Monday, April 30, 2007

120 - There's No Place Like Home

After 15 hours "in transit," it is nice to have these three faces to greet me at the end of the journey.

119 - East Coast Sunday Sunrise


119 - East Coast Sunrise, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

I have never seen the sunrise on the ocean, only sunsets! So, this was a first for me. After the sun rose, Claire sang a hymn for me. Then, we sang "All Creatures of Our God and King"

All Creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia, Alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

O praise Him! O praise Him!

118 - Reflections on a Sunny North Carolina Day

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Sitting out in the sun on the back deck of Paula's beach house just chatting.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

117 - At the Sea with Carrie and Me

Friday, April 27, 2007

This is my official "Water Sample" from yet another Retreat destination. I have Greenville, SC river (can't remember the name) water and Mississippi River water photo, and now, I have Atlantic Ocean water to add to my growing collection!

117 - Claire


IMG_0546, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.
Friday, April 27, 2007

This is a delightful woman who has graced our presence at this LampPost Retreat at Topsail Island, North Carolina. She has not been with us for a full five years, and it is so great to see her again. (It isn't a cigar)

116 - Up, Up and Away


IMG_0503, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
It is taken out of a dirty plane window, but it is one of the few that I took while in transit on Thursday!

This is the view from the plane as I fly out of Portland, OR. This is the mighty Columbia River that Lewis and Clark came down on the Corps of Discovery!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

115 - Tired Feet


115 - Tired Feet, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

"Relaxation Tea" at 3 p.m. kept me up until after 3 a.m. this morning! So, I am exhausted today. This pre-trip pedicure was a nice thing to do in my exhaustion though.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

114 - Relaxation Tea for Two


Tea for Two, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

There is inexpressible joy when I can have tea with one of my dearest friends, Kim. We had the "Relaxation Tea," and I thought this chocolate rose was so beautiful next to my Indian Spice Chai tea. I lovely two hours of my afternoon.

Relaxation Tea


Relaxation Tea, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Monday, April 23, 2007

113 - Productive Day


113 - Productive Day, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

After the pretty shots of the last few days, this is a pretty boring photo. It does represent my day though. I had a goal of getting all the things for the four week class that I am teaching to the church for copying and collating, and I got it all in by 4 p.m. today. This way I won't have anything to do before I start the class less than 45 hours after I return from North Carolina!

A VERY productive day!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

112 - The End of a Great Weekend


A final walk on the beach before we head home. I had the pleasure of being the prayer coordinator for this retreat, and these ladies are the retreat speaker (left) and director (right).

I had such a great time, and I am so happy to be with this new church.

Here is a slideshow of the whole weekend:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/52364318@N00/jETs43

This was my second favorite photo of the day. What fun!

111 - A Grandmother's Love


111 - A Grandmother's Love, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

This is the youngest member of our retreat and her lovely grandmother who is one of our women's ministry directors and one of the loveliest people I have ever met!

110 - West Coast Sunset


110 - West Coast Sunset, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.


Friday, April 20, 2007

This was the scene that began my retreat at the Oregon Coast on Friday. I hope to have an East Coast sunrise next week to complement this one!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

109 - County Courthouse at 11 p.m.

I went to see "My Fair Lady" at the Majestic Theatre tonight, and I didn't get out until almost 11 p.m. As I was walking to my car, I saw the courthouse with its night lights glowing, and I had to get a picture. The moon looked really neat alongside it, but I couldn't get it in the picture.

I have been up since 5:30 a.m. and have gone all day long. I am ready for bed!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

108 - Portrait of a Mother and Daughter

This is one of my newest soulmates, Kim, with her daughter,Emily. She has a passion and heart for children to grow to know and love Jesus, and we spend every Wednesday in the Good News Club at the Open Door House near the OSU campus sharing with international and American kids. I feel so blessed to be her friend.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

107 - New


107 - New, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

I got a new haircut and a new camera. My D-80 will be coming back soon, but we decided to get a nice point and shoot so the boys can take movies (great movie capability), and I can have something lighter to carry around that still takes nice pictures.

The Canon Powershot S3 (Like Nikki's) was the camera we chose.

Monday, April 16, 2007

106 - Profile of Peace


106 - Profile of Peace, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Late last night while reading in Hebrews, something just clicked in me, and I looked at some recent events with a totally different perspective. How wonderful to wake up this morning in peace. So here I am in one of my peaceful places (my library's reading room) reflecting on the future with renewed hope.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

105 - Reason #7: Bleeding Hearts


105 - Bleeding Hearts, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Snapped this as the sun was coming up. These small delicate flowers are right near my door. I am using this little HP Photosmart. The viewfinder is not matched to how the actual picture comes out so close ups are a pain. I didn't get it framed exactly as I shot it, but I did finally manage to figure out how to do a non-blurry close up with this point and shoot. So, I am happy!

