sitting in the dark

and not because of hurricane sandy. i'll be very surprised if she makes it to kansas city. tonight for who knows how long, i just sat on my dining room floor in the dark, looking out the window at the moon. the only light was the reflection of the moon and my pumpkin. (i carved one for the first time in ages) it was nice to just be able to sit there and think. about nothing in particular. just thinking and talking to God. very rarely do i take the time to sit and be still in silence and dark anymore.

it used to be a nightly thing for me to go outside during the summer, lay in the grass, look at the stars and talk to God about my day and the issues i saw. but i'm a pansy in the cold, so it would stop sometime in the fall when i decided it was too cold. then my summer nights got busy with school and work and small group, and i didn't want to be the weirdo who lays in their yard at 1 am and is completely sober. so i stopped going outside. i still talk to God about my day, and issues i have or my friends have, or the world has. i write in my journal. i recently even started writing down my prayers. but even then, i can still get distracted.

sunday, my church had their family fun night at red barn farm. it is a great place with lots of great memories for me. (we went on field trips there a lot in elementary school, and i even milked a cow there) the scenery is amazing (what else would you expect from a farm) and i love being able to forget about the city for a while. (i just sang piano man "and forget about life for a while" great song)

how is this not fantastic

looking at the barn from the top of the hill

i have an odd thing for windmills. 

but even in this amazing and tranquil scenery, it was easy to get distracted. 

there were things to do, (grace and her sweet son as they were coming in)

kids to keep an eye on, (little man checking out the goats)

animals to see, (o.e., the one eared horse)

food to eat, 

(shelley and her pumpkin)

(bubba checking out his pumpkin)

(big bubba finding the perfect face to put on)

pumpkins to decorate, 

s'mores to make, marshmallows to torch for said s'mores (yes i catch my marshmallows are fire and let them burn for a bit. i'm too impatient for the fire to slowly toast them)

with so much to do, it was difficult to find time to slow down and take in the amazing picture God painted. i can look back at the pictures, and i can even go back whenever i have the time to, but it's not the same as taking the time then and there, with the crazy kids all around me, and just soak it in. 

why is it so difficult to do things like that in today's society?

on another note, i'm super excited tomorrow is halloween! sunday, i got a pumpkin from the red barn farm, and so last night i gutted it and chose my design to carve, and this afternoon i carved my dalek pumpkin. if you follow me on istagram, you've seen basically the whole process. this is the first time i've carved a pumpkin since high school, so the fact that it turned out as nice as it did is a huge deal to me. i love doctor who, and thought a dalek would be more fitting for me to do than an owl. plus the daleks are my favorite enemy of the doctor. (i'm not sure why, but they are)

so i forgot how think a pumpkins skin is, and it took forever to even get the top off. 

got it. 

so actually pulling the guts out is one of my favorite parts of carving a pumpkin. 

i really wanted to roast the seeds, but mom said to throw them out instead

my dalek all traced on there. 

i kinda chose the grody side of the pumpkin. not sure why

all lit up tonight

the moon was really bright

my view tonight. 

so i talked to my friend hilary today. on thursday and tuesday she is going to be mentoring me in photography. i even get to do a photo shoot with her adorable baby son. i'm so excited for this! she's a great woman and friend, and i'm so stoked to have her mentor me. she even told me i will be the first person she is doing this for, which makes it all the more exciting! such a blessing to know her and be able to do this with her. and this will definitely come in handy when i do my friends engagement pictures.