Wednesday, August 13, 2008

i know, i know

hello, my name is amy, and i'm an on-line comic and blog addict.

now, that we've gotten past that, we can get down to business. i know i need to post some new pics, and i had actually had an idea for a new project since i was done with classes, but life got in the way. so, you may be saying "blog addict?!? yeah, right!" my response would be "reading, not writing =)" so, the point of this post. there is a blog i happened upon awhile back, "Whoa, Camel!" , that i found shortly after the writer was diagnosed with a particularly nasty form of leukemia called AML. so, i read about her treatments and her remission. her first recurrence, and remission again. unfortunately, she posted today that it appears to have come back for a second time. the survival rate is pretty low to begin with, but with a second recurrence, things don't look good. she is young, she has a husband, and even more sad, she has a little boy. one of the things that sparked my interest was when she posted about the elders from her church coming to lay hands on her and pray for her healing. i loved that she believed in God, i loved that she wasn't afraid to share this part of herself, i loved that her church was doing this for her.

the minister at my church left the end of june to go to wisconsin to start a new ministry (you can read about his journey here ). as an elder/spiritual leader (a seemingly unlikely title) in the church this has been a difficult time. when he first told the session (elders) that he was leaving, i punched him. yes, i assaulted my pastor. of course, he let me, and no, it didn't really make me feel better. i cried the whole way home. his wife was in our women's bible study and i felt like i still had a lot i could learn from him. but as a church we are trying to move forward, we have recently hired an interim minister, and i'm very excited about her coming. i think i can still learn from doug by reading his blog and thinking about what he has to say, and trying to push my fellow elders and our congregation to be more like Christ.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

passionate obsession

passionate:
1. having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.
2. easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire; ardently sensual.
3. expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language.
4. intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings: passionate grief.
5. easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.


obsession:
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.

Friday, May 09, 2008

blessings

although most people would be hard pressed to find any blessings in having a grandmother who is a bit on the "confused" side, i have. i just talked to a woman at work who's father is senile, and this has caused him to be verbally abusive. apparently he was really awful to her this morning and she is upset, and understandably so. i don't know what he was like before, but since her mother died she has taken care of her, and now he cusses her out and says terrible things. and i know another lady who's father picks on her kids because of his dementia, he doesn't know when to stop and it upsets her kids. this, of course, breaks her heart. who wouldn't want their kids to love their grandparents?
i am fortunate in that my grandmother's confusion only causes her to forget things, ask the same questions again and again, and occasionally take a little trip back in time. she does every so often give my mom a guilt trip about not going to see her. my mom makes it up there at least every third week, but often every other week.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

...on my mind

there have been a lot of things on my mind lately. with travis having surgery last week, his well-being has been forefront on my mind. does he need more medicine, something to eat or drink, is he hurting? (which reminds me that i forgot to remind him to take his antibiotic this morning). and work has been a bit hectic too, so there is some more of my time taken. since i'm taking this photography class (that has assignments) i've had to also think about getting my pictures taken and printed. along with various friends who have stuff going on in their lives, i think about them too. or people i have talked to in awhile. then there is the household chores and finances that i'm responsible for, and taking care of the dogs. (whom i've come to appreciate more recently, even when they aren't behaving) and my friend with the (hopefully) budding romance, i wonder how it is going when they are "out." i think about my parents and brother, particularly when they have something specific going on. (glad your test went well! go get your license renewed) and i think about travis all the time aside from his surgery. how is his day going? is he busy? is his cube neighbor being annoying AGAIN? i think about God and do my best to pray daily, and also read my bible. i think about my church, and sometimes the pastor. i wonder sometimes if i miss opportunities to reach out to people. since i wasn't listening/watching, and missed the opportunity, will someone else tell them about God? i wonder if i'm doing enough to deepen my relationship with God, have i decided to trust him again yet?
wow, it is amazing that i can get anything done with all that running through my head.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Friday, May 02, 2008

coming soon

i thought i would fill you in on what this week's assignment has been, maybe build some anticipation for this weekend's post-class post.
1. smiles
2. curves
3. pets
4. red & blue
5. 3


it is going ok, so far, still a couple to finish off, then pick, "clean up", and print my pics.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

as promised

"self-portrait"

"still-life"

"blue"

"night photography"
another "blue" one i liked

more "night"
more "night"

Thursday, April 24, 2008

???

i've gotten into reading some good blogs lately, and the people who write them are very good writers and always seem to have something to write about. then i try to think of something to add to mine, so it doesn't completely fall to the wayside, and i always find myself at a loss. much like now.
sure, there are some things in my life that it might be cathartic to blog about, but i'm not entirely comfortable putting it out there, knowing some of the people who know that this is my blog. and there is definitely always something going on in my life, just not always interesting.
i'm taking a photography class right now that has "homework" assignments. this weeks subjects were: "night photography", "self-portrait", "blue", and "still-life". my dad and i went and did the night pics sunday evening, i think mine turned out pretty good (i'll post what i end up turning in). i've tried the past two nights to work on "self-portrait", but i have to say i'm not a big fan of having my picture taken. the lighting hasn't been good, so the color in the pics isn't very good. there a few, that with some cropping, i would probably like ok. but it is just so akward taking pictures of yourself. really, why would i want to do that? and have you ever tried to make yourself have a "real" smile? it isn't easy. then you have to look at the pics, and of course it's "my cheeks are fat, my eyes aren't even, i have a big nose, is that a double-chin?" how is this at all fun? my dad managed some pretty good ones of me back in the fall, look back in the archives, i think i posted them.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

remote

i bought a remote for my camera last night and played with it a little bit when i got home from class. stuck my camera on the tripod and played with shutter speeds just to see what i could do, i'm pretty happy with how these turned out considering i didn't do any research on how to take these kinds of pics. please click on the picture to be able to see them, the really bright sliver at the bottom was all that was "visible" in the sky.







Thursday, March 06, 2008

today


please keep jajuan's family and the students and faculty at davidson in your prayers. this is a very sad situation. while it is a relief that no one else was physically harmed, there were many students who witnessed this young man killing himself.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008