I have two bleeding hearts because George's heart was bleeding right beside mine as I processed some hard things this week. It is nice to go through this life with a companion like him. So, I think this will be my Reason #7: Because he is right beside me in heart in the joys and also in the pains of life. He wrote me an email on Friday from work that said:

"I have been praying for you since last night (while you were asleep-you beat me to it) and today as well. I hope that it helps."

Our love song when we were dating was: Two Hearts Beating in Just One Mind by Phil Collins, and this is so true. (I will stop with the sappyness now, sorry)

This started out as a "flower post" and just evolved into a "reason" post as I have typed. Oh how I love to be efficient. LOL!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

104 - Sunlight on Cronemiller Lake


HPIM1626, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

The family went for a walk up at Peavy Arboretum in McDonald Forest today (about ten minutes away from our house). I caught this glimmer on the lake. I love how the calm part of the lake breaks the stream of light. We walk up here pretty regularly. It is an easy forest walk. We saw more trillium blooming in addition to other forest wildflowers. We even saw newts mating!

This is TWO newts, BTW. :) I am keeping with the "animals mating in water" theme from last month when I shot the ducks. :)

Friday, April 13, 2007

103 - Spring Continues to Explode


Front yard blooms, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

The second set of blooms are hitting my front yard. Love this color!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

102 - Smile


HPIM1587, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

This is my first self-portrait challenge body part. My dh says I look sort of "cheeky."

I just needed to smile. I was sort of sad today. So, I needed this.

Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...

If you smile
With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you'll just...
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you'll just...
Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...

If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you'll just Smile...

That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you'll just Smile

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

101 - Max


101 - Max, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Kim and I got together and prayed today. Amazingly, we were able to pray for a whole hour before we were even interrupted by Max or his three older siblings. Little miracles happen everyday.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

100 - Half and Half


100 - Half and Half, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

This is half buds and half blossoms. I confess that this was taken yesterday because I wanted to have a comparison photo for when it is fully blossomed, but I didn't know I would be without my good lens on my D-80 for when it totally blossomed. So, I am showing it to you today!

I don't know what kind of flower it is though, but I thought it was so pretty! I will hear from my master gardener soon and let you know! (She says it is a viburnam)

Monday, April 9, 2007

99 - Reason #8


99 - Reason #8, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Because he had a heart for the people of the world. This is us in our traditional Malay outfits for a presentation that George did tonight. It was really important for me to marry someone with a similar life purpose that included people from other cultures. It has so enriched our lives. Tonight reminded us of how fulfilling it was to live overseas. We grew and learned so much.

(This picture also reminds me that my point and shoot camera just doesn't have the versatility that I have come to take for granted in my D-80. I miss it already and may use the last picture I shot with it this morning for my next day's shot!)

Sunday, April 8, 2007

98 - Reason #9


George's Family, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Because he has a great family. This is George's mom, aunt, uncle, brother, sister-in-law, and our two neices with our family. We had a nice Easter dessert for a couple of hours this afternoon. They are such a nice bunch of people, and we always laugh quite a bit when we are together.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

97 - Reason #10

Because he irons his own shirts. I am copying Dalissa and doing a "Reasons Why I Married Him" Top Ten.

Friday, April 6, 2007

96 - Down by the Riverside


96 - Down by the Riverside, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Teala and I spent the afternoon talking on a park bench at Riverfront Park. The OSU Crew team rowed by for a picture!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

95 - The Majestic


95 - The Majestic, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

We went to see Twelfth Night today. It was a production at our local theatre put on by kids from elementary through high school, and it was most entertaining!

On a sad note: Something is wrong with the auto focus on my D-80. It won't focus when the lens is fully extended. So, I think I am going to have to send it to the doctor, and that will mean a point and shoot for a while.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

94 - Long Live the Azaleas


94 - Passover Azaleas, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

These Azaleas are really old, and the previous owner wanted to pull them out, but her husband wouldn't let her. We are so glad because they continue to bring me joy with the bright red blooms. We have about six in our front yard. There used to be seven, but one did die.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

93 - Piano Cloud


93 - Piano Cloud, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

Just because I thought it was cool!

Monday, April 2, 2007

92 - Death and Taxes


92 - Death and Taxes, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

It’s been said the only two things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. I don't know how true that really is theologically, but I know that I have been forced to think of both of these much more than I would like to lately.

After putting this off all Spring Break, I forced myself to "just" install Turbo Tax today, but I ended up doing almost everything. I just have to look up some mileage numbers, and we are good to go. YIPEE!

Sunday, April 1, 2007

91 - Western Trillium at Wildlife Refuge


91 - Forest Trillium, originally uploaded by carolfoasia.

George and I hiked the Woodpecker Loop trail at the Finley National Wildlife Refuge today. A lovely day.

See the whole set at:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/52364318@N00/O58iR9