A Birthday Treat

We heard that our new neighborhood goes all out and gets slammed with trick or treaters on beggars night. This news made us SO HAPPY.

It was also Drew's birthday, so we considered it a gift to have such a festive night laid out before us. I couldn't WAIT to see all those costumed kiddos!


and
they

came

in

droves

Trick or Treat started at 6:00 p.m. At 6:01 (no joke) we had almost given out one bucket already. We knew we would have to call for reinforcement, and thankfully the Scheutzow's stopped and picked up a few more pounds of candy on their way over.


I, know. It was crazy. And we loved every bit.

this was just so weird, I couldn't resist

 

This is our neighbor. He dressed like this, played the Friday the 13th theme music super loud and just stood at different spots staring. Occasionally he would walk towards people or peak in peoples cars and they would go running and screaming! There was also another guy in a mask with a chainsaw chasing kids. I think a couple little ones got traumatized :(...overall though, hilarious.

 

 

 

 

I think we gave candy to about 300 kids.

300.

It was so stinkin' fun.

Out of 300, my favorite costume was:

 Abraham Lincoln.

After all the Trick or Treat fun it was time for Drew Jones to open his gifts:

And blow out his candle:

It was a really sweet night.

Drew Jones

Today is my sweet man's birthday!

Every morning Drew Jones wakes me up to say goodbye by kissing my face. As I was waking up to his goodbye this morning I whispered "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He laughed and I took his face in my hands and gave him 28 kisses on his cheeks, one for each year.

Then I said, "Wait a minute, let me have a look at you...I want to see if you look 28 now."

I looked him over thoroughly and decided he looked more like 25.

Happy Birthday Drew. I love you today more then ever and will say the same tomorrow. Knowing you is loving you, and I am blessed with the privilege of knowing you deeply. My dearest friend, you have made me a rich, rich woman. For richer or poorer, I will always be richer with you by my side.

a place for everything

My earrings needed a proper home.

So I set them up in some pretty little dishes in the drawer next to my make-up.

 It's working out quite nicely.

Piles

Drew Jones loves when I wear a blanket like a snuggie over my shoulders and run outside in my socks to take photos of him doing man chores.

(not really though)

:)

Brithday Dress Up

This week is Drew Jones' BIRTHDAY WEEK!

So I dressed up our mantel to celebrate him and Halloween.

Recognize that mirror? It's the one I pulled out of the dumpster a few weeks ago. Scraped, cleaned, painted and hanging proudly.

 

birthday cupcake candle!

 

The birds aren't real happy about the bat invasion.

 

I found this paper awhile ago in the sale bin, I used stencils and cut out each letter and then attached it to string with little baby clothespins (which I re-use for all kinds of things..christmas cards, hanging fall leaves, etc.).

I couldn't resist putting up this picture of his birth day.

What a sweetie.

the ugly cry

I had a mini-breakdown yesterday. Drew Jones might call it a maxi-breakdown.

Actually Drew Jones probably wouldn't call it anything because he is kind like that.


You know how sometimes you just gotta cry it out, let your hurt heart rise to your throat and then pour out your eyes.



Everything is okay (mom) :) and it didn't take too long to find my joy again. But I reflect now on how hard it would be to bounce back from such a cry without the hope that God gives and the way he loves me in my ugliness. And boy was I ugly.


My husband reflects God's love to me by showing me the same grace.


The best to you this rainy day,


a very blessed lady(lee). 

p.s. need a war cry song? try mine: Rise Up - Rita Springer



p.p.s. Need God? Talk to me. candisljones@yahoo.com

A lunch date to remember.

I had to go to the dentist again today. And you know what that means, cavities. My first two. The dentist said they were from having braces when I was younger. So I got a couple huge shots, and sat through the drilling/prodding/slobbering torture of fillings. Although everyone was quite nice, I hated every minute. At the worst parts I tried to picture Drew Jones sitting with me and it made it a little better. I'm a baby.

