Chocolate Remix.

So, Jodi, here is it. I'm not a huge John Mayer fan. I like much of his music, I just can't watch the guy sing (looks like he's having tongue seizures.)

(Can you have tongue seizures?)

But he won me over with this. He had me at "smells a little bit like poopy, poopy" and waving his hand under his nose.



If you've never heard of Chocolate Rain? All I can say is consider yourself blessed and don't pursue it. If you feel the need to check it out don't say I didn't warn you. And no, it doesn't have to do with poop. It doesn't really have to do with anything when you get right down to it.

Monday night randomosity.

Listening to one of the Scrubs soundtracks and editing photos from the last six months. And totally having the urge to rummage through all of my old crap to see if there is anything I can use to make funky jewelry. Not sure what started that... ok, yeah, I do know.

Our friend, Sandy, wife to Rusty's best friend and object of my envy because she lives on the Eastern Shore and can go down to the beach and collect beach glass whenever she feels like it. Sandy has had her two boys helping her collect beach glass for a while now and is tiling one wall of their first floor powder room with it. It's completely gorgeous so far and I love the idea of using (re-using, I guess) something like that. The color of the glass is so subtle and beautiful with the paint color they used. And to be using a material that your kids help you collect just makes it that much better. I'm in love with this idea and jealous that I can't do it. And I never thought of it.

Ok, so in all honesty, "beach glass" from the Ohio River? Not so attractive I'm thinking. Maybe some random bits of Skyline take-away cartons and some wet White Castle boxes? Now that's a bathroom! (I hope Rusty never reads this one because I am so not papering the bathroom with Skyline and White Castle. Though... ok, nevermind. Not moving another word closer to that line of thinking.)

Anyway, back to the actual beach glass and pale blues and greens and memories of the bay and sand... Sandy also had a great necklace - just a piece of well worn pale blue/green beach glass that was actually the broken off piece of a neck of a very small bottle. She strung some cord through it and was wearing it when we were over. The combination of the texture and color and "foundness" of it all overwhelmed me and I've been enthralled with the idea of making jewelry from my own found objects ever since.

I've been seeing these Trollbead things lately and though they're gorgeous, I can't afford a $500, $600, $700 and beyond bracelet. I can't justify that. But I'm just as happy using something else that means something to me so it's all good. I'll look around. And Stampaway is coming up so that's more inspiration (I think I just drooled on my keyboard a little.)

I'm finding as I get older that I care less about the "cool new thing" and seem to be more drawn to old stuff I find, the stuff that has a memory falling away from it as I pick it up from the box where it's been sitting for years. Last week I found my old jewelry box in the garage in a bin packed from the move. In it were a tenth grade Christmas present from my first real boyfriend (one of the good ones) and a little clay charm one of my YoungLife girls made for me at the craft table at Lake Champion one year. Both of those things made me smile the moment I saw them. Madeleine L'Engle calls them icons and really, they are icons in the sense that many earlier Christians thought of them. They're things that bring to mind more important feelings and emotions. Things I would love to randomly remember throughout the day. So I'm on the lookout for things that fall into that catagory and we'll see what happens. I'll report back with photos if anything fun comes of it.

*Fun sidenote: "Hollywood Family" neighbors? Their son auditioned for a role on Scrubs this past spring. If he gets it, he would play a young J.D. in a sequence where J.D. has a conversation with his unborn child (you know, by Dr. Super-Garden-Tool who told him she had a miscarriage?) Anyway, we're totally geeked out by the fact that our neighbor's seven-year old hung around the set for a few days. If it had been me I'd have had to fight the urge to ask Dr. Cox if he still loves Michael Bolton ("No talent ass clown") and keep myself from revealing my girl crush on Carla. And from stealing Rowdy. But that's another post altogether.

Regarding the videos.

Not sure what's up with YouTube but the videos are playing ok for us here. The setting was "Private" so I changed it and am also adding the URLs here to click and watch on the YouTube site itself if you want. Not sure it's worth it but hey, feel free.

