know the code.

Tonight I am at Timshel & Skip's manning the fort while they are out at a show. Easiest job ever. The boys are asleep, and I am catching up on some projects I need to get done. Just made a pot of coffee. I should be paying THEM for this. However, they are the sweetest berries in the bunch, and they know I'm broke, so they pay me anyway.
I had a hankering for some toast. Just some toast. I couldn't find the toaster, so I put the bread in the oven. I sat down with some coffee and got into a conversation with a friend in Seattle via ichat. Everything's all fun and games until you forget you've left something in the oven. For 20 minutes. I jumped up and ran into the kitchen and smoke had already begun to billow out of the cracks of the oven. I flung the door open and threw the charred pieces of toast in the garbage can and immediately started for the windows. The windows were all painted shut. Then I realized that if I didn't get to the smoke detector before the smoke did, the boys were going to be awake and I was going to be the one who was toast. I ran to open the front and back door and started wafting air at the smoke detector. It didn't do any good. The ceilings are tall, and the children's book I was waving around like a maniac wasn't any match for the thick smoke that was taking over the entire house. I then realized that I heard more beeping than just the smoke detector. The alarm!!!. I frantically tried to read the instructions on the inside of the cover, but it kept saying, "Press 1 + Code". Code...code... where's the Code button.... I just started pressing 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+ to at least stop the beeping. Nothing was working. I grabbed the phone and called Skip. No answer. I tried to see if I could just take it apart and figure it out later, I was NOT going to let the boys wake up. Skip calls back. I assured him everything was okay, it was just a little toast. He told me the alarm company had left a broken-up voicemail saying something about dispatch. I looked out the front door and saw the reflection of flashing red and white lights on the neighbor's windows from across the street. Oh no. I hung up with Skip and ran out to greet the firemen who could already tell everything was fine by the lack of fire and smoke coming out of the house. I told him I was the babysitter, and I didn't have the code to disarm the fire alarm. "It was just some toast", I said. They laughed politely and told me to have a good night.

I am still smiling. I feel like such an idiot. Now I know the code, and now I'll probably never need to use it.

pre embarrassing toast disaster:



post:

identicals.

My good friends Les and Brandon Hilliard skyped me from New Jersey tonight. They are identical twins and lived in Seattle until Les went to Princeton a few months back. This is the first time they've ever really been apart... Brandon just flew to visit Les, and they made sure to video chat with me so I could see their faces together again. So happy.
Les is wearing a wig in this picture, by the way...

once upon the best time ever.

meet bridget. she is a little french girl who likes to tell stores.

beware. you will want to fly to france before the video is even done to steal her.


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

bite size.

Yes, I miss home. I miss my friends and the local places I know so well... but most of all I miss my nieces and nephews.

I hate that I only get to see pictures now. Here are a few of the recent ones.

but seriously. yes we can.

No matter which party you represent, there is no denying the tremendous weight of what happened today. I was at my new home in Nashville eating fried chicken when I heard the words, "...and the new President of the United States of America will be Barack Obama". Personally, this is a huge deal for me because I have opened my heart and mind to the possibility that what I was brought up to believe isn't necessarily right... or wrong. I have the right to listen and study and decide for myself what I believe is the best for our country; the greatest in the world. For too long we have gotten comfortable and complacent. The past few years I have come to understand that if you are a Christian, you do not have the obligation to vote Republican. For me, this was a huge thing to swallow, and have not done the classic pastor's kid move of thinking and voting the most opposite possible. I am 25 years old, and I believe in a better, more progressive America. I noticed that a lot of people voting for John McCain didn't necessarily do it because they believe in John McCain, but because they just didn't want to see Obama win. I think everyone needs to re-evaluate what they stand for and why.

I did not vote.

I was absolutely all for McCain supporters if they KNEW what they were voting for, and was struggling with Obama supporters if they were going to vote for him only because it was the young thing to do.

Daniel 2:21-22

21 He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.

22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.


Be in prayer. Be diligent and respectful. Don't be an asshole.









"

all dressed in khakis.

I have never not dressed up for halloween. When Joel, Neal and I were younger, I remember the first time our parents allowed us to go trick-or-treating. Of course it was only to the 3 neighbor's houses that we knew. Apparently they were the only ones that wouldn't give us razor blades in apples. We pulled something together last minute and I believe we were all mummies. Toilet paper mummies. We weren't big on candy, so the thrill was just dressing up and getting out with all the other kids. I think the next year I was a clown... then Jasmine. My mom always made my costumes. Gosh, I wish we had taken pictures back then. I do remember that my mom made me wear a t-shirt underneath my Jasmine costume. I didn't protest back then. You're welcome, mom. At the end of highschool I started realizing that halloween is a good excuse to wear something sleezy and get away with it. Yes, I was that girl. I proudly wore a swiss alps costume for all kinds of attention that I know now isn't the kind I ever wanted. Fast forward to yesterday. My good friend Jessica Valle is in town from Seattle to visit, and we didn't have a clue what to dress up as, so we didn't. And I'm glad we didn't, because everyone looked like idiots last night. The girls I saw out last night make me terrified to have a daughter. And even if we had come up with something amazing (I had wanted to be the creepy twins from the shining, but we ran out of time and resources), we wouldn't have compared to the Old Greg costume I saw last night. I mean this guy... it was uncanny. Old Greg is a character from a show called the Mighty Boosh which I first saw in London a couple years ago. It is definitely something you should check out. The recent seasons have gotten a bit dark. Funny as hell, just dark. They introduced a character called Old Greg, who is this bazaar sea man/woman who drinks Bailey's and does water color paintings.



I am excited about today. My good friend Keegan has been in Europe for two weeks, and he's finally coming home today. Also, my friends Rhett, Brian and Chris are in a band called Barcelona, and they are here for a few days for a stop on their tour. And with Jessica here, it's just an all-around feel good time.

I had a dream last night that I was on my way to work in Leiper's Fork, which is about 45 minutes south of Nashville. Every day is a really beautiful drive, so I don't mind the length of time it takes. I never have to get on the interstate or get stuck in traffic, and I get to see tons of horses, donkeys and llamas every day. Anyway, I dreamt that on my way to work, I saw a couple kids getting out of a van that had pulled over. They started to line up against one of the farm fences, and I realized it was the Duggars! I pulled over and took a picture with them with my phone, and I immediately tried to send it to my sisters Emily and Sarah, but I didn't have service. This is my life. I seriously hate T-Mobile in Nashville.