gentle part of town

This is a gentle part of town
- run down.
Papers blow about the street,
people walk on tired feet,
discount stores, a place to eat,
hardware, garden stuff and such:
shabby. No, there isn't much
to see. And yet,
here's a part I can't forget.
It isn't something
I just feel:
but folks are folks here,
folks are real,
folks are simple,
folks are kind,
if you don't buy much,
they don't mind.
It's just a gentle part of town
- run down.

- By Ruth Bell Graham,
in Sitting by My Laughing Fire, a collection of her poems

(I got that book for free from the BGEA several years ago,
and I am SO glad I did. Her writing is vulnerable and strong,
and the accompanying photographs and images are beautiful.
This photo, however is mine - taken near Independence, TX.)

The latest

baylor upsidedown, originally uploaded by leli jo.

Garret and I spent some of Valentines Day in Independence, taking photos. i was happy with how they turned out. This double exposure above turned out really trippy! And this cutie is one of my new favorite photos ever.

I've started a new adventure: writing a faith-inspired wedding planning blog. So, one reason I've written a lot less here lately (and haven't made a new header - so sad!) is because I've been writing a lot on this new blog and trying to gather readers. It's called Every Good and Perfect, and you can read my explanation of why I'm writing it in this post.

Learning a lot of new things at work: budgets, proposals, reallocations, federal initiatives - all things that I was previously totally unfamiliar with! This has been challenging sometimes, but I'm still very grateful for my job. I can walk around outside at lunch, I work with wonderful people who treat each other like family, it has great benefits and holidays, and I'm learning lots of new and valuable skills!

And, drumroll.... Today was an extra excellent day for two reasons:
1. Garret got a job! He was hired at a reputable local cabinet manufacturer and he is SO excited. Praise the Lord! God is so faithful to provide, right when we reach our breaking point...

2. We're getting married in 99 days!!! To celebrate, I made Garret a list of 99 reasons why I can't wait to marry him, and he liked that a lot. It was really fun to write :)

Resolutionary

So, tonight I read a post about making fun New Years resolutions that you can keep on ohbrooke, and I thought that she made a good point. Although I probably won't do the example of buying one pair of shoes a month, I think it is a good idea to make some light-hearted goals right along with the more discipline-minded goals.

You know I've got my list of new goals going - spiritual, relational, physical... everything. Tried to keep it short-ish. I posted them in my room last night - wrote them on a normal sheet of paper, with a favorite verse from Isaiah on top, and then stuck it on the shinyshiny gold back of my last year's jumbo calender from China. Tonight when I got the idea to add fun resolutions, I added a smaller sheet of paper at the bottom, and then starting doodling all around on the gold. I think it will be a fun way to leave myself notes and pictures.


So, my additional, "fun" resolutions are:
- Weekly dance parties. Alone or with friends, watevs, no excuses! :)
- Find good clean fun ways to smile and have fun more often at work.
- Write for myself and for fun more often.

P.S. Made the new banner tonight. The photo reminded me of Nikki's post. I took it with my new Slim camera that my cousin got me for Christmas - yay!