Analysis of 3 Video Editing Software

Considering the three video editing softwares: Adobe Premier Pro, Roxio Videowave Pro & WinDVD Creator. I identified, Adobe Premier seems to be an extremely productive and advanced program.. I have only had interaction with Roxio and WinDVD and therefore based upon my research, would like to witness how much more effective Adobe is. I’ve used WinDVD and Roxio for different personal projects such as creating personal still-picture videos compiled of personal pictures; creating stil-image videos for religious events as well as short video-clip videos; developing videos that advertise events and organizations using both still pictures and video clips. All of these projects were built using two of the three applications above. On both I was not really able to manipulate the color nor audio control much. The programs did offer the basic special effects, transitionally, and offer the possibility of exporting to a DVD or CD. Due to these basic editing abilities, I classified both of these editing programs as having great weaknesses. I’d like to explore Adobe as I seek to expose my students to the abilities to create digitial portfolios and storyboards to present their learnings and research. Having GT students gives me the ability to extend their products for formative assessments to digitial products.

Pages in a Book *Multimedia Digital Story*

Reflections on Action Research

Things I reflect on from this course are the reality of how timid people are with technology; the freedom in action research and how examining improvement can be done without losing what is already working. First, as I read blogs of my classmates, I realized that as inquisitive, passionate and excited as they are, there is a lot of timidity in their inquiry almost causing an underlying lack of confidence. I can’t empathize with these classmates of mine because I have a pretty positive mindset about technology. Personally, it has enhanced my own inquiries and academically, I’ve seen how the release of control benefits my students and moves me into more of a facilitator’s role. I am excited to see how my peer’s action plans will boost them and their campuses into a more technology savvy state of mind and free them to move with the educational current. I also witnessed some colleagues of mine express their doubt towards how “inappropriate” blogs and wikis were in an educational setting. This motivated me to begin my blogging early! As I ran into my colleagues at pre-school year professional developments, I added them to my blog and demonstrated how to get on and even posted interesting, educational blogs to get them thinking about the school year and had them add comments. Second, I used to think research was boring and mundane and absolutely hated the thought of having to conduct it. As I read about Action Research and its components (data collection, cyclic nature, action plans in place), my mind about research changed. I began to embrace the idea of composing a plan based upon my inquiries. I realized that research is actually freedom, not constraint. It’s a series of inquiries that lead to another set of inquiries, all tested in efforts to continue change. Finally, when I read in the Harris text about the C.A.R.E model, “Too often educators focus so exclusively on what needs to change that they lose perspective on what does not need to change in the process”, I found new ways to implement change on my own campus via my inquiry plan (p.97). I realized that affirmation could help maintain a healthy and strong community of colleagues and their work ethics while seeking to address the changing needs of our students to improve their achievement. Morale is what drives educators, alongside their passion. In addition, when they see data improvements, they buy into those methods upon which aided in the growth; not until they have played an active part in that growth does the improvement seem real. These reflections are all reasons upon which I found a cause to revise my Action Plan draft. A combination of my readings, blogs and discussion with both my peers and site supervisors/mentor all aided in these revisions and this reflection.