Click here for the beach slide show

Click here for the short beach video clip

Click here for the GE Reds Day slideshow

Ok. That's all... until I play with more photos.

Another Video. Because I can.

Yep, someone figured out iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and YouTube all within the same ten minutes. Enjoy this filler post until something better comes along.

Beach Video Clip.

Very short video clip from the beach last Monday. Enjoy. And turn up the volume because Sean's giggling is way cute.

Ocean City, 2007

Some random photos from our trip to Ocean City, Maryland this past week. It was Liam, Sean, Rusty's mom and I (that's Rusty's mom in the tie-dye.) The waves were huge and the current was pretty strong so the boys stayed close to shore and jumped in the waves rather than "swimming."

The sex talk.

"Let's talk about sex, bay-bee. Let's talk about you and me. Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be. Let's talk abooooout sex." - Salt N' Peppa

WARNING: IN CASE IT HASN'T ALREADY OCCURRED TO YOU, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOME SEX HERE. PLEASE BE ADVISED.

Today, I'm writing from Maryland. From my mother-in-law's living room, actually. The boys and I drove out Thursday. Since I was going to be doing all eight or nine hours of driving while the boys watched movies in the back (using earphones) I decided to upload the church podcasts of the services we'd missed over the last three or four months. As we headed toward Columbus up I-7, I powered up the iPod. The first podcast episode on the list - a talk on sex.

It starts with Tom (the pastor) apparently walking up front while Justin Timberlake's Bringing Sexy Back plays. Then he starts the talk by saying "Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, SEX!" just to get it out there. He divided the talk into one part geared toward parents with older kids, one toward single people, and one toward married people. The married person part was easy to take. But the one aimed at single people was hard for me to hear. Even though it's been ten years since I was a non-married person, there are things from the talk that made it hard for me to keep from turning the podcast off altogether.

As anyone who's ever been in a youth group can tell you, virginity is a church teenager's prized possession. Which I actually agree with. But for someone raised to believe that then to have it pretty much stomped all over, it's hard to recover. So, wait... what am I saying? Did I just basically come out and say I had no choice in the matter? Well, actually, I did just say that.

When I was a senior in high school I had been dating a guy for about six months. Seemed to be a nice guy, my family liked him and he was cute. Then one night in our family room, with my parents sleeping upstairs, a normal kissing session turned into something else even after I said, "No, don't" quite a few times. I remember walking up to my bedroom later in pain and confused about what had just happened. I didn't wake my parents to tell them because I wasn't exactly sure what I was telling them.

When you hear about these kinds of things they seem so huge and life changing (and they are) but when they're actually occurring, that minute right before is exactly like that minute right after in that the clock is still ticking, the TV show is still moving along, and no one on earth has been jolted from their sleep in the knowledge that something horrible has happened. Life just goes on. And it's a really stark contrast to how you're feeling on the inside.

The next day I had to work (at Kings Island, where the boyfriend worked also) and I remember I didn't see my mom and dad that morning for whatever reason. I went in to work a few minutes early to confront the boyfriend because I was very seriously pissed off. And when I found him and said something (while fighting back the urge to smack him and cry at the same time) he just looked at me and said, "It takes two to tango." That was it. And I? Was horrified.

Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn't say, "No" loud enough or forcefully enough? Maybe I just felt bad afterwards? So instead of telling my parents I tried to hide it from everyone I knew. And please, understand that this was never a "they won't believe me" kind of thing. I thought, at that point, that there was nothing to "believe" and I had just given away my most prized possession and was going to hell (or a least an unhappy, messed up marriage sometime in my future.) As bad as that was? It gets worse.

I stayed with the boyfriend. For almost a year. But I knew I didn't like this guy anymore (shocker.) I was just afraid to break-up and end up finding another boyfriend at some point and not know what to tell them if the topic came up. Which of course, it always did. Sex always comes up with college guys. Sometimes it gets talked about in a good way. I know there are decent college guys who can talk about in the context of "it's ok, we'll wait." But I didn't find them.

