CHI ALPHA

Wednesday was a whirlwind. I left work early and arrived in Charlotte at 4:30. Wade's plane hadn't arrived yet so I looped around the pick-up area about 7 times. Then I got to see my gorgeous husband! I was so ready for him to be back. We headed off to a Charlotte resturant to meet up with some people for dinner and had a great time. We spent the night in Charlotte and had to come back to Columbia yesterday.


Then last night Chi Alpha began. This is like Discipleship Now. We have the kids come to the church and hear a guest speaker and band and then on Friday night and Saturday night they spend the night in host homes. It is going to be a lot of fun. I have my camera this weekend so I should get some good shots for the week. It will be fun! I am getting to be a co-leader with my new friend Kristin and I am so excited! We have hung out a little together but this is going to be a great time to really connect. Her boyfriend Christian and my Wade are very close and do a lot of music stuff together. So we always like hanging out with them.

On another note, this has been the month of birthdays in my family. My sister's birthday was April 22nd, my dad's birthday was April 26th, and my brother-in-laws birthday is April 28th! So I wanted to wish them all HAPPY BIRTHDAY and tell them that I love them all! They are the best family anyone could ask for. Here is a celebratory birthday hat for each.

You crazy Judges

I had this preconceived notion that the book of Judges was boring. I guess I associated it with law and court cases or something and figured it would be torture to get through. Boy was I wrong. I mean already all these people are being murdered. Some dude had his thumbs and big toes chopped off. However, this is probably the craziest one so far.

It's amazing what is happening in Judges. I mean you finish the book of Joshua where the Israelites have been given all this land and they have been given victory over every single enemy. All they have to do to keep living the high and mighty life is to follow the Lord. But you know what happens? The people who saw all these amazing things die and their children don't give one hoot about it. I mean they rebel like crazy. They start following Baal and worship other gods and get engrossed in the other cultures and leave God at the door. So God puts the smack-down over and over and send their enemies to destroy them. And eventually the Israelites cry out to God, "Save us!" And he brings them a judge to conquer the enemy and to rule the land with peace until they die.

I started thinking about that cycle the Israelites are in. I mean how many times have we been shown God's might, strength, power, glory, etc and we turn our heads. We look at this other kind of cool thing over here. And then we begin to doubt God or we rebel or maybe we even say He doesn't exist. I used to get annoyed with the Israelites saying that they were lame because they couldn't trust God. They would cry to Moses that he should have left them in Egypt because they would surely die traveling to the promise land. But I'm just like them. I will see God do something amazing or feel the Holy Spirit totally engulf me at a moment. And then it's back to same ole Ferris who doesn't realize the power she has with a huge God on her side. Something to remember next time I think about turning my head.

Come back Wade

I have been missing some Wade today. He went out of town and I couldn't go because of work. Usually a Monday consists of coming home from work and immediately getting a hug from Wade and then talking about our days to one another. Instead, I came home yesterday and there was no Wade. Just Scooter. It was sad. Then usually during the day Wade and I will have about 3 or so times that we will talk during the day. They are usually less than a minute, but they just let each other know we are thinking about them. But today because of his conference I haven't gotten to talk to him much.

Also, I think that if any of you miss his blogging then you should leave a comment and tell him to blog again! I know I miss it.

Now I don't know if any of you know this but Wade is the king of the "Would You Rather" game. He is known for his quick wit with coming up with a question and his reasoning behind his answers. It is actually amazing how awesome he is at it. So in honor of Wade and since it makes me smile thinking of him playing would you rather I pose a question to all of you?

Would You Rather...
hit every red light for the rest of your life
or
always be wrong?

My answer is hit every red light. I hate being wrong. And you would probably see more of the world around you if you stopped at every red light.

What's your answer?

