and then we got a puppy

out at the ranch...but I would love to take him back to Colorado with me! Meet OCHO that's my brother holding him..

He sleeps with his mouth open :)

Sarah got hitched...

My sister is married!

sarah and isaac got married on May 23rd, 2009. The weirdest thing was when I looked on facebook the day after the wedding and saw her name was now Sarah Martinez...no more Yablonski...wierd. Their wedding was beautiful! They got married out at our family's ranch in D'hanis, TX, which made it that much more meaningful. I got to make all the bouqets which was really fun and a talent I never knew I had :) In addition to the fun of celebrating with friends there were two more bonuses....

1. My dress had pockets

2. I got to wear my boots

p.s. their photographer was awesome! more pictures to come...

I call window!

Without fail I always get stuck in the middle seat. I guess it's cause I'm the youngest. Here's what happens when you put my sister, brother and I in the back of a minivan, in the middle of Pennsylvania.

Call+Response

Check out this website www.callandresponse.com

My friends Jaeson sent this to me.... There is a film out now that deals with the dark secrets of...

labor slavery
child slavery
child soldiers
sex slavery

It's sad how quickly we can forget... But we can do something!

i'm actually thankful

(this picture was actually taken while I was moving chairs in Africa and I wasn't mad at all... I just looked mad... but it kinda describes what I probably looked like earlier in today...tired and frustrated :)

ever have those days where you have to remind yourself that life is not all bad? I'm having one of those today. I have not been able to sleep very well this past week and last night, I literally did not sleep at all. My mind was racing, thinking of everything I need to do, should do, could have done, replaying songs in my head, and trying to figure out when it's appropriate to use the word "posthumously" and how it's even spelled for that matter.

So on my drive down to Denver I realized that life is not all bad, I'm just grumpy! So here's my list of things I remembered I'm thankful for today.
1. sonic happy hour- Diet Cherry Dr. Peppers are amazing.
2. Park Ave. West- gets you anywhere you need to go downtown way faster.
3. freezing days in Boulder when it's really sunny out and you barely need a jacket.
4. going to eat sushi with Laura
5. the Louisville rec center
6. oatmeal
7. we don't run out of hot water anymore
8. email
9. my great roomates and sweet friends who have pity on me when I'm sad
10. incredible people who have joined my support team.
11. that I get to work with an awesome team in Denver
12. that God controls money
13. that I get to design things
14. tifah's music
15. my family and friends in Texas who I will get to see very soon
16. my scratched James Morrison cd that is scratched on every song except my favorite one!

90's flash back

I remember thinking punch fountains were really cool when I was five-years old and was trying to entertain myself at weddings. But really, when was the last time you saw one of these?

pictures don't do it justice

I spent new years with my grandparents this year and since my papa started falling asleep at 9:30 we decided to countdown for new years at 10. We were all sitting in the living room waiting and we had 20 seconds left on the clock. Papa grabbed the bell off the bookshelf that he got from his 1st grade teacher ( mind you...he's 91) He started ringing the bell and dancing around and all I had was my iphone to take pictures. If you know my papa, you can appreciate these :)

favorite moments of 2009

I haven't blogged in a while. I leave for new staff training in 2 days and life has been a whirlwind. But here are some of my random favorite moments of 2009 so far.. All 4 days of it..

In no particular order...
1. Sarah and Isaac coming to visit and picking me up from the airport.
2. Michelle coming home and going to sushi and the kitchen upstairs with me tonight!
3. running into Caitlin and Bekah on floor 3 of the Adam's Mark and Emily in the lobby
4. finding out the Emily got a tivo for christmas.
5. avoiding a heinous sinus infection through a nasty home remedy that I will call a "sinus rinse"
6. Anthropologie gave me 15% off for my birthday :)
7. rearranging furniture with Michelle and trying to make a purple couch look good until we get a kitchen table... and finding the whole experience really funny.
8. enjoying some time in my favorite places in boulder before i leave for 5 weeks!...
9. not having a cavity.
10. having my meter run out and not getting a ticket this time. pure mercy
11. watching the parent trap and parent trap 2 .... if you haven't seen the parent trap two yet, it will redefine "cheesy" for you.
12. not having to wake up at 6am tomorrow!
and many more...

