Aside from that, something else new & exciting has come up! I have been asked to help work with the youth choir. They have open slots in the 2nd/3rd graders and the 5th/6th graders, but the 5th/6th grade teacher has asked me to help her. I am really going to think and pray about this during the next few weeks and see where I am led. I'm really excited about all the opportunities that are coming my way at church!
We are the Jones Family! This is our blog, created to chronicle our life as a small-town married couple with two doggies. We both work full-time, all while making our house a home one project at a time- and trying to fit a little fun in the mix. :)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Singing!
I was really blessed to be asked by our choir director to sing a women 's ensemble group. As far as I know, this is going to be our set group for any song we do...including Christmas songs, which I can't wait to start working on! This Sunday was our first "performance." I had actually sung solos at our last church, starting when I was really young, but I haven't sang in really long time. Since FBC is such a bigger church and there is so much more talent there, I was a little intimidated to sing a solo. I'm much more comfortable in small groups, so I was excited (but a little nervous too) about this! Our Sunday services air every Sunday afternoon on a local station, but since Zach and I have Dish, we don't get that channel. Thus, came the routine every week of my grandmother taping it for us and me watching it back every week. Our choir director has posted some videos of our choir on his facebook page, so if he posts our song, I'll try to figure out how to post a link to it to this page.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Losing Someone
I usually don't post many of my thoughts and feelings on here, but after thinking about it, that's really what a "blog" is for. So, I decided I would type up a few things I've been thinking about lately...
This past weekend was just really long for me, it seemed. Usually I enjoy the weekends and look forward to them, but this weekend was a little different. I was excited about getting my hair done on Saturday, so that was fun. Also, my best friend Jennifer flew home this weekend for her grandmother's 80th birthday party, so I got to spend a little time with her. Sunday was the longest day ever, for me anyways. We sang at church that morning and it was wonderful. Then, Zach and I went out to lunch to spend time with Jennifer. After that, our choir was asked to sing at the funeral for Brant Craig. (I didn't know Brant really well, but I graduated from high school and was good friends back then with his younger son, Ryne.)
This is the hardest thing for a choir as a whole to do, in my opinion. We sang "I Can Only Imagine," which, when looking at the faces of the family, brings a whole new meaning to me now when I listen to the words. We were seated, as usual, in the choir loft, and the family faced us. This is what made it so difficult. I can not, and hope I never will, imagine what they're going through right now. They've lost a husband, son, brother, father, grandfather and "hero," as John Croyle (one of the speakers at the funeral) put it, and they're really hurting. My mom went through it when she lost her first husband. My grandmother went through it twice. I wish that neither Zach or me ever have to face that someday.
The speakers at the funeral did leave us with hope, and that's what makes everything easier to handle. Things can change so suddenly from one day to the next--nothing is certain. It seems like members of our church have been awakened to the thought that life is very short and we should tell people everyday that we love them and treat others the way you would want to be treated. I thought of a quote yesterday that really makes you think. Dave Matthews said this when talking about their saxophonist who passed away about a year ago.
"We should never wait to do things. Death teaches us that."
This past weekend was just really long for me, it seemed. Usually I enjoy the weekends and look forward to them, but this weekend was a little different. I was excited about getting my hair done on Saturday, so that was fun. Also, my best friend Jennifer flew home this weekend for her grandmother's 80th birthday party, so I got to spend a little time with her. Sunday was the longest day ever, for me anyways. We sang at church that morning and it was wonderful. Then, Zach and I went out to lunch to spend time with Jennifer. After that, our choir was asked to sing at the funeral for Brant Craig. (I didn't know Brant really well, but I graduated from high school and was good friends back then with his younger son, Ryne.)
This is the hardest thing for a choir as a whole to do, in my opinion. We sang "I Can Only Imagine," which, when looking at the faces of the family, brings a whole new meaning to me now when I listen to the words. We were seated, as usual, in the choir loft, and the family faced us. This is what made it so difficult. I can not, and hope I never will, imagine what they're going through right now. They've lost a husband, son, brother, father, grandfather and "hero," as John Croyle (one of the speakers at the funeral) put it, and they're really hurting. My mom went through it when she lost her first husband. My grandmother went through it twice. I wish that neither Zach or me ever have to face that someday.
The speakers at the funeral did leave us with hope, and that's what makes everything easier to handle. Things can change so suddenly from one day to the next--nothing is certain. It seems like members of our church have been awakened to the thought that life is very short and we should tell people everyday that we love them and treat others the way you would want to be treated. I thought of a quote yesterday that really makes you think. Dave Matthews said this when talking about their saxophonist who passed away about a year ago.
"We should never wait to do things. Death teaches us that."
Monday, July 13, 2009
Little River Canyon- Photo Shoot Weekend
I wanted to post just a few of our favorites from our photo shoot this weekend at Little River Canyon. We took a class in photography on Friday night and then our group met at 8 am the following Saturday morning to practice some techniques we had learned. We even made a trip to the new JSU Canyon Center Field School and took a tour of the building. Zach did a great job with his nice camera, and I was really surprised by the good pics my little Cybershot made. We had a great day just enjoying the beautiful aspects of nature that God created for us to enjoy.
I'm also including a link to my album on Facebook of Zach's pictures that he took on his fishing trip back in June:
July 4th Weekend
We had a great 4th of July weekend! Being off from work was good enough, but we got to spend a lot of time with friends and family too! On Thursday night after work, we got together with a big group of friends and ate dinner at Don Chico's, one of our favorites. The first picture is of our group...poor Zach was on the end, and there were so many of us that he was unfortunately cut off in the picture. After that, we all met up for the FP fireworks show. It was really good this year, and Zach was excited to try out his camera on the fireworks. The next two pictures are two of the best ones that he took. The third one is the finale and his shot turned out beautifully! The last picture is Zach fishing off his dad's dock on the 4th. He was using his niece, Ella's, Disney Princess fishing pole. He didn't catch anything that day...Ella caught many! :) We spent the entire day at his dad's on the lake. We rode in the boat and Zach rode on the intertube for a while. We had two great meals that day and enjoyed an awesome fireworks show that night over the lake, courtesy of Zach and Gordon.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Falls
Two Saturdays ago, Zach and I went to DeSoto Falls for the afternoon. He took his camera along and got some really great pics. The last picture is the sunset we enjoyed on our way back home that day. We're so blessed to have this beautiful place so close to us.
Daisy & Cosmo
Zach took some really good photos of the dogs yesterday while they were out on the deck. I couldn't believe how still they were in their poses. Daisy and Cosmo both need to be groomed and Cosmo just happened to be soaking wet from more fun with the water hose, but they're still cute!