Sunday, November 30, 2008

3-Day Pictures

I've finally resized, uploaded, sorted, culled and captioned all of my pictures from the Breast Cancer 3-Day last weekend! I deleted enough pictures from other Picasa folders to get the majority of the pictures loaded (there were actually about 360 total, if you can believe it), but I couldn't make room for all of the videos on the site, so those that didn't make it to Picasa will eventually make it to YouTube so that I can share them all! Only one has finished uploading to YouTube so far, but it's a pretty funny (and slightly startling) video, I think.



These girls wore outrageous outfits like this every day, most of which didn't cover much of their bodies! I love the family with all the boobs on their hats too--they were great! Hopefully by tomorrow morning there will be more than just this one!

So here is the full slideshow of all the pictures and a few other videos. If you'd like to view the slideshow a little bigger, you can visit my Picasa page directly by clicking here. I hope to write more about the walk very soon, but the pictures should give you a pretty good idea of what an amazing time we had!

Our Missouri Miracle

This morning I'm re-watching the second half of yesterday's incredible, amazing, stupendous football game against those awful Missouri Tigers. We skipped church this morning, not because I wanted to watch the game again, but because Chad is sick in bed and I didn't get home until 12:30 this morning after going to a wedding/reception in Junction City/Abilene last night. Wouldn't you know that during the best/last game of the year I'd have to be getting ready for a wedding! I watched most of the second half out of the corner of my eye while blow-drying my hair, putting on make-up and getting dressed, and then actually had to leave the house before the game was over--missing the most incredible final drive in KU football history!

This game was flippin' amazing on so many levels. First of all, no one, including our own fans, thought we had a real chance at winning this game. We were 14 point underdogs, had lost 4 out of our last 5 games, and had been dealing with some serious injuries to several of our star players. I knew it was possible that we could win, but certainly didn't think it was probable. That will certainly teach me to doubt my beloved Jayhawks!

The game was such an incredible team effort with so many key contributors. I could go on and on about Reesing's seemingly impossible scrambling and ridiculously high completion percentage. I could talk forever about Stuckey's two amazing interceptions and awesome tomahawk chop that caused a huge fumble. I could write paragraphs about Briscoe's many crazy catches destined for the ESPN highlight reels, and his incredible yardage gained on kickoff returns--a position he hadn't even played all year. I could blab about my boy (and fellow Mustang) Sharp and his big 19 yard touchdown run. I could give a shout out to Laptad and his tenacious pursuit of that whiny, tantrum-throwing MU quarterback. I could talk with amazement about Meier, who was always moving to make himself available, who was pretty much a one man show on that final incredible drive. I could mention all the other amazing KU receivers--Fields, Wilson and Herford--who all made key catches at critical times. I could heap praise on Rojas, who hadn't really punted well all year but managed to pin Mizzou back on multiple occasions and avoid the amazing Maclin like the plague at the same time. I could mention the offensive line, who did a much better job of protecting Reesing than they had in so many games this year. I could talk about my favorite defensive player James "Steve Holt!!" Holt, and his big sack and his persistent one handed tackle of Maclin by the back of his jersey. And I could definitely describe, with the utmost respect, our tough-as-nails kicker Brandstetter, who TWICE saved a probable touchdown (the last one that would have given MU a win) by drilling Maclin like a linebacker on a Mizzou kickoff return. Obviously, I could go on and on and on and on.

Watching the dramatic finish this morning, after having to celebrate alone driving in my car yesterday (screaming like a crazy person and pounding on my steering wheel), my eyes are still filled with tears of joy. We couldn't have asked for a more amazing end to our regular season, for a better college football game in general.

If you weren't lucky enough to get to watch the game yesterday, you can check out the recap from the KU Sports website here or the photo gallery here!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Twilight Obsession

Today was going to be my day to get caught up on blogging about the 3-Day and getting all the pictures posted. Instead I spent about 90% of my day reading. I finally broke down and the other night and bought the first book in the Twilight series, after hearing so many of my friends talk about it for so long. My friend Erin suggested it would be a great thing to read on our trip to Salina yesterday, and my curiosity got the best of me, so I started reading on our drive yesterday morning. By the evening drive home, I was already obsessed so much that I was reading by the light of my cell phone since I didn't have a flashlight!