My Action Research Plan

My goal is to observe, collect data and transform as a research participant via effective and consistent use of a technology resource that has been made available to my campus that is designed to engage students interactively and enhance their learning experience. The expected outcomes are as follows: That I would trust my students to navigate through and experience explore learning. That my team and even vertically aligned colleagues would be encouraged to implement and/or increase usage of this tool based upon collaboration and best practice shares. That my students would be challenged and would experience growth in a deeper comprehension of content. • Activities designed to achieve the objectives 1. Model use of Gizmos for students in a lab setting where every student is able to explore the site (facilitated by teacher) and hold a discussion about their findings; likes and dislikes; what they have learned. 2. Take field notes to record the initial discussion data. 3. Implement a set of procedures for how & when students will be able to access this website and the necessary handouts; how to submit their assignments and take responsibility for their completion of assignments. 4. Collect documents/student work from the assignments that are provided and submitted over a course of time to measure the growth of learning taking place via the explorer learning. 5. Pre/Post assess students on a concept before and subsequently after completing various Gizmos on a given content matter. 6. Have students journal (weblog) on our class wiki site about their experiences with Gizmos. 7. Gather students opinions on Gizmos and its effectiveness via surveys. • Resources and research tools needed for data gathering Surveys (online via website) Weblogs (for teacher journaling) Ipod for Field notes Wiki for journaling (students) Gizmo assignments and assessments Benchmarks Literature/research on Explore Learning website • Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities The year will begin with pre-assessments from Explore Learning to assess where the students’ levels of comprehension are after a subject content has been studied (or I may use a previous year’s information), so this will/should cover about 2 months worth of time beginning in August. During this time span, there will be modeling of how to use Gizmos, collecting field notes and data & implementation of procedures as well. Before the 4 month (possibly the end of fall semester), there should be a sufficient gathering of documents/student work and I will have issues some/few post assessments to chart/measure any growth or comprehension depth. In the spring semester (about 6 months into the research) I will have expected to introduce wikis and weblogs to my students in other areas pertaining to the classroom and will prepare them to begin journaling their experiences with Gizmos. At the 8th month mark, I will expect to have created surveys that allow students to express opinions and evaluate both our journey (and participating teachers/classes) as opposed to other classes/subject matters or their previous year w/o Gizmos. • Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan Because I firmly agree with the Dana text when it mentions how teachers should lead by example and that the only person a teacher can control is him/herself. I believe, in conjunction, that my influence on those teachers around me (even those who I will solicit to partner with me) will stem from my own commitment to my research behaviors. I will be the “head learner”. In addition, my mentor will oversee and serve as a guide for my process. She will help me develop a since of ownership and leadership as I facilitate along side her in developments that focus on the resource technology tool being researched. Also there will be a team of three teachers who will work along side me and hope to serve as a set of data that will motivate other teachers in lower grade levels to be involved and/or use the resource to impact their students. • Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives My hopes are that the pre and post assessments will serve as a monitoring system for the data portion of my goals. But as far as monitoring the expected outcomes, I hope to measure them via my field notes and reflections. I desire to see what the other teachers whom are participating, what their reflections are based on their observations in their classrooms. • Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study Pre & Post assessments (non-formative) will come directly from the website. Benchmarks submitted via the district will serve to measure effectiveness as I see how those students respond to higher level questioning. The actual assignments from the Gizmo will help serve as a formative assessment as I will probably not grade them but use them as student work to see how effectively and thoroughly they are responding to the interactive, challenging questioning.

Wondering from Week 2 Research 5301

Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy F. Dana opened up an area of curiosity for me in chapter 2 when it discussed the 9 passions that drive our journey as educators. Passion #3 (Individual Teachers) provided an exercise that would stir dicussion amongst a group of both new teachers as well as veteran teachers, seperately The idea of the discussion is to guage the eagerness for support from both groups. I began to wonder myself, whether newer teachers were more eager to grow than veteran teachers. Newer teachers might be more abreast to the urgencies that changes in education and curriculum require, while veteran teachers feel their methods are concrete. However, veteran teachers might be aware of a "sense the urgency as they realize their careers are half over" to compete with newer teachers for their jobs. Just curious.

How Educational Leaders might use blogs...

Blogging opens up a world of literature for Educational Leaders and their students. I envision educators using blogs to encourage their students to dissect and inspect, even adding their own opinions to either a lecture or a text of study. I see students having the avenue to confer with and comment on their peers' opinions and educators using this tool to conclude their lesson as such. *I'm updating this post because I attended a PD today involving blogs and wikis and found more ways that blogs could be used for educational purposes.

• They are ways I (as a teacher) can post project suggestions and allow my students to comment on them.
• It provides an oppotunity for students to learn and practice good skills in paragraphing, citing sources, explaining order of events, discussing cause and effect, etc.
• It gives a voice to students who may be too shy to speak out in class.

