And that's all my phone has to say about that...

flash back to last Friday- make chocolate covered yumminess.

pretzels and peanut butter balls. high in both calories and deliciousness.

they were so yummy people who had said they weren't coming showed up upon being texted about the chocolate goodness.

 

the week started out terribly sunny.

Washington was actually like the warmest state in the USA at one point over the weekend. It was miraculous. 0% chance of rain- that just doesn't happen out here!

flowers picked on the hike mentioned in the previous post.

 

at first i thought I acquired poison ivy on the hike when I woke up with a rash on my arm the next day.

when within hours I was a completely rashy mess we began to think a food reaction was the culprit.
that and my husband suspected I was turning into a goose (...looked like I had goose bumps everywhere...). Yup.

 

 Next was a 101  fever.

long story short, I spent about 5 hours on Monday between the doctors, a blood lab and the army base pharmacy. i know I have a monosodium glutamate (MSG- a common food additive which acts as an excitotoxin and messes with my endocrine system) allergy and i accidentally ate some (its in the majority of packaged food). the dr. also did a panel of food allergy tests on me. waiting on results. i am now armed with epipens and after a bunch of steroids and Benadryl I'm doing much better. fun times.

 

we've started feeding birds in hopes of giving our indoor kitty something to entertain himself (and cause we like birds).so far, a couple of brave chickadees and a squirrel picking up what drops to the ground have been our only visitors.

 

trink thinks the squirrel is good fun. we call the squirrel Caliban

(also, like Trinkilo, a character from the Tempest).

Funny part is he didn't notice him at first and the squirrel stood frozen for a couple minutes before the cat whipped around and gave him full attention.

 

another really great cat hobby is running around underneath a shoe box. the goal being to keep it on top of you so you may stealth attack people's ankles.

 

gearing up for Hawaii in 10 days!!! so excited!

we will be staying at a military personnel resort right on Waikiki beach. Celebrating our one year anniversary during the trip. Unbelievable! Until then, we are watching every movie set in Hawaii- most importantly Lilo and Stitch. JoJo has 3 day weekend so let the amping up for the trip begin!



And that's what my phone has to say about that...

My month according to my phone:

*nothin' ununsual here.*

*fox fetish*

*the sun came out! 2nd day of Spring!*

*baking breads*

*this is how the cat likes to sit and watch me study Astronomy*

*homemade fettuccine and orecchiette pasta*

*husband, cat and I playing cribbage*

*painting watercolor poppies*

*cutifying my pantry*

*spy eyes*

 

*As you can maybe tell, I am not an Instagramer. Main reason: I don't have a smart phone and I don't care too, really. I actually hate phones of all kinds. I occasionally take quick pictures on my phone, like these, usually for the purpose of texting a friend or family member. But for real photography I would much rather use my Canon D-SLR.

*as you can also tell, my life greatly revolves around my spoiled catson. Cat lady to the core, right here! Maybe I ought to take pictures of my husband...or things other than art projects, Trink and foods...hmmm....

...Perfect Peace {Isaiah 26:3}

 

Just some weekend thoughts...

 

As of right now this is my verse for the year.

For the last couple months this verse has kept popping up in

 conversations, messages, and elsewhere.

Eventually I concluded that perhaps this was a verse that I needed to beging claiming.

I am close to being an expert at worrying, being anxious, not being peaceful, and not trusting.

This year I am working on the opposite.

 

Bella's Custom Animal Hats on Facebook

...because all forms of advertising now somehow end up being by way of social media...

https://www.facebook.com/BellasAnimalHats

Long story short: 

I make hats. And those hats now have a Facebook page.

PS: Hats like orders. And people you know/you like hats for Christmas.

Check out the page for options and details!

Wedding inspiration boards are my new addiction....

... just take a look. I've been making them all over the place. Style Me Pretty, The Knot, Once Wed, and Wedding Wire are all great sites to get wedding inspiration!

