our promise

although i am no stacy or jessica, i get a creative fire lit under my toosh at times. and i try. sometimes those attempts are better off as thoughts in my head because when i see the finished project, it looks nothing like what i had imagined. but then there are those times when the finished project, as simple as it might be, is quite lovely. so i wanted to share my most recent project that was a success.

i have always wanted to frame our wedding vows but just did not know how. so after doing some 'other' projects, i thought that i could incorporate part of it into the wedding vow display. here is the finished project...



the only thing that i added to it was the ribbon with the letters on it. simple. and to think it took me two years to think to do this. since the photo does not show the vows, i would like to share them:

Chris's vows

I Christopher take you Kimberly to be my wedded wife.
You are an answer to my prayers.
I love you & I know that God has ordained this love.
I promise to lead, guide, & protect you, & show you the same kind of love as Christ showed the Church when He died for her.
I promise that I will lead our lives into a life of faith & hope in Christ Jesus.
Ever honoring God's guidance by His spirit through the Word, I will be the man God wants me to be & I promise to be the man you need me to be.
And so throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as a loving & faithful husband.
With this ring I seal my vow of love to you & pray I may fulfill God's place in our home.

Kim's vows

There is a time in my life where I can define before & after.
That time came when you were brought into my life.
Each & every moment of every day, you are an example of what love is.
You have shown me how to trust again.
You have given me strength, security, protection, dreams, serenity, laughter & friendship.
I give to you my time, thoughts, trust, & prayers.
I promise to protect you, care for you, comfort you & to listen to you.
I cherish your friendship, adore your personality, respect your values & see you for who you are.
I want the best for you & for us.
I wish for your success & for the fulfillment of all your endeavors.
I believe in our marriage to stand by it through the pressures of the present & the uncertainties of the future.
I will keep my promises to you & pledge my loyalty & faithfulness to you.
I know at this moment my prayers have been answered with you becoming my husband.
I have chosen my love & I love my choice.

since amy let the cat out of the bag

it only took three years but i finally made it on a wall. let me explain. in my line of work, i deal with gang members tagging places all the time. whether its the name of their gang or calling out rival gang members or crossing out rival gang members graffiti, it's a constant battle. and a very time consuming battle at that. so, recently i passed on the responsibilities to one of my gang officers since he was willing to take on the challenge. yesterday, he calls me and tells me he is at one of the places that is repeatedly tagged. it's a wall about 100 yards in length so when it gets tagged, it is a large project to clean up.

so the officer calls me to see if i will come out to photograph some new tagging. when i get there, this is what is on the wall (i have photo shopped the bad words)...



i am so proud! i could not resist getting my picture with it. YEA for me! i know some might find this reaction odd or not typical but spend some time in my shoes and you would completely understand this feeling.

i also have a good idea of who is responsible for it. i am in the middle of an attempted homicide trial that was scheduled for court thursday and friday but got continued. the case is between these two rival gangs. this makes me feel like i am doing my job...

it was VERY tempting to cross out SWATTS and put LASTER because i know it is getting painted over today, but...