Action Research-My Findings

Based on my readings, I conclude that action research is a focused inward questioning of a practitioner’s work that should spiral into action that cultivates change. It entails detective practice, intentional questioning of oneself and practices, gathering and scrutinizing data in efforts to change then sharing those changes with others. It has promises centralizing around teachers being “learners” both in how their current behaviors reflect in their villages and to revolutionize the format of professional development. I believe I have already begun the fundamental basis of action research in that I am a very reflective teacher and have been in my 7 years of education. I am never satisfied with where I am as an educator because my motto is "the best leader is one who is able to follow". As an educator, I believe that motto is paramountt in how we live as practitioners because it defines that we should model a willingness to learn if we are to expect our students to do the same. I expect to futher this concept of action research both in my apprentice-ship of becoming a technology leader as well as my passion to mentor teachers in the concept of math. Within this program, I must consider my current practices as below par and not suitable for what my students need to achieve success if I am to learn and grow as a technology leader. I must seek active ways to integrate technology into my curriculum on a level that helps my students applyy technology and be creative. Additionally, as I seek to become a Math TAKS specialist on my campus, I must look at the current curriculum, manipulative practices, content tools and online resources and evaluate how effective they have been in the classroom so I can serve as a coach to my peers and empower them to move from good teachers to great teachers. I must not only model this in their classrooms, but think about what I would have done differently in my own classroom to meet the needs of my students, so that I consistently use an inquiry based model of action.

Spider Man - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

At the beginning of this movie, Peter sat in the car with his grandfather who, attempted to hold him accountable for his new life. What this clip doesnt show is how Peter responded...he lashed out, fussing at his grandfather for "not understanding" and stormed out on his rebuke. What you just watched, was a wiser Peter who later realized that what his grandfather was trying to tell him was true, and for his own protection.

I love this quote, "With great power comes great responsibility" because it speaks (in a lot of ways) to our liberty as believers. Over the past few years, as i've come into my "grown-ness" stage, i've freed myself by realizing I have liberties in my life and making sure my life doesn't look too "religious". But my devo reminded me that a false understanding of my liberty leads to a loss of my rights, and eventually results in slavery (unhealthy habits). I can choose to do what I want when I want...but that attitude subtly leads to habits I had no intention of forming.

Our freedom to make choices in our Christian life "is a great privilege. But it carries responsibility, since our actions, words and attitudes have a profound effect..." (In Touch, 2010, pg 7).

Having someone who is willing to "call us out" (as Peter Barker's grandfather did) is a "protection that accompanies this responsibility and motivates us to live a life worthy of our calling. It is a gift (not a curse) the Lord gave us to guard us from the painful consequences of ungodly choices." (Stanley) Being "called out" isn't always a comfy feeling, and may not always come at the most opportune times; but if someone is willing to speak to us-love MUST be a factor. In their minds, there MUST be some motivation to protect us or else they would simply gossip about us and not say a word.

I realized that sometimes (particularly when I feel humiliated by my actions) I have a tendency to either avoid taking responsibility for my actions, by hiding behind an excuse or trying to overshadow my actions with a good deed or mentioning my good intentions. My devo tonight scolded me in this and encouraged me to go back to seeking out relationships where I am willing to answer to someone.

I encourage you...if you tend to hide from, avoid or even blame others when you're being held accountable remember that your Loving Father has graced you with great power (in freely living as you choose) but has attached great responsibility with it and for your protection. Spiderman is a GREAT example of this...and thankfully (though he lashed out as his grandfather for holding him accountable), his Grandfather was bold enough to speak this truth into his life.

~Be Bless "Deep Waters"

My Campus' STaR Chart Progress Report

Executive Summary of my report

Technology wk 2 assignment

View more presentations from Kimberly O’Neal.

