We all woke up Friday morning to devastating news that an 8.9 earthquake and massive tsunami in Japan had caused massive destruction.  My thoughts instantly went back to the tsunami of 2004 that affected Indonesia and surrounding countries and how long it’s taken that area to heal. Below is a summary from my relief trip to Banda Aceh, Indonesia 6 years ago. I hope that it will help those of you reading it to realize the extent to which the events in Japan will affect the country and the lives of those who were spared. My prayer is that we’ll all pitch in however we can to help them heal.  Warning: what I’ve written is shocking, heartbreaking, and not for the faint of heart.

Banda Aceh, Indonesia – February, 2005

I am finally at the point where I can somewhat formulate my thoughts and feelings about my recent trip to Indonesia.  It was one of the most trying emotional times of my life.

I will try to paint a little picture, however blurry, of what we initially saw and experienced in Sumatra:

This coastal area lost 95% of its inhabitants.

Barren wastelands. Bulldozed fields. Houses torn to shreds. Red flags for miles, signifying where corpses had been found. Doors with keys still in them, flip flops, bed posts, drawers, medicine bottles, tattered clothing, rusting car parts, whole cars that had been completely crushed, palm trees with no tops, boats perched atop dilapidated houses. The stench of rotting life. The smell of dust, smoke, and death. So foul that you grabbed your shirt collar, covering your nose and begging your lungs to withstand the sudden change. After what felt like forever, we pulled into the front lot of an old abandoned house where we would stay. The owners are likely dead. There were no doors, windows, or furniture. American teams had provided everything that was inside. Cots and mosquito nets lined the walls. Bags of rice waited to be divided for local villagers at the entrance. A generator chugging away provided light from dusk until about 10 PM for the one light bulb upstairs and the few downstairs. One refillable vat of clean water. Three handmade showers with dirty water from who knows where. Three rudimentary toilets (holes in the ground). Our backyard was the ocean and swampy waters containing dead things and small crabs. A tiny walkway of dirt protruded from the liquid mess, allowing us access to the beach via a small jungle of limbs and roots and logs placed over the water that separated us from the ocean.

This barge sheared off the tops of trees in its path and landed 2 miles inland.

There are too many stories to tell. I don’t know where to start.  I could fill this page with sad accounts of the young pregnant lady who probably gave birth this week but whose first child will never know his or her father [picture following]…  Or of the elderly lady who is now the sole care-giver of a tiny little 3 year old who lost both parents and her big brother in the tsunami.  Or of the countless children we saw running around with no apparent caregiver – who likely get taken care of by whoever feels like they have something to offer that week from their own stark poverty.  Everyone lost someone – this is not an understatement.  Of the 14,000 inhabitants of our little area, 8,000 were killed.  Aceh lost over 100,000 total.

A pregnant widow of the tsunami

Each day was spent differently. The men would always build houses. The women cleaned, bagged rice, taught at the local school, delivered rice to local villages and “displaced person” camps [picture below], and washed the men’s clothes, whatever was needed.  Each moment was a struggle b/c of the intense heat and the constant feeling of “dirty.”  Without relief from this intense heat, (save our battery-operated fans that we used primarily at night) it quickly became important to just accept the situation.  Adapting was part of the trip.  After receiving several spider bites about halfway into the week that grew more ominous each hour and threatened to overtake both of my feet, I was so thankful to know that I was being covered in prayers from back home, even though most of you didn’t get word of my bites.  I was concerned but not panicked (and I’m fine now after an emergency trip to a Red Cross infirmary). Prayers sustained all of us throughout the week.

There were about 30 of us in the house that week, and there were no arguments or personality clashes.  From comments about the constant drinking of hot water to the not so sanitary method of washing dishes – it was interesting to see what we ended up laughing about.  The men suffered those first 3 1/2 days. The heat and the work were too much for them. And yet the trudged on. They were strong in His strength. It was hard work. One of our team members got so sick after the first day.  A local reflexologist came to work on him and bring about a modicum of relief.  I would wake up and hear his labored breathing at times, and be thankful that God was looking out for him.

