The outcome... not in-between.

Carrie and I were talking last night about an unrealized dream she has.  During our conversation she told me that she was nervous to share the idea with me because of how I would react.  In fact, she did her research on the topic, so she was prepared to share with me. I was overwhelmed with guilt.  This is my wife, the solid, "stable" one of our marriage.  Yet, she, because of me, felt it necessary to prepare her presentation about an unrealized dream.  It sounds, on the surface, good that there was preparation... however, my wife is supposed to, because I create an environment of openness, be able to share her dreams with me, regardless of their state of germination.  That is not the case.  I realize that my initial reaction to hearing ideas, especially from Carrie, focus intently on the in-between, the method and not the dream.  While the method is important, focusing on the outcome, as I do with my own ideas and dreams, lends support and enables me to be a part of Carries dreams, not a nay sayer stuck on the details.  I, at every opportunity, will support and assist Carrie in achieving her dreams, by focusing on the outcome and not the in-between.

I good friend said something recently when Carrie and I were dealing with intense pain, she said "I'm happy with you when you're happy and I'm sad with you when you're sad."  I didn't quite get the depth of her statement initially.  However, after reflecting on it for weeks, I've begun to understand the statement and interpret its meaning more fully.  To me it says... accepting someone as they are, in whatever state they exist, loving them fully, regardless of joy or sadness.

Snow Day!!

Wow! This snow sure took us by surprise! Sure, they'd been calling for it all day and the previous day, but how many times have we actually had the snow that's expected?

As the snow began to fall Friday night, we invited our community group over for some pizza, snacks and games. We all watched in amazement as the snow kept coming, and coming... Two of the couples left together and called us about 20 minutes later - they only made it halfway down the street and were stuck! They started walking back with plans to crash with us for the night, but some friendly stranger with 4-wheel drive stopped and took them home. It's nice to hear good samaritans like that still exist today.

Jesse and I stayed up until the wee hours of the night, enjoying the fire and watching the snow fall....

Saturday morning arrived and it was STILL SNOWING!! Jesse measured and estimates we got about 15 inches. Unbelievable!! I haven't seen that much snow in a really long time.

It really is a Winter Wonderland. Madi loves the snow and jumped right in, whereas Rummy stood on the porch shivering. I didn't want to embarrass him by posting a picture, he tries to come across as a manly dog.

So, what do you do when you're snowed in?? Jesse and Scott played Xbox 360 pretty much all day long and then went to the neighbor's and played pool for awhile. I, on the hand, painted part of our living room. It took me pretty much all day long. The color is Smoky Blue and it covers 3 walls. I'll be finishing the rest over New Year vacation (hopefully). The other color is called Prelude and is a lighter shade of blue. I'll post more pictures when everything is complete and the house is put back together!

Fun with Sharon and Charie Rose

Sharon and Charie Rose are on the West Coast Team of the Children of the World Choir. Once the tour begins, they usually don't make it back to Virginia until the end. This year, however, they were able to perform with Steven Curtis Chapman in Tennessee and then they came to Lynchburg to perform at Thomas Road Baptist Church. So, we got to have a few days with the girls again. I had such a great time with these two special girls. We played at Kids Cove at TRBC, went to the pet store, saw G-Force at the dollar show, went to Cold Stone Creamery (where the girls made disgusting concoctions and therefore proceeded to eat my ice-cream instead of their own), and drew lots and lots of pictures. It was hard to say good-bye again knowing I won't see them again until June. :(

Fake dogs outside of TRBC (why??)

Our fridge is covered in their beautiful drawings right now!

Me and Charie Rose

Me and Sharon

Our Yard

In a recent post, you saw Jesse cutting down the 2 dying cherry trees our yard. I was sad to see them go. Jesse had more plans for our yard though, and for this, I am excited! We have a retaining wall in our yard that was made out of cinder block (side 1) and railroad ties (side 2). Side 1 was slowly starting to fall over because whoever put it in didn't do it right. It looked terrible. So we tore out the wall and are having a new stone wall and paver patio put in, complete with a walkway to our back shed. Here are some pictures of the progress so far:

Side 1 wall removed and land prepared for pavers

Side 2 wall removed

The area directly behind our deck has always been uneven and hole-filled. As Jesse was clearing the area for the walkway, he came across what turned into a HUGE project: The retaining wall behind the deck was one 6x6 that was rotting away and some more crumbling cinderblock. Dirt was slowly sliding past it underneath our deck, thus the reason for the holes. Jesse spent all evening fixing this, working well into the night. Our neighbor's friend helped him place the new 6x6's. I helped carry them from the truck though (She-Ra!).