I found two more who assumed that since I was no longer a virgin that it didn't matter at that point. And I stupidly agreed. It was completely my decision but part of that decision was based on the fact that I was in uncharted territory. I knew virginity was important. But youth group people never talked about what to do if that was altered. What little bit of self-esteem I had was totally gone because I honestly believed that my worth as a Christian was in the toilet because I'd broken one of the cardinal rules.

So, why did I just type all that? Why go into it again? Well, for one reason because last time I "got into it" I just left it half-dealt with. A few months before Rusty and I got married, I started having a hard time with a family situation. I started going to therapy before the wedding. And this incident with the boyfriend came up. The therapist asked why I couldn't say the word "rape." Was it because I believed it was easier to say it was partly my fault? Because then it just becomes a "bad decision" on my part and I could pretend I had some control over what happened.

Looking back since I finally came to God and fell in a big heap, I know the therapist was right. By not facing it for what it was back then I traded in my self-worth and was miserable for the next four years or so. And I realized I made my parents and family and some of my friends miserable while I was at it.

So now I think you might  be wondering how it's possible that I'm not totally f-ed up regarding being married and sex after all that. Honestly? I don't entirely know though I have some ideas. First of all, what happened was hard emotionally for me. But not as bad as the guilt I felt when I started to believe it was my fault. When it was "my fault" it made it feel as though I'd made a choice against God and that was unthinkable to me. I didn't have the greatest image of God when I was a teenager and really thought it was all about the rules and doing stuff right. And forgiveness was just something you said and not the grace and redemption that I understand now.

The God and "doing something wrong" thing was an issue for me, and my misunderstanding of it all drove me farther and farther from my faith. Coming to Christ and being able to finally say, "Ok, this wasn't my fault" have done wonders for me being able to get on with my life.

Do I wish I'd have done something to this boyfriend to hold him accountable? Of course I do. Do I want some sort of justice now? No. I feel like I've been able to get to a good place and would rather never have to deal with this person ever again. I'm really truly happy with the life I have now and where I am in relation to my faith and relationship with God.

And I hope I can finally sit through a sex talk and not feel a twinge of uneasiness or panic.

Happy Girl.

Yeah, ok, so I've been so very inconsistant with the writing this summer. Seriously, if you think this blog is neglected you should see the condition of my house.

I wish I could say it's been something very important that's kept me from taking the time to update. I mean, it is something important but the reality of that is it's just life at the moment. Summer and Kings Island and swimming and watching our boys enjoy themselves and relaxing and going to see movies and being happy. Every time I see my sister and her nephew I am overwhelmed with the knowledge that even though the world seems to be losing it's collective mind there are still people willing to deviate from their carefully planned lives to spend their time and money loving someone who needs to be loved. Watching this unfold is also making me happy. I know the little things like being at the pool with the boys? Makes me happier than is probably reasonable. But overall we've not had a normal summer in four years. We've spent our summers moving halfway cross country, taking care of a niece in trouble, renovating a house and moving back halfway across country again. It's nice to be able to enjoy the summer break.

That's not to say that I don't understand that there are still people we love and care about dealing with stress - and sometimes I end up in tears as I pray for my family and friends and what they go through, or wondering if anything we've done the last four years really matters. But I feel like I can finally be more objective and see that there's always some aspect of "good" and "right" in what's gone on no matter how stressful it seemed at the time.

We're leaving for Maryland on the 19th and I'm so excited to see Deedie and Ashley and Wood and hopefully Betsy (Hi, Betsy!) and Erik and so many others I miss every day we're not there. The friends we left behind are honestly some of the most important people in my life and I often find myself wondering why God blessed me with these people. What did I do to deserve to be friends with Deedie "She who is fabulous" Stuart? I just got lucky and I'm totally fine with that.

