Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear.

I am a person who does not live with regret. I believe in abundance and life to the full.

2009 has been crazy. Looking back I can say it has TRULY been the best year of my young life. As always, there is the not so great stuff, but this past year there has been so much greatness that it is hard to dwell on anything else.

Here's to you, 2009. 'Cause I am moving on to even better things.

Highlights of the last year, in chronological order, as best as I can;

• 18th birthday. Apparently that made me a legal adult. I have the right to vote, ability to go to jail, and...sign my own permission forms. Oh sweet freedom....
• Shortly after the 18th birthday I got my license. My parents had me wait until 18 and it wasn't all that bad. I got to drive whoever I wanted the moment I was licensed. At 16/17 in my state you have to wait a year to drive people.
• The day I got my license led into a snowboarding trip with my aunt's family to Sunday River in Maine, where I boarded and then stayed in a monster of a house (that Patrick Dempsey had stayed in) with a movie theater and a king sized bed that I took up 1/4 of.
• In June, I completed my high school education. I'm told that this is an accomplishment but...didn't really feel like one...I'm more excited about what I am going to do with my life other than complete 12 grades...
• Got offered scholarship for $16,000 a year for 4 years (half of each year's $36,000 tuition) to a school in Pennsylvania. I didn't end up going to this school, but it felt pretty good to get that much money just for doing well on the English sections of the SAT.
• Second week of June I got on a stage for my Irish dancing recital with the 5 other graduating seniors of my dance school and preformed a dance in which we all rebelled against Irish dancing and loved it. Medley of Dancin' Queen, Boogie Wonderland, and Send Me On My Way. So fun.
• Later in that month, I was having my novel read and commented upon by a professional editor. That was the first time my book was read by someone pro, and it was very encouraging to hear that I actually could write.
• Then came July. July, July, Julllllly. Insanest (yes, I did just use that word) month of my entire life. Maybe the best of my life as well.
• First was 1 week in New York with my family and other family friends. The legendary Camp k20. Then I was home for 2 days.
• Second was Costa Rica. San Jose. I could write blog post after blog post telling you how this trip revolutionized life as I knew it. I spent 8 days there with some of the most awesome people that I know, seeing God work in awesome ways in a place that I had never expected that I would be. Praying for people and having tumors disappear off their bodies, giving a testimony of God's goodness in my life in a church filled with people I had never met, ministering to people on streets in the pouring rain, preforming dances and dramas in a church of thousands. Seeing hundreds accept Christ. Being able to ask people their needs and pray for healing IN SPANISH, without help of interpreters. Getting up on stage and dancing around with the youth group's worship team in front of 5,000 youth (and having the worship leader hand me the mic and say "IN ENGLISH!!!" ). Helping with a class teaching basic English. Setting foot in the Caribbean and looking upon Caribbean waters (and eating the food!). Finding the best coffee in the world. Jumping off a bridge, with a bungee cord around my ankles.
• After Costa Rica was 2 days in Miami, Florida, to kick back and recuperate. We stayed at a beast of a hotel which you might have heard of- The Ritz Carlton! (live for God and He hooks you up, let me just tell you.) Standing in an ocean which was 90 degrees. Never wanting to get out of the ocean. Snorkeling. Jet Skiing (what a rush! 40 + mph, flying off of waves!). Frozen strawberry slush drink (yes, it was nonalcoholic, thank you.) by the ocean. Learning how to just rest. Epic.
• And I cannot tell you how badly I needed that break in Miami, because hours after I got off the plane (2:00 AM) I got in a car (at 6:00 AM) headed for a week of work-project-style missons in Fairmont, West Virginia. Yes. 2 missions trips, back to back. 17 days. Yes, I am crazy. Grits. Sweat. Roofing tar. Dirt. Deconstruction. Reconstruction. Exhaustion. Lots of Coffee. No regrets.
• By the time I got home from all that I was a different animal. I was pretty crazy about life before that month, but once I was home, it only intensified. Passion level amped up. Big time.
• September 09 I began to further my education with an online school by the name of PennFoster, to become a certified Freelance Writer. Still workin' on that.
• Somewhere in the early fall I led worship for the first time. That was new. I had been singing and playing the keyboard for sometime but worship LEADING was nothing I had ever aspired to. But apparently my aspirations were too small. Thankfully, I have some awesome leaders/pastors/mentors/heroes in my life who push me beyond where I am comfortable. Repeatedly. I owe a lot of where I am in my life to them. A LOT.
• Then, as a "worship leader in training," I began taking vocal lessons. Odd, seeing as no one starts talking such things 18 years into their lives... again, I owe it to the people who encourage me into what I could be, rather than what I am. I had my first "recital" a couple weeks ago and I have to say it went pretty well, considering about a year ago I was telling my worship pastor that I couldn't even sing...
• Last couple months I started an online shop (...still working on that) and then another to raise money for missions (COSTA RICA 2010!) I've been creating all sorts of things. I also started this blog, something that I said I would never do. I've been writing more than ever before and even entered a short story in a contest which could win me some cash. In my spare time I work as a 'dust assassin' (commonly called a house cleaner). Then there is Dance. 2 youth groups. Family. Friends. I keep quite busy.
• And I think that more of less brings us to the current. It is the last day of December, the last day of 2009, last time that I will have to write an '0' before a 1 digit number when I want to abbreviate...

