haphazard musings

what started out to be

a nice little walk turned out to be a nice little mountain climb.

we were visiting Ryan's grandparents in Sabetha this weekend.  It's about 3 hours from here.  They live on a century farm there.  Pretty cool.

But on Saturday I went exploring aka walking.  Ryan asked which way I was going and I said south. 

He said, "Ok, but there will be a couple hills." 

I said, "Good deal."

Little did I know that I could train for the mountain section of the Tour de France in Sabetha, KS.  But that is what it felt like I was doing.

Finley and I were both pooped after about half a mile.  The hills were huge and not to mention the 30 mile an hour winds blowing dirt into my sweaty face.  I was quite dirty when I had completed my 4.4 miles.

anyway...here is what we saw on our walk (I took my phone in case I got lost or couldn't make it back to the house because I forgot I had to turn around....)

hill #1

i like to take pictures through things...is that weird?

doesn't that picture make you feel like you just went back in time about 100 years?  or more?

side bar: speaking of going back in time, have you seen "Midnight in Paris"?  such a good movie!  and if you didn't have the travel bug before you watched it, you will after.

i love, love, love this old crumbling bridge.  the sign even says it can handle a one ton truck...doesn't look like it to me.  i stepped carefully... :)

almost there...can you see the farm in the background?  just left of center there is a white spot and a cluster of trees...that's the farm.  i love that finley's ears and tongue are blowing in the wind - that's how windy it was.

we went and measured how far i went and found out i did about 4.5 miles.  not a bad hike.  i always enjoy exploring new places.  maybe next time i will go north and explore the state of Nebraska...

or maybe not. 

 

The Great Wall

so apparently, i will be sharing about china very slowly.  kind of annoying for everyone who wanted to see pictures.  and kind of annoying to me also, since I need to get the pictures edited and fill up the awesome frame i bought at target to house an amazing picture before i even left. :)

but think of it this way: now you get to spread out the excitement of my trip and the overwhelming amazing-ness of my pictures over months. :)

one of my very faorite parts of china was visiting the great wall. 

there is something about the oldness that makes it toally amazing.  i may or may not have mentioned before that i love old stuff.  the older the better really, but i do believe the great wall takes the cake for the oldest place or thing i have visited.

our first peek was through this little village that basically seems to survive based on the tourists who come to the wall.  see it back there behind the power lines?  this photo also encompases another of my favorite things: juxtaposition.

it's a big vocab word from way back - think senior english at good old AHS - but it means to put different things together to create contrast.

it's the "new" stuff compared to the "old stuff".  cities are best at this effect I think.  but this village did a good job: here is a 800 year old totally huge wall, right next to our little beer store. :)

anyway...

we went to one of the less visited sections (of which there are many, many sections).  i was excited because i had seen pictures of the wall before from friends' visits and they were packed with tourists.  we were there with about 8 or so other folks.  awesome.

we crossed this little bridge...

climbed this little "path" even though the sign clearly indicated that we were not supposed to be climbing this section of wall...

because this isn't supposed to be climbed, there was not a fee for visiting...until we came across this little old lady who apparently lived on the little path and charged people a tax to go on up.

think "three billy goats gruff" and you can't pass without paying the toll.

so anyway we paid her and mosied on.  as i climbed and looked acroos the street, i was thankful we chose the "easy side" because the other side was STEEP and would have reuiqred some serious climbing.

the wall was a massive, solid structure.

and full of detailed work from obviously skilled and really strong workers.

we learned a little kung fu while we were up there too...

and then we made our way back down after checking out the view a little more...

the wall was truly amazing.  the hisotry of it and the ridiculously hard work that went into building it is astounding.  i can't imagine lifting bricks up one by one on my back and creating something like this.  something that took centuries to build.  something that is still around centuries later.  almost everything we know and experience day in and day out is new and shiny, sleek and modern.  it is something special to experience something old and crumbling, but still strong and mighty.  something that the chinese take great pride in.

the history there is heavy.  i could picture the warriors defending their homes agains invaders.  i could see the night watchman trudging up and down his length of the wall climbing up and down the hundreds of stairs.  it was a different time when all it took was a wall to keep the enemy at bay.

A New Route

A few weeks ago, we headed west to Limon to visit the fam. 

Things were going great.  We were on schedule.  Nothing but open highway for about 400 miles.

Or so we thought....

While at the filling station in Salina, we got a call from Ryan's dad. 

"Did you guys check the radar?"

"well...no...should we have?"

Turns out yes, we should have.  Out west, over Hays stretching all the way down to Dodge was a giant red/purple storm cloud. 

Can you say hail?

Can you say new truck?

So we headed farther north in hopes of going avoiding the major part of the storm.

Thank you Kansas Highway 24 for the safe (but 2 hours longer than usual) trip.

Here are some of the new sights.

This church was directly in the middle of a very green wheat field.  They basically farm around it.

That is the edge of the massive storm system we avoided.  Kinda looks like a mountain from there.

Then our route got a little creepy...but we kept on truckin'.

Courthouse in Beloit.

(horrible photo)

But it is the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, KS.  It doesn't get much better than that folks.  The sign said the twine ball had a 40 foot circumference and weighed in at 14,687 pounds.

I want to know how they know its weight.  How do you weigh something that is more than 14,000 pounds?

Just after Cawker City we ran into a little trouble...

A giant dust storm. 

In case you were wondering, yes, Kansas still has those.

(source)

It wasn't quite like that...but I was a little freaked out. 

Mostly because the wind was gusting like 60 or 70 miles per hour.  And we drove through these.

I told Ryan we needed to watch for cows.

Twister: Flying Cow Special Effects (On DVD May 6) - Click here for more home videos

He didn't think it was funny.  :)

But we made it.  8 hours later.

