Skywatch Friday

I said I was going to try to post more pictures for this, so here is another edition of Skywatch Friday. I can't believe it's already been two weeks since the first one I posted. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. The first two pictures for today were taken in Toledo. Last weekend we attended a handbell conference there, and since there weren't any classes that we wanted to take during the first session, the two other Jens and I walked down to the riverfront. It was very nice, if a bit cold, and I got some pretty neat shots out of it.

The final picture was taken at my in-laws' house. I love the way the clouds show through the tree. You can definitely tell fall is in the air!

That's all for now. Have a great week, everyone, and don't forget to vote next Tuesday!

Sad Day...

It has arrived. The day I've been dreading for the last 5 weeks. My in-laws are moving away, and taking the kids with them (well, duh - they are their kids, after all). I knew it was not going to be fun, but I didn't think I'd be quite this sad. I actually cried tonight. I'm happy that Roger found a church, but I really wish it wasn't all the way out in Minnesota. It has been so nice having them and the kids nearby and to really have the chance to get to know the rest of Brian's family. I just about lost it today - I took a short break from work to go say goodbye to them, and when I said I had to go back to work, Anna kept telling me "No."

On a happier note, I attended a bell conference in Toledo this weekend. We all had a great time, and I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from it for now.


The park by the river. There were three or four fishermen, and I liked the way they leaned their poles against the chains and leaned back to relax.


5/3 Stadium, home of the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit's AAA team). This was the view from our hotel window.

At the jazz club. It was the pianist's birthday, as well as Jen B's, so after the band played and sang Happy Birthday to the two of them along with two other birthdays in the house, they brought out and cut a cake, then passed it around to the whole bar.

The big bells. I wish we had these at our church!

Have a great week!

Class Reminder

If you haven't already done so, head on over to jessicasprague.com and register for the free Stories in Hand class. I'm really excited - it should be a lot of fun! Have a great day, everyone!

Skywatch Friday

My friend Jeanne has been participating in the Skywatch Friday meme for quite a while now. I've checked it out a couple of times, and I thought that it was time for me to get in on the action. I can't promise pictures every week, but I'll do it as much as I can. This week's pictures are some that I got recently. The moon on Tuesday night was really cool; full, with wispy, mysterious clouds all around it. The top picture is the moon itself, but what I thought was really neat was the middle picture. This was the reflection I saw in the window of our building when I pulled up to go into work. I was very excited that the picture turned out, because to me, the reflection is almost more interesting than the real thing.

I got this picture when we were at the pumpkin farm with the nieces and nephews this past weekend. I love the way the corn is almost silhouetted against the sky, and again with the wispy clouds. What's up with that?

That's all I have for right now. Have a great day!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

We had another busy weekend, but a fun one. On Saturday, I took senior pictures for my coworker's son, and if I don't say so myself, I think they turned out pretty well. If she gives her permission, I'll try to post a few of the better ones later on. On Sunday, we started out making some jewelry after church, then went to the pumpkin farm with Roger and Sherrie and the kids. We had a great time exploring the farm, feeding the goats, watching the trebuchet catapult pumpkins (OK, I didn't actually see that, but Roger, Brian, and the boys did), going through the corn maze, and of course, eating the yummy cider doughnuts and drinking the homemade cider! I've attached a slideshow of the pictures I took below, but be warned - there are a LOT of pictures! Have a great day!

Exciting news...

I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. I LOVE Jessica Sprague. She's an awesome blogger, a great teacher, and her digital/hybrid scrapbooking tips and tricks are to die for. So when I saw this on her blog, I had to share it with all of you. In November, she is offering a new class for FREE. That's right - no charge! The class sounds totally awesome, and it's open to as many people who want to take it, which is great as well. I'm definitely signing up - I've been wanting to take her digital scrapbooking classes for some time now, but time and finances haven't lined up together, so I haven't been able to. I can't do the justice to the explanation of the class, so here's the link to the information. If you've never visited, take a minute and read more of her blog - she's a great writer!

http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/2008/10/10/new-class-stories-in-hand.html

What would you do?

Did anyone watch Deal or No Deal tonight? The person playing tonight was a guy from Michigan. He started out with five million-dollar cases. When he had four cases left, there were still two with a million in them, as well as $200 and $1000. His offer was $448,000, and he ended up taking it. Of course, we got to talking about it. My philosophy is "go hard or go home." I would have kept going until I knocked out one of the million dollar cases, then taken the offer. Brian probably would have taken an offer before the one the player took. That's the main difference between us. I told him tonight that I wouldn't take him as one of my three advisors because I know what he'd say. The joke between us is that he would open the first six cases and take the first offer, no matter what it was. He might go a little further than that, but I'm not so sure. I figure that I came with nothing, so anything I win would be a bonus. As it turned out, after the offer was accepted and they asked what cases the player would have chosen next, he would have knocked out both the $200 and $1000 cases and have been left with two million-dollar cases. What would you have done?

Monster-iffic!

Just saw Rita's blog, and she linked to the most awesome giveaway, and a blog that looks like it's going to be one of my new favorites. I'll post more later, but while you're waiting, check out Cally's blog here: http://cally-cruze.blogspot.com/2008/09/monster-friends-givey.html. I'm in awe of the little bit of her talent that I saw.