We got home and I continued to read until about 12:30 this morning, then woke up at 7:30 and started reading immediately! I managed to finish the book within my first few waking hours, fully intending not to start the second book immediately. My obsessive nature with books is why I don't read them more often! Unfortunately, I talked to Erin, who mentioned a sample draft of the latest book online, which is actually just a retelling of the story I'd just read, only from a different character's perspective. I thought it would be just a few chapters, so I thought I'd read it really quickly, and was completely into it already when I realized it was 264 pages long! Unfortunately I have no self control and couldn't stop what I'd started, so I read off and on all day until I finished the excerpt, even though I knew full well what was going to happen!

I did get a couple of other things done today--several loads of laundry, the dogs walked, the 3-Day pictures resized, the KU game watched. For the most part though, I was pretty worthless. My worthlessness became even more apparent as my persistent husband worked the entire day to restore our laptop to working order after we picked up a virus. His tenacity on the project was extremely impressive. It's only because of his diligence that I'm able to blog tonight from the comfort of bed! Thanks, best friend!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Picture Problems

Tonight I was so excited to load all of my pictures from our trip and post a slideshow to the blog. Unfortunately, once I loaded the pictures onto the computer, I realized that the new camera was set to such a high picture quality that my folder of 3-Day pictures won't even come close to fitting on my Picasa page!! Argh! I'm so bummed--the trip was amazing and I can't wait to share! I guess maybe I'll look into making a Flickr page or something tomorrow to see if I can find another website on which to post the pictures. For now, here are just a couple of sneak peeks--us freezing before the opening ceremony started and a very happy us after closing ceremonies!

The other bummer about my pictures is that a bunch of them turned out kind of blurry. Granted, I was walking and taking pictures at the same time, which isn't exactly a recipe for steady shooting, but I think maybe there was some sort of setting that was making the autofocus area super small in certain cases--I just can't figure out what it was! Maybe I should have actually read the camera manual on the plane to California or something!

Regardless, the trip was great. My mom did awesome and walked the entire 60 miles without hitching a ride (like hundreds of other walkers do)! I am so proud of her and had so much fun with my brother. I hope to have pictures and to share more of the details very soon!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We're Here!!

I really meant to post a goodbye message last night before we left for our trip today, but as I was frantically getting packed and prepared, blogging fell by the wayside. Thanks to my brother's laptop and wireless Internet access at our hotel, I'm blogging to you tonight from sunny San Diego! It's been a long day which started at 3:45 this morning, and since we have to get up at 4 a.m. again tomorrow, it's now about 8 p.m. and I'm already in bed. Don't laugh--we have a big day tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Basketball Season Begins

Last night's basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse would have been awesome to see since our very young team played well and our National Championship banner was raised for the first time. We actually had a neighbor offer us tickets a few hours before the game, but I'm so swamped with last minute preparations for our trip tomorrow (and my dear husband is so dedicated to helping me) we didn't feel like going was even an option. However, I was lucky enough to get to see the game on Sunday because my friend LaRisa invited me to go! Since we haven't yet decided to commit the necessary time and finances to be KU basketball season ticket holders, we're always thankful when friends and coworkers invite us to go along to the games!

While the game itself wasn't terribly exciting on Sunday, I have to admit I got goosebumpy and teary-eyed when I watched the new '08-'09 intro video. I should have used my new camera to record the video, but even though I forgot, another wonderful KU fan remembered and posted it on YouTube the next day. Check it out!



In the immortal words of Tommy Boy, "That...was...awesome."

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Beautiful Bracelets

If you're a Dooce.com reader, you can think of this as the Daily Style section. Except that I have no style and I don't post something stylish daily. Oh, and I'm not funny like Heather Armstrong and I don't have a gajillion readers. Other than that, this is just like Daily Style.