For the Audio.

Because the video kind of stinks (at least through the first half or so.) The last twenty seconds of guitar at the end are especially beautiful.



Colin Hay
My Brilliant Feat

Random Comment of the Day.

Adam Dunn is much more suited to playing rec-league softball, really. Cranks the homers and plays lazy out-field. He reminds me of half the guys you'd see at Kolping on any random summer evening. Just my opinion.

Endangered Species.

Wow. Ok, well, first... I went to the bachelorette party. It was tame by most people's standards and there was only one conversation about "remember when" and it was somewhat painful but relatively quick.

In other news, Rusty is dealing with some pretty crappy emotional stuff from a few of his friends. Within a one day period he found out one friend had informed his wife that he had been having an affair and "was done" with the marriage. This was hard for Rusty and a few of their other friends because he knows the guy involved and also the guy's brother. Then the next day, a friend from work told Rusty that he and his wife were getting a divorce and he'd also been having an affair. Rusty came home kind of shell-shocked at that point. It's hard to not put yourself in their place when these guys are about the same age as us and have been married similar amounts of time as we have. There are also kids involved in both marriages. Rusty's been really good about being honest with the friend from work when the guy asks his opinion and he's been good to not take sides since he doesn't know the wife and is only hearing one side of the story. But these are also his friends and I can tell he's dissappointed.

A few days later, another friend talked about the problems he and his wife are having but in this case the guy is doing everything he can to do the right thing, be compassionate and take care of things in an honorable way. I'm just afraid that because we are all imperfect human beings, no matter what this guy does he can't control his wife's actions. That worries me and I'm trying to keep them in my prayers without letting my feelings take over.

And last but not least... our neighbor. Some of you are familiar with the ongoing saga of "Hollywood Mom" who up and quit her job, took two of her three kids to Hollywood and left the other one here with her husband? Yeah, well, the one who was left here was sent out to Cali to join Mom and the others. And they're not coming back. Nice. Dad is still here, talks about missing his family. And has a new girlfriend. Again... what the crap?!

Rusty and I have been through a lot together. Some of it has been pretty bad. But each time either of us had to make a conscious decision about whether we were giving up or staying with it. Neither of us is perfect by any means. So how come we're ok but so many others aren't? Is it just easier to give up? I don't know how that's the case when you have kids and a life together that you have to rip apart and try to rebuild somewhere else with someone new.

We have a friend who has an history as a recovering drug addict. You'd never know it from meeting him. He loves his family and is a good guy. But as some point he had to make the decision to #1, get clean and #2, decide his family was important and be there. I haven't told him this but I am so very impressed with that. My own "biological father" was a drug addict by the time my parents divorced and he disappeared off the face of the earth for a while. Then he came back to the area when I was in high school, got somewhat clean (may be debatable) and his family welcomed him with open arms. Which, ok, if Liam or Sean went that route then wanted to do the right thing and get sober again, of course I'd welcome them back. BUT... ("Let's talk about your big but, Simone" - Ha!) But, after "Bio Dad" got clean? That was it. He never took it a step farther and tried to repair the damage he did to his relationship with my brother or I. And his family? Just told us how wonderful he was and how great his new family was and that he was ignoring us for our "own good... because he cares so much about us." Uh huh. Kids don't buy that. If you care, you act like you care. If you really care, it's hard to not be involved. I need to tell this friend how much I appreciate that he stuck with it and is the father in his family. His kids are really lucky (as am I because I got a pretty darn good dad as a replacement in my own situation!)

