sparky & valley forge

while at derrick's parent's house last weekend.. derrick asked me to get a few shots of their dog sparky that he wanted..

he's the sweetest little dog ever.. but the poor thing is almost ancient.. i've spent 3 weekends at derrick's parent's house and.. its noticeable how much sparky is losing his vibrancy.. as well as his hearing.. he is almost completely deaf -- poor thing..

just chillin' out..

awww.. a man & his dog.. :)

so then.. the day i left -- monday.. the train didn't leave until 1:19.. and so that morning derrick & i went and walked around valley forge..

the place is stinkin' huge.. we covered nothing compared to how huge the grounds are.. we both agreed we would love to go back -- sometime when it wasn't so cold !! lol

oh.. and there are deer everywhere.. i first learned about them when i got there and steph & i went to the mall and we had to drive thru valley forge.. and she was like "ugh there are deer EVERYWHERE around here.. you have to be so careful !" and they are totally fearless.. we were so close to these guys.. and they were totally cool with us..

concert night #2

after church on sunday.. we packed up the car again and headed out to derrick's uncle jim's church to do his second concert..

getting ready..

he was actually a little bit nervous about this concert which is very unlike him.. normally he's totally cool with singing.. i think it was because.. unlike friday night where it was a little more informal.. he knew that sunday night he would have everyone's attention on him.. which he actually flourished under -- yet he was a little nervous before hand :)

aww.. :)

btw.. caleb took all of these pictures for me.. and he captured this amazing shot of his beautiful wife :)

hehe.. the smokey the bear face.. watch out or he'll come after you :)

and yes.. i did accompany derrick for both concerts.. :)

here we go :)

singing his heart out..

derrick & i with derrick's uncle jim & aunt dot :) we had so much fun at their church and then hanging out with them afterward.. they are so lively and energetic about everything and soooo funny !! we only meant to stick around until around 7:30.. but we didn't end up leaving until after 9.. oops :) we had an awesome time tho' && left soo encouraged..

concert night #1

friday morning.. we packed up steph's car and headed out of VFCC and up to derrick's parent's house.. and friday night derrick performed again as the entertainment during a dinner his parent's church had..

me && steph :) lol we were playing with the table centerpieces -- the pilgrims? hehe it was so funny !

derrick && i..

naomi took these pictures for me.. and i loved how she got the light from the music stand and how nicely it is reflected onto my face.. not my favorite picture of ME in the world.. but i loved how she captured the lighting !! because the lighting definitely was tricky..

singing.. always..

so after derrick did his thing.. paul && naomi got up and sang a couple songs.. :)

so after the dinner.. we helped clean up and then went back over to the house for a game of risk.. needless to say.. steph && i got beaten out of the game fairly early.. and the guys decided to take over the world.. paul got killed off around midnight.. and then derrick && caleb battled it out until 2am

sparky.. !!

steph..

caleb.. these two let me stay with them in their apartment while i was at VFCC.. they are derrick's best friends.. and i can totally understand why.. they are sooo amazing.. the best way to describe them is that.. i totally felt like i was just re-meeting some long lost best friends.. they are amazing people -- soo ready to strike out into the world and make an impact for Jesus.. i can't wait to see how God uses them :)

hehe derrick's dad.. he was soo funny while we were playing risk !! he kept saying to the person who's turn it was "can i give you some vision?" and then he'd tell them what he thought they should do.. and of course they all took his advice because they just assumed he was telling them in their best interest.. when actually.. he was trying to help ME out.. hehe it was really funny :) he's awesome :)

Senior Recital

this past thursday night was derrick's senior recital.. he was amazing !! i cannot wait to get a copy of what he sang.. it was soo beautiful..

all dressed up :) he looked soo handsome with his new suit.. hehe that i helped him find the last time we were at his parent's house :)

hehe.. he was soo serious while he sang tho'.. in all the images i have -- he's got the same look of concentration & focus written all over his face..

oookay.. but here's that smile i love.. at the end of his recital.. he took the mic and had his mum come up on stage and he gave her flowers since thursday was her birthday :)

then.. normally the guy in charge of hosting the recital will pray for the person performing.. but they asked derrick's dad to pray for him instead -- since he was there :)

a train ride

haha this was totally ME on the train yesterday :)

so yesterday was my first ever "major" train ride.. i got on the train at greensburg at 8:01.. and got off in paolli at 2:19.. and surprisingly.. the train was on-time or early all day long !! it was a nice ride tho'.. of course the niceness wore off after about the first 30 minutes and then it just became a LONG train ride.. lol.. but it was fun.. got to see a lot of the beautiful PA countryside.. from small little adorable towns.. to rolling farmland.. PA really is a beautiful state..








i loved this shot that i just "happened" to catch.. it is totally the quintessential quaint little town.. all patriotic with their flags out.. the leaves still clinging to the trees.. i loved it !!