here we go

here are my favorite photos of my brother, jared's wedding.  i could write a paragraph about each one, but i will let them speak for themselves.

thanks jared and maria for letting me share these.  all photos by josh goleman.  go look at his website.

(photos by josh goleman, cinematographer and photographer)

everything?

Philippians 2:12-16

 ^12-13"What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

 ^14-16Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I'll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You'll be living proof that I didn't go to all this work for nothing."

eesh.  

i've been thinking a lot about complaining lately.  when is it okay?  who are okay people to 'vent' to?  i sat here yesterday and couldn't even write a blog post that wasn't made up solely of complaints.  

today as i sit in the same seat, i keep mulling philippians 2 around in my head.  we had a steve green kid's sing-a-long video at our house growing up, and i still remember most of the songs.  "do everything without complaining" song still shows up in my rote memory once in a while.  (the 'keep your tongue' song from psalm 43 could get stuck in your head for DAYS). but today, i sort of stopped in my tracks when i realized it said do everything without complaining?  oh suck. 

i actually went to biblegateway.com to make sure that was correct, and hoping for an 'out'.  that maybe they had overstated it for impact in the kids song.  but nope.  so where does that put us?  complaining is my extracurricular activity.  isn't that how a lot of us utilize these forums?  (blogs, twitter, facebook?).  

today i'm praying i'll stop looking for excuses to be restless and discontent.  stop giving myself permission to be annoyed.  isn't the idea of God having "good cause to be proud" of us sufficient motivation?  cause right now, my heart doesn't feel edified, it feels polluted.  

God make me a breath of fresh air.  

another shallow post

i shop online a LOT. window shop. i rarely buy more than one item of clothing at a time, and i can't remember the last time i bought anything that was not on clearance or some kind of crazy sale.

i've been watching some great etsy stores for the last few months, and have had my eye on a couple of things for the late summer/early fall. today, i bit the bullet and purchased the skeleton of my fall wardrobe. wanna see?

wanna know whose style i like the most of anyone right now? my sister-in-law's. maria's eye for clothes is perfect, and i'd copy everything she wore if that weren't weird.

anyway, i'm excited about my two vintage purchases, and all my basics came for forever 21. oh, unfortunately, maria just got a job at anthropologie. it's only unfortunate for our debit cards. fortunate in EVERY.OTHER.WAY. so cute accent clothes, will be coming from there:)

and target, and flea/thrift.

links:

santoki vintage

ramona west

must go! have a great weekend, everyone.

[have i said to look at cupcakesandcashmere yet? you should. interesting.]

boniver+hair

listening to blindsided by bon iver right now. [here you go, this song might make you cry] i love them for a sleepy thursday.  [nope, any day].  i'm getting my hair cut tomorrow.  so let's talk through it.  [the rest of this post may be hair related, just a warning].  

here's where i'm at right now:

there's a weird tale on the back, you see it [no, not my foot]?  gotta fix that.  so here is what i'm thinking..

not much different, just a little shape-a-doo.  

except the front will have to be altered some.  here's my what i'm thinking for the front:

deconstructed, messy, razored pieces.  my hair doesn't look good 'neat'.  i love michelle williams' style.  a LOT.  

if you guys could take cues from any celebrity, regardless of face shape/length of hair/impracticality who would it be?  

also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY P!!!!!!

food

over the next couple of weeks, i'll be buying three cookbooks that have been on my list for a while.  here they are:

i am really excited about this one.  i've been making a weekly trip to the farmer's market since i moved here, and there is some produce that i'm just not sure how to use (to its fullest potential), and i'd really like to be able to make meals for the whole week off of what i get there on fridays/saturdays.  

along those same lines, i would like to know how to do some basic jams, sauces, and other things that can be canned for the fall/winter.  

cue this book:

canning is something i know NOTHING about, but would like to learn.  

finally, the most elusive skill:  bread baking.  so hard.  i've never found a truly successful recipe/way of making homemade breads.  but i'm going to give this book a shot:

so that's my latest project.  