This post turned into something longer than I had planned, but that is just how good my life has been over the last 364 days. God is good. My life is full, my life is crazy, and I love it that way. I am blessed and I only get more blessed as I go. I could keep going for hours, but for the sake of your poor tired eyes, I will stop.

Happy almost New Year, everybody. Glance back quickly... and then run into 2010 like you know why you are living.

"If you are alive, then you have a purpose, so get off your butt and live like it's worth it" (an all original quote from...myself.)

In closing, a quote from my (absolutely amazing) youth pastor, Rev. Eric Peoples-"Find out what you love to do and then do it."

"Look at my cat, isn't he precious...?"

I have a new creative interest. Amigurumi.

Don't know what that is? I didn't either up until a couple weeks ago, when I found a blog/etsy shop called Out of the Frame and met someone who was making little crocheted dolls known as amigurumi (and she just so happens to be a Christian and a missionary!). Basically, it is the Japanese art of crocheting dolls/toys.

It interested me greatly. She was making some REALLY awesome stuff (check out her post about Animal from the Muppets. He was my first amigurumi love and she is now making me one!!!!!) and I was envious.

But a problem stood in my way; I had never actually crocheted anything in my life other than one really long chain, up until last week when I attempted my first project (which I basically made up, seeing as I had no clue what I was doing), a Rastafarian- style hat for my little Afro-ed sister. Then I made a striped beret. I was feeling confident.

Then yesterday, I could take it no longer. I was going to attempt some Japanese art. No pattern (I googled them, but quickly realized that because I knew NO terminology it would be very difficult to read one.). No clue about crocheting other than what I could make up.


And in the last 24 hours, I made a cat.
A pirate cat. Whose name is...Cummerbund... (yes, I just came up with that now. Cummerbund was one of the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride, if I remember correctly?)

And I have to say, I did a decent job of it, seeing as when I started it looked like Squidard Tentacles from Spongebob....

I know now that I used too big of a needle (or...hook....) so he is a little holey...and his eye patch is a little too far over on his head...and I probably did everything else wrong too, but I like him. He has a cute sarcastic smile and...a sweater vest....(which because I decided to add after he was finished, doubles as a chest tattoo)

(Although, I really need to get some cool eyes to sew on these things, buttons just don't do justice)
Good first try, I guess. Now I have to make like 27 more with smaller hooks and better eyes and I will feel fulfilled.

The Adventures of Emikel and Jro...

-CHAPTER 10-

It is 14 degrees outside at my house today, so I am thinking a lot about nice summery things like lakes and oceans.

June, 2008. Again, Camp k20. On lake...Kanawakee (oh man, I KNOW that is spelled wrong) in a paddle boat *evil things* with my sister and her brother.

