You've gotta be kidding.

Priests brawl at Bethlehem birthplace of Jesus

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) - Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Following the Christmas celebrations, Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church, which is built over the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born.

But the ladders encroached on space controlled by Armenian priests, according to photographers who said angry words ensued and blows quickly followed.

For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into each other with fists, brooms and iron rods while the photographers who had come to take pictures of the annual cleaning ceremony recorded the whole event.

A dozen unarmed Palestinian policemen were sent to try to separate the priests, but two of them were also injured in the unholy melee.

"As usual the cleaning of the church after Christmas is a cause of problems," Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh told AFP, adding that he has offered to help ease tensions.

"For the two years that I have been here everything went more or less calmly," he said. "It's all finished now."

The Church of the Nativity, like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, is shared by various branches of Christianity, each of which controls and jealously guards a part of the holy site.

The Church of the Nativity is built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born in a stable more than 2,000 years ago after Mary and Joseph were turned away by an inn.

My thought-Since when has anyone heard of a man fighting over NOT having enough to clean?!? But seriously, its ashame that this happened, and for the morbidly curious here's a pic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/anandamurti/2141712171/

Smorgusbord!!!!!!!

(was that spelled right?)

Eat your heart out! This is a collection of all the goodies I got for Christmas. I luuuvvv Chocolate. I am set until Easter. But it's not all candy, I do have some apples and oranges. Mmmmmm, I'm getting hungry. Pic #12

Elegant Rendering.

On Christmas, Hubby and I went to his parents house for the day. His Mother had this absolutely beautiful nativity set up.

The coffee table it sit upon has a glass insert on top. The surface was large enough for all figures, save for one angel. The extra angel was set up on a shelf on the opposite side of the room over looking a glass City of Bethlehem, but back to the Nativity. I love how the attention is drawn to the baby Christ. Just a lovely image.
Pic #11

Funny Dog

My dog has a weird obsession for fingers. I have no idea where it came from or what triggers it. He doesn't bite, or even suck. He just wants someone's fingers to sit in his mouth upon occasion.
Pic #10

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Picture # 9

Craftsy!

What else can I say?
Oh, ok. A friend of my mum's made this as a table decoration for her. I think its pretty, but not realistic as a depiction of an angel. Oh well, its picture #8.

Unexpected Sight

Last Tuesday (any one noticing a pattern?) I had to go downtown to clear up some paperwork concerning our dog. There are some areas downtown that just scream, Photograph Me! Then there are, the Federal Buildings. Gov't Buildings. Dull, Drab, and Uninspiring. Well as I was walking towards one of these 'places'. I look up and see...

This stark, bright Yellow surrounded by grey and brown and a little green. Like a glimmer of sunshine on a cold and bleak winter day. And so we have Picture # 7.

Christmas Party

So last Saturday Hubby and I had a party for the Sunday School class we teach combined with the next door class. (3rd graders-6th graders). I know what your thinking, but they all get along well and we actually do combo activities frequently. We had a great time and I got some great shots. (with my camera) I'm not gonna post the better ones, as to the fact that the parents of the children in said pics probably don't want them on the internet. But I do have this pic.
Presenting Picture # 6This is the gift I snagged from the White Elephant gift exchange. Pez candy(!!!Y!!!A!!!!Y!!!!) and a measuring cup full of Smarties. Which reminds me, where are those Smarties?

My Firefox is busted.

So I recently made the change over from IE to FF. I even found a really cool skin of the NASA Night Launch. It's supposed to look like this.

But instead, it looks like this.
Where's the gnarly (zat spelled right?) rocket blast? Hopefully it gets corrected soon.

Another picture, added at a later date.

Long Time No See

My Thanksgiving was good. I finally fixed up our living room, looks nice eh?. I really haven't been doing much lately. I did change Internet Browsers, from IE to Firefox. Let me tell you, FF is good stuff. Great customization (zat spelled right?) and looks great, when you can get it to work. I haven't got mine set up quite right. More on that later. So any~who, this is Picture 5.

Day 4

Yeah, I know that quite a few days have lapsed in between day '3' and '4'. I've been busy, but not even doing NaNoWriMo. I did get 377 words down, about 1 days work. And then the nitty-gritty of daily life came flooding back in an unbeatable tide. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, 8 1/2 hour work days, cooking, and trying to do God's will for my life. I need to change the order in which I do things, get back to God first. I started this post with the thought in mind that I'd post this picture.I think of it as..

"Please sir, I'd like some more."

