Please pray

Micah & I attended MTI training with the Ralstons (Art, Danielle and their son Michael) before we came to Slovakia. We became friends and continue to pray for each other and keep in touch. They are serving at the Pioneer Christian Hospital in the Republic of Congo. Please pray for them and the rest of the staff at the Hospital.  I know this is long, and if you don't read the whole letter here is the summary: Our friends and their co-workers are on the edge of a war zone and are asking for your prayers.

Dear Team Members, Friends & Family,

 

    Since October 28, 2009, we have been in a state of heightened security at PioneerChristianHospital here in Impfondo, Congo.  That was the day that we received the first civilian casualties from fresh fighting in Dongo, a town in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Since October over 77,000 refugees have flooded across the OubanguiRiver into the Likouala Region of Congo from the Equateur Province of DRC. 

 

    We received two more waves of war wounded in November, and hear that more are on the way.  From collateral damage, streams of very sick refugees and residents have been flowing into PioneerChristianHospital for HELP.  Currently more than 50% of our patients need nutritional support, have only the clothes on their backs, and no means to pay for the care we administer.  At the same time, we are trying to stem the tide of a confirmed Swine Flu epidemic that has already taken the lives of 3 of the 10 contagious children.

 

    We are glad to be here doing our best to stretch our limited resources and minister effectively to very real needs, but the stress of being so close to a war zone is starting to take its toll.

 

    Things seem to be getting noticeably worse instead of better.  God knows if things are about to turn around, or descend into complete chaos, but I believe He wants us to be prepared either way.

    A lot has happened just this week:

-        On Tuesday, Laurent Fuka (17 year-old son of our surgeon) arrived home after evacuating from Bwamanda, DRC, where he has been attending boarding school for the last year and a half.  He and 7 classmates spent a week, fleeing from the rebels on foot, pirogue, UN motorboat, and truck.  They had several close encounters on the way.  Before leaving one of Laurent's classmates went to the market to buy some food and was killed by the rebels.

-        Tuesday evening we were called upon to treat two wounded rebels at the government hospital.  One is a 14 year old boy with a bullet in his right humerus.  The other is a 22 year old with a bullet in his buttocks. 

-        Tuesday night some people came to the government hospital looking for the wounded rebels, intent on rendering vigilante justice.  The staff was able to hide the patients, but this significantly delayed them from getting the care they need.

-        Wednesday morning during morning report at PioneerChristianHospital our maintenance staff heard gunshots coming from the river.  This was around the same time a Central African Riverboat was released by the rebels after being held overnight.  Occasional gunshots have been heard several other times this week too.

-        On Thursday local public high school students went on a riotous rampage after the government teachers went on strike instead of administering final exams for the semester.  The students trashed their school, then attacked several private schools in town, beating up other students and staff, destroying classrooms, and smashing computers.  The gendarmes and police were called in and ended up arresting 11 students.

-        Thursday night a river boat and barge hired by the United Nations to bring emergency food rations for the refugees came under repeated attacks from armed men in dugouts, and motorized longboats recently stolen from the UN refugee agency in DRC.  The barge was flying the UN flag and the pusher was flying the Congo-Brazzaville flag.  The attack was finally repelled with support from a Congolese military attack helicopter.

-        Friday we were interviewed about this crisis by a correspondent from Bloomburg News Service.  Maybe it will play on National Public Radio.

-        Friday night a river boat barge loaded with fuel for Impfondo was also attacked.  Congo-Brazzaville government soldiers traveling with the barge opened fire, reportedly killing a number of DRC rebels, whose bodies fell into the river.  The boat arrived in Impfondo this morning with a helicopter escort.

-        Saturday the regular Air Congo flight was postponed, and some people say it is because of the increased military activity downriver from Impfondo.

    I think we have no choice but to raise our security alert level and review and implement emergency planning. 

    I didn't want to write this message.  As far as we know, we are not in immediate danger, but we do need your help.  If you would be willing to join our intercession team to pray for our protection, wage spiritual warfare, and ask for peace on this part of the earth, please send a short message to Danielle Ralston (dralston{at}laborersfortheharvest.com) and let her know what day(s)/time(s) you will be praying

-- 

Danielle Ralston

Communications on behalf of 

Joseph Harvey, MD, MPH&TM, Medical Director

Pioneer Christian Hospital 

Republic of Congo, Impfondo

Cell Phone: 011 (242) 960 6289

Advice

You should not watch Lost while embroidering if you are a jumpy person.