The National Draft of Technology Based Learning

Texas has been informed as well as conducted research on the transformation of education via technology. It’s reflected in the Texas Long Range Plan. The nation plays a role in this s primary supporters but also stakeholders in this plan. Their plan reflects in their vision to help our democracy work, provide better jobs and a greater earning power to our citizens, as well s give Americans the ability to compete globally. This will be accomplished through strategic rising of the amounts of our graduates and closing the achievement gap. I agree that these goals are proactive and will need cost effective short term goals in order for success to be obtained. But I believe that the Nations’ plan to engage and empower learners through their experiences is being implemented through the Texas Long Range Plan. For learning to take place on a personalized level, “the programs and projects that work must be brought to scale so every school has the opportunity to take advantage of that success…actions…must be strategic and coherent (Office of Educational Technology, 2010, pg v).” The drafted plan not only speaks to learning, but to its counterpart, teaching, in the manner of modeling. If students must have a leveled field for 21st century learning, their facilitators must too have a technology integrated learning environment coupled with connected team teaching. Professional Development and training obviously play a vital role in accomplishing the aforementioned task. Not only are professional developers given the responsibility of supplying teachers with technology-supported experiences and instructional practices, but educators are expected to seek ongoing training to shape their “new” identities as facilitators and build confidence in the scope of technology. As suggested in the draft plan, my concern falls with the motivation of the “now” educators who insist that they “do NOT have time” to learn technology, is how to creatively blend professional development within the work day without creating extra stressors or making time a burden for teachers. This will only decrease their morale to work towards their new roles. I believe that Planned Learning Communities are a safe environment, if used appropriately, for sharing techniques, and examining and reflecting of best practices.

Progress Report of the Long Range Plan

Progress reports serve as an update towards an intended goal, yet giving both room and time for improvement. The Progress Report on the Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 demonstrates this definition precisely. There are components of the plan that prove much growth and success while other parts remain target areas of weakness and strong promising increase. If I could give the Teaching & Learning area a grade, it would earn a B plus because it maintains a strong sense of Development which means though its not at a high Target Tech level, majority of schools are on-board and willing to be developed. However, to remain at a level where teachers are using technology to direct instruction, shows that the technology use is still within the teachers’ control. This is NOT the intended goal of the Long Range Plan. The Plan is that the students use the technology to communicate and foster instruction. The area entitled Educator Preparation and Development would earn a C minus. There were some drops at the Target level (even though added elements to STaR may be the reason for this), and there were also fewer campuses meeting their levels and unable to obtain growth from year to year. If this area is to see colossal gains, I agree with the article in that “a need for training and education of teachers, administrators, and others in the school community in the best and most up-to-date practices of educational technology” (TEA, 2008, pg 109). As far as progress in the leadership, administration and instructional support area goes, I give it an A. I am impressed to see how much support is coming from the “top”. It is much needed if there is to be a capacity for change. The Advanced Tech had a significant increase, which I think accounted for the decrease in the Developing Tech. If leadership is moving from Development to Advanced then we can expect hope in the faculty getting on board and moving from level to level. Finally, the Infrastructure for Technology would also receive an A because there were significant gains n Target and Advance Tech with a large decrease in Developing Tech. Again, this is promising because the backbone for making the Long Range Plan effective is proving to be able to support its vision.

Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long-Range Plan encompasses a very diverse yet integrated group of initiatives that when have come to fruition will accomplish the scholastic success that was envisioned. I believe that my district and campus has adopted this Plan and begun to implement it successfully. I am convinced of this and will discuss how I’ve personally felt like an integral part of this Plan. This Plan was designed with great collaboration and inclusion in mind. One of the critical areas of the plan involves Teaching and Learning. I believe this is an area of critical need because trends show minimal, slow growth whereas I believe growth should be occurring almost exponentially. The paradigm of the classroom must remain fluid and open to student-led alliances and that responsibility lies in the changing job description of the educator. In compliance with that modification, learners must too become responsible for their learning. Collaboratively, this model must provide roads that focus on real world connectivity and reflection. On the state level, the progress occurred by one tenth of a percent each year between 2006 and 2009. This trend is crucial if this movement is to take off. When the administration and infrastructure are the support and are at the level of growth charted in the trends, it’s not hard to imagine that Teaching and Learning will fall in line. At this point, if growth does not catapult its evidence that there is a stifling breakdown between the leadership, preparation and teaching components. For example, the trend in this area went from 14, down to 12, then back up to 14 which means we will have trouble moving past the development stage to that of advanced. Though our instructional support is there, there is a lack of ability for the educators to get on board. I believe if professional development served as a more convincing model of this shift in student-led learning and provided more ideas and examples, educators would experience what they hope the students should experience. It is imperative that this be modeled consistently in developments or else the facilitators won’t buy into the process.

Internship Web Conference

The web conference was so informative for me. There are many aspects of the Lamar course page that I have not navigated yet and by participating in the web conference I was able to become abreast to the following information. I learned that I need to select a site mentor. I'm excited about this process because from my intense immersion into technology since i've been at the school I'm currently at, I have met some amazing colleagues within the district that are well versed in Educational Technology and so I look forward to asking each one of them to consider being my Site mentor. I found out some minor details about the Internship in and of itself. Things such as the amount of field activities and course embedded activity hours I need to acrue. I'm still not comfortable with this information yet, but I look forward to reading the Internship handbook in detail to learn more. However, it does have me thinking about what conferences, inservices and other activities I can become involved in for the future. Finally, I had a chance to learn about a textbook I must order soon. I will be browsing the textbook suggestions soon and making my order. In all, it was interesting observing the web conference as it was my very first. I do not quite have the web cam part set up so no one was able to see my picture, so I just typed my responses and listened to the instructor give me information as I took notes.

Treating imperfection in a perfect manner

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31

This text is very blunt yet implies so much. This small phrase is increasingly rich nuggets worth taking to heart. First, Jesus forewarns Simon of how satan has to ask permission to "enter him" (Lk 22:3) and implies that God has granted that access. This, to me, was the first sign that God knew that Simon's faith was authentic enough to handle the fall Simon was about to encounter. God is the author of our faith and because only He knows who His "own" are, He is able to determine what we can handle from the tempter. Second, Jesus tells Simon that He has prayed for him. Wow, what an encouragement to be prayed for by Jesus, himself. The Son sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His children because we fight our battles from victory, not for victory.

Finally, this last statement is monumental to me and two-fold in meaning. Jesus tells Simon when, get that...he didn't say if...He said "when"... you have turned back. He is referencing that first point again, that He has validated Simon's faith. He is forecasting that Simon will in fact recover or be redeemed (if you will) from his fall. That satan will not completly destroy him, but just as he entered, he will leave. Then He challenges Simon to learn from his fall and in confidence of full forgiveness, turn and use his fall to help others who are subject and will surely face the same temptation.

What a powerful message from Jesus. He has confidence and assurance in His kids, and even when He gives the enemy authority (demonstrating His power and victory over death), He intends to fully restore us for the purpose of strengthening our fellow believers. Forgiveness and grace are woven through that tapestry of love. This should be the model with which we treat our brothers and sisters who fall, disappoint us, or even waver for a season. The same forgiveness, grace and love Jesus offered Simon through these words, should be mirrored in our behavior towards those whom instead we turn our noses up at, or gossip about sneering "I can't beleive they...", or those we reject and cut out of our lives due to a deed that left us rejected or betrayed.

~Deep Waters

Baylor Double-teams March Madness!

This March, both Baylor Men's & Women's teams have dominated the South Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Of course not much attention are on the women's teams/tournament, with the exception of the fact that Britany Griner (a freshman out of Houston) has dominated the entire basketball game and created quite a name for herself in women's basketball with her hardcore dunks and amazing arm span, unstoppable aggressiveness and intimidating presence in the key.

She has contributed to Baylor's success on the women's side as Baylor has pulled their rank card (#4) and blown past top seeds of the South region to now represent the south in the FINAL FOUR!

On the Men's side of the tournament, there has been more surprises as seeded #3 in the south, we have knocked off some #1 seeds as well s made our way into the Elite Eight. At one point, both men and women teams were in the Sweet 16 AND the Elite 8. Baylor men got knocked off by #2 seeded Duke in a neck & neck game that boiled down to referrees calling a game sending us packing back to Waco.

But for both teams, it was our first time making that far in 60 years! What a statement. This path that has been paved has bridged gaps in alumni and given us a reason to bind together in fellowship and reunion as well as reignite that Green & Gold spirit that had long dwindled.

We cheer our Lady Bears on as they took revenge for our men and defeated Duke...and now go on to meet UConn (one of the most renown women's basketball programs) this coming weekend.

Ordinarily the two team's i'd like to see face-off would be UConn & Tenn (but Baylor knocked of Tennesee...yeayah!). So if Baylor doesn't make it, my next fav would be UConn vs Oklahoma. THAT will be a game to watch in the Championship! But....I BELIEVE BAYLOR CAN GO ALL THE WAY! Sic'em Bears!!!

This world...

Why is it that a world (organized system against God's agenda) looks down their noses, and shakes their head in disapproval of the immoral acts of their own?

These actors and athletes (the gods of our world)...are they expected to live at a higher morale than those who pay to be entertained by them, and by those who get paid to report on their lives? I'd think that a world repulsed by purity, that promotes promiscuity and thrives on the "crucify Jesus" mantra would epitomize and idolize their 'Barabbas's. That they would be all too comfortable putting the Tiger Woods' back in golf and the dog fighters back on the football field.

I'm shocked to see that they expect morale to come from immoral people. But they refuse to allow a sinless God in their schools and homes. Instead they want a God-less world to be pure in and of itself.

How do we inundate the eyes, ears, mind, heart and soul with infidelity of desperate housewives, quick fixes of pornography and the like through movies and videos etc, without expecting an output that resembles that which we ingrafted? This world system has a good understanding of the investment protocol, and eagerly await the financial results. Should our internal lives not model that external policy?

And yet we continue to push a loving, Holy, relentless God away. One who eagerly awaits the moment to redeem us. One who wants to repair and better yet 'fireproof' our marriages. One who desires to burn away our falicies and faults so that we indeed serve as a representative to a perishing world.

But I guess if that was the case, God's kingdom would reign supreme and satan wouldn't be the deceiver that he is. A world still looking to be blessed by God while He is still waiting to be blessed by us.

Love & Affection

It's occured to me that possibly the 'love' I claimed to have was only affection.

My life began with epitome of the demonstration of love explained to me in a way that tugged my heart strings, whispering through its hollow walls the need I have for Love. I accepted, and placed the eternal ring on my finger, ready to show others the Love I had received.

As life took its toll on my heart, I learned about it's character, its where-abouts, its truths and endless possibilities. I saw its affects when given selflessly to others, and the joy it brought to lives who were changed by it. Its gift-like nature made me marvel as I continuet to wrap it up and give it out over and over again.

But then this one time I handed the gift away, was different. I saw how Love drew the heart towards the One I loved, and I saw Love capture the mind of this gift-receiver. But then this person began to give this love back and I was aloof, at first not understanding the nature of this action. I began to spend time with them, communicate with them, share myself, become transparent. And when I opened up, they came in. I began to develop emotional intimacy and a deep & passionate affection for them.

I wanted to be around them every second of my day, and to care for them in special ways. My mind was consummed with their life and well being. But then I became jealous of their time, needy for their attention, eager for their touch, longing to hear their heart and before I knew it, I was no longer in control and found myself seeking for this gift I once longed to only give.

But was it a gift anymore? Had affection disguised itself? Had it camaflouged in order to survive in my heart?

Because I remember Love...it was not attached, nor jealous when others jousted for its attention. It was pure, trusting and unable to recall any wrongdoing. The feelings, emotions, gestures I possessed did NOT fall in line with these measures. I want Love back, because I don't like who i've become. Affection has broken in and stolen all that was precious to me.

Lord, teach me to Love again...I'm through with affection and its twisted ways.

March Madness indeed!

I adore basketball season! It starts with the All-Star weekend around mid-February.

But when I introduced March Madness (TAKS style) with my kiddos, I created a bracket and had them choose their own "teams" of peers whom they wanted to compete with. I gave 2 weeks worth of review to prepare them for the Math TAKS coming up in April. As time whaned before Spring Break, I saw unlikely "teams" of students come from behind and gain more points than my "A students". It tickled me b/c I immediately began to reminisce on how "upsetting" March Madness can be for those #1 -3 seeded teams.

These no-name teams AKA the "underdogs" will likely come from behind and upset the top seeds...totally messing up people's brackets and upsetting teams & fans all over the nation!

But as for basketball, this year, already Kansas (seeded 1), Kentucky (seeded 2) and Villanova (another 2seed team) have been knocked out the bracket by a much lower seeded team. Baylor Bears seeded 3 has made it to the Sweet 16! Its' a bit nerve wrecking and exciting at the same time. I'm crossing my fingers b/c our next opponent is St. Mary's and don't they sound JUST like an underdog? Well, we'll just see if them Baylor Bears can pull it off!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.........SIC'EM BEARS!!

Museums & Tattoos!

What a combination, right?! Who you tellin'?

Candace and I had a very "artsy" day planned. We were going to visit the "free" museums (namely the Fine Arts & Health/Medical museums).

We left around 11am, (after I did a lil' shopping at Old Navy) and headed downtown. We went to the Fine Arts Museum first, where immediately we were fronted by a sign that read "Yes, you may walk on the art!"..and soo...we vogued all over the floor art that was amazing!

Soon after, we found a lil room that allowed us to sit down and design flags of our own. We had a great lil crafty time. Candace dogged me out for not being creative enough...but watev!

Then we ate at the Cafe Express there, and quickly found our way into a gallery that included some sketched art. They allowed us to grab a clipboard, pencil, colored pencils and portable seats while we were escorted to take a shot at mimicing the art of our choice.

Then we checked out the rest of the art and headed to the Health & Medical museum. Here, we browsed the different booths that highlighted facts about our bodies, brain teasers, and began our trek back to the parking garage.

Headed home, we passed a tattoo parlor that advertised free ladies tatt's and piercings. Reeled in by the 'trapping billboard' we U-turned and found ourselves $20-35 later sitting in chairs behind fiber glassed windows getting body art. Candace got her trec (middle ear lobe) pierced, and me: left cartilage (for the 3rd time) and a isthmus (christian fish symbol used by disciples in martydom days) tattooed on my left foot. Candace caught a whif of some gay couple's stank breath and we were on our way!

Lol...what an adventurous Spring break we have had!

Freeport...Bahamas? NO! Texas

That's right...let me tell you how this day came about. I was watching my kids at recess last week when my co-worker who LOVES to fish encouraged me to go with my hopes of enjoying nature by visiting Freeport. Being that I vacationed to Freeport, Bahamas last year, I thought he was CRAZY! It was quickly brought to my attention that not only was there a Freeport, TX but also the beach there was MUCH better than Galveston. Being that Galveston & Corpus Christi were the only beaches I was aware of up to that moment, I decided...why not! I immediately texted my ex-roomie, Candace to see if she'd be down. So today, I layed in bed watching Golden Girls (as is my morning routine) until my road dawg arrived. Having shaved, and dawned my new gear, we packed the car with somer sausag, cheese, crackers, fruit, snicker doodle cookies (which i LOVE) and wine coolers...we set out on our brief 90 minute journey to Surfside beach in Freeport, Tx. It was amazing (well in TX beach language lol). We literally drove off the freeway and onto the beach. *I'm oober excited about my annual beach decal that allows me to park on the beach for FREE up until December 2010. So you KNOW we going back right? Lol. Anywho, we parked right up next to the water and unpacked our towels, cooler and chairs and blasted the ipod from the car as we pigged out! 3 hours and 15 pictures later, we were mildly tanned and bug-ged out! Darn near caught pnemonia with the breezes that kept blasting through everytime the sun hid behind the clouds. Nevertheless our journey was SO worth it & we can't wait to return with more friends for MORE FUN!

