A blog...

"...is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

"...blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For 15 years now, people all over the world have been blogging. It may not have been on Blogger. It may not have even been on any popular website dedicated to bloggers and their ramblings. Point being - it's out there and the last time I checked there were no rules.

Many of you probably don't realize, as I didn't, that the modern blog actually dates back to 1994. Those folks used a sort of online diary or personal websites to keep a daily log, personal observations or rantings, etc. It wasn't until around 10 years later that we would begin to see sites like these, dedicated to blogging. And here I sit.

Recently, Jeff stumbled upon a blog entry by a former colleague of his. Many of you know him. Many of you don't. (Either way - this is my rant.) To continue on with the rest of my blog, you'll want to take note of the two following links, in order.

Entry 1

Entry 2

If there is anything I've learned in the past year or so, it's that you can't hold people accountable. People will be people. People who do not want to be held accountable won't be. We as a people, as humans and as a society want justice. We want people to pay for their wrongdoings. We want them to be accountable. BUT, it isn't our job to hold them accountable - it's God's, and He will.

It seems the responder wants the writer in Entry 1 to be accountable. Why? Because the writer in Entry 1 wants someone else to be accountable. You see the vicious cycle.

I will repeat myself: For 15 years now, people all over the world have been blogging. It may not have been on Blogger. It may not have even been on any popular website dedicated to bloggers and their ramblings. Point being - it's out there and the last time I checked there were no rules.

If the blogosphere is going to continue to be a place where we can express our thoughts and opinions regardless of anyone else's opinon about them, we cannot (and should not) waste our time trying to hold them accountable or convince others that they are wrong. Seeing as how anonymous followed the food chain of power in order to make his issues known and obviously had the door slammed in his face, it is only right that he be allowed to publicly express his thoughts. Ask the employee who has expressed his opinion in the "biblical manner" and has then been suspended from his job; ask the person who makes a few flip statements about an institution that he is a part of and then finds himself looking for a new place in life - tell me again that you think "going public" is always the best thing as opposed to just getting something off your chest.

Go Elf Yourself

If you get bored, you may want to check out my husband's blog. You may notice something different - he's been blogging :) You'll also notice that he's become addicted to the Elf Yourself application on the Office Max website. Try it for yourself - it's highly entertaining.

Samantha Fiona

Meet Samantha Fiona Alster

Samantha is around 10 years old. My family got her from our vet's office when she was about 5 years old. "Catsy" (you understand the name change) belonged to an older lady who had to be put on a walker. She was afraid the she would hurt "Catsy" and also worried that she wouldn't be able to properly take care of her. So...they asked us if we wanted her. She was completely house trained, never bites or scratches. She enjoys cuddling just about anything - cardboard boxes, tennis shoes, warm dryers, floor steamers, purses, suitcases - even a fresh basket of clean laundry. Often times, Sam was the only "person" in my household that I got along with. I will miss her.

Random

This morning I woke up about 4am. Now, Jeff will tell you it was because he got up to go to the bathroom. I am sure, however, that it was because at 4am, my non-touch-sensitive-have-to-flip-the-switch-manually-lamp turned itself on.

Decide for yourself.

Reflection

For the past few years of the OCC trip, our group has traveled about an hour and a half away to Jackson, Alabama to visit Keith Warren's family and attend his home church. Jeff and I had tossed around the idea last year of attending First Baptist Atlanta where Charles Stanley pastors. After checking online, we found that he was not going to be preaching that weekend. Before leaving this year, we checked again and found that he would in fact be preaching this past weekend, and we saw a good opportunity.


After seeing Shannon, Katrina, Cynthia and Jeanette off Sunday morning, we left for First Baptist, which was about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. As we sat in the sanctuary waiting for the service to begin, we were greeted by a deacon who had lived in Louisville, KY for a number of years. He talked to us until the service began promptly at 10:45 am. Even though we were disappointed to find out that Dr. Stanley would not be preaching due to a sudden ankle injury we were both very blessed by the service we attended.