Last Friday night (like over a week ago--I'm slow) I went to my friend Kristin's house because she was having her almost annual jewelry party where she sells the beautiful, one-of-a-kind, handmade beaded jewelry that she designs and makes. A couple of years ago my friend Amber and I went to the party and came home with all sorts of wonderful goodies, for ourselves and to give as Christmas gifts. This year Kristin had all sorts of fabulous new designs and I spent at least an hour perusing all of her creations. Even though I don't generally wear a ton of jewelry (I don't even have my ears pierced, if you can believe it), I absolutely love bracelets. I feel naked without a bracelet most of the time, and lucky for me, Kristin had lots of bracelets!

I probably should have been shopping just for Christmas gifts, but I couldn't resist these two bracelets for myself. Aren't they gorgeous??


My pictures probably don't do them justice, but I assure you--they're beautiful!

I had invited a few of my friends to go with me at the last minute, and although no one could go, a couple of people asked me if Kristin had a website. She doesn't, but when I saw her on Friday I talked to her about starting an Etsy store, so hopefully they'll be a place you can buy her jewelry online very soon!

If I have enough friends interested, I could also host a jewelry party at my house, which might also be kind of fun! It wouldn't be like other jewelry parties where you receive a pitch from a salesperson, but rather just a gathering of friends shopping together in sort of a small boutique where the designer is right on the premises! Kristin is so accommodating that she'll even custom make or adjust jewelry for you right on the spot. Several times at her party she added beads to bracelets that weren't quite big enough or made a similar design for someone that was just in a different color than one she'd already done. She's really quite amazing! When I got home, even Chad said "Where does she get the ideas for all of these?"

If you live in the Lawrence area and might be interested in a jewelry party, let me know!

Monday, November 17, 2008

How Big Is Will??

Chad and I saw this on Good Morning America the other day and we could not stop laughing. How cute is this??



I don't think Will's mom will mind that I've plastered him all over the Internets now that he's already been made famous on YouTube and GMA!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Wild Weekend

With all of the trip planning, trip shopping, trip preparing, tailgating, footballing, walking, housecleaning, UFC watching, more walking, sheltering, photographing, and basketballing this weekend, there was absolutely no time for blogging until now. Actually there's not much time for blogging now either, since it's almost 11 and I'm completely pooped.

Amidst the busyness, one of the highlights of this weekend was a lovely gift from my husband that I came home to on Friday--a new point and shoot camera. Specifically, it's a Canon Powershot SD880. I've been researching Powershots for quite some time--probably since our friends James and Beth got one when they moved to Guatemala! This was the one that Chad and I had pretty much decided on (there are like 13 Powershot models), but I had no idea he was going to get it before my trip to San Diego! My old point and shoot could fit into my purse pretty well when the big camera wasn't an option, but it was about 4.5 years old, which is pretty ancient in the world of electronics! It had some pretty major scratches on the lens too, and it generally smells like dirty dogs since I've been using at the shelter for the last year or so.

Anyway, while the game yesterday wasn't exactly what we hoped for, I did have fun trying to figure out my new camera!



My favorite feature, as you might have guessed, is the "color accent" setting where you can make everything black and white except for just one color. I love it!! Maybe that will get old after a while, but right now I'm obsessed!

While I'm kind of focusing more on the pictures than on the game here, I do have to say that I was SO proud of our defense yesterday. They had played pretty poorly most of the season, and yesterday they totally stepped up and got some HUGE stops. It was such a bummer that on the one day our defense was playing well our offense couldn't make anything happen! Considering how much our defense was on the field, the fact that they gave up 35 points to the number 3 team in the country was actually very impressive! I just felt so bad for them that the offense couldn't help them out at all! It's like the opposite problem that we've had most of the year, but I really think a lot of offensive issues were do to injuries. It was obvious that Todd and Kerry were both playing injured, and Jake was out of the game for quite a while as well. We just need everyone to get healthy again if we're going to have a shot at upsetting Missouri in two weeks! I know it's not likely, but hey--a girl can dream!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Monkey Feet

After watching KU get beat on Saturday, Chad and I went out to Target to do a little shopping to lift our depression. Okay, maybe that was me shopping to lift my depression--Chad was just along for the ride. Regardless, while browsing through the sock area I saw something that I asked Chad to put on my Christmas list. Since he was afraid he wouldn't remember by the time he got around to doing his Christmas shopping (don't Blackberrys have some sort of notepad feature?) he insisted that we just fork out the $13 for my heart's desire right then and there. And so every night since, I've been wearing these:


I have always loved monkeys (some of you might remember my dear stuffed monkey Huey), so when I saw these my heart just melted. I tried them on and they have the puffiest, squishiest, comfiest bottoms. As soon as I get home in the evening I put them on and walk around singing "monkey feet, monkey feet, monkey feet" for no apparent reason. I love love love love my new monkey feet.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day

I'm going to be a total copycat tonight because a) I'm tired and b) my friend Amber posted something so wonderful on her blog today that I also want to share. I am the second to admit (Amber being the first) that I didn't think much at all about Veterans Day today. I have been completely consumed with 3-Day stuff and I'm ashamed that I haven't stopped to think about and honor our nation's soldiers and veterans, including my own cousins currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. If only I could be more like the guy featured in this video.



What a wonderful person, setting a wonderful example of how all of our veterans and soldiers should be loved and honored.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Life Without Limbs

There have been many days in the last few years that I've come home from work in a very bad mood because of back pain. I get super frustrated sometimes that I can't find anything that will fix my bulging disc or keep it from controlling my life. From now on, I think whenever I have a really crappy day and am feeling particularly sorry for myself and my back problem, I should watch this video. This amazing man absolutely puts my problems into perspective.



The life that Nick Vujicic was dealt is so unimaginable to most of us, and what's even more unimaginable is the amazing attitude he has about his life! At 25 years old this incredible young man has accomplished more than many people will in a lifetime. He is the president of an international non-profit ministry called Life Without Limbs, and also has his own motivational speaking company called Attitude Is Altitude. There are literally hundreds of videos about him on YouTube in many different languages. He inspires people around the world with his story, his humor, his positive attitude and his smile, and he inspires me as well!!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Forty Years and Counting

I haven't had the urge to blog about KU football much this year. I think it's because every game has been on TV, and it seems silly for me to blab about games that everyone has already seen. Today's game against Nebraska was actually only available on pay-per-view, so when our friend Mike invited us to come to KC to watch the game with him, we took him up on the offer.

Unfortunately, the game didn't turn out quite the way we'd hoped--our 40 year losing streak in Lincoln continues. We really needed this win, since it's very highly unlikely that we'll actually win our last two games against Texas and Missouri. We'll probably end up being 6-6 now at the end of the season, which means that we might not even make it to a bowl game!

Our offense today wasn't terrible, but our freakin' defense was ridiculously bad. How could we let a team like Nebraska, who isn't even that great anymore, put 45 points on the board against us?? Our defense was like a sieve. I'd kind of been thinking that our defense was so much worse this year because we'd lost so many players from last year, but our friend Mike pointed out that we have 9 of the 11 defensive starters back from last year. Mike's take is that since clearly these guys didn't forget how to tackle in the last year, the difference must be the loss of one of the defensive coordinators. Mike played football at Baker University and was a graduate assistant coach at Washburn, so he kind of knows what he's talking about, and play after play he points out defensive coaching mistakes. I hadn't previously realized that the coaching staff had changed and so few of the players actually had, so I think maybe Mike has a point!

There was one play of the game that was definitely worth watching again, which Chad thinks we'll probably see on SportsCenter for years to come. In case you missed it, an awesome KU fan has already put it on YouTube!



Sparky is one tough dude!!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Fall Foliage

Last week and the week before, every time I got in the car and drove to or from work I had just one thing on my mind: the amazingly gorgeous fall leaves. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the leaves were absolutely fantastic. All I wanted to do was jump out of my car and take pictures. All I could think about was capturing all that fleeting beauty with my camera. It was one of those times that I wish I didn't have a job so I could just walk around Lawrence snapping photos all day long. I seriously think I could have spent an entire day doing just that--walking around and shooting pictures of leaves!

Over my lunch hour one day early last week I took a few pictures in our yard, and then finally at the end of the week I took a walk around the block and snapped some shots of some of the neighbors trees. I added a few more from our tree to the "roll" earlier this week, but after a super blustery day today, many of the lighter colored leaves have blown down and a lot of these trees are now completely naked! I'm so glad I was able to capture some of the beauty before it all blew away.

I hope you enjoy the fall beauty as much as I do!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

History, Hope and Healing

I keep saying I don't like politics, but I guess for someone who doesn't like politics I've been blogging a whole lot about politics lately! Really, it's been sort of hard to avoid in 2008. Although I'm hoping that this will be the last politically related post for quite some time, I really feel like I can't let this day go by without acknowledging that history was made yesterday.

I guess I always thought we could potentially elect an African-American president in my lifetime, but that doesn't make this event any less exciting or make me any more proud of America's choice. The fact that 52% of our nation was able to look beyond skin color and pick the candidate that they felt was best qualified seriously brings a tear to my eye.

My hope now is that our country can begin healing. The political process is so polarizing and causes such animosity between friends and neighbors and coworkers that it pains me. I want our country to be unified once again! I hope that all Americans will at least attempt to embrace President Obama, at least give him a chance to change this country for the better. Whether you agree with his policies or not, you have to admit that he is an amazingly intelligent man, an amazingly powerful speaker, an amazingly inspiring person and an amazingly poised leader. He is so positive and hopeful about making the changes that our country so desperately needs. I just pray that the 48% that didn't vote for him will at least try to focus on the positives and give him a chance. He needs the support of all Americans and he needs our prayers!

If you missed his speech last night, you can watch the whole thing here on Hulu.com. If you want just a taste of his speech, here are just a few of my favorite parts:

"We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

---

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

---

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

---

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too."

History has been made, and I'm hopeful for change and the healing of our nation!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

The Chapman Church

Over the weekend my mom and I took a short trip to her tiny hometown of Chapman, Kansas. Chapman is sort of in between Salina and Manhattan and was relatively unknown until a tornado hit the town on June 11 of this year. We'd seen much of the resulting devastation when we were back for my uncle's funeral a few weeks ago. The center part of the town doesn't even look the same since all of the old houses are completely gone. The house where my mom's grandparents used to live and about 59 other homes were completely destroyed and have since been razed.

Two of the three churches in town were badly damaged as well, including the church where my mom grew up. Mom was baptized, confirmed and married in the Lutheran church in Chapman, and my grandmother's funeral was there as well. When the news came last week that what's left of the 119-year-old church building would be torn down soon, Mom and I decided to go to the disposition service on Sunday.

It was a nice service which commemorated the history of the church and yet reminded the parishioners that the church building isn't what makes a church body. They opened a time capsule and looked through most of the items inside. It was a beautiful day, despite the wind that threatened to blow away the fragile papers from the time capsule! Hopefully the service helped many people say goodbye the church and will help them move on to the next chapter in the life of their congregation.

Before and after the service I took tons of pictures of the building and of the town--some of the damage and some of special memories for my mom. Strangely enough, there was actually a picture of me taking pictures in the Salina Journal the next day. Had the photographer not asked my name for the paper, however, I don't think I would even be sure it was a picture of me! I'm certainly not that tall and thin in real life!

After the service, Mom and I finished our 10 mile training walk for the day walking around Chapman, visiting homes and sites from her childhood. I especially enjoyed our visit to the city park and pool, where I spent many hours playing as a child while visiting my grandma, uncle and cousins. We stopped by the home of my grandmother's best friend, who is an amazing 97 year old woman who looks like she's 80! We stopped by the site of my great-aunt Edna's home, which was next to the home where my mom lived until she was five. Edna's home was also was the first house in town hit by the tornado. On the way out of town, we stopped back by the site and took some pictures, getting busted by the new owner, who wasn't very happy about us being on his property! Once we told him we were relatives of Edna's, he was very kind and stood and talked quite a while. He talked about how the tornado moved Edna's house into his living room across the street, and how he came over to the remains of her home after the storm fully expecting that she had been killed. She was so lucky to have survived!

Our visit to Chapman was quite an enjoyable lesson in the history of my mom's childhood, and I had a great time taking pictures, and yet it also made me very thankful I didn't grow up in a town of 1300 people! Enjoy the pictures of our day below!

Sick Voting

Although I'm home sick again and have spent most of my day here in bed, I did actually go down to our polling place to cast my vote this afternoon. I have my sticker to prove it!