It is a miracle that I did not pierce my forehead!

Cut my own hair again.

Last Thursday My hair looked like this.

Then I cut it. and styled it and an hour later it looked ... well pretty much the same.

So tonight I tried again. and it ended up looking like this!

Am I not the most fabulous hair cutter ever?!?! I love my hair like this. Why do i ever grow it long?

We will not discuss the back. I'll just say that it could be much worse. Remember the time that I cut Abi's hair?

Christmas Decorating Tip

Check out my stroke of Genius!

Interpret this Sign 4

This one's a personal favorite

interpret this sign 3.2

So now we know you recognize when a sign is and isn't.....sorry bout
that.

Aren't our mountains beautiful? It almost makes up for not having a
clue what will happen in 400 Metres

Interpret this sign 3

With a loving guarantee that even when we part...

...I will hold you close in a thankful heart.

76 Ovens to Borrow
77 Good health
78 Apple pies that look pretty
79 new recipes from the internet
80 Grandma Henry's pie crust recipe
81 Audio books
82 the butterfly in my kitchen
83 that Dino caught a mouse :)
84 That I know how to cook
85 Pretty sunsets with pinky clouds
86 my camera
87 external hard disks
88 borrowed electric ovens
89 compromise
90 Gravy that thickens
91 Leftovers
92 early to bed
93 Naps
94 the bible
95 toe socks
96 Christmas
97 enough
98 hugs
99 Photos
100 That I have enough to keep going....

Not going to take it!

have i mentioned that i love my litte brother lately?

<object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGgEzuoa3CA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGgEzuoa3CA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>

Ďakujem

63 That I am able to learn (especially slovak!)
64 That we celebrate Thanksgiving so I know when to start decorating
for Christmas
65 That Micah bakes (really) good pretzels
66 For packages
67 candy canes
68 hot water when I have it
69 our car
70 A husband who humors me and carries rocks
71 the ability to climb a mountain
72 A husband who carried me the last 100 yards
73 That my computer survived the OJ spill of '09
74 English books at the second hand store!
75 Paperclip jewelry
76 A sister who will appreciate paperclip jewelry ;)
77 Spell check. (E before L in jewelry - that's not how I pronounce it)

Dreaming of a summer day

Also just testing if i can post video via e-mail.

I'll sail a friendly course and file a friendly chart....

On a sea of love and a thankful heart

51 Friends here at the Ranch
52 iTunes and the shuffle feature
53 European style bedding (we each get our own cover)
54 Saturday mornings
55 Completed projects
56 whiteboards
57 deodorant
58 Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack
59 Hooded sweatshirts
60 Photoshop
61 Projects that Micah and i can do together
62 12" turkey legs

Ev'ry Night Will End, and Ev'ry Day Will Start....

....with a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart

41 fingernails
42 e-mail
43 yarn
44 frost
45 clothespins
46 Mittens
47 Creativity
48 That I know how to knit
49 external keyboards and mice
50 That we (micah) found the car keys

a few personal letters

Dear Nick, 

Aunt Stasi's feelings will not be hurt if you ask GB to re-do the K on your stocking (or even your whole name) when she comes East for christmas. I know it looks kind of wonky. I love you, but I only have enough patience to rip out and re-sew the letter K three times

PS come visit us.we want to meet you

Dear Siblings, 

Please note that any future nieces or nephews with the letter K in their name will not be getting a stocking from Aunt Stasi. 

PS Don't even think of suggesting that I should have put "Nicholas" 

Dear Mom, 

Thank you for making us stockings when we were born. Thank you also for forgiving me when I took your knitting needles across state lines and then across international borders.

PS should the heel be that pointy? what did i do wrong?

Interpret this sign 2

What do you make of these?

With a Thankful Heart with a Endless Joy

30 Roses on sale at Hypernova for 18 cents
31 Free fresh lamb meat
32 That I had an excuse to skip slaughtering the lamb
33 That I did not screw up my first try cooking lamb meat
34 borrowed sewing machines
35 That my refrigerator does not run on propane
36 Pink fuzzy socks
37 binder clips and thumbtacks
38 Vessel class of '05 nalgene bottle
39 Dino
40 Holding hands with Micah to pray

Interpret this sign 1

I have not clue what this sign means. Any guesses?

