A bunch of randoms and rambling...

Winter...spring...sometime in the beginning of 2011:

So, I'm having a blog identity crisis...

I read other people's blogs and they all seem to have a "theme". One friend blogs about the books that she has read this year (awesome blog if you want ideas on good reads. It's called A Year in Books).

Another friend blogs hilarious stories about her family and her little person. So entertaining.

I've read blogs of makeup reviews...although that was a one day gig about 6 months ago when I was in the market for new mascara. I don't really buy that much makeup to be honest. And blogs of travel adventures and yoga thoughts and advise for college planning. Every blog seems to have a purpose.

This blog originally started out as a "365 Project" where I was going to take a picture every day for a year and post it. A valiant effort, but not a successful one. May will be a year and this "project" will officially be over. But, I don't really want the blog to end (although it may have seemed to have died for a while there).

And so, here I am. In a blog identity crisis.

But here's the deal...I don't know that I want a blog identity. I like too many things...I want to blog about pictures I take and the random stories that go with them. But I also want to blog about books I've read or movies I've seen. Maybe about recipes I've tried. Or my DIY projects. Or the places I've traveled too. I want to blog about family and little people and giant dogs. So...when May rolls around and this 365 Project ends, perhaps a new chapter of blogging will begin.

In the mean time...here are some random pictures from the last couple months :)



Buck! Austin's new hero after watching his movie at the True/False Film Festival. Thanks to Lisa for the tickets!! It was AWESOME!! :)


When we were doing our pre-marriage counseling, one of the suggestions was to get involved with a joint ministry. Austin works with the senior high class at church. I had volunteered in the kids classes in the past. I didn't really feel comfortable teaching a senior high class (Austin is the one with the gift of teaching) and so he agreed to come down to my world this semester. And so, we spend 2 Sunday's a month hanging out with about 30 3 year olds! It's one of the most entertaining hours of my week. The most amusing part isn't the cute little kids. Nope, it's watching Austin interact with all the mini humans running around. My favorite quote thus far comes from our time in "large group" when we listen to the lesson for the day.

"No (pushes little kid who is trying to sit in his lab backwards). No...we don't do laps, Elliot. That's creepy. You sit cris-cross applesauce right here (pats the ground next to him)"

He's great during story time though :)


Totally random pictures that I took one day while sitting on the couch...I didn't feel like getting up so I just sat there snapping pictures playing with the manual settings on the camera. Proud of myself for doing all manual...even manual focus. I need to get a macro lens though so I can take more close up shots. That's gonna be my next project...to visit Columbia Photo and research lenses. As Austin would tell me "just put it on the list, Rachel" (since apparently there are quite a few "next projects" that I have mentioned...like shutters and a garden. But for real. A new lens is up there on the list :)


My homemade cake! I made it as a surprise for Austin one night. It was a little lopsided so you can see the icing on the front side is a little thicker than the back. :)


STL! Anheuser-Bush said "Come Visit Us!" and so we did....:)

Austin and I went up on Saturday (April 9) to visit his friend Adam Stevens and Adam's girlfriend Whit, who were in town for the 1/2 marathon (the same 1/2 marathon that Austin thought that we could do also, but when I asked about training his reply was "it's not that big of a deal, it's not like you really have to train..". Needless to say, we did not run the 1/2 marathon :)).

I stayed Sunday- Tuesday for a counseling conference. The conference was downtown at the Four Seasons. The pic of the Arch is the view from the conference terrace. I did not stay at the Four Seasons though. That was a tad out of the CPS budget. So, I found a hotel through Expedia that was about 1/2 mile away. The walk took me about 7 minutes each way, so not bad at all. My husband was NOT happy about this arrangement though. Before he left he wanted to buy me pepper spray. I told him that I would be fine. I even promised to take a cab (although it was ridiculously expensive for a 1/2 mile trip) if it was dark. I also made the promise to call him every time I was making the trip to/from the conference.

On Monday night I made a mistake. There is an underground tunnel (the Lumiere Link) that goes from street level near the Edward Jones Dome to the Four Seasons so you don't have to attempt to cross the street by I-70. Obviously, underground you don't get good cell reception. So, I promised Austin that I would call him as soon as I made it to the casino on the other side of the tunnel. But I forgot to call. I was distracted by figuring out where to meet Matt, another counselor who was at the conference with me, for dinner. About 20 minutes later, Matt and I are at dinner discussing all the new ideas we have for college admissions guidance at RB when Matt gets a call. From Austin. My phone was on vibrate in my purse so I didn't hear it. Oops. I hear Matt say "yeah, she's right here, do you want to talk to her?" Then he says "Okay. Yeah man, no problem". And hangs up. Matt tells me that Austin's reply to the question "do you want to talk to her?" was "No. I'm just glad." I felt so bad! I have the best husband in the world though. It's good to know that I'm so well taken care of...and cared about :)


Conference perk...lunch catered from The Hill on Monday! :) And cute/fancy edible desserts! Unfortunately, they looked way better than they tasted.


Our little tree (that I thought was dead) is alive! And blooming! It doesn't grow...but it blooms :)

Okay...that's all the randoms and rambings for now...I should probably get back to work ;)