Many of you know that my brother is a Marine, serving in Iraq.  Last week he was injured when the vehicle he was driving was hit with a roadside bomb.  He seems to only have suffered a concussion, and is back with his unit already.

Join us as we praise God for his protection, and the protection of the other guy in his vehicle.  And please continue praying for his safety.  He is scheduled to return to the states in October.

So I had a birthday last week….and although Ben was out of town, it was a really great birthday. I turned 26, and to celebrate, I made curtains…and watched girly movies…it was great. And on my actual birthday, I felt loved and appreciated….which is what everyone should get on their birthday.

What’s a little strange to me was that turning 25 was pretty hard on me……really hard. (I kept saying that I was ‘practically 30.’)……but 26 was just no big deal…..just another year. Of course, I did just get an e-mail asking for my info because someone is getting things together for my 10 year high school reunion. Now that’s crazy. Hopefully I’ll finish graduate school by then. (It isn’t until 2008 for goodness sake!)

In other news…..we saw Shane & Shane last night. For free. In Siloam Springs. It was awesome. They’re such real, genuinely uninterested in fame guys…..they weren’t introduced (just started playing)….they played 3 songs back to back (so we couldn’t applaud between each one –in my opinion)…..and then ended with ‘O Come Let Us Adore Him,’ which they asked all of us to sing along to……then they just stopped playing before the song “ended” and we all just kept singing to finish it. That was it….no encore, no “hey look at us, we’re awesome”…..just giving it all back to the Lord. It was cool.

I think that working at a camp brings a lot of opportunities that I would not otherwise have. It has something to do with meeting lots of people I think. So, this weekend I will be flying to San Antonio Texas to start working on a video for a fund raising event for a ministry called Grace House. This one is going to be crazy because it is long distance, and there is not a lot of time to get it all done. But it will be fun, and I get to travel a bit. The second opportunity that has come up is the possibility of doing some “teaching” at Grove A-schools in graphic design. Basically they are looking for a grant to do some graphic design instruction with their students. If they get the grant I will be doing 10 or so 4 hours classes with them over a semester, as well as some time here at the Ranch on the challenge course. I am excited about the idea of all of this…we will have to see how it turns out!

1. A chocolate orange latte (with extra orange flavoring)

2. Kirk Franklin’s “Revolution”

Why I love these 2 things:

While I used to strictly be a fan of the raspberry mocha (like since college days)….I tried the chocolate-orange combination one day and have never gone back. (except for when I make them at home b/c I only have raspberry syrup, not orange….yet.) And here is how my conversation with the lovely barista went this morning.

Her: “You know, we don’t have many chocolate-orange drinkers, but the ones that do, they hardly ever get anything else.”

Me: “I used to only get the raspberry mochas, but since I tried this, I don’t think I have ordered anything else since!”

Now, maybe this means I need to get out of my rut….. but I’d rather focus on the fact that I am not alone in my chocolate-orange obsession. thankyouverymuch.

Now, Mr. Franklin…..I know it’s way old school…..and I’m probably an even bigger dork for this one, but I LOVE this song! It’s what I run to (when I actually run)….I use it on my computer at work when I need a good kick to get busy working…..what can I say? It’s motivating…… Have you listened to it lately? Maybe you need to. J