Thankful

11 That Micah cooked last weekend while I was working
12 Slippers
13 Birthday cards
14 Swiss Chocolate
15 Japanese chocolate
16 Sunshine
17 Podcast Sermons
18 Audiobooks
19 that Slovakia isn't communist anymore
20 the internet
21 posting via e-mail
22 yellow vacuum cleaners
23 that I don't have to hand wash my clothes
24 Carbon paper
25 that very few knitting patterns require you to Purl 2 through the
back....
26 walks with my husband n the woods
27 making it to 27!
28 my mom and dad for the past 27 years
29 that the Campfest footage finally came!!

Way behind

So i havent posted here since September 10th.
Sorry.
But i'm back at least a little and i'm thankful for:

1 Sunshine
2 A warm house
3 My sister in law who flew a suitcase full of books across the ocean with her
4 My mom for inspiring us all to give thanks
5 My sisters who share my memories (even the ones mom just made up)
6 That Micah will deal with the mouse in our house
7 Cookie dough
8 Working from home so no one else sees me eating a bowl of cookie dough for breakfast!
9 Skype
10 Asprin

C'mon Alex, jump in.

just some stuff

Micah just threatened to shoot me with a hacksaw and his best arnold schwarzenegger impression.

Have you heard my Arnold Joke?

So Stephen Speilberg decided to do an action film about Classical composers.....(no that's not the joke)....and He gathered together an ensemble cast to discuss plans for the film, Arnold is there, and Harrison Ford, and Sylvester Stallone. They are all sitting around brainstorming ideas for how to do this film. Finally, Spielberg asks them which composer they think they might liek to play. Stallone says he\s always felt a connection to Wagner. Harrison mentions an interest in Mozart, Arnold says (in terminator voice) "i'll be Bach"

get it?!!


I missed 09:09:09 09/09/09 yesterday. the ladies my mom worked with in Pa would be disappointed in me. oh well there is always 10/10/10 next year.

I started a pushup program with Micah. I am on week one. Micah got to start on week 3. By the end of 6 weeks, i should be able to do at least 50 at one time. I'm shooting for 100 though. Right now i'm at 5. Our arms are sore.

I made really good chocolate banana muffins with peanut butter filling last night. I used some of the cte cupcake liners my mom sent me. the blue gingham ones. I need to make some light things to put in them, chocolate kind of covers up the pretties. Micah barely notices the papers anyway. Since 9:00 last night we have eaten all but 2. I gave 2 away. So bwtween Micah & me that's 8 muffins in under 14 hours. and we were asleep for 7 hours of that. Heres the link to the recipe.

2008

Click here to view this photo book larger

linkky

go see the latest scandalous news from Doge City
I miss my family

also we did not die at CampFest 09. We are headed to Tatralandia (local huge waterpark) today. We have been planning this trip since last summer :)

maybe i'll blog more next week

going green with Micah

can you buy body paint here?
what do you want to paint?
myself
What are you going to paint on yourself
i just need to know if you can get the paint here
WHAT are you going to do?
I'm going to paint myself green and take a picture and put it on the internet and say "I am green" it will be really funny....are you going to cook dinner?

we survived campfest. I am afraid we will never be the same....

Ant farming

"If ants got a hold of pretzels they could build little houses. just imgagine it They’d have a sawmill for cutting them up... they could build barns too, a whole ant farm."

…3 full minutes pass…

"This house isn’t big enough for a full ant farm. They do stuff big you know? it’d probably be all over the whole floor all the buildings little tractors going all around you’d be walking and - crunch, there goes another tractor"

"Of course they wouldn’t be able to have internal combustion engines...they’d have to have little wagons pulled by a team of ants..."

"Good thing the darn buggers haven’t gotten a hold of pretzels..."

Micah, we just had lunch, stop eating my pretzels

reccomendation

I read a number of blogs. One of the blogs I read had a guest post today. A photographer who has been in the business almost 40 years.
He gave a formula for not being burnt out even after a lifetime of doing the same thing, "Embrace the People, Enjoy the Places (adventures), and be captivated by our incredible craft!" It sounded a to me like my dad's rules: "Respect your teammates, Have fun, Always do your best". So I checked out his blog. I wondered what other wisdom he would share after 40 years of photography and life.
I found this entry and I wanted to share part of it with you all. I suggest you click on the link and read the whole thing. His photogrpahy is beautiful and his blog has many more great entries.

