but, it's jars of clay!

so. i wasn't supposed to take the pictures. not only were there signs posted outside the theater but the super nice lady (was she the director?) that introduced the band made it perfectly clear that photography of any kind was not to be tolerated. the obedient good girl in me pretty much curled up into a little ball and wept at that news. no pictures? seriously? but, but, but it's JARS OF CLAY! how can i not take pictures?

being a fairly stringent rule abider (apparently that's not a word...but you know what i mean) for the majority of my life, i sat through the first half of the concert with my camera faithfully tucked away in my bag. however, after several moving songs (and when i say moving, i mean there were tears flowing off the end of my nose...), i turned to my husband and said, "i can't walk out of here without taking at least one picture. or ten. cover for me." so, i did it. i broke the rules. and i still kinda feel bad about it. i mean, they did ask me not to. but...i'm not planning to sell them, post them on facebook or do anything illegal with them. i'm just going to keep them, here, on my hard drive. as a souvenir, a token to remember an amazing evening...and no. i'm not even going to post them here. i do have a bit of a conscience left, apparently.

the two best songs of the night? (did you really expect me to pick just one?) not flood. gag. i didn't even like that song back when it was popular. which is funny...since it's kinda like their "hit". that one song they have to play at every.single.show. can i even call them my favorite band if i don't like it? hmmm. anyways. the two best songs of the night: something beautiful (the eleventh hour) and run in the night (the shelter) (the links will take you to the lyrics page; just scroll down to the right song). good stuff. i'd rhapsodize more about the songs and the reasons i love them but i think i'll save the real personal stuff for another day. i'm just not feeling it tonight. just know that i bawled at something beautiful. cried like a moody teenager. serious. but then again...how could i not? i mean, it was jars of clay. after all. {wink}

the anaya's in cancun...

have i ever told you this story? back in april, all five of us made the trek down south to the tropical locale of cancun, mexico. john had won the trip through his hard work for his company and though the company only paid for two tickets, we decided to make it a family affair (mainly because the girls, being under two, were basically free). it wasn't a relaxing vacation, to be sure, but we had fun nonetheless. ninety percent of the week we were there was spent ... you guessed it ... at the pool. i sat in the shade with the baby while e and lu splashed in about eighteen inches of water. i didn't get any poolside reading done as my eyes were glued to their two heads bobbing in and out of the kiddie pool. but i did get to eat some amazing seafood and sit on my bum with absolutely nothing else to do. THAT was definitely appreciated.

i did make it into the pool a few times...

the day we were supposed to fly home was a bit traumatic...or maybe dramatic...one or the other...as the ticket agent couldn't find our reservations and couldn't get us all on one flight together (splitting us up was not even an option either apparently). so...we got to head back into the city, lug our belongings back into another hotel room and try to enjoy a few more hours in "paradise". the kids did great with the schedule mix up...i wish the same could be said for their mother (yes, that would be me). i was just so.ready to be home. to be completely honest, it was hard adjusting my attitude...until the next morning when room service brought breakfast (a treat in and of itself, one that i thoroughly appreciated!) and my son was ecstatic about the amount of bacon he got on his plate. apparently, it's the little things ... right?

aforementioned breakfast.

a few more pictures...