A Wonderful Weekend

I had an amazing weekend in Belton. I got to visit my sister and see my baby niece Pressley and the rest of the fam. Pressley was so awesome and I had a blast laughing with my sister and hanging out on Saturday. On Saturday we (me, sharlie, dad, mom, Pressley) went to eat lunch at Grits and Groceries and I knocked over a glass of ice and watered down Coke into my lap so that it looked like I went to the bathroom in my pants and it all happened because I jumped when a fly landed on my finger. Then that night we ate at Olive Garden (the dinner guests were my dad, mom, Sharlie, Pressley, me and Benjamin) and we had a fabulous time and laughed the whole time. My dad knocked over a chair and almost hit a prom couple.

I was really sad to leave. I missed Wade incredibly and had to get back to see him, but I wish I was just an hour closer to my family. I tried to talk Sharlie into moving to Columbia but for some reason she won't.

I read her most recent blog and almost started crying. Then later I tried to tell Wade how much the blog meant to me and I actually did cry. This line she wrote kept getting me: "I wish that I could wake up tomorrow and relive today. I had a blast." Me too!!

I don't know if I am getting soft or what. I used to never show emotions and now I am all girly and crying. I guess I just really started realizing what is important. And family is very high on the list. My sister gave a little background on our history so check out her blog to read some of our past, but I will tell you that although we didn't really have crazy siblings fights we weren't that close growing up. So I never knew how we would be when we got older. But as soon as we are together it is just like how you would act with your best friend. So open, so much fun, lots of deep and good conversations, and now a baby we can oooh and aaahh over. It was an amazing weekend.

Pressley not liking the new hat I bought her.
Pressley getting some nourishment and doing some cool hand motion.
Beautiful mom and baby.
The Griers as a family.
My precious niece.

Also, I put more weekend pics on my Flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrisjoye/

Cool Links

Under my cool links category I just added my new Flickr page. Hopefully I will start adding some pics on that site so I can get more use out of my amazing new camera!

Here is the link as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrisjoye/

CHECK ME OUT (bigstuf)

These are the images that I sent to BigStuf (a giganto summer camp for youth groups). They weren't picked so I thought it would be okay to show you. They told me their summer camp was focused on the word rhythm and that I could interpret that how I wanted. I sent them these descriptions as well:

Concept 1 (first two images): "Rhythm all Around You" I tried to think of being engulfed in rhythm. In these images I use a very simple face and then show rhythm through colors, patterns, motion, and some music notes. The feeling that rhythm can be wherever we go and these two people are taking notice.

Concept 2 (second two images): "Musical Rhythm" I went with literal rhythm here. Here the rhythm has taken over the very instrument that brought it to life. I used detail in the way the lines made each instrument and how the rhythm has now affected its atmosphere. We could use any instrument. I picked two of the most common.

Concept 3 (solar): "Solar Rhythm" This idea comes from the fact that rhythm is bigger than we are. Our planets and solar system are on a rhythm that God designed before any creature roamed the earth. It also shows how if anything went off its rhythm then our world would cease to exist. There are so many things held in a delicate balance and rhythm in our universe.

Concept 4 (waves)" "Ocean Rhythm" The ocean is a constant symbol of rhythm. In this image I focused on a rhythm that can be peaceful and soothing. It has the feel of watching the ocean waves crash during a sunrise. It is the rhythm of the water mixed with the power of the waves that brings us to a "wow" moment.

CONCEPT 1

CONCEPT 2
CONCEPT 3

CONCEPT 4

My Meagan!

There's a fire in my bones

So this weekend I got completely drained, but in an amazing way. I attended the Beth Moore conference Friday night and Saturday morning. I am sure that I am going to post some of my thoughts from the weekend, but for right now I think the biggest thing I learned from her is how important the Holy Spirit is. I mean as a Christian I always "knew" this, but somehow now I really embrace it. One of my favorite things she said was this (totally paraphrased):

You should pray before you read the scriptures. Because when you combine the oil of the Holy Spirit that is within you with the fire that is the Word of God you are bound to have a combustion.

I am totally loving some Beth Moore right now. I would like to go to another conference and possibly pick up one or two of her books to read.

