wood.

While in New Hampshire a week ago, my brother and Tina had a rather large tree removed from their backyard. Now would be the time to explain that their backyard is literally a dense forest with no fence. It's absolutely beautiful in the winter with a couple feet of snow blanketing the ground and all of the trees. When I was there a few years ago for Christmas, we went snow-shoeing through the woods in their backyard. Quite fun!!! And a great workout.

I'm getting side-tracked though...back to wood. Anybody who knows me and has been to my house knows not to put ANYTHING on my table that I made during furniture design. After spending 5 weeks slaving away designing, measuring (measure twice, cut once), re-designing, sanding, painting, drilling, sealing, gluing, you get the idea, I am a little protective of my piece of furniture.

Please excuse the Tacky Christmas attire. Like the red chairs? They came from the McFarlin rummage sale a few years ago. Recovered with a yard of fabric from Hancocks...total cost: $10?

Anywho...I found this ADORABLE image on a cute DIY blog...I need to get better about citing where I find images. I will do my best to start doing that from now on!

Since the groom's family is in charge of the Rehearsal Dinner, I somewhat asked (okay...Mom knew she would have to relinquish some control for the decor that would be for the dinner) if I could decorate the place. When I saw the "Mr." and "Mrs." painted on pieces of wood...my mind started racing with ideas. The dinner will be held at The Coach Stop, which is a charming restaurant that Tina suggested. If Jeremy could cut me enough pieces of wood to have those be the place cards at the dinner, it would be absolutely perfect. Now all I had to do was sweet talk my brother...

Jeremy {of course} obliged, and he got out there the next day to start cutting! When it occurred to me I could do a few more things with larger pieces of wood, Jeremy wasn't exactly thrilled to cut them (they took all of 3-5 minutes...quit your whining). But I do have the best brother in the world...so he patiently cut away for his dear little sister :)

The wood on the right side of the picture was the tree that had just been removed. Jeremy has to cut it, split it, and stack it for his wood-burning stove, which heats their house tremendously during the winter. I got to use his {lime green} chainsaw (check that off my list of power tools to learn how to use!) in addition to the ax which splits wood! Talk about feeling powerful...

Check out some of these amazing inspiration images I stumbled upon during my search of all things wood:

I need to start painting people's names on the wood and experimenting with fonts and colors. Happy almost weekend!

P.S. NEW YORK CITY COUNTDOWN: 5 days and counting!!!!!!

this is a little delayed...

On August 29, 2010, Jill Sowers, Ashley Maldonado, and myself hit the road for a Boston-bound roadtrip. Taking Jill's Nissan Murano, the three of us barely had room to breathe in the car, but were determined to get there.

The back view of Jill's car...

the passenger side back door (don't worry, there was a little room for Ashley on the other side of all that!)

2 days, 1768 miles, about 8 or 9 tanks of gas?, and 500+ sunflower seeds later, we made it to my brother and Tina's doorstep in New Hampshire. They graciously put us up for a few nights as we immediately began apartment searching for Jill and Ashley the next day. Their third roomie, Kathryn (and her black toy poodle, Ziggy!) made the exact same drive with Kathryn's mom in tow. The three girls would be beginning a new chapter in their lives, just having graduated from the University of Oklahoma. I was simply along for the ride :) However, that is not what this post is about. This post is dedicated to Ashley & Jill & all of the memories that we have shared together over the past few years.

I met Jill Sowers on August 18, 2005, the day that we both moved into Walker 6W. Creepy that I remember the date? Nah. I have a weird way of remembering things like that...

Jill and I when it snowed finals week of our freshman year of college. This has got to be one of our first pictures together!

Jill and I lived on the same dorm hall and came across each other the night we moved into the dorms. Even though we went to high school together, I was a horrible human being and never truly knew Jill (sidenote: I still get ragged on for this at any opportune moment that Jill can think of! :). A few of us were ordering pizza for dinner that night, and Jill happened to stop by my dorm room to see if anybody needed anything from Wal-Mart. I did not have any ranch to dip my pizza crust in, and asked if she would pick me up a bottle. We exchanged cell numbers at that time and I put her into my phone as "Jill Ranch," not because I didn't know her last name, but because we were talking about ranch at the time. Ever since then, we have basically been inseparable. She will always be Jill Ranch in my phone :)

Our Big Event team 2006! Most people lived on our hall/were friends of our dorm hall...

bottom: Andy, Clint, Mark, Bert

2nd: Jill, Janay, Lydia

3rd: Bailey, Courtney

4th: Erin

Allison, Lydia, Rachel, Jill, Maddie

There is no better caption for this photograph than: "Jillllllll...."

This is a game that Jill loved to play. I had these little magnetic balls and other shapes that were a kids toy. ANYTIME Jill came over, she found the balls (I would have hidden them) and would let them drop on the floor...causing them to bounce EVERYWHERE. I'm sure once all of the furniture is moved out of this house someday, there will still be a few balls lying around.

this is an infamous picture (Jill and Mitchell)

Mitchy, Jilly, Lydy

Tacky Christmas Party (Jill's sweatshirt has an actual Christmas stocking sewn onto it, which she provided snacks from for everyone all night long)

Lydia, Jill, Mitchell

Many an hour was spent playing Guitar Hero at mi casa...

Lydia and Jill

We're babies in this!!!

And then Ashley came into the picture... :)

Ashley went to UCO in Edmond for a few years, but we were introduced to her through Kevin. Ashley and Kevin were both born and raised in Thomas, Oklahoma, where everyone knows your name :) One halloween, the Norman crew headed up to Edmond for a halloween extravaganza at Ashley's casa, and the rest is history!