Because our dentist is right around the corner from Drew Jones' school, I decided a surprise visit was in order. (In case you didn't know Drew Jones' is an elementary school art teacher.)

He was surprised and elated to see me, which despite my numb cheeks, made me feel like a million bucks.

I decided to stick around for recess and lunch. Drew Jones was having a lunch date with two very animated students, N and J and I didn't want to miss out.


So we picked up my school lunch (yum), the two 5th grade boys and headed back to the art room to eat together.


As soon as we sat down J asks quite sincerely, "soooo Mrs. Jones, how was your weekend?" Then he told me about how he sky dived with his Uncle over the weekend without a parachute and landed right in the bullseye.


What came next was just precious.


Encouraged by N, J stood up, looked me right in the eyes, and triumphantly sang a song that he made up called "Some People Say that Friendship is a Myth"  the lyrics went something like "Some people saaaay that friendship is a myth, but I saaaay nooooooo! You can find friendship here, and over here!"


Then N sang "Take on Me" by A-Ha, including the instrumental beginning. I caught on and came in on the chorus with him.



Next J gave us the grand finale, another song he made up called "Some People Say Love is a Myth" equally as amazing as its prequel with even more dance moves.


It was then time for their recess so they ran out. J first and then N giving us a happy "bye!" , still chewing a mouthful of chicken patty sandwich.

The door clicked and the room went quiet, I turned to Drew and said "I love them"


He agreed. 

Ah Ha - Take On Me @ Yahoo! Video

Bills, bills, bills

For months I have been needing/wanting a specific area to put the bills and pay the bills. Bills, bills, bills.

I was walking by old grenadine, remember her?

And it dawned on me! I can open up her doors, pull up a stool and have a bill payment center!

So while Drew Jones was outside mowing the lawn I gathered some odds and ends from around the house and got to work.

And old grenadine became useful old grenadine: 

 

 

 

Drew Jones finished up outside and came in.

I asked him what he thought of my new bill payment center. 

He looked it over and said "I love it" 

Then he said, "What if  5 years ago, October 19th, 2004, someone said to you, 'in 5 years you will be making a bill payment center in your house while your husband , who you haven't met yet, is outside mowing the lawn.'"

and I said,

"I'd say cheers to that."

:)

Love Documented

I have no shame about whipping out our wedding video and showing it to people. Our very talented friend Chris Keels just launched his new wedding website for Keels Photography. And guess who's wedding video/photos are on it?

Joneses baby.

So pretend like you just came over and we got into a conversation about weddings and I'm like "Yeah, I stinkin' LOVE our wedding video, you want to see it?!"

and you're like "uhhh, sure!" (and you smile and nod and try to act like you really do.)

so I clap my hands excitedly and run to the dvd player to cue it up.

the menu pops up and I tell Drew Jones to turn up the volume as you sit on the couch awkwardly expecting to be bored to tears.

and then it begins (go ahead, click on it)

Hopefully by the end your tears are ones of joy. Because I know am quite biased, but man, didn't they do a great job capturing the day?

Our friend Andy Reale partners with Keels Photography exclusively to create these beautiful documentaries of wedding days.

Want to see more? You can take a peek at some of our wedding photos too!

Thanks again to Chris and Tricia Keels & Andy and Ashley Reale for lovingly making these incredible treasures for us. We will forever be thankful. And someday our children will watch the video and say things like "Oh DAD! You look so YOUNG!" and get completely grossed out by the kissing parts. And we'll smile at each other those long kinds of smiles that say a whole heck of a lot without any words at all.

Wild Things

Drew Jones and I had a wonderful day together yesterday. We went to Wendy's for a cheap lunch and ended up talking for hours about our lives and where we are going. 

At the end of the conversation Drew Jones said, "If I wasn't already married to you I would get down on one knee and propose right now"

On our way out I thought, you really don't need anything fancy to have a fantastic time. 

I believe that's true of everything.
 
In the evening we went to see Where the Wild Things Are.

