Hawk's Prey

One of BeBe's favorite spots to play is at the top of the blinds in our Paladian window. He's actually quite clever and acrobatic. He'll jump from his play pen, up to the top of the entertainment center, climb up the curtain, and dangle out to grab the blind cords. Then, just like in the circus, balance on the strings and climb up them to the top.

Lately, he's been chewing on the blinds. I don't really like it when he does that, so I have been opening the blinds by pulling them all the way up so he can't chew on them. This makes for a clear view of Food Lion, brings in a lot of light, and apparently disguises the fact that there is glass in our window.

Thank goodness for glass because we wouldn't have a BeBe anymore if there hadn't been glass there. Imagine this sight:
This was the view that we got as a hawk glided down toward our window towards the spot that BeBe was sitting on at the top of the blinds.

Bam!

Fluttering.... Flapping... Falling....

Bam!

Squeeking and skwaking....

Yes, there are two Bams in there.

The hawk went for BeBe, BeBe saw it, freaked out and fell down. The hawk apparently still didn't realize that there was glass there, because when BeBe fell, it hit the glass again, thinking that he had just missed.

This is what would've gotten BeBe if the glass hadn't been there:

Yikes! Those look sharp.

Hawk dives always crack me up (except when they are freaking my baby, I mean, my BeBe, out). The other day, I was driving on the Durham Freeway and a low flying hawk comes swooping in over our lane. It grabs its prey right under the guard rail and in a swift move, goes through that hole under the rail.

When hawks dive for prey, it reminds me of a lady in a dress. The hawk lifts it's skirt of feathers to reveal it's teeny little chicken legs with over grown nails.

Anyways, this whole episode had poor BeBe freaked out. Rodney and I comforted him and just still looked through the window in amazement. The hawk, I guess, was unphased as we didn't see it lying on the ground anywhere in shock.

Well, I guess BeBe may be hanging out on his cage more than at the top of the window. At least until he truly realizes that he is protected. I know I probably would be freaked out if I were him too. It is like being in an aquarium and a shark ramming the glass right where you're at. You know there is glass there, but the innate instinct of predator versus prey is still quite scary.

Lovestone Inn

July 1-4 we stayed at the Lovestone Inn. It really is the best-kept secret at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. No doubt about it, my husband and I will go back. We stayed in the Spring Garden room on the third floor while my parents stayed in the basement in the Summer Rose room. Might I suggest going out on their boat, swimming and fishing off the dock, and the hot tub! The breakfasts were superb and the owners, Tom and Dawn were awesome. You should go! Next time, we will stay for the fireworks on the lake on the 4th!

The Front of the Inn

The Property was quite large and right on the lake!

Tom was hilarious and a quite thorough tour guide of the lake

Beautiful Views

The resort we had dinner at one night... great ribs!

What lightning will do to your house... thankfully the owner was out of town.

The other side of the dam

Aren't we cute and windblown....

Rodney and Oreo; yes, Oreo is wearing a doggie lifevest.

Awww.... too cute. My parents on the boat ride.

Cool Willow tree near the dock

Our own private beach on the lake

My future lake home. Apparently the lots run close to a million. Just the land!

We swam pretty far out from the dock to the "No Wake" Buoys (Me, Rod, Dad). They're hard to see because they are so far away!

The Whole Crew!

Sunset on the Lake! Gorgeous!

Who? (Poem)

Who do THEY say He is?
Savior, Prophet, Messiah
The Word, devoted, Faith
A Heart brimming over
Son of God, Love Sacrifice
He became sin to cleanse us
plucked from below to rise again
OVERCOMING
He WAS there at the beginning
He IS here NOW
He WILL be there at the end
Against the flow of the world
Transforming us
He is everything you want to be
Fulfilling your true purpose
Finally made whole
Who do YOU say He is?

By Tamara Money
© TRM 2006

The Dress for My Brother's Wedding

This is my dress for Thomas and Rachel's wedding. I like it a lot. I love it when we have control of what dress, or at least top, we can wear. It always looks good. I will tell you that I was a bit worried when she picked mystic purple, but not because I don't like the color because I do love it. There just happens to be a lot less variety in that color as far as styles go, but I found something, so it's all good! I let my bridesmaids pick their tops in red and everyone looked so awesome. Even though my wedding was "my day" I wanted everyone to look good. On Jen's day, everyone looked so beautiful! This does work! I really honestly believe that you cannot pick one dress that looks good on everyone, unless all your bridesmaids are all the same size and body shape. Plus, when we were picking the dresses out, I got to see what everyone picked out and how it looked on them. That's the joy of David's Bridal. I also like the fact that when we pick our own tops, usually we avoid alterations. That is definitely a money saver. Rachel is letting us pick out our shoes as long as they are silver. Jen did the same thing for her wedding in white (her dresses were periwinkle) as well as I did in black. It is so smart to just pick a color for the shoes and let your attendees do the picking. You end up with the control of how much money you spend and whether or not you want to enjoy fashion or foot pain. We all have such different feet and it is considerate to think of that. Anyways, I just thought I'd share what my dress looks like. I definitely look forwards to wearing it again, just because I know I will be able to (because it looks good). I know I will be able to wear the dress I had for Jen's wedding again too. Bring on the formals!

