Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

We had a really good time during our "D-Group" session tonight. D-Groups (discipleship groups) are what we have on Wednesday nights here at GBS in place of the regular prayer meeting. Volunteer staff/faculty leaders take a group of students into their home and discuss different topics or lessons to help us grow spiritually. Since Aaron has class on Wednesday night, I have a group of 8 girls and they are a wonderful bunch!

Tonight was a different sort of night, but I really felt like we should talk about this so we did. The topic: self-confidence. We discussed what self-confidence is, why it is important, and how to obtain it if you have none or yours is low. Then we played a matching game where each girl was given a paper with two different behaviors associated with either self-confidence or low self-confidence. They had to read them aloud and determine which category it fit into. This brought up lots of discussion points, which were very good. Before they left for the evening, I distributed 8 papers with each girl's name listed individually at the top. We each wrote one positive thing about that person and then passed the papers around until everyone had written a compliment about everyone else. The compliments were not shared with the group, but it appeared everyone really liked this idea and enjoyed learning more about self-confidence.

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet it's amazing how so many people struggle with it. I loved this quote I found online and shared it with the girls tonight at the end of our meeting:

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." -Oscar Wilde

Hittin' the Slopes!

Yes! We finally did it! Aaron and I went skiing today!!! Kevin Moser has been asking us for a few years now to give skiing a try, and so this year we finally did. We loved every minute of it - well, maybe not all the falls. We both fell more times than we can count, but so did all the other beginners! That's just part of it - you have to get out there and do it.

I was only really scared at one point - and I think it's only because of what someone was telling us. Aaron and I had gone through the lessons, practiced for quite a while on the bunny slope, did the beginner's hill a couple of times, and felt ready to go on to the next step. So, we did. Matt and Tara McCasland were with us and were great coaches. They had been watching us and said we were ready. We rode the lift up and at the very top of the hill we ran into a guy we knew. After chatting for a few minutes, he asked if we had done that particular hill before. When he discovered it was our first day skiing and our first time on that hill, his eyes got really big and said, "Oh, no - you're going to have problems!" We were thinking, "What!?" He went on to say that I would probably be okay, but since Aaron was bigger, the momentum he would pick up would make him go too fast and he would probably "run right into the line of people at the bottom of the hill." I am not kidding - those were his words exactly. We quickly said goodbye to him and were like, "Great! Here we are at the top of this "nightmare" hill and there was only one way to get down!" I was about ready to shove the guy off at the top if he wouldn't have stopped telling us all these horror stories. I'm not kidding - he was very serious. I "suppose" he meant well, but the damage was already done. Grrr! Matt and Tara told us to just forget what he had said, but that was a little bit hard to do. I was scared and there was no where to go but down. But, I told Aaron, the worse thing that can happen is . . . we'll fall! And we did! :-) But, we got back up and continued down the hill and had a blast! We ended up skiing that hill about 3 more times before it was time to go. We really enjoyed skiing and plan to go again. Thanks, Kevin, for insisting that we try! Here's some picture to prove it really happened!

What a fun day! I'd do it all over again!

Actually, getting off the lift is kind of difficult. Aaron would ride up with Matt so he could help him, and Tara would ride up with me to help me.
For non-skiers, the lift does NOT stop, you have to ski off of it - yes we both fell getting off of the lift. :-)

An "action" picture of Aaron!

Kristin and Mark Foster also skied for the first time today
(not many pictures of them since they had to leave early).

I would like everyone to notice the sign above Aaron's head.
We were advancing - whoo hoo!

This is a little far away (I wasn't about to get that close with my camera), but from left to right is Matt, Kevin, and Aaron.

It was VERY crowded on the slopes and in the ski lodge. We didn't know any different, but Kevin said it was the biggest crowd he had ever seen out there - at least 9,000 people!

Bless Tara's dear heart! She helped me so much and was very patient. She even waited for me while we laughed hysterically after my pitiful fall so she could help me get up. Honestly, the hardest thing I did all day was getting UP after a fall. Try doing that with 6-foot feet that are very slick on a hill!!!

Flu Bug

I love this picture (courtesy of Dr. Farmer). It seems like so many people have been sick lately - this bug must be working overtime!
Thankfully, I have NOT had the flu this year (knock on wood - I'll probably be punished for posting this) . . .

Putting It All Together . . .

I'm in the middle of putting Dorcas and Matt's wedding album together and decided I had to take a break. (What better way to break than to blog!)

When I put an album together, I have to see ALL the pages together before I start so I'll make sure it comes out even. (Getting it even is harder than it sounds with horizontal and vertical photographs all having to match together to fit on a page as well as the album pages ending on the left.) So, I do all this "seeing" by laying it out - all over the floor! I don't have the luxury of my own "studio" with a work flow table, so everything in my home becomes my work space! Here's something of what it looks like.

And the winning caption is . . .

"Little Flyer"

Thanks to Matt Deuel for this great suggestion!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes, Nancy, even Dr. Farmer game me some great ideas. I couldn't decide what to use and after asking several others, this one got the most votes.

Caption, anyone?

I need your help!

I just found out today that I won 2nd place in a photo contest - hooray!!! The contest is through IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis), which is where I completed my photography training. The funny thing is, I didn't even remember which photo I had submitted (I barely remembered entering the contest since it was last April). However, the kind lady refreshed my memory and I instantly knew which photo she was referring to. This is my nephew, Kaden Burley, and was taken in March of 2006.

This photo will soon be on display in the Union Building on the campus of IUPUI and they asked me to submit a caption - that's where I need your help! If anyone has some ideas for a cool caption, please help me! I'm kind of stuck as to what to submit.

What a Saturday!

I was here . . .


And Aaron was here . . .




Two very different events, but we both enjoyed our respective places very much (although I worked hard today)! Sandra Holden and Zane Hatfield's wedding went really well and the Colts won! We'll both sleep very well tonight! :-)

Christmas at the Inlaws

Since our parents live so far away from each other, Aaron and I rotate holidays with our families. When we have Christmas in Missouri, we celebrate Christmas with his parents on New Years, which was the case this year. Here's a few pictures from the occasion!

A Sonicare toothbrush for both of us (don't worry - there are 2 separate heads). When your mother-in-law is a dental hygienist, your teeth must be on their best behavior!

Fondue - a Herring family Christmas tradition! Takes a while to eat, but very yummy, indeed!

We only use this green table cloth for this meal because it's old and fondue splatters easily. :-)

Cameron got a leather jacket for one of his Christmas gifts - he loved it!
Cameron is growing like a bad weed - he is only about 5 inches shorter than Aaron now and only 1/2 size behind him in shoes. One thing I don't get, though - people have actually asked if Aaron and Cameron are twins! Come on, now! They do look similar, but they are 16 years apart!!

Living High on the Crab!

Wow! We had the most incredible supper tonight - Jeff came by before he had to go to work and brought crab! Jeff cooked it while I watched and learned - as this was a first for me. I also learned how to clarify butter - never heard of that before tonight either (remember, I grew up in the country). The crab was extremely delicious!

They were huge as you can see!

Just giving you another idea of how big these things were!
(Actually, Aaron was talking on his cell phone after we were done eating, so I grabbed the one remaining crab and pretended I was too! He didn't think it was as funny as I did, but he did snap a picture for me.) :-)


That's all!
Thanks for a great supper, Jeff!