I 
completely 
loved it.  

From the very first scene until the credits rolled I was entranced and captured. I am not over exaggerating in the slightest.


I was moved so many times. My throat tight and eyes a pool of tears. I did all I could to keep them from slipping down my face, because I knew if I did they would just keep rollin'. The times when I wasn't fighting the flood, I was beaming uncontrollably. It  met and beat any expectations I had.



Before the movie we saw this preview:



Doesn't that look so fun? After watching it I leaned over to Drew Jones and whispered, "we have to see it!" I'm looking forward to it

I wear my sunglasses at night

For me college was one of those pressure cooker situations where I made close friends at a faster pace then normal, laughed more in my life then ever before and cried more too.

I was cleaning off my hard drive and came across this:

It's an assignment I did for a video class.

We were asked to leave 2 grocery stores.

:)

Oh, Pasta.

Drew Jones came home from work,

checked the transmission fluid in my car

brought the laundry up from the basement

watched the news while I cooked pasta

ate the pasta...

and is currently in a PASTA COMA.

I tried enticing him to wake up by putting a freshly made brownie to his mouth and whispering "eaaaat thiiis!"

and he could barley get the words "i..am....just ..so...tir..ed." out.

Rzeznik didn't have any pasta. He just ran like 20 laps around the backyard after going number 2. It's part of his process.

So I'm just sitting in my orange chair, watching King of Queens, waiting for the pasta to wear off.

I love this hood.

This morning around 6:30 a.m. I was outside in the dark & cold letting Rzez go potty.

I am standing in the driveway in a morning daze when I hear footsteps followed by singing. Loud, passionate singing. It startled me and I jumped over towards the house to hide and get a better view. And there, walking down the middle of the street is a high school kid. Bookbag hanging from his shoulders, hoodie on and up, head down, singing. I couldn't make out the song, but it was awesome. I listened and watched until he turned the corner from our street.

I imagined him getting to school, going to his locker and slipping into class. No one really knowing about how he sings to himself in the dark on the way to school. But now I know, and I might just get up early tomorrow to sit on the front porch and listen.

 

Adventures with Rzez

My mom left a new toy for Rzeznik to enjoy. It's shaped like a lizard and the tag I tore off it claimed it is "INDESTRUCTABLE!"

Nope, the lizard is not supposed to have a Santa Claus beard.

 

He is so proud of himself.

Don't worry mom I am not letting him eat the white stuff.

Seasonal Sounds

If I were to make you a mix cd for fall I would pick the following songs in this order:

1. Half Acre - Hem

2. Be Here Now - Ray Lamontagne

3. No Bad News - Patty Griffin (dance to this one)

4. Running in Circles - Jon Tillar

5. Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

6. No Envy, No Fear - Joshua Radin

7. Rain - Patty Griffin

7. The Kissing Song - Dawn Landes

9. Poughkeepsie -  Over the Rhine

10. Sleep - Azure Ray

11.How it Ends - Devotchka

12.Gravel Lines - Amy Seeley (I walked down the aisle at my wedding to the piano of this song) 

( I would also tell you to play this mix very loudly, because good music sounds even better loud.)

Also, this guy is staying with us for a week:

So far he likes staring out the screen door and licking the inside of cans in the recycling bin.

His  name is Rzeznik (pronounced Reznick)he belongs to my Mom and Ken and we are so glad to have him underfoot for the next several days.

last one I promise.

My intention was to post the following Friday afternoon after our dentist appointments and before we left for the weekend...ahhh how time gets away from you! I ended up not having a single moment to log on, so better late then never right?

As for my weekend away with my mom and sister? Hopefully I'll be telling you about that soon!

------------------------
Friday October 9th

Alright, this is the last time I will talk about candy corn.

I knew that FedEx would be paying a visit to my doorstep while I was at work yesterday. So I left him a note asking him to leave the package in the screen door. I also wished him a happy autumn and taped a baggie of candy corn to the door.

