Hello everyone!  I hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  I wanted to share with you a get well card that I made.  It is for my husband’s uncle so I wanted a masculine feel to it.  We are all hoping he is feeling better soon. …

From the Bicentennial Tower

Today Brittany and her friend Alexa joined us from far away for senior portraits. Here are a few of my favorites:This shot pulls together the background and her shirt colors. Here’s a neat shot against my favorite rusty wall. An interesting black and w…

Today Alexa and her friend Brittany joined us for senior portraits. It was a lot of fun to work with these two friends and their families.Here is a great image under the railroad underpass. Another of my favorite settings. The first time I used this wa…

Our twenty-four hour news cycle is a mammoth beast that needs constant feeding. That’s why the cable networks and political pundits have turned what was once an innocuous fun little straw poll in Ames, IA into some “do or die” genuine test.
Michelle Bachmann won Saturday’s straw poll…good for her. But does it really mean anything?
It [...]

Normally on this blog, I recap the wedding reception of a couple just married in the last 24 hours. On Friday night, at the Riverside Inn in Cambridge Springs, I had the pleasure of being the entertainment for Caroline and Bob, who are celebrating 50 …

Erie resident Carl Palotas, 12, finished third in the U.S. Kids Golf Tournament Aug. 8 at Strawberry Ridge in Harmony, Pa. He shot 90 against a field of 14 other golfers in his division.

Below is the 2011 Erie Diocesan football schedule. All games are at the Cathedral Prep Events Center. Aug. 28 OLP JV vs. St. George JV, noon OLP vs. St. George, 1 p.m. Blessed Sacrament vs. St. John, 3 p.m. Blessed Sacrament JV vs. St. John JV, 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29 OLC JV vs. St. Luke [...]

One of the main reasons why players and fans tend to hate the NFL preseason is the risk of injuries and the possibility of missing out on the regular season. Lucky for the Pittsburgh Steelers, cornerback Ike Taylor is expected to be back in time for the team’s first game against the Baltimore Ravens on [...]

Part of Shane & I’s anniversary celebration is going to Sky High Adventure Park . . . I CAN’T WAIT!!!!Sky High Adventure Park Grand Opening from Holiday Valley on Vimeo.

SFG gone wild!
My square foot garden continues to grow! Yaay! It has produced many hot wax peppers, radishes and yummy cucumbers so far.  There are ears of corn growing alongside red and yellow peppers.  The bad news is that we are dealing …

Runner girlfriends will like Hot (Sweaty) Mamas: Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom by Laurie Kocanda and Kara Thom.I like the authors’ practical approach to being a Fit Mom. The book includes suggestions for fitting workouts in…

It about the power of vulnerability – we manifest humility by being vulnerable.
Vulnerability: liable to increased penalties but
Pain and suffering and discomfort and sacrifice is so countercultural.
Three fears that keep us from being vulnerable – Naked Service:

Fear of Losing the Business (of being rejected)

Enter the danger
Speak the kind truth – terminal niceness in churches
You will [...]

Humility is not humiliation, or low self-esteem. It’s the noble choice to forgo your status and use your influence for the good of others before yourself. The ability to hold power for the good of others.
Five reasons for cultivating humility in your personal life and dealings:

Humility is common-sense

None of us is an expert on everything
Expertise [...]

“This Guy…I don’t what to do with!”
Wherever you are, God has called you to be a steward over a vision, for the specific reason for changing something. Are you going to allow “This Guy” to stop your vision, robs your joy, and could have the power to stop an entire mission.
What does a person do [...]

213 Nonprofits received a total of $771,435 and over 100 Nonprofits received gifts of $1000 or more during Erie Gives!

The children of DC deserved better and the poor performance would not happen on her watch. Rhee loved her job.
The hardest job is to be an effective teacher. In three years her class went from 13% kids proficient in reading and math to 90%.
Biggest myth: weren’t enough teachers who want to teach in tough areas. [...]

This was a moving, emotional, and challenging session.
What if we were called to work that didn’t grow and succeed. Can we confront the suddenly addictive narcotic of growth and success.
Ethiopia

Under communism the church was forced underground, pastors beaten and thrown into prison
during [...]

Here’s how to style your WordPress visual editor.

WOP  no title yet.

… and responding to spontaneity. I’ve been having this vague image popping into my head for some time now. It has never been complete in my vision but yet desperate to come out. I purchased this 16 x 20 gallery wrap canvas …

The Annual Walk for Small Animals, as Because You Care’s largest fundraiser, provides funds needed for the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned and abused animals throughout BYC’s operating year.

With apologies to the late President Reagan for the literary license I took on one of his famous quotes. I’m allowed though.

Thanks to Mayor Tony Krasienko, we went from this:

To this:

To this:

And we have some more before and after shots:

…

Hello everyone!  Hope you had a fantastic week.  Just wanted to share a get well card I made.  I was playing around with some new paper I purchased recently and made this little card. Hope you like it.Have a great weekend!  Thanks f…

Tonight was Caitlin’s evening for senior pictures. We started in the studio and captured several nice images there. Here’s a great casual image on one of our interesting backgrounds:Then we headed outdoors for a fine summer evening of photography.Here’…

The Erie Playhouse, in cooperation with the Erie Port Authority, will conduct tours of the historic Erie Land Lighthouse, located at the foot of Lighthouse St. in James N. Thompson Lighthouse Park, August 27, 28, Sept. 3, 4, 5.

Anything that is written in God’s Word is possible for you.
Audacious Faith: being in God to do the impossible.
2 Kings 3:9-20 – Elisha dripping with Awesome Sauce
We can position ourselves and get great training…but only God can make it rain. After we’ve done all we can do, we need God to intervene.
If all you have [...]

R&B/pop star Chris Brown will tour this fall, including a Sept. 14 show at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Lake, N.Y. Kelly Rowland, T-Pain and TYGA will open. Tickets go on sale Monday at Ticketmaster. Brown’s itinerary also includes a Sept. 21 show at Cleveland’s Wolstein Center and Oct. 29 at Pittsburgh’s Consol [...]

Seth Godin is a favorite speaker of mine…this years Summit presentation was one of his best.
Someone here today will change everything.
The notion that we can promote from a position of power…the TV-industrial complex:
Buy TV->Get more distribution->Sell More Products
Ends up with average products for average people – mass is built into our system.
Revolution is occurring destroying [...]

Why, hello there!Summer has been busy to say the least as the Doodle Tour continues to make its way around. Below are some highlights from some of the places I’ve been recently.Like what you see? Check out many more pics on my flickr page

Global Christian – unprecedented catalytic events are bringing the globe together.
Has the technology and events spurred us to engaging the globe, or do we retreat?
Our mission: we become witnesses of the Gospel and take the Good News across cultural thresholds…be the leaders to break through the “sound barriers”:

Jerusalem – comfort zone, speak truth to power [...]