Couple boards from Style Me Pretty that I created:

Also, made a PINTREST account. People kept telling me it was a great place to get inspiration and I that I would love it because I am crafty.... I do not yet love it? Seems kinds sub-par to all the other wedding inspo sites I've been one. Kinda fun just to browse but...not my new favorite.
But any how...

Getting married is quite the chore...

So, I am getting married in 64 days. No big deal. The reality sure hasn't sunk in yet, although I do have sudden moments of mind blowing realization, but what has sunk in is WEDDINGS ARE A LOT OF WORK!

JoJo and I, no matter the time frame we had to plan, or even if we had a budget of 50 zillion dollars, always wanted a small, family centered, non-traditional outdoorsy wedding. And seeing as I am non-conventional about most aspects of my life, it shouldn't surprise you that I am non-conventional as a bride-to-be either.

When I was 14, I went on a mission trip to Chile. Great trip, had nothing to do with weddings, but had a lot to do with dysfunctional relationships of team members (many long stories, of which details don't matter). Up until that point in my life I had no intention of getting married. Most of the time I planned on living in the woods by myself and being a falconer/ raptor rehabilitator forever. But during that trip I decide that I was going to someday get married and that I was going to do things right. At that point I made all sorts of very serious decisions about how I was going to do things and what I would do in the mean time. That included praying for the guy I would someday marry (funny thing: Within months of all this occurring some 15 year old kid name JoJo randomly came to my church and got saved...fast forward 7 years and we are getting married. God is cool like that.).

Upon getting back from the trip I walked into my church sanctuary, which they had renovated in the time I was gone and put up hideous acoustic panels on the wall. At that point I raised my right hand and swore to honor God, and still get married, but not to get married in that building. I am sticking with that. I love my church, but it isn't lovely in photos. From that point on I began planning the wedding I would someday have with the one and only man that God had created for me. It being outside was of the utmost importance. (I know some Christians strongly believe in getting married in a church, particularly in their own, because they want their wedding to be "in the eyes of God." I agree very much with wanted my wedding to be in the eyes of God and that is crucially important, but I do not believe God's eyes are limited to any particular place. I believe in God's omnipresence. My wedding will certainly be within his reaches!)

So my 64 day away wedding will be taking place on my grandparent's farm. When I was 14, I also thought it might be nice to get married in the rain, but since then I have rethought that and have decided, as much as I love rain, not to subject my friends and family to it on my wedding day. JoJo proposed in the rain. That is good enough for perfect me. So please, pray for nice weather on May 26th (tents as a back up plan, though!). We will be doing the ceremony (with our wonderful youth pastor as the officiant) before our family and friends (we wanted small and then realized we had huge families, so our guest list is at 200!). The ceremony will be followed by a picnic-style reception, also at my grandparent's beautiful property.

Another part of my wedding that was set in stone from age 14 on was a "retina burnin' white wedding dress." There were a couple years were I joked about wearing my friend's red and black gothic tutu (just because I am fond of rebellion), but I always knew my dress would be *WHITE*. JoJo and I joke about people having to wear sunglasses at the wedding. Long story short, I put a lot of effort into earning a white wedding dress. Its needing to be white was a non-negotiable.

And guess what? A couple Saturday's ago my mom and I went second-hand wedding dress shopping (as we are expert thrifters!) for *7 hours* and at our last stop, Savers, we found a BEAUTIFUL dress, very close to my size, in a style that suited me, for $69.99. It was used, but in lovely condition and it was made in the USA (I refused to buy a dress from a big name bridal store because I try to avoid supporting any company that isn't fair trade and uses sweatshops in their product manufacturing.) And $70 beautiful dress? It was WHITE. God is so good.
I wish I could better describe it to you, but you will have to wait until after the wedding for pictures! No dress-info leaks allowed!