Measuring depth to make sure new wall will fit

Working into the night...

New wall in place

A job well done!

Next up was digging out the path for the walkway. We all pitched in and worked this time

digging the line

dig, dig, dig!

I told you, I'm She-Ra!

new pathway

Finally, I have some pictures of the progress made so far on the new retaining walls and patio. It's gonna look good!!

Side 1 new wall and pavers

Side 1

Stairs on Side 2 and part of new wall

We'll post more soon!

Slacker

I haven't felt like blogging lately... but then a couple of the Children of the World stayed with us last week so I have something exciting to talk about.

We had the privilege of having Sharon (10) from Uganda and Charie Rose (9) from the Philippines stay with us for 5 nights.

They are the sweetest girls ever. We had a great time with them and I was sad to see them go this weekend. They are on the West Coast team, so we probably won't see them until the tour is over in June. :(

I got so SPOILED while they were here. The girls love to do dishes and every night would ask if they could help! Could you say 'No' to these faces?!

They also loved to help cook. (They posed themselves for the pictures)

We talked to my mom on Skype one night and they performed a few of their songs for her. Sharon said my mom is "so cute."

I had a birthday while they were with us and they were so excited to "rejoice" with us. They even decorated my cake.

They love to give hugs and kisses!

"Happy Birthday Auntie Carrie..."

Mmm.... cake and ice cream (Brownie Moose Tracks ice cream to be exact, my new fav).

I miss these girls already!!!

Cozy Bear Cabin

For our 5 year anniversary, Jesse and I wanted to get away. Jesse looked online and somehow stumbled upon this cabin nestled in the woods of Williamsville, VA. This place really was in the middle of nowhere and it was just what we were looking for. We spent countless hours just sitting on the front porch listening to the wind and birds and saw a few deer walk by, a family of turkeys, a few bats... we never did see any bear and that was ok with me. We took a trip into Monterey, VA on Saturday. This was such a small town. We ate at one of 2 restaurants (that we saw) and had a good hamburger and homemade potato skins. Then headed back to the cabin with intentions to go to the swimming hole or for a hike, instead we spent the rest of the time hiding from the rain! It rained all through the night and into the morning. It offered Jesse and I a good time to talk about the next 5 years and what we hope to accomplish. We headed back to "the real world" this afternoon. A world of internet, cell phones, multiple radio stations (they only had one that played Grand Ole Opry style music)... Hopefully we will go back next year!

Disclaimer: If you get motion sickness, watch the below videos at your own risk! Jesse moves the camera pretty quickly...

Outside of cabin

I will have to post the other video later... it is taking too long to upload. Stay tuned!

What a great find - and a great husband!

Jesse found this watch for me at the Estate Specialist for only $3 because it was "broken". He actually ended up having to pay $5 because they have a minimum for credit card payments, but even at that price it is an amazing find! Jesse then shipped it to this watch repair kid (I say kid because he's only 15) that he met on TimeZone.com and he was able to fix it for us. He said it's in great condition too. I like it a lot.
Thanks Jesse!! I love you...

Somethings I enjoy...

