OfMiceandMin

Bigger & Better, or just Different

2010-08-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have officially made the leap and launched my first, PROFESSIONAL, real photography blog. This hobby turned obsession has brought so much joy and happiness into my life. I love photography and can't wait to see the journey that it takes me.

I'd love it if you followed me there.

www.MissMelissPics.com

2010-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

See Here for the Full Story:

http://www.lovetheyesgirls.com/index.php/2010/05/diy-idea-for-a-romantic-date-night/

2010-05-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Lisa!

2010-05-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Wedding Day!

5.1.2010

Barber Shop

2010-05-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Love, The Yes Girls

2010-04-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

www.lovetheyesgirls.com

These ladies have been my best friends since, well, forever. I'm so thankful for them and am proud of all they are doing. Check out their blog.

Pat & Teen Engagements

2010-03-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Simply U Events & Proposals

2010-03-09T21:41:00.000-08:00

Do you

Love, The Yes Girls?

Yes, I do

Zoo

2010-03-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

Lil Miss Ren

2010-02-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

Trabuco Canyon

2010-02-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Kenny and Tali

2010-01-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

2010-01-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Lovebirds

2010-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

Random Seattle

Day & Night

2010-01-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

Old November

2010-01-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

Dillard-Disston Family

2009-12-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

My nephew, Jones.

2009-12-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Just Hearts Holiday Boutique

2009-11-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

2009-11-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

2009-11-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

2009-11-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

Train Station pays off

2009-10-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

OcToBeR eNdS

2009-10-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

For your enjoyment, I've come full circle.

The stars I stare at have been there since I was 9. Or 10. Either one.

The stars haven't moved.

They fade as time goes, and light up again when I can't sleep. They've always made the same patterns.

They haven't faded.

Not a bit.

They are bright for a few seconds and disappear, fade into the night. They decide when it's really time for bed.

2009-10-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Rio

We had a fun weekend in Rio. Tio Alister, Tia Rosa, and Duda were nice enough to drive us all the way up there. It took us about 6 hours and we arrived Friday night. We got up early Saturday and hit up the city. I think Rio is my favorite part of the trip thus far. It's an incredible city, dangerous, but great. The favellas are 100 feet above the city. Very close. My uncle said he saw a boy with a gun eye my camera. I'm not sure which is scarier, that someone wanted my camera, or that it was a boy who had the gun. On the way back to Sao Jose on Sunday, we drove by miles and miles of favellas. It was incredibly sad. Both Duni and I think it's the poorest areas we've seen in our lives. I've talked to a few of my aunts and my grandma about the poor areas, and they have all given me the same response, "Oh well, what can you do?" I'd like to think there is something we can do. Love. Pray. Hope. It's good to be realistic, but if we were all like that, if we all just said, "What can you do?" I don't think change would ever happen.

2009-09-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

We spent another weekend at the beach. I took over 700 pictures in 2 days. I feel bad for Mike who will have to see all of them :)

A lot of these were taken while I was in the back seat of my uncle's truck. Kind of hard to take a good picture, but I did what I could. Brazilian drivers are insane - my uncle is among the worst. Worse than Europe or Africa. I won't miss that.

I went to a waterfall with my aunt and uncle and he threw me in the water, clothes and all. I should have known. He's the youngest of 4 kids and seriously never grew up. He still takes naps everyday from 1pm - 2pm. No joke.

And people wonder why I don't want to go home.

2009-09-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sao Jose dos Campos

Party at the Pinda Yacht Club

2009-09-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

At the waterfalls...

2009-09-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

My uncle's sailboat - Jambock

2009-09-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

We went to the island of Ilhabela for my birthday in Brasil. BIB. Here are some of the pics. I could go back and take pictures all day, but this trip is about family.

Pinda is the yacht club that my uncles keep their boats at. The server at the restaurant remembered my sister and I, and the last time we were there was 7 years ago. That guy has a goooood memory.

Enjoy.

2009-09-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

2009-09-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

2009-09-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Everything here is just better. To the mango I had yesterday, can we hang out again soon? Brasil 2009 is well on its way. I've also discovered why the majority of my life my friends have called me the "random one." It is all to do with my Brazilian heritage. Doubt it? My uncles are sending us on a two-hour night bike ride with 100 Brazilians tonight. Most of you can probably answer the question as to how many times I've been on a two-hour long bike ride: ugh, never. This should be a story to tell.

My uncles are just really BIG kids. Two of them live on the top floor of separate high rise apartment buildings in downtown Sao Jose. One building overlooks the other. They can literally wave to eachother out the window. Now that's family we're not used to.

I spent time with Vovo yesterday (my gma). She's hilarious and feisty like my mom. I love being with her even though half the stuff we say gets lost in translation.

Another weird story? So I have a 13 year old cousin who used to love witches and is a mini GQ model but he doesn't know it. He's a looker. Yesterday he told us he hates babies so much that when he plays Sims he always burns the babies or lets them drown. Uhhhhhhhh?

