not all who wander are lost

Yesterday Jacque and I wandered through a quaint neighborhood and came across hilarious discoveries. They could not go unnoticed:

What in the WORLD?!

Then I got thinking, my car Dawane is getting old. He has always been a trooper, espcially here on campus. However, he's been whining lately. I don't know if he needs his front wheels oiled or if it's the fact two parts of his belly have rusted off in the past year. I think it's his need for companionship. So I introduced him to Darlene.

you make me happy...

...when skies are gray (or it feels like winter when it should be spring)! I can always count on Donna for a boost right before the week begins. Not talking to each other for a week is a killer! Donna filled my morning with love, kindness and compassion; a fruitful relationship fueled by an amazing spirit. I was reminded of Romans after catching up with Donna today:

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." Romans 12:15

I'll never take for granted the blessed relationship we share as granddaughter and grandma, friend and friend.

May be a cheesy photo, but it's my favorite. (we were trying to suppress our laughter after the photographer positioned us like this)

AND THEN she gave me a "taste of grandmas house" that will last me all week unless that is, I share it with my roommates! (Imagine Laura's stare as I was taking pictures of the most delicious crackers on the planet)

just a whim

Once upon a Saturday afternoon, all the girls in the house were "trying" to be productive. Everyone knows we are easily distracted and jump on all opportunities to be crafty. So Mary suggested we paint something where the pepper drawings hung in the kitchen. OK!

Becky was playing the piano, Mary was reading the news, Nicole was entertaining us, Quinn was trying to stay focused on homework (then helped me paint), Laura was surfing beautiful wedding blogs (I think) and I was painting... guess we were all using our special gifts! Hahaha. Then Mary cooked delicious pineapple chicken on the stove top while Quinn and I finished the mural over it (kinda dangerous, but it smelt great).

Thanks friends for a great night! I love living here, I thank God so much for everyone of you girls.

(Even though we didn't have a proper before&after, we tried our best to take photos that looked something like DesignSponge photos)

Snapshot Memory

Taking Bailey for runs with my dad is something I've always wanted to romanticize in a piece of art. We would sit on the back of the truck to watch Bailey prance and dart through the field. We were often accompanied by a peaceful silence. It was a time to enjoy company with my dad as well as the vastness of nature that surrounded us. It may seem like a mundane activity to some but it will always be special to me.

In this project students were asked to appropriate another famous artist's work into our own using only found materials. I found a ratty brown frame at Savers and antiqued it myself. Then using collage and Wisconsin picture books, I created this David Hockey-like landscape. The collage helped create a sort of snapshot memory; each square is part of something larger. The squares get smaller and tighter to create a focus on Bailey who is a painted element. He is leaping from the landscape, away from my dad who sits on the truck bed. It's a tribute to my family's dog bailey, who we lost this past summer.

Hands and Feet

I was looking through my drawings, particularly the first two. My prayer is such:

Lord, fill me up with your breath and send me out with beautiful feet.

Although simple, it's really yearning for the spirit to enter our body and empower us to be God's feet. We are absolutely powerless unless we are filled with the Spirit. This week I had an abrupt awakening with how moving the Spirit is and how it moves in order to reach others. When we let the Spirit take over, it works in miraculous ways. In an almost out of body experience, you can do things you would never be able to without God's breath and words.

The Lord God sculpted man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils a breath giving (the spark of) life; and man became a living soul. -Genesis 2:7

Iron sharpens iron, such as a friend sharpens a friend. - Proverbs 27:17

…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. - James 5:16