I bring that up because, like I mentioned, every one of the affair/divorce/diffulty situations going on for friends right now are relationships in which there are children involved. One person seems more focused on himself and his current situation, one wants to do the right thing but isn't sure how and frankly isn't doing the right thing as far as his kids and his "girlfriend" are concerned (moving out of his house and in with his girlfriend) and one is missing his family tremendously and is faced with having them gone for good so he's found a replacement for now. The kids stuck in the middle are going to be hurt the most. The wives are part of the couple. They are possibly totally innocent parties, but they're still adults and are for the most part already mature in who they are as people. The kids aren't. No matter what you tell them, they're perceiving things the way their own little kid brains are able to and no amount of talking with no action to follow it up is going to change that. My biggest fear in each of these situations is that the kids will be faced with choosing sides or not getting to maintain a good relationship with their dads, or even the case of the neighbor to even see their dad on a regular basis. I don't think a marriage should stay together because of the kids alone. But I do think people need to be more realistic about how they conduct themselves while going through the process. And they need to remember you can divorce a spouse you were never "related" to but you can't ignore the fact that you have little people with half of your DNA running around and they are still something you need to deal with! Good heavens, what a rant. People are really stupid sometimes, though. My brain hurts.

What's up with me and why does it matter?

A friend of mine, whom I've known since the second grade (and no... I won't tell you exactly how that's been) is getting married this summer. I've been invited to her bachelorette party and I've yet to RSVP. I want to go and hang out with her because she's really been a good friend to me, even when we lived halfway across country from each other and saw each other rarely with months between each visit. This friend sent me a birthday card every year from the time we were in school until after I got married, regardless of where I was or what she was doing. She's a good friend and I love her dearly. She's one of those people you hang out with after months and feel right at home like no time passed at all, you know?

So why do I hesitate to RSVP for the bachelorette party? I'm not sure. I've been thinking about it, and its more than just feeling old and wondering if I can stay awake long enough for drinks and dancing on a Friday night (seriously, I wonder.) Because I've known this friend for so long and she's been so faithful, she's been with me through some times I'd rather forget, though not because of her. This week I realized I've been re-examining my faith, why I chose to believe when I did and why God didn't punish me more for the stupid decisions I made before that point. It would be more comfortable to just let it all fade into history and pretend I've always been a well-behaved smart surburban Christian when the reality is that I've spent a good deal of my life being a confused, easily influenced, bad decision maker who only heard the "sin talk" parts in chapel when in reality I missed the big picture and wasted a lot of time being stupid.

I remember the night I decided I was done with it. I was sitting on the floor in my apartment in Columbus writing in my journal. My horrible boyfriend was hanging out and had fallen asleep on the floor next to me watching TV. I couldn't stand him. He was really mean to me and had promised to stop smoking pot for months. Yet he didn't (though he lost a lot of paraphenalia when I found it and threw it out various windows or hit it in the closet crawl space... and he couldn't ask about it or he'd be admitting he'd had it in the first place. This is the same guy who claimed he couldn't be a "stoner" because his family was too rich. How does that work?) I was sitting there writing, about something not God-related and suddenly felt so alone. Really alone. I felt far away from my family and from people who'd cared about me regardless of how selfish I'd been (the friend I mentioned included.) I ended up writing in my journal that if God was real and actually cared about what happened to me that he would find me. That was it. Not super glorious or altar-call-y. The next day I called my mom and left Columbus for good (to this day I have a hard time being there for any reason because my time there was just that sad for me overall.) I went home. I left all of the "friends" I'd made, I left the boyfriend though he followed me to Cincinnati and bugged me for a while before I got rid of him for good.

At any rate, I literally walked away from Columbus and everything I had or did there, regardless of what followed me back initially. Eventually I was living with my parents again, working for Proctor & Gamble and enjoying the safety of not having friends. Then I ran into this friend from elementary/high school and we started hanging out and having a lot of fun. Really, just having a good time and enjoying having a good friend who was actually a friend again. But it took me a while to learn how to not be stupid and she lived through some of that with me too. When I met Rusty and ended up transferring to Maryland to finish school and becoming close to the amazing people I met while doing YoungLife and through Rusty and school is also when my faith started to mature and I started feeling like I was able to make good decisions without the safety net of home. But moving to Maryland also meant leaving everything here again, including this friend. And I'm not sure how to bridge that gap between first starting out as a new Christian for real at home and coming into my own in Maryland when I think about myself and my life and my experience. So hanging out with this friend seems unfamiliar because that seems like a "different part of my life" though she's still someone I care about. And am I even making sense at this point?!

