My Olympic Dream Team

It came to me in a vision last night.

Michael Phelps should totally marry Nastia Liukin.


The American darlings of the 2008 Olympics could be the greatest couple known to mankind. Their wedding ceremony (presided over by Bela Karolyi, naturally), would be People magazine cover material. They could found a fashion company specializing in skintight jumpsuits, leotards, and more. They would then go on to have beautiful, long-limbed, flexible children with well-toned arms who would dominate in any sport involving water and/or acrobatics. The only thing standing in their way is a 13 inch height difference, but who cares when you have true love and a combined 128* Olympic medals?

Can someone over there in Beijing hook these two up? Today show, you all seem to talk to one of them every half hour. Let's make it happen, people.


(*figure slightly exaggerated)

Mmmmm shoes....

As if being less than one day away from the new X-Files movie wasn't wonderful enough, I also am the proud owner of not one but TWO new pairs of shoes. I'm not a big shoe nut by any means but I was literally incapable of leaving Payless yesterday without these two beauties. Shh, don't speak. Just bask in their adorableness.

Only 30 more hours

A Sad Day for STL

I'm not a big beer drinker, but Anheuser-Busch is sort of synonymous with St. Louis, so it was a bit of a bummer to read that they were officially sold to a Belgian company today.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/14/anheuser.inbev.ap/index.html

Pretty Good Day

Today, was a good day.

I baked brownies. With extra chocolate chips just because. And I displayed them on my new pink plaid platter from the Target clearance aisle.

I wore my favorite summer dress, which is long and beachy and made of the softest grey t-shirt material.

I listened to my Smalltown Poets cd, sang along with "Prophet, Priest & King" and remembered how much I love their music.

I went to our work pool party and laid in the sun and went swimming with my friends. And get this - Ben took the afternoon off and came to the party too!

We went and saw WALL-E. I am now in love with that movie. I cried at their adorable robot love.

I came home all tired and with sunkissed shoulders and as I was taking a shower I realized it was only Friday and the whole weekend was still before me.

Then I typed this blog.

And now I am going to go downstairs, get a glass of milk, and curl up next to Ben on the couch. I am going to thank God that he is not at Bonnaroo or working at his boss's house til 4 am, or any other place than here with me. And I am going to read my book of Ray Bradbury short stories until we get tired and go to bed.

And that, my friends, is a pretty great day.

Note to Self

Well, I heard you say you would love for a lifetime
And now you complain that a lifetime just doesn't feel right for you
Another casualty of casual love
Another soul out of place, a heart that gave up

Why do we break the promises we make?
Are we living for ourselves?

Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
When did it become so easy to run from your pain?
Don't give up on love and throw it all away

Well, I heard you say you can't change a stubborn heart
Yeah, I can relate, cause that's how I feel when I talk with you

Why should it take losing everything
To realize it might be time to change?

Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
When did it become so easy to run from your pain?
Don't give up on love and throw it all away

Your restless heart won't win
Cause you take, but you don't give
And you'll keep moving on until you learn what love is

-Sanctus Real "Don't Give Up On Love"

An Open Letter to Kraft

Dear Kraft Company,

Hello. My name is Amy, and like any sane person, I really love your Macaroni and Cheese product. So simple to make. So delicious and cheesy. I'm not really ashamed to say that I can eat an entire box by myself in one sitting. In fact, would you believe I'm eating some right now as I type this? True story.

However, through 25 years of existence on this planet, several of those years spent preparing this meal for myself and the many assorted children I've babysat, I've come to realize that this product is seriously flawed. Tonight it got so bad I had to write this blog about it.

Kraft, I am begging you... could you please redesign the $#&!*@! box?!! If anyone is reading this right now and you have ever successfully opened a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese using the directions on the box, come forward right now and identify yourself. Leave me a comment with step by step detailed instructions about where the heck I am going wrong. Maybe include a drawing or diagram? Because every time my box ends up in mangled shreds of cardboard.