The children in the refugee camps loved bubbles! I don't think they had ever seen them before, so we brought them to each camp to elicit some smiles.

When the biggest part of the day was over, we tried to catch an hour or so at the nearby beach.  The beach was the one place we could expect a little bit of breeze, albeit a hot breeze.  We found that moving hot air is better than stagnant hot air…  I usually collected shells and walked amongst the remains. House contents were strewn along the shoreline. Coral reefs had been ripped from their resting places and were scattered along the dunes. Clothing hung from high in the trees and bushes.  Pieces of pottery were nestled in the sand.  A child’s little arm was found by some members of our team one afternoon.  Though I didn’t see it, that image has been tattooed on my mind since our return.  Last night I dreamed of little arms and legs of children, all around me and the members of our team.  They used to belong to bright, vibrant children who had their whole lives ahead of them.  Again, a call to prayer…

I found flip flops no bigger than my palm. Only one, as the other had been washed somewhere else.  The first little one that I found brought me to tears.  A wave of emotion washed over me as I imagined the tiny child who was wearing it that awful day. I pictured her running for safety before the wave hit, or reaching out to someone to save her from the murky water but not finding anyone who could.  To try to believe that she made it out alive was naïve.  I took that little sandal home to remind me to pray.  As sad as it makes me to think about it, I don’t ever want to forget these people and their needs.  I don’t want to forget their pain and settle right back into my comfortable lifestyle.  Time and distance should not quench these emotions.

The tiny flip flop that brought made an incredible impact on me

I talked with many people, none of which were left untouched by the tsunami. Mothers without children, wives without husbands, little girls suddenly all alone in the world. And yet, rarely did I see a tear fall.  The people in Indonesia, as a general rule, have consciously or unconsciously decided that pretending that their losses aren’t a big deal is the way to get through a day.  The Muslims believe that the tsunami is an act of Allah that is being used to test their faith, and they do not want to fail.  Can you imagine living in a society, under a doctrine that teaches there is no place for the questioning of suffering? Can you imagine the fear that accompanies such a method of existence?  I so wished I could come out and tell them that admitting their pain is okay, and that our God loves them very much and desires to help them through the heartache.  To say that, however, we could have been thrown out of the country.  It is not illegal to BE a Christian there, but it is illegal to have any sort of converting agenda.  Our purpose was to help them in tangible ways, all the while showing OUR God’s love. We weren’t even seed planters on this trip – we were ground tillers.  But that is what is necessary and best right now.  The Acehnese are starting to realize that Christians are not the evil people that  their religion or government has had them believe.

I came home and drew these two survivors. You may see it in the fine art section of my website.

Again and again we were thanked for our presence. Each time this happened, I thought of the skeptics who say it’s a waste of money to buy plane tickets for foreigners to go there over food or “long term” support. I see the fragility of this sort of argument. I see that ABOVE ALL, the presence of Jesus Christ in human form has never failed to be our Father’s method of saving his children. God sent a living, breathing, Truth-inhabited soul to the dingy earth to BE the hands and feet of righteousness we couldn’t seem to be on our own. He was our friend, He came as our brother, our father, our defender, our counselor. He blessed the meek. He strengthened the frail. I feel that need for people to go and be there.  We do not know how long the window will be open to Westerners.   Some have speculated that it could be just a matter of weeks or months.  Even during our stay, we could sense the tension growing.  The military and government officials were watching our teams closely, even questioning the groups of locals that we talk to after we left – to make sure we weren’t spreading the gospel.  We found out on the last day of our trip that a Christian Indonesian man had been hanging around our camp at night with guns to protect us in case word got out that we were there (and all Christian) and it made any Muslims angry.

This young man was one of our translators. I drew his sister and her friend at his request from a tiny battered photograph that he still had. She was lost in the flood waters.

