A Birthday in the Family

Birthdays are a special day and I wanted to do something a bit unique for my older sister, Charisa.

She requested a "Chipmunk" video like the one I recently posted.

Well... we did a couple Birthday versions of the Chipmonk Singers.


The Normal

And of course the traditional Birthday dirge by Dad...

Our traditions can get a little, how shall I put it,... different.

Giggles

There are those days...

An Hour Away

Valentine's Day is only an hour away!

My brother gave me this beautiful rose as a gift and I am going to show it off at work tomorrow!

From the Archives

Some days you don't feel like writing much....

Sometimes when I don't know what to do, I'll type "jpg" into my computer's internal browser just to see what it comes up with. Well, there are a LOT more pictures on my computer than I had thought! Here are a few that caught my attention by bringing back memories.








Here is one. The Leap of Faith.
That's not me but I did do that... jump off a really tall pole to try and reach the swinging bar. I never made it. But all the tall people did! Go figure.












Although a simple image, I love the texture and lines. I used this photograph as a layer in a video of a friend not so long ago.
The video is an original tune made by the pianist and you can see it at the bottom of this post. Enjoy.

This is one of my favorite pictures of a cross. I took this picture while in Florida one year on a Habitat for Humanity service trip with a group from my college.

And this is my Bible. It has gone with my everywhere.

And of course the cat, Tazzy.
She looked so comfy I almost zipped up the bag and took her with me. My sister named this rescue cat Tazzy after the cartoon Tasmanian Devil character because as a kitten she tore around the house at high speeds...

Here is the video I promised.

 

So there you go. A bit of history pulled from the digital archives. I should do this more often.

A Good Start

Although I have many grand ideas for videos I want to make... there is one on my mind of importance. A salvation testimony video of my younger brother, Ethan.

My pastor, Jonathan Purks of Victory Baptist Church, has encouraged the church to be working on personal testimony tracts. He also mentioned putting them in video form to place on the church's website.

Not very long ago I bought a software package that included a video editing program (Adobe Premiere) to become better acquainted with, and so my first project to be worked on is the story of my youngest brother coming to Jesus Christ one night a few years ago.  

Today my afternoon was spent setting up a studio in the basement and interviewing both Ethan and his dad, Dean. 

I believe the interviews went very well... until I realized with horror that I didn't hit record button on the audio!!!

Note to self: just because the red light is blinking does not mean that it is recording. 


Thankfully I noticed this before I got too far into the interviews. But the damage was done and I have learned from this very valuable mistake.


I am looking forward to editing and creating something from these two interviews... but it will probably take me a while as I'm a bit of a rookie at this editing software.

Wish me luck!

The Stolen Heirloom

You know, a movie isn't begun when camera starts rolling. It's a process that starts with an idea...

This weekend I came home with a great deal of equipment in tow. Why? Because I wanted to make a movie. I brought lights, cameras, a tripod,... everything I might need. 

What I didn't anticipate was all the planning. My sister Joanna and I have been brainstorming and storyboarding for the past 6 hours!

We have a beginning, a middle, and an end to our story about a stolen heirloom (that's the evil warlord's doing) and a ninja who sets out to get it back.

We've built the story around our resources and imagination. We have two willing actors to portray the multiple characters we created and it's supposed to be serious and funny... I think it's called sarcastic. :)

Although I had hoped to film tonight, it looks like that won't take place for a couple weekends because we have a long way to go on our storyboards and story development... but as I've learned in the production world: the better the pre-production planning, the smoother the production and post-production.

Hopefully us sista siblings will share the video with you when it comes out!


P.S.
Joanna taught me how to draw "angry eyes."
Now I can add that to my storyboarding skills! Yes!

Afraid of Heights? Not This Guy!

Do you ever go through life and wonder how you met all these crazy people? Oh I do.

Here is a person I've crossed paths with a few times... and this particular time I was able to capture in pictures what he really loves to do. You will find yourself asking incredulously why he does it.


Can you spot him?

Yup, that's him. Hanging perilously on the edge of the wing. He's wing-walking the old fashioned way, no straps to hold him in!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Chuck Tippett of the Flying Circus!
Now he's upside down!!

My favorite part was this moment after Chuck landed safely and his grandson comes running to his arms.









This little man is ready to fly just like his grandfather!





If you would like to see the amazing Chuck Tippett head on over to their website for a schedule of events and lots more!

The Flying Circus

(There are videos of Chuck flying too!)

A Promise Kept

Okay... some of you know quite well how much I love to take pictures and have seen my rather large Canon 50D camera. I came to love taking high quality photos so much that I lugged it around in my backpack while bike riding or going anywhere. I recently was given a nice little camera that fits in my purse and I can still take it with me everywhere without a huge camera bag hanging off my shoulder.

Now, that promise I made.

As you can see by my blog history, I haven't been blogging much until a couple days ago. One of the things I let get in my way of blogging was a lack of pictures because I stopped taking my camera everywhere. Now that I have a little camera I am out of excuses and my promise...

Well, my promise is not to worry so much about the quality of the camera but to focus on the ability of each picture to help tell a story. This is a challenge and I hope it works to get me out of my comfort zone and back into the art of photography.

So, with that bit of information out of the way, allow me to introduce a missionary who visited Victory Baptist Church this evening. His name is David Martin and he is a missionary to Argentina.

[ I must quickly say that I am grateful to the young lady sitting next to me who let me borrow her purple pen to take notes during the service.]

Something I find incredible about going to church is how God gives me exactly what I need for the coming days and confirms what he has already taught me.

For example:

One of the verses Bro. Martin began with made me stop in my tracks, at least my pen paused for a moment anyway.

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."
~ Psalm 42:5

This same verse crossed my mind yesterday while at work and I asked myself, "why art thou cast down?"

God has been perfect to me. I had no reason to be downcast. I took a break from work and went on a walk that I will not soon forget. God completely changed my attitude and cheered me up as only he can!

Bro. David Martin said a good many other memorable things but I will leave you with this quote:

We are free to make the choices we want,

but we are not free from the choices we make.

Please visit Bro. Martin's website for more information on his vision for Argentina.

Afraid to Walk?

Unfortunately there was a happening today in my area that caused a great deal of commotion.

An armed robbery occurred in the Frederick area near where I work.

Naturally there are many questions being asked.

    

But as far as I know the bad guys are still out there walking free... but with a guilty conscience.



Am I afraid to walk outside? No. Perhaps I should.



If you would like to see a video of the robbery follow this link:

Armed Robbery in Frederick

Back to the Wonderful World of Blogging

I bet if I hadn't made that the title of this blog you might not have noticed that I haven't written in quite some time.  Beside that little fact I am plunging back into the world of blogging with a bit of gusto.

I love adventure and I have a lot of it. I suppose the reason I have so many adventures is because I look for them. Like baking banana muffins.

Now, since I have not yet built up my kitchen with all sorts of cooking gadgets and various ingredients I am still baking from boxes of mix. Yes, I am being honest. Coming from a large family where putting together dinner meant tripling or quadrupling a recipe to now living on my own... I have very little motivation to pull out a book and buy everything to make it.

However, I do get some funny habits while no one is watching.  As you can see I like to eat the tops off the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.

I'm sure there will be some interesting stories to come.