randomness

up until about 2 seconds ago, i thought i had a topic for today, but instead, i think maybe it's just better to get the random stuff out...

• my nephew turned 4 this week...his party is saturday...i can't wait to see him.



• my friends julie and jimmy birthed thier first child this week...i'm so excited for them.



• my job search seems to be going nowhere fast.



• i seem to be more annoyed by those who are detail challanged.



• my husband gave up tv this week, i gave up my crackberry wannabe.



• i'm ready for less snow and more sand.

photoshop fun

my friend David introduced me to this video series yesterday...and it's just too good not to share. and yes, it really is informational. be sure to check out all 7.


http//www.mydamnchannel.com/Big_Fat_Brain/You_Suck_at_Photoshop/YouSuckatPhotoshop1_398.aspx

dark side of the moon

did you see this last night? a total lunar eclipse, visible from north america. spectacular.

if you look close, you see the speck that is saturn to the lowe right of the moon, and the star regulus (part of the constellation leo) just above the moon.

this is for my sissy

video i took of my recent visit with my niece. val - enjoy!

boogity boogity boogity

i'm a nascar junkie. i love watching cars make left hand turns for hours. i love the sound of the engines, the smell of the burning rubber, and the excitement of banging sheet metal. and yes, i realize this makes me slightly less than normal.

it all started 4 years ago. prior to, i would have laughed at nascar fans. i had roommates in college who loved this stuff, but i didn't get it. cars...in circles...for hours...WHAT? then i moved to a town 10 minutes from Michigan International Speedway, where everyone loved nascar, and so i began to watch, and was intrigued. i didn't cheer for anyone in particular (except maybe against jeff gordon, no one really liked him), but was rather enamored by the crashes...sheet metal, and tires, and smoke, and flaming tempers! yeah, this is what i'm talking about!

eventually i picked a driver, and began to cheer, and before too long, i was hooked. i became a member of junior nation (of which i no longer belong), i watched all the races (and btw, if TNT or ESPN or NASCAR happens to read this, i think it sucks and is poor business to only show half the races on network TV). then, the golden opportunity...tickets to a race. i've always wanted to go to bristol or talladega or daytona, get the real southern nascar experience, but indianapolis isn't that far off. for being a mecca for open wheel racing, nascar is right at home.

i've been to 2 brickyard 400's, and even got to see my favorite driver win one year. there is nothing quite like hearing or seeing the cars come off the front stretch, reeving with high pitched excitement, neatly filed in military type rows, smelling the exhaust of a finely tuned racing machine, and being covered in flecks of black rubber at the end of the day...aaahhhh...i can't wait to go back.

i did it this week...i quit my job. it's been about 4 months in the making. i took a chance at a new career in a completely different field, and while i liked it some of the time, it just wasn't a good fit for me. so i turned in my notice. the bosses are all cool, and we have come to some very win-win solutions.

i have no clue what i'm going to do next. i want to return to the medical community, i really enjoyed the tangability of helping people there. i'm ready to start a career, one that i can be passionate about, and love, and be in for several years. i want to be challanged, and use the gift and strengths i've been given.

too bad we live is a society that is so dependent on the almighty dollar.

love button

i went to see my niece this weekend...how could you not love that face? this is annie, she is 2 months old, and belongs to my sister. she is my first blood related niece (steve's brother has a son and daughter, but don't share my dna), and my parents first grandchild. she is also the first girl in my family is 25 years...can you say spoiled.

if he brings you to it...

sometimes, for brief monents, i'm 7 years old again, and i'm thinking about what my life will be like 20 years in the future...and then i come back to reality. two years ago my husband and i made the decision that it was time to start a family. i always dreamed of what it would be like to hold my children in my arms, watch them grow up, take them to reds games, the park, to be a mom. two years later, we are starting the adoption process. we've been down a long road, allbeit not as long as some, of tests and medications and trips to the doctors and negative tests, and wishing and hoping and praying, and cliches. about 3 months ago we both sat in church and heard a newly adoptive parent talk about the experience, and how God calls us to love the orphans, and bring up a new generation that will love God and chase after Him...and we both got that big lump in our throats, the kind of lump you get where you can't swallow, and you know you are being called to action. since then, the feeling has only gotten stronger, and people who have also adopted have been placed in our lives...and then we got the pricetag. it doesn't seem right that 2 people with good jobs, who own a home, and who really want nothing more than to have children and live the American dream should have to pay that much money for a child. a living breathing human being who just wants to be loved and cared for as much as i want to love and care.

i have several thoughts about all of this, the primary being if God has a hand in it, he will find a way to make this happen financially. second, be careful what you wish for...2 months ago, i publicly declared that 2 of my biggest dreams were to travel to europe before i turn 30, and to have children...Russia is the current county of interest, and i will be 30 in 2 years, the approximate length is will take to see this all through.

...sigh...

welcome to the world of blogging

yes, i am officially a blogger. i've been thinking about doing it for a while, not because it's the cool new thing to do, but more because i see it as an outlet. i keep everything stored in the file cabinet just behind my eyes. after so long, it just gets jumbled, and i figure, maybe someone out there can help me make sense of all of it. so, here i am, look out world.