I am thankful to have had the experience to go to this region.  I am also very thankful to be home, where I can live and worship openly.  You’ve probably at some point been thankful that you can worship openly in this country. Until you’ve been somewhere where you must clap your hand over your mouth if you accidentally say “Jesus,” mention the Bible or say that you’ll pray for someone – it is hard to fully appreciate what we have here.  On more than one occasion, I slipped up in public (even in our home’s kitchen we had to be careful) and immediately looked around in fear that one of the local Muslims had heard me and I had put our team in jeopardy.  To come home and be able to sing about God’s love and provision in my Tuesday morning Bible Study at church was like drinking ice-cold water after being stranded in a desert for a month.  Please do not take it for granted…  Please pray that one day the people of Indonesia will experience the same freedoms that we have always enjoyed.

On December 2, Nate and I welcomed our first child, Juliet Noelle into the world!  She took her time getting here (39 hours of labor), but I can say that she’s incredible and beautiful, and makes us smile every day.  I didn’t know how much I could love a little munchkin who I’ve only known for a few weeks!

So, maybe I can’t take credit on creating her, but I certainly made a great incubator for 9 months. *laughing*

The maternity photos below were taken by Chris & Adrienne Scott about 2 weeks before Juliet was born:

Joe Hendricks took these amazing newborn photos of Juliet when she was just 5 days old!  There are many more, but these are some of my favorites:

Juliet was born 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and 20 inches long.  If you’d like to read her birth story, please email me, since there are far too many details to post online. Of course, she will be drawn and painted all of her life. I’ve already started my first of many drawings of her!

Yes, I mean “expecting” in the traditional sense of the word! Nate and I are pleased to announce publicly that we will be parents in December!

We feel incredible blessed that God has deemed us worthy to bring a new life into the world. We’ve been following the progress of this little child in my belly, and I’m amazed at the intricate way that life is formed… A beating heart at just 11 weeks, eyebrows formed at 13. Our child is now the size of a peach, and is making ballet-like movements in my belly! I can’t wait to meet this little one and see what God has in store for him or her in the outside world.

And yes, I’m looking forward to creating works of art of my own child like this drawing in pencil I drew years ago:

I would love any words of wisdom or advice people may have for pregnancy or mothering. I’m already learning so much from those who have “been there.”

There are a lot of inventive, genius products and services out there, and I enjoyed my fair share of them in 2009! I want to share them with you.

Mint.com – Free

I’ve always been really good at keeping up with where my money goes. It started with Excel spreadsheets and watching bank statements closely. At the end of each month, I’d meticulously categorize spending in areas like food, gas, business expenses, mortgage, etc. Mint.com has simplified this month-end process. Now? I simply log in and look at pie charts and already categorized spending and take it all in. It’s beautiful! You can create your own categories or use existing ones. Compare your spending to national averages, track bank transfers, payments, and basically stay on budget! Add all of your accounts to monitor them on one site: bank accounts, mortgage loans, car loans, mutual funds, other stocks, and credit cards if you use them. I’m still amazed that this service 100% secure and free!

Practical application: Fantastic for helping you start a realistic budget without a lot of fuss. Just track your spending for a couple of months and see the areas that could be improved.

iPhone – $99+

When these first came out, I thought, “That’s ridiculous. I’m not paying more than $400 for a phone! I was using a Blackberry and it seemed to do everything I needed. Fast forward a couple of years. iPhones are now really affordable (especially refurbished), and my monthly plan is actually less than it was on my Blackberry because GPS capabilities are built in and free. I had been paying $10/month for Blackberry’s GPS service. So, now I have access to the world at my fingertips. Not only do I get style points (which are important for an artist), but the iPhone really increases my productivity. I have apps that allow me to update my clients’ WordPress sites on the fly, check the weather, measure things, track finances, listen to my favorite music, show off my portable portfolio, read the Bible, supply white noise while on vacaction, and even help me learn chords on the piano. There’s simply no substitute (yet)

Favorite apps: WordPress, TweetDeck, Facebook, Pandora, YouTube, Mint.com

1 Password – $39.95

If you’ve been on the net for any period of time, you’re well aware that everything requires a login and password. And, unless you’re way smarter and more organized than the general population, you’ve forgotten said logins and passwords for a website. Chances are, you’ve nearly pulled your hair out trying to guess the right one, sometimes unsuccessfully. That’s where 1Password comes in. This is another of those applications that my husband couldn’t convince me was worth it. He finally just bought it for me and installed it and I love it more every day. It securely stores all of your logins and passwords for all of your sites and accounts. There is virtually no setup. Currently, it is only available for the Mac.

