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Dear Dixie Chicks

Dear Dixie Chicks,

I’m ready for a new album. I really am. I’ve been listening, listening and listening some more to your old stuff. I even have been jamming to some REALLY old stuff. It’s time. You might not think it is, but I’m really ready. I got married and maybe you can give me a new album as a wedding present. I think your invitation got lost in the mail, in case you are wondering. Here’s what I was doing when I got your other albums:

1. Wide Open Spaces – I was living in Bellingham and going to school.

2. Fly – Driving from California to Arizona with the Wilbur boys. I made them listen to it.

3. Home – Belfast, Ireland. I walked through bombed out neighborhoods to get this. I LOVED this album. Almost more than Ireland…..almost.

4. Taking the Long Way – Teaching….

4.5 Top of the World – Chach gave it to me after I got home from Hawaii.

5. waiting, waiting, waiting….oh, and waiting ever so patiently.

Honestly, I’ve learned all the words and I’m pretty sure my husband and coworkers have too. I was never really mad at you for your “comments”. Nope, I kept your cds and rocked on. Are you lacking ideas? You could write about Obama (video) and all the hope he gives people of our generation. You could write love songs for newlyweds. You could even sing songs that have already been sung! Whatever it is, just give my ears some new goodness to listen to.

Sincerely,

Hatalie Elaines

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I Know That Dog!

1. Sydney will wait for the last person to get home. No matter what.

2. She thinks she can “hide” from us when it is time to go on a walk

3. She likes to go fast. Even so, we still need to hold tight.

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Nie Nie

I might have a problem. I enjoy reading other people’s blogs. I mean, I really enjoy it. It started when I found myself following comics and the need I had to check in on my ‘friends’  daily. Then the whole world of blogging happened. We started ours when we went to Australia, but didn’t stick with it when we came back. Our friend Wren started his and he’s linked to a bunch of other people we know and care about. This summer I found myself following along with different bloggers at a wedding web site and I even borrowed some great ideas from some of them.

I follow blogs of people that I actually know, and a few that I wish I knew. I recently found myself more invested as a reader than I had been in a long time. In the New York Times there was an article about a woman named Stephanie Neilson and her family.

It is a story that brings a huge lump to my throat. An amazing story. Stephanie has been blogging since 2005 about her husband and 4 children. On August 16 of this year, the very day we got married, Stephanie and her husband, Christian, were in a plane crash. They both survived and are in recovery. Stephanie burned over 80 percent of her body and her husband (Mr. Neilson, as she lovingly referrs to him in her blog) 30 percent of his body. I know, horrible.

The part of this story that allows me past the lump in my throat is the amount of lives that Stephanie touched while blogging and how many people (world wide!) that want to help out. Of course Stephanie can no longer blog;however, her sister often writes of the children and how Stephanie and Christian are doing. Problem or not, blogging in a strange way makes me feel connected….