January in Pictures

Snow, snow, and more snow!

And I couldn't forget a picture of Tiger! Can you see the longing in his eyes to go outside?

A visit to the Hlad farm and PUPPIES!

Bowling with Rachel. Would you believe we both actually broke 100?

I've been waiting for months for this girl to heal up from her torn ACL so we can play racquetball. At last, the time came in January!

One of the few times we had youth group in January due to weather. This game we call "Spin the Bottle." We lure them in the with the title, making them think they'll be kissing at youth group, and then we slam them with a water-filled 2-liter. In spite of the pain it causes, the kids LOVE it.

I just love these girls.


Birthday lunch with some of my Sunday School girls. Love them too!

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a boy. A very handsome, kind-hearted, amazing boy at that. And yes, this is indeed a date! Who thought it was possible?

And last, but certainly not least, the highlight of January. A highlight of my life, actually. On the amazing date pictured above, I got to pet and feed a real, live RHINO!!! An opportunity so exciting that I never even thought to put it on my bucket list! I just love the little surprises life throws at us.

A Valentine's Music Monday

I haven't done a Music Monday in a while, but I figured since it's Valentine's Day why not celebrate with some sweet and heart-meltingly romantic music?

First up is Atley Black. If you've never heard of her, don't worry. You're not uncool. She's the wife of the best friend of a friend of my brother and she just happens to be extremely talented. A couple weeks ago we had the family over to celebrate my birthday and we all gathered around the TV in the living room to watch some of her stuff on YouTube. A couple of her songs brought my grandparents to tears. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. We'd listen to a song and my grandparents would say, "Aww. I think that should be our song!" and then we'd listen to another one and they'd hug each other and say, "That should be our song too!" It was adorable. :-)

So here I give you Atley Black. If you want to hear more, you can visit her YouTube channel here or her Myspace page here. It's some good stuff. Trust me.





And here's one of my fave music videos of all time as well for your viewing pleasure. It's stop motion at it's finest!



And last, because this is the blog of a spinster-in-training, I couldn't resist some sort of traditional Valentine's Day rant. But instead of ranting away myself, I'm just going to let this hilarious video do the talking for me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to embark on this endeavor at least a dozen times throughout my life. So for all my single peeps out there, this is for you!

Crazy Cat Lady

My Mom gave me this adorable mug last night after having apparently cleaned out a hallmark store that was going out of business. If you know my mom, then you know that she can sniff out a sale from 500 miles away. She's a purebred shopping bloodhound. And even though she'll spend money on something that she neither needs or really ever wanted, she still is somehow able to reason that she has actually "saved" money. We don't try to reason with her anymore...we just let her shop.

Anyways...it's cute, right? It's perfect for me, seeing as how I am a librarian/cat lover/spinster in training. Speaking of cats...have I ever mentioned my cat Tiger?




The saddest part about this adorable mug, though, is that somebody else has already given me one. Yes, the exact same mug. Is it a bad sign when not one, but TWO people automatically think of you when they see the words "Crazy Cat Lady" scrolled across a mug?


I think this whole spinster persona is getting a little out of hand...

PETA Would Not Be Proud...

I just can't get enough of these two videos. I know I shouldn't laugh at cats getting hurt (Forgive me, PETA), especially when I'm such a huge cat person, but seriously...these are hilarious. I've probably watched each one twenty times, and yes, I'll be watching them even more, I'm sure. I hope you get as much of a giggle out of these as I do!