¡Feliz Cumpleaños, mamí!

Today's my mom's birthday, and according to McDonald's and the AARP she is a senior citizen now; however, my mom seems like anything but that. She is full of cheer and energy, enjoys a long ride on a Harley every now and then, and is constantly serving all of us with her thoughtful gestures and hard work. Though we often have strong and differing opinions about...well, almost any subject, I love my mom because she listens to me and considers what I have to say. (Not to mention, she has put up with my antics for nearly 24 years and still loves me.) I wouldn't trade her for anything!

I'm glad it's Spring!

Looking forward to:

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Revelation 7:9-17

Update: A new home

After I thoroughly inspected the nest area for birds, eggs, and other signs of life (finding none), I reluctantly conceded to Chris that it might be a good idea to get rid of it. Promptly, he pulled out a box of matches and turned on the grill. So much for close-ups of the robin's life cycle.

A new home

No, Chris and I are not moving into a new home (yet, anyway), but we have found a new home just outside of ours. During the winter and when it rains, we keep a tarp over the grill on our deck, for obvious reasons. No one likes a wet, rusty grill. With the onset of Spring and days with temperatures in the 70s, we were naturally inclined to cook outside because we enjoy grilling and sitting on the deck. Much to our surprise, we have not yet been able to do so because of the new home- a bird's nest- located IN our grill. To use an old cliche, hindsight is 20-20, and I had been noticing an influx of birds hanging out on our railing, as well as bird droppings on the porch. I guess I never thought that some bird family was flying in UNDER the tarp, and squeezing THROUGH the hole where the lid meets the bottom to build a warm, sheltered nest for their spring babies. What's a girl to do? Of course, Chris said it would make great kindling, but I don't think I can bring myself to destroy the nest. If I try to relocate it, will they find it? I don't even know if that's entirely possible due to how it's built. Help!

What I can't figure out is how they got the sticks underneath the grill tray...

A day of rejoicing

Why am I rejoicing? Well, no new reason in particular, but for the same reason that I should always be rejoicing! Quickened by this morning's message (see the Church link to find it- recent Sunday morning messages), I am really eager to use today as a chance to commune with God and be in fellowship with my husband. One thing that stuck out to me from the message is that our primary purpose for being is to know and worship God; it's not to be a great teacher, or a good wife, a so-so guitar player, or an okay photographer (though we can worship God through all of these things and he calls us to do some of them). Our first calling is to know God intimately, give Him glory in our speech, and praise his name. I think I am often more like Martha, but today will make effort to be more like Mary...sitting at the Lord's feet.

too cute

Nicholas, 7 weeks

I'm not sure who this chubby baby is, or what he's done with my nephew, but he sure is cute.

Take a listen

Generally speaking, dancing does not lead to research; however, research does indeed often lead to dancing.

http://www.virginrecords.com/daninreallife_soundtrack/

Artist Review

I recently discovered a music artist that I really enjoy, one that could be a new favorite- Sondre Lerche. He's a young, twenty-something hailing from Norway, and an accomplished singer/songwriter/producer. I stumbled upon his music in the movie "Dan in Real Life." (I'd recommend this one if you like funny, sad, cute movies, although Steve Carell isn't in his typical Michael from The Office form here.) The soundtrack got Jocelyn, Rachel, and I into some spontaneous dance moves, which led me to do some more research.

His music is pretty clean for a secular artist, and he has a very unique style, borrowing from many different genres. One of the reasons he caught my ear most is because he can write many different styles of music, something that many artists can't do, but he relies on an acoustic, Beatlesy feel.