Category Archives: Holidays

That’s Life

If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade. That’s life.
-Mike Ditka

Last Thursday was the annual lighted parade in Boone. I’m sure it has a proper name, but I don’t know what it is.

As a member of the Outreach Committee, I was part of the team that put together the “float” for the lighted parade. Unfortunately, we didn’t garner very many volunteers and I had to call a couple people last minuted just to borderline half fill our “people carrier”.

Although most people would not consider it a failure, I sorta do. That is okay. We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. That means at the 2019 lighted parade, we will be back with a vengeance!

Here are some pictures from the event:


Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Boone Lighted Parade - 2018

Santa was infatuated with my beard. He really wanted me to join the Santa union or something. Told me I could make $100 an hour as a “real beard Santa”. Maybe sometime, but I’m not ready for the Santa gig yet.

2 Corinthians 9:11

For the last, oh, 15 or so years, my church has hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner.

It is open to anybody and it is 100% free. We don’t ask for an “at will donation”. We don’t put out baskets for donations. It is 100% free.

I went down there for the first shift to take some photographs to submit to the newspaper.

Here are a few pictures from the day:


Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

You can check out more pictures from the event by clicking on the link below:

Boone First United Methodist Thanksgiving

If you are looking for a church where you can serve and worship and awesome God, I attend Boone First United Methodist Church.

We have 2 worship services on Sundays.

A Traditional Service at 9 AM.
A Contemporary Service at 11 AM.

We also have a variety of Youth Groups on Wednesdays. The night begins with a meal at 6 PM and ends at varying times, depending on the age of the youth.

Come check us out!

Freedom and Flowers

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?
-Oscar Wilde

Before we get into the meat of today’s blog, we need to start with…


Iowa State 14 TCU 7
Happy 4th of July!

I hope you had an continue to have an enjoyable 4th of July!

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Time to hit up the back log and publish more pictures from Donna Jones’s flower bed!


Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

There are more of Donna Jones’ flowers in the hopper. For those of you that are fans of “flower porn” as Micky likes to call it.

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The votes have been tabulated and these are the photos that I will be entering in the Boone County Fair:


No. 8
#1

No. 45
#2

No. 43
#3

No. 12
#3

No. 21
#5

Technically there was a frog picture that got more votes than the picture of Shorty, but I’m not going a photo contest without entering a black & white image.

Thanks to the people that voted: Sarah Karber, Michelle, Micky, Vest, Mom, Teresa, Shannon, Kio, Aunt Linda, Jordan, Andy, and all of the fellow SmugMuggers that voted.

If you want to see the photos in the flesh (so to speak) they will be on display at the Community Building at the Boone County Fairgrounds. on July 21 and 22.

Baby Got Rack will also probably be competing on July 21. So mark your calendar!

We will do something similar when it comes to the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

05-12-08

There are 3 sets of images to be found in the collection of pictures in the folder 05-12-08.

The first set are pictures from a Mother’s Day celebration at my Mom’s house.

The second set are a collection of pictures of flowers at my Mom’s house. A Mother’s Day Peony and a tulip.

The final set of pictures is from the first part of making a batch of Little White Lye Soap.


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Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photography Gallery I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Most Fun You Can Have with Caustics

Mother’s Day Barcecue

Mother’s Day

On our next walk down the lane of memories, we will look at the first Jaycees activity I participated in. All the signs were there, I wasn’t paying attention.

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter - 2018

Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the good news of an empty grave. I’ve always kind of favored Luke’s version of the Resurrection. Here it is from The Voice:

24 Early on Sunday morning, even before the sun had fully risen, these women made their way back to the tomb with the spices and ointments they had prepared. 2 When they arrived, they found the stone was rolled away from the tomb entrance, 3 and when they looked inside, the body of the Lord Jesus was nowhere to be seen. 4 They didn’t know what to think. As they stood there in confusion, two men suddenly appeared standing beside them. These men seemed to glow with light. 5 The women were so terrified that they fell to the ground facedown.

NOTES:(This phrase, “Son of Man,” is very important in Luke’s story and may have many layers of meaning. It may mean “epitome of humanity” or “prime example of what a human can be.” But it also evokes a specific passage of Scripture that is very important to Jewish people, Daniel 7:13-27. There the phrase “Son of Man” refers to a king who receives an eternal and universal kingdom, and it also represents “the saints of the Most High”—the people of God. In light of Jesus’ central message about the kingdom of God, it is likely that the phrase suggests Jesus is the long-awaited Anointed One who launches a new era in human history and who creates a community of people who represent the eternal and universal kingdom of God. In this way, “Son of” suggests “new generation of,” and “Man” suggests “humanity.” Jesus is Himself the new generation of humanity (a second Adam, a new beginning), and the community He creates shares this identity (a new creation, a new humanity in Jesus). The two messengers here use this pregnant phrase in a way that shocks everyone: The way this long-awaited Anointed One receives His kingdom is not through conventional military victory where enemies are defeated and killed. No, this King receives His kingdom by suffering, dying, and rising again Himself. Amazing news—good news!)

