3 Nice Things

I couldn't sleep last night until I wrote this, so please forgive the rambling:


Sorry to disappoint, but the title of this post is slightly misleading.  Unfortunately for you, you might get bored before I get to anything positive!  The good news: I have a little story to tell - try to follow my stretched metaphor.

This beach ball has caused me angst - believe it or not - in the last few days and I finally realized its purpose, so let me back up.  The other day, probably a week ago or so, I noticed this beach ball leaning against our building (we live in a condo).  I thought it was odd, because not only were we the youngest people in the entire complex until recently, we are certainly the youngest in our individual building.  Plus, I'm pretty much the only person in the "neighborhood" that spends any time outside, so I really couldn't figure out what it was doing there.  In fact, I was so baffled, I was annoyed.  Then I thought about our neighbors and how every once in a while, they have children, which I assume are their grandchildren, come to visit, so I decided it was theirs.  Therefore, I rolled the ball towards one of their cars and walked inside.


The next time I saw the ball it was resting on the air conditioning unit that cools my apartment, so I was not only annoyed that someone had inconsiderately left their ball behind, but then the "What Ifs" started flying around in my anxious head.  "What if the a/c catches fire?", "What if it melts to the a/c, and we have to pay for a new unit?", "What if the whole building explodes because of this beach ball?!"  Once that negative, worst-case-scenario spiral starts, it is hard to control!  So I pushed it towards their car again; only this time, the wind was gusting that day and before I could walk away from the nuisance, it had blown into a corner of the building where we had recently had some water problems.  So, you guessed it, the "What Ifs" started right back up, "What if the ball clogs a pipe?", "What if I'm the one that causes it?", and so on.  So, of course, I pushed it and ran into the house, before I could see where it landed.

I didn't think about it again, until I pulled into my parking space a couple of days ago to see it mocking me from afar.  Ridiculous, right!?!?  I have let a beach ball cause me anxiety!  Not a lot, but enough to feel taunted each time I parked my car in my spot.  There it was resting where it could do absolutely no harm.  In fact, after a couple of days of it sitting there, I started to like the scene.  An object, sitting in the weeds, with a nice background - including a fence.  Wow, what a golden opportunity for me to practice my photography!


Then, tonight at the end of an ongoing conversation I've been having with Billy about how negative I tend to be, how I find the bad in everything, how I worry to the point of exhaustion, I remembered what my Dad used to make me do once I'd spit out something judgmental or negative about someone or something "Now, say 3 nice things about...".  Ouch!  I knew it was coming if he was around to hear my ugly words, but it was always a slap in the face.


My first thought was, "I better get out there tomorrow and practice my photography on that bright and colorful ball.  I'll put it on my blog and post something positive".  My second thought was more of a realization:  I tried to control that ball, I let the "What Ifs" get the best of me, and ultimately, regardless of what I did to make sure it didn't cause anyone harm, it was out of my control and in the hands of God.


I guess God will use just about anything, including a silly ball, to get his message across to me!

Here goes:  My negativity brings me, and everyone around me, down, but

1.  God is so good!
2. My husband loves me!
3. Someone will read this and understand my thought process!   

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 

                                                            

Caldwell Place in Cataloochee Valley, NC

As I said, Cataloochee also had some houses and other buildings remaining from when it was a town before the 1930s.  Caldwell Place was the home of what seems to have been an affluent family in the area.  As you'll see, the house has some characteristics that show their prosperity during the time they built it.

Mama on her way up to the house.

I was pretty surprised to see the teal trim on this house.  I think the color is original, and I've never seen such a bright color on a historic home.

Another one of the many intricate characteristics that I've never seen on a historical site.  This railing isn't what I would expect on a home from the early 1900s.

Inside the designs were very impressive too.

I was pretty sure my hips were going to be too wide for this steep and narrow staircase!

Notice that many people have visited and thought it was appropriate to carve their name into the walls.

My Daddy just barely fit in the doorway.  Meanwhile, if my hubs had been there, he would have had to duck to get through it!

This was so neat!  Again, I was very surprised to see wallpaper in a home this old, but maybe it was common and I'm oblivious - very possible!  The wallpaper seems to be a combination of newspaper and an actual design.

Looking out to the barn from the front porch

I didn't see this sign until after we left the house, but how true it is!

I tried to get a good angle of this spiderweb - thought it was neat!

The Beautiful Mountains of North Carolina

Yes, a little more background about me and not for any other reason than, I've been doing a lot of family trips recently! Last year, this year, and possibly as a tradition, we have gone on trips as an extended family: my Dad's family including my two sisters, Mom, and I, and my Dad's Brother's family, his three daughters and wife. Hope that's not too confusing! Anyway, this year we camped at Turkey Creek in Clyde, NC which is where I born and then lived for only a couple of years before we moved to Raleigh, Nc. It was very neat to be back in a place where I was born, many years ago, even though I don't have any memory of it.

The whole area, the mountains, the rivers, and the campground were all so peaceful, and makes me wonder what kind of culture-shock my parents went through when they got to Raleigh! My parents and I decided to get up before sunrise one morning and drive to Cataloochee, Nc which is a valley in the area where about 1200 settlers created a township until it was decided that Catalooche was a perfect location for a national park, and it truly is a gorgeous area. We went to watch the elk that inhabit the valley.

I've decided to break down the Cataloochee trip into a few posts. Today, I'll show you the elk and the photos I got while on our way to see the elk. Tomorrow (or when I get to post again), I'll show you the houses that are left in the park.

