Photos at 1 year + 11 months...

How could I have forgotten to post these?? I can't ignore my duty of exploiting my cute baby niece! [haha] My brother sent us these photos at the end of March this year. She's getting so big now! Her 2nd birthday will be on May 3rd + since I will be away...

***HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, AMANDA***



She really is a treat to be related to. ^_^

Stepping outside of myself...

I will be doing something that I never thought I would ever do in my lifetime. Starting this weekend until next Saturday, I will be participating in a humanitarian trip to the village of West End on Grand Bahama Island with a group of people from Access to help rebuild homes for the community there. We'll also be organizing youth related activites for all the kids over there. I haven't been much of a kids person for the last how many years, so I will really need the help in that arena, haha.

I really don't know what to think about all this except that I had a gut feeling that I wanted to do this, even if I feel like this is all new to me, even if it will deplete my vacation hours at work on top of one day without pay. It will also be a good learning experience for me to go out on my own [sans hubby + family] into an entirely new place. Because the hurricanes were so real to me last year, I keep on thinking that we could have been hit hard just like the Bahamians did. Their way of life has been drastically changed, so we really have to step outside of ourselves to try to lift some spirits. I personally don't know how, but I'm sure everything will come to light once we're there.

The following is some info reiterating our plans for our week-long trip in case you are interested in learning more about this:
---
May 1 - May 7
Mission Trip to West End Village, Grand Bahamas Island.
West End Village was greatly affected by the 2004 Hurricane season. As a result, many villagers are living in substandard housing. The local school was also damaged resulting in the children being bused an hour outside of the village to go to school. A team from ACCESS218 will be going to the Bahamas to help rebuild homes, and organizing an outreach event just for the kids, and also take needed supplies to the village. Please be praying for this team during the week. If you would like to give a donation to the effort, please contact Carolyn Winker at carolyn@crossroadumc.org or 904-493-1247.
---

Here is an informative video my church put together explaining the situation in West End. You can browse through photos here.

MUSE = toight!

The boys of MUSE graced us SE folk with their engrish presence on April 9th at Plush +, man, what an awesome show. I was very excited about being there because I've listened to them since 1999, but never had a chance to see them live. So, I tried to round up some of my friends to come with me to this event, + Joshua, Avonn, David, + my sis took the bait. ^_^

Here is a photo that I shot at the show [my first!] with my sis' Sony digital camera.


09 April 2k5, MUSE @ Plush - Jacksonville, FL

Let me tell you, that Matt Bellamy can play! I asked my friend Scott, a fellow guitarist who attended the show, what he thought about the cordless guitars Bellamy was using that night. He said, "I don't like 'em, but that guy pulled it off." I do agree, sir. I don't like cordless guitars either because it tends to look fake even though you know it's not. I can understand why Bellamy would need it though. He was kicking, jumping, + running around everywhere during his solos while still managing to keep all his notes on key. Nice stuff. I loved seeing the red-lighted aluminum-plated organ that I read he built himself. It was very impressive to see in person with each key triggering it's own red light on the back of the instrument facing the audience. Me + my friends stuffed our ears with tissue in case it got too loud in the venue, but the sound was so piss poor that I took those things out to hear the band better. The vocals were too low in comparison to the accompaniment, so I was little ticked about that. I was looking forward to hearing Bellamy sing live + how he can handle the high, sustained notes. I've read many reviews on how much butt they can kick at their live shows + I wanted to see it for myself.

All in all, it was refreshing to see a band this energetic play live right in front of your face. Next time, I would love to meet them for a small chat + photos as always. We didn't get the chance to this time since the venue staff were flexing their barricading muscles on us near the buses. Poo on them.

And, no, they don't sound like Radiohead... not anymore, anyway. ^_^

It's [was] da weekend, where da wee...

