Target, I like you a lot.

Dear Target,

I thank you for ads
Awareness without the words
Down syndrome made cool.

Love,
Me.



That's all I have to say. Noah's Dad (the link) said everything far too perfectly.

UNO, Not Just A Spanish Word

Back in my high school days, which really weren't that long ago. UNO year I decided to stop art classes and focus on journalism full time. I ended up taking a photography class that year instead. Later, I quit photography for several years because of school. UNO friend of mine really encouraged me to take it back up and here I am today! The first five pictures are really old and all from when I was in high school. The last UNO is a sample of the pre-wedding pictures I took this past weekend.

These are some of my first pictures that I can find. These are some friends from some of my UNO (first) journalism classes.

Teejay is UNO of my best friends. I tried capturing her birthday party here, but this photograph just doesn't seem unique or captivating.

Princess Party is UNO of the events that my sister Lori attends at our church. This is grainy and dark. It is also dark on the original, but the grainy factor comes with being scanned into a computer. Yay technology!

Juan is from Mexico, where the word UNO is used a lot. Here is in on a mission trip to Mexico, quenching his thirst for me to be a better photographer with his lemonade or just rehydrating himself.

Megan is extremely cute. I think that's all there is to it. She is UNO of the people that could be cute drinking from a pink waterbottle. Kudos.

This past weekend, my friend Brittany got married. This is her flower girl wearing Brittany's rings. It was UNO of the funniest things that happened that night.

Why am I saying UNO a lot? Well, I'm working (or rather not working) on a Spanish presentation. That's not the reason though. It's a challenge by Lauren Clark to win a free Brainwash session with her, which I would LOVE. unobylaurenclark.com is where you can go to find more information and laurenclarkphotography.com is where you can go to view her breathtaking photography. She is UNO of my favorite photographers!

Call+Response

Screen the whole thing tomorrow night at A&M UMC, 7pm.
Hope to see you there!

Can't you just hear His belly laugh now?

Have you ever been waiting for a phone call or an email that you know is going to change things? I've spent a great deal of my summer waiting on two - an email whether I got CLUES mentor or not and whether or not my second major (International Studies) had been declared or not. I got both forms of communication this week. While I did get the opportunity to be a CLUES mentor (yay!), I was informed that no major declarations are being put through until October. How uncool.

All summer I've been doing a lot of questioning about this whole declaring a major thing. It just seems so definite, unchangable. I was hoping to take the easy way out with this decision as I've been hoping it just going through and my advisor would put me in a certain class I really need to take this semester but most likely won't. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much...

I do though and now I'm stuck scrounging around to figure out what I'm going to do this fall. I'm stuck. Howdy has just bailed on my search by letting me know at 7am it will no longer work until it opens Monday for registration. Okay, well, at least it can still help me for the next few hours. No. Howdy just turned its back on me by not loading. I've got some options I researched last night, but it all comes down to if I really want to stick with these majors or not.

Options:
Spanish & International Studies (Government & Diplomacy) majors
Spanish & International Studies (Communications & Media) majors
Spanish & Journalism minor
Spanish & Journalism & History Minors*

*If you're wondering, I'm not really planning on dropping any classes that I already have for this semester due to me having to add more classes already and I'll be 3 hours away from a History minor no matter what.

The "plan" (Man, I love when I can practically hear God's deep gut-wrenching belly laugh whenever he hears me say that. It reminds me that I'm not really in control.) is to get my teaching certificate after I graduate no matter what which will take about a year. Then I'm hopefully going to grad school for Journalism.

If I declare both majors though, I'll be in undergrad an extra 6 months causing me to graduate in December. That's not bad. Then there's the year of becoming teacher certified which is kind of my back up for everything (although if I chose the Span/Jour/Hist option, I'd have more choices). Grad school looks like it's about 2 years for a MA in Journalism. Sigh.

This is mainly just a written flow of the thoughts that have been weighing upon my mind this summer as I question everything I've done for the past 2 years. Having said that though, if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

Needing a Good Read? Great!

The last few days have been really sweet with seeing some amazing friends of mine. However, I have something different to share with you today.

I was just reading the latest blog on Blood:Water Mission's site. It got me to thinking of a novel I read earlier this year. I've been wanting to do some book reviews for awhile and I think this is a good time to start and a great novel to start with.

The Calling by Elizabeth Hankins is a book that captivated me on my December travel to Acuña, Mexico. Here's the synopsis which you can find on the authors website:

Chicago Tribune columnist Mera Kaine has overcome tremendous abuse and pain — experience that’s made her a passionate champion of human rights. But when her best friend’s religious ambition turns to violence, Mera is left with a dark secret that keeps her running — right into the war-ravaged villages of Southern Sudan where she uncovers an epic conspiracy at the hands of a militant government and its sponsoring energy consortium. Then, just as unexpected hope finds her, Mera must choose between the life she’s always dreamed of and a final, deadly act that could help liberate a people.

I strongly suggest that you go read this if you have any interest in Africa for sure. I really enjoy reading, but rarely get drawn into the point where I'm captivated in such a way that I can't put it down. I must attempt to do every other daily routine action while engulfing myself in the literature. That is how I felt about The Calling. I finished in January. It is almost August and I'm still seeing the images I conjured up in my mind as I was reading and meditating on the words Elizabeth Hankins penned that cut down to my soul. Incredible. Go, grab a cup of tea and sit in your favorite comfy chair and read this. You won't regret it.