Quote-ables. And yes, it is the second of the day.

(Read below post before this one. I'm sorry, this new book is just full of awesome quote-ables, I cannot help myself. I couldn't wait another week. This one is just too good. )

Last more quote for the day;

"Good things come to those who wait, but great things come to those who get off their butts and go find God at work." -Shane Claiborne (he actually says he is quoting some priest, but doesn't mention who. Sorry priest, blame Shane...)

Quote-ables.

Today my post will be slightly different, so just follow along with me. A couple days ago I went into Barnes and Nobles, with a Christmas gift card in hand and came out with a book which I am enjoying very much.

It is called FOLLOW ME TO FREEDOM. It is written by two very radically passionate men of God and it is about being a leader as well as being a follower. (and it opens with the words "This book is about leading. Without vision and leadership people perish" ----- "Or at least run around in circles.")

Unlike most co-authored books, it unfolds as a series of conversations, which I found unique and rather appealing. The two authors are very different from each other in almost every way, but both are so zealous about living lives wholly surrendered to God that their words meld together and create a very good read.

The first of the authors is a young man by the name of Shane Claiborne. He is about as radical as they come. Years ago I heard Shane speak at a music festival and it was quite the experience. When he first stepped onto the stage, I was slightly taken aback by his appearance; at the time he had shoulder length blond dreadlocks being restrained by a bandanna, baggy clothes, a scraggly beard, and just an overall Boho/hippy type of look.

But as he began to speak and explain who he was and what he did it became quite fascinating. Shane's ministry, called The Simple Way, goes on in Philadelphia. He is a man who has worked with Mother Theresa and has brought that same passion for the homeless and needy back to his own community. He refers to himself as a recovering sinner and a converted redneck. He is RADICAL. He has surrounded himself with homeless people, heroine addicts, prostitutes, and those that Philadelphia has rejected. He might look a little loco, but he is bringing the Kingdom of God to people that the world looks down upon. He loves the unlovable...like Jesus did.

The second author is a man by the name of John M. Perkins, a preacher, author, and civil rights leader from Jackson, Mississippi. He is almost 80 years old and he has spent the last 50 years of his life speaking out against Racial discrimination and like Shane (and Jesus) reaching the rejected and living amongst the needy.

Now you might think that this rebel, once redneck kid and an 80 year old man from Mississippi wouldn't even be able to write together...but you are wrong. The wisdom (as well as a fair amount of wit) from the two of them is quite fantastic. And while I cannot quote the entire book to you (I would like to, but alas, there are laws against that...) I will give you just a little taste, one quote that stood out to me, amongst the many I could choose from.

In the first chapter, entitled The Promise (Raising the Next Generation of Just Leaders), they spend sometime talking about Biblical leaders, and they eventually get to Moses, one of the greatest leaders of all time.

They talk about how Moses' background was rough, he had every excuse not to live for God...

John says "Make no excuses. First, when we look at Moses and the circumstances of his birth, none of us have any excuse today to be any less than what God says we are."

Moses was supposed to be aborted. Moses was the son of a slave woman. Moses was raised by a family that wasn't his own, in a culture that was totally unlike his own. Moses stuttered when he talked. Moses was afraid. Yet, God used him.

I would recommend this book to you and now I will close with this.

What have people said about you? What do you say about you? I'm sure you can come up with some excuses, no matter what type of life you live/lived.

But...

More importantly, WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT YOU?

That is enough to change your life.

Made Ya Laugh!

Ever seen one of those motivational posters that has some word in all caps, under a picture that somehow relates to it and apparently inspires you (PERSEVERANCE written underneath salmon swimming upstream, etc...)? I think those are kind of lame but I usually get a kick out of posters making fun of those posters, like this one;

This poster, similar to those demotivational ones, was emailed to me by a friend and made me laugh quite a bit. It is more humor and less demotivation, but it is funny nonetheless. It is a total bash on Twilight and just because of that I had to post it. Vampires are evil, what did I tell you?