At 2 am.

 

 

 

 

 

Family Photo Shoot.

Hey folks...I had my first paying gig a little over a week ago.  It was a large family and I was pretty nervous about doing it.  But we eneded up with some really nice shots.

So I thought I would share a few and some highlights from our day in Manhattan!!!

We sipped coffees from Radina's.

We went to brunch at

I had the Eggchiladas.  They were totally awesome...with this pork verde sauce and spicy potatoes...next time you are in town, hit up the brunch for sure!

Then hit the shops in Aggieville before heading back to good old Newton.

I am pretty sure someone in Newton should open a Coco Bolos...if you are interested...just talk to me I will tell you how great it is.  As I recall, they also have some delicioso Sangria.  Just a thought - but not for breakfast...

We used the always beautiful K-State campus for our photo shoot.

Anne was instrumental in my lighting checks.

 

But on to the real family photos.  Emily, the brunette on the left, was my boss in college.  I loved that job and I was pretty good at it.  I loved giving campus tours and recruiting students to the most wonderful place on earth.  But I found out she reads my blog and asked if I would do some photos for them 

Her family was really fun and nice.  They were great first subjects.

So not too bad.  Emily, they will all be headed your direction on a disc this week!

 

Do you ever...

pay attention to road signs.

I do.

They are for keeping drivers safe and aware of their surroundings.  They are important.

This one says Avalanch Area, my car photo skills aren't as good when I am in the backseat...

Anyway...So this sign tells me, "Be afraid - there could be an avalanche anywhere, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it."  

I mean you can watch for an avalanche, but if it there was one right now while you are passing this sign, well you're just gonna be the next abominable snowman.  Let's be honest, you can't outrun an avalanche.  

This sign tells us "Congratulations!  You are now aware that a giant boulder may come hurtleing down the mountainside at any moment! Better keep your eyes peeled."  

I always think about bananas when people say eyes peeled.  I picture grabbing your eyelids and literally peeling them back.  I think it would probably hurt pretty bad.

So sometime when you are hanging out with my dad, you should ask him about Falling Rock.  It was a guy he knew when he was a kid and he has some great stories.  Every time we go to Colorado we are supposed to be on the watch for him...so should you.

Really.  You just ask him.

Just dial 316.775...and his jeans size.  I will forever know what size jeans my dad wears, because it was our phone number growing up.  So if you can guess that you can call him and ask about Falling Fock.

And, this sign just seems unnecessary.  How much to you think the Dept of Transportation has spent, total, for all the signs announcing tunnels?

Which do you think you would notice first?  The tiny little sign announcing the tunnel or the giant hole in the mountain that you are just about to drive into?

Just wondering.

Favorite sign of all time and unrelated to this post of Colorado signs...

Please come enjoy the lovely views from these benches, but at any moment you could be looking in the face of a 5000 pound pacaderm with tusks the size of the car by which you arrived at this lovely spot.

Love It...Hate It...vol. 8

Welcome to another edition of Love it...Hate it...

This one is a love it!

I love this.

What exactly is this you may ask...well, it's two things!

1. a big family.  I love big families!!!  There is just something awesome about the idea of lots of people to love!

2. adoption.  I love adoption!!!  Isn't it just amazing that Jesus has given us the chance to live out the gospel here on Earth by accepting little people into our families and loving them unconditionally just like Jesus brings us into His family and loves us forever.

Don't you just love it!?!

That's a whole lotta family and a whole lotta love!

They asked me to come take their pictures the other day.  So I thought I would share a couple and share a tiny bit of their story.  The little gal in the middle, came to be part of this wonderfuly family from Peru.  It has been quite a journey for the whole family from beginning (understanding God's plan) to end (finally meeting her on another continent and where they only speak Spanish).  She has been with this family for 6 months now!  

She is the cutest little gal.  She is outgoing and confident, and we all love her.

How could you not?  She was really hamming it up for the camera.  She kept yelling cheese and smiling so hard I thought her face was going to break in two.

Check out her mama's blog and you can catch the whole adoption story!!!

I think this picture is my favorite.

Thanks for letting me take your pictures!  I had fun!
 

 

 

on a sunny day

not so long ago, Ryan and I took a little drive.

We followed a

as we drove along.

We passed a really long

that sat parked along highway 56.

After about 1.5 hours spent enjoying the lovely Kansas scenery, we ended up saying goodbye to

, 

he served us well and he was a great car.

There were lots of stories and memories shared by

as we allowed the Xtera to find its next owner.

Then we hit the

back to good old Newton.

It was a lovely trip as you can see in the view in my

of our new ride.

 

 

have you ever noticed

that while universities have beautiful campus landscaping and buildings and structures...

they have the strangest art.

Like weirdo people running and playing on the side of a wall...

Or this weird spikey dude...

Or the puffy couple just standing in wait...

a new assignment

we have been asked for class to compose a new poem.

this one should be reflective without actually stating my feelings directly.  which will be an interesting task.  part of the assignment is to take a work of art, or a scene of some kind and "let it speak".

i am looking for works of art to use.  do you have any suggestions?

this is what i have so far.

two thoughts ... continued

ok...are you ready for thought number two?

Well, I have bad news.  I shouldn't have waited so long to continue the train of thought, because I forgot.  I thought I would remember, but perhaps the thought will reoccur once I get back in my car.

I do tend to have the most random thoughts while I am sitting in my car.

So in light of my forgetfulness and because I don't want to be a complete disappointment I am going to share some photos with you instead.

I did a "photo shoot" with some of my favorite people for some maternity photos.  It was fun, but I was pretty nervous asking people to pose for me.

It did however turn up some good shots.

Ryan is obviously shocked by the news!

Well, now the little baby has joined us out here!  We love him already!

Happy Friday, tomorrow!