I had just feed the dog, and he took a bite. Hubby just came home, so dogie had to go and see if he had any better. For quite some time our dog just followed him down the hall, expectantly waiting. In stead of putting just that paragraph up I feel more needs to be said. Like the dog getting distracted, I've let other things get my attention away from God. I need to make God my top priority again.

NaNoWriMo

So autumn leaves are falling, children are coming in from outside sooner and sooner everyday, the critical christmas crunch is gearing up. For me, in Texas, fall is but a weekend, a week if lucky, after the last day in October (in honor of J http://amarylandgirl.blogspot.com/2007/10/photographic-evidence.html).

Because of our luxuoriously warm temperatures, I don't ever get a real fall season, and I end up not caring much, NaNoWri Mo gives sme something to get excited about. So here we go again.

Day 3, or old friends

So I can't do the post every day thing, or a pic every day, but I'm still gonna do 365 pics. They'll just be spread over 2 yrs instead of 1 :):):) Well, some old friends from Maryland came by Texas for a visit. I got to spend one evening with them chatting for a while, The church I went to in MD is changing, without and within, so its all good. J- Say hi to Mrs. H. and Mr. H when they get back.

Window with a View.

Today is Day 2, yesterday was day 1, again. This is a picture of the hedge of bushes that stands well above the halfway mark of the front window. Either the previous owner really wanted privacy, or they didn't know how to trim hedges. I don't know how to trim either, so it stays that way. :]

If I were...

Hey J!, Here's my response to your found list of questions. Gotta say, Its reaaal tempting to take pictures of every answer.

1. If I were a month, I would be: July. Nice and toasty.

2. If I were a day of the week, I would be: Saturday. No Work.

3. If I were a time of day, I would be: 4:30, Quiting time.

4. If I were a direction, I would be: Southwest, Good temps there.

5. If I were a piece of furniture, I would be: A low-seated, comfortable, reading armrest chair. Hey, thats today's Picture!

6. If I were a liquid, I would be: Dr. Pepper. What else from a Texan. Though a non-newtonian fluid is second.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-newtonian_fluid).

7. If I were a stone, I would be: Obsidian.

8. If I were a tree, I would be: Pecan.

9. If I were a bird, I would be: Big Bird.

10. If I were a tool, I would be: Hammer, just keep banging away.

11. If I were a flower/plant, I would be:Pothos, Epipremnum aureum.

12. If I were a kind of weather, I would be: Hot and Dry.

13. If I were a musical instrument, I would be: Piano.

14. If I were a color, I would be: Dark Blue.

15. If I were an emotion, I would be: Happy.

16. If I were a vegetable, I would be: ???, Corn on the Cob ,maybe.

17. If I were a sound, I would be: Clapping.

18. If I were a car, Iwould be: Nissan Sentra, small, good looking, but definetly the one to get the worst of it in a scrape.

19. If I were a food, I would be: Briskitt, sure a little fatty, but tender and oh so flavorful.

20. If I were a place, I would be: Franklin Mountains. You can see a lot of sky from there.

21. If I were material, I would be: Wood, strong, sturdy, with many shades, and still delicate.

22. If I were a scent, I would be: the smell of a finished pinapple up-side down cake.

23. If I were a word, I would be: sarcastic, obviously, hehehe.

24. If I were a body part, I would be: a hand.

25. If I were a facial expression, I would be: a quirky smile.

26. If I were a subject in school, I would be: Creative Writing. Thats not a copy either, I really would be Creative Writing.

27. If I were a game, I would be: WoW. World of Warcraft, a rather addictive geeky game.

Hiatus, over?

So the daily photo thing isn't working. I'm taking pictures, almost every day even. However, actually logging on and posting something, well that's another story.

Not a lot of anything going on right now. Work is long, trying to unpack and set to rights our house is confusing, which leaves evenings as a time to be cherished. Squirreling away time for piddling activities isn't easy.

Having said that, this is what I made yesterday and the day before.

It's called an 8 sided compass rose jar. Info and CP, or Crease Pattern, can be found here http://origami.oschene.com/archives/2006/03/05/the-8-sided-compass-rose-jar/ . Mr. Oschene, I think that's his name, created this fold as a varriation to the normal compas rose jar, which has 6 sides. Least, I think thats what the difference is. One of my jars is 6 sided, the one with a picture of a lady on it, though that happened by accident.












Each jar has a star inside, like so.

And the day before I made this.

