Sunny Day

Deats and I had an amazing day together. We started out by going window shopping for new homey things for when she gets married. Then we got some organic snacks (granola, mostly) and she bought me some new shades! I fell and snapped mine in half a week and a half ago, so it was a super-sweet blessing. Thanks, deaty!

Then we came home, ate, watched a movie, and then did this...














It was a lot of fun. You can find these and more on facebook, if you have one.

What a great day. :-)

Cake!

Today Deats' momma and I did some bonding. We bought groceries and a couple treats for Rach. Then she took me to lunch (aww) and drove me to GR for an interview so I didn't have to use my fuel (awwwwwww). We checked out a couple used/old/antique bookstores and I fell in love. Old books. Cheap books. Yeeeeeep. *sigh*

When we returned home I baked a cake. I'm pretty proud of it. :-)
Yay cake!

Youth Group & Lindsey :-)

Okay, I meant to peace off the net as of yesterday, but because of my failure to think through things, it'll be another day or two. Basically, my church does a media fast every year, and while they aren't starting that portion of our 40-day church wide fast for another 2 weeks or so, I'm on the net a lot and want to start early. So, this will be my last (I think?) post for a while.

I cannot even try to tell you how exciting it is to be working as a part of a youth ministry again. It's fun! It's also very nerve-shaking for me as I'm confronting fear and questioning my "skills." Almost always I feel inadequate and fear that Pastor Jay (the YP) will come up to me, tell me I'm a fraud, and disallow me to be around the kids. I know that's not really going to happen (or at least I hope!) but I fear it, nonetheless. I find myself being fairly timid around the kids and having to force myself to talk with them. I remember feeling this way the first month of my internship at GR First and am hoping that with time it will fade.

Memories! Lindsey and I made some today!











A note: I did, in fact, take more of Lindsey. They're on her camera and she uploaded them for me, so I have far more pictures of myself! (btw: I'm the redhead, she's the blonde, and I'm wearing her super-sweet hat)


This last one is of Jay, the Youth Pastor at my church. Lindsey and I decided we wanted to get him a funny gift, so we found a mug at the hope chest that reads, "You are a very special uncle." Hehe. I'm quite proud of us!

AA

Vintage Sale @ the Well

Vintage Sale

Fri. Aug. 31/Sat. Sept. 1

2pm-Midnight

*photography by me... and the standard dim lighting of Jacob's Well =)

Camping Pics

Fred, aka Bob, the Chipmunk

Sunset through the trees over the water... from our campsite


Me...

Me again


Kristin








One more of K-to-the-ristin

Just a bad day (edited)

I need a hug. I need someone to not be rude, to not assume.
I need a hug. Today's been rough.
I need a hug. And maybe a piece of chocolate.
But mostly a hug.

I feel as though I should explain this. If only I knew how. All day today customers were cantancorous and rude. Managers were cranky and withdrawn and barking orders.

I got some new dress clothes today. Lindsey and I like to randomly try clothes on together and take a pic or two. Unfortunately for me, everything I picked out looked great. Unfortunate because I have a very limited budget for clothing. There were two outfits, one a dress and one a skirt, that looked equally great... which, for the dress, is saying something because I've worn a dress once in the past 6+ years. Go me. Soooo... I ended up with the skirt/shirt combo. A couple more dollars but far more vesatile in use. And while I didn't get chocolate, I did get ice cream. And I was able to treat a couple good friends to some iced cream as well. It made me feel good to be able to get them something.




I continue to recieve encouragement and exhortation and as "uncomfortable" as it is, I think I might be growing because of it.

Another note: tomorrow I am retreating up north with a friend of mine. We hope to spend some QT together, but I really hope to get some God-Asher-nature time while up there, too. I will be "seeking His face" and trying to refocus my life. I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Breathing,

Asher

No More Braids... :(

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A Few Days ago....




Now...




