You and I
Ingrid Michaelson

Don’t you worry there my honey
We might not have any money
But we’ve got our love to pay the bills

Maybe I think you’re cute and funny
Maybe I wanna do want bunnies do with you if you know what I mean

Oh lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France
Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance
Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants
From way up there, you and I, you and I

Well you might be a bit confused
And you might be a little bit bruised
But baby how we spoon like no one else
So I will help you read those books
If you will soothe my worried looks
And we will put the lonesome on the shelf

Lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France
Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance
Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants
From way up there, you and I, you and I

Lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France
Lets get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance
Lets get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants
From way up there, you and I, you and I

Welcome to my second installment of "To all the cars I’ve loved before…" If you missed my awesome account of the 1988 Plymouth Reliant K Station Wagon, you can read about it by clicking here.

The second car I owned was a 1989 Ford Taurus with a 3.0L V6. My Dad had originally bought it for my brother Eric, but my Reliant K unexpectedly died and Eric was still in Florida. Don’t cry too much for my brother, he ended up getting a cool 1986 Chevrolet Camaro with t-tops, so I feel like he got a pretty sweet deal.

I had a lot of fun in that Taurus after living with a four-cylinder car for so long. In fact, I probably got pulled over more in that Taurus than any other car. Fortunately, half the time Hannah was in the passenger’s seat and I got out of getting a ticket. Don’t ask me why, but having an innocent-looking girl in the seat next to you helps. Ha ha!

I had a love-hate relationship with the Taurus. First off, I wasn’t a huge fan of the color burgundy and second, the interior was okay, but not great. It also had some weird quirks to it, like the time I tried to install my radio. I had worked so hard to take the dash off and install my stereo, only to have the stereo shut off whenever I turned my headlights on. Sure, this was probably a simple solution for a car guy to fix, but I was too lazy. So I had to be content with a cassette adapter which hooked into my DiscMan, which was soon replaced by my first iPod.

The Duct Tape Bumper

In the pictures you’re probably wondering why there’s a ton of duct tape on the front bumper. Well, me and that car had a few hard times. The front bumper was busted when I was paying more attention to an accident off to the side of the road rather than watching the road. I looked in front of me, saw a truck, and slammed on the brakes. Sadly, the Taurus’s bumper was crushed. Fortunately, I didn’t have to file an insurance claim or anything because the truck’s bumper was pretty solid and didn’t have any damage. So I took the cheap man’s way out, I used duct tape.

I also managed to bust up the rear bumper to in the winter when my Dad left a nice mound of snow behind my car. I tried backing up, but couldn’t get over the snow. I don’t know why I didn’t grab a shovel and just remove the mound of snow, but instead I grabbed some tow rope and the keys to my Dad’s 1991 Chevy Blazer. I put the Taurus and neutral and used the Blazer to pull it out. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of the fact that the Taurus had no way to stop. So, as you can guess, it hit the front bumper of the Blazer and once again, the Taurus was the only one with injuries.

The one thing I do know about the Taurus is that women didn’t date me because of my car. Ha ha! I don’t know if Christina ever loved or hated that car, but I do remember her Dad making me park it in the street so it wouldn’t leak transmission fluid on his driveway. The man was generous, he gave me two options: park it in the street or grab the drip pan and slide it under the car whenever I came over. Well, since I was over there a lot, I didn’t want to have to run in the garage and grab the drip pan every time, so I opted for the street.

The Car’s Demise

I don’t remember exactly what happened with the Taurus. I do remember that one night I hit a pothole and the CV joint broke on my front driver’s side, causing the wheel to not respond to the steering wheel. Fortunately a Sheriff drove by, we jacked up my car, kicked the wheel so it would straighten out, and then pushed it in the driveway of the group home.

Even though we fixed the CV joint, I think the big reason we got rid of that car was because of braking system and the transmission.

I miss that car. I wasn’t wild about the interior or the exterior, but it got me around and served me well… farewell dear Taurus, you truly were awesome.

I’m mostly posting this for nostalgic value, you’ll see an unmarked Ford Mustang, the old Chevrolet Caprices, and the old light bars that used to be on top of the cruisers.

If you’re interested in a more detailed history of the Indiana State Police, you can click here to read an article at trooper.org. Enjoy!

Last year I came across one of my favorite displays, "The Howard Bros. Circus" at the Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, FL. It was build by Howard C. Tibbals and according to an article in Worthpoint Magazine, "The entire Howard Bros. Circus—complete with eight main tents, 152 wagons, 1,500 circus performers and workers, more than 700 animals and a 55-car train—has a permanent home at the Ringling Circus Museum." Supposedly it took this man over 50 years to complete!