I think it boils down to being able to figure out how to not see myself and associate all places and people as "bad" and "good" depending on who I was at the time. I just happened to be here versus Maryland though neither place is inherently "bad" or "good". It's just the way the timing played out and the places I happened to be. Rusty could have just as easily lived in Columbus. I need to be able to look back at some of the things and places and events before I wised up and not see them as "bad" just because they happened to be a part of that time period (like at some point being able to spend time in Columbus without associating it with my time there before.) Because we're back here in Ohio now and I'm sure there are going to be things and people that are going to cause me to remember things I'd rather not but realize I'm not that same person regardless of where I live.

*Please understand, my family throughout all of this? A constant. Not a factor in my feelings about myself before or any of this thinking now. I'm strictly talking about my own experience outside of my family after I graduated high school and went off to college at Bowling Green the first two years and started making friends and doing things based solely on me and having nothing to do with where I went to high school or who my parents were or what church I grew up in. Without those familiar factors and on my own? I really sucked at making decisions for myself.

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Click the photo or click here to see a set of photos from this weekend (sorry, no pictures from the skating party on Saturday!)

Saturday late morning/afternoon we went to my cousin's twins' birthday skating party. Rusty rollerskated... rollerbladed actually. The kids loved it. The adults did too.

Sunday morning we all met for breakfast then my parents, my brother and his family, my sister and her family and Rusty and the boys and I went down to Great American Ballpark for GE Reds Day. My dad has worked at GE for more than 30 years and we went to GE Day off an on growing up. Last year we came back from Maryland to attend the game and we're hoping it's a tradition that continues for a long time to come. We had great seats, only a few rows up to the side of the foul pole on the third baseline. The game stunk, even with the crazy number of home runs. I'm pretty sure I got a photo of the pitchers conversing about how much they suck before the game started. The game was so slow that at one point some guys in the next level up started heckling the TV camera-man's socks. Seriously. After the game my mom, sister, brother-in-law, their nephew and the boys ran the bases and a good time was had by all.

Monday (today) I got to visit my best friend, Amy, and her husband and newborn baby boy in the hospital! Then the boys and I visited my sister and niece, Lianne and Callie. Then we headed to Caitlin and Joel's for an afternoon of random pool festivities, eating various grilled meats and corn-on-the-cob and a seriously competitive and creatively scored game of corn-hole. Joel was apparently using international scoring methods while traditional rules call for scoring with your eyes open and no using wishful thinking. Caitlin was not amused but was able to forgive him and a good time was had by all. Again.

I'm tired, sunburned and going to bed. Hope you had a great weekend everyone!

They're back...

Same guys, same set, different video. And some BNL thrown in... ::swoon::*



*Swooning at BNL. Though the guy in the "TOOL" shirt is kind of cute.

My Mother's Day 2018?

The future isn't hard to imagine...

More Disney Photos.

I finally uploaded some of the photos from our trip. Try clicking the Castle to see the set:


Click here for Disney Trip photos

Schizo Music Thursday.

Happy Thursday, people. I debated an exclamation point, because it is almost Friday. But it's gray out and chilly and we have an open house at our neighborhood's new elementary school tonight, so this Thursday does not warrant an exclamation point, sorry. Unless? I mention my joyful little find this morning.