Unexpected perks?

• The option to change your passwords to randomly generated, uber secure ones.
• Create wallet items like debit or credit cards that you can use to automatically fill in billing and shipping info on checkout pages.
• 1Password button is built right into your browser so you can visit and login to your favorite sites automatically.

iMac - $1100+

This was actually a gift from my husband! I will shamefully admit that before I went Mac, I was trying to keep up with my workload on a sad little 17″ *gasp* laptop PC. If you’re on the fence about switching to a Mac, please, let me push you over. Seriously, you won’t look back!

Worried about the differences? My photographer friend Chris Scott breaks them down for us here:

1. You’ll close windows on the opposite side of the screen.
2. Things will work.

Practical application: I have a 24″ iMac, and another 24″ monitor as well. I keep Firefox open on one monitor, and MacMail and my design programs in the other. I honestly don’t know how I got anything done without them.

BumpTop – Free

There are people out there who let their desktops become a dumping ground for any file they don’t want to commit to saving in a more logical place.  I am one of “those people,” and I was tired of feeling the weight of my guilt as the icons multiplied across my 24 inches of real estate, not to mention having a hard time finding anything!  Enter BumpTop.  I love this application.  It’s actually more of a functional backdrop.  It allows you to pile files by type (no need to make folders unless you just want to) and it can be fully customized to look like a room in your home!  See the screen shot of my personal Bump Top.  You can write yourself sticky notes, hang art on the walls, the sky is the limit. There’s so much functionality, but it’s more fun to play with it yourself or watch the video on their website.  Not on a Mac? There’s a BumpTop for Windows, too. Enjoy!

Wacom Tablet – $200+

In addition to the fine art aspect of my work, I’m also a graphic designer who loves using Illustrator. For those Adobe lovers out there, you know the power of the almighty pen tool, but wouldn’t it be nice sometimes to have a more freehand option to vector artwork? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to draw a line with varying pressure, but retain the crispness and edit ability of a line drawn with the pen tool? Enter Wacom. They’ve been the leaders in the tablet world for years now, but I’ve just jumped on the train. An illustrative logo that might have taken four hours now takes half of one. It brings a freshness to my work, and much more flexibility to what I’m able to offer my clients.

Purchase tip: I purchased the Wacom Intuos 4 Large tablet, which I love. However, if I were to do it over, I would choose the Medium, as there is plenty of space on it and it takes up less room on my desk or in my lap.

Inbox Zero – Free

Inbox Zero is a concept perfected and delivered by Merlin Mann. It’s basically a system for keeping your crazy inbox under control. (Anyone else have this problem?) I send 40-60 business related emails in a typical workday, and I receive that many or more. It can easily get out of hand! Inbox Zero is a system to keep you (and your inbox) sane and organized.

Backpack – Free

Backpack is one of many great applications from 37signals. Simply put, it’s a To-Do List on crack, and it streamlines communication and productivity. I keep a Monday-Saturday list set up and I put important deadlines and reminders into it. I get great satisfaction from marking things off of the lists! Nate and I have separate pages on the same account, so I can put things on his list (YES!) and vice versa. This feature came in very handy for planning our wedding. You can also make notes with important links, contact information, and even Word or Excel documents. These features make it great for office projects and the like.

*Practical Application: I go through my emails quickly in the morning. I put things that need my attention on the list wherever they belong so that tasks don’t get lost or overlooked.

Twitter – Free

If you haven’t heard about Twitter by now, you might be living under a rock. It’s okay if you call it Tweeter – that’s kind of cute, especially if you have kids in their thirties! Laugh at it, don’t embrace it, call it crazy, but don’t call it a waste of time. I did all of these things when I first heard about it (Who in the world cares what I’m doing at any given moment in time?), but my trusty husband convinced me to give it a try. My end-of-the-year figures say that 48% of my graphic design business came from connections that I made on Twitter! I won’t be specific, but this equated to tens of thousands of dollars for this lil’ artist, and gave me the highest income year I’ve had to date (and in a recession). This is not to mention the new friends and increased connection with my existing ones. Coupled with Facebook, Twitter has allowed me to both share my recent fine art and graphic work as well as connect to people who need my specific services. Now you know. Would you like to follow me?

