Love Is In The Heir

I'm finding--more and more--as I grow up, that I love to spend time with my family...specifically my grandparents.

I know this is something that I should have loved as a teenager, and I don't think that I disliked it at any point, I am simply noticing that I really love it these days.

In the last few months, I have spent entire days--or large chunks of the day--with my grandparents. Most of the time, alone with my grandparents. Those are the days I love the most: when there are no other family members to invade conversation or with whom I am making conversation for long enough that my grandpa (Papa) turns back to the TV.

I love sitting with, talking to, reading alongside of my grandparents...both sets!

Here are some pictures from family days in the last few months:

My Papa and I spent an entire day reading our Kindles side-by-side.
First at Starbucks, then at his house (with some sandwiches!)

Later that afternoon, I read while Elijah played his DS on my lap

My cousin Logan and his birthday squirrel

Sitting around, taking family photos...
who wouldn't want to be in this family?

Sitting next to Elijah at family dinner. He says,
"There's no grass in Africa, I saw it on TV.
There's no grass, but there is Triceratops"

Last Saturday, the other side of my family (well, a few pieces) met for lunch in LA. My Grandpa and Grandma insisted that we have Famous French Dip Sandwiches.

Grandpa Don and my brother, Zac

Grandma Marlene and cousin, Laura (who was scolded for ordering a salad instead of a sandwich)

After lunch, we went to The Grove to walk around the Farmer's Market. This is the point in the day that I thought, in the past, I would be in a hurry to get home...but I really like being with my grandparents...I'm in no hurry.
Which leads us to yesterday. After church, I headed to Bum and Papa's (my maternal grandparents) to hang out for the afternoon. I stopped on the way and picked up bagels and we sat at the counter together, eating and chatting. Just the three of us...no one else to interrupt our time together!

Side note: I am aware of how selfish I sound as I'm writing about alone time...but my mother is the first of five girls (four of whom have two children each) and my dad is the eldest of seven (all of whom have children), so it's never (never) just one-on-one time in my family.

Later in the afternoon, Elijah joined us
we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" (well, Papa and I watched it...Elijah watched in-between karate sessions and running to the kitchen for snacks)

A little bit of snuggling
after Papa said, "Don't you dare snuggle me!"

When the movie was over, Elijah asked Papa to "go fishing in the closet"
Papa said, "Race ya!"

Heading to dinner with my mom.

Elijah drew some pictures to pass the time:
Papa as a little boy (who had glasses because "Papa can't see without them"), Papa's pet snake: Slippy, and Papa's pet Robot, Robby.

I am so thankful for the hours that I have spent with my family recently...and eagerly anticipating the times to come.

Thirty Things (An Update)

On October 22, 2008, I made a list of 30 Things to Do Before I'm 30.
Since then, a few of the items have been tweaked and a few others have been replaced; mostly because accomplishing that specific item no longer holds appeal for me.

I am 15 months away from turning 30. (Yuck.)
And I have, so far, crossed 11 items off of my list.
Though, I'm getting closer to crossing off another four.

Tonight, I completed the 50th book--halfway to item number one on my list: "Read 100 books"

Here are the 50 books I have read since October 2008. (Not so impressive, I know: 50 books in almost two years? Get it together!) Those with an asterisk are those I would highly recommend.

1. Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman
2. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
3. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee*
5. Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald*
6. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
7. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
   
8. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
   
9. Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange
   
10. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl*
11. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
    
12. Summer of Naked Swim Parties by Jessica Anya Blau
13. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury*
14. In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen*
15. House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros*
16. Fathered By God by John Eldredge*
17. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
18. Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge*
19. Spud...The Madness Continues by John Van de Ruit
20. Celebutantes by Amanda Goldberg
    
21. And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks by Jack Kerouac
    
22. Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
23. Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
24. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
    
25. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
26. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
27. Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
28. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson*
29. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson*
30. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson*
31. East of Eden by John Steinbeck**
32. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    
33. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*
34. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins*
35. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins*
36. The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
37. Quentins by Maeve Binchy
    
38. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman*
39. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
    
40. Little Bee by Chris Cleave*
    
41. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
42. Animal Farm by George Orwell
    
43. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
44. Someone Like You by Roald Dahl
45. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
46. George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
47. The Help by Kathryn Stockett*
48. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
    
49. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
    
50. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling*

I have three stacks of books waiting to be read (I'm fairly certain you could guess what the next six will be...) Hoping to make it to 100 before October 2012!
(That is, if the world doesn't end before then...)