This post is getting long and overwhelming, so I will cut myself off now. There will have to be more posts telling of all the thrifting, DIY-ing and preparations that have been going on in planning this wedding.  (*more posts over HERE on my mom's blog) Originally, 3 months seemed like a horridly short amount of time to pull a wedding together, but God, as usual, is being faithful and again and again we are being surprised by His goodness in helping us to make this wedding happen.  I am trying to remain calm and not sweat the small stuff. (will the flower girls shoes, or the sauce we serve on chicken have any long term effect on my marriage? No.) No bridezilla's allowed. Big picture, the wedding doesn't matter. The marriage does.
 Between all the planning and prep, as well as full time school and part time work, I am getting more and more excited. Stay tuned for more updates!

I rather like to believe...

...that somewhere in my Hungarian blood there is gypsy. I am really a mix of many things, but I mainly hold to my Hungarian/Magyar heritage (except for my stomach. it is definitely Italian).
My family claims no gypsy (Carpathian Romani, if you want to be specific to Hungary) relations, but...I doubt it. I'm a gypsy. In my mind, and possibly fractionally so in reality.

*i was dressed like this for a "motion" photoshoot I was doing for school. But I honestly dress like this quite often. One of my favorite shirts. And that skirt is like my prized possession. It has a few unfortunate bleach spots, but as long as I do lots of spinning, no one can tell.

More on Tonski Time...

Yes, I do realize I owe you a post about the engagement story, but instead you are going to get a post about why I haven't had enough time to post about the engagement story in the last couple weeks. You see...I'm very busy...planning...A WEDDING.

A wedding in 77 days, nonetheless.

Yes. JoJo and I are going to be getting married on May 26th of this year. While a 3 month engagement is short (and yes, we know this is crazy to try to pull off) we decided together, after much thought and prayer, that it is how we want to do things. Not that we are rushing or anything, it is just that JoJo will be deploying for 6 months to the country of Qatar come June and he and I want to make the commitment of marriage before that.

We will be having a small, outdoor, mostly family, picnic-y and casual wedding at my grandparent's farm 8 days before he leaves. The plans are coming along quite nicely and we are very, very excited about it. But we, along with our families and friends, have been mighty busy. Now onto of my already busy school and work schedule, I am planning a spring wedding. And trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in under 3 months I will be a wife. A military wife. (In case you were wondering I will stay with my family on the east coast, up until he returns from the deployment. They we will see to moving me to the west coast where JoJo is stationed.)

All that being said, you can see why blog posts will be few and far between. But I will *TRY* and keep you posted on all the excitement as best as I can, so follow along with us on our adventure!

Summary of Tonski Time...

Well. I am back.

I returned home from Washington state's McChord AFB on Sunday morning. My 8 days with my Airman were...fantastic. I could probably write about 40 posts with all the experiences put into words and then coupled with photos (of which I took 479).

It was so lovely to be able to go to where JoJo was. I got to see the base and where he works. I got to meet people who I had previously only known as names and not faces. I got to see the gorgeous state of Washington and explore new places. And I got to do it all with JoJo and his family. It was really a great trip.

There are so many things I could write about, but for now I want to give a new definition to the phrase "Tonski Time." Previously "Tonski Time" was any amount of time I spent with my JoJo. Everyone loves their Tonski time and I love mine the most. But now we have a new meaning to those two words and a new countdown to go with them. But now it isn't just about counting down to SEEING him.

Now Tonski Time can be applied in countdown fashion to...
....how long before *I* am a Tonski. Or, if you'd like to stick with the seeing theme, seeing him at the end of an aisle.









Because we are engaged. 
 *commence with shrieking and cheering*

Yes. JoJo proposed.

February 20th, 2011, my best friend became my boyfriend. One year later, on the anniversary of that day, (February 20th, 2012) my boyfriend became my fiance.

I need to figure out how to type up a summarized version of how all that happened, and I am still sorting through the pictures of the whole thing, but for now I will leave you with two things.