Two Men: Why are you seeking the living One in the place of the dead? 6 He is not here. He has risen from the dead. Don’t you remember what He told you way back in Galilee? 7 He told you that the Son of Man must be handed over to wicked men, He must be crucified, and then on the third day He must rise.

8 The women did remember Jesus’ words about this, 9 so they returned from the tomb and found the eleven and recounted for them—and others with them—everything they had experienced. 10-11 The Lord’s emissaries[a] heard their stories as fiction, a lie; they didn’t believe a word of it. (By the way, this group of women included Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, along with a number of others.) 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he reached the opening, he bent down, looked inside, and saw the linen burial cloths lying there. But the body was gone. He walked away, full of wonder about what had happened.

Men. Am I right?

03-25-08

These are the pictures from the folder 03-25-08:


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By restoring these photos to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following classic blog entries to their former glory:

MY HAPPY EASTER
THURSDAY NIGHT WITH KOUNTERTOP (PT.1)
A NEW GIG
RELAY FOR LIFE

The picture of me dunking is not a photo trick or a lowered hoop, I’m sure.

I’m not quite sure why I took the religious photos. But I like them.

The Easter photos are interesting because this year we won’t be celebrating Easter on Easter for the first time that I can ever remember. Mom is heading to Virginia with her favorite child that weekend. I might have my own private Air Fryer Easter that day.

The pictures of Shannon are from when she started at United Way. She needed a head shot for some kind of press release or newsletter or to hang in the company bathroom. I’m not really sure. However, I am 100% sure that Shannon will continue to work at The United Way for the foreseeable future. She will probably retire from there.

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve snow.

2-10-08

The following pictures were in the folder 2-10-08:


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The tin was made by Sara. It was product from her Etsy store. You may have noticed some of her tins around my house as decorations.

The painted fish bowl was a Christmas present from Becca. It was one of my favorite Christmas Presents I’ve ever received. Her design was based off of my 4 FLOWERS image.

The tragic part of this story is that I used the bowl as my loose change jar. When it was full I took it to the bank and it got broke. I don’t know that I’ve ever fully recovered. Hopefully some day I will get a replacement for it. Perhaps it will come the same day I get my replacement for my Monica Henning painting that was also tragically destroyed in a freak dog toy accident.

The last image is something I won at a Christmas Work Party. I sold it to a co-worker for $20.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that I did put my car in the ditch on Wednesday. It was the first time in my life I’ve put my car in the ditch… well during winter. (I’m sure many of you remember the skunk family story that lead to my relenting and agreeing to get cell phones.)

I need to point out (because of people like Amber of Youth Group fame) that I was not taking pictures (like I was in 2 of the pictures above) while I was driving. It just happened. Not by best moment.

One of my best moments was being able to restore 3 old timey blogs by adding these old timey photos to the Photograpy 139 Gallery:

EVEN WHEN YOU WIN
PRETTIEST PRESENT
ANGRY BRAD’S DESIGNS

On next Saturday’s walk down memory lane, we will have another look at some Little White Lye Soap pictures.

The Selfie Project – Denouement

It is over! The Selfie Project is over! But we should have a couple last looks at all that was “accomplished”!

Here are my favorite pictures from December:


December 2, 2017
December 2

December 4, 2017
December 4

December 6, 2017
December 6

December 7, 2017
December 7

December 9, 2017
December 9

December 11, 2017
December 11

December 12, 2017
December 12

December 13, 2017
December 13

December 16, 2017
December 16

December 17, 2017
December 17

December 18, 2017
December 18

December 20, 2017
December 20

December 21, 2017
December 21

December 22, 2017
December 22

December 23, 2017
December 23

December 24, 2017
December 24

December 28, 2017
December 28

December 29, 2017
December 29

December 30, 2017
December 30

January 1, 2018
January 1

Here is a photomosaic of the December 31 selfie:


Selfie Project - Mosaic

This photomosaic consists of 3000 tiles. 1 images is used a maximum of 10 times. If you would like to see the image at full resolution, click on the link below to download:

FULL RESOLUTION PHOTO MOSAIC

I also made a video featuring all 367 images. You can watch it below:



Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via email or RSS Feed, you will have to physically go to this blog entry to view the video!

It was a good project and while at least Michelle is sad to see it go, it is time to put it to bed. Maybe I’ll bring it back in 2019.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all my friends, family, and subscribers a very Merry Christmas!


Christmas - 2017

To quote Linus:

And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men.

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men. I hope your Christmas and Christmas season had all 3 of these things!