2nd annual southwestern style chili-cook off christmas celebration

my favorite christmas song

It's so funny how I can hear a song over and over and never really pay attention to the words. Last year I remember singing this song at church and my eyes filled with tears. It felt like I was hearing the words for the first time.

More than great melodies or beats, I feel like I am in a season of life where I am more impacted by the truth found at the very core of art, music, etc... So I hope you too are able to read these words the truth in it will resonate with you as well.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Behold your King.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Advent Conspiracy

watch this

google: the eavesdropper

since it's Naboplomo- I'm going to try and blog everyday for the rest of the month.. which means random thoughts and stories for sure....

I was talking to emily on g-chat a couple days ago and I think google was stalking us. We had been talking the day before about advisor stuff for tri delt.. (Yes we were both tri delts in college and yes we are now advisors... who would have thought!) But it's a fun way to be a part of girls lives whom we would not otherwise get to connect with. Anyhow, while we were talking on g-chat emily's name popped up as emily DDD... strange... google just decided to change her name on their own.. (p.s. If you know me at all, you would know the text I wrote in the box is not serious- but just in case.. i thought i should calrify :)

election night

my roomate made a map... i ate patriotic popsicles...this is what happened...

estes park

we went hiking during a thunderstorm... oops

I should have posted this last month but forgot... Michelle and I went to Estes Park (I bought a Rocky Mountain National Park pass if anyone wants to go) a few weekends ago to watch the elk fight..which I know may sound weird enough in itself.. but it ended up being more like watching elk at a single's bar.

the eligible bachelor...

sniffin'

Beam Africa

This morning at church I saw a table set up to sponsor children through Beam Africa, a community ministry we served with while in South Africa two summers ago! They had cards with different kid's photos and names on the front. I've always seen cards like these for compassion international and other organizations but I had never seen cards with pictures of kids I actually KNEW and recognized! It was crazy to look through the cards and recognize faces of the mischevious boy, the girl who always sang, the baby I held all afternoon one day, the kids we played duck duck goose with....

It's so neat to be able to still be a part of Beam Africa and the work they are doing in South Africa through sponsoring these kids! I'll find out if there is a way to sponsor a child for Beam online and write more when I find out!

This is Lerato, a sweet six year old girl who comes to Beam's development center every afternoon for food, a safe place to play, help with homework, care and encouragement.

"He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord's, and He has set the world in order." 1 Samuel 2:8

They die namelessly...

I'm reading this great and challenging book by Jeffrey Sachs called The End of Poverty. Sachs is a part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and has an incredible economic mind, balanced outlook, and passion to see the end of extreme poverty.

With each page I turn, I learn more about how people are climbing out of poverty and the viscious cycle of extreme poverty in the world. Sachs also explores the role the rest of the world can play in meeting needs and in turn, I face my own greediness, ignorance, and love of things that, pathetically, I still don't even realize the depths of.



Here's a little blurb from the intro...



Every morning our newspapers could report, "More than 20,000 people perished yesterday of extreme poverty." The stories would put the stark numbers in context- up to 8,000 children dead of malaria, 5,000 mothers and father dead of tuberculosis. 7,500 young adults dead of AIDS, and thousands more dead of diarrhea, respiratory infection, and other killer diseases that prey on bodies weakened by chronic hunger. The poor die in hospital wards that lack drugs, in villages that lack antimalarial bed nets, in houses that lack safe drinking water. They die namelessly, without public comment. Sadly, such stories rarely get written...


Read it!

rain, bananas and fire

where's your bonnet?

This is the picture that pops up on my brother'si-phone when I call him.

a. Can we talk about the bonnet?

b. I look like I'm about to punch him!