fred montoya

grandpa with my cousins. grandpa and dad.

grandpa montoya passed peacefully with his wife and kids around him on friday, april 10th, 2009. there is so much about him i will remember for always, some of which is a part of who i am now. he loved to travel and garden, but he loved his family the most. he was so proud of his kids and us grandkids.

i am so grateful for the relationship i had with him. i will remember how he tickled me when i was little, his visits with grandma out east to see me, our conversations. i'm sure laughs and tears will be exchanged and shared when amanda and i fly out on friday.

happy easter. because of Christ's resurrection, i will see grandpa again, someday.

te quiero abuelo.

summer? what is summer?

i love the rain. i really do. and i've done my best to embrace the winter season this year. but enough is enough. the cold weather and its rain need to go. i feel as though warm weather is a legend or myth that has been passed down for generations. it's like i've heard all about this "warm weather" my whole life, but i've never actually experienced it. sure, there might be a day here or there where it's been decently nice and the sun was out for more than a few hours, but to be able to go to sleep without my space heater and electric blanket on at night?! the thought is unfathomable! Even the idea of 65 degrees in at 8:30 in the morning is like Christmas, on a summer day, of course. has it really been that long? oh dear.

i'm craving a hammock. i don't know if you can crave things like hammocks, but i grew up with one in our backyard, and just the thought of taking a nap in one with my favorite blanket on a sunday afternoon makes me really happy.

this.that.and the other.

good news: my yearly review at work last week went extremely well. not-so-good news: no raises due to the economy. dumb economy.

i'm not running the half this year. not enough time in the day. i feel good about it.

i bought a fedora this weekend. i'm super excited about it, mostly because i love the word "fedora." no pictures yet. my sister thinks i look like i'm going to mexico. haha...not so sure about that one.

we planted some seeds in transplant containers for our garden. basil. lemon basil. dill. cilantro. nasturtiums. carnations. peas. spinach. the rest we'll plant straight into the ground on garden day. garden day for us: april 25.

we have some new friends next door. we hung out with them last night. i laughed from 9pm-1:30am straight. love it.

in charge of children this morning during church. simon wet his pants. learned about palm sunday. glued bugs on crosses (not sure about that one), and passed off sadie's poopy diaper to kelley, who is now my hero forever.

turned in my deposit for my trip to kibera. OH! and our team just launched our very own blog. you can read our profiles, posts and more about our trip. we still have some work to do on it, but we'd love for you to stop by!

photo shoot with Sabrina and her darling Gabriella coming up this week. looking forward to it.

tired and happy

i just returned from a weekend with the family down in atlanta. i'm going to be an aunt! my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby in november. i'm so excited! a little montoya running around...

i'm tired and ready for bed, but i could not be more thrilled with how Africa at the Icon went last thursday. it was a dream come true and worth all the hours of hard work our team put into the event. over 200 people were there and nearly $3,000 raised. the feedback was great, and everyone had a wonderful time. i'm still giddy just thinking about it. and to know that money is going directly to the kids at calvary christian in kibera, kenya makes it so much sweeter...

speaking of ellie's run for africa, we launched our new website! go to elliesrun.org and check it out. we should have pictures from Africa at the Icon soon (preview a few pictures now by going to sarah b. gilliam's blog). chip hayner and the crew at centresource have worked hard to build a new registration platform, so you can register for the event online! if you register to be a hero, you get a sah-weeet t-shirt!

now i'm preparing for the ellie's run mission trip meeting tomorrow. yes, i'm going to africa this summer! plenty more details on that coming in the near future.

good night.

magic word of the day: attic

i have had this sort of fascination with succulents for some time. then i realized so does everyone else. that's didn't stop me from by 2 little buddies this weekend to keep me company in the kitchen. how can you not love them? they are like little pets!

africa at the icon

i am proud to be a part of africa at the icon! a group of us from ellie's run from africa have been working very hard the past couple of months to put this event together. if you are in nashville on this night, please come join us!

the donegans

after a week of snow angels, big-star skies on the hopi reservation and precious time spent with dear family and friends, i have hit the ground running back in nashville. my hard work (photography and otherwise) will hopefully pay off in the weeks and months to come. i am excited to continue sharing these small accomplishments and victories with you, my fellow dreamers.