Where the heck do we put all this snow?

Okay, seriously. This is getting a bit ridiculous.

The entrance to my townhome complex.

Thanks to our HOA dues, we can actually access our garages and front doors.

This house is around the corner from mine. Imagine the shock they'll have when they get home from vacation. Where's our house???

Bekah is Wonder Woman.

Congratulations to my cousin Ben and his wife Bekah, and their new baby Jonah!

I share a special bond with this little guy. (Okay, he's not so little - he was born at ... drumroll, please ... over 11 pounds!!!)

Anyway, Jonah and I are both the first of a generation in the Moore family.

THIS is community.

We recently had our Community Group (a hipper name for a small group) Christmas Party at our house. Although Ugly Sweater parties seemed to be the big thing this year, we decided to stick with the more traditional White Elephant Gift Exchange. (Quick question - does anyone know the origen of the name White Elephant?) Here is a photo of our group with the gifts. (Notice my gift ... I'm modeling it - apparently there's just no getting away from the proverbial ugly sweater.

Oh, you need a closer look? Here you go.

I heart San Diego!

Recently I traveled to Orange County, CA for my job. While there, I decided to take a few extra days and drive down to San Diego to visit my sister Sara.

After a breakfast of the famous Coast Toast, we walked around La Jolla.
Who doesn't love it here???
We ate an awesome dinner at this restaurant called Forever Fondue. We had cheese fondue, meat and veggie fondue and then this incredible chocolate dessert fondue. My favorite was the rice crispie treat squares!

More pictures from Marrakech

Bob and Sue and Carolyn bargain for a purse.

Mmmm ... sheep head, anyone?

Morocco is a very colorful place!

Marrakech

A camel, up close and personal.

Carolyn and me at the edge of the m'dina.

At the train station in Casablanca waiting for the train to Marrakech.

Morocco

Carolyn and I at a little cafe in Casablanca. We are experiencing our first taste of Chwarmas, a hot chicken or fish wrap similar to a panini. Very yummy!

This is the Habbous. This is a little local market where you can get all sorts of Moroccan goods.

The view from the veranda of Bob and Sue's house. This is their hood.

Casablanca, Morocco. Notice the nice condos along the beach. In front of them, you will see the slum. Every family it seems, no matter how much in need they are, owns a satellite dish. They have to keep up on their Egyptian soaps!

Notes of Heaven

I am addicted to music. I absolutely LOVE it. Nothing in life makes me happier than finding a new artist or song to obsess over. When I have a bad day, I find comfort in buying a new CD and listening to it straight through. (Sometimes it's 2 or 3 depending on how bad the day was.) It's very rare when there's no music playing in my car, at my desk, or from the stereo at home. I work out better to music. I drive better to music. I clean the house better to music. I do everything better to music. The type of music I'm listening to usually reflects my mood. And my musical taste is very wide. iTunes was invented for people like me. And, despite it's rather sordid reputation, I've actually discovered several great bands on MySpace. Here are a few of the recent discoveries I've been enjoying lately ...

Paperweight by Schuyler Fisk and Joshua Radin
I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
Maybe It's Just Me by Butch Walker
Just Say the Word by Josh Kelley
Have You Seen My Love by Rosie Thomas

Music speaks to my soul. It reaches a part of me that nothing else can. It's a piece of eternity in earthly packaging. I believe God gave me a love of music in order to give me a little taste of what heaven will be like.

Our snowy afternoon adventure.

Barb and I recruited our neighbor Suzanne to leave the warmth of her house and venture out into the blizzard. We bundled up from head to toe, leaned into the wind and struck out for the empty lot next to the Smudge Dog and Car Wash. We frolicked (as much as one can frolic in 40 mph winds), made fun of people attempting to drive their lowrider cars through huge snow drifts, and built a snow woman!

The three Abomidable Snow Ladies.

Suzanne and Barb frolicking.

Suzanne tried to find some arms for our snow creation. She soon realized these were not just some discarded branches near the dumpster, but an actual tree still rooted in the ground.

Becky and Smudgette.

Barb and I decided we needed a snow person in our backyard too. Meet Lola.

Somewhere a pig has sprouted wings.

Well, the inconceivable has finally happened ... Compassion has a snow day! Despite 70 degree temperatures and cloudless skies yesterday, weather forecasters were ominously predicting "The Worst Blizzard Since the Infamous Storm of '97." I've lived here long enough to know that most of the time the hype turns out to be just that ... hype. However, we woke up in an igloo this morning. All our windows were completely iced over. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 50's, but for now, we have been transported into the Arctic Tundra.

Out the front door.


The back patio. You can barely make out the table and chairs.

Barb's a Marathoner!

My roommate Barb recently ran the first ever Denver Marathon. As I'm sure her rather large fan club can attest, her dedication and will power to achieve her goal are truly admirable. So here's to you Barb!

I wish I lived in CA

We are now in that time of year where you blink and the weather changes. On Monday it was 70 degrees. Today is Wednesday and I almost didn't make it to work today because of the icy roads.

Good thing I have my girls to keep me warm!

Matt and Lana

My coworker Lana recently got engaged to Matt. These pictures were fun because I got to know Matt a little bit.

The Natellis

Jonathan and Sara wanted some pictures done of them. No occasion ... these were just for fun.

Cotton Candy

The other morning I glanced out the front window and beheld this. Somebody please say "Wow."

Melissa graduated!

Melissa is a coworker of mine and recently graduated from college. She wanted some photos to send with her graduation announcements.

This is her class ring.

"GO" time didn't.

So I decided to go back to the gym tonight for the first time in probably almost six months. Until now, I didn't realize how much I missed it. Even though I love getting my exercise outside during the summer, I actually really love going to the gym. I always take a good book and once I get into it, the time flies and before I know it, I'm done. Tonight, though, I had a different sort of experience at the gym. And it kind of disturbed me.

I'd been going on the elliptical for about 20 minutes when a lady got onto the machine next to mine. She was 37 (that came up later in the conversation) but looked about 30. The all-American soccer mom. She was very friendly and talkative. We talked a little bit and then she started talking to the man on the other side of her. Even though she was talking to him, I couldn't help but listen to their conversation. All the TV's in the room were set to different stations, and all were on mute, but they were all flashing images of the same two stories: a school shooting that occurred yesterday and a political sex scandal with one of our Congressman. She commented that all the news was so negative and went on to say, "It really makes you think that we are all headed to you-know-where in a handbasket." Then they started discussing why this world is so evil. It was one of those moments where I knew the door was wide open and it would be the perfect opportunity to share my faith, and yet I could not, for the life of me, figure out a good "opener." I ended up just listening to the two of them have a very hope-less conversation, meanwhile being totally frustrated with myself for not being able to take advantage of this opportunity to share my hope with them. I felt like all of the time and effort I've put into studying God's word and trying to understand my faith really didn't matter that much because, when it came down to it - when it was "go" time - I wasn't ready to share my hope.

Feeling like I missed an opportunity to share Christ is frustrating, but knowing I might have let my Lord down is worse. It was a hard way to understand how incredibly far I am from where I want to be in this journey called life. Hopefully God will give me another shot, and hopefully this time I'll be prepared.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15

Beautiful Brionna

Here are a few senior photos I did of my sister-in-law-in-law, Brionna. (My brother's wife's sister.) She's beautiful, isn't she? It makes taking good pictures easy.