[hoping to borrow j&m's camera and document my progress]

let's begin

i don't have much time, as i have to squeeze in a shower during nap #2 today, because i'm going out for social purposes this evening.

let's get down to it.  i recently came to the realization that the majority of men/boys that play the guitar are not nice (read- douche bags).  today i actually googled 'guitar playing douche bags', and this is what came up:

Guitar Douchebag
Guitar Douchbag is the guy who goes to a party and pulls ALL the tail due to his guitar playing “skills.” So say some guy is there and being all charming and telling jokes and is the life of the party, then guitar douchebag comes in and sits down in the corner with his guitar and starts strumming a few notes, then goes into full on song with lyrics. You don’t even really need to know how to play well. You really only need to mix in like 3 chords, you can even make up the song on the spot. The panties will drop faster than the eye can see.I was the life of the party, everyone was loving my jokes, then guitar douchebag came in and stole all the chicks right from under us.

thank you urban dictionary. and sorry about the panty comment.  

i have a modicum of personal experience with guitar players.  one (that i liked at the time) said to me, "now, you have a certain image to uphold if you're dating someone who plays in our band".  yeah, i'll uphold an image.  just maybe not the one you were hoping for.  ooph, i was clueless in my youth.  

in all seriousness, i'm not trying to say that every man-boy that plays a guitar is a jerk.  because i can name several that are not.  but, out of concern for my personal safety, when it comes to matters of the heart, i have decided to steer clear of the skinny jeaned, guitar playing guy in the corner.  

evidence?  but of course:

i believe this speaks for itself?  am i right?

now, here's a question:

how did this, end up with..

THIS?

it's gotten so bad that you don't even have to be in the rolling stones to be considered a hot commodity.  if you're ugly and in the rolling stones, okay, i guess i get it.  but this?

let's see what his wife looks like:

obviously.

i believe that i have sufficiently proven my point.  i don't think any of us needs a guy who in the back of his mind always believes he's going to make it big and marry a girl from 'the girls next door'.  right?

i mean, even this guy is pretty convinced:

look at him, he knows.  

thus endeth the guitar player theory.

would you?

i've had a small number of you ask "why no guitar players?"

shall i respond to that later today?  yes, later we'll talk about my guitar-player theory.  hold on to your hats.

Well

Here's the thing, I never want to write a blog that just blandly states what I do or did on a certain day, that's no fun for anyone. And seeing as my days are rigorously scheduled, my "updates" would look like a study in Stepford Wife-esque behavior.

So, sometimes I've got nothing, most of the time I've got nothing.

Like right now, I can't get the friggin cable to work, and I put the babies down for a nap, and should go down and clean up from breakfast, but nope, I'm sitting here on my phone, talking to you about how I have nothing to say.

I need some spice in my life (as cjane would say). Right now I would even settle for a spicy meal. Anything other than barbeque. (Jared, come get some of that stuff).

I'm in a rut, but not even a bad one, just a comfortable one.

And no, I don't think I need a boyfriend to come pick me up out of my rut, if that's what you were thinking (Jessi:)).

I need to discover some more time in my day, or find more energy somehow to liven things up.

I need to go join the Y, which I've been saying I'm going to do for a month.

I need someone to salvage my hair from the abyss of suckiness, and I need to..

I don't know, join a tribal dance class or something..or maybe I do just need a boyfriend. 

But, guitar players need not apply.

blogs/music/other things

here are some things i'm liking these days:

cup of jo(joanna goddard, her personal blog, she's a freelance writer in nyc)

urban weeds(pictures taken of people walking down the street in portland, OR)

getting dressed each day(mom who challenged herself to post pictures of her outfits every day, good accountability..?  not sure, but she dresses super cute)

the whispertown 2000

and dolly parton.

okay, someone smells so bad, my nose actually hurts.  must tend to that.