Terabytes, hard drives, lamps and oil...... a lesson learned.. this story is not what you think it's about

I can't express to you how much I use my computer. You name it, that's what I use it for. I've been diligent about backing up my data automatically 3 times a week relying heavily on my external backup hard drive. I've been burned before and figured I'd learned my lesson.

Back in March I purchased a new computer. Remember, I thought I learned my lesson about backing up data. If I had learned my lesson from before I would have immediately hooked up my back up source. Instead, for the next few months my external hard drive sat on my desk staring me in the face and every day I would see it and think to myself "I need to hook that up and start backing up my computer". The truth is even if you've been burned before by losing data, even if you think you've learned your lesson, there are different variables that can trick you into thinking you're safe. In this case the variable was "this is a new computer so I shouldn't have any serious problems to worry about, yet." With that thought, I took the attitude of "I'll do it tomorrow"

Well, I'm here to tell you that "tomorrow" came, and no the data on my computer was not backed up. Fortunately I had the backups from my old computer up until the beginning of April, so only lost about 2 months worth of data. Losing 2 months of data, while painful, could be worse and it was worse. What I did not have backed up (among other things) WAS..................... the pictures that I took at Ken's parent's 50th wedding anniversary which they asked me to photograph. At first I wasn't too concerned. We popped that hard drive out and hooked it up like an external drive(because this usually works when trying to retrieve data from a hard drive). But this time the drive was dead. Gone. My two month old new computer's hard drive bit the dust, and along with it was the only set of pictures from a 50th wedding anniversary.

Imagine the feelings that Ken and I felt. It's that deep sick to the stomach, gut wrenching, despair, grief stricken feeling. For those who've lost a home to a natural disaster, I would assume it is similar to that. Something you will never be able to get back.

Now believe it or not this story isn't about losing data on a hard drive. This story is about something else I learned. During this dreaded weekend as I was researching my options an incredible impression came across my mind and I learned probably one of the most valuable lessons I would need to know or be reminded of and apply now. I pondered with amazement the depth of feelings over the loss of something material. Then as the Lord often does, he teaches me a lesson from things in the world about things beyond this world. In the book of Alma there is a reference to the fact that temporal things are related to spiritual things. Immediately what came to mind was the parable of the 10 virgins.

You know there were 10 virgins who were preparing for the coming of the bridegroom. All of them had lamps and all of them for a time were putting oil in those lamps and kept them burning bright. But because they didn't know when the bridegroom would come, 5 of them became lazy or procrastinated maintaining the oil in their lamps. They had the "I'll fill it tomorrow" attitude. I think they might have taken comfort in the fact that they had a lamp and knew where they could buy oil, just like I took comfort in owning a back up hard drive that I could schedule backups on. The problem is a back up drive that is not hooked up and scheduled is just as useless as a lamp without oil and burning. These thoughts rushed upon my mind and the spirit quietly said "Karie, are you doing the things that you should be doing to keep oil in your lamp and keep it burning bright?" I realized that this was a gentle reminder from a loving Heavenly Father to encourage me to make sure I am focused in the right direction and doing the things that will keep my testimony strong. Fortunately the answer is yes I'm doing my best. I thought about the painful feelings I had over losing those photos and realized that if it was that painful over a material object, how much more incredibly powerfully devastating would be the feelings I could feel when Christ returns and if my lamp was not filled with oil and burning bright. That was a very humbling thought. I think we all get our "lamp" when we realize that we've got the budding of a testimony. Then it's up to us for the rest of our lives to keep that lamp filled and burning by doing those things that strengthen our testimony and keep us on the correct path. Are we putting off for tomorrow what we could do today? Do we just let our lamps sit on our desk and think "I'll fill it tomorrow?" It was great a great lesson for me to be reminded of. Something I've always known but as most of us, need those gentle reminders to re-prioritize.

Ultimately for the price of an arm and a leg I was able to recover the data on my hard drive from these amazing guys at a data recovery company that recovers data for people like me and organizations like the FBI. Had those anniversary pictures not been on there I would have just swallowed my feelings and cut my losses, but a 50th wedding anniversary only happens once. What would you pay for that? and with that the last lesson I learned was that even though I was able to pay to recover the data, when tomorrow comes there won't be any "oil" recovery guys to run to if our lamp is out of oil.

