Pay it Forward

I'm borrowing this idea from Amber, who also gave me a head's up this morning about some free music to download. Among many other things, one of the best things about living with Amber has been hearing some different music that I probably wouldn't have otherwise known about or listened to. People like Dave Barnes, Colbie Caillat, Coldplay, Matt Kearney, Damien Rice, and Matt Wertz just to name a few. Anyhoo, she also likes this girl, JJ Heller and found some of her music on itunes a while ago. JJ has just released another album and is offering it on her website for free until November! I downloaded it this morning and really, really like it. She's kind of folky and relaxing. I guess you could say she has Christian lyrics, but her music is really good too (sadly, those two don't always go hand in hand!). So, kind of like that movie "Pay it Forward", I'm passing this head's up along to you (whoever "you" readers may be!). Just click on the link below to check her out. (no matter what, you should go to her blog...there are some of the cutest things on there, especially if you're crafty and creative and looking for inspiration, which I am not, but "you" might be!). If you decide to give her a listen, I hope you enjoy!

Bust a Move

Today was a day we'd been waiting for for quite a while here in Olsztyn...the Crush Moves Break Dancing Competition. Yes, it's true. We first saw the advertisements for this event at the beginning of the summer as we were looking at the poster for the summer arts events and have been waiting for it ever since. The morning broke cloudy and ominous and we were disheartened by several rain showers, threatening our trip to the ampitheater to see the competition. Around 1:30 we finally decided we had to take the risk. If something is important enough in your life, you take these chances. We bundled up (yes, I did say "we bundled up" on August 30. I wore a sweater and a scarf and wasn't too warm!) and headed up, hoping that the rain would hold off. And, boy, let me tell you how thankful I am we took this risk. It was SO worth it! The rain did indeed hold off and it turned out to be a really nice afternoon. We enjoyed some kickin' break dancing (with a cup of coffee at a little cafe during the freestyle rapping--not my favorite) from girls, guys, young, and not-so-young. Now, I do have to say that some of the moves looked similar to some of my dance moves, which is kind of embarassing, but by and large, they were good dancers and had some moves! Here are a few pictures to enjoy:

The ampitheater stage with the castle in the background. I think Copernicus would have joined right in and shown off his moves.

They competed in teams of three and would dance for five minutes, taking turns. Then the judges picked one team as the winner. You can see the little guy in red dancing in this picture. He looked to be one of the youngest dancers. All of the teams had names, such as: "Twisted Feet", "Rock On", and the like...most in English!

I had to get a picture of this guy dancing. He had a Shaquile O'Neal jersey on. There was a LOT of USA apparel. We saw I heart NYC, Oakland A's, Dickies, Yankees, all kinds of stuff!

And, after the excitement of this afternoon, Amber and I enjoyed the view from one of the benches in the park near our building. It was a beautiful, early fall afternoon and it was fun to see the kids out playing and just sit and watch the world go by and enjoy a few peaceful moments. Sitting on park benches is a common pastime here, and today I finally began to understand why.

It was a good day.

Memory Lane....

So, I've been AWOL from the blog world for a while...first, we were without internet for about 12 days (the first few days were kind of fun and "rustic"...but then I grew somewhat crazy without it, so all of mankind should be thankful it's back!), second, there just hasn't been much going on lately, so I've been rather uninspired! However, all it took was some fun with this great website (www.yearbookyourself.com) for the inspiration to return. Check out these fun/disgusting pictures of my family as we would have looked throughout different years and styles. Kyle's picture worked so well, he got a small slideshow dedicated to himself! Also, it's his birthday today, so he gets the extra honor =) I'm sure this is just what he wanted!

Dad--1960. I'm pretty sure this one's actually pretty accurate!
mom--1962...I'll bet she used pop cans and an iron to achieve that look!!!
Me--1994...this is Amber's handiwork and it's absolutely disgusting! Gross!

And, finally, Kyle. I think he was destined to have a mullet!