Its a bat. No info as to creator, and I've long lost the link to the CP. Well this has been a long one and maybe that means I'll be doing more normal ones again soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Today's Pic.

This is our backyard. There's a flower bed that's full of all kind of flowers that I have any idea what they are, or how to take care of them. Que sara (is that spelled right?)

Sorry got behind.

This lovely flower arrangement was at my mother's house, Thursday night. I forgot to rotate it with my software before I uploaded it, oh~well.

Here's our dog again, can you tell I'm strecthiung for pics? The reason his head is blurred is that he's licking his foot. This was Friday's pic.

This is a corner of our lining room. The rest of the walls pretty much look the same, 'cept for one blank wall, which will soon be full of pictures. Saturday's pic.

Harvest Moon

This pic didn't come out quite as I'd hope it would. The sky was overcast with large splotches of clouds. One clear opening of grayish-blue sky, with the moon glowing like a polished pearl centered in the middle. Maybe after messing with the software some I can bring out some of the colour and light that I saw this night.

I can't Sleep.

So I'm trying to go to sleep and it hits me there's like 3 things I need to do before I can sleep. So I do them. And just as I'm heading back to bed, I remember I still need to put up today's pic. I took pics of my dog, Simba, I even gave him a bath this afternoon and almost forgot to put up his pic.

He's such a good dog. We got him at the pound, I can't believe someone gave him up. He's housetrained, knows most commands, and is learing more quickly. So anyway~ thats my Simba.

365 is back.

So now that my camera's back, I'm back to this project. I have a bunch of new things around me, (I'm living in a new house!) and I got a dog. I haven't had a dog or any pet for so long, I'm so psyched. Later ya'll.

My camera's fixed!

Actually, it got replaced. The place of bussiness jerked me around until I finally got fed up. Customer Service is really untrained, but I got my camera back.

So anywho~ I've been itching to take a picture of this sigh by the side of the road for ages. Take a looksie.

I wonder how old this sign is.

Great Shot!

The date in the pic is for Friday, so this counts as Friday's Post

This shot was taken in Downtown FT. Worth. It is the last of a set that shows the wind lifting the flag. I almost got one with the flag compleetly(is that spelled right?) billowing out, but my camera died. I'll be taking it back to the store to get it looked at.

The statue is an outlline of a man. I cut his head off in this shot , but a reflection of his head is seen in the buildong across the street.

So I messed up.

I didn't get a picture of anthing yesterday. Why, you ask? Because I went housse shopping and didn't feel comfortable of taking pictures of someone else's house. Well we found one that we like, don't have a pic of it, but we might actually get it. The excitement is tingling.
the 365 will start over on another day, maybe tommorow.

365

Let me explain, 365 is the number of days in a year (duh right). A project(?) for digital camera users is to take at least 1 picture day for a year, thus letting them pratice taking pictures. I know, I should've said that yesterday, but I did start yesterday. So from now on, I'll at least have one post a day up.
There are many things a day I'd like to capture, I've wanted to go digital for sometime now, and now that I have the opportunity, I find myself not pressing the shutter switch. Yesterday I saw something great, a firetruck with a large American Flag tied behind it so it could flutter on the wake of the truck as it rolled down the roadway. But I didn't take the picture, didn't even have my camera out. Life has an interesting way of explaning itself to us in the simplest ways. An oppurtunity in front of me slipt away, because of my inaction. How often have I lost God's oppurtunities because I didn't say or do something?
For now, let's just see what develops over the next year.

News Flash!

I got a Digital Camera!

My mom got it for me as a Birthday and Christmas gift.This is great! I'm really excited ( I know, I hide it well don't I?).

lost

He raced onwards to the fastly fading light. The rays of the sun leapt ahead, leaving behind only shadows. He struggled to keep ahead of the darkness, but the night was sweeping in on him.

For anyone who has actually read my past entries, you know I've center on a particular character for awhile, but I stopped to hone the story a bit more before putting more out here. Right now I feel like that character. The exerpt above takes place in the story at a point in time which has not been revealed here. I feel like him because I'm trying to stay in the "Light", on my path, or just plainly-by my Savior's side. However, I'm not sure if I am following my own head and desires, or His will. When in the dark, its hard to see your way. You stumble and get lost, you have no way to navigate. Am I in the dark? in the light? or in the twilight, soon to be overcome by shadows if I don't get moving and hurry back into the daylight. Only God knows, but I must find His path.

I use this picture because I like the light and shadow, it relates context and vision for me.