It was sort of an impulse decision. I was thinking about it. And then over-thinking about it. And then I decided that I needed to decide. And based on the fact that my hair is ultra thick and heavy and difficult to deal with... and that hair grows back... I had it cut. It's actually suppose to be 2-3 inches longer... but my ma... she's a little overzealous... and she got rid of nearly 6 inches of my hair today. 6 of them. Like I said, hair grows back... but I will miss the braids...

Just Some Pics

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We went down to the festival today to get some good ole' fashioned carnival food. And like the absent minded Asher I tend to be, I forgot my camera @ the Well. So np super-sweet images of the rides and the carnies... maybe tomorrow...

But, my seriously talented friend, Lindsey, got creative and was using M&Ms and espresso grinds as the coloring agents for her "watercolor" artwork she was working on at the Well. I snapped several shots. Here are a sample.

(a word about the lighting in Jacob's Well: the walls are an amazing burnt orange/red color and the lighting relatively dim for the setting of the environment. Using my little point n shoot digital with the flash on totally leaves the people looking washed out and glossy... so I'm learning how to use the lack of light to my advantage. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!)

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So, in this first pic Lindsey is painting my boss @ the Well, Ebeth (aka Elizabeth). You can see all her tools. Including the M&Ms. To be clear: she was taking water and rubbing it on the shells of the M&Ms to create the color she needed. For brown she used Espresso ground. Sheer genius.


Lindsey painting me.

...And the Natives Flee...

(warning: this post contains lots of pictures)

Wee, it's official! The 2007 National Cherry Festival has begun! YAY!

With all the fudgies causing mayhem, Joe, Alex, & I headed north for Leelanau County. Our destination: the open road.

:-p

With no real destination in mind we stopped at various fruit stands and hole-in-the-wall markets to support the very happy people and the all-natural goodness they sell. We also went to a couple Vineyards, the first being Blackstar Farms where I did my very first first wine tasting. I didn't sample anything there that was horrible (except for one at the other winery we went to), but my favorite was their 2004 A Capella Riesling Ice Wine. But no, I didn't buy any. It's $90/bottle. Yikes! I also liked their Sirius Cherry Dessert Wine and their 2006 Arcturos Late Harvest Riesling. Woot for new and fun experiences!

I had mentioned when we first left that I had my camera and wanted to stop and take pics somewhere. So, quite randomly, Al stops the car, and says, "Is this good for pictures?" It was absolutely gorgeous. And my subjects were pretty great, too...


This is the road we were driving down. I love this picture. We were on a hill and you can see two hills in the distance.

A better shot of the house in the first pic. I love old farm houses. And, I love how the road comes towards you out of the right side of the picture!

The hill across the road from where I took the first two. The weeds and such were so tall. I was seated on the ground for this pic.

Pretty yellow flowers! Up close! I love how it stands out against the brown fieldness.

The horizon. Absolutely gorgeous. The color/distance contrast is amazing. It was beautiful out there!

Alex & Joe. Two very great guys. Al's on the left, Joe is on the right.

I asked them to pose. This is what I got. :-p

Pose #2.

This is a great pic. I'm lovin' it! The lighting was perfect.Look at the sky! And Al pretty much uprooted the enire thing to chew on.

And now Joe. :)

My shadow. I was playing around and it actually turned out!

West GT Bay (aka Lake Michigan). This is another one of those instances where Al discovered that I was trying to take pictures through my window, so he pulled over. This is the best of the two of the bay that I took, but it's still not that great. It doesn't do the bay justice. But the traffic was too heavy for me to trapse across the highway.
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You'll notice that the only picture of me is my shadow. Well, that's intentional. I woke up this AM with my neck bugging me again and could barely do my hair. Just putting it in a ponytail was very painful. Al asked if I wanted any pics of me and I said no, thanks, and explained why. Both he and Joe scoffed at me and explained that my hair's so beautiful that it doesn't matter how I fix it....

Awwww....

Anyway. I blushed, declined, and moved on.

The day's conclusion: 1) I still have a few good friends. 2) We need to go on random adventures that only cost $10 total.