If you’re ever in the Sarasota area, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is a great place to visit. It has an art museum, gardens, and a circus museum. Here are just a handful of pictures I took of the miniatures, I’ll also include a video I found on YouTube which allows you to see the whole miniature circus. I hope you enjoy!

So I decided to look up how to make a Strawberry Surf Rider smoothie from Jamba Juice. It’s been a month or more since I’ve had one, so I can’t quite be sure if it tastes exactly like the Jamba Juice version, but it was still pretty good! Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

• 12 oz of lemonade
• 2 scoops of strawberries
• 1 scoop of peaches
• 2 scoops of lime sherbet
• 1 scoop of crushed ice

Directions

1. Pour lemonade into blender
2. Add strawberries to blender. The recipe calls for two scoops (ice cream scoop size) and I used about ten strawberries.
3. Add peaches. You’ll want to remove the peel by blanching it (video) and de-pit the peach, add to blender.
4. Add lime sherbet.
5. Add ice.
6. Blend!

Notes: I’m still working on getting the consistency of the smoothie right. If it seems a little too runny, try adding more lime sherbet.

Hearing about how much fun they had made me miss not only the Christmas season, but fall as well. I LOVE fall. It reminds me of Joe Fox in You’ve Got Mail when he says, "Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

While I’m going to try my best to enjoy the rest of summer, here are some of the things I look forward to in the fall:

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks
2. Breathing in the crisp autumn air while looking at the red and orange leaves against a clear blue sky
3. Seeing the kiddos go back to school and the school buses roll through
4. Going to high school football games
5. Going to Stuckey Farm and walking through the orchard picking apples and going through the pumpkin patch!
6. Apple cider and pumpkin pie!
7. Gathering around a bonfire and sipping hot chocolate and warm apple cider
8. Hay rides!
9. Halloween and staying in to watch scary movies
10. Trick-or-Treating!
11. Okay, for the sake of many of you out there, it’s good to see college and pro football back in action.
12. The anticipation of the Thanksgiving and Christmas season and the prospect of snow!

It’s a beautiful song that takes a glimpse at three different people who are going through different trials and really wanting to know what love is. At the end they hear, "I will love, you for you. Not for what you have done or what you will become." What powerful words, especially for those who really need to hear it. While human relationships and love can let us down, the love of God doesn’t, which is pretty awesome.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" – Zephaniah 3:17

Love Me
JJ Heller

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He’s the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, Dear God won’t you please
Could you send someone here who will love me?

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She’s the woman whose husband has run away
She’ll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would’ve stayed
And she says

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love really means

He’s waiting to die as he sits all alone
He’s a man in a cell who regrets what he’s done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
I know you’ve murdered and I know you’ve lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you’ll listen, I’ll tell you that I…

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew

What I’m Watching: I’ve been watching a lot of old-school "Adam-12" and "How I Met Your Mother."

What I’m Reading: Return to the Little Kingdom: How Apple and Steve Jobs Changed the World by Michael Moritz. I’ve read a lot of books on the history of the computer industry, particularly Apple Computer, Inc. This book tells the same stories I’ve heard over and over again from a different perspective. I’m enjoying it.

What I’m Looking Forward To This Week: Getting on the Monon Trail and trying out my Dad’s road bike. I really need to get prepared for the team triathlon.

Quote of the Day: "If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking." – General George S. Patton

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Now for you non-Christians who may be wondering, "Is God punishing you for your lack of faith?" Absolutely not. God made a promise to His people in Deuteronomy 31:6 which says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." God never left my side, even as I worried. The problem was that I got so caught up in my cycle of worrying that I failed to acknowledge God and His healing power. Once I cast my worries on God, I started to feel so much better (1 Peter 5:7).

I then came across this video of this cute little girl standing in front of the mirror talking about all the things in her life that are great. Wouldn’t it be great if we could cast away our worries and realize just how much we really have?

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

What I’m Watching: Colin is letting me test out his Roku box, which allows me to watch Netflix-on-Demand. I’ve watched a few documentaries and some episodes of Dragnet 1970… man, I love that show!

What I’m Reading: I’m trying to find a book to read when I’m on vacation in Florida. I might re-read one of the books on my shelf… we’ll see!

Highlight of the Past Week: I guess it would have to be seeing all the family on Monday for Memorial Day.

What I’m Looking Forward To This Next Week: I’m really looking forward to having lunch with two awesome ladies today, one of them is a former mentor of mine… she’s awesome! Second thing I’m looking forward to is going to Florida. It’ll be nice to get away and see some family.

Quote of the Day: “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein