Niceties

Well... I've been in the "deep south" for 4 days and in Austin for 2 days.

And what was the first thing I noticed?
People are SO DANG NICE!  
I mean that in the kindest way possible.  

Seriously, the natives are friendly, talkative, chatty, sweet, smiling, willing to help, generous, and a bunch of other things that I can't even describe.
Suffice it to say...

I like it here.

I'm from NC (which is also considered the south),
but man... those people seem like northerners now.

Those snobby city-slickers should take some lessons from these sweet, kind, lovable people.

Speaking of all things sweet... this video is adorable!!


And just a random comparison that's really bugging my lips is that it's very dry in Texas... like very dry... which is nice in a way, because the cold isn't as cold and the heat isn't as bad.  Thankfully I brought chapstick and Mom bought me this awesome smelling petroleum jelly:

Anyways - Have a splendiferous new year!  I know I'm looking forward to all the new things to be!  And maybe, just maybe!   I can blog more.

Blessings!

Mizzoria~

Canine Love

Hey - it's Friday, which means you all can spend 15 minutes to watch a touching Youtube video on a couple canines, several felines, an ursine, leporidine, and phasianidine, right?  Yeah, I made up those last 2 words but they relate to the taxonomy of rabbits and pheasants...



And that is why I like dogs better than I do cats...

Anybody else get annoyed that the mother/father (I can't tell) didn't so much as nod her/his head at Benji as a sign of gratitude!?  Frustrating and saddening that Benji had made so many sacrifices for those kits and then had to just leave like that.  I'm positive one of those little guys started tearing up when that happened.

Mizzoria~

DC and Driving

So - last week Tuesday, we went on a day-trip to D.C. after deciding to do so on Monday.  We are quite the extemporary family ...

Anyways, DC is about a 4 hour drive from our home (it took us about 5 hours, due to notorious traffic) so the day start at 5:30am getting up and prepping for the trip to leave at 6:30am.

Here are some pics from the day:

Pretty waterfalls at the Roosevelt Memorial

A quote by Roosevelt that I really like.

More pretty waterfalls...

Some neat etchings on a column

Another great quote...

Stone etchings on a wall

This one is amazingly done.  The original bronze sculpting was probably the size of my fist.

More waterfall...

This one is so true!  And it doesn't apply to only human resources but also any natural resources.

Sorry for the bad quality of this one, but it's another great quote.

This one was at the Martin Luther Memorial.

Abraham Lincoln Memorial

The Reflecting Pool which they finally remodeled!  Sadly, there was still construction fluff at the bottom.

As you can see, it was a very cloudy day, but we were just thankful that it wasn't pouring.

There were these ridiculous ducks constantly "ducking" into the water head first.

That would be me and my Dad in the lower left.

More duck...

I think my Jsis took this.

Sooooo many Canadian Geese.  I believe there were about 100 geese there.

Some fancy sword at the Aerospace Museum (weird place to display it, right?)

Capitol Hill

Prettiful flowers at the Botanical Garden

These flowers are so long and thick.

No clue what that is.

CACAO BEANS!!!!!

A neat setup in front of the Botanical Gardens.  What I really wanted to take a picture will be later zoomed in.

CAMARO!!!!!!

Pineapple

Papaya

We ended up leaving at 6:30pm and coming home at about 11pm. I got to drive the 9pm-11pm shift, which I pretty much begged for, since I get to drive the long highway section when there are almost no people and I get my quiet, introverted thinking time while everyone snoozes in the back in [*cough*almost*cough*] total silence.  One can either reminisce through the day's events or ponder the wonders of the God or just communicate with God asking Him questions and whatnot.

When do you like to drive and why?

Mizzoria~

Happiness and Joy

I'm not sure if and where I got this from a sermon, so I apologize beforehand for any unintentional plagiarism.

Happiness is external.

Joy is internal.

Happiness is an feeling.

Joy is a choice.

Happiness is now.

Joy is forever.

Nehemiah 8:10 (NASB) 

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Mizzoria~