To Serve Man

I love this video.

The text, the graphics, the lighting...just so clever.

Found on Design Crush Happy Weekend

Splitscreen: A Love Story

Have you seen this?
It's beautiful.

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

Today

Today, I will take another trip to Kenya.
Today, I will ride in two different planes.
Today, I will begin several conversations that will last for the next two weeks.
Today, I will sleep--and finally get rid of the eye twitch.
Today, I will be one step closer crossing something else off of my 30 Things List.
Today, I will laugh...a lot.
Today, I will watch as God begins stories.
Today, I will watch as God continues stories.
Today, I will prepare myself for God to end stories.
Today, I will listen as God speaks.

I'm mostly excited.
And a little nervous.

I guess we'll see what happens.
Read all about it.
I'll be posting HERE for the next three weeks.

More From Design Crush

Take a look at some other fun things I've found via Design Crush "Happy Weekend" posts:

• "Chili Cheese Fries" Soup...sounds delicious
• Apple Nachos
• Printable Paper Cameras
• Beard Madness...though, who would need to play? Everyone knows Abe is the obvious winner.
• One More Reason I'd Like a Letterpress

Happy Father's Day

To my dad...

My Grandpa Don...

And to my sweet Papa!

{the only one of these three that reads this blog,

so he gets three pictures!}

Love ya, Pops!

You Are What You Eat

Every Friday, I look forward to the Design Crush "Happy Weekend" post. Always filled with links to incredible things to view, create or purchase. (It's where I found my paper Andy Warhol.)

Yesterday's post had a link to You Are What You Eat: "a series of portraits made by examining the interiors of refrigerators in homes across the United States." by Mark Menjivar.

Here are a few of my favorite photos and descriptions:

Engineer | Lower Pottsgrove, PA | 17-Person Household

Italian-Puerto Rican Family Reunion

Bar Tender | San Antonio, TX | 1-Person Household
Goes to sleep at 8AM and wakes up at 4PM daily.

Carpenter/Photographer | San Antonio, TX | 3-Person Household
12 Point Buck shot on family property.

This one (below) is my favorite...can you guess why?

Short Order Cook | Marathon,TX | 2-Person Household

She can bench press over 300lbs. | 2007

I wish I could meet this woman and find out why she has a rattlesnake in her freezer. Incredible.

I am consistently amazed by the creativity of others. Who would have thought that photographs of the refrigerators of strangers would be so fascinating?

Visit the site and see the others in the series.

It's worth your time.

Letter(IM)pressed

You know how much I love typography, don't you?

Well, with my love for letters, language, and design (and, evidently, the Oxford comma) in mind, watch this video.

Do you understand why this makes me want to buy a letterpress?

What's the first thing I would print?

I'm so glad you asked.

My own version of a "Poor Richard's Almanac"

with the help of a small mouse, of course. (see minute 8)

I Don't Want This Weekend To End.

What a full, fun {and productive} weekend.

It began strong:
I beat Dom, Matt and Mish in Catan.

Saturday:
I caught up on Grey's Anatomy:
completely unimportant, I know
I signed up for a 5K:
In September. Would you like to join me?
Picked up our 16 days {at least} of mail that had been taken back to the Post Office
While I was there, I received two strong recommendations to pick up my mail daily since I get a lot of mail because "people think about [me] a lot".

Then I watched these people get married:

They were the most relaxed bride and groom I have ever seen. I really like Josh and Christina...which was only confirmed as I watched the beauty in the simplicity of their wedding. No need for a giant wedding party or lots of bells and whistles; the day was about the two of them getting married...and that's what happened.

