So I have this amazing stepdad...and he's an artist

I couldn't resist the opportunity to share with you some of my stepdad's most recent paintings. He has switched his focus to abstract art, which I must say, is amazing. I would love to just put his paintings in every room of my house. Take a look at some of his most recent work...(and yes...he sells them, so if some of you are interested, let me know!).

Time to Regroup

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. A lot has happened since I wrote last, but I’ve been too lazy to put it all into writing. I guess I could start with my car accident. On April 2nd we had a huge blizzard in Colorado Springs. Our work closed down at about 1pm due to the weather conditions. By this time though, the storm was so bad that you could barely see your hand in front of you and the roads were completely iced over. I turned right to come out of my office and was not even a mile down the road when I saw a car two cars ahead do a donut in the middle of the road. I thought...”Not good”. Sure enough, the car directly in front of me slammed on her breaks and slid into the curb with the back of her car sticking into the lane I was in. I of course braked, but with the roads solid ice my breaks did nothing and I slid right into the back of her car. Then the car behind me crushed me in between him and the car in front of me completing smashing my car like an accordion. Thankfully, the only injuries I had were some bad whiplash and a sprained wrist, but my car didn’t make it out so good. She was completely totaled. So after waiting in my car for almost an hour and a half for emergency crew I finally was taken out and my car towed away. A few weeks later I received a settlement from my insurance company for my car and was able to get a new one….here are the new wheels! (2008 Nissan Sentra)



So, despite the yucky situation, I feel like God was really watching out for me. I could have been injured much worse, especially considering the condition of my car, and everything with my insurance went very smoothly.
April 8th I turned 25. I have to be honest…I don’t feel old by any means, but this age feel strange to me. I’m not early 20’s anymore but not quite late 20’s either. Turning 25 has also made me question a lot of things about direction in my life and what the next 5 years are going to bring. I’ve thought a lot about that lately but am not going to really get into that now. I decided that this year I wanted to treat myself to a little birthday vacation so I went to southern Cali for a week to visit a good friend of mine out there. We went to Disneyland, did some BBQ’s, went to the beach, went to a club. I had a really nice time.:)



Lately I have been questioning whether or not I want to stay in Colorado. It’s just not like it used to be. I love it here, it’s a wonderful place, but I’m feeling pretty stagnant out here right now. There are times where I feel like I should just pack up everything and move to Indiana and work for my dad and the family business. Cost of living there is about half of what it is here it would be nice to save up some money and be close to family at the same time. I also think about going back to Arizona sometimes, although I never really felt like I could call that place ‘home’. After high school I never felt like Arizona was a good fit for me. Maybe I just have that gene in me that always wants to try something new. For my friends reading this, don’t get excited, I haven’t decided to pack up everything and leave at this point. :) It’s just something I think about from time to time.
There has been a lot of other things going on in between all of this, but I don’t really have time this morning to get it all down. I just wanted to do a quick catch-up blog. For my wonderful and amazing mother, Happy Mother’s Day! I couldn’t ask for a more loving and devoted mother. I love you so much!

Thank You Mr. President

My good friend Suzanne had this posted on her blog today and I thought it was so fitting for everything I am feeling today. So much focus on the new President, but I just felt like honoring our old President today. Whether you liked him or not, he deserves your respect and gratitude.

Goodbye, Mr. President,
I guess the time has come for you to,
Pack up all your things and turn the page,
So I was thinking as you left,
I’d try to write a song to tell you,
What so many of us want to say.

For all those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
For all the prayers I’m sure you prayed,
For how you tried to lead us when the way was so unclear,
I am sure it wasn’t always evident,
But thank you Mr. President!

Goodbye, Mr. President,
You will not be forgotten,
All the courage and the hope you helped us find,
I can’t imagine how it felt,
To stand where you were standing,
And to try to make the calls you thought were right.

So for those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
That put those lines around your eyes,
For how you carried the weight,
Even when the lights went out,
I am sure you’ll never know how much it meant,
I thank you, Mr. President.

So for those days ahead,
When they write about the past,
And everybody has their say,
From all of us who know,
You gave us everything you could,
We hope you will remember this,
Thank you, Mr. President!
Goodbye, Mr. President.

—Steven Curtis Chapman

Let's Talk About Star Wars.