Tip: Use a free service like TweetDeck or Seesmic to approach Twitter in a more organized and fun way.

What are your favorite products or services? I would love to hear about them!

Next post: My favorite products for ladies! Don’t miss it.

Last night, my husband and I had a much-needed “Veg Fest.” If you know us well, you know we work hard and play hard, but rarely just veg! So we caught some of a new TV series called “Three Rivers.” It’s on CBS, and it focuses on a medical team that harvests organs from gracious donors who have passed, and find “homes” for them in very sick and needy patients, some of whom have been waiting for a long time. I enjoyed it, and it sparked some discussion between Nate and I.

I’ve had the organ donor box checked on my driver’s license since I was 16, and I’ve always thought I wanted everything possible to be donated except for my skin and eyes. Many people don’t even know that these can be donated, and I’ve kind of thought of it as “icky.” However, donating these organs would make a world of difference in the lives of a blind person or burn victim, so I’ve given it some more thought. Now, if you’re on top of things, you’re realizing that this extensive donation could make for an unsightly open casket. Enter my next preference: cremation.

Now, before you start thinking this will be a morbid blog post, be assured that you’re probably going to laugh very soon .

Cremation… the alternative to slowly becoming worm food over the course of many years. I’m rather fond of it. But, what do your loved ones DO with your remains? There’s the sprinkling into the ocean, off of a mountainside, and resting in the somewhat typical urn on the mantle which could be creepy for your home’s visitors or housekeeper.

I want something different. I am an artist. When I die and become ashes, I’d like to become art. (What?)

I think I'd feel eternally comfy in one of these shapes.

You heard me! I want my ashes to be given to a skilled and open-minded potter who will then mix me into clay and form a number of beautiful pieces of pottery for each of my loved ones to cherish for a lifetime. I fancy them choosing the design or have something inscribed on their work of art.

I LOVE IT. I have made my wishes known to Nate, and in the event of our simultaneous demise, we’d like to both be incorporated into a separate vase. There you have it!

How do you want to spend your “after years?” Please comment! I want to know. Oh, and please check your donor box if you haven’t already. It’s your final chance to save lives.

For my Dad’s hilarious run-down of his post-demise options, click here! He’s a trip.

Years ago, when I was 12 years old, my family and I had the incredible opportunity to visit an exchange student we had hosted in Switzerland. Many things about the country intrigued me, but one of the memories that stood out to me was the amazing garden and community that the family had. They had raspberry bushes, apple trees, lettuce, and all kinds of vegetables growing in their backyard.

One morning we woke up and walked down this cobblestone path alongside the Lake of Zurich and down into a little valley where we purchased fresh yogurt and milk for breakfast. I wasn’t raised anywhere near a farm, so the idea of getting dairy products straight from an animal that we could still see walking around was pretty incredible to me. I guess it put “two and two together” in my mind.

One of Doris' friends

Since then, I’ve wanted to milk an animal. I am CERTAIN that many of you think I’m nuts at this point, but what can I say? I am who I am.

I recently got my chance! On a trip home to visit my parents, we visited a nearby farm where you can get fresh goats’ milk. We arrived, and much to my delight, the nice lady asked if I wanted to milk the goat, not just buy her milk.

Below are photos of the experience. As you can see, I was quite tentative at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quick. Doris was a lady about the whole thing, even though we had just met.

I squeeze where??

Goat boobies are surprisingly hairy

Nate and I have enjoyed healthy, fresh goats milk yogurt, made naturally in our own kitchen. Thanks Doris!

It’s intrigued me ever since I was a little girl… how an artist can take hot melted glass, put it on a stick, and turn it into something remarkable and useful.  The swirls of color, the specks of detail… How do they do it?