My life philosophy is pretty simple, there is a God, and I’m not Him, but He loves me and truly cares about me, and I can rest in the assurance that He is watching over me, and has a plan for my life. Now some people would say “how can you know that?” I understand their skepticism. When I come into a room in my house, and it is dark, I reach for the light switch and turn on the lights. I never doubt that they will come on, 99.99999% of the time they do. After a while you just act in faith that the lights will work. I’ve had that same faith in God for almost fifty years. In all that time He has never failed me! That’s a better percentage than the light switch!

Have I seen difficult times, sure, we all do. Have I had illness or lost loved ones, of course, we all face those things too. The important thing is that ... God has always wrapped me in His overwhelming love at every difficult moment. In every difficult time taught me important lessons.

Why am I sharing this and why do I do this...? Because if at the end of my life, one person heard these words and decided to accept that love that God offers, then I will have done something worth while. Is there risk in writing these words? Sure, nothing in life is without risk. I just happen to think the reward is worth the risk. The vastness of God’s love is not cheap, but, it’s worth the price, and that price has already been paid.

Amen. Great is Thy Faithfulness.

TANK!

I figured it out...I meant to type, "Ask Lubo for help getting the gas tank refilled."

Instead I typed "tank ?"


(I stood against the opposite wall to take this photo)
You see, the quaint little stove in my adorably small kitchen runs on a tank of propane, the same size and type as the one on my parents gas grill. When I want to cook I have to go outside, around the building and turn the gas on. And it ran out last week.

It should have had enough gas for another month or so. We figure it was leaking somewhere and due to the strong gas smell outside when we cook, we figure it is not inside. We also realize that it is a small miracle that we have not exploded our selves before now!
We knew there was probably a leak, but our thought process was that it was leaking outside and so there would not be a gas pocket collected to explode. The flaw in our thought process is that the tank sits in a little wooden box. It has probably filled with gas every time we cook. If there had been a spark, the box would have exploded and if the box exploded, the tank would have exploded and if the tank had exploded, the whole darn cottage and everything and one in it would have probably gone up. God is good.

This is as good a time as any to note that whoever designed my stove was not big on precision. It has 3 markings... 0, full circle and half circle.

I have yet to find a recipe that says preheat your oven to a little above the half circle. All the recipes I find have those pesky numbers in them!

Wha?

I typed my to do list today.
Under the heading "home" number 2 is "Tank?"
I officially have no clue what i should do once i finish folding my laundry.

thouths

I had another emergency dental procedure today. that's two in three months. ick. I have to go back in 2 weeks. my crown fell out. :(

I also have a bad case of general maliase and a slight case of enui.

the spacebar on my computer is now going on the fritz. (which is quite different from "putting on the ritz")

Micah has developed a love of baking pretzels. They are pretty good. I like to roll my half in cinnamon and sugar.He puts salt on them all.

I baked a pie. i might like baking pies.

I ♥ Faces - Feet!

Did you know that i am a compulsive photographer of feet. mostly my own. it's true.

When i'm jsut sitting around waiting for something to take a picture of, i feel compelled to photograph my feet. it's weird i know.

So it's feet week and i have trouble choosing just one.... should it be the one of my feet with the polka dotted mug? The one i took last year at campFest in the control room? Bare feet? the one with the pink and green shoes and pink shirt? Flip-flops? boots? feet in the mud? the snow?

Too many choices! I need a vacation



aaaaaah much better.





Also a Micah Quote for your entertainment:
"Is Vermont a state?"
(I give him a blank stare)
"because it sounds an awful lot like it might be a city in Michigan."
(I slap my forehead)

we were not talking about vermont. I have no clue what prompted this conversation

huh?

I noticed this in the skirt i was wearing the other day. I have never seen something like this in a piece of clothing before. I got it second hand and I am pretty sure it was washed before I got it. and i'm certain that i have both washed and worn the skirt.

The question is, will i get a disease and die a horrible death? will the skirt police come and take me or my skirt away?

Have you ever seen anything like this before?


Also, I'm an aunt again. Sad thing is I wont get to meet the dude till he is almost a year old :( there will be 3 of those this year.

FIx-it-friday

I Know that many of my loyal readers would rather see unflattering photos of micah or hear about the latest of my bathroom themed language goofs, or even news about our lives. But here's the deal, i like to do these. So I will continue. You can just ignore this entry and scroll down to the one I posted earlier today with unflattering photos of my husband AND my mother.


Original:


Take 1:


Taken further:

prolificacy? Redundancy?

