on the farm

The Kentucky country side is the most beautiful land I will ever see.  I have driven through almost every state in this country, and I know that there are some amazing views and picturesque landscapes.  But the tie that I have because Kentucky is my home will trump all other rolling hills, evergreen forests and rocky shore lines.  This weekend I was able to look out at the green Kentucky farmland from the front porch of an old farm house in Cane Valley.  Some of my closest friends met me there to spend a weekend together before I leave.  My heart had a hard time handling the combination of the joy of such love and beauty and the sadness of our soon separation.

 

portraits: week 18

The Cassins are a couple that singles dream of befriending.  Intelligent, smart, and fun - they are not wrapped up in their relationship to the point where they disregard the social joys of others.  Individually, Jessica and Dan have unique interests and viewpoints.  Together, we get to witness a discourse that is witty, insightful, and challenging.  But the best part is that they let you in on that discourse.  They have this beautiful little world that they share with each other, and they want you to share it with them too.

 

 

backyard goodbye

What better way to send someone off then with bratwursts and sparklers?  Tim is leaving us for Alaska.  We will miss his skinny jeans and horn rims, his slyness and his humor, his handsome and his heart.  He will miss our community, our togetherness.  So this is how we leave him - baked-beans, strawberry pie, corn-hole, fireworks, and a late night circle of folding chairs.

goin' to the country

Memorial Day brought a long-awaited trip for me to see Huber Farms.  Bailey, Jackie, and Peake accompanied me to pick strawberries, taste wine, and buy local grub.  It was a lovely day...it could have been less hot and humid (as all summer Kentucky/Indiana days could be)...but we uncovered some rubies - the kind you can make a down home strawberry pie with!

cut off sleeves and family crests

Jordan's sleeveless shirt collection has probably tripled since winter.  The catalyst?  An upper arm tattoo revealing Mr. Elliott's Scottish heritage.  To bad he cannot wear these shirts to school.  What better way to keep kids in-line then the motto "Might Makes Right."

portraits: week17

Oh Merm...we traveled to Bowling Green for College, Louisville for Fellowship and now we go to Africa for Missions.  I have always seen the spark of international missions in your eyes, I just did not now that you would pass the spark on to me.  

Mary Ellen Moody has been a constant leader in my life since my freshman year of college in 2003.  I have valued her wisdom, sought her counsel, and trusted her advice. And I know that I am not the only one to experience these things.  She loves all those she meets deeply; having an especially large place in her heart for people of other countries.  She has traveled to Mexico to work with orphans, and now plans on moving to Africa to work in church planting and community building.  She is on a mission...she has always been.  I am proud to follow in her footsteps.  Hopefully the adventurer in her will lead her, and others to change the world.

bierock and a triple karmeliet

As a young person I would watch movies and store away images that I hoped would be recreated in real life for me as an adult.  One of the repeated montages featured a group of adults eating together at a big table, enthusiastically conversing with one another, sometimes in a group, often in small pairs.  It would be during evening at a pub or outside. There would always be a rustic meal surrounded by bottles of wine, steins of beer, and candles.  People would be smiling, exclaiming, gesturing with their hands, and maybe even some hearty laughs (the kind where your head is thrown back without care).  When I find myself really living these moments, I just have to sit back, take it all in, and be thankful.

a day in the life

Here is a record of the first day of my 26th year:

a good morning from Nancy's Bagel and Grounds

birthday presents from the art supply store

birthday presents from the unique supply store

lunch with anne, bet, mary grace, and ian

my favorite style of meal

i wasn't the only one to get presents

after-dinner fire pit

goodnight