On our honeymoon, my husband and I passed a unique little shop that had big, beautiful blown glass pieces.  We walked over to them and Nate commented on their stunning colors, and I said how great it would be to learn how to do that someday.  Little did I know that my sneaky, creative husband had already arranged for a private lesson from a master the very next day.

We arrived at Keila Glassworks, and a big, dreadlocked man greeted us with a smile.  He bore a striking resemblance to one of my fellow art students at Union University, or for you, perhaps the “typical” art student.  But he handled hot glass with perfection, and somehow managed to not catch his massive amount of hair on fire.  For about 2 hours, Nate and I learned the basics of glassblowing and made three pieces with some assistance: two tumblers and a vase.  Did you know that it actually takes two people to blow glass?  One to blow into the pipe and one to keep the pipe moving.

It was so much fun, and one of my dreams came true. (Thanks Nate!)

What is something you’ve always wanted to do?  Why not make it happen in 2009?  Email or comment with your dreams.  I want to know! 

“Have you always wanted to be an artist?”

This is the most common question I get at art shows or when people see my work for the first time.  It’s funny, because one would think that I had dreamed about this career from childhood.  It’s simply not the case.

You see, I had never met a successful artist.  I grew up with the assumption that creating art was fun, and it was just something to do in your spare time, or after retirement… seriously.  It didn’t stop me from loving the creative process, however.  I colored with the best of them.  I made art supplies out of the most random items, and it was always pure joy.

In middle and high school, I turned a great deal of my attention to the kitchen.  I would come home, change into comfortable clothes, and go help Mom with whatever she was preparing.  I didn’t care what we were making, but I wanted to be in the middle of it.  Soon I began believing that I wanted to be a bread and pastry chef for a living, and my parents and I began touring culinary institutes..  I was all set!  Now, just to graduate..

I’ve heard that God shuts doors and opens windows. I’ve always thought that was a pretty cheesy concept, but my senior year I got to experience it first-hand.  It turns out that they don’t allow 17-year olds into culinary school.  It’s something about sharp knives and hot ovens I’m sure…  I got this jolt of reality as I neared graduation.  It seemed clear that I would have to put off becoming a chef at least for a time.  Not to be discouraged, I began looking for a way to amuse myself for a year, and decided on attending “regular” college.  A school I wasn’t even interested in attending offered me a full scholarship.  This scared me into trying for a full scholarship where I actually wanted to attend (Union University).   I had only a week to get the ACT score I needed to even be considered for a full scholarship there, and it turns out they had a final residual test I could take ASAP.

Through a string of events and circumstances I can only attribute to God’s direction on my life, I ended up receiving one of the few full scholarships Union offered that year.  (I’m happy to share the full story if you ask).

I chose to major in art and LOVED IT.  During an assignment in Drawing II, I had to draw 40 faces in a week.  This is what sparked my now decade-long art career. People came through the studio and saw what I was doing, and asked if I would draw their kid or themselves or whoever, because after all, I had to draw people anyway – why draw strangers from magazines?  I realized I was alright at drawing.  The following summer, my Dad encouraged me to start a business, and I did.  I started my drawings out at $50 apiece in those days, and upon graduation I launched my full-time career.

Looking back, it was never about food. It was about creating.  I realize that now, and had I known that a young person could be a successful artist, I might have dreamed of it as a child.  My parents saw the love I had for it at age four.  I was 18 before my eyes were opened.

I love open windows.  Do you?

Nate and I are settling in nicely to married life.  I look forward to each new day with him!  He was so worth the wait.  We just returned from an art show that I do each year in Jackson, TN, and tomorrow both of our families are going to enjoy Thanksgiving together.  How fun!  His huge family with my 4 member family all eating cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  (Yes, I’m still a vegetarian, but if there’s ever a day to cheat, it would be tomorrow.  Don’t tell anyone!)

At any rate, the point of this post was to point anyone interested to our wedding photos that are now online.  Here’s the link:

http://thebaileywedding.shutterfly.com/

Just in case, here are a few “teasers.”

Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nate and I had our engagement photos taken last week in downtown Franklin. Here are a few of our favorites from the day.