seen from Argentina
seen from China
seen from Maldives
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from Austria
seen from United States
seen from Austria
seen from Malaysia
seen from Netherlands
seen from Vietnam
seen from Netherlands
seen from Austria
seen from Austria
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Kenya
seen from United States
seen from Switzerland
seen from United States
seen from United States
shutthemeashup replied to your post:"Pope thinks gays might be people after all." Wow,...
Nothing happens overnight. Pray for enlightenment in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Think about the positive movement.
I can do all those things without accepting or being happy about what Pope Francis did. I can call out injustice, hypocrisy, and be extremely upset with where we are, and still do those things.
What is your definition of love, Michael?
So we went to this adorable little town called Silverton that I used to haunt as a teen to meet my bio dad, and on the way out we stopped for gas. The attendant that pumped our gas (yep, Oregon is one of two states in the USA that still has other people pump your gas for you) was a sweet spirited guy named Michael. He asked about our window paint and I asked him if he might tell us his definition of love.
"That’s a tough question," he proclaimed.
Finally he said, “I guess I’m not really sure. But man, woman, whether you are a man or woman it doesn’t matter. Love is love.”
Then he grinned and added. “Gay marriage is legal here in Oregon now, you know!”
We yelled, “We know!” And I added, “Isn’t it awesome?”
Then we air fived/crazy waved or something that sparkled and drove off into the rainbows while he went to help the next customer.
Thanks Mike!
What is your definition of love, Shannon?
While we were on the Oregon Coast (Lincoln City) last week, Ashley and I decided to take a little drive to find some tide pools, and had to park our car a ways away. After having a blast seeing the tiny life in the clusters of quickly drowning rocks, we finally took the trek back to our car. As we were getting in, a woman was approaching behind us on foot. She asked us what our windows said, a common question from curious passersby who have trouble reading the car paint. So I gave her the short answer: “It’s our blog name,” and Ashley added “We’re on a road trip.” Thinking that was enough to appease her curiosity, I got in the car. [I was being particularly, I regretfully admit, detached from this woman who clearly was interested in connecting with us]. Luckily, she persisted, and luckily Ashley recognized the opportunity and told her about our love interviews. She seemed so excited to share her definition, so we took the chance to record her! That way, everyone can get a feel for an interview, word-for-word style! This is Shannon’s definition:
“Ok, well, right off the bat when I saw the back of your car and it said “Love one another”, my heart just kinda went zing! And I was hoping that you thought the same thing I did about what .. what… love really can change this world. And what changed my life and changes people around me is when I walk and practice First Corinthians 13 and I believe it’s 1 through 7, the verses. If we all just try it! Just practice that active choice, way of living a universal love, people would be absolutely astounded about how everything changes. It’s a formula from the Creator of the universe. Whether you believe in it or not, I encourage you to please give it a try. Try it whether you believe it or not, and see if it doesn’t just change everything in your life ‘cause it’s really and incredibly, profoundly awesome!”
Ashley: “I love that. And the first time we had talked about it, she had said it was a “practice.” I love that concept, that it’s a practice, that it’s something you are actively continuing to do and achieving and getting better at.”
Shannon: “Yeah! Well, what I actually did was I took and broke down every single definition in there, and then I did a self assessment…”
Ashley: “Whoa! That’s great!”
Shannon: “…after looking up in the dictionary, even though I figured I knew what it meant. I was shocked at how many of the words that I really only knew partially what it meant and I got the full definition.”
Ashley: “What a great idea!”
Shannon: “So it helped my assessment, so I learned where I was weak and where I was strong, and I focused on trying to apply where I was weak, and that even changed things more profoundly.”
Ashley: “Oh I love that!”
Shannon: “I just encourage people to take the love test and try THAT version of love!
Ashley: “The love test! I love it! Thank you so much for sharing that with us!”
Malibeaux: “Oh wait! We wanna give you something!”
Ashley: “Oh yeah, we have a card!”
Shannon was reluctant to pose for the camera, but told us something incredible about herself: she decided, a time ago, to take a trip… her person, one bag, and the road. She is writing a book about her experiences and she gave us her card and her email… we will keep you posted about its publication dates and such as we hopefully will continue to keep in touch with her.
Stay Lovin’!
(Also, if anybody knows how to convert iPhone recordings into Tumblr friendly sound bites, could you message us with you amazing wisdom and we promise to share the actual recorded interview with everyone!)
What is Your Definition of Love, Ashley?
When we started off on our road trip we knew that we would meet amazing new people, see incredible places and learn even more about each other. But we two are both people intrigued and entranced by the idea of connection. We all connect! Life is about connecting. When we connect we can love, be loved, or discuss love... discover love. That is what we decided we wanted to do on this road trip. Connect a group of strangers to each other, through a discussion on love. How do we feel about love? What aspect of it is most valuable to us? Is it the same for everyone?
Our goal is to attempt to question at least 5 people in every state (maybe more maybe less depending on the state and how long we stay there) and ask them: what is your definition of love?
Our first connection was with a sweet woman living in Pensacola. The night we were rained out of Fort Pickens we found a cheap room at a nearby hotel. Wet, tired and dirty we stumbled into the lobby and met Ashley. She was super helpful and sweet, laughing with us and helping us with our issues and questions. It was probably ten by the time we had it all figured out. We said good night and went to bed, and slept in as late as we could. About 9:15 we stumbled back into the lobby to use the net and Ashley was still there. She had gone home at 11 and returned at 7!
Eventually while we were talking and laughing about everything, we decided to ask her about her definition of love. This was her response (from what we remember mostly):
Ashley (me): What is your definition of love?
Ashley (her): short pause. looking around while she thinks. It's unconditional.
[Katy Perry jumps into my mind and immediately Malibeaux starts singing the song]
Ashley (me): Can you elaborate a little?
Ashley (her): Well... love should never end. No matter what you go through. Like with my children. Love is the most beautiful, ugliest thing ever.
Melinda: What do you mean?
Ashley (her): It is beautiful, the love I feel for my children when I watch them sleep. But then they wake up and they are screaming and fighting and everywhere, but I still love them just as much.
Here is an update video… just a little view into our little world. Gettin’ creative in our new tent: the car.
What is your definition of love? Don’t forget to submit:
shutthemeashup.tumblr.com/submit
STAY LOVIN
Can you tell that we found wifi?