If I were a FedEx lady, I would love to find a bag of candy corn taped to someone's door handle for me (obviously). But I was still a little worried he might be weirded out and not take it. After all it's not as if I know the FedEx guy or have ever talked to him.

But I came home and I was happy to see that it was gone!

Then I realized I didn't leave any for the mailman.

Delivery person foul.

We also didn't get any mail yesterday. So lets hope I can make up for it today.

(Happy to report that when I got home Sunday afternoon the corn was gone and we had mail spilling through the slot)

Rêver en français

My late, dear French teacher Wil once told me that you know you are fluent when you dream in French.

I am definitely not fluent in French, or even close (yet), but in the last couple months I have had at least three dreams about being in France. So maybe that counts for something...

One of them I was with Wil. We were in Paris with a group and it was the night before we were to leave to come home to the States. I hugged him looked up at his face and said "Oh Wil, can't we just stay a little bit longer?!" and he laughed and said we could as long as everyone else wanted to. So I begged everyone and said things like "when else will you have such a wonderful guide like Wil? Look at this place it is breathtaking!"

The most recent one happened just last night. I was having dinner in France with friends, we had just finished eating and we were drinking wine and chatting. Then we decided to pick up and go to a yard sale. I remember seeing this little stool shaped like a shoe that was 25 bucks and in my dream I thought to myself "wow, yard sales in France are pricey."

Isn't that funny?

Anyway, sometimes I dream about selling everything we own and moving to France. Drew Jones could paint and I would work doing something useful. We could share with people we meet the love we've found in Jesus.

These dreams make me smile and keep me open to the possibility.

 Here is Wil and I almost 10 years ago (is that a skort?)in Paris.

And here is on of my friend Angie being scared by a street performer at Versailles.

Her face makes me cry! Oh my gosh I love it.

Fall! Yes!

Ciara planned a girls night of pumpkin carving fall fun!

 

Meanwhile the men folk retired to the man cave to play some poker and talk about manly things...

 

  

After lots of scooping, squishing and carving we turned off the lights, lit them up and enjoyed.

 

The best part was the clove and cinnamon we pressed into the tops of the pumpkins...smells sooo good.

The men folk wrapped up their game and Collin took all.

Fall fun with friends. Yes. 

new couch, etc.

Our new couch is here! 

We also had a lovely little ivory love seat to match, but when Drew Jones came home from work the day it arrived, he announced that it scared him. He didn't want to sit on it, or even look at it really for fear that it would get dirty. So we sent it back and are waiting on another granite colored one.

Also, I found this mirror sitting next to a dumpster in Victorian Village. 

 I spotted it, threw my car in reverse and hauled that baby into my back seat.

 Next time you see it I'll have it cleaned up, painted and hanging over our mantel.

yesssssssss.

my husband the comic nerd hottie.

Drew Jones draws super heroes and is really good at it. Every summer he goes to Chicago Comic Con with our friend Jeremy to make money drawing super heroes, and then spend some of that money on Giordano's pizza and H&M.

This year they decided to take on the Columbus Comic Con as well.

So guess who got to crash the party?

Moi.

You should have seen his face when he saw me, he was so happy.

He showed me around the place

 

 

 

Here is what I liked most about my trip to Columbus Comic Con:

• Drew Jones telling me twice how much it meant to him that I came and how he couldn't stop smiling.

• Getting to to see grown people dressing up, excited and in their element. There is something that is so precious about that.

• The old man at the ticket counter who put my neon green ticket/bracelet on for me. He said in a very fatherly way it was his favorite part of the day, I heard God whisper to squeeze his hand, so I did. The old mans eyes lit up with warmth and thankfulness. It was sweet.

When it was time to leave Drew Jones walked me to the North Market where I parked and we went inside and got some smiley face cut out cookies from Mozart's. I ate mine right away and he saved his for later. Which means I ate it for breakfast the next day. (He prefers chocolate chip).

Want to see Drew Jones' drawings? Go ahead!

And here's Jeremy's too!