to take the leaves over to the county fairground for composting.... so into the car, i push 7 big black bags of leaves.... et voila.... i make it to the fairgrounds despite not being able to see a thing out of my back window....

i pull up to the fairground and start unloading the bags to put into the mulcher.... imagine, little asian girl with seven big bags spilling forth from the little jetta.... surrounded by middle age men in their big trucks and trailers, who probably raked up the leaves cuz their wives had been naggin'.... they had it all figured out to a "t" (what does that "t" really stand for??) - a whole system of unloading the trailers and bags into the mulcher...

ah sigh.... it hurts to say, but some things are more of a man's world.... though i do try to keep up.... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4

aaron & julie's wedding

aaron & julie otis * 10/21/06


the siblings * 10/21/06


folks,
it was a beautiful wedding..... it's hard to believe that my younger brother is now a married man. it was all a whirlwind experience.... from the announcement, to the planning, to the actual wedding - all in 2.5 months. julie did an amazing job of pulling it all together and remaining incredibly calm and easy going through everything.

aaron's "boss" - the director of the mission organization that aaron works with, drove all the way from washington state to officiate. and know what? he is the same one who married my parents in germany 38 years ago! what a wonderful testimony to my parent's marriage and life. too bad, aaron stole my idea! hahahahahaha.... he also stole another idea.... not far from my parents house is an old castle that used to be a farm..... through the 80's and early 90's, it was the destination of bands such as metallica, guns & roses, and yes, even country music stars such as reba and garth.... well, in the mid-90's it was abandoned and just recently completely redone as a wedding destination. there are so many classy photo ops in that building! sigh..... now a castle is a place to have a reception....

you know.... ray, the pastor who married my parents told us the story that it was the first wedding he had ever officiated. this was in his early years as a missionary in europe. during the ceremony.... not only did he officiate, but he did the sound, took the photos, and did just about everything else.... hahahahaha.... imagine the pastor, running between vows to get the camera up to a balcony in an old german church to take a picture of the bride & groom from a higher location, only to race back down and continue with the ceremony, run to the back, adjust to sound, continue with preaching... taking more photos.... now wouldn't you liked to have seen something like that!! i guess, that means, when i get married, i can pretty much have as much chaos as i like.... let's throw the order and prim and properness out of the window!!! hahahahahaha

the wedding message was convicting and thought provoking as we were challenged to truly think about the meaning of making a vow before God-Almighty! it's not something to be taken lightly. divorce cannot be part of a person's vocabulary. ray also said that in pre-marital counseling, he asks the couple why they think they should get married and what the circumstances have been to bring them together. if it's mushy and all about how wonderful the other person is, then he tells the couple that he cannot marry them.... there must be deeper reasons for getting married to someone.... anyway, it is good stuff to think about why you are with someone.

so, yeah, the wedding weekend was wonderful.... a testimony to God's faithfulness.