Introducing...

KINGSTON BUCKLEY GIBSON
(thank you Paul)



i am pleased, actually MORE than pleased, to introduce my new little friend to the world. Kingston was adopted into my life yesterday and i am excited to see what our new life together will hold. he is 3 months old, a yellow lab chow chow mix, and absolutely adorable. just love him. he has a cold right now, poor baby.




the image to the left was our first bath...it went okay, until he got water on his face.

Puppy Love

the past week has been an absolutely, indescribable joy of an ending to a great college experience. so much has happened that contributes greatly to my current state of euphoria, of which i plan to describe in detail later. but for now i want to share only one of the aforementioned delights...

yesterday i had the great pleasure of accompanying my dear friend sarah in her ongoing (and somewhat heart wrenching) quest to find a dog that is not only lovable but hypoallergenic as well, for lance (bf). the day began with a trip to the bella vista animal shelter which proved to be a somewhat sad experience (great dogs but the state of their living condition was sub par). however, this shelter does not euthanize, so that is a positive. sarah put in an application for either of 2 great dogs and i left longing for a new companion.

on to the shelter in fayetteville where we found more GREAT dogs waiting for a new home. we took some pictures, which i would LOVE to share.

sarah looked at this little baby

this is adam, the puppy i fell in love with

(yellow lab, chow chow mix)

DJ, sarah's other little fave

sarah and DJ

adam and i

Friendship

I was looking at pictures on my computer and I found these two pictures that I edited on Picnik.com. I love these girls very much. They mean A LOT to me (:

Natalie and Sarah Emily 

"you're so cute when you're slurring your speech..."

I had the pleasure of partaking in a sold out concert at Brady Theater in Tulsa, OK with Randy Green on 04.12.2009. All I can say is "perfection." It was an experience unparalleled. The venue + one of the opening bands (could have done w/o cwk) + the headliner = sheer genius.


The Venue : Brady Theater - if you have never been part of a Brady Theater audience...please treat yourself. The ambiance of the theater was incredible, lots of old features including but not limited to the seating, ceiling design, material palette, etc. And although it was sold out, the smaller venue resonated an intimate feeling.

The Opening Band (again, only 1 of the 2) : Ra Ra Riot - while I have heard of them previously, I had never listened to them before, which I regretted the moment they opened their mouths and a little piece of vocal heaven combined with an array of musical instruments including but not limited to a tambourine, violin, bass, etc. allowed itself to settle in my eardrums. [notice dancing bunnies]

The Headliner : Death Cab for Cutie - I have seen them once before and it was one for the books and this Easter Celebration did not disappoint. Incredible light show, beautiful vocals (thank you Ben Gibbard), mix tape of old and new hits, etc.

Great Company as well...


...a few pictures from the glorious night...

[with Randy at the show]

[Ra Ra Riot w/dancing bunnies]

[light show - DCFC]

[Ben Gibbard - "I'll Follow You into the Dark"]

Easter Weekend

a recap of Easter weekend...

• Friday night baseball game in the FREEZING cold with sees and the Difani brothers and a looong enjoyable convo in "the lounge" over hooka
• a delicious breakfast from Rick's with sees Saturday morning (tradition)
• supplies purchased at Hobby Lobby for a new crafting project...
• movie with the fam (minus Joe) Saturday night
• Easter morning church service in new Easter dress accessorized by the rain
• annual Easter celebration at the Hof house with old friends
• 2 hour drive to Tulsa to see Ra Ra Riot + Cold War Kids (boo) + DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE + Randy who is moving to the City on Wednesday )*:

full and very enjoyable weekend

When Love Abounds

blogspot, oh how i have missed you. a few thoughts to share from my previous hectic week...

last week, i was sitting in my spanish class, which use to be much more hastle
than enjoyable experience, but has grown on me throughout the semester. the repetition of the spanish language in my head evoked thoughts of a time i was in chihuahua, mexico on a mission trip in highschool. during that gratifying week, i stayed at an orphanage with my team where we helped out where we could but spent a majority of the time simply loving the children. two teens from the community came regularly to the orphanage and offered love to the children as well, playing soccer with them, etc. my friend and i had the chance to get to know the boys a little and practice our spanish with them (very beneficial for us). several months ago i found one of the boys on facebook and inquired about the other. javier (in light blue) informed me that guillermo (in white) had passed away last year when he was tragically struck by lightening at his home. my heart was absolutely broken, for javier and the pain of losing his best friend, for guillermo's family, and for the tragic way in which a young promising life was cut drastically short. so hearing spanish that day compelled me to think of the friend from long ago, that i barely knew but thought very highly of, and saw great promise in. i also thought how precious life really is...and i know that is an overly used statement but there is truth in it.


so i was inspired to contemplate the weekend past, and look for any small things i could appreciate or find pleasure in, when i stumbed upon an action from a friend that really stood out in my mind. i had the opportunity last friday to hang out with someone i hadn't seen in over a year. to say the least, i was overly delighted for this opportunity since he is an incredible person. when i met him in highschool, i quickly found out that he played the guitar and even knew "by heart" ;) my favorite song of the moment (dashboard confessional - hands down). and back then we sang it together several times. since that first fond memory, i have been compelled to ask him to play the song for me every time i have seen him since. so last friday was no exception. and while he hadn't played it in years and his voice is "manlier" now for the all too high pitched emo song, he complied to my incessant desire, looked up the tabs, and played the song for me. while this might seem trivial in the scheme of all things grand, it really stood out. i appreciated this tiny gesture so much even if he didn't realize it and hope that i too can be a friend like that to others. to do small things that make others smile.

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." -Mother Teresa

La Tour Eiffel

I went to Europe (Paris and Barcelona) Spring Break 2008 and fell in love. I really enjoyed Paris and all the history there. Here are some pictures of how the Eiffel Tower was built. Pretty neat. I found them at

http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/search/label/Rare%20Photos