First, a picture:

JoJo, stubborn traditionalist that he is (we both are), picked this ring out all by himself, without any input from me or suggestions from any other person who knows me. He spent months visiting jewelry stores and searching online because he wanted it to be perfect. He searched and searched to find the design that I would like using a "princess cut" diamond because he refers to me as his gypsy princess. And he specifically chose a ring with three diamonds to match the trinity ring that my dad gave me a promise ring on my 16th birthday, as well as the ring with 3 hearts that JoJo gave me as a promise from him at the beginning of our relationship.

He's good, I tell you.

I don't think I could have explained to him or anyone else what a "perfect" ring for me would be. JoJo just knows me well enough that he picked it. It is SO me. I love the design. I love the white gold  I love how tiny and dainty it is (a perfect fit for my little hands). I love that its not big and flashy. And I love knowing that HE chose it and put a ton of effort into doing so. The man loves me. He hates shopping and had no prior interest in jewelry (in fact, he still doesn't). But now he knows more about diamonds and rings than I do. I am so impressed with him. God has blessed me with an amazing man who truly cares about me and who is really great at showing it.

Although I will post pictures and a more full explanation of the proposal (which by the way was also very perfect) soon, I will leave you with this second thing.

#2- Yes. I cried.

If you know me at all, that pretty much summarizes just how wonderful it was.
I, Isabella, rarely cry. And never have I ever cried out of happiness. Up until the 20th of February 2012, that is.

 When JoJo proposed, I cried. And it was perfect.

More pictures and stories to come!

"Hello Tonski Time" and "Hello Seattle."

*Hello Blog, as well.

Number 1: As you read this, I am on a plan headed westward. Scheduled posting is magical, eh?

Why am I headed westward? Because, after 4 months of 3,000 miles between us, it is *TONSKI TIME* again. Meaning I am flying to see JoJo in Washington state. And staying for 8 predictably glorious days.

Fear not, there will be pictures and posts galore upon my returning, but until then your lives will be devoid of Isabella Kiss. See me later.

Lastly, why am I posting an Owl City song when I am actually annoyed by it? Because. It is just all to applicable. And I cannot lie to you and say I haven't been jumping around my house for the past week with the words of this song (or even worse, the more synth-y remix) on my lips.

Yes, I still do hate Valentine's day, thanks for asking...

*VDAY LOVERS BEWARE. STOP READING NOW.*

Remember this post? About my holiday killjoy-ish and anti-valentine's-dayness? Last year? At a time that was prior (but only by a few days) to JoJo and I?

In case you were wondering, yes, I still do feel that way.

I had several interesting conversations over the last couple days involving my stance on Vday. APPARENTLY people seemed to think I never liked it because "I never had someone."

Let me just clarify that right now: *NO* Wrong. Inaccurate. Not correct. Uh-Uh.

#1- lets not pretend I was a hopeless single moping around, dreaming and hoping cupid would come along and shoot a prince charming in the backside with a love arrow so I would be lonely no more. No way, no how. I was single for 20 years and liked it that way, thankyouverymuch. No regrets whatsoever.
#2- no. I was not covering up some deep emotional longing by acting like I hated Valentine's day. I actually did.

I still do. A lot. Not just because I am a scrooge and a killjoy against holiday commercialization, but because I am very against the notion of having a designated holiday to celebrate being in love. I am against having a holiday that pretty much requires people to do loving things for each other. I am of the mind set that if I love someone (*and we all know who that is*) that I would tell that person daily. That I would act like I loved that person daily. That I would do things that expressed my love for that person daily. That there would be random "just because" type gifts and cute cards and whatnot not because the calendar told me to, but because those things were all GENUINE expressions of my love. I want to live love. Not pencil it in on my calendar when I can manage to find the time.

Basically, I am against the whole "acting upon being loving" thing on Valentines day in the same way that I am against "lets all suddenly be thankful on Thanksgiving day." I don't like a calendar telling me when I should express which emotions (and I don't like being told what to do, period. Have you notice?). Especially if those emotions tend to get seemingly neglected the rest of the time.

Yes. I am odd. Noted.