I have been switching between a tote bag for Sean's twice weekly swim lessons and my normal purse. When I switched back to purse mode today I found two iTunes cards I received for Christmas but had lost track of. How much fun is that?! It's like finding money in your back pocket months after you forgot you put it there. But better, because instead of money that you use for whatever comes your way that day, this is credit that you're forced to spend on music. Too bad ::please note a hearty dose of sarcasm when reading those last two words there::

So what did I download? Oh good heavens. I've mentioned my schizophrenic music taste in the past, right? Oh yeah. Well, today I added a heaping helping of The Shins, Johnny Cash, They Might Be Giants, Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye, The Fratellis, Derek Webb, Butthole Surfers, Pat Benetar and the complete "Bach: The Cello Suites" by Yo-Yo Ma and some other stuff.

Totally random sidenote: Anyone lose a parakeet? Because there is a yellow parakeet sitting atop one of the garden torches outside. Seriously. A real parakeet.

Back to the music. Merry Christmas in May to me (and thank you, Rusty and sister-in-law Shannon!) Here's the download list:

Bach: The Cello Suites - Yo Yo Ma (entire album)

Take Out the Trash - They Might Be Giants

Turn On Me - The Shins

Blessed Assurance - Shane Barnard & Shane Everett featuring the Peasall Sisters

Hips Don't Lie/Bamboo (2006 FIFA World Cup Mix) - Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean


The Cup of Life (The Official Song of the World Cup) - Ricky Martin... yes, seriously. I can probably still sing you some old school 80's Menduo if you'd like

We Belong - Pat Benatar... one of those songs I could have sworn I already had. Yet didn't.

Hallelujah - Martin Sexton

Good Time - Leroy

Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

Hold On Hope - Guided By Voices

Cigarello - The Fratellis

Flathead - The Fratellis

Stacie Anne - The Fratellis

Henrietta - The Fratellis

Blue Skies / Mandy - Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye... I've had giant crushes on Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye since I was ten

The Old Man / Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army - Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye

The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing - Danny Kaye

Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) - Doris Day... waaaayyyyy too fun to sing really loud in an obnoxious voice

Can't Be Without You - Derk Webb

A Love That's Stronger Than Our Fear - Derek Webb

She Must and Shall Go Free - Derek Webb

Ain't That a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin... another longtime crush ::insert love struck sigh here::

Dracula from Houston - Butthole Surfers

Restore to Me - Candi Pearson-Shelton & Mac Powell (a.k.a. "Mr. Third Day")

By His Wounds - A bunch of guys including Mac Powell

Beautiful Mystery - Caedmon's Call

SexyBack - Justin Timberlake... I'm sorry. I couldn't help it.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels... "I told you once, you son of beeyotch, I'm the best there's ever been" = Easily one of the top 10 best line in a song. Ever.

Love is All Around (from "Four Weddings and a Funeral") - Wet Wet Wet

Hooch - Everything... "Scrubs" easily has the best soundtrack on TV right now. This song isn't my favorite out of the mix, but any show that features Colin Hay - more than once - rules my playlist.

No Sleep Tonight - The Faders

Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode... because my Depeche Mode CD was one of the ones in the now legendary lost CD case of 2003.

You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse

Rehab - Amy Winehouse

Dirty Little Secret - The All-American Rejects... because my mix CD broke

Disney Photos. Volume 1.

As promised, here are some Disney World photos. We start with a selection that has come to be known as The Sapper Ear Project. What started out as an innocent question ("I wonder where you get those cool black Mickey ears?") turned into a week-long search through the madness of the Disney shopping experience.


Click here to view the results

FYI.

Dear extended family and dearest friends,

I love you. You are fantastic. You are my life. Also? My name is spelled Stacie. There is no "Y".

Thank you.

Photo Coming Soon...

It's a well known fact that I'm a very visual person. It's also a well documented fact that I have way more photos than five average people put together. When I casually say, "Sure, I'll post photos online!" it actually means, "Sure, I'll sift through hundreds of photos to find a few that don't bore you even though the light/color/composition fascinates me and I could stare at it for hours."

It could also mean, "Sure, but I first have to figure out why I took pictures of every marching band in the Opening Day parade in the first place."

In other news, Sean started swim lessons yesterday. I'll be sure to post some photos soon...