Vision in a Dream

2009-04-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

good bye, Annette

Morganland Times

2009-03-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Morgan seems to be following in her aunt's journalistic footsteps with her first edition of the Morganland Times!

Click on the above image to zoom in on her articles
and
read all about current events in Morganland
at the Morganland Times webpage.

Halloween 08

2008-11-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

Everyone say, "Mustard!"

Domo arigato, mr. roboto, domo...domo

2008-09-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Dancing Sponsored by Kraftwork

Who knew Mo was so strong? She sure didn't.

Fruits of the Harvest

2008-09-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Light Effects

2008-04-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Mo looking particularly stoic on Easter morning.

"A More Perfect Union"

2008-03-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Before you judge one man based on the statements of another, please watch what Obama had to say in response. It takes a little time to watch the whole speech, but none of it can be missed. He gives a stirring account for the racial tensions and potentials in our great country (Ok Mom, you're right, I am starting to sound like him). Just watch.

Engaged!

2008-02-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

After a long romance my "little" brother finally popped the question to Anna! Congratulations!

time keeps on slipping into the future

2008-01-07T18:58:00.001-08:00

Welcome 2008!

Think White Christmas

2008-01-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

(Start it bass) snow, (Tenors now) snoW,
(Altos) snOW, (top it sopranos) sNOW,
(all together now!) SNOW!!!

abc

Sara Jo 1995-2007

2007-11-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

OTTAWA -- Sarah Jo, 12, of Ottawa, died Saturday, Nov. 24, at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church in Ottawa with the Rev. John Walker officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ottawa Funeral Home.

Sarah Jo was born March 12, 1995, in Spring Valley, to Allan and Heather (McCandless) Treest.

She was a member of Friendly City Sound, Shepherd Middle School Student Council and Drama Club and Ottawa Girls Fast Pitch.

She is survived by her parents; a brother, Nicholas Treest; maternal grandparents, Dave and Jo McCandless; and paternal grandmother, Pamela Cannon.

She was preceded in death by her paternal grandfather, Martin Treest.

Pallbearers will be Mike Bates, Kyle and Craig Sokol, Mark and Jeff Treest, Brian and Dave McCandless and Mike Reynolds.

Memorials may be directed to the Red Stocking or the family.

Sarah was my student last year. I am truly at a loss when it comes to dealing with the death of such a vibrant and young little girl. My heart is with her family.

Teachher

2007-11-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

And so the books says of the teacher, "I am going to teach-her."

I would do a word-of-the-day, but there are too many words and too few days. But it is so true that this book is schooling me.

Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during the twilight. The word ultimately derives from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight".

tac·i·turn /ˈtæsɪˌtɜrn/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tas-i-turn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.
2. dour, stern, and silent in expression and manner.

ex·oph·thal·mic (ěk'səf-thāl'mĭk) Pronunciation Key adj.
1. Of or relating to exophthalmos.
2. Characterized by the prominence of the eyeballs. usually caused by sickness

mu·ci·lage /ˈmyusəlɪdʒ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[myoo-suh-lij] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation–noun
1. any of various, usually liquid, preparations of gum, glue, or the like, used as an adhesive.
2. any of various gummy secretions or gelatinous substances present in plants.

ver·i·si·mil·i·tude (věr'ə-sĭ-mĭl'ĭ-tōōd', -tyōōd') Pronunciation Key n.
1. The quality of appearing to be true or real. See Synonyms at truth.
2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

I came upon this "journal" and began to feel a little bit better about my lexicon. Davidd says it with a bit more vim and vigor then I would find necessary but the idea definitely seems very familiar.

Tell me honestly, do you guys know all these words? Are regular, real, non-Pulitzer-prize winning people familiar and comfortable with vocabulary like this? 'Cuz I swear to (insert humorously non-offensive deified something to which one might swear), if most people, or many people, or even any people other than writers with a T-1 hardwired connection to the Über-Ultra-Mondo-Mega-Thesaurus-Two-Trillion database honestly know this stuff, I must be way dumber than I previously believed, and believe me, that's pretty dumb, what with my low self-esteem that compels me to criticize talented, intelligent, and successful people only because I secretly envy them and all.

Rainbow Bright

2007-11-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

I'm on a roll

2007-11-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

In the words of Karin Bergquist:

Black flamenco shoes
Dahlias in my hair
Garters on my stockings
The sidewalk bends to stare
I’m on a roll

This ain’t no dress rehearsal
I’m a very lucky girl
I’m on a roll

As I Read

2007-10-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

p 184
There was not way around it. We could not climb over it, or walk until we found its edge.
I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live, Oskar. Because if I were able to live my life agian, I would do things differently.
I would change my life.
I would kiss my piano teacher, even if he laughed at me.
I would jump with Mary on the bed, even if I made a fool of myself.