If you like chocolates and roses on Valentine's Day, then I hope your dearly beloved gets you some. Seriously. If that is how ya'll choose to celebrate the love that you have and you are happy with it that way, then by all means, have at those chocolates!

*side note: I am utterly baffled by all the "my wonderful boyfriend surprised me with chocolates and flowers! he is just the best!" statuses today. Uhm...did you not look at your calendar this morning? It's Valentines day. Not much of a surprise, if you ask me. Surprise means you *don't* know it's coming. Now my boyfriend, he knows a a thing or two about surprises, but that is another story...

But...I don't want that. (I think I am missing some sort of female gene? This is clearly not normal.) Roses, chocolates, and red and pink cards shaped like un-anatomically correct vital organs just on February 14th just aren't for me. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about, but I don't really see this opinion of mine ever changing. Not now, not ever. However, I am very much in love and I definitely don't see that changing. Ever.

I have always felt like this about Vday, but I think my relationship with JoJo has only made me dislike it more (ironic...?). If anything (out of the many things I have learned after *almost* a year of long-distancing it), this relationship has taught me never to take JoJo, or the time I do get to spend with him, for granted. I don't get to really pick when I see him. I don't see him on birthdays. Or holidays. Whether Hallmark says I have to or not. So I have come to a point of celebrating just *being* with him whenever I can. We make our own holidays.We specialize in "just because." And that is a concept I want to hold onto, beyond the point of there being distance between us.

But, even if we were together, we would not be celebrating Valentine's Day in any normal manner.

Oh, and by the way, guess what? No surprise, but my dearly beloved, who has thought processes as twisted as mine, feels the exact same way about commercialized holidays such as Valentine's day (and about being told what to do...). Perrrrfect.

Wanna help me out with a school assignment? SURVEY TIME!

Hey all, this is probably like the most random post I will ever be posting upon My Name is Not King but...humour me.

The short of what is more of a long story is this: I have a survey project due for my math class on Wednesday (involving surveying like 60 people, the survey results, a pamphlet I create based on them, and a presentation to the class) This survey involved 26 campus students (completed that part!), but now I need responses from 26 non-campus people. And I though perhaps some of you would like to participate (/I am desperate and don't want to spend all weekend hunting down people to survey).

The survey, which I am doing on people's view of the existence of God, is directly related to my World Religions class. (and yes, I did have the most complicated survey question of the class. The others involved cars, ice cream and Lebron James. Of course mine took the longest for people to answer...typical sneaky Bella move...)

QUESTION 1:

DO YOU PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A GOD?

QUESTION 2:

IF SO, DOES THAT BELIEF, OR INDICATED LACK THEREOF, HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT ON THE WAY YOU LIVE AND THE DECISIONS THAT YOU MAKE?

IF you would like to help me out, leave a comment *AND PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR INITIALS.* I understand many of you go by cutesy blog names, but first and last initials are required if I am going to be able to use your response in my project.

It would be helpful if you formatted your comments sort of like this:

Q1: Yes      
Q2: Yes  
-IKC

(or whatever your yes or no answers may be).

I have gotten quite intriguing answers so far (I am baffled by the number of campus students who answered both yes and no to their belief in the existence of God...?). Obviously, the answers are all a little vague (What do they mean when they say "God"? Which one? Why? Etc...), but I think this survey will be really interesting nonetheless.

If you could help me out with this it would be wonderful! Perhaps I will share the final results on here next week! THANKS!

Possibly/maybe/perhaps Final New Blog Look!?

So...I think I have done it. I think I have created a new layout that I like and a header that I LOVE. The one thing I may mess with now is the text font. But other than that, I may actually be happy. What you are looking at right now my friends is what may very well be the NEW look of My Name is Not King.

I am using just the blogger SIMPLE template, with a barn wood background image blogger provided as an option. I was really liking the wood part, but obviously the plain text and beige background was makin' for a real boring header.

As it has been snowing here nonstop and I have nothing better to do, I decided to do a little messing around with header designs.

