Living the Questions

i know that this movie did not get stellar reviews. and i know a lot of people who think it's more than a little off. but i absolutely love it. a story about discovery. adventure. new experiences. a story rediscovery. of yourself. of life. of your family, your roots. a story about home. what it means to go home. to have a home. what home means, period. a story dealing with disaster. misery. grief. a story about unexpected friendships. unexpected journeys. a story about love. besides all that, it has paula deen and orlando bloom in it. and an incredible soundtrack. i mean, really...what's not to like? this movie makes me want to go on a roadtrip. to have a family reunion. to sit down with someone who has years of stories to tell and just listen. it makes me laugh. groan. cry. it makes me miss the south (and when i was still living in the south, love it even more).  it makes me want to know, to experience, to live history. to understand the history...

ascribe to the Lord, o sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in holy array. the voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic. the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of lebanon. He makes lebanon skip like a calf, and sirion like a young wild ox. the voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of kadesh. the voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, "Glory!" the Lord sat as King at the flood; yes, the Lord sits as King forever. the Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

one of my little lovelies today whispered this in my ear: "if you see a man and he has a little box, it has a ring inside it. you need to find one of those!" and from a conversation with my gramma: "but we don't complain. we just pray, and trust, and have faith that God will heal."

i can't remember the last time i felt this tired.   so, i was looking through books at the j the other day and came across one that lets kids use their fingers to help the character do something. there are two holes in the middle of the book and when you stick your fingers through the holes, you get to become the elephants' trunks or the dancers legs, etc. i thought it was a cute idea. except for this one page. there's a little girl in the picture, just standing there. not really that bad, right? the poem that goes along with the little girl, however, says something like this: "little susie needs to lose weight to fit into her clothes. can you help her exercise by reaching her toes?". what?!?! first of all, the girl in the picture can't be more than 5 herself. a 5 year old should not be worried about losing weight or fitting into her clothes. second of all, this is a book for kids! why are we teaching our kids to think about fitting into clothes or worry ab...

1. i'm still sorry about how depressing i sounded last time i wrote. for an update, since i last wrote, God has blessed the situation in a really big way :) 2. i saw leap year last night with some girls and it was great. the story, the setting, the characters. i would go see it again. 3. in reading post secret today, there were two that i really liked, so i decided to share them with you. one is a little graphic, so here's your warning (this one also deserves an explanation, so you're getting that, too). here's the one that needs the warning and the explanation. now, let me say this before we get started. i've never had sex. but i think i understand the sentiment behind this. even though i think this secret was probably written by a woman who's really wanting a man to be close to her, i think this feeling can go beyond that. sometimes, you just want to be near someone. to be close to them. to feel close to them. to hold their hand or link arms with the...

ok, so last weekend was wonderful. my last post even talks about how wonderful it was. a great end to a week and a great beginning to another. and then tuesday came. between my jobs on tuesday, i was, essentially, t-boned at an intersection. by a really big truck. i'm fine. other than being a little sore and bruised, i'm fine. my car is totalled, however. driving is not so much fun for me right now...i'm really jumpy on a normal day, so when you add something like this in the mix, i have a problem. when it happened (well, not exactly when, but later that day), i wanted to be angry. but i couldn't. i couldn't manage to get angry. maybe it's that i was too much in shock by it. but i saw too much Protection in the accident to get angry. i haven't really had a lot of expressible emotions about it. there's a lot to figure out and do. finding a new car. dealing with insurance. figuring out how to get to work until a new car can be found. and prob...

so, those of you who know me know that i love to celebrate. holidays. vacations. important school days. birthdays. anniversaries. milestones. in fact, when i taught 5th grade, every kid's birthday was an occasion. the door to the class and the kid's desk were decorated, there was extra recess time, the kid got a special gift and we read "on the night you were born" on each birthday. and when my sister turned 21, we had a surprise party for her....complete with imprinted m&ms and fake jello shots.... i crave holiday decorations. for each holiday. on my one year b-more anniversary, i ate at the first restaurant i ate at when i moved again. in short, i just love it.  so when my birthday was coming up (and my 25th, at that -- an important one!) i started celebrating on my blog with lists of 25. and i thought about ways i could celebrate with friends, but didn't feel like planning a party to celebrate me (it's just not really my thing). i decide...

so, today's the day! i'm now a quarter of a century old :) and to celebrate this year, i decided to create a list of 25 things to do the year i turn 25.... the list that started all the other lists.... because then it turned into a week long list-making event.... and i've loved it! because, as you know, i love making lists. so, without further ado, here is the last list of 25: 25 things to do this year 1. re-learn to play the piano 2. read all the books on my shelf i've never read 3. go to a movie by myself 4. visit the museums in this city 5. learn to sew and knit or crochet 6. re-learn my spanish (or at least, start to) 7. cook something i've never cooked before at least 2x a month 8. start saving money 9. try to visit my friends who live in other places 10. send more cards to people 11. read one classic novel a month 12. take more pictures 13. become less dependent on makeup 14. make a meal plan every week 15. become less emotionally-d...