The language of love

I've heard of love referred to & compared to:

a trap; a sea; an emotion beyond control; being blind; that which can break & rob you

...and so much more!

To love-

Yours is exclusive in many intimate ways, yet has its inclusive moments which makes you freeing.

Yours is deep, calm waters that often feel cold and dark yet your warm waves crash upon the heart dropping off debris of frequent smiles and taking away grains of insecurity.

Yours carry an emotion beyond compare yet under soul control. Your tears can fall on their own or be invoked by the language of love. Your happiness can fluctuate but your joy always remains. Your actions are provoked even when the passion is no where to be found.

Your eyes never shut, blink nor turn blind for you see clearly into my heart.

You break...the codes and molds i've set, the walls i've built and robbed me only of that which I thought I should hide.

Love, you have wooed me, relentlessly, captivated me, taken over and become a part of me.

I'm smitten by you, love...you speak my language!

Lovely Lynn

Spring Break 2010

My spring break popped off on the right foot:

Friday evening was spent getting my tires changed, shopping for a new bathing suit and seeing the movie "Our Family Wedding" with my homegirl, Jarvis.

Saturday was an infamous sleep-in day, followed by a short trip to Wal-Mart (wherein I was inundated with the allergic reaction of tree pollen causing me to rush home). However, I was able to HGTV my apartment a bit. *geekin'

Later that night, some friends pop'ed in on the random tip and we enjoyed the pleasures of REDBOX and the $10 Pizza hut special.

Sunday, after worship...the most amazing nap was accompanied by yet another night of REDBOX this time coupled with Brewsters icecream. Btw..."Taken" is my new fav movie!

Monday, a bum day (no regrets).

I went to the mall and found a fab jean skirt for only $15! But didn't purchase it.

Instead I took in lunch at Chic-Fil-A with my homie Jarvis and shortly thereafter we spent an afternoon feeding ducks. Or so the adventure was SUPPOSED to be:

As we arrived, at this make-shift retention pond (supposed to be a lake), we began watching ducks. Soon enough we happen upon a beaver looking friend. We began to coo and take pictures of this "cutie". Then moments later, it reared its hideous long rodent-like tail and no sooner, a fellow "duck-feeder" informed us that this member of the rodent family is called a "nutria".

So later, we moved to a more grassy knoll-like area, pinched a blanket and chair and began to enjoy nature. Jarvis blogged, I read juicy novel i'm starting. About 20 minutes into our relaxation phase came some loud geese (both male & female) flocking into the lake. As we smiled at the beautiful warm white female geese, low and behold we caught some not-so-cute male geese hawking the females. One in particular climbed atop the female geese and forced himself on her. Well, this lady goose was obviously NOT having that as she squirmed and successfully flung the male off her back. Ahhh, the wild and their ways!

We ended our time watching others try to feed teh ducks and geese and end up result-less (as we did). I'm not sure what's going on but in case you didn't know...ducks dont particularly care for bread anymore. I hear hot cheetos are the new "bread". Lol

My night was topped off by studying for my GED.

Lovely lynn

I AM my hair

Not to take away from India Arie's song "I am not my hair", but my hair symbolizes much of who I am within. It by no means defines who I am, but I have found it to be a compliment to my personality.

As you'll see in the pictures, I've rocked the long look, short look, kinky twists (weave) and my most current state...the natural look.

Through each decision, i've been faced with that glaring question "what will I look like if...?". And with each selection, I've had my good hair days where sistahs spit "giiiiiirrl who did your hair?" and bruthas take that backwards glance. And I've had those days where I'm glad I have a plethora of hats to flaunt behind.

My long look identifies with the side of me that is creative and extends its strength to others. My short look exemplifies that ability to be concise and be an effective leader. My weave-able braid moments bring out that in me which connects to others in profitable relationships. And my natural (ahhhh my natural) personifies my curly personality, strong sense of inner beauty and healthy locks of love.

Yes, I AM my hair and no matter how I decide to "rock my do'u"or "split my wig", I WILL do me and you'll just get to know the many facets that ARE me.

Lovely Lynn