The box has a little area marked on the short edge at the top, a lovely golden crescent upon which, from what I can gather, I am to place by thumb and press in. And in theory, the perforated section pushes in and I can tear the box top off. Easy as pie, right? Or so you'd like me to BELIEVE, people of Kraft. But what happens, and someone back a crazy girl up here, is that the pressure of my thumb just crumples the corner of the box. I must resort to picking at the glued down flap on the top or bottom, which no doubt rips off leaving the second layer of cardboard securely glued shut.

Surely you WANT me to get to the delightful and delicious contents, so why must it be like breaking into Fort freakin' Knox to get into the box?! When I occasionally have to pry the box open with a steak knife, hasn't it gone too far?

All over the world, every day, people are opening boxes used to store food. Crackers, cookies, even other types of pasta and rice. And you know what? It's never that hard. So I beg of you, take it back to the drawing board. I can send you a couple suggestions if you'd like. I'm especially fond of those where you grab the tab and rrrrrrrrrip, off comes the little strip and you can just pop the box right open. But I mean, whatever works for you guys, Kraft.

Remember, I'm not asking you to change what's on the inside, Kraft. No, don't you lay a hand on that recipe - it's timeless and perfect. But seriously. SERIOUSLY. Fix. The. Box.

Thank you,

Amy J


PS to readers... am I insane? Or am I right? I mean, I'm a college-educated young professional... surely I am not the only one unable to open a box of Mac & Cheese!?! You know what, just don't answer that. :)

Ellie's Run for Africa

Hello, world! I wanted to post a quick note about Ellie's Run for Africa, which is an event I have had the privilege of photographing for the past few years now. This is a great community event with a wonderful story behind it. A very sweet girl, Ellie, at age 10 heard a missionary speak at her church about his work in Africa. God stirred in her young heart a dream to raise money for the children she'd heard about, and with her passion behind it, Ellie's Run for Africa was born. The event is a 5K Cross Country Run and Family Fun Day held out at Percy Warner park here in Nashville. This year's event is on Saturday, June 14th. You can find out lots more about it at http://www.elliesrun.org/. If you're the athletic type, I would encourage you to sign up to run or walk the race. If you're not, then just bring yourself and your family out for the other activities. All the event proceeds will go to African Leadership, a ministry and missionary organization that works to fund education and health improvements for the world's poorest in places like the Kibera slum in Kenya.

Here's a video of Miss Ellie herself, telling you why you should be involved! C'mon out - I'll see you there, camera in hand!

Just Really Sad

This morning at work we found out the saddest news. One of Steven Curtis Chapman's children was killed in a horrible accident. Here is the story from the Tennessean:

Singer Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter is struck, killed by car
By LINDA ZETTLER and KATE HOWARD • Staff Writers • May 22, 2008

Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family's Williamson County home. Maria, one of the Christian singer's six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver's name. The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.

"It appears to be a terrible accident,'' McPherson said. No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.

Singer/songwriter Chapman, who recently was inducted into Music City Walk of Fame, is one of contemporary Christian music's most recognizable and most awarded names. He and his wife, Mary Beth, have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family. Maria was the youngest. The couple is so active in the cause that they formed an organization, Shaohannah's Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.

With his latest music tour, which came through Nashville in November, Chapman started a campaign called "Change for Orphans." He asked audience members at each stop to bring spare change to the concert, where it was counted and given to a local family to aid in their adoption process.

"I don't know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension," said John Styll, president of the Nashville-based Gospel Music Association. "He talks about his kids all the time. That's his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that's for sure."

The tragedy was announced during Wednesday-night services at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool. And word spread throughout the tight-knit Christian music community on Wednesday evening. Styll got the news not long after Maria's death.
"I'm confident I can speak for everyone in the community to say we will do everything we can to support this family, as we would do at any time, but especially at a time like this," he said.


What else is there but to believe that even in this, God is in control? There aren't any other words to say. Please pray for the Chapman family during this time. If you would like to make a donation to Shaohannah's Hope, you can visit www.shaohannahshope.org.

Funnies

I love www.toothpastefordinner.com. These three made me laugh this morning!