Also, as I was reading Joshua today I found a little gold nugget tucked away. It was after the many verses that talked about where the boundary lines lie for each of the tribes of Jacob.

Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed, every one was fulfilled.
Doesn't that just sound beautiful? We have a God that fulfilled every single promise to His people even when they were so annoying, whiny, and unfaithful. God is so good. Meaning He will keep every promise that He makes to us as well. God does not fail at anything and never will.

Well at the moment I am reading through Joshua and John in the Bible. It has been a little hard for me to get through the gospels and be dedicated to it. One reason is the fact that even though they are different I feel like I am reading the same thing over and over. But rather than skim through the parts that are in all 4 books I am trying to really understand what key parts each of the gospel writers took from the same experience.
Today as I was reading John I came across the ole water to wine passage (only in the book of John). I really have nothing to say about the wine part...there was something completely different that caught my eye.

John 2
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

When I read this I took a different angle than I had ever thought before. Mary was positive that her son could fix this problem. She knew that he could either make their cups never go empty, make wine fall from the sky, turn the water to wine, etc. This has to mean he had to have done some miracles in the comfort of his own house before this ever took place. I imagine Jesus falling down on the ground as a little boy and getting a scrape on his knee. Then he places his small hand on it and it heals. Or maybe a bird fell from its nest and died and Mary and Jesus witnessed the whole thing. Then Jesus takes the bird in his hands and it is immediately healed. Now all this is purely imagination in my head, but it seems from John's writings that Mary knew he could perform a miracle.

And although he tries to tell her not to involve him she turns to the servants and tells them to listen to what Jesus says. She wants him to perform the miracle. I am guessing Jesus wanted to obey his mother, but didn't want many to know what had happened. So he only included the servants and let all the others wonder how this new wine came.

I am glad I looked a little more into this story that I had already heard so many times before. Even if I am totally off with my imagination it still made me smile thinking of Jesus during his childhood.

Thank God You're Here

After viewing 24, (which was amazing!) I saw a tiny piece of the Thank God You're Here 10:00pm show. I thought it was pretty funny, but since I only saw bits and pieces I kinda didn't know what was going on. Today, I saw a web clip of the one that came on at 9:00. It had Joel McHale (The Soup), Newman from Seinfield, The mom from American Pie, and this dude from Malcom in the Middle. Anyway, I saw a little piece of each and I really think this is one of the most clever shows that they have going right now. It is a lot like Whose Line is it anyway (the improv part) but they include sets and wardrobe. I am going to have to keep an eye on this show. And you should too.

NBC Monday April 16th @ 9pm
and Wed April 18th @ 8pm

Finishing Out a Friday

I got an email from my mom sharing with me her answers to a survey. And since I am a watching the clock tick right now I figured it might be fun to answer these questions for you all.

1. What is your occupation? graphic designer
2. What color are your socks right now? have on heels with no socks
3. What are you listening to right now? the pitter-patter of typing , faint talking in the background, and the humming of my computer
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Nature Valley peanut butter bar
5. Can you drive a stick shift? no
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? white...I would last longer than the others. Can you actually imagine being a crayon. That would suck. I mean kids put them in their mouths, they get stepped on and break all the time...painful deaths for the crayons.
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dearest husband Wade
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yes...I love my mom!
9. How old are you today? 22
10. Favorite drink: Diet Coke
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? haha...I don't watch sports
12 Have you ever dyed your hair? yes
13. Pets? Scooter, the notorious trouble maker
14. Favorite food? steak and a loaded baked potato
15. What was the last movie you watched? Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg
16. Favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you do to vent anger? hmmm, I am very laid back so it takes a lot to make me mad enough that I would need to vent, but I guess I would talk to Wade and let him calm me down.
18. What were your favorite toys as a kid? probably my bike
19. What is your favorite Fall or Spring? Spring!!!
20. Hugs or kisses? Kisses from Wade, hugs from others
21. Cherry or Blueberry? I really don't like either, I'll go with blueberry over the cherry
22. Do you want your friends to send this back? I'm not sending through email, but if you want you can blog your answers
23. Living arrangements? in my hizzy
24. When was the last time you cried? I think when Starbuck fake died on Battlestar Galactica (I didn't know it was fake at the time)
25. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes, sweaters that need to be washed
26. What did you do last night? Stayed at church forever trying to print posters on a plotter that never worked. Very frustrating. (I should vent to Wade about that.)