today is the next to last day of my 25 list posting... there are 2 lists today.....i like both of them.... 25 random things about me that you may or may not know 1. my favorite color is blue 2. i'm always cold....and i love curling up under a blanket 3. i can watch a movie i love over and over again and not get tired of it 4. i'm almost always going to be the quiet one in a group 5. i would rather eat my soup, ice cream, and oatmeal from a mug than a bowl 6. i love traditions 7. i truly love the traditional roles within a family 8. i absolutely enjoy dressing up, heels and all 9. i love personality tests 10. the beach is one of the few places that make me feel completely at peace 11. i love dogs 12. i've always wanted to swim with dolphins & pet a tiger 13. children are my passion 14. strawberries are my one of my favorite foods 15. i love celebrating people and important moments 16. i've never been kissed 17. my favorite flower is the calla lil...

this list was created at the suggestion of a friend....after i arrived at their house the other night announcing that i thought i just heard either a gun or fireworks going off....followed by sirens and the helicopter....i'm going to go with fireworks? and just to calm the fears of any who may be reading this (momma and daddy), i never saw anything, nothing happened, and i was walked home later that night....so i was completely safe :) i didn't originally have this list planned to do, but i thought it was a good idea. so here you go. 25 things that have happened since i moved to baltimore 1. i had the amazing experience of living with the prince family 2. experienced many, many outdoor festivals (latino fest, italian fest, ukranian fest, old tyme christmas in fells, the lantern parade, the lighting of the washington monument, the race with floats that i can't remember the name of, flea markets in pp....to name a few)....most of them did not live up to expectation...

to continue with our (my) theme, here are lists #5... and to follow the 2 book lists, this are two more entertainment lists.... 25 movies/tv shows i love 1. good will hunting 2. gilmore girls 3. peter pan (my favorite, though, is the most recent live action version, with the jeremy kid as peter) 4. guys and dolls 5. sleeping beauty 6. the holiday 7. elizabethtown 8. dead poets society 9. ocean's eleven movies 10. finding neverland 11. criminal minds 12. hgtv/food network/tlc 13. narnia 14. bride wars 15. white christmas 16. casablanca 17. a little princess 18. little women 19. freedom writers 20. bones 21. singing in the rain 22. diary of a mad black woman 23. he's just not that into you 24. the proposal 25. august rush looking back at this list....i realize that most of them are girlier movies...oh well....i do like other movies -- these are just the ones that came to mind first!   there's nothing like a good movie... especially when ...

if you know me at all, you know i love to read. but more than that, i just love books. i love looking at them, touching them....even the smell of them. i love going into bookstores and browsing, wandering, just taking it all in. finding a book that looks good and sitting down in front of the shelf to read it. the smell of the coffee in the store. oh my, y'all....i just love me some books.... and so, it's fitting that one of my lists of 25 would be about books.... 25 books i love 1. the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe 2. the horse and his boy 3. you are special 4. east of eden 5. peter pan 6. searching for god knows what 7. blue like jazz 8. same kind of different as me 9. wuthering heights 10. twilight (the series) 11. pride and prejudice 12. the great gatsby 13. passion and purity 14. the tale of despereaux 15. fairy tales 16. people of the book 17. esther 18. the misadventures of benjamin bartholomew piff 19. the giving tree 20. the gentle art o...

hello, my friends! i hope you're doing well!! here is the 3rd installment of my celebration of 25 :) 25 things that have happened in my 25 years (in no order whatsoever): 1. born in new orleans and lived there til i was 5 2. graduated college 3. visited, and fell in love with, israel 4. i became a teacher to some stinkin' incredible and fun 5th graders....who i really miss  some days 5. and now i get to hang out with really adorable and lovable 4/5 yr olds 6. got to go to jamaica several times and love on people there 7. my family moved to ga when i was 5 (which, at the time, i don't think i was very happy about) 8. went to uga! 9. hanging out with amazing kids at lots of awesome places 10. have been blessed with wonderful friends throughout my life that i know will always be  there! 11. spent a summer working at a church in boston and loved it :) 12. discovered how much my God loves me and became His daughter 13. anna got married!!! 14. moved to a wh...

today is sunday. one of my favorite things to do on sunday is read the postsecret website. and i save the ones i love, the ones that make me laugh, or the ones that i identify with. so today's list of 25 is... 25 of my favorite postsecrets that i've saved through the years (in no particular order).... isn't this so true? sometimes, just a little love works i love the picture that goes with this one... you'll see a couple about being open/vulnerable...this is really hard for me, so i identify with these secrets....and also, as i was reminded last night (and many other times)....to have a real, authentic relationship with others, you have to be willing to be open, honest, and vulnerable... you all are...every single one of you. there will also be several about love....i'm a romantic at heart, i guess... or maybe it's that i'm a girl :) isn't this true of some people? when you're with them, you just feel at home. ...

happy new year, my friends! i hope you celebrated in a fun way and were with people you love :) i was able to see some friends i never get to see new year's eve...and then was back at my parents' house by around 10:15...and was in bed by 11:30.... i did not stay awake to welcome in 2010, but i'm ok with that :) in other news, i'll be a quarter of a century old in a week. 25... i'm not one to freak out about my age (at least not yet) but 25 is a good year, i think. and in honor of my turning 25, i've decided to make lists of 25. because it'll be fun, and who doesn't love a good list? and because i spent yesterday traveling, the first list is a travel list, but is by no means complete or comprehensive....there's no way i could make a full list of everywhere i've been or would like to go.... so, enjoy!! 25 places i've traveled or would like to travel (red = where i've been, blue = where i'd like to go) 1. new orleans,...