This group of elk were unexpected. They were in someone's side yard as were driving to get to Cataloochee. A very unusual sight, there were about 20 in this herd. I caught a glance of them as we flew past them, so we put it in reverse to stop and get several photos of them.

The sunrise - something I NEVER see!

On one side of the park were the bulls. They were not afraid of us and posed for our pictures!

I'm pretty sure this is when my Dad got out of the car to take pictures, this bull was not too thrilled about that. He watched my dad very intently - a tense moment!

Again, I happened to look back while we were driving to the other side of the park and saw this scene. Amazing! This represents the road I'm on - daunting and yet encouraging:)

I could feel God's presence at this serene moment...

We reached the other side of the park where the mares and calves were. We found them in a field and then waited as they migrated to another field on the other side of the gravel road.

I don't know this hiker, but I do like the composition of this photo:)

Where I Come From

I've already become a slacker on my new blog - it's true, but with good reason. Unfortunately, all I can say about that reason is my life in surprisingly hectic for someone without a full-time job!

On that same note, I have to say that a lot of the time, the "hectic-ness" is usually brought on by my own anxiety and panicky nature:( It's not ideal, but it is a great introduction to what I've been thinking about recently. The other day, I was driving down the road in worry mode - I can't even remember about what. I just remember making my mind stop racing for just a moment to think about what a very wise person told me years ago: When you start to worry and panic, determine what the real issue is that is motivating the worry, and then decide if it is worth the trouble of overanalyzing or has your mind blown it out of proportion. 9 times out of 10, my mind has automatically made a mountain...

The real point I'm making (and don't worry the point is not that I'm a worry wort) is that my character traits - good and bad - are part of my personality and are inherited! Yes, I have stretched my introduction clear across topics to show you my origins:) So badly I want to tell you that I have a "Dear Photograph" photo to share, but sadly I wasn't thinking at the time and didn't take the perfect opportunity while at my Granny's house a few weeks ago. In fact, for some reason and not because we ever do this, my Mom pulled out the photo books and we sat on Granny's couch for probably two hours looking through the 50+ year old photos. Some of which were of my Papa and his family standing around the yard on a Sunday, in the shade, playing croquet. I'll even admit that I thought "I know my uncle is going to pull out the mallets and ball at any moment, and I should get a photo of that so that the next generation can see that the tradition survived"...BUT I did not think to make a "Dear Photograph" photo.

I can't show photos of the boys of my family standing around in Granny's yard playing croquet anyway, because I haven't asked for their permission, but I did take some photos that represent where I come from...

This garage, though I don't think it has always been this bright of a color, is where my Papa fixed and improved all sorts of gadgets that he found. It's also where he did all his wood working. I can remember when I was very young and into Cabbage Patch dolls, and he made me a bed for each of them, and I got to help! I didn't take a photo of the basement where he also spent a lot of time with all of his many collections of bottles and vintage toys, because it has changed into a game room since he passed away in 2006.

This photo makes me chuckle - mainly because that's a straw in the poured beer, but I can't say that this represents where I came from, because I don't remember a lot of drinking while visiting the grandparents'.

Again, I've never seen this set-up before, but it definitely didn't surprise me to see it there. This is a homemade chicken spit! The container: an old, rusted barrel with an electronic spit attached somehow to continuously turn the chicken. I have to say, when I first saw it I was impressed with my uncle's ingenuity, but I was glad there were plenty of side dishes to go with the chicken. Once I tried it I was more impressed by the juiciest, most flavorful chicken I think I've ever had!

And this is my sister, Cathy aka CJ, with a little more of where we came from in the background;)

Revamping!

I've got to admit, I'm very hesitant about this revamp. I haven't blogged in the last few months, and I didn't intend to post anything ever again. I lost faith in myself, and my relationship with God is struggling. I'm not back with a new lease on life, and I'm not back to convert the non-believers or step on anyone's toes. I'm just back to talk about my journey on what I've found to be my passion: photography. I am certain of only one thing: Whatever it is that I do and have in my life is through Him. I don't know how or why, and I will never claim to be an expert, but I renamed this blog as a constant reminder to myself of the power of God's grace.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Every once in a while, I have a feeling and know that God is right there with me. This photo was taken in the valley of Catalooche in NC. It is a rarity that I'll wake up before 7 a.m., but I had an opportunity to spend some quality time with my parents in the beautiful mountains of NC, and I took it! We were on our way to spot the Elk (more photos to come in a later post), and I happened to look back and see this scene...I won't try to describe the feeling; I'll just say He was there.

Farmville '11 *week 4*

BIG news in Farmville this week! I had decided to update ya'll every other week instead of every week - I was afraid it was getting redundant, but as I had come to that conclusion, I noticed a very special, very exciting situation:

That's right! My Sweet 100 has the beginnings of its first cluster of tomatoes! I don't want to put too much pressure on this little guy, but this is awesome! If you'll remember, last year I didn't have my first tomato until July 4th, so I'm pretty hyped that I might be getting my first tomato in the next few weeks!

So my Sweet 100 (Cherry Tomatoes) didn't grow that much taller, but my theory is it used its energy for growing out instead of up:)

Next week, I'll get a close-up of the bottom of my Cherokee Purple's stems. They're turning a dark purple color - or maybe I'm just imagining that!

The cucumbers are coming along:)

I'm so grateful that my garden made it through the storms this past Saturday. I'm more grateful though, that the Lord kept my family and friends safe, and I pray that there is healing in the near future for those that are suffering now...