Backup your testimony....

The Power of an OPINION, a RESPONSE, and a RECOMMENDATION ... cool things do happen.

The master mind behind Sam Brighton

That's right, one of the valuable lessons my dad taught me was that opinions can be powerful or at least matter. I remember once while checking out of a condo, my dad filled out the "opinion card" before we left, and while doing so, gave me some advice, "if there is an opinion card, fill it out." Yeah right. Do hotels, companies, restaurants , or people who provide services really read those things? According to my dad, they do, and gauging on my years of experience in corporate America I agree. How else do we know how to better our services?

Which brings me to the point of my story. Think your voice isn't heard? think again.

Late last year our book club began reading a phenomenal set of books titled "The Great and Terrible" by Chris Stewart. Phenomenal doesn't even come close to describing these books nor their content. How about thrilling, thought provoking, life changing, insightful, intense, gripping, eye opening, and moving, to name just a few. At times I felt that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Stewart has this incredible ability to weave a myriad of characters from different situations into a riveting story. These six books are at the top of my list of all time favorites. I could write an enormous blog post on the books themselves, but for the sake of time I'll leave it up to each of you to just pick up the books and enjoy them yourselves. You won't be disappointed.

I digress...As I said there are 6 volumes to this series. The sixth and unfortunately last volume, which was as well written and amazing as the previous 5, turned out to be my least favorite in the series. Why? well, because I just didn't want the story to end, nor end so quickly. It left me feeling like a freight train hitting a brick wall. Not a good feeling. In fact while reading the 6th volume I kept turning to the dust jacket reading the painful words "the exciting conclusion..." Really? how in the world can it end?

This brings me back to my dad's advice that those who provide services do listen to opinions. Well, ok, this is stretching it a bit, but hear me out, it's got a great outcome. Due to my complete unwillingness to accept that the series had ended I decided I was going to write a letter/ e-mail to this author, thanking him for writing the books AND "is it really over?, can't you write a few more?" As if my opinion would actually be read (wait, didn't my dad say it would?). Realistically what were the chances of me even finding his contact information let alone my letter getting into the right hands or even being read? Since the worst that could happen was my letter not being read, I figured I had nothing to lose. So off I went and wrote a letter.

The gals in the book club chuckled when I said I was going to write a letter to Chris Stewart. Now don't misunderstand, they weren't chuckling because they thought I was lame - because every one of them felt the same way I did about the books. They chuckled because they knew if there was anyone who would actually brave doing that, it would be me. In fact I think their words were "You should do it!". I'm not afraid to take the time to find a needle in a haystack and eventually found Stewart's work e-mail address. "Great" I thought. Bother a busy man at work, I'm sure he will appreciate that. My purpose was not to elicit a response. I really just wanted to express my enjoyment over the books and wishful thinking that the series was not over. So wasn't I blown away when I received an e-mail back from Chris Stewart replying to my "sob, sob, is it really over?" e-mail. How completely cool is that!

This brings me to another important point.

The power of a RESPONSE. Or better yet, kudos to Chris Stewart. Here is a man who is obviously busy. Owns his own company, has a family, writes books, speaks at Deseret Book programs, and most likely has a church calling. Yet amid that busy schedule, was willing to reply to some fan of his books, which he wasn't obligated to do. I'm probably not the first but who's counting. If I didn't have a huge respect for this man already as an author, well my respect for him multiplied tenfold. This guy knows the importance of his readers and didn't seem to spare any qualms about responding, which really made an impact on me that he takes his talent seriously. Wait... there's more. As it turned out Mr. Stewart was going to be in town for a Time Out for Women event sponsored by Deseret Book , where he would be one of the speakers. Not only did he respond to my e-mail but said he would be happy to meet our book club.

Meet the Book Club? Imagine the ideas brewing. If he's willing to meet us, would he be willing to meet "with" us? The prospects of meeting with an author of some super great books to ask any question you like was too tempting to resist. That's when Jen said "you should invite him to lunch." Thanks Jen, glad the pressure is on me again.