One of the associate pastors at First Baptist spoke in Dr. Stanley's place. While he went a little long (which Jeff will tell you irritates me) he gave a very good sermon - one that I felt like I needed to hear. The baisc point was this: all of us live in constant limbo between fear and trust in God. In Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that God has adopted us, redeemed us, offered salvation and lavishly poured out many spiritual blessings on us. Why then, would it not seem like the easy thing for us to put all of our trust in Him?


God has blessed me in many ways over the past year. I have a wonderful family, good friends and most of all He has given me a wonderful husband and two beautiful stepkids. Jeff loves me more than anyone could ever love me, and I know that love grows everyday. However, with the many blessings I have received over the past year have also come times of trial. As we listened to the message, I couldn't help but think about all of the times I have feared a situation instead of trusting God - and all of the times in the future that I will have the same dilemma.


Over the past year, Jeff and I have faced many trials. Although we have so many things to be thankful for and so many blessings, we still have a lot to face ahead. There are some tough things in life that are never going to go away. But we also have to remember that God has given us many, many things to be thankful for. We are always going to face tough things in life - sometimes God places hard things and hard people in our life to teach us, or to help us grow. He has a plan for us, and He never leaves us.


I don't know what God has ahead for us, or what any of the outcomes will be. All I know is that life is not perfect and never will be - all I can do is trust God to get me through those times.

The McQuirky's

Because we are...

Check it out.

The McQuirky's

Wedding Pictures!!

Here is a sneak peek of some wedding pictures.

http://reneelewisphotography.typepad.com/photos/mccarty/index.html

Wedding Pics and Dry Land

We are officially back in the United States...yea! We are spending an evening in Floriday and then will head back to Louisville tomorrow. For those of you who haven't seen, check out Renee Lewis Photography for a sampling of wedding photos.

As soon as we get settled, I will post some pictures from the honeymoon.

Countdown

2 days, 4 hours!!

WOO-HOO!

The End of an Era

No....I'm not talking about the end of being single. Although, that's coming up soon ;)

Today marks the official end of "The Man Behind the Monkey." For those of you who have not a clue what I am talking about, I am referring to Jeff's Myspace page. Sad - but true.

For any of you who received weird or inappropriate comments from him, he is truly sorry. Apparently there's a hacker out there (big shock) who wanted to have some fun. Don't worry...there will be a new page soon. For now, keep checking out It Is What It Is... for all of the food for thought you can and can't handle.

More to come later...

It's official...

Wedding season has arrived!

In just under 6 weeks, our wedding day will be here! Today, I...I mean we (hee hee) received two wedding gifts. One was on my doorstep when I got home - yea! - and the other was from a client that I share with a girl at work. It came in the monetary form - always nice :)

Don't forget to send in your response cards!

Purple Spice

I chopped my hair off. Bet you can't guess what it looks like...

Here's a hint...

Renee Rocks!

My wedding photographer is a blue-ribbon winner!

Congratulations to Renee, who is shooting my wedding in November, on her much deserved wins at the fair this year!

Headed Home

Today will begin the first leg of our trip back home. So sad...

I will try to post some pictures when I get home. Katrina thinks that I'm boycotting the blog ;) I am certainly not ready to come home, but I am so thankful that everything worked out for us to spend a week at the beach. I've decided after finding $66 plane fair and a $25 rental car that my next career move (yeah right) will be a travel agent.

Anyway...see you all in Louisville!

** Wedding Update **

With 170 days left to go (less than 6 months...) I have put quite a dent in the planning since my last update! I now have a dress, a reception site, prospective photographers and a meeting set up with the florist on Monday. The colors are purple and black, with some green accents (for Jeff...it's his favorite color)

Everything is coming together and I am SO excited. Keep looking for updates...

New Header

As you can see, the header has changed once again. Me, Jeff and the kids had a little photo shoot with the most awesome photographer in Kentucky, Renee Lewis. You can see the bigger images on her blog Renee Lewis Photography. I hear there are more to come, and if they look anything like the three above I am sure they will be great. I can't wait to see the rest. Below is one she e-mailed me that she claims is her favorite, and I think it might be one of mine :)

Writer's Block

For about the last hour I have been searching for cruises. Actually, I guess I should say A cruise. I'm not really looking to go on multiple ones - however, I must say that would be just grand. Anyway - Jeff said he thought we should come to some type of decision on where to go and what to do and, as bad as it pains me to admit it :), I think he's right. I believe that I've made my final decision. I want him to check it first, of course, but I'm almost sure its the same one he looked at the other night.

Now that I've managed to bore you with all of those useless details....

I have blogger's block. I don't have a clue what to write about. So here I sit...by myself, listening to the house make noises that creep me out and nothing to really occupy myself with. As Jeff would say, "It's a sad song."

As creepy as this house is at night, it gives me the opportunity to think a lot. I think back about 6 months ago, when things were very different. As I sit here now, it will be a mere 6 1/2 months until I am married. I am going to be someone's wife. I will be someone's step-mom. To a lot of people, that sounds frightening. But as I sit here, in the quiet, I can't imagine anything more exciting. I know that life won't always be easy. But it makes it easier knowing that there will be someone to walk through it with every step of the way. It makes it better knowing that that someone loves you very much - and always will.

The reason why...

...you don't leave unfinished Starbucks in your car.

Henderson Buff Was Here...

...and other random happenings from the past few days.

We're repainting at work. The interior designer decided it was a good idea to write the names of each paint color on its coordinating wall. The bathroom paint color is apparently called "Henderson Buff". Someone else apparently thought it was an even better idea to write "was here" underneath the name. Our owner thought it was not so funny. I did ;)

Last night I went to McDonald's and got a hot fuge sundae with nuts. This time, I actually got the nuts :) You can imagine my excitement, since for WEEKS they have been out of them.

I'm also pretty excited in my discovery that my camera can take pictures of the ceiling without me having to lean my head back. I just hold it out in front of me and shoot. What's the purpose, you ask? There's not.

Midnight Messages

Someone always finds a way to cheer me up when I'm sad he has to work all night ;)

God is in Control

I think sometimes we forget that. I know that I do. Frankly, there are times of frustration and struggle that I rarely remember it. Unfortunately, most of the time that phrase tends to just remind me of that old, worn out, annoying (however..quite true) Twila Paris song by the same name.

Just a few days ago, a fellow blogging friend of mine wrote an entry about this very subject. A portion of it follows:

When someone lies to you, God is in control. When someone manipulates you, God is in control. No matter what is going on in your life. . . GOD IS IN CONTROL! Today I am disappointed (as I'm sure you can tell). Today I am discouraged. Today I am a child of God struggling to keep my focus on Him as the distractions of the world loom heavy. I am tempted to point fingers and blame. I am tempted to confront with hostility. I am tempted. . .

So, as I sit with my Bible I turn to a familiar passage in Romans:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28.

I know that God is in control. I know that he is using every second of every day to build me into the person he wants me to be. That doesn't mean it's easy. Maybe I don't know what He is teaching me yet. Maybe I don't always understand His ways. But I do know that God is using it all for good.

It's easy for me in times like now to get discouraged, just like my friend. I wonder why God won't give us a break sometimes. Why can't God stop life from snowballing? How the heck are you supposed to say "Thank you God. I praise you for making life difficult?"

I find myself often driving down the road and wondering why God won't give us a break. Why does it seem so often that trying to do the right thing gets us nothing but crapped on? I don't know, but I wish I did. All I do know is Romans 8:28.

Pray that me, my friend and everyone else who may be struggling can find some peace with time of unrest and disappointment.

First Photos

After being engaged for over a month, Jeff and I finally have a picture of us together. (Except for one at Christmas of all the cousins, and it's hideous) It took a few attempts at our self-portrait...

...but in the end I think we did a pretty decent job :)

Shutterbug

Ever since discovering my digital camera, Yana has become fascinated with photography. She always wants her picture made, and sometimes before it is even captured, she runs around and says "Let me see, let me see me!"

One day, browsing that wonderful establishment we know as Wal-Mart, I came upon a perfect birthday gift -a pink digital camera. Now I am aware that she is three. But...this was a rare find. For a low, very reasonable price, I could purchase a digital camera that takes pictures the equivalent to that of a cell phone camera, hook it up to the computer and show our new Ansel Adams her work.

I could only have dreamed how well this would have gone over! Here is a sampling of Yana's work. She's new...but I think there's some potential :)

April Fool's Day

I'm beginning to think that a lack of sleep and working with psych patients 8 hours a night is beginning to catch up with my fiancee.

Jeff has been cooking some kind of strange chicken and rice combination in a crock-pot (which he just informed me he has "slaved over" all day) that I think has been on heat for about 8 days now. Anyway...he's had a few setbacks with it and we aren't exactly sure how it's going to turn out. (See below...)

I just reminded him that on top of tomorrow being Yana's birthday, it is also April Fool's Day. Then I told him that while I have been staying with the kids this week, that I have rigged up the house. So, he better watch out.

He's now afraid that I've done something to his precious crock-pot casserole...and that I am the reason that it won't cook right. He is also mumbling something under his breath about me only eating fast food....

Oh...the joys of working with psych patients :)

Balloon Fun

Some things are better left up to the kids...

For a good time...

Jeff and I have been sitting here looking at a photo gallery for "Our 'Little Mountain Church' Chapel" in Gatlinburg. (No...we are not planning on getting married in Gatlinburg) Seriously, this is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. If you can stand the porn-like music that plays in the background contiuously, this is definetely worth your time. I hope you enjoy.!

For a good time...

** Wedding Update **

So..bad news. I got an e-mail back from the Glassworks people today. It's a no go. They are booked on the 3rd...however she let me know they're available on the 10th. Hmm... what a dilemma.

** Wedding Update **

Here is your first update in a string of many.

#1: I'm down to two photographers. Both are great. Both are available. Both do the exact style I am looking for. Any ideas on how to choose?

- Adam Cole
- Todd Pellowe

#2) Ceremony Site - Caldwell Chapel? Check it out...tell me what you think.

Caldwell Chapel

#3) Reception Site...

Glassworks Building

#4) I've yet to decide on a color scheme. Somehow it must involve purple. Duh. I have to be careful about the purple though. It can't be cheesy prom dress purple. Here are some color options.

- Purple and orange (ike a burnt orange)
- Green and purple (not mint, not fluorescent...)
- Deep red, fuschia and deep purple (I mean...it is fall)

That's all I have for now. I'll continue to keep you on the edge of your seat with updates ;)

Condiment Complex

This is Natalie. Natalie is our receptionist at work. Natalie has a phobia. She is afraid of condiments. Ketchup, mustard, mayo...you name it...she's afraid of it.

Natalie is aware that its weird. However it is a phobia. A very real phobia.

One time I was watching the Tyra Banks Show (which I only recommend anyone watch when there is absolutely nothing else on) and she was interviewing a girl who said she was genuinely terrified of pennies. I laughed my head off. It's apparently a real thing. Read this: Penny Phobia

Cotton and Gravy

Immediately you've said to yourself "Huh?" (No, that is not what we call Zeke and Yana...for those of you trying to guess)

The weekend that Jeff moved into this new house, my mom told Zeke and Yana to make sure they looked for the bunnies. There would be bunnies all over the place. So maybe not all over...but she's a step-grandmother and retired teacher. They have a flair for the dramatic ;)

Ever since, Zeke and Yana have checked the backyard for these millions of bunnies. Amazingly enough, they found one! Cleverly, they named him cotton. (A.K.A "Conton" or "Cont" for short) Last week, we went grocery shopping and bought a bag of carrots for "Cont" to snack on.