CHECK ME OUT (defining moments series)

I have decided CHECK ME OUT will be my new title for any of my design posts. So just in case you were begging for it to be shown in the last post...here is the bulletin insert I designed for the new series: Defining Moments in the Journey. It will run from April 8-May 27. Each of the pointing arrows will be a sermon title.
Wade helped me a ton on this one. I was going a completely different (bad) direction and he showed me the light. I think it looks good. But I am not blown away by it. I wish I had a little more time I could have put into it. But the deadline didn't allow for much creativity. Our pastor did tell me it would be a great book cover. Let me know what you think.

Help a sister out!

This week has been the craziest design week ever! At Palmetto GBA we have two different ad campaign things that we are doing and trying to have a website finished by May 1st. So me and our web designer were going non-stop. Then at Mt. Horeb, we finished up a poster/bulletin insert that needed to be ready for Easter. And then realized we had to also fix the bulletin cover. So needless to say I have kinda gone crazy. If you see me with frazzled hair and a crazy twitch in my eye then you will know the reason.

In other news, Meagan my beloved friend from B-town came to visit me Monday night. We ate at Harper's, watched 24, and then took tons of pictures of us making funny faces. I also tried taking portraits of Meagan, but I really have no idea if they are good. Anyway, I will post them as soon as I have time to look through them. I also got a Flickr page (place to store images) so that I can start having more photography things up. So whenever I post some stuff up there you will be the first to know.

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU LADIES OUT THERE?
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME DECIDE WHAT MAKEUP LINE TO GO WITH?
Right now I mostly use Loreal from CVS. And I think it is about time I get a decent collection of makeup. However, I have no idea which way to go. My problems now are: my makeup doesn't make it through the day, my chin is a little oily, and I want something that makes my skin glow...not wash me out because I have pale skin. So if you know the perfect solution I would jump up and down ecstatically! Please help.

CHECK ME OUT (easter)

I have been super busy at work last week and today. I feel like my brain hasn't had room to breathe. I realize in order for me to be creative I need to have moments of nothingness. I need to surf the web. I need to look at new things people are designing: print, furniture, buildings, etc. I need to take in things. I also think that whenever I am outside it is like one of those moments where I am just taking in creativity from nature. I see the colors of flowers, the ways trees bend, interesting looking lizards. It is an escape from the normal mundane tasks.

I know some of you out there are like what does this girl even do...well, probably not but I will show you. I think the things I enjoy doing the most are creative poster/promo pieces for our church series. I am about to start having to work on one and have it finished by WED!

I figured it would be cool to start a trend where I upload some of those images. For my first posting I wanted to show you what I did for our Easter musical bulletin this past week. It was just a one time bulletin, but I was very pleased with it. I am also going to show you the image I started with (istockphoto) and then what I brought it to. Here it is:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So, I changed the coloring. Made tons of lens flare like the glory of the Lord is shining behind the cross. I added a crinkled paper look to the background. I made a grunge border and filled in some more grunge with the help of some photoshop brushes.

The musical was more about the feeling of Easter and remembering what Jesus did for us. So I went with the feeling of an old photograph. One that you might look at over and over again so the coloring is a little different and the paper a little crinkled. I would have liked to take it farther, but I had time constraints. It would have been cool to do an actual photograph with torn edges or dog-eared corners. But I am happy with it.

Mika

Wade and I absolutely love this song. This guy has a fun, funky flair. I've been meaning to post this video forever, but I finally just got a second to do it. Enjoy! Hope it becomes your new fave as well.