As I Read

2007-10-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

p 170
We cracked up together, which was necessary, because she loved me again. I pulled my feelings book from under my pillow, flipped to the current page, and downgraded from DESPERATE to MEDIOCRE. "Hey, that's great!" Mom said, looking over my shoulder. "No," I said, "it's mediocre. And please don't snoop." She rubbed my chest, which was nice, although I had to turn a little so she wouldn't feel that i had my key on and that there were tow keys.
"Mom?" "Yes." "Nothing."
"What is it, baby?" "Well it's just that wouldn't it be great if mattresses had spaces for you arm, so that when you rolled onto your side, you could fit just tight?" "That would be nice." " And good for your back, probably, because it would let your spine be straight, which I know is important." "That is important." "Also, it would make snuggling easier. You know how that arm constantly gets in the way?" "I do." "And making snuggling easier is important." "Very."
Downgrade feeling book again from MEDIOCRE to OPTIMISTIC, BUT REALISTIC

Adjustments

2007-10-09T05:42:00.001-07:00

This is apparently how Andrew was greeted coming out of his apartment last Friday.

I wonder how his adjustment to life in Ottawa is going?...

A day at the Race... and the Museum... and looking in awe at the Sear's tower...

2007-10-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I guess I managed not to get any pictures of the race. So, to recap, it was hot!

excerpt on desire

2007-09-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

While I have never wanted to be a boy (that is, of course, apart from the various port-a-potty encounters where the ability to stand while peeing would be a very useful skill, indeed), I love the imagery in this passage from Steinbeck's, East of Eden. The thought of being so committed that a child concocts an elaborately organized system of procedures one must go through to get that which she desires. It is as if, the child has an innate sense that desire acquired, costs. There is work involved. Whether it be an internal work, or the work of a contortionist, there is work involved.

"My sister Mary did not want to be a girl. It was a misfortune she could not get used to. She was an athlete, a marble player, a pitcher of one-o'-cat, and the trappings of a girl inhibited her. Of course this was long before the compensations for being girl were apparent to her. Just as we know that somewhere on out bodies, probably under the arm, there was a button which if pressed just right would permit us to fly, so Mary worked out a magic for herself to change her over into the tough little boy she wanted to be. If she went to sleep in a magical position, knees crooked just right, head at a magical angle, fingers all crossed one over the other, in the morning she would be a boy. Every night she tried to find exactly the right combination, but she never could. I used to help her cross her fingers like shiplap."

Pilcrow

2007-09-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

sponsored by the friendly editors who remind you to
begin a new thought

30 and counting

2007-09-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

this last photo c/o L.A.

the finickey nature of memory

2007-09-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

"I have spoken of the rich years when the rainfall was plentiful. But there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. The Water came in a thirty-year cycle. There would be five or six wet and wonderful years when there might be nineteen to twenty-five inches of rain, and the land would shout with grass. Then would come six or seven pretty good years of twelve to sixteen inches of rain. And then the dry years would come, and sometimes there would be only seven or eight inches of rain. The land dried up and the grasses headed out miserably a few inches high and great bare scabby places appeared in the valley. The live oaks got a crusty look and the sage-brush was gray. The land cracked and the springs dried up and the cattle listlessly nibbled dry twigs. Then the farmers and the ranchers would be filled with disgust for the Salinas Valley. The cows would grow thing and sometimes starve to death. People would have to haul water in barrels to their farms just for drinking. Some families would sell out for nearly nothing and move away. And it never failed that during the dry years, the people forget about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all mem0ry of the dry years. It was always that way." -steinbeck

fish or fountain?

2007-09-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

"Mom, if I take and drink of water and then just squeeze my face like this, I could be a fountain!"

Moments Captured in KY

2007-08-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Lost River

Kindred Spirits

Who is teaching who?

Air and Water Show 2007

2007-08-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Mammoth Cave

2007-08-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Before we got to the entrance of the cave there was an hour drive, a would-be speeding ticket, an expired insurance card, and a missed tour departure. "Ugg," I thought. "What do you think Mo?" "I really want to see stalactite and stalagmite," she says. I think, if my 6 year old knows how to use those to words correctly, there 's no cop or punctual tour guide who is going to keep her form seeing them.Don't Judge a Cave by its Door...

Down 500 feet we went, on slippery, metal, and VERY narrow stairs.