I went a googlin' for designs that would match my wood background and I was able to find this header from the Background Fairy site.

  

It was cool to begin with, and it had the vintage feel I like. Plus it had a crow (*which we can just pretend is a raven to make me happy.) But it wasn't QUITE what I wanted. The colors were a little off and obviously the whole blog title need to be worked in there.

  

I am no pro, and I no longer have photoshop, so I stooped to the picnik level, but I am actually quite pleased with how I things came out. Photoshop is much more elaborate and has many more options, but picnik is quick in simple (but unfortunately will no longer exist when April comes around.).

The final product is what you are looking at right now:

A darker, more stained, embellished, and with text version of the original. And I am actually really pleased and I don't *THINK* I will be changing it again. But still, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. And check out the previous post to see the other designs I was playing with. 

And also, up for grabs I have this NEW and IMPROVED blog button! I use a tutorial over at the blog (Live. Love. Craft.) of my new bloglandria buddy Alyssa, as I had forgotten how I had done it the first time (ohh HTML, you're so silly...). Feel free to take it off of here, or over on my sidebar, underneath my "who I am pictures". I will be working on one for my photoblog- Sometimes I Shoot Things- next!

<center><a href="http://mynameisnotking.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac252/MyNameisNotKing/BUTTON1.jpg" /></a></center>

I've got a brand new pair of... BLOG LAYOUTS!

So...as you can see, things are looking drastically different over here at 

MY NAME IS NOT KING.

I was messing around with blog templates, backgrounds, fonts, layouts, the whole 9...and the widths still need some tweaking.

I did like my old black and red scheme, with the dark, E.A. Poe feel but...it had been that was for around 3 years so it was time for a change.

How do ya'll feel about this one? 

 This is what you are seeing now obviously...
Then there is this one, also papery, but with more black...

I am not sure I am sold on it yet. I do like the "writing" sort of theme but...I think I want something more colourful, vintage, bright or unique. I love bright colours, but for the variety of colorful stuff I post on this blog, I think it would be visual overload to have some wild vintage pattern as a background? The amount of random stuff (military, writing, crafting, humor, photography and everything else) I post on here is probably overwhelming enough!
So perhaps simple is better?
Or something. Thing is, I don't actually know. I've tried to redo this blog so many times, and I never like anything that I come up with!

Also, there is this. Old barn wood. I like that too.

There will probably be more changes in the future. Obviously the headers are just text and need to be redone in some fabulous way. Any ideas, friends? Know of any great free blog background sites? I've used hotbliggityblog before, but I am sturggling to make their backgrounds behave on my blog. Either has to be reverted to the old template settings, or somehow in the picture window template, but for one reason or another it isn't always showing up...so...help!? If you have any ideas/suggestions I would love to hear them!

Humour me people, humour me.

If I had lived in the 60's...

I would have wanted to be HER.

Francois Hardy: singer and actor. I had previously never heard of her, but upon finding this picture, I decided I like her very much...

As I am living right now, I still am kind of wishing my hair and eyebrows looked like hers.

But she is like 70 years old now...so...I will stick with my current singing and acting icon. Zooey Deschanel. Excellent eyes and husky voice, but her eyebrows are of no comparison to Ms. Hardy up there...

$41 of stripe-d gloriousness: WHY I SHOP AT THRIFT STORES

A few weeks ago I gave mention to a new chair that I bought. And yes, buy a new chair I did.

I now have a green lether love seat/couch, a orange fuzzycozy chair and a sage vinyl/leathery green chair, along with this new striped chair and ottoman in my room. I think I have the genetic "we cool collect things, especially furniture that we don't really need, but want gene" that my Kiss family possesses. Oh darn...
But all is well. Because the total cost of all this furniture? $46 dollars. The couch was (and technically still is) my moms. The green chair was $5 at Savers, and orange chair was free and the striped chair? Well that is what this post is about, my dear friends....