Thankfully there was no line at all because our polling place is so tiny. I think I was the 292nd person to vote there at 1:30 p.m. And yes, I did go out in public looking like this, with no makeup or contacts. I know it's frightening, but I did at least shower before leaving the house!

Monday, November 03, 2008

The Show

Okay--I'm finally posting the long awaited review about the highly anticipated Old 97's show from over two weeks ago. Please don't take my delay in blogging about the event as evidence that the show wasn't good--it was terrific! I've just been trying to give such an important post the time and effort it deserves--and finding adequate time is definitely a problem lately! Today I finally finished it while I was home sick in bed. It's kind of sad that I'm using sick days to get caught up on my life!

Obviously I was extremely excited about this concert despite the fact that I've seen the 97's live on six previous occasions. In my opinion, one can never see the 97's too many times. As always, they put on an amazingly energetic show. It's hard to believe that these four guys who are all older than I am can still rock out so hard for two solid hours. Never do they slow down! They played a lot of stuff from their latest album, which I'm a big fan of, but that also meant that a lot of my old favorites got bumped from the rotation, which was a bummer. I missed Four Leaf Clover--my favorite song in the world! Is it bad to wish your favorite band ever wouldn't put out another album so that I could hear more of my favorite old songs at their concerts? That's probably not very good logic at all. They did play Niteclub, which is also one of my favorites that I didn't get to hear at their last show I saw in KC.

Another highlight of the show was getting introduced to a new opening band that was really good called The Spring Standards. They were good musicians with great voices and wonderful harmonies. I really enjoyed them live--much more so than in the studio. I bought their CD after the show, along with a new 97's t-shirt, which I put on immediately for our group picture with our favorite Salina family--the Fellers! No 97's show would be complete with out the presence of at least 4 members of the Fellers clan!

There were only a few things that were missing from this show at the Granada. First, although they played a tons of songs off the latest release, they didn't play my two favorites--Here's To The Halcyon and The One (which is actually an old song that had just never been released on a real album). I didn't get to see them live, but thanks to YouTube you can watch them here and here!




Okay, back to the Lawrence show. The second thing that was missing from the Granada was a big crowd. The crowd was not totally embarrassing, but the place was certainly not packed. We've seen them fill much bigger venues, so I just felt really bad for the band that the place wasn't bursting at the seams! I think part of the lameness of the crowd was due to the fact that KU wasn't in session that Thursday night or Friday, although I really don't know how much college kids listen to the 97's these days. I know it being a weeknight didn't help the adult crowd get there either. I felt so bad for the band, and I also felt personally responsible that the crowd kind of sucked because I had tried so hard to promote the show! The one good thing about having a mediocre crowd was that it was pretty easy to stand on the floor, super close to the stage. Being able to see the boys rock out close up is one of the best parts of seeing the 97's in the first place!

As a direct result of the crowd being slightly small, I think a lot of the normal witty banter between Rhett and the fans was missing as well. Rhett seemed particularly quiet this show, and I couldn't help but worry that he was secretly a little disappointed in the turnout. His relative silence was probably partially because they are just freakin' tired at this point. They've been on tour for almost a year I think! They've got to be pooped, and yet they still rocked out like there was a packed house and their tour had just started! I love it that they always give 100% and never phone in a show! I'm already trying to convince Chad that we should drive down to Dallas and see them again on December 30th! :)

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Scary Sights

These pictures are a little late for the holiday, but since I didn't actually take them until Friday evening this was my first chance to post them. If you've been reading my blog since the beginning you might remember that a couple of years ago I blogged about this house a block or so away from us where the people put out crazy Halloween decorations. I mean really crazy. I tried to take a few pictures back then, but the pictures really didn't do the whole display justice since I was driving by in a car using a small point and shoot camera.

The crazy Halloween display, which is actually technically outside of town since we live right near the city limit, has grown more expansive with every passing year. This year, they actually charged a fee to let people walk through on Halloween. While we didn't walk through the haunted maze, I did walk down the street to snap a few pictures before it got too dark on Friday. I think now you'll see why I think the whole thing is quite creepy!!



Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that decorating your yard like this entirely normal!!