Sometimes my type A personality and care free spirit clash. It's a constant battle to who will win out. Yesterday, Type A, today, riding the wind. Probably why the anxiety kicks in.

2009-09-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Family at dinner

Mountain City - Campos do Jordao

2009-09-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Brasil, 2009

Drinking Fountain

2009-09-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Brasil, 2009

The smoke is from burning trash.

Favelas below Sao Jose dos Campos city life.

2009-09-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

2009-08-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

FACE OF A FISH

VANS A LOT

2009-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

This is my hobby.

Bittersweet

2009-08-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend I moved back home to Orange County, where I've lived since I was 1 year old. Back to my old house, my old backyard, my old room. Actually to mix it up a bit and make it feel different, I took over my sister's room. Sorry Dune, I needed something to be different.

Thanks to my parents and best friends for all your help this weekend. I truly couldn't have done it without you guys.

Facing big decisions can be debilitating. If you're of the same likeness as myself, you'll sit, and assess, and detail out the future. And 99 times out of 100, I am wrong. Which can be good and bad. However, making a decision the right way (if there is one), is actually really freeing. No matter what the outcome, sometimes it's the weight of the decision that's actually more frightening than the other side.

But how good would God be if his goodness was fathomable? It wouldn't be as "good" as we'd hoped.

Another matter of the mind, what is going on? With the world? With my best friends? With myself? WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PAIN?

WE (as the body) can not give up hope. WE ARE THE HOPE.

2009-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

I've put myself out there. For Love. For Life. I have done what I thought what was desired of me. In law, a person's intent does not matter as much as the end result. I wonder if it's different with God. God's cares are a matter of the heart. He cares about our heart. He wants to take it, shape it, mold it if we are willing to give it to Him. Actually, if we let Him, He will set our hearts free.

If we are people torn between two things, God will ask us to give up that other thing, no matter what it is. He wants to know that when we sit in church, pray, or listen for Him, that we wouldn't rather be doing something else. God wants our full attention. He is a Selfish God for Your Heart. He wants it all to Himself! And He's not ashamed to tell you that. He will even die on a cross to get your attention. Oh wait, He already did that.

I am starting/realizing/believing to realize that these journeys we go through are not about the end result. If they were, we wouldn't have to go through the journey.

2009-06-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

i beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved

in your heart and try to love the questions themselves

as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very

foreign language. don't search for the answers, which could

not be given to you now, because you would not be able to '

live them, and the point is, to live everything. live the questions

now. perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually,

without even noticing it, live your way into the answers...

2009-06-03T00:34:00.000-07:00

"The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reason for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief."

-T.S. Eliot

Misunderstood

There once was a boy, who loved his Father very much. He wanted to be with his father all the time. He thought that everything his father did was great and admirable. He also had a lot of fun with him. They would play games together and read books.

His father had a dream to change the world. The boy wanted to be with his father at all times, but his father wanted to change the world more than he wanted to be with his little boy. So the boy spent his whole life trying to show his father that he loved him and that he wanted to change the world, too. But his father didn't see how it would work with the both of them. He thought that his son would be a hindrance to his own pursuit of purpose and greatness.

The boy realized one day, that he could change the world too. The boy realized that his father would do great things regardless. The boy then set out to change the world on his own, because he knew that his own life was not worth wasting on trying to live someone else's dream.

2009-05-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

The reality of reality, is this:

(I've found)

That being honest really is the best policy.

Doing what you're passionate about will bring you fulfillment - no matter if you're broke.

I miss my nephew and wish he knew me.

Family is important to me.

My faith in God and his drive for justice and peace is at the forefront of my mind.

I can't stop thinking about Italy. France. Austria. Budapest. Barcelona.

Let's get outta here.

2009-05-09T18:35:00.001-07:00

Listen.

Following the Holy Spirit is like trying to tune a really old radio. You turn and turn the knob to try and find the right channel. You get it for a second, but the clarity doesn't stay constant for long. The music starts fuzzing again, and you have to adjust the knob to catch the right frequency; and right when you think you've got it, the music starts to fuzz again.

Life isn't supposed to be clear all the time. The Holy Spirit draws us closer to Him by contantly changing the way we hear and see Him. He won't let us sit where we find Him. He'll draw us into where He is, where He's going, and where He wants us to go.

Thanks Dags.

2009-04-22T12:22:00.001-07:00

The Job of A Silversmith

The silversmith heats the silver to a point at which the metal is so hot, the impurities surface to the top. The silversmith will then scrape all impurities off of the top. The silversmith will do this over and over again, each time removing more of the metal's impurities. He'll do this to the point that the metal is completely free of impurities and he can see his reflection in the metal.

Purify Me.

2009-03-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Taz and Eliott..

One of those moments when you stop and all that matters is right in front of you.

2009-03-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.

-John Steinbeck, 1938