Ashley (aka the dirty Mexican) and a flapper!

Dr. Sowers and her Flapper Girl

I feel like this picture should be titled, "Hi, my name is Lydia and I'm pale."

Jill and Ashley--tacky Christmas party!

Ashley and myself (please note the bedazzled sweaters)

Maddie, Angela, Jill, Ashley, Allison, Lydia

Holly Lake Ranch Crew!! Jillian, Allison, Alex, Weird Al (aka Rachel), Ashley, Lydia

Lydia, Ashley, Mitchell, Jill

Allison, Ashley, Jill, Lydia

one of the most fun nights ever! front row: Rachel, Sarah, Ashley, Jill

back row: Mitchell, Angela, Allison, Lydia, Kevin

Anytime it snowed (or iced as the case may be in Oklahoma), it called for some wonderful sledding opportunities on none other than Tecumseh Road (ie, the only hill in Norman).

Ashley, Allison, Mitchell, Jill, and Lydia in Owen Stadium. January 2010

Ashley, Jill, Mitchell, Lydia, Sarah

Ashley, Jill, Lydia--2 nights before we left for Boston! Can't wait to come visit again :)

juners: a tribute

For those of you who do not know what the term "Juners" refers to, let me enlighten you! A few years ago, Scott Meier, Tino Herrera, and Bryan Waldenville were conversing in Mexico about creating some type of extended Mexico mission trip that would immerse youth fully in the Mexico culture. After talking with our wonderful friend, Jorge Chacon, Juners was created.

Jorge!!! (circa 2008)

The first year Juners existed (2007), a group of 6 people lived in Rio Bravo, Mexico, for the entire month of June (hence the name). I was a part of Juners 2008, which was a truly life-changing experience for myself and the 8 other people who became my second family that summer. Unfortunately, I was unable to be a Juner for the summer of 2009, but the summer of 2010, I was blessed enough to lead this wonderful group of high school and college students :)

Juners 2010! At the FIRST graduation for the school that McFarlin built.

l to r: Nicole Waddle, Trey Pirtle, Gracie Conway, Lydia Frost, Maggie Rahhal, Maddie Chilless, Garrett Sickles, Britney Schumacher, and Kalli Wolf

My little amigo just after he graduated from kindergarten! (Please note how tan I am. This is a RARE occurrence in the life of Lydia!!!)

Speaking of tan lines... :) I've never known a red head to get so tan!!!

Juners 2010 after completing the third chunk of cement at the school (each chunk of cement was 20'x10' and used about 20 bags of concrete per chunk. Each bag of concrete weighs 120 pounds. You do the math!)

Thank goodness we had a mixer (note the freshly painted walls behind Trey and Gracie!!). And yes, Gracie is actually INSIDE of the mixer.

Pre-cement making.

Post-cement making.

G-Con and myself after a hard day of making cement. I don't think I've ever been so dirty in my life.

That is the CEMENT LINE on my ankles...I rolled my socks down a bit so you could see what color my skin was supposed to be!!

Hipolito, Mexico (about 6 hours south of the border) is nestled in the mountains. It used to be a very large town because of all of the trains that came through. However, now it almost feels like a ghost town. It did have some WONDERFUL photo opportunities though with all of the old, abandoned cars and train tracks.

Britney and myself goofing off :)

l to r (front); Esteban, Karla, Ana Elena, Maggie, Maddie, Andrea

l to r (middle): Gracie, Lydia, Kalli, Britney, Garrett

l to r (back): Trey, Nicole, and Ivan

While in Saltillo, we worked with the Chacon family's good friends, the Martinez family. The father is the pastor of a church in Saltillo, and there were a few things that needed finishing at his church. His daughters and son all came and helped out, along with Jorge's niece, Mariel, and Jorge's oldest daughter, Ana Elena!

Side story: the first day in Saltillo, we were working to lay block and remove some boards on a roof. About 10 am, we heard a series of BLOOD-CURDLING screams. As it turns out, Maggie Rahhal had a large nail go through her pinky finger while she loosening a board on the roof. The nail literally went in one side and out the other of her finger. She was fine later that afternoon, but it definitely was a scary moment for all of the Juners! We were blessed that it went in as clean as it did, missing bones and nerves in her finger.

Maggie's finger after she put a nail through it :)

In one side and out the other!!!!!!!!!

Juners 2010 in Hipolito, Mexico. Pastor Alicia (far right) and her husband (far left) drive an hour to serve the town of Hipolito. We replaced window panes in their 100 year old sanctuary and painted some of the exterior of the building. While there, we got to know Mariel's youth group from Saltillo because they came and helped pitch in!

Mariel and I were on the same Mexico team this past year during spring break. She is a wonderful young woman with a big heart :) It was a huge blessing to have her come help out!

Juners girls up on the roof that McFarlin poured 2 years on a college mission trip. I still have a few faint scars to this day from getting cement poisoning on my arm!

Right before we headed south to Saltillo/Hipolito, the girls decided to get our hair cornrowed. This actually ended up being a great way to keep our hair out of faces as we worked...but it did create some awesome tan lines. This picture symbolizes our feelings right before we took out our cornrows.

l to r: Lydia, Gracie, Britney

This is right after Maddie, Maggie, and Kalli took their corn rows out. Hysterical!!!

Our last project that we worked on was at the church that Jorge and his family put a lot of time into. It has a metal roof that is literally like an OVEN...so Jorge created this "false ceiling" that traps hot air in between the styrofoam and the metal roof, and lets cool air get down to the congregation. It truly was a 10-20 degree difference when you stood under the new false ceiling!

~Hope you enjoyed this tribute to J4 (Juners 4!)~