A few days ago, they got their chance to feed their furry friend. As we got out of the car we look in the yard and there he was...our good friend Cotton. I ran in the house and grabbed two carrots. By the time I came out Cottona had a friend with him. You can only imagine the excitement ;)

Meet - you guessed it - Gravy ;)

The Rock

So I know everyone has heard the awesome news by now. WE'RE ENGAGED! (See the rock below...)

You can see that the ring is much like me...not normal :) Purple is my favorite color and very much a part of who I am (duh...hair.) So keeping those thoughts in mind, Jeff did a great job of picking out a ring that, like everyone has said, is "so you."

Anyway...the party...I mean, wedding, will be November 3. Details will come. I will be sure to blog every detail that I possibly can to keep you updated on how the planning is going. Assuming Jeff hasn't strangled me by then :) He has mentioned several times how much he can't wait to help with the details...

I would also like to send congrats to Matt and Angela (http://angelastarnes.blogspot.com) who got engaged on Monday. CONGRATULATIONS!

Looks like it will be a busy summer for me. Matt and Angela sometime in the summer (June or July?), I know 3 people having babies in August, wait...4. Tara at work is getting married in September, Kim Lee in October, and me in November. YIKES! Then there's December, and well, duh. Obviously busy.

Should be a whirlwind of a year. Hang on to your seats!

Car Wash

If any of you know me at all, you'll know that the car wash is not a consistent thing in my life. In fact, until tonight, I had only driven my own car through the car wash once. Let me tell you...it is exciting.

It's mind boggling that for a mere $10, you can get you undercarriage washed (it isn't like it sounds...), dirt cleansed away, hot wax, tires scrubbed, rain protected...and who can forget that retty rainbow the foam makes on your car. To top it all off, its all done in 5 minutes!

Seriously...you cant't beat that deal :)


I loved getting home and examining my car, looking at how shiny and brand new it was. I thought to myself, why in the world would I ever stand out in the driveway and spend 30 agonizing minutes trying to wash my own car again. To me the pretty rainbow and the undercarriage wash was well worth it.

It is definetelty the little things in life that excite me.

If the Shoe Fits

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE shoes. Shopping for them is so much fun...even when its not for me. In fact... I almost enjoy buying them for other people more. (NOTE: I said ALMOST.) The other night, Jeff and I went to Wal-Mart, as we do many nights, and I decided that I wanted to buy new shoes for Zeke and Yana. In particular I was looking for little pink "Ugg" boots for Yana that I knew they would probably have on clearance from winter. I found exactly what I was looking for in the perfect size for $3!! Even better than buying shoes...finding a great bargain! Anyway...on the same aisle Jeff found tennis shoes just like his for Zeke in red, which is Zeke's favorite color. Our mission was complete...

The next time they came over and saw their new shoes, they were so excited! I'm not sure when I've seen two happier kids. It amazes me sometimes how such simple things can brighten someones day. Even more amazing is how happy it makes me to see them so excited.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister returned from Panama (the canal...not the beach). She had been there for a week on a trip with Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child. If you don't know anything about this ministry, click on the links and check them out. They are incredible ministries. Shannon is the Louisville Area Coordinator for OCC and this year she was given the opportunity to travel with a large group of OCC staff and other volunteers to personally hand out shoebox gifts to kids who have probably never received a Christmas gift in their life. When she returned, we sat down and looked through probably 3o0 pictures of happy faces...all ecstatic over a few dollar store items in a shoebox. Pretty cool, huh?

It seems very easy for us to sit around with our cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. and think that it's not enough...to think that life is hard and that we've hit rock bottom. We've all been guilty...me included. But then I think about kids like Zeke and Yana who are absolutely thrilled with a $3 pair of shoes...and then I remember the looks on the faces of the kids in Panama who are so grateful to receive a shoebox filled with gifts. Then I realize how happy it makes me. THINGS don't make us happy. Money doesn't make us happy. SHOES don't make us happy :) Giving and helping others makes us happy. Seeing how our actions, even a small gesture, can change someones day, week, year or life...that is true happiness.