engagement pictures

Abigail Criner is pretty amazing - we had so much fun taking these pictures with her! check her out at www.abigailcrinerphotography.com

Get em while they're hotttt

Not that saving lives ever goes out of style... but these shirts are hot off the... place that shirts come from. If you haven't heard about buy shoes save lives, allow me to inform you (and inform yourself at www.buyshoessavelives.com)
There are these awesome handmade shoes called 'Klashi Kurdi' that are made in Northern Iraq by the Kurds. They are beautiful, not to mention stinkin' cool looking. I hear Justin Timberlake wishes he had some Klash...
So, the saving lives part...Medical care in Northern Iraq is not up to par and there are TONS of kids that have heart problems and without a heart surgery they will either die or suffer from an otherwise curable heart condition.
In collaboration with Brothers Together (www.shevet.org) Buy Shoes Save Lives is using the proceeds from the shoes and T-Shirts to fund heart surgeries for these Iraqi children.
What is even cooler... The doctors doing the surgeries are Jewish and the children receiving the surgery are Muslim. It is a really incredible way to bridge the cultural and religious gaps that have historically existed. So buy some gear - the T-shirts are brand new and even cooler in person and the shoes are custom made to fit. What are you waiting for? go to www.buyshoessavelives.com NOW

NEW YORK NEW YORK!

This is us in Times Square - it is CRAZY here... maybe I would have felt like this about Taksim if I could have understood what everyone was saying???


This is all of us at Battery Park where you can see the statue of Liberty


We're in love... it would have been cuter if we climbed in the love so that we could actually be IN 'love' - but, laziness prevailed.


We got the hook up at the Allentown fair and got to meet Taylor Swift - let me just say that she is actually just as hot in person as she appears to be in the media - she sounds just as good live too.

Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

I love this title of a book by Thomas Merton. I've been needing to remind myself this a lot. The new Caedmon's Call album is really good - there is a song on it I've been listening to a lot lately called 'Share in the Blame.' It has been good for me. Without realizing it, I was becoming more and more judgemental towards people, issues, problems etc. I have all kinds of theories and ideas about solving the world's problems and who should do what and who is contributing to them. While it might help me to grapple with some of these issues, it doesn't help my soul to place the blame on others. I've been reading the gospels a lot lately and there is a clear message that Jesus sent to the world - Mercy triumphs over judgment. Always, it always wins to be merciful.
I don't think that this means I shouldn't think long and hard and be hurt or angry about injustice and things that are happeneing in the world... but ultimately, blame placing, or judgement making aren't hurting anyone except for me. I've just been struggling with what it means to be ultimately merciful and loving while still holding others responsible for their actions and standing for justice? The more I think about it the more I think that I don't understand justice and I don't understand mercy. Praise God who is greater than our hearts right?

Just musings...

on winking...

I feel as though I've been bombarded by lots of winks lately and I'm not sure what to make of it. Is winking trendy now? And what exactly does it mean? In the last 24 hours I've been winked at in just about every context: at the office, at a resturant, in passing, hanging out with friends, and I'm pretty sure over the phone one time. Also, it seems that winking is more popular among the male gender, is it a type of non-verbal communication? Is male to male winking acceptable? Is there an understood meaning of the wink among guys that makes them think girls know what it means too? Just questions...
Maybe it's cause I'm jealous - we all know my own winking leaves much to be desired (and interpreted probably) but, I'm just not sure when winking became a pathway to communication. Really I usually don't know what is being communicated with the subtle wink because sometimes it seems like 'I'm funny, you should laugh now.' and other times it is 'I don't have time to listen to you, see ya' or then there was the 'I'm making a joke at your expense now'. Mostly, my problem with winking is that I can't take you seriously when you are winking at me - so if you're trying to communicate something serious, don't wink- because then it seems like a joke or maybe even a tick.
For me, winking is confusing and makes me a little bit uncomfortable ... the more you know.


Besides my personal objections to winking this is also why I don't wink at people very often

Weird Things about Jeff

Jeff and I were talking about the things that are weird about me because he couldn't really think of any that I didn't put on the list. The only thing he said he would add to it is 'you put salt on everything', which is true. So, with Jeff's permission, here are the things I told him were weird about him...

1. For as long as I have known Jeff anytime he gets a drink with a lid that has those little buttons on it that tell you what kind it is he always pushes all of them down. And then he proceeds to do the same to whoever's drink he is with.