Take that, Cullen.

Here's to many more...

MERRY (almost, practically, pretty much) CHRISTMAS,

ALL YE OF BLOGLANDRIA!!!

My Christmas;
*Christmas Eve with my dad's (*Italian) side of the family (2 aunts, 2 uncles, grandparents, and 5 cousins)
Lots of munching of Italian things like; bread, bread, bread, bread and more bread. mozzarella and fancy cheeses of the like. meats with difficult to pronounce names (well, I don't eat them...) and more bread.

Dinner of Spoon Roast (which is some meat that you can supposedly eat with a spoon, but it is one of those myths. You use a knife and fork. But I use nothing.) and Penne pasta with Mostacholi sauce. Accompanied by some salad, and yes, MORE bread. ALWAYS.
And later Jesus birthday cake. And yes, we sing too. Just one of those traditions...

In between eating there is highly organized gift exchanging and some sort of a musical performance by the musically talented (and cooperative) younger cousins. Then much banter, political argument, and generalized joking around.

* Christmas morning, we open our stockings out in our barn next to the wood stove (after a reading of the Christmas story).
then 10:00 AM Communion Service at my church (but lucky me, I get to be there an hour early because I will be singing and playing the keyboard)

*Lunchy/dinner with my mom's (*Hungarian) side of the family (2 aunts, 2 uncles, grandparents and 6 cousins, typically, but not everyone can make it this year). Much less traditional and we don't even eat anything Hungarian...we basically munch on everything from sushi to nachos, from perogis to bread (yes, same Italian bread. we love bread.). Then things involving cows, quads, or hiking tend to happen...

Then back home again to finish off presents and pick it all up and try to find our lives again from beneath remnant wrapping paper.

That's my schedule. Hope yours go well! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

New Banners.

Messin' around with the banners for my shops.

ETSY;

ARTFIRE;

I still need to come up with a new one for this blog, as the current one is way to plain and just overall boring. But I can't figure out what exactly I want it to look like, and I also can't decide if I want to continue using this damask-y background...

So for now I will continue experimenting on my shop sites.

The Adventures of Emikel and Jro...+ Sam!

-CHAPTER 9-
*WITH GUEST APPEARANCE BY ANOTHER AWESOME BEING- SAM!!!

In keeping with cold and snowy weather...

Me, Sam and Em, somewhere in my yard, in some snow, doing something we referred to as frolicking. Winter 2007.

*and in defense of our wardrobe, the snow outing wasn't planned and we are wearing odds and ends of my cold weather wardrobe. anything odd, you can blame me for, not them.

3 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Quote-ables.

I decided I needed a Christmas quote for today (first official day of winter and 4 days 'til Christmas!) and of the many I found, this one made me laugh, so it won.

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph."- Shirley Temple

Plus this one was in keeping my recurring theme of "Santa's throne of lies." Don't let him fool you with his merry countenance, he is a holiday stealer!

My family (when there were 4 people in it...)used to "do" Santa...in the days of old... We do not any longer. For good reason. Lying to children for the sake of holiday cheer is pretty shady...

I don't really remember when we stopped, but I stopped "believing" in him long before I stopped pretending that he existed (I just never mentioned it because obviously I wanted the presents to keep coming).

The whole theory of a fat man coming down chimneys was unbelievable enough, but once I realized that not everyone had a chimney, that was the final straw. I was well aware of laws involving breaking and entering and I had a hard time believing that a jolly old man from the North was a lock breaker.

That and he and my parents always seemed to purchase the same wrapping paper....

Christmas World Records.

I like pointless trivia.
Trivia games get me really excited,
and I think it would be utterly fantastic
to have Ben Bailey pick me up in his
"Cash Cab" and pay me for this knowledge
I posses (only problem is I am not in
New York and I don't get around by taxi...).


I was exploring Google this morning and found some interesting Christmas World Records on a site called World Records Academy.

Here are a few;

THE LARGEST LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE:
The largest living (uncut) Christmas tree stands at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, in Idaho. The beasty conifer measures up at 161 feet.

