Sunday Drives

Sometimes I like to take a drive out into the surrounding Virginia countryside on Sundays. To me, it can be more powerful than going to church - at least at this point in my life. Seeing God's creation in nature restores me, calms me, and brings me back to the heart of what life is really about. It is my escape from the realities and pressures of life and brings me joy.

One such Sunday I decided to take some pictures of my journey with my camera phone. Below are some of the images and evidence that beauty can be found in the dark bleak times of winter.

This is a Great Story

Click on the link for a great story pertaining to the creativeness of one guy in the job market. It encourages me!

Paging Tim Gunn

Those who know me, know that I love fashion. I love clothes, jewerly, purses, shoes, scarves, design - there are very few things that I don't love about it all. It's one of my favorite creative outlets. I love it for its art and how it is an art form in and of itself. That is why it pains me when I see fashion travesties out there in the great wide world. To caveat - I am sure I have committed my own travesties or oddities and I'm certainly no Stacy London, Clinton Kelly, or Tim Gunn. But there are three things that I believe no woman should ever deem to wear.

#1 - Rompers. The picture to the right says it all. Never, ever, ever should a woman ever put something like this on. And the fact that the picture above is from a well-known designer and sells for hundreds of dollars is a travesty beyond travesty in my opinion. There is just no body shape that this would ever look good on.

#2 - Jumpsuits. Unless you are an extra in Top Gun 2 - Goose Lives, no jumpsuits should ever be worn. Never, ever, ever, ever! My young eyes were scarred once by watching a woman squeeze herself into a tight, single-piece jumpsuit of denim material at Wet Seal and it is an image that will never leave me. The poor woman. And poor me! I remember when the jumpsuit arrived in the store, I wondered who would ever deem to put it on - I got my answer, for sure! So never, please never, go for the jumpsuit. Not even Beyonce can pull this look off.

#3 - Velour Track Suits. Jenny From the Block unfortunately brought these into the fashion world and I personally think they should never have come into it. Maybe - maybe - if you're just lounging around at home they are ok, but really. Let's be honest. How can anyone feel good about themselves wearing a velour track suit? And please note - I'm not knocking sweats - not in the least. I would much rather have someone wear their actual sweats than a track velour suit. Because when you are wearing sweats, you are declaring to the world, "I don't really care about what I look like right now, and I dare you to say anything about it" (which I admire and adhere to at times), whereas a velour track suit says "I wanted to try looking cute but deep down didn't really want to be cute so I decided to put this velveteen bunny suit on instead." Just wear jeans, please!

Those are my top three things I think no one should ever wear. What about you? Do you have anything that you think no one should ever put on? Been guilty of any of these? Post in the comments!

It's December? Already?

I think I say this often, but I really am dumbfounded by the fact that it is already December. I also can't believe how long it has been since I posted something new, but with all that has been going on lately, it honestly has been on the bottom of my list.

Many new changes have come to my life - and if I ever get a moment to reflect back on this year, I think that that will be its theme. And more changes are on the horizon. In just about a week's time, I will be moving out to try living on my own and having my own place. It's very scary in a lot of ways but also really exciting.

Piling on top of my fears, is my fear for job security as my company continues to lay off more people, reduce salaries, and change the way that people are paid. I had thought that we had reached the bottom a while ago, but I was wrong. Each day is a new battle. My new favorite quote is "No rest for the weary". And yet, I still remain hopeful and optimistic about our survival. I don't know what it is about me, but I have this penchant to believe in the unbelievable and have a faith in the impossible - because I don't see it as impossible.

Yet though I believe in the impossible, I am beyond stressed, so much so that I have been having serious jaw pain issues - and ironically what I need to do is not stress about being stressed. I'm falling apart physically - my ankles are spazzing out, my jaw is locked, my back is one massive knot. But again, no rest for the weary.

And yet - Yet I am still attempting to see beauty and light in the midst of all this darkness - of the world, of the economy, of the future. I am so thankful for the holiday season - it redeems winter for me and allows me to see beauty in the bleakness of the cold and death that surrounds me.

That is all for now - I will try to get some more posts up later on about my thoughts on Baz Luhrman's Australia, lessons learned from the precious movie Pollyana, fashion travesties, and a few other musings that I have been kicking around lately.