I sat at the dinner table discussing this with Ken. "I don't want this guy to think I'm stalking him, he's probably going to regret answering my e-mail. What do you think?" Ken looked at me like I was from another planet (because when it comes to being outgoing, Ken and I ARE from two different planets. But that's ok, I think Ken is often amused with my "I'm not afraid to talk to a stranger" attitude.) Then he said "Why not, you should do it." Ok, so the husband doesn't think I'm out of my mind, and again I figured the worst response I could get was a "no".

The "Book Club" with Chris Stewart.

Ultimately the quality of person that Chris Stewart is, continued to be top notch. Obviously he wasn't coming here to solely meet with some fanatic book club, we knew that. He had a lot on his plate with the day's events, but made a stellar effort to meet with us and somehow never tired of our multiple attempts. Lunch was probable but not possible. He invited us back behind the scenes, signed our books, answered what questions he could in the limited time frame that he had, and made every effort to meet with us after the event for a picture taking opportunity. Remember when I mentioned that he was a busy man. Well, to add to my "I'm already impressed with this author's willingness to reach out to his readers", in his e-mail he mentioned that he would bring something for dreamer-pilot- to- be-Dustin, Stewart himself being a previous Air Force pilot. Now I don't know about you but sometimes I can't even remember what I was supposed to be doing five minutes ago, let alone have some huge function to speak at and still remember I promised some 7 year old boy I would bring him something. Chris did remember and brought an autographed picture taken from the B1 bomber flight he was part of during his huge world record flight around the world, for Dustin. That now hangs on Dustin's wall next to all the other fighter plane pictures. It doesn't end there. Since Chris was unable to meet with us for a discussion, he said that any questions we have we could e-mail him. Seriously, it doesn't get better than this. Imagine how different this story would have been had he not responded. Well, ok there would be NO story.

Which brings me to my two last points.

The power of a RECOMMENDATION. This all started with Janalen, who met Chris last year and encouraged our book club to read the Great and Terrible series. One person. One recommendation. Guess how many people in our little circle have read it? TWENTY-THREE and counting. I can't seem to keep my copies at home as I continually get requests to borrow them. I'm hoping that my 4th volume that was autographed will make its way back to me! Recommendations can be a powerful tool. I hope we are helping keep the bread on the table Chris.

.....The power of CHANGE

I joined the book club at church for one reason. To get out of my comfort zone. I am purely a non-fiction reader who thinks that two of the best books ever written are John Adams by David McCullough and Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (if you haven't read those books and you are an American, you SHOULD, every American should read them). I could read those books over and over again. Give me a book/biography/magazine on political/military/world history and you've got my attention. Sure I've read a handful of fiction before but it just doesn't wet my appetite.

However, while nursing my wounds that the Great and Terrible series was over, I realized that I liked Stewarts style of writing. He has primarily written military techno thrillers. So on a whim I ordered one, then the other, then all of them. I've not been disappointed. They are just as well written, enjoyable and as intense as the Great and Terrible's. The characters are believable, likeable, and sometimes sinister. In the process I found something new about myself. That I can actually enjoy fiction, well military fiction that is. I've always been able to soak up military stuff, and think I've found a new genre that I truly enjoy. Tom Clancy here I come?? who knows.

In the end, it would be really cool to have a couple of hours to sit down and be able to pick Stewart's brain on military, political, and religious stuff, but I won't push my luck and will just enjoy the fun turn of events that sending one "opinion" e-mail has brought about.

Thanks Chris! for writing super appealing books and valuing us as readers and answering my endless e-mails! Two years and counting dude, two years... and maybe.... possibly more GREAT...... and TERRIBLE??

A Closet Job.....

Yeah, that's right, on most days of the week you can find me in my closet. My closet? Why you ask? Well because I've landed one of the sweetest jobs and it's all done in my closet.

Let me explain by first giving you a little history. Before having children, I worked for about 13 years. I remember as I was quitting my job - Which I loved (loved my job, loved the company, loved the people I worked with, but my heart longed to be home and raise Daria), one of the Vice Presidents said "You're quitting? but you're so young!" I said "Yeah, that's right. I AM young. I can have kids, raise them, work later" It was a great deal.(I did consult for that same company from home for a year after quitting) I've chosen to stay home with my kids at least until they are out of High School. Life is busy as a mother and wife and that's a big job in itself.

