Coming soon.

There is so much I want to blog about...I think I may burst if I don't get the chance to write soon.

Okay, Everyone...

Let's start talking about and getting excited about Cornerstone.

Who are the top bands you're excited about? Top seminars? Top films?

Some of mine (this is a work in progress):

Bands

• Relient K (I just can't stop)
• Rue Royale (my latest obsession)
• Cool Hand Luke (thank you for reuniting!)
• Leeland (live worship!)
• Starflyer59 (always fun & creative)
• Copeland (amazing live)
• The Myriad (yes)
• Anberlin (I'm liking Cities)
• mewithoutYou (Aaron is the closest thing to how I imagine the Old Testiment prophets)
• David Crowder (a classic...all-out worship)

Seminars

• ORDINARY RADICALS, Shane Claiborne
• "WHOLE-ISTIC"CELTIC COMMUNITY, Brad Culver: Refuge Ontario & Peter Wohler: Source Community Minneapolis

Films

• I Vitelloni Federico Fellini, 1953
• What Would Jesus Buy? Rob Van Alkemade, 2007

Visual Art

• Pilgrimage 2007. This year's theme will be "The Names of God."

Your turn...

Have you noticed my feeds?

They are in the right-hand column here on my blog. I'm pretty excited about them.

Here is how you do it:
Go to the blog you want to add, and click on the feed icon (see left). It will take you to another similar site that talks about subscribing. You can ignore the page, but just copy that site address. In the "Add and arrange page elements" section of your blog template, click "Add a page element" and choose to add a feed. Paste the address into the box, choose your preferences about the layout, and voila! You have your friend's blog feed right there on your blog.

Are you able to do it, Nat? :)

Memorial Day weekend in Peoria.

Each year my family gets together in some Illinois city for Memorial Day weekend. This year it's downtown Peoria.

I like downtown Peoria. Especially the Riverfront.

This morning we all walked a few minutes to Riverside Community Church for their 11am service. Loved it.

Now we're headed off to a Peoria Chiefs baseball game. Should be fun. If we're in the first 1,500 people to show up at the game, we get a free bobble-headed figurine or something. Dad and Ali are really excited. I'm looking forward to a hot dog.

As my brother-in-law just said, "Hot dogs...are pretty much awesome."

I like the way summer is looking.

Ahhh....back home.

I went up to Chicago yesterday morning, planning to have Abercrombie poloroids with Marissa, but ended up having a little meeting with her and Jan instead. (Apparently I was supposed to bring my bikini for the A&F poloroids, but I didn't know that. So we rescheduled them for Tuesday.) So in our little meeting we talked about the summer and generally where my career is going. It was good. Jan is so wonderful. She's the V.P. of Elite Chicago, and has been so behind me and believing in me since the day of my open call when I met her.

So, traveling abroad isn't really panning out for this summer, and we think I'll wait and travel in the fall. I love this, because this summer is when I get more time with Keith, Alison, Ashley, and lots of other people I love. In the fall, Keith will be traveling around a lot with soccer, Ashley will be in Prague, Ali will be back in school, etc., so I think it's a much better time for me to be away. So this summer I'll live in Macomb, keep working in Chicago and maybe traveling within the country for specific jobs, and testing whenever I get the chance. My modeling goals will be to make money, get more experience, and build my portfolio as much as possible while staying based in Chi-town.

As far as the test this past Tuesday with Alex Rivera, it went well. I had a great time. The test was organized by the makeup artist, Beth, and for most of the day it was just the three of us, because the wardrobe stylist left early. Alex is this super-sweet guy, Puerto Rican, grew up hardcore in church but has strayed away lately. Beth was raised Catholic but didn't stick with it and has a little boy who she prays with every night and who is starting to ask some big questions about this God they pray to. The three of us got to have some cool conversation about church, Christians, God, etc. I'm constantly amazed at the opportunities put before me in this business.

As for the actual photos, I don't know if Elite will like them enough for my book or not. We'll just see what they think when Alex finishes them and sends them over. He's still relatively new to fashion photography, and has just recently started using agency models, so it could go either way. I'll post some of the pictures when I get them.

More to come about the official Elite Spring Party & Afterparty last night...

Ooo....update! Two of the three looks we did for the test are up on his site. There are three photos from each of the two looks in the "portraits" section. They are pretty, but probably too "commercial" for my book. But I'm always happy to test--it's great for experience in front of the camera and I know it helps out the other people involved.

Staple: tea.

love it.

drinking it now, in fact.

Psych!

Little did Marissa know, the test today was with Alejandro Rivera, not Jeff Stella.

Not now, New York.

I heard back this morning from Marissa (my booker @ Elite Chicago) about the feedback from NY.

Basically, it's "not now."

Most of them want to see my portfolio developed more, which I can understand. And there's definitely still potential for the future in NY.

Speaking of developing my portfolio, I also just found out that I have a test tomorrow in Chicago. It's with a photographer named Jeff Stella. Hopefully the photos will turn out well and I'll get to add them to my book. Also, my editorial in Newcity Chicago's Botiqueville should be out within a couple of weeks, which will surely make the cut for my book.

It'll be great to have some new stuff in there. I need it.

In other news, it's great to be back in Macomb. I love Macomb. And what beautiful weather!!! I'm praising God for it.

"Liberal hippies don't work at investment firms."