After the wedding: dinner and a movie with Katie and Ron:

Always a treat!

And finished two books before bed:


Sunday:
My new Sunday routine: HSM service | Lunch | Nap
I created my Kenya 2011 support letter
Went to 7pm Chapel service:
one of the highlights of each weekend
Bre wrote a ridiculous {and, of course, hilarious} song
We gathered for two games of Settlers of Catan:
three {or four} hours at this table

Monday:
A few episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210:
Thanks Gina!

A good house-cleaning:
soundtrack by Madonna, George Michael and Jay-Z {they go together, right?}
Target | Staples | Starbucks
Address, stuff, stamp and seal Kenya support letters
A big gathering {with dinner and dessert} at the Edwards:
such easy, comfortable friends
And, no Monday would be complete without bowling:
I'm not sure what I bowled tonight, but I know I had fun
Finished one more book:

Now, here it is: 1am
And I really should be sleeping

A Road Trip: In Pictures (Well, And Some Commentary)

Three of the five Mariners HSM team members had not seen our Summer Camp site: Lost Canyon in Williams, Arizona. Obviously, a scout trip was necessary.

This year, we are partnering with Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells, CA. (Their Student Ministries Pastor, Aaron Gutridge, and our Student Ministries Pastor, Matt McGill, have been friends since High School.) So, three of their staff took the trip with us.

Four boys and three girls.
seven-straight-hours of talking.
and the girls were reading and sleeping.

Lunch at Cracker Barrel
Yum.

Ryanne and I shared the
Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake

Classic Cracker Barrel photo

Two hours later, we arrived.
Or, as Matt would say, "Somehow we found it!"

Last year, I had tried to sneak away from camp to see the Grand Canyon (only an hour away), but just couldn't make it happen. So, Ryanne and Brooke arranged a visit this time!

We made it just a few minutes before sunset.
It was beautiful!

Matt was parking the car, so he missed the sunset.
He walked up and said "Eh, I'm seeing it now...it's still cool."

The Mariners HSM Team {minus BP}
Ryanne, {me}, Matt and Brooke

Some mediocre Mexican food and a night's sleep later.
And we were back in the car driving home.
Seven more hours of talking (again, just the guys.)
We did, of course, stop at Cracker Barrel again. Yum.
(We were all so tired and car-ride-looking that I couldn't post those photos.)

Half-way home, Matt said he wanted to "show us something"...
So he pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the car.
The girls stayed put...it was too hot to explore the desert.
The dudes got out and kicked dirt around and pretended to see snakes.

We dropped the Southwest team and made a final stop at Starbucks.

The best line of the trip came from Matt as we were crossing back through Riverside. He said, "Okay, I need 30 seconds of no talking."
We, of course, burst in to laughter since he had been the one leading the previous 14 hours of car ride conversation.
To which he responded, "Well, 14 hours of conversation with those guys and I'm just fine...14 minutes of conversation with you three ladies and I need a break!"

We continued to laugh...and talk--mostly over one another--all the way home.
Exhausted, but excited, our two day scout trip was over.
And I was able to cross another item off of my 30 Things List!

How Do I Get This Job?

Rachael Morrison is working to smell every book
in the Museum of Modern Art Library Collection.

She then records the smell of each...
My favorites: old person smell | dirty sock | glue and armpit

Seriously. I would love to make art that's this awesome.
And delicious smelling.

The Burning House

The concept: If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities? Think of it as an interview condensed into one question.

Then: one photo.

And a short list describing each item in the photo.

So simple. So clever.

Amy Merrick

Luca Mariani

Mikael Kennedy

I think I'm going to submit my photo...

The-Burning-House.com

I Am Ridiculous

I am absolutely ridiculous.

And I know it full well.

I can't stop my brain from looking at photos, reading blogs, or hearing stories

and thinking...ugh!

I want to live

here

or here

or here

But then, I remember.

I love my job, my friends, my house, my roommate, my small group

I almost said I love Settlers of Catan, but that's just embarrassing.

And, really, who wouldn't want to live here?