Terrible Blogger

I am a terrible blogger. I have realized more fully this morning that I do not use this blog to its potential, that none of you know me or K more fully as a result of this blog, or at least not in the ways we would want you to know us. You might know we are undergoing a huge house renovation but you would not know how much I am inspired by my friends. So I apologize. It seems I might end up highjacking this blog periodically to air my brain to any of you who may be listening.

What prompted this was me perusing my dear friend's blog this morning. She is incredibly busy with 1 husband and 3 kids, homeschooling, and all that life hands her on a daily basis (including falling over in the grocery store into a rack of balloons because she thought someone was sneaking up on her & needing two people & an army knife to free her). You should take a look at her blog. She is one of my oldest & dearest of friends & even though we don't get to see each other very often, she is an inspiration to me & I am grateful for her. http://rebeccasmith.wordpress.com/

mbj

New house pictures!

I finally took some new photos of the house renovation. We have come a long way since I last published any photos. Windows are in, electrical is in, insulation is is, drywall is up, the exterior has been painted, and the inerior walls have been primed for paint. We're getting there!!

1st Annual Andersen Family Crawfish Bowl

Over Memorial Day weekend, B & K Andersen hosted the most fabulous crawfish boil! Complete with something like 500 pounds of crawfish flown up that same morning from Louisiana. Amazing! Here are some photos from the event...

Renovation Updates

It's been about 5 weeks since I last posted pictures. Quite a lot has happened in that time despite losing about 2 weeks due to the snow. I have put dates next to the photos so it's easier to track the progress for you. Enjoy!

February 2:

March 6:
(Does anyone recognize the big room or the former kitchen or office?)

March 8:

ColoradoNewYearsPalooza 2006-07 PICTURES

Finally, the long-awaited photos from our New Year's trip to Colorado. We had a blast with all of you who could join us & missed all of you who could not. Enjoy!

House Renovation: Week 2

They seem to be moving quickly on the demolition of the interior/exterior. I think they start pouring foundation this next week. Crazy.

House Renovation: Week 1.5

Here are a few pics of our house renovation project from the first week and a half. You will see pictures of guys taking down the garage & a tree (sadly...but soon to replaced) as well as the remains of the "disco deck" and the house minus its sidewalks/steps. There are some interior pictures, namely the space where the kitchen used to be, the progress of the big family room, and a shot of the office (there are beautiful wood floors under that carpet!). Stay tuned.

mb

Christmas Card Disclaimer

For all of you who couldn't believe how incredibly huge our Christmas card photo was, please give me a moment to explain.

As you may know, we use Amazing Mail to send out our Christmas card every year. Usually, K is in charge of actually sending out the card. This year I, MB, did the honors.

We scrambled about a week before Christmas to find a photo we liked of ourselves and alas our sweet sister-in-law handed the photo in question to us just in the nick of time. I of course was not thinking about how our faces filled the entire frame b/c our usual card is the size of the average postcard or a 4x6-inch photo. No big deal.

So I am in the "formatting" section of Amazing Mail when I see different postcard shapes & options. I get very excited, thinking "Oh wow! I can add another small picture by the address line...perfect for the dogs." And, "Oh wow! I can include ALL my text!"

Alas, I am swept away by the joys of modern technology & the choices it offers. I end up choosing the card that gives me all of these options & more without taking time to note the SIZE of the card. It's huge. And our faces fill the frame. These two facts combined made for a shocking surprise in your mailbox come Christmas. And for that, I apologize.

Please know we were not trying to send you the biggest picture of all your friends & family. We were not trying to take up the most space on your refrigerator. And we were not trying to say, "Look at us! No really, LOOK at us!"

Thank you for your attention. And happy new year.

Snapshots of Egypt & India

It's so hot in India that chili peppers just wash up on the beach. I found 2 on the beach this particular morning.
These are our good friends M&K & their lovely Baby L.

Indiana Springs is the bottled water of choice in India. God bless em'.

T & I beside T's new super-eco-friendly ship of the desert.

Kids at our friends' orphanage in Chennai India. http://www.sangitacharitabletrust.com/.


P&G at the Pyramids, posing with the Sphinx.

Egypt & India

In October I took 2 friends, T & P, to Egypt for a week. I got back mid-December from a trip to Chennai, India with another friend M.

None of these guys have traveled much outside of the USA. All of them are interested in different cultures & people & global news & politics & so forth. So it was fun to take these friends to two very exotic places & introduce them to our friends in Egypt & India.

On the plane back from Chennai to Frankfurt, M asked me why I invited him to go to India. I didn’t have an immediate answer for him, which took me by surprise.

MB & I are big believers in introducing our friends to each other. & we are big believers in getting people together & seeing what happens. So naturally we want our friends from all over the world to get to know our friends from Indy & the US. & vice versa.

After going to Egypt, P & his wife are helping with support for one of our friends there. & after going to India, M is interested in supporting one of the kids at our friends’ orphanage. This is wonderful. In our partnership training sessions, MB & I teach that good relationships are the foundation of good partnerships. What MB & I really want is just for our friends all over the world to get to know each other. & hopefully by getting to know each other, we can begin to help each other & to work together.

So we want to take our Indy friends with us to meet our friends around the world. & we want to bring our friends from around the world to meet our Indy friends. & then we want to sit back & see what happens.

Random Pics from 2006

Pictures include: MB's birthday dinner in CO; Khayelitsha, South Africa, Alek, Syd & Max, friends in Indy, Halloween, & respective family pics.