I finally worked out at the gym at our apartment complex this Saturday afternoon. I slept in a little too long while Joshua was out working his *second* job mowing the huge lot out at King's. I felt guilty for sleeping in, so I thought it would be very appropriate for me to start my long-awaited workout regime right then. I spent an hour there. Would've stayed for longer, but the ventilation in that joint was awful. There was AC, but it was just dead air. I would have appreciated a floor fan, at least. So, I used the quads + hamstrings machine a bunch of times. My main goals is to tone out my legs again--no more wishing they were how they were back in my high school soccer days. Did some cardio time on the treadmill + step machines. I felt pretty accomplished. Feeling the next-day burn makes me feel good. It lets me know that I'm getting something out of it.

I have been watching the first season of Smallville some nights last week since we have not installed cable at our new home. It's kind of like our 'tv' for the moment, haha. This is the most J has ever watched of the series. He's not sure how much he likes of it, haha. I tell him that it's a combination of 90210 [due to the high school cast + its drama] + The X-files. I don't think he cares much for the X-files part of the show. Ah well, he watches it anyway. ^_^ I think it's funny to re-watch the beginning episodes of the show + how *innocent* the original cast's characters once were.

J took me out to see Sin City this weekend. I really wanted to see it based on my fellow artist coworkers' recommendations. I actually saw one of my coworkers in the row in front of me! Haha. I actually liked it, though it was a bit on the gory side. J seemed to do fine with it though. I guess I've seen worse, but it's been awhile. The cinematography was excellent. I loved the use of high-contrast black + white with splashes of colour on certain objects. I've never read Frank Miller's comics, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the film or story. It wasn't a prerequisite, let's just put it that way. This made me get even more excited to see the flic [thanks to coffeegirl for the link].

How true.

Note to self:

"If you are distressed by anything external,
the pain is not due to the thing itself
but to your own estimate of it;
and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."
--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus <-- I loved this font back in the day! >;)


Thanks to Frunk for this quote.

A point.

You know, I know I just posted, but I am going to make it a point to go to the beach this summer, dangit. I did very frequently [for me anyway] in the summer of 2k3 + learned to body board all the while, which was so awesome. But, all last summer was a no-show. Sure, we would make visits to the beach + walk up + down the sandbars at night, but it isn't the same as actually hanging out for hours in the water in the sun. Gotta bring it back!

I am done. :)

I hunched in the wilderness one morning...

I took photos of the wildflowers that I talked about in earlier posts. The day I shot these was Joshua's first day at his new job, so I was up earlier than usual. It gave me some extra time before work to park in the median of the long road where the blooms are most prominent. They are a beauty to pass by every morning in rural America. ^_^

Thoughts on hold...

I've been real busy at work as of late, so sorry for the lack o' updates.

For the past week, there has been a huge black crow tapping its beak on the huge window next to my desk. It's a reflective-tinted window from the outside, so I'm sure it is confusing the feathered animal. He taps real hard on the glass + no one seems to notice, but me. Maybe it's because I'm always the last one out of the office? I tried to shoo it away because I couldn't concentrate.

Today, around the same time as the other days, the big black crow came back--this time, with a friend. They both started tapping their beaks against the window, which was even louder this time. So, I tried to shoo them away, yet again, to no avail. They weren't afraid this time. Hmph. It's so strange because my workplace is located in the middle of an old airforce base airport + here are two huge crows just tap, tap, tapping on my office window. Not as creepy as an Edgar Allan Poe story though. Sorry to disapppoint you. Wait... maybe they are looking for two living dead beings to help avenge their wrongful deaths? [Yeh, you're ULTRA COOL if you got that one.] :)

Sinkist. You guys don't know it, but you are being fed a subliminal message from the designers of the so-called orange soda drink "Sunkist". Look carefully at the logo. It does not spell out what you might think. LOVE the soda. HATE the logo.

Oke. It's late. It's Friday + I'm still here at the office. Time to go home to the hubbie. [Did I just type that aloud?]

Good weekend wishes to all reading.