Ahhh...another great quote from my deep-thinking, intellectual, beautiful cousin/bff, Natalie.

Check out the whole post.

We're back in Chicago. Still no news from my agency about NY.

"The plans of the heart belong to man,

but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD."

(Psalm 16)

Exhaling.

I've visited 5 agencies over the past two days. In order: New York Models, Elite, Wilhemina, Trump, Next. My visits are over now.

Now I wait...

I should hear back in the next couple of days.

Keith and I met up with an amazing girl, another model who also started with Elite Chicago and has been working out here for five years or so. We had been in contact via email last fall, but hadn't met in person until today. And we discovered that we're both Christians! And she does nutritional/holistic counseling! We had so much in common, it was almost scary. I'm sooo thankful for meeting her. I guess she would be my new best friend in NY. ;)

Marcus, Shanna, and we went out to an Italian place across the river in New Jersey tonight. Ahh...it was so good. I was celebrating being done with my agency visits. Fettuccine with mushrooms, olive oil, and lots of garlic, and an espresso martini. Oh my goodness, it was so good.

We've done a lot of walking around the city and are starting to get a handle on Manhattan south of Central Park.

We
love
it.

If we get the opportunity, we will move here in a heartbeat.

(But Macomb/Bushnell will always be home and we'll always miss it and come back often.)

Tomorrow morning we're going to check out Central Park. And we want to buy doughnuts or bagels from one of those street vendors.

Last night: The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Awesome. Keith loves musicals. Loves them. And I think it's so adorable.

In Psalm 31 David tells God, "my times are in your hands." That's the phrase I've been repeating all day. He knows and controls how this all goes.

New York City.

In 36 hours, Keith and I will be on a plane to New York!

We're going out to visit my big brother and his wife, Marcus & Shanna.

Plus, Elite Chicago is sending me to see the top NY agencies...

My life could drastically change after this next week.

God, you are in control of all of this. It's for your glory.

"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."

Psalm 20.

Diet Rule #12: Cheat whenever you want.

Mmmm....Keith and I went to Sunrise this morning. That's our favorite restaurant to go to for fun breakfasts. It's kind of the IHOP of Macomb, since we aren't a big enough city to have the chain sit-down restaurants--which I love about Macomb. I support the independent, local, small businesses.

Anyway, I had a pecan waffle covered with "butter" & syrup and a coffee....it was awesome. I loved every bite. I'm a believer that if you're going to eat something that has no nutritional value, you should savor it and do it for the emotional value. And if you really slow down and enjoy your food, you will not gain extra weight.

Do you know that Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About infomercial guy, Kevin Trudeau? He may seem a little nuts, and his methods may seem shady, but he actually has accumulated a huge base of good information about natural health & cures. And I generally agree with him. I became familiar with him after borrowing one of his books from my father-in-law (who wasn't that into it). Then, just today I decided to do a free trail membership of his website.

Anyway, he puts the enjoy-your-food theory to words very well in the twelfth bullet of the diet guidelines in the chapter, "How to Lose Weight Effortlessly and Keep It Off Forever":

Cheat whenever you want: You want ice cream, cookies, cakes, chocolate,
French fries, pizza, potato chips? Don’t deprive yourself. It’s better to eat
something without guilt than not eat something and feel bad about it.

From best to worst it looks like this: You are offered a piece of chocolate
cake; you look at it and decide that you’re full and wouldn’t really enjoy it so
it does not look that appealing to you. You politely say no thanks and feel
great about your choice. You feel no deprivation. This is ideal.

Next would be: You are offered the chocolate cake and you decide that you
want it even though you are trying to lose weight your desire for the cake is
very high. You say yes and eat the cake with happiness and glee. You enjoy and
savor every bite. You’re amazed at how wonderful it tastes. You are happy that
you are experiencing these incredible, pleasurable sensations of this delicious
cake. This is not ideal, but it is second best.

(example: me, this morning @ Sunrise)

Next would be: You are offered the chocolate cake and you struggle with the
decision. You know you are on a diet, but you can’t help but imagine how
wonderful this cake would taste. Inside the voice says nothing tastes as good as
being thin feels. You struggle some more, you really want the cake, but you also
want to stick to your diet. You decide to be strong and even though would love
to be eating that cake you say no. This is bad. It is better to eat the cake and
enjoy it, than not eat the cake and be stressed out over it. The interesting
statistics prove that eating food without guilt keeps you thin. Not eating food
and being stressed about it can make you fat. Eating food and feeling guilty and
bad about it makes you obese.

Lastly: You are offered the chocolate cake, and you really want it. But you
know you’re on a diet and you struggle with the decision whether to indulge or
be strong. You feel weak and become upset with yourself because the desire for
the cake becomes overwhelming. You breakdown and eat the cake knowing full well
that you shouldn’t. You feel guilty and bad about yourself. This is the absolute
worst. Remember, if you choose to absolutely enjoy it, be happy. Do not feel
guilty or bad about it.

Well said, Kevin. Agree.

LA trip postponed.

My print job in LA has been moved to June.

I'm kind of relieved! Traveling to LA right before NY was going to be a little much.

And next week is the last week for some of my Western friends (Nancy!)--now I'll get to spend it with them!

I've got my priorities straight.

I am officially booked out from Elite for Cornerstone 2007!!! I WILL be there!

...will you??

June 25-30, Bushnell IL, baby!