Everyone Knows Beyonce, Right?

Okay, so after my serious post below, I decided that I absolutely must share the following video with you all. I apologize if you have now been exposed to this video more than once; however, if this is not the first viewing pleasure of your own, I would hope that you either watch it again or recruit someone else to experience this. Please enjoy.

Your name
Is a strong and mighty tower

Your name
Is a shelter like no other

Your name
Let the nations sing it louder

Nothing has the power to save
But Your name

An Addition to the Menagerie

me⋅nag⋅er⋅ie 
–noun
1.a collection of wild or unusual animals, esp. for exhibition.
2.a place where they are kept or exhibited.
3.an unusual and varied group of people.

Just in case some of you were unaware as to the meaning of "Menagerie," I figured I ought to clarify. That word adequately fits my household according to all 3 listed definitions.

Let me give you a little background information, complete with pictures, of course.

First off, we are a family of 5, and though we aren't necessarily unusual (in some cases we are), we are certainly varied. We first acquired our beloved dog, Bellie Villines on November 17, 2001. She was a result of a trip to the Animal Shelter, where we made a deep emotional connection. She is a precious German Shepherd/Husky mix. As some of you know, she soon became known as "Da Wuff," a name which I will take full credit for.

She's getting older and her eyesight is fading, she has a protective motherly streak in her, and she loves belly rubs.

About a year and a half ago, we decided that Da Wuff simply wasn't enough....or at least, that we could handle one more. At church during a meet-n-greet extravaganza, my parents and brothers began talking to a woman from our neighborhood who needed to give away her Golden Retriever puppy for allergy reasons. So my mom especially, being the compassionate woman that she is, decided we should "just try it" to see if Savannah, 6months, would get along with Da Wuff. We've had her for a year and a half now...our trial run with her has never ended. She, too, has grown to acquire her own nickname: "Pup." Ben is to blame for that palindromic name...obviously my family has an issue with sticking to traditional...err...original names.

Ah.

Life is awesome with two giant dogs - Pup and Da Wuff have kept us busy...they are the most spoiled dogs in all of history. Pup constantly gets new chew toys compliments of the clearance aisle at Petsmart and my mom's campassionate heart. This past Saturday, I accepted my mom's excited invitation to accompany her to Petsmart on a simple errand to get some dog food. On the way in, there was the typical three or four cages of little dogs that needed homes...awwww so cute, right? Of course. And who would have thought that my mom's compassionate heart would be stirred yet again?

Yes, it happened.

After observing the obnoxious behavior exhibited by most of the mutts in front of the store, we laid eyes on a cute little guy who was minding his own business on his little bed. Long story short, we now have three dogs. This little man is named Leo according to the lady who sold him to us. Has that stuck? Not so much. I endearingly call him "Little Man," while Ben and Steve have enticed my mom to call him "Jack-Jack." The irony of it all is that we all love the little Pomeranian, and yet...he's only half-house trained...which really means that he's not. He does, however, sleep through the night and is more than willing to curl up in your lap at any moment. Will he stay? We have two weeks 'til we know for sure....he seems like a keeper thus far, besides the occasional dog fight when he steals Savannah's toys. :-)

So....a menagerie?

I think so.

Sorry for the delay in blogs, by the way.....hopefully I'm back for good. :-)

Hello! Finals are over, the semester is complete, and I finished really well, so I'm stoked! My Aunt Karen and Uncle Sean brought their four kids out here from Arizona on Friday, and we've been having a blast with them as a Christmas festivity until they leave tomorrow to head home! For their first day here, we decided it would be a grand idea and opportune timing to also put in wood flooring in our downstairs, so we put the family to work!

As you can see, even the little ones participated in the fun, and we got everything moved successfully! The wood floors look really good, too! The only letdown is that our beloved dog, Da Wuff, doesn't care for the clickety-clackety sound that her paws make on the wood. She has become very fearful, so in order to get her to go outside, we made a little road of carpets for her. :-) Hopefully poor Da Wuff will get over her wood-phobia!

But we are all having a blast - we've been playing games like "Imaginiff..." which is loads of fun, especially for us family people who just enjoy teasing and making fun of each other. Such family love! :-) They also brought the movie "Three," which is based on Ted Dekker's book, and I thought it was amazing! Not your typical low-budget Christian feel-good film. haha!

I also just wanted to include this madness - Billy and I had breakfast at Jeff and Jenna's, where this sign is happily parked outside their little park area. I found it entertaining.

And finally, we celebrated Denae's birthday at Downtown Disney's Rainforest Cafe last Thursday and we took some fun pictures, but I currently have misplaced my camera and cannot upload any to report our adventures....I'll work on that. :-)

We're headed to Utah on Friday for our winter retreat...both my brothers are coming too! Should be a blast!

Finals Shminals

Yes, it is the dreaded finals week.

No, I should not be taking the time to blog.

BUT I just wanted to make a brief social comment regarding the amount of paper towels used unnecessarily on a daily basis. I believe nearly every single person uses 1-3 paper towels for every bathroom visit. Shouldn't there be a way to stop such wasteful usage?

Truckers, Impressionists, and Tomlin

okay so for all you who have yet to experience and behold the glory of the mall hunt, the picture above basically sums it up. :-) we were only found once thanks to our double date partners josh and bailey! yay! and yes, billy's beard is in fact made of real hair, thus the authentic appearance. :-D

in this picture you can see batstone's intent focus on her impressionistic masterpiece during art class...how admirable is her dedication!

i figured i should also give a view of both of our pieces....hers is of the palm trees in the background, mine of one of the benches including a fountain that is unseen in this picture. for our art class, we did our best to imitate the impressionist painters, and we had a blast!!

lastly, chris tomlin's cd "hello love" is awesome. definitely not as upbeat as some of his other stuff, but i absolutely love the lyrics and the orchestration! i just love it!

also...CHRISTMAS is coming. i love it!

My Vote

***REVISED. Billy informed me that this post makes me sound like a Democrat and an Obama-voter. I am not. This is merely a response to Obama's victory.***


Obama. How does that sound? President Obama. I bet he's doing that right now.
I listened to John McCain's speech...that must be ridiculously hard to get up in front of everyone who had your back, knowing that it was basically all for nothing. That's definitely not a place that I ever want to be in.

I must say, though, I voted for the first time today, and it felt great! I was enamored by the electronic stations and astonished that everything is so easy.
Another event that impacted me today was that my cell phone battery ceased all life forms after only a few hours' use. Why? Because it's technology and it's not fail-proof.

Both those events - voting electronically and my phone battery dying made me think about what life must have been like before technology took over the world and captured mankind's full attention.
I felt so stressed just because my phone was not on. Why? I would think I should feel happiness and freedom because no one can reach me...I don't have to worry about responding to any texts, picking up any calls, returning any calls...sounds pretty stress-free. But then again, the major downside of it was....I couldn't call or text others...and what about the people who I needed to talk to? Such a predicament!
Does technology really rule our lives? Sometimes it feels like it...or at least it has way too high of a priority on my list in some cases.



President Obama. Hm.