I like this Pic

I lived in Md, somewhat near to D.C. for almost 3 years. During that time I only went to D.C. twice. I saw most of the City on my second trip. On June 4th, 2006 I took this picture. Something about seeing our men and women (yes there is one in this shot) framed next to this replica of the Liberty Bell in front of Union Station speaks to me. I know that the head gear these soldiers are wearing means they're a special force of some kind, but I don't know what.

-Side note. If someone could tell me what group it is I'd appreciate it. And if the Bell pictured is not a replica of the Liberty Bell, please tell me what it is. As I said it is located in front of Union Station in D.C.

-Back to Point.

These Soldiers are put all that they have to give to protect are nation. America is a nation truly blessed. And so many people on the street don't even care. But the Soldiers pictured above, they know. As long as there are Men and Women like that, I think we'll be ok. But more importantly I pray that they know the God that allowed America to come about, and that they trust in him.

A Christian needs to give his ALL to God, just like a soldier does. I hope I can make the cut.

My Thanks

I thank the families who plowed the rows of my mind when I was a child in Sunday School.
I thank the Preacher who emulated a heavenly father the way God meant a father to be.
I thank my mother for all the sacrifices she made, and for encouraging me in the way of the Lord, even though she did not know the way herself.
I thank the women in my life as a young adolescent who sowed God's word endlessly.
Again I thank the Preacher who gave water and fertilizer to a parched field.
I thank the woman who spent the greater part of a night talking to young girls one summer, and still had time for a shy girl. A girl who realized she was without God and headed for Hell. I'm thankful that she took a few more min. to pray with me, as I asked God for forginess of my sins, and asked him to save my poor wretched soul.
I thank the young men in my life who proved there were more Godly men out there, and that someday I would find the one God meant for me.
I thank the man who married me and is a Godly man, and will be a Godly father.
I thank the many countless others who have touched my life in ways innumerable for me to list.
But lastly,
I thank the God who gave His only Son to die on the cross for me. Who paid off the debt of all my sins, so that I would not spend even a single moment in Hell, but live forever in Heaven with Him.

I've been thinking

Yeah, I even know your response, Don't hurt yourself.
Lately I've felt that I need to turn from my own ambitions and recenter myself on God's path for my life. 'Cause quite honestly, His plan for me is much easier for me, than the convoluted mazes my simpleton brain conceives for me are. ( is that sentence comprehensible?) As a result, I've stopped my writings. Not altogether mind you, I've been working on something that I hope represents God, and reveals him to others around me. But I haven't been posting online, because more and more this blog became an arena for the wonders of yours truly. It hit me tonight after church, along with a few other bricks of import, that this unnoticed little blog can be used to God's Glory, if I give it to Him. The other bricks were every other aspect of my life.
And so I pray.
My God, My Heavenly Father, I want to do your will in all that I do. I pray that the promise you gave in Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.
Lord I pray that you work on the hearts of the people who read this prayer, and I pray Lord that I will have the opportunity to communicate with them. I thank you, My Saviour, for all the blessings I have recieved. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Happy Up-Coming Easter.

I know I haven't posted in an incredibly long time, but I don't think anyone reads this blog so thats ok.
My Work In Progress (Journeys, or Bad Trip) is going into major overhaul mode and I've not had any inklings for shorts except for rather odd tangets on other stuff I've read.
I had hoped that my scriblings would reflect my love for God, but upon reviewing shorts form my earlier years has reasserted that fact that I was a slighty messed up person for a while. I truly hope this lasted endevor actually reflects as I'd like it to.
~Any~Who~
Have a Happy Easter, and may God touch your life. (It has a rather electrifying effect)

WIP #11

Possible title, "Bad Trip" yeah I know, not really a better sounding title than "Journeys". I am open to any ideas.


Towards the evening Arran began to wonder about what sleeping arrangements could be made for himself. He had intended on joining a group of travelers temporarily; he was used to hard work, and could easily repair most carts and wagons. Yet he had seen no caravans individuals since he had set out from the village that morning. He had passed farms throughout the day, but had quickened his pace around those dwellings. He knew better than to spend the night alone in unfamiliar territory. Who knew what kind of creatures lived in this truly remote portion of the land.
“Perhaps I may be able to fix some equipment for a tavern keeper and earn a free night stay. I hope I have enough coins for a meal at least.” He thought to himself. “If I don’t find a band of travelers to go in with, this will be a difficult excursion.
He continued his trek on ward before seeing a large building in the distance, hoping it was a tavern, he quickened his pace.