Now that brings me back to my closet. I wasn't looking for a job, but when Brother W. offered me a job I couldn't refuse, I found myself back in the working world doing none other than "voice over" for training videos for an environmental company relating to the handling of nuclear/radioactive materials. How cool is that?! I immediately pounced on the prospect. Flexible hours, I can do it any time of day or night so it doesn't interfere with my number one priority, family. Extremely super good pay (which would be hard to get after being out of work for 10 years), no office politics, AND all I have to do is walk upstairs to my new and improved sound proof closet (it's a big closet), log on to their server, pull any modules off, record, then put them back on their server. Just me, the microphone, and my voice. So there you have it, on any given day you may find me working in my closet!

Musings of March

The B-24 and B-17 bombers. Flown during WWII

This picture is for cousin Jonathon who is in the Marines

Dustin's excitement. One cannot just tour a plane or touch it, one must hang on it!

Daria's non-excitement. It wasn't really that bad. She was happy to get her flight pin.

During Spring Break I took the kids to see some WWII aircraft, the B-24J and a B-17G bombers. Daria wasn't overwhelmingly impressed mostly because she was worried that someone would turn the planes on. She hates loud noises. If you paid a whopping $425.00 you could take a ride in one of these metal beasts. I was tempted, REAL tempted, but felt that was a lot of money. I would rather wait for the opportunity to take a ride in something that could fly a little higher and faster. Dustin on the other hand was so excited I practically had to tie a string to his feet so he wouldn't float away with immense glee. He toured in and out of each plane several times, touched them, and even hung from one of the wings (much to my dismay). I could barely keep up with him as he ran in and out. Dustin's a lot smaller than me and can maneuver inside quite easily. As an adult you have to be very strategic about walking through the cramped space. Hard to believe that a crew of 10 grown men could fit inside one. As a souvenir both Daria and Dustin bought a flight wing pin and Dustin also got a .50 caliber machine gun bullet. If you've never seen one in real life you would be surprised at their size. War is real people and I would hate to be on the receiving end of just one of those bullets let alone the some 600+ rounds per minute that it can spit out.

Speaking of planes. As a family each night we've been enjoying the book "Supersonic Saints" by John Bytheway. It's a compilation of stories from LDS pilots. I bought the book to read to Dustin, but the whole family has joined as we read the heroic, and faith promoting experiences of these pilots. It's a great book even if you're not into planes.

Karie, Kenneth Cope (a fantastic recording artist and song writer), and Jen
"Bishop Cope, can I have your autograph?"

Also in March the ladies and I attended Time out for Women. Deseret Book had a great program lined up with top notch presenters and performers. It was completely worth the price and time, and as always I love the chance to hang with the gals. An added touch is the presenters and performers make themselves available to the crowd for questions and photo opportunities. Can't beat that! Here are a few photos of some that I met. (I'll post later about our book club and meeting Chris Stewart. It deserves a post of its own)

Jenny Jordan Frogley. In my opinion, very few singers can top this gals vocal range, singing abilities, song writing abilities. Check her bio out at LDSAudio. Reading about her is impressive but listening to her live will knock your socks off.

Karie, Abe Mills of Jericho Road, Terry and Jen. Another stunning performer and Celeste, he lives in your community. Cool eh!

And none other than the ever amazing Sheri Dew. This woman has inspired millions, she can talk, and she can write in a way that motivates us all.

Thanks everyone for sharing your talents !

Oreo Update

I did it. I went to the store, purchased a large pack of Oreo cookies, and brought them home for an evening of festivities walking down memory lane (for the complete story click here). Daria, Dustin and I sat down, opened every single one of those cookies, scraped out the white middles and formed big balls. Yes, I stood in the kitchen with my kids and threw Oreo middles at my own kitchen walls. It was fun, short lived and a lot to clean up. I learned from Dustin that if you throw your Oreo middle ball with super g-force strength that it not only sticks to your wall but explodes all over the kitchen too. Daria and I had no problem making nice round splats. I probably laughed the most. The kids thought it was fun, but I'm thinking that it's moments like these that are funnier when your parents aren't around. There's something fun about doing strange things without adult supervision. Anyway, it was fun and probably something my kids will never forget.

Ken: After volunteering on the ambulance "I got to pick up fingers tonight" - he loves that type of stuff. (Ken has a day job, but his heart is in volunteering as an EMT)

Dustin: Almost daily we have this conversation, which is driving me nuts.

