thursday's ten or so: a little inspiration

i have so many friends who are dealing with difficult situations...and while this post is written with them in mind, who among us doesn't need a little extra inspiration?  so, here's a few random quotes/scriptures/etc for you :-)

if you can't feed a hundred people then just feed one
- Mother Teresa

a ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are made for.
- source unknown

He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me!
- psalm 18.19

grace makes beauty out of ugly things
- u2

we must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us 
- Joseph Campbell

every day may not be good, but there is good in every day
- source unknown

fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name, you are mine
- isaiah 43.1

no one has ever become poor by giving
- Anne Frank

courage does not always roar. sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying: i will try again tomorrow
- Mary Anne Radmacher

be encouraged -- God sees you, knows you, and loves you. 
{-me :-) }

monday's memory: u2 in nashville

last year we took a walk from anthony's parents house

and entered the spaceship...er, vanderbilt's stadium

 u2 was absolutely amazing.  which doesn't surprise anyone i'm sure :-)  but since they ARE my favorite band, there were several especially special moments for me...the one where bono began singing "amazing grace" and a stadium full of people joined in (in harmony, as nashville is prone to do :-).  

 the one where a blind guy requested a song during the encore and bono brought him up on stage, handed him his guitar to play it on ...and after he was finished bono told him to keep the guitar (!).

there were some of my favorite songs played and many just plain amazing moment. 

and there was anthony's and my favorite moment, where bono ended a song by singing the word "blessings" over and over and waved them over the crowd. 

they say that u2 concerts are spiritual experiences.  that night i found out why.

we can't wait for our next one!

*all photos in this post were taken either with my camera or by anthony's aunt sherrie who also had kick-awesome seats on the other side of the stadium and therefore had different angles :-)

it's a great day to SEE U2!!

mmmkay, so i'm a little excited...
because u2 is in nashville tonight!
and we.are.there

in pretty awesome seats, i must add
we splurged a bit
i mean, it is my favorite band
anthony never thought he would have a chance to see them live
when it was announced they were coming
we joined the u2 website to buy our tickets before they went on sale to the general public
a good move, since it sold out extremely quickly!

so...i'm doing boring things like laundry and cleaning
but in a couple of hours
i'll be headed to his parents house
to hang out, have ribs cooked by his dad (mmm!)
and then walk over to the stadium
(yep, walking distance from their place.  yay!)

i talked to a friend this morning who said 'you going tonight?'
and it's pretty common to say when talking about weekend plans
that you're going to 'the concert'
and everyone knows what you're referring to
nashville is kind of buzzing

and for very.good.reason

:-)

have a lovely weekend!

Thursday's Ten: to be a kid again

when's the last time you just acted like a kid?  sometimes we take ourselves waaay too seriously, you know?  so here's my little list for you today.

1.  go swing on the swings at a local playground, or play on the slides

2.  play tag.  or hide and seek.  or flashlight tag (the best of both!)

3.  dance in the rain

4.  actually PLAY with children -- yours if you are blessed with them...and if you're now, i'm certain you can find a parent who will gladly loan you a child or two for a few hours ;-)

5.  eat candy.  not a lot, but remember how you used to love ________ as a kid?  go have some!

6.  have a popsicle.  it'll bring back a rush of memories.

7.  read children's books.  sometimes there are truths in there that span the ages...and sometime they are just plain fun.

8.  use FUN dishes and silverware.  a touch of whimsy in your kitchen or other home decor is nice

9.  keep a few stuffed animals tucked away -- or use them in decor as well

10.  go to events at children's places that are meant for adults :)

(see, there IS a point for this post)

last week anthony and i went to the adventure science center for the "way late play date"

it's a 21 and up event, and yes there are 21 and up beverages served

(2 free drink tickets per person)

we played around with several exhibits

although we spent most of our time in the planetarium

once for a demo of the stars and stuff

and again for a separately ticketed laser show of U2 music

(i was *thrilled*)

pics you say?

here ya go

(all taken with my phone, so sorry they aren't crazy good quality)

 blurry pics of our entrance

 anthony makes a tornado

 we thought this was a green screen until we walked in front.  colors changed as we moved.  pretty fun.

 haven't played with one of these since middle school! 

 the heat thermal screens were way cool

 pretending to pick each other's noses because we're dorks

 we played this weird game

 and neither of us won. some random person came and joined and then left so we never saw our scores.

boo.

 we did giggle at this poster

 not the greatest shot, but you CAN see the skyline from the planetarium wing and it's uber-cool

so my point?  go have FUN today!