My attire

I got new tights yesterday for three bucks; I tried them out with my favorite LBD and a thrifted jacket. The beautiful shoes are H&M and they KILL my feet.

*sigh* photography is so much fun.

♥

kitties and a poem

here is a picture and a video of my adorable kitty-diddy. Ogden Nash wrote a poem once:

The trouble with a kitten is THAT

Eventually it becomes a CAT.

It's a cute poem, but falls apart when I think of my own pet. I never knew her as a kitten, but we've been great friends just the same. well, here they are. Happy Saturday, all!

katrina relief service trip

i should have put this up weeks ago, but I totally forgot until last night. So here are some pics from a service trip I went on in the middle of January, down to Mississippi. It's unbelievable that people are still affected by the Hurrican Katrina that hit four years ago. People told stories of how the forty-foot wave came; the real devastation was when the water pulled everything back with it into the gulf.
Jobs that the various volunteer teams did during the week included home-building, cleaning, cooking, helping out in the distribution center, and ministry work. It was so great being with cheerful people who wanted to be working, to be helping the people who Katrina hit the hardest. One man described it this way: "faith with it's sleeves rolled up."
Check out arbcainlakeshore2009.wordpress.com for more information on the trip.

there was a full moon our first night there. stunning.

this is my BFF, trying to sleep through the annoyance of me snapping pictures of her. :)
me.

breakfast.

these were the huts the volunteers slept in; there were other buildings in the back as well.

some girls on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico.

this little gumbi toy survived the hurricane. our motto was "semper gumbi": always flexible.
me.
guys working on building a porch.
this is the storage tent for the distribution center. we organized it and cleaned it up.
some customers in the distribution center .
an invitation.

a house in the making.

signs like this were everywhere; signs like "Mold removal: call this number," or "This number for new roofing."

try and figure this one out...

this is a brown recluse we found while cleaning out a storage shed. it was the size of a half dollar.

one of the girls on the kitchen crew liked to get creative with the food that was served. She made ordinary things like lunchmeat and donut holes look beautiful.

this is the porch again; coming along well.

at the end of the week we went shopping for food for the distribution center. we filled up six or seven carts.

there was a casino along the shore. it was one of the first things built after the hurricane. Hmm...what was that parable about the house built on sand?

Well, that's all I have for now.

peace.

birthday blessings

last week was my birthday. it feels weird that one day a year who you are and part of your identity changes. i'd like to say i feel more grown-up, but i don't. As i look at the years ahead of me, it's easy to realize how young I still am, and how much I have yet to grow.
on a happier note, I'm so thankful for the friendships I have made over my few years so far on earth, and I have a stronger sense of the many blessings God's showered on me. A year ago I'd never imagine I'd be the person I am today today (lol, if that makes any sense).
below is a pic of the pink champagne cake my friend surprised me with. The candle holders are incredibly adorable; she bought them at a little downtown antique shop. I think they're German...


anyway, that's all i got for now.

peace ♥

happy new year!

Here's a verse that I think is appropriate for the new year, and also a recipe for Viennese hot chocolate...:)

"For I know the thoughts that i think toward you," says the LORD, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

To make Viennese hot chocolate, heat up water in a mug (in the microwave...). Add about two large spoonfuls of hot chocolate mix and about a tablespoon of instant coffee granules (more or less, depending on if you like coffee). Add a couple dashes of cinnamon and stir. You can americanize it by topping it with mini marshmallows.