Dustin: "Mom, you're lucky because you don't have to go to school"

Karie: "I already went to school. I'm lucky that I live in a country that allowed me the opportunity to go to school. School is one of the most important things you will do in your life, AND you can't be a pilot without an education."

Dustin (while rolling his eyeballs at me) "I know, I know. I must be lucky then too"

Daria: After watching the "film" in school. You know, the puberty one. (I've already discussed puberty with her, the film just re-affirmed the information)

Daria "They said that sometimes when you are on your period you might like boys"

Karie (trying to contain my laughter, because every woman knows that is the LEAST likely time that we like boys) "Oh, so when you start to go through puberty you might begin to like boys? (I'm still chuckling at that one)

Karie: "Nikon? Canon? Nikon? Canon?" This is the question I ask myself every day. My Nikon is ready to be shelved leaving me open to a new camera. The question is, should I stick with Nikon or venture out to Canon. Tough question because it is literally comparing apples to apples, and if you're going to fork out a couple thousand bucks for a camera, you've got to make a good decision.

More from Dustin: I happen to notice that under Dustin's right eye are a ton of broken blood vessels. In fact it almost looked like he got punched in the eye but that would cause a bruise, not thousands of tiny red dots.

Karie "Dustin, what happened to your eye?"

Dustin "The vacuum cleaner hit it"

Karie (finally figures out what happened) "The vacuum cleaner hit it, or the vacuum cleaner sucked it?"

Dustin "Well, it only sucked it just a little"

Only little boys would think of putting the vacuum cleaner hose up to their eyeball and let it suck. HELLO! who wants to suck their eyeball out with a vacuum cleaner? I remind myself that one of my jobs as a mother of a boy is to make sure he makes it to his 18th birthday. Wish me luck.

More on Daria: Daria hates going to the doctor. I'm not sure why she has such a huge fear of doctors . I noticed a very dark suspicious mole on her back that she wasn't born with. I finally make an appointment to get it checked out. Daria said she didn't want to go to the doctor because she might get cancer. Ok, real fear for a almost 10 year old. I get that. Except doctors don't give you cancer. The dermatologist's office happens to be in the hospital. This doesn't sit well for Daria. While in the waiting room she asks what the doctor is going to do with the mole. Up until this moment I hadn't even thought of that, which is a huge bummer when you're trying to help your daughter not be scared. To make a long story short, the mole needed to be taken off immediately, right then. Great. I mean, great because I was glad it could be taken care of but now had a hysterical girl on my hands. It is one of the worst feelings having to hold your child down while a doctor cuts a huge hole in your daughters back. Not fun. However, I'm glad that I leaned on my instincts and had the mole checked out.

How to Save Your Marriage...

Ok, girls, here it is. If you want to save your marriage, DO NOT put potato peals down the kitchen drain. I repeat DO NOT, even if you've put a few down before and it worked, even if you think to yourself while stuffing those down the disposal "hhmmm I really should compost these" but you put them in anyway. It causes great strain on the seasoned marriage, and will test your husband's love for you, even after 17 years. If you enjoy a risky venture and put the peels in the drain KNOW THIS; your husband will end up spending 2 hours on an Easter Sunday afternoon trying to unclog the drain which isn't easy and will leave your kitchen looking like some bomb of dirty potato dishwater exploded in it. You'll have to borrow the plumber snake from the neighbor, who will also politely remind you to never ever put potato peals down the drain. His wife's done it too (apparently I'm not alone). Your husband will also have missed his Sunday afternoon nap which he was looking forward to because all of the after church meetings were canceled due to it being Easter. Clogged drain means no blissful nap on the couch. His knees will hurt from bending in all sorts of positions on the kitchen floor in order to work under the sink. You'll also hear him say over and over "this sucks, this really sucks", which you never hear him say at any other time. You will feel really, really small because there is not much you can do but stand around and watch, and hand a few towels to mop up the water.

