Pat's at it again...

Pat really is becoming quite the photographer with his new i-phone,

he even came home late because he got distracted with taking pictures on his walk home from work.

Check it: 

Super creepy picture of his new partner, Klane.

The Met

"Portrait for a free $0"

Remember when my best friend, Meghan, and her husband, Matt, came to visit us in December? Well, one evening while were were walking along 5th Avenue, enjoying the Christmas windows, we have a very funny experience. We all walked by an young Asian man squatting behind a small card table that had a very poorly written sign that said "Portrait for a free $0."

As typical New Yorkers, we just walked by because of the constant bombardment of beggars and solicitors encountered on a daily basis, but there seemed to be something different with this guy. We had to go back and see what it was all about.

I approached the man, who was squatting on the sidewalk, and told him I would be interested in a free portrait. He was a very jolly and happy fellow, but didn't speak much English. Although, he didn't speak our language, I quickly found out he was extremely fluent in body language! As he started my portrait he crouched down, squinted his eyes, swayed side to side in a jolted rhythm, and moved his arms with extreme motion. We all couldn't help but laugh, especially as a crowd started to form as passerby's saw the artistic performance.

Now, I can't say that this is the best depiction of Patrick and I, but I think it definitely resembles us and you gotta give credit where credit is due because he did do each under a minute and with such emotion!

Matt

(Mr. Ma-to, how your flesh outlines your body is beautiful, Let's meet again. love your neck! 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe)

Meghan

( "Meigen, Thank you, I could boldly draw you, your smile is too wonderful, please let me draw you again, 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe." )

Lindsay

Translation by my Japanese friend, Sayuri Katayama Lege: The message he wrote on yours says "Linzu-(his way of saying your name) 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe(his name), First time to draw an Ultra beautiful girl, See you! Please let me draw you again." 

Pat

Translation by my Japanese friend, Sayuri Katayama Lege: On Pat, he wrote "Patto(his way of saying the name), your lips are my Ultra favorite, Please let me draw you again! 2011.12.21, Taisuke Yatabe(his name)" New York looks so fun!!

Next time you see a Japanese man squatting on the ground with a sign that reads "Portraits for a free" you gotta stop. Trust me, you will not regret it!

Knowing who you are...

A lesson handout I made for the girls,
Original size HERE, right click and "save image as..."

As I have mentioned before, I volunteer at my church to teach, organize, plan, and maintain a Young Women's organization with girls who are 12 to 18 years old. Every Sunday other volunteers and I rotate on teaching a Sunday school lesson; recently I taught a lesson on the importance of knowing that they are daughters of God. When I first started preparing this lesson I really didn't understand how important that knowledge is, or even what a big responsibility it is. 

The thing that stuck out the most to me was when we listed the characteristics the "ideal father" and the "ideal daughter" on the board. The class came up with some of the following:

-Provides for our physical and emotional needs 

-Comforts

-Loves

-Teaches

-Protects

-Listens

After we listed these qualities, the class discussed the qualities the "ideal daughter" needs to have in order to reciprocate the amazing characteristics of the father. Some of the these qualities were:

-Shows appreciation

-Grateful

-Obedient

-Serves

-Respectful

-Talks to her dad and seeks advice

It was when we were comparing the characteristics of the "ideal father" to the characteristics of our Heavenly Father that I had an epiphany. As I was looking at the long list of characteristics that a father should show his daughter, I realized that fathers have a heavy load. However, I then looked at the equally long list of characteristics that daughters should have towards their fathers, and realized that daughters have a lot of responsibilities as well!

Being a Daughter of God requires a lot of effort on our part. Just as we are always daughters to our fathers, no matter what we do, we will always be daughters to our Heavenly Father. However, in order to honor the title of being a "daughter" we must reciprocate our father's love. Although it does require a lot of work on our part, if we put forth the effort and do our best, the rewards FAR outweigh what we give. As we seek counsel from our Heavenly Father we will be given advice. As we listen and obey our Heavenly Father we will be guided and protected. As we are grateful for all that our Heavenly Father gives us we will be blessed even more. As we serve our Heavenly Father he will comfort us. As we love Him, we will feel of his love. 

Even though seeing the blessings of being a Daughter of God requires us to seek after our Heavenly Father, this knowledge will carry us through the darkest of times as our Heavenly Father understands us perfectly, therefore is able to comfort us perfectly. 

I-phone photo of the week

I have really enjoyed Pat having an i-phone because it means I am not the only one taking pictures. Documenting our lives can be burden sometimes, and often I get so tired and and want to give up (hahha as if someone is making me do it). But the payoff every six months, when I "publish" our blog in book form, motivates me to keep going. It's really quite narcissistic how much I enjoy thumbing through our blog books of the past 5 years.

Anyways, this interesting photo, that Pat took of tons of Mr. Potato Head's, was taken out our local Goodwill. There is a huge box of probably over 100 or so Mr. Potato Heads that was donated. It is really quite a site, and I really want to purchase the whole box. I don't know what I would use them for, but I'm racking my brain for any excuse. If I had the space, I definitely would buy them and keep them for that special moment when I need 100 Mr. Potato Heads...because obviously that moment is bound to happen.

Nerf Gun Fun

Pat got a nerf gun. But of course he is not content with just shooting a few nerf here and there. Since he has had his gun I have been amazed at his creativity in creating new games to keep the whole family (Pat, Me and Montee) entertained. 

For this one particular game, Pat set up some target on our pass-through. He even went as far as pinning up a sheet and placing a box on the floor, so when the can were shot the sheet would stop them and then they would fall into the box for easy retrieval. 

Pat also knows that if he can get me participating in a game, where there is a chance I might beat him, I become very competitive. Unfortunately, Pat has been practicing his nerf gun skills much longer that I have (excuses, excuses) so I failed to beat him. 

Nerf Gun Fun from Lindsay Koelling on Vimeo.

Pat's creativity and fun child-like nature, brings so much joy and excitement into my life. 

I am such a boring person, but Pat is the ying to my yang.