This morning the computer is running slow. This is beause i only had 600MB of space left. this is because of the insane number of photos i have stored on the hard drive. I am culling this morning.

guess how many photos i had of old faithful??

SIXTY!!

If you include this flattering shot of Micah with old faithful it makes 61!

now, in my defense, i had just gotten my new camera, and it has a great "Burst" mode I just had to try out, and old faithful IS really pretty neat. But honestly! I'm just sayin', Anyone want a old faithful flip-book?

How about a flip-book of my blurry mother jumping while the dog watches? I had FORTY-THREE of those.


I also have a lot of photos of my brother sleeping through Yellowstone in various uncomfortable looking positions. But he's 13 so i wont embarass him on the internet (today).

And just a side note: Wyoming landscapes are pretty neat while you are there. but when you get home, you will have approximately 500 photos of rocky mounds of dirt.



Still, it was a great trip and looking at my pictures makes me miss the Wyoming branch of my crazy family.

come to Slovakia. We've got castles and trees with leaves here!

From Slovakia

you know what is really annoying. When the c key on your keyboard is broken. and any time you want to type a c you have to hit apple v to paste and you cant copy any thing else or else your c goes away and it's a pain to type a capital c. Thankfully Beatrice has this feature where a little keyboard pops up and you can use your mouse to hit the keys. But still. It's annoying.

the up arrow doesnt work either. I have not figured out a hack for this yet.

More funny things micah has said.

"The toilet paper fell behind the toilet again....It would be nice if your darn husband would ever get around to making a toilet paper holder....Tell the dude to get a move on."

Sister-sick

i miss my sisters today.



Memories are a wonderful thing. I never (ok, rarely) remember our fights when I think of my sisters. And man did we ever fight! But we also laughed and talked and hugged and played and teased (ABI! aBIII! AAbi abiabiabi!)

I think of the christmas mornings all in one bed after the "big Sneak", and playing with claire at the playground in NY, and Beach vacations, and birthdays ( I never get they bunny cake!).

I remember laying on the picnic blanket in the side yard (mom, maybe you could call the school where the track meet was? that blanket was part of us too!), and downhill biking, and that time we made the Stroganoff extra noffy!

I remember when Ami fell through the top of the snow and we could only see her hat. And no one else understands when I ask when the pony comes into the story. We share DNA and parents and secrets and memories.

We worry about each other and we will always be "the Havener girls" no matter what our last names are, or where we live.

But do you ladies think you could come to Slovakia soon.

well well well

huh, if you are reading my blog while i am typing this, you will see the title of this post which i apparently posted. interesting.
I would like to share some random things with you, first up this sandwich:


bacon grease and onion. Add that to the list of odd things someone might feed you while you are sick in Slovakia. I ate the ream cheese and pickle sandwich. i took two polite bites of the bacon grease and onion one, took a picture and then fed the rest to the dog.

We (Micah) Spilled orange juice on my computer this weekend. the c and the up arrow are not working and the right arrow key is finnickey. I am calling this a success. half a liter of OJ hit the keyboard and i Only got a stickey keyboard, 2 keys incommunicado and one with an attitude. . . I took the keyboard apart this afternoon. the keys are no longer stickey and the Hard drive was unaffected. Oh ,God is good! how bad would it have been if my computer was dead. was can not afford a new one, i have DAYS worth of unbacked up projects saved here. oh the meltdown would have been UGLY

I bought toilet paper that is ScENTED!!! like PEAcHES!! I did not do this on purpose, i just bought the cheapest stuff that was not colored... Non-white TP bugs me. its like unsanitary. Thanks mom.

I would like to add to the underwear drawer discussion. The other night micha was taking off his socks and i watched him pull them off and then turn them INSIDE-OUT! I of course asked him what he thought he was doing. He said he THOUGHT I ALWAYS turned socks inside out before washing them!! I am not sure where he got this idea.

the end.

Fix-it-friday

Many thanks to those who gave input about rolling stones, nothing conclusive but appreciated. I think i'll stick with being a rolling stone. Beingcovered in moss has no appeal to me.

Also, for those concerned, Tuesday was not our end day. we are recovering. Sniffling and Sneezing and coughing but recovering.

I went a bit of a different direction for fix-it friday this week and added some embellishments.


I didn't keep good track this week again but here's a rough idea. Image adjustment>exposure, PW bright and colorful, PW's vintage at low opacity. colorized his eyes by paining them blue on a separate layer and then setting the blending mode to soft light at medium opacity (till he didn't look like a cyborg.) I increased the size of the canvas a few mm to give a white border. the font is grenouille. the stars and embellishments are brushes.

see everyone else's take here:


I promise to post about the goose-duckings and chickens with photos soon.

our end day.

Micah is on the couch wearing his winter jacket and flannel pajama pants. he has the heater pointed at him full blast. He used a jackhammer all day. No rest for the dying. I spent the majority of the day in bed, wearing a fleece sweatshirt and under both blankets. I hate puking. I have not eaten anything in about 24 hours. Micah has eaten (and maintained) 2 meals today. This might be our end day... Probably we are both dehydrated.
we are going to watch a movie and die on the couch in each others arms. romantic way to go huh?

wanna win a wii?

Here is a chance to win a WII! Wheee.
This is a blog i read about Personal Finance. Kind of ironic since we dont really have any mony but anyway it's celebrating a two year birthday or is it a blog-aversary.

In August this blog will be 6 years old.
I will not be giving away a Wii.
But bob is so you might as well stop holding your breath over here and just go there

Fix-it-friday with bonus randomness

yup, I'm an addict.

I'm also a borring and predictable photo editor.  But i have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And a 63 GIG video file to compress.

and I'm in Slovakia which is why you might think I was up at 2AM playing in photoshop. Not that that has never happened. Just not today.

Spell Check would like me to spell borring with one 'R'. I politely decline. It is more emphatic with 2

I am in charge of feeding and opening and closing the door for the goose-ducks and chickens. I will post pictures and more details later this weekend

married life

Micah: Look here's that rash (it looks like poison ivy or oak or something he's been putting aloe on it and that helps)
Stasi: Isn't it going away? Be sure and keep that clean
Like that's going to happen
do you want me to run and get some gauze and tape to cover that.
No we already have milk
milk?
Yes for the hot chocolate. Do you think we can have a bonfire tonight?
What? No
Are you going to call the FBI?

Rolling Stones

Image from http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/

So, I was serious about the "rolling stone gathers no moss" I need to know your thoughts about what it means.
Is it a good thing to be a rolling stone? Or is it a good thing to gather moss. I MUST KNOW

Also, I'm collecting Questions this week for a FAQ newsletter. Comment or e-mail your questions about what you want to know about Slovakia and our work here. No question to big or small.

Or does no one care? leave a comment for that too.

I ♥ Faces - Silhouettes

Micah and I went hiking this weekend. We were looking for a thermal pool. We did not find it. I got this nice shot. I over edited it in PhotoShop.


Check out more Silhouettes at:

HUH?!

Today, if I understood correctly, a "Mutant Goose Duck" will arrive at the Ranch with the Chickens. 

I can think of nothing to add to that. 

A MUTANT GOOSE DUCK!! AAAHHHH!!!! Be afraid, be very afraid!!

fix-it-friday

I'm starting my day off with a little playing here. I could very easily become a fix-it friday addict.

Cropped to get rid of the headroom
PW's Bring on the eyes - Flatten
PW's Boost action with the zing layer at 50%
Copy Background layer blend mode to multiply at 32%
Flatten
MCP Touch of light Touch of Dark
Masked Light onto her face - 51% Opacity 33% Fill
Masked dark onto the background - 100%
Flatten
PW Quick edge burn and additionally masked out the center some with a medium grey

I think it's still a little orange or green or somehting but i need to get to work :)


I played some with de-saturation and selective color that I didn't keep track of what the settings or steps were because I didn't expect it to turn out so darn cute!

CHAINSAWS!!! (and the RSS)

*I'm cross posting from my other blog because I know more folks read here and i wanted to share this with y'all, sorry to those who get to see these twice. I also appologise for the fact that these pictures are 2 weeks old.*

Sometimes, pictures just speak for themselves. Like this story of how Micah put a hole in the side of our house with a chainsaw and how now our downstairs is full of sawdust and light!

it toatlly does not look like this at all anymore....justa  teaser to make you come back :)

As a completely urelated aside, I added e-mail subscriptions to the other blog. and I have TEN subscribers to my RSS feed here! Double Digits! i feel so special. I hae no clue who you are but HI RSS FEED READERS!! (come and comment. i'm jsut currious)
(and i can't spell and rarely care)

plus it cracks me up that RSS Stands for "Real(ly?) Simple Subscription" It's like Martha Stewart got hold of the internet! And that is a good thing!