I'll Take Potpourri for Thursday, Alex

I seem to have become a Wednesday & Saturday photoblogger. So I decided it's time to do a data download from my haphazard brain.

House Hunt
We have again found a house that we would like to buy. Our realtor presented our offer this afternoon and we should have some sort of response by noon tomorrow. As ever, if this is God's will for us, He'll put it together. If not, we don't want to be there anyway.

Clutter, Packing, and Stuff in General
Even though we don't know when or where at this point, we do plan to move, so I've begun the process of sorting, purging, and packing our belongings. We have WAY too many, by the way. Two and a half years ago, we moved into a house twice the size of our previous home. It was nice and spacious. But I hear that nature abhors a vacuum and apparently that very phenomenon was at work in our home. Courtesy of all the extra space, it was very easy to say, "Sure, we'll take that __________," (fill in the blank - probably with furniture). Not that we don't appreciate all the great things we've received, but I think we were full awhile ago.

I really do not want to move more than necessary, so I'm doing my best to pare down. I have been a packrat for many years. Often it's just a "I could really use this sometime" mentality that causes me to keep more stuff than I need/want. The problem there? I never could find the thing I wanted when I wanted or needed it. So I still had to go buy another one, as well as store the one I couldn't find!

It took a lot of years for me to start letting go of things. In fact, it was during the course of eleven and a half years in a too-small house that God started to change my heart about stuff. While stuff still sticks to me like velcro at times, it matters much less to me than it used to. I'm SO ready to have much less.

Along those lines, I just finished sorting out pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, crayons, etc. to share with some of my homeschool blog mom friends. I have enough writing instruments in my possession to stock a small store. I doubt it's been mentioned before, but I am a HUGE office supply junkie! Anything related to paper and ink causes my heart rate to pick up and my checkbook to fly open. Post-its, binders, tape flags, binder clips, whatever. It's an illness, really. It's no wonder that I took to rubber stamping and scrapbooking! The main supplies? Paper and ink! Woo hoo!

However, with my new, simplify my life, space, and stuff mentality, I am working towards keeping only what will truly be used in our household. Anything beyond that is hoarding, wasteful, and clutter. I'd rather share the wealth with others who could actually use these products.

To any of you who will be on the receiving end of the aforementioned items, I probably won't get them in the mail until next week. But I hope you will be pleasantly surprised and blessed. I think I loaded you up pretty well!

Photography/Cameras
A good friend of mine recently purchased a D-SLR camera. A Canon Rebel XT, to be exact. Initially I was enormously jealous, because I have wanted one (as much as she did) for a long time now. I was also enormously happy for her, but still a bit jealous. We've both had Canon Rebel SLRs for a number of years, so we've been on the same track. We've been having a lot of great conversations and IMs about cameras, settings, photos, lighting, and white balance, and I've come to realize that my Sony CyberShot DSC-N2 is a pretty amazing camera, especially for a little point-and-shoot job.

When she first got her camera, we were discussing various features and I kept telling her how mine would have this feature and that feature, which were comparable to hers. After a time, she asked me, "Now tell me again, WHY do you want a digital SLR?" It took me back for a moment. I suddently discovered that my Sony had more abilities than I thought. Of course, my Sony cost nearly as much as her Rebel, but that's another story.

After a stunned moment, I told her that it's because of the flexibility of changing lenses. That really is the primary reason. I cannot get a 300mm zoom on my Sony. Nor can I use a fish eye lens. But that's okay. I've been very happy with this camera for over a year and a half. As we've spent all this time talking cameras, I've also learned a couple of new things about my camera. For one, I found out that I was not using the macro function properly. It was very frustrating to have issues with focus. But a remarkable thing happened - I actually read the instructions and learned how to use it properly. That's how I was able to get the lovely Mother's Day flower shots. BTW - there's no photoshopping of those pix, no tripod, nothing extra. Just me and my sweet Sony.

(I know you've seen the last photo before, but I don't usually get pix of my camera. So it'll have to do.)

Sad News
A sweet friend and her family are traveling across the country and had their van broken into. They lost their digital camera, laptop, and a folder with banking information and SSNs. If you think of the Anderson family, please say a prayer for them.

As I'm sure many have already heard, Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman's youngest daughter, five year old Maria, was run over by her older brother in a very tragic accident in a driveway. My heart just goes out to them. I can't even fathom what they're going through right now. The only thing I know is that God is still sovereign, He loves them, and will be there for them. I pray that they press in closer to Him. You can read more about this tragedy and see a clip of little Maria with Steven here.

God's Provision
Hubby has been itching to get the jeep out, remove the top, and enjoy the warm weather we've been having. When he tried to start it the other day, he discovered that the starter was dead. After a few phone calls to local auto parts stores, he decided that it must've come from a friend. Sadly, that meant no warranty. He did get it into the garage, but that was the end of it.

A couple days later, on a whim, he made a call to one other store where he used to do more business. Lo and behold, he had purchased it there and it had a lifetime warranty! Not only that, but they had a replacement in stock. So the jeep's on the road, the top's in the back yard, and my husband is a happy camper!

There may be more, but I really should head to bed. I've fallen into my stupid of habit of staying up just a little too late. Night after night after night. I'm starting to pay for it, too. Time for some sleep catch up.

Good night!