Prayer Vigil

A PRAYER VIGIL to honor the life of Pedro Pablo Josue Gasperine Quijano will be held Saturday, July 15th at 3:00 PM, on the corner of Fairfax Street and London Circle (Directions: take E. Geer Street to N. Miami Blvd., take second left off N. Miami Blvd onto Greenbriar Street; then take first right onto Fairfax Road and London Circle is one block on right.)

Mr. Quijano was fatally shot on April 25, 2006. He was 44 years old.

Prayers will be led by Anna Lee Mosley, lay member of the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham. All faiths and ages are welcome.

A tribute to Pedro Gasperin Quijano can be found at http://stargazrt4.blogspot.com/2006/04/in-memory-of.html.

The purpose of our Prayer Vigils for Homicide Victims is to bring people together to honor the lives of the victims, comfort the family, friends and neighbors; to pray for peace and healing in the neighborhood and throughout all Durham; to allow those affected the opportunity to have their voices heard and their grief acknowledged; and to publicly protest to the community that such violence is unacceptable and requires all those who want to promote justice and mercy to take action. The Vigils are coordinated by the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, Parents of Murdered Children and Durham Congregations In Action. For more information please call Marcia Owen at 919-489-3531 or email mowen8@nc.rr.com.

Wove, Troo Wove.

Rodney and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Can you believe it's been one year? I've learned several new things about being a wife, about being married, about myself in the past year.

Gratefully, we have been blessed by the Lord to have had a most awesome year. I can't say the year went perfectly or without problems/arguments, but those were minimal and we learned from them.

Some of the lessons I've learned as a wife and woman:

My husband is #1 in my life (of course behind God). I should make my plans around him especially. What do I mean by this? He takes priority in my schedule over extended family, friends, church, business, and social events (to mention a few aspects of life). I try to be home when he comes home. I take care of all the needs he has that I can help with. Spend more time with your spouse than with your outside family (parents, siblings, pets) and friends.

My special objective is to make our house a home. This is seen very prominently in Proverbs 31. Mainly, I just keep the house in order, take care of BeBe, and just try to make it a pleasant environment for him (which makes it a pleasant environment for me). This definitely includes keeping my attitude in check and watching my tongue (what I say and tone of voice). Always greet each other with a kiss and a hug and pay special mind to each other when you come home (aka turn off TV for a bit or at least mute, stop what you're doing).

I had to cut the apron strings from my parents. Though my Mom was where I went to in the past about everything, now that person is my husband. Granted, I still talk to my Mom as we are very close, but I run everything I need to talk about through Rodney. I want to make sure he knows how I am feeling, what I am going through, and just general things about life from day-to-day. Oh, and I never, and I mean never, say anything bad or negative about Rodney to my parents. This is because, first of all, anything specifically between us is not their business, and, second of all, you avoid "bad blood." Not to say I don't ask for advice about things, I just choose to ask it without mentioning negative things or by using generalities. My personal opinion is that this is especially important in order to create a lasting and deep relationship with my husband. If we ever decide to have kids, this will be extremely important, too, as we are raising our own kids, not our parents telling us or raising our kids for us. They may not mean to, but it is all to0 easy to have opinions if they are overly involved. If we do have kids, I certainly won't be living next door to them! By the way, we still don't want kids, we will just love on other people's kids!

Money is pretty much the source of all our struggles. Mainly, the lack thereof. I have really worked hard on myself to stop impulse buying (though I still accidentally slip) and buy really what we need. Greenville was really hard on us financially. We went into some debt because we didn't have decent jobs and needed to live. It is expensive to live out in the real world, so make sure you budget your finances. Do allot some money toward some sortof pleasure, whether it be a romantic dinner or something you both want to buy.

Support each other's dreams. It doesn't matter how extravagant or wacko you might think their dreams are, if they believe in them, you should too. Dreams are important to everyone. When we have dreams that we really believe in, being in a close environment with someone who doesn't support you by not believing in your dream is the same thing as a cut to the heart. You may have to adjust a little bit, but in a true love relationship, you are to complete the other person. Part of that completion is loving that person, their spirit, their dreams.

Compromise!!!! This is probably one of the top things that needs to occur in a marital relationship. One spouse should not dominate over the other, or allow outside people (which is everyone but you two) to dominate their relationship, decisions, or beliefs. Discussions should occur especially about spiritual things before marriage (especially if you two were raised in different religious backgrounds). Some of the basic spiritual beliefs may remain different between you and your spouse, but the compromise comes in in where to worship, how to raise the kids, etc. If you choose not to compromise, you create strife. If you allow outside people to make your decisions for you, you will become dependent on them and not your spouse. I cannot reiterate this more, but compromise is the best agenda in decisions to be made. Adjustments will be made on both sides of a compromise, but the nice thing is that that is the best way to grow yourself and your relationship with one another. A couple compromises that Rodney and I had to make were where to live, what kindof food to have the house, how many social/church events and what type of events we went to, and where we both felt comfortable worshipping.

Lastly, build your relationship around God. This is number one in marriage. You will be happier and stronger in the Lord. That's just the way it works out. Statistically, the divorce rate is still lower in the church than it is outside the church. Children raised in the church tend to turn out better and have stronger holds on their roots and beliefs. I know, personally, that I am a better woman because my parents raised me in the church. The same can be said of Rodney.

Now I know that I have only been married a year, but this is the advice I can give as a newly wed. We plan to remain perpetual honeymooners, and the main way to do that is through the things I've learned and by applying those things. It is not enough to just hear them, you must apply them and take action.

Book Recommendations:
The Bible (Proverbs 31 among other verses)
A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley