back to the real world AND the blog world...

Well, folks, I got back from my ski trip late LAST Friday night (3/20). Or early Saturday morning... However you want to look at it, I was T-I-R-E-D.

BUT, it was an amazing trip! SO many wonderful memories made with some of my best friends and with some people I hardly knew. I really didn't want it to end. . .

But it did, and I had to get back to the "real world". I guarantee you I was not a happy camper the Friday night or Saturday after the trip. Just ask my mom, she will testify to this. The combination of being completely exhausted from the week and the long drive and the fact that I was totally bummed to be back to "reality" made me a very uncharacteristically cranky person. Let me clarify that "reality" is not horrible, it just kind of stunk in comparison to the amazing trip I had just been on.

But it always seems to be like that after a great trip. I almost always feel that was after youth camp or mission trips. I think exhaustion always plays a big part, though.

Oh, you want me to stop whining now? OK, can do.

I have a quick video I wanted to show. It's absolutely hilarious and you may have already seen it, (it's pretty big on YouTube.)



This is definitely how I felt Saturday. Ha!

My friends and I were actually quoting this video on the trip. When we would wake up after skiing the day before, and we were sore and tired, we would just look at each other and say something like, "Why is this happening to me?", "Is this real life", you get the picture. It was pretty hilarious. To us, at least.

It took me a little while to perk back up, but I'm back in the swing of things and figured I should blog before I let it get too far away from me.

I am working on THE ski trip post right now and I should have it up pretty soon! But beware, it's a long one.

Below are some random pictures from the week. One from each day I was in Keystone. There are many more where they came from...

Day1: Driving in Colorado

Day2: Me and Jennifer skiing on the first day!

Day 3: Me drinking some Starbucks after walking around the town that afternoon. It was SO bright, but I really like this picture for some reason.

Day 4: Up on the top of the mountain! This picture doesn't nearly do it justice, but it's SO cool when you can see it in person!

Day 5: Driving out of Keystone, the sunrise over the mountains was so pretty! Again, the picture doesn't do it justice.


I bet you're dying to see more! Well, maybe not, but there are plenty more where these came from... and they're coming. Check back in a day or so!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go!

Actually, all my bags aren't packed, but I'm very ready to go... I can't wait! I leave for my youth group's senior ski trip tomorrow night! I'm still trying to get everything packed (and fit) in my suitcase... I will be absent from all things blogger (and all things internet) until Friday or Saturday. But don't worry, I will be back! I will be sure to write a few posts about the ski trip once I'm back and have recovered.

Pray that our drive will be a safe one. We're leaving tomorrow night, (chartering a bus instead of taking our church buses for the first time), and we'll be driving through the night- hopefully being able to sleep. I'm sure it's perfectly safe, I just hate the idea of driving all night.

Also, pray no one gets hurt skiing. Nothing serious, at least.

If you really want to know how I'm doing this week, (or want to make sure I'm still alive- I would certainly appreciate that), you can follow me on twitter. I can send text updates from my phone to my twitter account, and I will probably update fairly often. Either click the link above, or come back to my blog and see my updates in my side bar. if you want.

Just to give you an idea of how long I've been skiing, here's a picture of me and my older brother from '94.

Don't you just love my puffy purple ski suit!?


On a completely different subject, I'm sure many of you have heard about the shooting at the church in Maryville, IL. The pastor of my church (Wedgwood BC) went up there to preach for their congregation this weekend. It was almost ten years ago that there was a shooting at our church. I was there, I was just a second grader in my GA class, but remember it like yesterday. There was a great article USA Today wrote about it you can read it here. I would love if you kept my pastor and especially FBC, Maryville in your prayers tomorrow.

A great quote from Bro. Al at the end of the article...

"People say 'Are you over it yet?' No, we'll never get over this. And neither will Maryville," he said. "But you get through it. That's the good news. You'll get through it."

Because everyone loves a good guessing game...

...head over to my art blog and take a stab at the name of this crazy-looking, but beautiful flower:

Isn't it awesome?

OK, go!

Clip, Clop...

It was not a beautiful day in the neighborhood today. Rainy, cold and windy. Blech. I took a few pictures to document this dreary day, while I was at my grandparents'. And, no, I didn't actually go out in the rain. I hid in my grandparents' garage and took got some shots through the crack in their garage door. They came out interestingly, but I think I like them...

I was not going out there...

...trickle...



...splash...



...clip...



...clop.


YAWN! I get sleepy if I look at those for too long.

The pictures did come out kinda cool, but I'm hoping and praying for a less dreary day tomorrow.

This One's for the girls Rest of Them!