In the belly of the beast.

There is it baby.

The Beautiful Czech Republic

2007-07-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Fading Letters

2007-06-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

With all the various specialties out there, I wonder if there is a job were people are assigned the task of determining what a person typed based on the letters that have worn off their keyboards. Or maybe they find some sort of subconscious message. If anyone knows what my keyboard reveals about me, I would love to know...?

"Go out and spread the Good News"

2007-06-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

As many of you know, my summer plans took an unexpected twist when the
opportunity came up for me to help chaperon a trip to the Czech
Republic. This trip is considered a short-term mission trip where
high school students will be helping to foster positive relationships
between Czech Christians and Czech non-Christians. Other then the
obvious big-sister bullying rights that I will get to inflict on my
brother, B, who is one of the students going, I will also be taking
on the role of English teacher as well as a general camp counselor.

The needs are great in the Czech Republic. Still feeling the aftermath
of the decades of communism, there is a tremendous need to build up
churches and reach the Czech youth. We have a great opportunity to
come alongside an organization called Josiah Venture to help build
local youth ministries and develop youth leaders to reach their
country. I appreciate that the goal here is to ignite interest in
Christianity while supporting the efforts of Czech Christians who have
already begun a good work. One of the effective strategies has been to
have churches and Josiah missionaries invite students from the
community and schools to English camps. At the camp they will
experience a youth camp environment along with three hours of English
class. Through building relationships with the Czech students,
discussion groups, evening talks, sports time, hiking, and a lot of
fun, many of the Czech students will be exposed to Christians and
Biblical Christianity for the first time and connected with our
partner church in Hradec Kralove.

I will be leaving with a group of 12 students and 2 other adults on
June 24th and returning July 13th. I realize that I have taken on
quite a bit of responsibility with my ticket to Prague, but I am
looking forward to the opportunity to grow myself in several areas. If
you are willing and able I would appreciate much prayer; for the
ministry, for the students that I will be responsible for, for my
English lessons, for my heart which will be breaking because of the
time spent away from Mo, and for Mo.

While the financial burden does not necessarily fall on my shoulders,
because I am coming into this trip so late in the game, there is a
significant need. The cost for each person going is $1,800. This
covers all of our travel, training and living expenses. At my last
meeting with the other leaders, we had reached 80% of our total goal
for the team. We will still eat while we are there, but as a team we
may come back to some dept if we do not raise the reminder of the
money. I would like to ask you to consider being a part of my
supporting team. If you would like to support this team, you may send
a tax-deductible check to the address below. Write "Czech" and my name
on the memo line. We accept any $ amount so feel free to give big or
small. :)

If you have any questions about the trip or the team feel free to give
me a call.

God is changing lives for eternity in the Czech Republic and I am
excited to be a part of it this summer! Thanks for your support.

Buh ti zehnej (May God bless you!)

-Laura

First Presbyterian Church
114 E Jefferson St
Ottawa, IL 61350

School's out for Summer!!!

2007-06-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

NYC (take two)

2007-05-19T17:50:00.001-07:00

This May, I was lucky enough to go with Anuj and a group of his coworkers to the Big Apple. We hit up the Station Island Ferry, saw the big green lady, and scavenged our way through Washington park and the NYU campus. I now know that that NYU library does NOT have a Lion in the foyer. We paddled around Central Park and got to see Wicked on Broadway.

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." Carl Jung

The Canyon is Grand Indeed

2007-04-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Chesterson was quoted saying that, "It is the root of all religion that a man knows that he is nothing in order to thank God that he is something." I think that it could be said similarly, that God caused the land to rise and the river to cut in such grandious form so to remind us that we are but a speck of dust on the landscape of earth, a moment in the millienia, subject to become a layer in time... And yet... we are loved by the creator of such a glorious monument.

That being said, for Spring Break this year, Stephen, Michael, Mia, Mo and I went to see the sights in Arizona. The weather ranged from the 40's to the 90's. We swam and experienced a snow storm. We ate Nopalitos (prickly pear cactus) and rattlesnake (even Mo had a bite! I was so proud). We saw Taliesin West, rode on a steam engine train, and all around felt small in the vastness of the desert.

Did you know there was such a thing as a purple cactus? I had no idea.

We were at the canyon long enough to watch a storm move through, which made even the Grand Canyon feel a bit miniature.

The Good Given

2007-02-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

In Paralandra, a world new with life, like our own was a one time, the Lady of the land comes to realize the existance of unaquired desire.