LARGEST ARTIFICIAL TREE: The largest fake Christmas tree is in Mexico City. It is made up of steel wire and it stands 295 feet high and has a width of 114 feet.

LARGEST GATHERING OF SANTAS:
Wait... a minute...? SantaS? Mutiple thrones of lies!
The worlds largest gathering of Santas was in Porto City, Portugal on November 27th, 2009. Despite bad weather, 14,200 people gathered in their Santa-ly best to raise money for charity.


LARGEST SNOWMAN:
The current largest snowman was actually a snowWOMAN. Her name was Olympia Snowwoman, after Maine senator Olympia Snowe. This behemoth of white powder stood at 122 feet and 1 inch and had a weight of 13,000,000 pounds. Her arms were each made of an entire 27 ft pine tree! Her eyes were 5 ft wreaths, her lips were made of tires and her eyelashes were constructed of 16 snow skis. She was built in the winter of 2008 and she finally melted away near the end of July of the same year.

LARGEST CHRISTMAS GIFT:
*not off of World Record Academy
The largest gift ever given on Christmas was none other than our very own Statue of Liberty. She was gifted to us by France in 1886. Height- 151 ft and 1 inch. Weight- 225 TONS!

See, now you feel more informed.
You're welcome.

Paper Snowflake Making Step-by-Step How-To

Last night I was helping out with a Kid's Christmas Party at my church and one of the activities we did was a paper snowflake making contest; I was truly surprised to find out how many of not only the kids, but leaders, didn't know how to make a snowflake!

For those of you who can relate to being unable to make a flakey thingy out of a sheet of paper, here, let me help you.


YOU WILL NEED: scissors. paper. the ability to cut paper with scissors.

STEP 1: Take a sheet of white (or any other color you'd like your snow to be...?) computer paper.

It is a rectangle.

You want a square.

So take the top right corner and fold it over onto the rectangle until you have a nice triangle with the excess of the rectangle sticking off of the bottom.










STEP 2:

Cut that excess strip of retangularality off of the bottom with the scissors. You should be left with a triangular piece, which is your square, folded in half.














STEP 3:
Take your triangle (which is still a square folded in half) and fold it in half once more, by taking one of the acute-angled corners and folding it to the other acute-angled corner (now you have a square folded into triangular fourths...)








STEP 4:
Take the acute angle on the right and fold it into the middle of your big triangle.
















STEP 5:
Then take the left corner and fold it over, just as you did in step 4.
You should now have a skinny little triangle, with 2 points coming off of the bottom.














STEP 6:
Cut off the little points at the bottom.
You should now have a skinny triangle (which is still your square, only folded a bunch of times...).
















STEP 7:
This is where the actual fun part starts. Take that skinny little triangle and cut shapes out of it, anywhere, anyway you'd like.

*just make sure to never cut wholly through any of your creases, or you will end up with something that looks like a snowflake with a large piece missing. Then all you can do with it is color it in and use it as a pie graph, and that is so much less festive.







STEP 8:
THE FUN PART.
Carefully unfold your little snipped up triangle and reveal your masterpiece!

Then make a bunch more! Each time experiment with cutting different shapes and patterns, or try a smaller or larger square, and be surprised with a totally different snowflake!

Anticipation!

Yes. Those ARE Christmas presents, despite their semi-unfestive appearance.

The paper looks more like something that you'd wrap..I dunno...wine?...in for New Years, but I do not distribute New Year's gifts and I defiantly don't give out wine. I thought it was interesting paper; very shiny and it can double as a mirror. After all, don't people get sick of seeing a fat bearded man in red, candy cane stripes, and snowmen as they open their gifts? Not everything has to be red and green...

I had hoped to use the paper for everyone on my shopping list, but I literally RAN OUT after doing pretty much just my 8 people within my immediate family (*those above*).

I spent an hour and a half wrapping yesterday; I am really into symmetry and perfectly perfect wrapped gifts. I also unwrap in a methodical manner, wholly attempting to not rip any bit of paper.
I'm no Martha Stewart, but I do feel rather strongly about my gift presentation...
You'd think I'd just use gift bags...


8 days until Christmas, everyone!!!!!!

Art...AND FIRE!

So we all know about my Etsy and how I am trying to raise money for missions by way of selling my handmade items. Then a friend of my mom's told me about another online marketplace for buying/selling handmade items; ARTFIRE!

Its very name combines 2 things which I love- creating art and creating...fire (I am a minor pyro.)
So, go check out my new shop! Although all the things on there will look familiar to you...
Basically I am going to dual-list all items I make on both of my sites and see which I do better on.

I actually think like the layout of Artfire just a little better, so we will see how this goes!

BUY BUY BUY! You know you want to!

Irony, oh sweet irony.

Shoes.
I have lots of pictures of them apparently (most involving converse...) but it seems weird to me at I even have any pictures of said object, because in shoes, are feet.

And I DO NOT like feet.

I don't know if I would go as far to say that I am pediphobic (afraid of feet, and yes, that is a real phobia); it is not like I have nightmares of feet, or tremble at the sight of them. Thought, if anyone asks me what the worse day of my life has been, I would immediately answer "the day that I got a pedicure" (a family member was trying to cure me of my weirdness, but it did not work).

I just think feet are nasty, and I feel better about life if you don't touch my feet and if you give me no reason to touch yours.

But shoes are pretty cool, I guess. Here is my collection of shoe shots.

"Toes" in irish dancing hardshoe. Painful and dangerous stuff, but you look good doing it.
That's my littlest brother...wearing footy pajamas in converse. Quite the feat (no pun intended) and quite the sight to look at.

Me and my youngest sister in our matching shoes. Somehow it is okay to match with a baby...

Never too young for high tops.

No, that is not my furry leg. That is the giant, plaid shoe of "Jorge."

The fancy laces of me and my friend "Mopeeps"! And yes, we unashamedly wear shorts with converse.

The Adventures of Emikel and Jro

-CHAPTER 8-

Camp k20, July 2007. "Emo Moment"

(basically anytime Em and I decide that we want to mess up our hair by pulling it over our faces...there is nothing else about us that is Emo.)

Quote-ables....or something?

"BUDDY THE ELF, WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR!?"- Buddy the Elf, from ELF. (I LOVVVVVE this movie.)

Elfyourself.com is sort of a tradition of mine, I do it every year and it never ceases to amuse me...
You can upload five pictures of people who you want to "elf" and then you can insert them in a dance/song- hip hop, classical, country, etc...

It might scare you, but it greatly amuses me...
So, if are brave enough, here is the link to myself elfed. After all, the very best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear...that or participating in a cyberspace hip hop choreography...

Flashback to Christmas '08

Don't ask why there are only 7 up there...looks like someone got jipped? Should be 8 of 'em. This year there will be 9, and next year...who knows!?

Christmas morning. At that point all I wanted for Christmas was some coffee and a slice of Ricotta pie. (italian stuff. But apparently I am the only one in my family italian enough to love it, so this year they won't buy it again. Sadness...there goes that tradition...)

My cousin Krista and I.

No comment...

Some rather dashing young gentlemen

This captures us pretty well...

1...2...3..........11 of us....but that was last year.

(and thats just my dad's side of the family. there are another 6 on my mom's side)

"Merry Christmas, here's to many more!"

I'm gettin' nuttin for Christmas because I contributed to the greenhouse effect...

Once the end of October hits I become very anxious to listen to Christmas music. By the first week of November I cannot wait any longer.
For my family, it isn't the holidays without the music of Josh Groban, Aaron Neville, Jim Brickman, and Mac Powell.
But one of MY personal favorite Christmas CD's is "Let it Snow Baby, Let It Reindeer" ( Relient K.)
And this song above the rest of them makes me laugh, especially the last 5 seconds.

*disclaimer: I have not been bad, and while I may have somehow contributed to the greenhouse effect, I am not worried about Santa finding out...because Santa "sits on a throne of lies."