Are you laughing yet? I'm tellin' ya, don't try it! I admit, while I was standing there I wondered to myself what Ken really must think being married to me as it seems that every so often I unintentionally do things that create extra work for him. In fact it reminds me of that fateful day a few years ago, you remember the "unfortunate day where Karie destroyed Ken's laptop and truck all at once" (go ahead, click on that link and re-read it just for laughs, I did, well sort of) In fact right now I feel the same way about potato peels as I do about that darn sub woofer magnet. Are guys also born with the knowledge that disposals and potato peels just don't go together? Who ever knew. For more laughs, here's my post about Ken on his business trip with me at home holding his licence hostage. you'll have to scroll down to the paragraph that begins with "not so funny thing 3". Fortunate for me, Ken seems to forget about all of these unfortunate events and retains me as his wife even with all of the extra work I cause him. Here's to 17 years of marriage and countless silly mishaps. Life is always an adventure!

It's Hard...

To watch a friend die....... A year ago this month one of my dear friends, Amy Oliver, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Amy and I have spent countless hours together over the past 7 years, and built amazing memories. My life is better because I had a dear close friend named Amy Oliver. She always inspired me to be better, to try a little harder and her wit and humor and amazing personality made me feel alive. She was always the one who never held a friendship over e-mail, she was the one who would call and make sure we did brunch or lunch, went to the park, or pool or anything with the kids. She always made sure we scheduled time together on our calendar so we would actually get together.

Amy faced her cancer like a soldier going into battle with amazing force and faith. After a year of chemo, surgery, and radiation it seemed that the cancer had been beat. Five days before Christmas we found that the cancer was back, this time in her liver and pancreas. Mortality stared its ugly head in our face. Amy was the one who gathered her closest 7 friends together in December and we spent the evening laughing, crying, and to praying together. After all that, Amy still set the example of love and peace, not feeling angry, but thankful God is there.

On Sunday Ken and I went to visit Amy for the last time. It was hard. We shared some tender moments, reminded each other that we loved each other and would meet again in the realms of the eternities.

In true Amy form, as she always was able to be direct, said "I don't want anyone wearing black to my funeral, and I don't want any "pink" balloons. I'm done with pink!" She wanted one of those finish lines over her casket with a sign that said "I finished!"

Amy died Monday morning surrounded by her family.

I'm not going to focus on the fact that Amy died, but the fact that Amy LIVED, and because she lived this world is a better place. Thank you Amy for your friendship, I'm going to miss you.

AMY LYNN ELLIS OLIVER, 39, died Monday, March 09, 2009. Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, 2009, at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Amy made her debut on October 30, 1969, in Perryton, Texas, and grew up in the Texas Panhandle until her move to Houston in 1985. Amy graduated from Memorial High School in 1988 and went on to become a Texas Longhorn, graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993. In 1996, Amy married the love of her life, Joel Oliver, and together they made their first home in Canyon, Texas. While in Canyon, Amy was a special education teacher at Canyon High School. Amy was never a cheerleader, but her vivacious spirit somehow qualified her to be head cheerleading coach, a position she held formally while teaching in Canyon, and informally for her friends and family throughout the rest of her life. In 1999, Amy's first son, Wynn, was born and with him came a promotion to her most important position, that of full-time Mommy. Wynn was soon joined by his brother Jax in 2001 and Bennett in 2003. Amy devoted her life to raising her three boys, serving as a room mother and cub scout den mother, making endless visits to the park, kid's museums, and to play dates with her boy's many friends. It is an understatement to say that Amy had a very strong will. When she set her mind to something, she would accomplish it. In October 2007, together, Amy and Joel finished the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. with friends and family manning checkpoints throughout D.C. This started her love of running. She went on to race in the Army Ten Miler with her brother, and they crossed the finish line at the same time, neither wanted to finish before the other. All those who knew Amy, knew they wanted to know her. Her dear friend wrote, "It was easy to be around you because you always inspire me to be a better person. I would go home feeling just a little bit better and with determination to work harder." Amy wants the world to know that she "got it." Amy got that her mission on this Earth was to build her family. She got that she was to use her strong will and desire to push her husband to succeed and to find his purpose in life. Amy got the fact that Joel was a stabilizing force in her life; he was her rock and that together they made each other better. Amy got that she was made to be a Mommy to her three beautiful boys and to raise her family to be strong, to love each other, and to love the Lord. Amy was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a true friend. Amy got it. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that an offering be made in Amy's memory to the Metropolitan Baptist Church, 13000 Jones Road, Houston, Texas 77070.

Amy at Daria's baptism