"What you have made me see," answered the Lady, "is as plain as the sky, but I never saw it before. Yet it has happened every day. One goes into the forest to pick food and already the thought of one fruit rather than another has grown up in one's mind. Then, it may be, one finds a different fruit and not the fruit one thought of. One joy was expected and other is given. But this I had never noticed before-- That the very moment of the finding there is in the mind a kind of thrusting back, or setting aside. The picture of the fruit you have not found is still, for a moment, before you. And if you wished-- if it were possible to wish-- you could keep it there. You could send you soul after the food you had expected, instead of turning it to the good you had got. You could refuse the real good; you could make tht real fruit tast insipid by thinking of the other... It is I, I myself, who turn from the good expected to the given good. Out of my own heart I do it. One can conceive of a heart which did not: which clung to the good it had first thought of and turned the good which was given it into no good."

How often in my life do I turn from the good that is given for that which I expected...

How do we avoid turning down the good that is given for another good that may be more illusive? I think that the choice makes it difficult. If you have a good job and no other jobs are avalible, then even if the position you got is not what you had expected to be doing, yes, enjoy it because that was given to you. The choice in that situation seems to be more about attitude and less about whether you take the job or not. But imagine that you have just bought your first home and you are in the market for a print to hang above your sofa. Since childhood, you had loved black and white photography. You are saving your money for something like this:

But as a house warming gift, you get this:

Both are beautiful. Neither are necessary. Do you turn from the good desired for the the good that is given?

Lyrics such as, "you gotta know when to hold 'um and know when to fold 'um" and "love the one your with" come to mind. How much truth is there in classic rock, anyway??

Lonely

2006-11-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

It seems that lately, I have had an 80's song playing in my head for everything. My level of empathy was running high when I came upon a lonely stalk of corn. Sing it with me now, "All by my seeeeeelf. I don't want to be, all by my self..."

Blurry Ballet

2006-10-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Morgan is the second dancer in line.

Just imagine 20+ little girls all concentrating so hard on getting their feet in just the right position and their hands just so. All eyes studying the instructor at the front of the room, who is teaching them to distinguish a foot position that is only an inch removed from the position in which they started. Their concentration amazes me.
Morgan comes running out of her 2 hour class saying, "I could just dance all day." She amazes me.

Home again, Home again

2006-10-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Jigity-Jig

Beni and Baby

2006-10-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

We sure have come a long way from sharing a one-bedroom apt. in Uptown.

Broccoli is Beautiful

2006-10-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Lisa and I went to Seattle to celebrate the wedding of James and Andrea. It was wonderful seeing old friends.

A Sunday Message

2006-10-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

It seems that the message of responsibility and action are following me as I think about contentment.

After being flogged, "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." -Acts 5:41

"Thankfulness, is not about what happens to us but how we see what happens to us." -Pastor Tim Underwood

Saturday Morning, Glory

2006-10-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Toothless Tuesday

2006-09-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Guess who is already singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"...?

Contentment Seeking

2006-09-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Contentment. I have been thinking over contentment daily for the last week and my mind keeps going to the idea of loss. Perhaps, I have a weak mind or perhaps, how one deals with loss is a key component in contentment or the judge of contentment...?

Another revisited thought this week, is how describing contentment differs from describing blessings.? When a person describes their contentment, they usually run off a list of areas in which they have been blessed, as if to re-convince themselves that they are content or to remind themselves of why they should be if they are not. Are the "haves" required for contentment? I can run off a list a mile long of all that I have and all the ways that I have been blessed. Or is there something beneath this? Could it be that what we have or how we have been blessed does not determine contentment but rather, how we interpret "what is"? Our action done, as oppose to the action done to us (or for us, etc).

This weekend, I was in Chicago for a friend's wedding. As I was driving down Lake Shore Drive, watching the bikers and runners move along the bike path that stretches the length of the city, along the waters edge, I caught myself reminiscing. I was thinking of a time when I spent several hours a day biking that path. To me, it is one of the most desirable places in the world. Then the ache came on and the questions, most of which starting in "why."

How does contentment intermingle with loss?

I do not always do it right. I often find myself trapped in the pain of a loss. But this weekend, I began to think about how having been a part of that bike path was a blessing and how it would be wonderful to look on many other places with the same familiarity and desire. The thought or the action lead to what I felt to be a beautiful contentment.

a Kentucky trek to remember

2006-09-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you Marvin for being a creative soul and for letting the rest of us pretend for a little while.

Smiles sponsored by Texas

2006-09-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

Me and Mo

the wisdom of youth

2006-09-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

"There is more to think of then there is in books."
-Morgan explaining the value of creative thought. You have to love 6-year-old philosophy.