FAVORITES OFF MY CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST (as it is now, I really need to find some new stuff, I haven't bought a Christmas CD in a couple years...)

- Mary Did You Know- I am ashamed to say it, but my favorite version is done by...Clay Aiken... although Sophia and I do it pretty well too.
- O Holy Night- the one, the only, the absolutely freakishly talented Josh Groban
-O Come All Ye Faithful- TobyMac
-Santa Claus is Thumbin' to Town- relient K (so funny.)
- Baby, It's Cold Outside- (I particularly enjoy it sung by Jovi and Buddy the Elf...)
- Little Drummer Boy- Jars of Clay's or Josh Groban's version
- Feliz Navidad- David Crowder Band
- the "I got a cheese log song"- by I don't even know who...it is bizarre.
- O Come , O Come Emmanuel- Third Day

*any recommendations for spectacular and/or funny Christmas music would be appreciated.

Birds and Stripey Things

This would be the result of me spending too much time on the Anthropologie web page...

I want you to know that I think this shirt was made for me. So, someone silly enough to spend $98 on it should buy it for me. Though soon after I will probably spill coffee on it...that tends to happen whenever I really don't want it to.

And maybe you should buy this Phoenix dress too (even though I don't really wear dresses) if you have an extra $150+ after that.

No actually, please no one spend that much on any article of clothing, for me, for you, or for anyone. Ever. I just like to fantasize about things of fabric...

The Adventures of Emikel and Jro...

-CHAPTER 7-
Miles Chapel. Fairmont, West Virginia, 2007.

*eek. it is a shoulder! I broke MTW worksite rules...

I love this one, Em. Resting your face on a hammer must break some rule as well, although they have never mentioned it in all of our years of orientation.

For the last 3 summers of my life I have ended up on roofs in the state of West Virginia, doing something involving deconstruction, reconstructions, the "buttuglycampingshirt" (long story. don't ask.), and usually at some point during the week, Emily.

I love roofing. Absolutely love it. I learned from my Uncle Joe and since then I have been set to work in West Virginia (obviously with other team members. Never roof alone!).

And slowly but surely, the small town of Fairmont looks better from a birds-eye view. :)

Quote-ables.

I have two younger brothers, one is 7 and one is 6. The older one thinks he is "smooth" and the other thinks he is "funny" (he also will tell you frequently how much he rocks...? Then they argue about who rocks more).

Frequently one of them will say "Bella, he thinks he is *insert words cooler, rocks more, is smoother, etc etc...* than me!" Argumentation follows.

While both of them are amusing, today's quotes comes from the 6 year old, who we will call Goggi (that would be what my 19 month old sister calls him, so it is good enough for me too) who also goes by the name "Funny Guy."

Last weekend, as we were on our way to get a Christmas tree, Goggi is sitting in the back of the suburban and reading an easy- reader Bible to himself (the ones with pictures and like 6 words on a page...) and he announced that Samsung (yes. he said Samsung like the TV's and whatnot, and not Samson.) was his favorite.
Our following conversation went like this.

"....But Samsung was a girly man."- Goggi

"Samson could kick your butt and anybody else's butt if he wanted to. The guy pulled down buildings, took out armies with flaming foxes and killed people with he jawbone of a donkey!" - Me. (and really. all of that is in the book of Judges. I kid you not.)

"No, he doesn't kill people! He just knocks them over and steps on them...and he knocked one guy's hat off!"- Goggi *now laughing hysterically at the hatless man...?*

"Sure he does. But still, that doesn't make him a 'girly man.' " -Me

"Samsung was a girly man. He had ponytails." - Goggi.

HaHa. The kid is genuinely funny at times, I must say.
Moral: Never judge strength by hair length :)

Is this the real life? Will you do the fandango?

Another video involving monsters, only this time, my all time favorite monsters, The Muppets, and the very best one of them all -ANIMAL- has the very best part of all (although the lyrics have been totally changed...).

