2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

pics from meandering around the Mall with Julie and E Fine during the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Fountains in front of the Capitol

took this one for Grayfer!

the Smithsonian Castle

the National Archives decked out for Independence Day!

even Union Station was looking good

Fourth of July... Finally!

Rainy afternoon here in the District.... perfect time to finally post pics from July 4th!

Roommates on the West Lawn (missing Tanya)

the crowd in front of the Capitol

A few of our favorite things: America, MSU, elephants, fans

the guy with free flags-- most popular guy at the concert.
(Check out the little girls behind him!)

Even babies love the Fourth of July!

can't forget the Mississippi cheese straws (courtesy of Mom)

the Capitol Dome at dusk

Tim and Jimmy... just loving America

the stage for a Capitol Fourth

Happy Fourth of July!

I Gotta Move....

If you're looking for some new tunes to run to, these are some of my favorites! So far, this has been a good combo for me. They have a fairly steady tempo that helps me with pacing. They're also just good songs in general. Enjoy!

1. The Idea of You (Live)- Dave Matthews Band

2. Marching Bands of Manhattan- Death Cab for Cutie

3. Send It On- Disney's friends for change (go ahead and make fun-- I really like this song haha)

4. Run With It- Easton Corbin

5. Do You Remember?- Earth, Wind & Fire (Always helps me remember JMC's bday!)

6. Wait Til You See My Smile- Alicia Keys

Editor's note: I originally had "Stronger" by Brittney Spears here... Poor decision. So now I skip to:

7. Crawl- Chris Brown

8. Fader- The Temper Traps (an iTunes freebie!)

9. Superstar- Lupe Fiasco (for a little end-of-run swagger)

10. Your Love is My Drug- Ke$ha

Mom's Visit!

Mom came in town last weekend! Words can't quite cover how good it was to have her here. We did some exploring around Capitol Hill (tried some awesome restaurants!), but we spent a lot of time inside thanks to the heat wave. It ended up being good though, because we revamped my room! Mom was so sweet and volunteered to help repaint my room-- I promise she volunteered! We got our supplies on Friday afternoon and started painting Saturday morning. About thirteen hours of painting, a new duvet and a few pillow shams later... we turned this:

into this!

We actually moved almost all of my furniture out of my room while we repainted, so my back porch came in very handy. Mom was so sweet to come and help fix up my room! It was a fun weekend together.

These two pics are a little random, but I found them when I was looking for "before" pictures. I took these the day I moved into my house and literally the only thing on the wall was my mirror hanging on my closet door! Thought my friends would appreciate my "furrowed brow" in the first one haha

Thankful for a great Sabbath Day worship at Capitol Hill Baptist. We sang "We Rest On Thee" and "How Sweet and Awful" and heard a great sermon on 1st Thes. 5... So thankful for that body of believers.

More updates to come during August Recess... I'll have lots of pics from the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and July 4th!

A Penny A Pine Cone

Here is a classic Stone Family story for you:

Growing up, we always did chores... I actually really enjoyed them! Probably because Mom and Dad were great about incentivizing them. For instance: at our old house, we had two huge pine trees and, as pine trees are proned to do, these trees dropped pine cones on our yard. One of my chores was to pick up the pine cones to help keep the backyard tidy. Dad turned picking up pine cones into a business opportunity for me and would pay me 1 penny for every pine I cone gathered. Yep. Making the big bucks! But, it gets better-- for every 10th pine cone I picked up, I would get a penny bonus! I thought it was awesome! I will say that I'm pretty positive Dad threw in an extra few dollars as a bonus at the end of the day.

I remembered this story Saturday as I was in the backyard of my house pulling weeds and my sister Emily called. She had come inside from LAYING A PATIO with my brother-in-law Josh. Yes. They were laying their back patio themselves! I can only believe that it was chores like the penny pine cones that taught us to love working and around the house. It was a very satisfying day. My yard is weed-free and ready to be planted!

The yard before (still learning about using the ISO).

 View from the balcony of the cleared out backyard!

A Hymn

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! (Definitely breaking the cardinal rule of blogging: be consistent). I'll do a life update later, but I wanted to share a hymn that has quickly become a favorite of mine! We sing it often at Capitol Hill Baptist. Hope you enjoy-- it's called, "All I Have is Christ".

"I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that You would own a rebel to Your will.

And if You had not love me first, I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race, in different to the cost,

You looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross.

And I beheld God's love displayed, You suffered in my place.

You bore the wrath reserved for me, now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ. Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.

Now Lord I would be yours alone, and live so all might see

the strength to follow Your commands could never come from me.

O Father, use my ransomed life in any way You choose,

and let my song forever be my only boast is You.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ. Hallelujah! Jesus is my life."

words and music: Jordan Kauflin, 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise

Play Ball!

Caroline has had the wonderful opportunity to play Ridgeland Challenger League Softball with several of her friends this Spring! In the words of Bill Stone, "[Caroline's softball performance] has been the greatest display of athleticism our family has seen in years!" Case in point:

Caroline's lead-off run to first base!

Now, don't be fooled: Caroline didn't always love softball this way (she has given me permission to share that fact with y'all). But this year, Caroline donned the number "5"- a number shared by fellow slugger Albert Pujols- and has come back with an unprecedented enthusiasm for America's Favorite Pass Time.

Caroline and Pujols not only share the  #5, but similar batting averages!
Photo Source: www.profantasybaseball.com

It has been so much fun to see the enjoyment Caroline gets out of playing softball with good friends from school and Hope Hollow! Softball has even given her the chance to reunite with some old friends from elementary school! I have to admit, I "borrowed" Dad's camera and turned into a member of the paparazzi at Caroline's games. Here is a small portion of the gallery I have accrued. I think I had as much fun capturing the joy in the player's smiles, as they did playing! 

Kayla's walk-out music is Justin Beiber... and she loves to dance along!

Click here to learn more about Ridgeland Challenger League.