2. He has a 'dog voice' for when he is around animals, and not a voice that he uses to talk to the dogs but a voice he uses to make the dogs talk to you. He uses his dog voice to tell you what the dog is thinking, wanting, etc. It is actually kind of hilarious.

3.Jeff likes to make faces - or should I say a face. I can probably find a picture of it... hold on... wow, it appears that somehow I've never captured this face on film. I can't really describe it but it's the same face every time and to this day I'm not exactly sure what it means. I think it might be something like 'I'm excited, or I'm happy' but it is used so frequently that I just don't know.

4.Jeff has to cross everything off of his list at the store. Even if he decides he doesn't need something anymore he still has to scratch it off the list.

5. Jeff is in the dark ages a little bit when it comes to technology. He got a digital camera for Christmas this past year and before this was using disposable cameras.

6. Jeff doesn't like to use his windshield wipers. They only become a necessity to him when it is raining so hard he can't see, until that point he doesn't like to use them.

7. He loves to laugh and sometimes when he is telling stories he won't be able to finish because he is laughing so hard - lots of times at himself. I don't know many grown men who can do this - it's pretty adorable.

8. Jeff won't take his phone in the bathroom with him when he has to use the toilet and should he by accident he won't answer it if it rings. However, when he is in the shower he takes his phone with him and will answer it if it rings... in the shower.

So - this is the pre-marital list ... do I get to post one afterwards?

Weird Things About Me

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their 8 things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Michelle tagged me, so... here goes

1.I function in a world that has what I like to call 'Erin time'. It runs a little bit slower than the rest of the world and there is not an exact translation for real time. All of my watches clocks etc. are set in Erin time and so whenever Anna Beth would ask me what time it was she knew to add about 5-8 minutes to that time.

2. I get really personal with books. I 'think aloud' in the margins, have my own notation system, and CAN'T not finish a book. It doesn't matter how bad it is, how much I am hating it, how stupid I think it is, I have to keep reading. Now - I have broken this rule about 3 times, but I'm still convinced I will go back and finish one of those books. I have been known to throw a crappy book across the room and then reread it a few years later and love it. But after I've read a book it has its own 'personality' which can make it hard to go back and reread without bias, but it is still something I have to do.

3.I love breakfast. Even when I sleep in until noon (which doesn't happen too much anymore) I will still make breakfast. There's just something a little bit magical about it for me.

4. I like to make lists - however, these lists are not so much for the purposes of accomplishing things as much as they are decorative. For example... I like to make a list before I go to the store, but I never look at it once I'm inside and I never cross anything off of it (Jeff loves this by the way). I have a 3 page list of random things that I love - just to have one. If you know me you've probably received a list of things I love about you. I also have a 2 page list of things I want in a husband - it is color coded. So... lists.

5. I like to encourage people to do stupid things. I can make anyone (just about) look ridiculous in a picture, even when they think they don't want to do that. I tend to bring out the hidden silliness within - and I love it.

6. I hate going to the grocery store. I will borderline starve myself before I go to the store. I will eat cans of beans, crackers, anything that I have before I will go to the store. The only person I can really even tolerate going to the store with is Jeff, and he is pretty wonderful and doesn't make me go with him very often. Poor home group has suffered some random Erin concoctions because I didn't have all the ingredients to make anything so I would just make something up... sorry guys.

7. There are 2 people in the world (and I've heard rumors of others) that look exactly like me. I look just like my mom and my twin sister. People are always coming up to my mom at church to ask her about how her trip was or how she's doing in Waco, even old high school friends will see her and start talking to her before they realize she's not me... it's weird. And then the whole twin thing adds a whole other dimension of confusion. People always stare at us when we are in public together, and I forget that it's because we look alike and think that I forgot to put on my pants or something. Sometimes I will see pictures of us and I can't figure out which one is me.... that is weird.

8. People tend to think my life is weird. I've been told on more than one occasion that "Your life scares me." I tend to like things that most people aren't interested in. I was trying to think of what other people say is weird about me, and this is what I get the most - people just think my passions are weird. I love being overseas, specifically in the Middle East, I loved living in the ghetto of Waco (most of the time), I'm interested in poverty, social justice, fair trade, oppression, and most of all learning to love like Jesus. This looks pretty weird in America but these are the things that I love the most... and I guess that's weird.

Now: I'm tagging Scott B. Jennifer W. Beth G. Chelsea P.