About 3 weeks ago my mom and I were out doing some thrifting. We stopped in at a new Salvation Army. Generally, I don't like the Salvation Army. The one closest to me is sort of in a sketch location and it is like...dark and dirty. Not my favorite. I am more of a Savers, and sometimes Goodwill type of girl. But this new one was pristine and smelled like cleaning products. Good sign.

I told my mom I wasn't buying anything. She was. I was just wandering. Until I wandered into the furniture section, found a fantastic chair and ottoman, sat down in it, fell in love, and then went and got my mother.


"Mom, talk me out of it. Tell me I do not need a striped circusy chair. Tell me I have enough chairs. Tell me I don't have room for it. Tell me that, even though it is one of a kind and $50, that I don't need it."
"No! I love it! If you don't buy it, then I will!!!"
"...Thanks for the help, mom...."

I'm telling you, I bear the Kiss-curse. And I am beginning to be okay with it.

Long story short, I talked to the manager guy about my $50 chair.
He said "Are you a college student?"
"Yup!"
"Do you have an ID?"
I didn't have it on me. I am on break and my ID was in my abandoned backpack at home.
"That's fine. I can tell you are a college student. You get 25% off!"

So my beautiful, one of a kind, circus chair and ottoman came to a total of $41 and went out into my durango to come home with me. After careful analysis we concluded that the chair itself is older and someone had paid to recover it in the striped fabric. It is lovely, clean, flawless, and doesn't smell a bit (for those of you who might be worried by used furniture). As far as I can tell it was never even sat on once recovered. My guess is someone dropped it off, but never came to pick it up from the re-upholstery place. Pity for them. Win for me.

Before I drove home I texted a picture to JoJo (who, by the way, is fully supportive of my thrift shopping. Praise God, I can live a happy life!) : "Um...I hope you like striped chairs. Because I just added one to my furniture collection. But only like 40 bucks...."
His response: "Bella, you are silly, I love you, the end."

Boom, here we go uhgaiinnn...

Me, JoJo's mama and two little sisters are taking a plane trip.

McChord Air Force Base/Airman Tonski, here we come.

In just a little over a month I will be seeing my JoJo again! This will be my first time going to where HE is. This will be my first time on an Air Force base. This will be my first time in the big, beautiful state of Washington. And I am so, so, so excited.

Let the count-downing begin!


**positive thing... 238...(yes, I did just make up that number) about long distance relationships: being able to make little countdown widgets and get yourself all excited days/months in advance!


SIDE NOTE:  Due to unfortunate flight booking circumstances, will be my first time flying alone. The four of us leave the same place at the same time, and get there within an hour of each other, but I wound up on a plane by myself. I have flow many, many, many times, to many, many world locations, but never all by me onesie. Little apprehensive about the quick flight change I have to make in Chicago. So...pray for me.

"When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. "

Isaiah 43 is one of my all time favorite bible passages.
This is the passage I read over and over again when JoJo went off to boot camp.
This is the passage I cling to when I am overwhelmed and uncertain.
Verse five is on an orange index card hanging next to my bed. It was the first thing I saw this morning. "FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU."

I need to know it especially now, just like I need to know it always.
I am between rocks and hard places, as well as several other uncomfortable, scary locations.
But I have been bought with the highest price. I have been called and redeemed. 
I am made to know that He is I AM and who He is.
I am chosen. I will not fear.

Bit of a long passage, but...ladies and gentlemen...

Isaiah 43

The Message (MSG)

When You're Between a Rock and a Hard Place

 ^1-4 But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
   the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
   I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
   When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
   it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
   The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
   all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
   That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
   trade the creation just for you. 

