just for you, Alisa!

Ok, as requested, here is a picture of my new haircut. It's my attempt at remedying (is that a word?) the sad lack of pictures in our blog recently. Keep in mind I hate having my picture taken, much less taking my own picture, so if these look cheesy, that's why!

It's even nice and freshly colored! And if I look tan, don't worry, it's just the bare minerals talking. There. Now you know all my secrets (and trust me.... that's about where the high maintenance ends!). I promise this is not a blog about my hair.

It's been a bit of a bittersweet day for me, because today would have been Mom's 53rd birthday.
This photo, I think, is from her 51st. What an unbelievable two years. We've had a couple of really sweet emails from folks, reminding us that they are thinking of us and remembering Mom. That's so important to me. When I think about Matt and I having kids, all I can think is how will I ever be able to explain to them how wonderful she is? I can't even use the word "was" in that sentence. I know their perception of her, and if they are ever going to feel like they really knew her, will depend on my being able to impart stories and memories and wisdom from her. I see that as a huge responsibility.

So, I'm trying to keep being thankful that we know where Mom is, we know we can and will be with her again one of these days. To quote some old country song, that's the only true comfort I feel. I'm trying to be happy that, even though I miss her terribly and my heart still grieves the pain and loss of not having her here, she is celebrating! She's having the best birthday ever, her first heavenly birthday! Can you imagine THAT chocolate? What a blessing to know that we will be able to celebrate with her again.

Speaking of which, we watched The Passion of the Christ the other night, and it was amazing. If you haven't seen it, I really recommend it! I think we'll be showing it to our kids one day as soon as we feel like they're old enough to handle the vivid scenes of how badly beaten Jesus was on his way to the cross. I loved that the whole thing was in Hebrew with English subtitles... I have so much respect for actors that can pull that off and still make their acting so believable. The whole entire movie (2 hours) is devoted to this amazing thing Jesus suffered, and it really highlights the fact (for a believer) that he could have chosen to end his suffering at any time. You see him throughout the movie choosing to allow it to continue, and even choosing to die for the very people that put him to death. The lines "they know not what they do" and the verse Isaiah 53:5 "...with his stripes we are healed" will really take on a whole new meaning. The only downside Matt and I agreed on, is that at the end, they give very little time or emphasis to the fact that death wasn't the end, and they didn't give any kind of salvation message. It's kind of like giving someone an unsolvable equation and then holding back the answer, even though you have it! It was a very good movie though, I'm glad I finally saw it.