The people that live across the street from me have lived on my block since 1955. They know the history of our street. In late Spring through the end of Summer they sit on their porch for about 3 hours per night. They watch the younger people moving about, doing things that are "important"... I can remember thinking when i first moved in that it must get boring to sit on the porch for hours on end. However, now I wonder if Buck (guy across the street) has figured out what life is about. In fact, now that I think about it I can think of numerous occasions where elderly people spent hours sitting on a porch or in their yard. It appears to me that these people have figured out that life is worth enjoying with sustained sessions of sitting and enjoying the moment - living in the moment. It also occurs to me that it often takes getting older and realizing that what was once important doesn't really matter all that much. Life is better spent in community with people, enjoying conversation, and building memories that will last a lifetime. Buck has inspired me, as difficult as it is, to take time out to sit and enjoy the moment. Often times I realize after the fact that the things that are so important to me takes away from my time with Carrie. I'm not saying that I must get rid of anything that does not include Carrie, just that I need to have a more time for Carrie and other people in my life and a healthy amount of time for what I consider important. If I am not careful I will spend all my free time doing things that are typically fairly solitaire. Some of the photos below are things that I get enjoyment from... first and foremost is my beautiful bride, friend, wonderful life mate. Carrie is amazing!

Strawberry Blonde?

For the past few months I have been thinking of coloring my hair strawberry blonde. It is naturally starting to turn reddish, so I thought I'd help it along. So today I went to Target and bought a box of L'oreal Superior Preference in Light Strawberry Blonde. I didn't quite get the results I was hoping for- it's not as strawberry as the girl on the box, but it is definitely warmer. At least it was only $10.00!

Before:After:

Hello.

So I am back in Virginia. After spending 10 days in Utah I really didn't want to come back to Virginia. In fact, the only reason I did was for Carrie and my dog Rummy. This was my first visit to Utah. I was really surprised by the Wasatch National Forest... the mountains are absolutely huge! The terrain was incredible. One day I was walking on top of a mountain when out of the blue a dangerous pack of midgets showed up out of nowhere. We fought hard and in the end a bearcat saved me. I threw 6 midges off the side of the cliff. Anyways. I skied 7 days at Snowbird, Alta, Snowbasin, Solitude, and Brighton. We got a total of about 40 inches while I was out. Of all the resorts we skied I liked Alta the best. Alta is one of the few remaining ski hills in the country that does not allow snowboarders. I carry a knife in case I get into an altercation with a pack of wild snowboarders or midgets.

12 movies, 3 days

I'm having trouble sitting down and writing about my Sundance Film Festival experience.
Maybe it's because I am so tired and restless since I've returned. Seeing 12 films in 3 days will do that to you. It was worth it though and I can't wait to go back next year!
I wanted to write a brief synopsis on each movie I saw, but my mind is failing me at the moment. So a list is all I can come up with for now.

Victoria Day
The Yes Men Fix the World (Documentary)
Sin Nombre
Cold Souls
Shrink
An Education
Bronson
Over the Hills and Far Away (Documentary)
It May Get Loud (Documentary)
Mystery Team
Paper Heart
Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire

I enjoyed them all. Some were difficult to watch at times (Sin Nombre, Bronson, Push), others really made you think (Yes Men), some were just entertaining without having to think at all (It May Get Loud, Mystery Team). My favorites were Shrink and An Education. I think both of these movies will end up in theater, so you'll have your chance to see them.
I only saw one "star" and I can't even think of his name or any movies he has been in. He hasn't been in anything in a long time. I know I'll see him in something one day and will be able to say "That's him! That's the actor that was one foot away from me!"
I did have a man on the bus ask me what movie I was in. He was old though and probably nearsighted.
Here is my favorite picture from my trip. I sadly forgot I had a camera and didn't take very many. This was my first morning in Utah on my drive to Park City. It is so beautiful there. Jesse told me I'd fall in love with it and he'd have to drag me back to Virginia. That didn't happen, but I really did enjoy the views.

5 days till Sundance....

I can't believe it's almost here! I thought about it last night and actually got butterflies in my stomach. On Thursday, I will be on my way to Park City, UT for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival! I've been working on my schedule and it was a bigger task than I had imagined. In my head, I always imagined the festival to take place in this enormous clearing with heated tents set up everywhere as makeshift theaters. The festival actually takes place between approximately 20 theaters in 3 different cities. So I also have to consider location when choosing the films I want to see. I want to waste as little time as possible going between cities (which are about 45 minutes apart). I think I've got it worked out. I'm planning to see 5 movies on Friday, 5 on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday. Sunday will also hold some award presentations. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back!

Merry Christmas!