Last Tuesday I wrote this post about the four guys through to the top 12 of American Idol so far! Well, last week the rest of the top 12 13 were picked, so I thought I would write a little bit about the rest of them...

I'd just like to note that the four guys I wrote about last week(Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Michael Sarver and Adam Lambert) are still my favorites. But everyone this season is pretty good!

Alexa Grace:

She was voted through in the first group of thirty-six and she was the first girl to make it to the top 12 13. She's probably one of my favorites out of the girls, but I still like a lot of the guys better this year


Allison Iraheta:

I really don't know what to think about this girl. She has a great voice, but something about her I just find odd... I'll have to see more from her...

Anoop Desai:

He was the surprise 13th contestant added last week in the wild card round. I really like him and I can't wait to see more!


Jasmine Murray:
She was voted through in the wild card round, as well. She has a good voice, but she's pretty young and I'm not sure how she'll do once she gets to the top 12 13!


Jorge Nunez:
He's one of Evan's favorites. He auditioned in Puerto Rico. He's got a really happy personality and a great voice to boot!


Lil Rounds:

She is one of my favorite girls. She has a wonderful voice and a great story!


Matt Giraud:

Or, the dueling piano guy, as our family calls him. He's got a real soulful voice and can do runs like nobody's business!


Megan Corkrey:

She's an iffy one for me. She's got an interesting voice and a "popular" sort of sound, but I'm really not too fond of her. I don't think she's quite as good as the other contestants...


Scott MacIntyre:

Scott has been a pretty talked about contestant. He's is legally blind, but he has a really good voice and he plays the piano beautifully!

I'm actually watching AI while I write this. So far Scott, Lil, Danny and Michael have sung, they did great! (Especially Danny and Michael! Teehee.)

But what are you doing reading my blog? You should go watch too!

Davis OUT.

Not quite "Not Me! Monday"...

This is not quite "Not me! Monday" for a few reasons.....

One: This technically is being posted after Monday.

Two: It's not the typical "Not me! Monday"... Generally you're supposed to talk about things you did do, but are totally embarrassed about. And I'm not really embarrassed about anything in the post. I DO hope it's still funny and/or interesting!

Any who, let's get on with it!


Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am SO not my mother's daughter:

Mom on the left, me on the right.

Nope. Definitely not.

I did not recently figure out how to put pictures together in montages (like the picture above) using photoshop. I haven't wasted way too much time playing around making random montages since I figured out how. And I wont post some "montage experiments" on this blog or my art blog later this week.


Singing in church didn't go really well! I didn't end up feeling perfectly fine and without nerves when we actually did it! I didn't really enjoy it!

It was not packed!
(Childrens Choir+ Youth Choir+Adult Choir= Not a whole lot of room! Evan and I are hiding down on the steps. Can you find us?)

Ahh, there we are. This picture is not kind of blurry, but the best my mom could get while we practiced before the service. Doesn't everyone look SO excited! ha!

I'm not going to Colorado for my youth group's senior ski trip next week! And I am not totally pumped about it!

I am not one of the only seniors going that has been skiing before, so I am not looking forward to seeing my friends try and do something I've been doing all my life!

It should not be very interesting! heehee.

I wont take lots of pictures and post some when I get back!

That's all, bloggers! I know it was lame, but I really wanted to post that picture of me and my mom!

Just in case you were wondering, I am having some "technical difficulties" with my blog signature. It will return the bottom of my blog posts soon!

I know you were dying to know.

i Heart Faces- My first try!

I found a cool blog this week (http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com) Every week they have a themed picture contest. They're always of faces, but different styles, editing tricks, etc.

I decided to enter just for fun. I'm sure I wont win, but I thought I would try it out. :)

This weeks theme is "Creative Cropping". You have to do a blog post and then link it back on their site. That's why I'm posting this.

They have a "kid" category and "adult". I have WAY more pictures of kids-- (siblings, cousins and such)-- so I'm entering the "kid" category with a picture of my little brother Evan.


Here's the cropped image I'm submitting for my entry:



And the original un-cropped image:



Not a huge difference, but I think even the subtle change brings a lot more attention to his face.

Again, I doubt I have a chance of winning, but I'm loving this site and wanted to try it out. :)

Nerves. And a signature.

That title sounds much more interesting than it is, I promise.

And it doesn't even sound that interesting.

I wanted to do a little post to try out my new "signature" I made to match my new blog look, and I figured I might as well write a little something while I'm at it.

My little brother, Evan, and I are singing in church in the morning. I'm nervous. On top of that, it's time to "spring forward", so I'll be losing an hour of sleep. But, it's not about me, at all. I just thought I would share that I'm a bit nervous about it. Say a little prayer that my throat won't be too cruddy. (Sorry, if that was TMI)

Don't worry, though, the Davis fam is hitting the hay early tonight because of that hour we're losing. I'm just waiting for Evan to get out of the shower, then it's a shower for me and I'll hopefully be in bed by nine! (*crosses finger*)

That's it! I just felt like writing a bit. I kinda like doing this smaller posts more often thing.

Better than my usual LONG post not very often, at least.

Since I've had this blog for almost a year now, I've found that I really enjoy looking back at my older posts and re-reading things I've completely forgotten about. I really do think I'm going to try and post more often. I'm already thinking about a short, but funny "Not Me! Monday" post I can do.

But, I am the blogger of unkept promises, so I won't make any this time.

That's all, folks!

Oh, I almost forgot, the signature!






:-D

Sort of Wordless Wednesday.

I know it's a bit out of character for me to post two days in a row, but I wanted to post this quick picture:


I took this on Monday, this week. It's weird because it was about 40 degrees when I took it! I love that spring is coming, but I hate this weird transition in weather... I don't think I can take many more days with 30 degree swings in the temperature.

If you want to see more of these pictures, go look at the new post on my art blog!


If you can't tell, (but you probably can), I changed my blog layout AGAIN! I know, I know, I am a fickle pickle about my blog design. I just couldn't help myself. Every time I figure out another editing trick I want to try it out! I think this might be my favorite look yet! I'll probably stick with this one for a while.

Is it sad that I probably change my blog look more than I post???

Don't answer that.

Oh well, I cant help that I enjoy it. :)

This One's For The girls Boys!

I will shamelessly admit that I thoroughly enjoy watching American Idol. Actually, it's kind of a family thing in our house, because it's one show that we all like to watch.

I won't go in to detail explaining to you how the show works because...

1. If you care about what I'm about to write, you've probably already been watching. Or know how the show works.
2. You probably don't care.
3. It's a complicated show, and I don't really feel like explaining it right now.
4. Most of you probably stopped reading when you saw the words "American Idol".
5. For what I'm writing about, you don't need to know everything about the show, anyway.

To shorten what is going on in AI right now, they have picked 6 of the top 12. The next and last six will be picked this week! And then, the top 12 rounds start!

But, this post isn't about a shameless plug for AI. It's about the boys! Let me explain myself. So far, out of the 6 contestants going through to the top 12, 4 of them are boys. Because, they changed the rules this year, but I'm not getting in to that.

This post is about all the awesome guys on this season! My mom and I almost always feel like the guys are a little better, and this year they definitely are! I thought I would tell you a little about the 4 guys who have made it through to the top 12, so far.

Let's start with my favorite, (I think. It's so hard to pick!)

Danny Gokey!

He's (probably) my favorite for a lot of reasons... I'll list a few...

• AMAZING voice!
• Sad, but touching story- His wife died shortly before he auditioned.
• He just seems likes a really genuine guy.
• He's a worship leader! The greatest part of that is he's not the only worship leader in this group of four guys! How awesome is that?!
  

Next favorite:

Kris Allen!

He's the other worship leader! My mom and I were watching last week, and the moment we saw him we were like, "who is this guy?" He was one that didn't get a lot of "face-time" in the auditions OR Hollywood week, but we loved him and really hoped he would make through to the top twelve anyway. And he did! He and Danny might actually be tied for my favorite, but I'm just not sure. He just seems really down-to-earth. And being easy on the eyes doesn't hurt, either. Plus he's got a grrrrr-eat voice! (Sorry, I got a little Tony the Tiger on ya, there.)

Next favorite:

Michael Sarver!

I like him for all the reasons I like the first two. Great guy, great voice, great story- (he worked on an oil rig before the show)- And, of course, easy on the eyes. :)

And, lastly:

Adam Lambert!

This is a controversial one for me and my family. My family doesn't really like him and I'm kind of on the fence. And yet, I'm kind of not. I'm on both sides of the fence and keep jumping over from one side to another...

This picture doesn't do him justice, but sometimes I can't help but look into those tony curtis-esque eyes and never want to look away. And other times, I can't helped but be slightly creeped out by him. You see the dilemma. He has an amazing voice and range, but has a tendency to be a bit drammatic and over-the-top in his performances. Of course, you can't really blame him, because he was doing theater before AI. I'll have to wait and see more before I make up my mind for sure.

Anyway, that's all for now! I can't wait to see who else makes it through to the top 12! Speaking of, it's about to start! I better go!

Update: Adam Lambert really does look like Tony Curtis! Check out this picture I just found of Tony and compare it to the one of Adam above! What do ya think?!