Apparently they are trying to bring Muppets back (YES!) and next year I think they are doing another movie (MORE YES!) so this is their YouTube attempt at amping Muppets back up.

And I have to admit, normally I cannot stand this song. It is like 5 minutes long and a total... GALLIMAUFRY (*see , I used it!*) of musicality. Once the Galileo-ing starts I usually move to the next song.

But this is good. This is very good.

For the sake of your meager vocabulary....

I like big words. I like weird words. I like the way some words sound coming out of my mouth (ululate, lullaby, cacophony, voracious, cornucopia, rampage, and others...) and I also keep a mental list of "ugly words" that I just can't stand the sound of (plethora, infatuated, creme brule, horn, pith, yak, and scope to name a few...)
I also like to make up words and use them in real life and convince other people that they are real words too. Words that no other people use are entirely normal to me.
When I open up the Internet I am greeted with the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com and today's particularly caught my eye. 'Tis a beasty.

gallimaufry \gal-uh-MAW-free\ , noun;
1. A hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley.
[Origin: Gallimaufry, originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," comes from French galimafrée, from Old French, from galer, "to rejoice, to make merry" (source of English gala) + mafrer, "to eat much," from Medieval Dutch maffelen, "to open one's mouth wide.]

I am so going to use this one. Be on the look out for this word in the next conversation that you have with me. I will work it in there somehow.

Boom Da Di Da Di Da Di...

"HEART IT RACESSSS!"

Brace yourself for the bizarre.
This is the music video to a song that was stuck in my head for MONTHS and having heard it again today I couldn't help up laugh.

Every year on a missions trip to Fairmont, West Virginia somehow one song off one of many mixes provided by team members becomes engrained in our heads over the 7 days we are there...this year it was this one.

It took us several day to figure what they were saying (Hot Erasers? Something about Racists?random noises? No. Heart It Races.), and we still don't know what they are talking ABOUT (death? tribal ritual? monsters? total insanity?????)!
And the video is crazier than the song. Their outfits are worthy of an award of some sort.
Check it out.


I betcha it will be stuck in your head, whether you like it or not :)

You remind me of the babe, the babe with the power...

Today we welcome yet another Awsumly to my growing "City of Owls."
Today we welcome Jareth Awsumly.
He is full of the beans.

I know you are wondering what on earth I am talking about. Let me s'plain.

First off, Jareths being full of the beans. Costa Rican coffee beans, that is. (thanks emikel for the idea!) Oh yes, real, very legit, bought in the nation of Costa Rica, beans of joy and deliciousness. Because Jareth is so delicious he is going to sit (next to Stigandr the GPS) in "my" car (named Tortuga) and make it smell as awesome as he does. Yum.

Second, why his name is Jareth? And why does he has 2 different colored eyes? And why he reminds me of a babe with power...?

At this point if you are still lost it is because you haven't seen Labyrinth, one of history's strangest movies.

As a kid, this was one of my favorite movies (and I cannot really fathom why...), it is a good one, but I will warn you now, if you have anything against bizarreness, eternal stenches, goblins, Jim Henson, 80's music or David Bowie is very tight pants, don't see it. It could very well scar you for the rest of your life.

Anyhow, Jareth (played by David Bowie, who has 2 different colored eyes...) is the Goblin King (he also shapeshifts into an owl at times. and at some point in the movie Jareth sings a song called 'Babe with the Power.' See, it all makes sense!). The whole plot of the movie is this girl Sarah is annoyed with her crying little brother, so she wishes him away to the goblins, and when they really do come and take him, she has only a few hours to make her way through Jareth's labyrinth and to his castle at the heart of Goblin City to save her brother before he turns into a goblin forever.

It is a very odd movie, but to this day I have an strong attatchment to it. It has some great lines in it and it is just overall amusing. Watching it over and over and over as a 5-9 year old, it had a lasting impact on me. I think it may have influenced my imagination, but I also blame it for my love of fire, the name Toby, owls, and striped clothing. You'll have to see it to understand...

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go sniff my owl.