  ^5-7"So don't be afraid: I'm with you.
   I'll round up all your scattered children,
   pull them in from east and west.
I'll send orders north and south:
   'Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
   my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
   every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
   yes, personally formed and made each one.'"
 ^8-13Get the blind and deaf out here and ready—
   the blind (though there's nothing wrong with their eyes)
   and the deaf (though there's nothing wrong with their ears).
Then get the other nations out here and ready.
   Let's see what they have to say about this,
   how they account for what's happened.
Let them present their expert witnesses
   and make their case;
   let them try to convince us what they say is true.
"But you are my witnesses." God's Decree.
   "You're my handpicked servant
So that you'll come to know and trust me,
   understand both that I AM and who I am.
Previous to me there was no such thing as a god,
   nor will there be after me.
I, yes I, am God.
   I'm the only Savior there is.
I spoke, I saved, I told you what existed
   long before these upstart gods appeared on the scene.
And you know it, you're my witnesses,
   you're the evidence." God's Decree.
"Yes, I am God.
   I've always been God
   and I always will be God.
No one can take anything from me.
   I make; who can unmake it?"

You Didn't Even Do the Minimum

 ^14-15God, your Redeemer,
   The Holy of Israel, says:
"Just for you, I will march on Babylon.
   I'll turn the tables on the Babylonians.
Instead of whooping it up,
   they'll be wailing.
I am God, your Holy One,
   Creator of Israel, your King."  ^16-21This is what God says,
   the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
   who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
   they lie down and then can't get up;
   they're snuffed out like so many candles:
"Forget about what's happened;
   don't keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.
   It's bursting out! Don't you see it?
There it is! I'm making a road through the desert,
   rivers in the badlands.
Wild animals will say 'Thank you!'
   —the coyotes and the buzzards—
Because I provided water in the desert,
   rivers through the sun-baked earth,
Drinking water for the people I chose,
   the people I made especially for myself,
   a people custom-made to praise me.
 ^22-24"But you didn't pay a bit of attention to me, Jacob.
   You so quickly tired of me, Israel.
You wouldn't even bring sheep for offerings in worship.
   You couldn't be bothered with sacrifices.
It wasn't that I asked that much from you.
   I didn't expect expensive presents.
But you didn't even do the minimum—
   so stingy with me, so closefisted.
Yet you haven't been stingy with your sins.
   You've been plenty generous with them—and I'm fed up.
 ²⁵"But I, yes I, am the one
   who takes care of your sins—that's what I do.
   I don't keep a list of your sins.
 ^26-28"So, make your case against me. Let's have this out.
   Make your arguments. Prove you're in the right.
Your original ancestor started the sinning,
   and everyone since has joined in.
That's why I had to disqualify the Temple leaders,
   repudiate Jacob and discredit Israel."

Most Christmas songs don't make me cry but...

...This one, as of lately, does. I have to quickly skip the track on the CD before the recordings of the military members serving in Iraq and their family at home start playing. This song has nothing to do with Jesus birth and it is usually not one of my favorites, but the way that this version in cooperates the military is beautiful.



JoJo is only in Washington state and hasn't yet deployed, but... still.
I'll be home for Christmas, but he won't and it is...hard. I would like to hope for next year but...who knows where either of us will be. That is sort of a difficult way to have to live life, but, as always, it is so worth it. For right now I am just making the best with what we've got and counting the days until we (his mom, 2 sisters and I) fly out in February!

Though they never thought it was possible...

Sometimes it is scary how alike JoJo and I are, especially in the way we think and in our absolutely bizarre sense of humor...

During our mini-photoshoot my mother says something along the lines of "You need to stand up straight!"

Seeing as she directed her comment at neither of us in particular, we both stood up straighter. And I mean straight to the extreme, complete with shoulders yanked up awkwardly, necks extra extended, eye brows up, and weird faces to match. At the exact same time.We didn't coordinate or pose this. We both happen to be odd enough that this is what we thought "stand up straight" should be acted out as. This is simply how our minds work.

A moment later, after capturing this shot,  my mother goes  
"...I cannot believe there are somehow 
two of you in the world..."

And she is right. My whole life I never imagined anyone could be as strange as me. Ask anyone who knows me at all, and they will tell you, I am pretty...unique. But JoJo somehow is as strange (and/or sometimes strange-er), and it is utterly perfect.