This weekend I holed up in my house and watched Star Wars. Yes...I watched all three. Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. I know...I already sound like a huge nerd. But I must say, the original Star Wars trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. It's such a classic that really cannot be beat. As I was watching the Empire Stikes back yesterday I realized that Luke (Mark Hamill) looked a lot different to me in this movie then he did in the first movie. First of all, it looked like he had aged about ten years from the first, and secondly, his face looked a lot puffier to me. I did a little research on this and in doing so found out that after the filming of the first Star Wars movie, Mark Hamill was in a serious car accident and messed up his face pretty badly. Hence the difference in appearance. If you look closely in the Empire Stikes back you can see a new scar on his upper lip. Of course...this doesn't really explain how he aged ten years. Stress maybe? I was never a fan of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leiah. There is something about her that has always bugged me. I don't know if it's the fact that she looks like she is 15 but has the voice of an old woman or if it's the fact that she just looks like she would be a downright mean person in real life. (She was 19 when the first one was filmed by the way).Harrison Ford is of course brilliant as Han Solo. I had read somewhere that this was his first time ever acting (at age 34). Apparently he was contracted as a carpenter or something on the set and tried out for the role of Han Solo on a whim and nailed it. And the legend of Harrison Ford was born. Chewbacca is such a great character. Not only is he tall and make entertaining gurgling sounds that no other human being can properly mimic, but he kicks a lot of booty. Does anyone know who the actor was who played Chewey? I haven't figured that one out yet.

These movies are just great. Yes, the lines are extremely cheesy, yes, the technology is somewhat lacking at some points, but it doesn't matter. I think George Lucas did such an amazing job at writing this extremely entertaining Sci-Fi series. That's all I wanted to say....besides Yoda is the bomb.

May the force be with you.

My Friend Katy :)

Today I wanted to blog about a very special friend of mine. Katy is a very new friend of mine, but I feel like I've known her for a very long time. I met her at my new job working for Compassion International and she is amazing. She has such a big heart and an extremely outgoing and fun personality. I bring Katy up today because on Monday she is leaving for Rwanda for 2 months on a mission trip. She will be spending two months working in an orphanage that is dedicated to taking care of abandoned kids, ranging from infancy to 8 years old. She will be the only one who speaks English in the house she is staying in. Katy has had a passion for Africa her whole life and will be fulfilling a lifelong dream by going out there to be with the babies. I am so happy and proud of her for pursuing her dreams and doing something so good for these kids and for God. I know that is has to be such a scary and big step for her to do this by herself. Katy has never even been out of the country before so I can't imagine how exciting this experience will be for her!

I am praying for you Katy and I look up to you so much for what you are doing! I will miss you so much!

Commercial Creativity

Last night I had a discussion with a group of friends about the 'amazing' new commercials that have recently come out. I thought this discussion was blog-worthy. After seeing my wonderful friends 'The Stick Horses' perform, we all went to Chili's where the topic of the 'Snuggie' was brought up. This spawned the conversation of world's worst commercials.

I'm sure you all know what the Snuggie is. It is the 'blanket' that you can put your arms through and wrap around you like a giant moo moo so you don't have to be cold for two seconds while trying to turn on a lamp or turn pages. This commercial is a classic. My favorite shot is when you see a whole family at a ball game cheering on their team wearing, you guessed it, their prized 'snuggies'. I don't know about you guys...but I'm pretty sure no one I know would be caught dead wearing one of those in public. I would even venture to say I would even be embarrassed to wear one in my own house. BUT the plus side is, if you order one, you get a free reading light as a bonus!

Next commercial: Sham-Wow. The word gives me a great deal of amusement just saying it. It's the 'sham' that can soak up to 20 times it's weight in liquid. They demonstrate this great invention by soaking a piece of carpet 'in real time' with soda and making sure it soaks through to the back. Miraculously with a few pats on the 'Sham-WOW', the liquid has disappeared! Amazing. But WAIT, there's MORE! If you stick around to the end of the commercial, they even offer to DOUBLE your order if you call within the next twenty minutes. But you have to do it NOW or the offer will no longer stand. I imagine these are selling at such a fast rate that they can only extend this special offer to those who are smart enough to call in the next twenty minutes.

Another mention-worthy commercial is 'Cash-for-gold.com'. By simply calling a number you can get an envelope shipped to you where you can deposit all of your 'scrap gold' into an envelope and they will immediately send you a big check. My favorite: "I sent in my wedding ring from my FIRST marriage to Cash for Gold, and got a check in the mail the very next day!

There are many more I could mention, but I thought that these were the prominent ones. Over the years Oxy Clean, Chia Pets, and Mentos have definitely stood out in my mind. But the good news is, they keep getting better with time!