Leighton ~ Through The Lens

2009-09-29T05:40:00.001-07:00

2009-09-12T16:08:00.001-07:00

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -emerson

2009-09-04T09:49:00.001-07:00

2009-08-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
–Walt Disney

2009-08-22T21:57:00.001-07:00

2009-08-12T15:42:00.001-07:00

2009-08-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Sugarland

More CMT Music

More CMT Music Videos

2009-08-02T07:34:00.001-07:00

2009-08-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

2009-08-02T06:52:00.001-07:00

2009-08-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Sing it like you hear it
Like you have no need to fear it now
Sing it like you know it
Like you’re not afraid to show us how
Sing from somewhere way down deep
Sing and make the angels weep
Sing and open heaven’s door
Sing ‘til you can’t sing no more

2009-07-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

So... I went out Saturday night.. these were 2 of my favorite songs...
Who would have thought Cyndi Lauper was still making music? hahaha

2009-07-27T09:23:00.001-07:00

2009-07-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

"I believe that when your hands are dirty, your mind is clean."

2009-07-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

You feel like you're falling backwards
Like you're slippin' through the cracks
Like no one would even notice
If you left this town and never came back
You walk outside and all you see is rain
You look inside and all you feel is pain
And you can't see it now

[Chorus]
But down the road the sun is shining
In every cloud there's a silver lining
Just keep holding on (just keep holding on)
And every heartache makes you stronger
But it won't be much longer
You'll find love, you'll find peace
And the you you're meant to be
I know right now that's not the way you feel
But one day you will

You wake up every morning and ask yourself
What am I doing here anyway
With the weight of all those disappointments
Whispering in your ear
You're just barely hanging by a thread
You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath
And you don't know it yet

[Repeat Chorus]

Find the strength to rise above
You will
Find just what you're made of, you're made of

[Repeat Chorus]

One day you will
Oh one day you will

2009-07-13T07:17:00.001-07:00

2009-07-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

I got to see Lady Antebellum tonight with Jennie, Matt, and Adam... It was a really good show... Here are just a few pics I took with my phone.

2009-07-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

3 Weeks ago today I moved to a Condo in Chicago with Estevan.
Here are just a few pictures. 2Bed/2Bath... What you don't see is the utility room, and a very nice balcony... Maybe when it's not cloudy I'll take a few pictures of the city from the balcony.

Master bath

Living Room

"Office"

Kitchen

2009-06-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

2009-06-09T04:29:00.001-07:00

2009-06-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Laurie

Fort Sumter

Paula Deen's Restaurant

2009-06-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

I spent last week on Isle of Palms with Laurie and Keith. It was a great trip with lots of great food, beaches, movies, and historical trips to Savannah and Charleston.
Thanks Laurie for "entertaining" me this last week. It was such a memorable trip, and I'm really glad I was able to spend some quality time with you. Miss you already.

Charleston S.C. Along the Battery

Savannah G.A.

Fort Sumter

2009-05-30T07:34:00.001-07:00

2009-05-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

At the end of the Season 4 Episode of "How I Met Your Mother" they were playing this song.. it was stuck in my head so after 30 minutes of looking on the web.. I finally found it. Hope you like it!

2009-05-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Baby sis graduated from Lakeland Community College today.. Next semester she's off to Greenville College... so this song was in my head...
Enjoy.

2009-05-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

So... Driving down the interstate tonight and this is what I saw... Sorry for the bugs on the window...

2009-05-02T21:41:00.001-07:00

2009-04-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

I made this healthy snack. That's a delicious yellow creme filled sponge cake with low-fat strawberry yogurt.

Rob Thomas

2009-04-21T09:16:00.001-07:00

2009-04-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm packing...
With every move I leave a few things in the garbage... A few things to good-will.
I heard some great advice from a Wife-Swap a few weeks ago:

Do you LOVE it?

Do you NEED it?

Does it make you MONEY?

If you can't answer one of those questions... then out it goes...
I also like to apply this rule... If you haven't worn it in 3 years, it's probably going to be out of style before you loose that 30 pounds you've been talking about anyway.. :)

What a mess!

2009-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Spring is almost here....
and yes.. that is my 20 year old sister being driven around by her 2 year old.. haha

2009-03-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Estevan and I took a road trip to Bloomington
this past weekend... Then to Springfield to see the Lincoln
Library and Museum... It was a lot of fun, and these are a few
pictures to prove it!

This is Jennie and her guy.

A long lost friend Kim who I knew from JCPenney

Me, Estevan and Jennie

and Jennie.. what pretty eyes you have :)

2009-03-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

So... I was at the Ghetto Walmart in Bloomington today just passing through on the way back to Schaumburg and look what I stumbled upon..... It's Keith Urban's New CD!!! Oh, that's right.. it's not released until Tuesday.... but some Walmart idiot put it out early... oops... :)

2009-03-23T21:29:00.001-07:00

2009-03-22T22:07:00.001-07:00

2009-03-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

jaydan got a new puppy!!!

and he loves his new big boy bed!!!

2009-03-19T07:31:00.001-07:00

2009-03-15T09:30:00.001-07:00

2009-03-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

A Country Sunset

2009-03-02T09:17:00.003-08:00

Jaydan turned 2 on February 12th. Uncle Leighton is just slow at getting pictures off his camera. :) It was a baseball Theme... St. Louis Cardinals of Course!

2009-02-17T05:20:00.001-08:00

2009-02-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

2009-02-05T04:33:00.001-08:00

2009-01-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

2009-01-22T04:21:00.001-08:00

2009-01-17T08:22:00.001-08:00

2008-12-31T12:17:00.001-08:00

A year is not such a long time... Just one trip around the sun

2008-12-29T06:41:00.001-08:00

2008-12-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

My brother took this picture on Christmas Eve at Granny's... He's a car nut and seem really excited about MY truck.. haha... that's his in the middle, and moms new '09 Journey which is a bit hard to see... but she seems to love it... I sure do. :)

2008-12-16T09:46:00.001-08:00

2008-12-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

2008-12-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes its more about the memories... Amy was my first Casette Tape and First CD... The songs I fell in love with as a kid aren't on youtube.... and funny how they're not even the same as I remembered them..... But this song is good... One of her newer songs.... I've drifted from Amy Grant over the years, but she's rooted in my childhood, so I return to her from time to time...
Enjoy.. She's really an awesome performer live...

2008-12-02T14:21:00.001-08:00

2008-11-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thanksgiving...

2008-11-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not able to travel home for Thanksgiving because of work... so this weekend I went home and visited with the family... This is a picture of Granny and Jaydan... 4 generations of our family... it's really amazing to see these two together...
This is at a Christmas tree festival we went to in Springfield... it was cool... They had some really amazing trees there that people of all ages decorated.

2008-11-23T14:02:00.001-08:00

Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!! Seemingly oblivious to the gruesomeness going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.

From Huffington Post

2008-11-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope. Barack Obama never talks about how people see him: I'm not the one making history, he said every chance he got. You are. Yet as he looked out Tuesday night through the bulletproof glass, in a park named for a Civil War general, he had to see the truth on people's faces. We are the ones we've been waiting for, he liked to say, but people were waiting for him, waiting for someone to finish what a King began.

From Time Magazine. Wednesday November 5th.

More about the Truck

2008-11-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

so... I've decided I absolutely LOVE this truck.. it handles really well on the interstate.. the fact that I went up to a V6 didn't hurt any either.. My insurance is 100 bucks less a year too.. so that's a plus!!

Here's just a couple more pics I took this morning.

2008-11-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

This is my new truck. More pics to come. But it was raining and Granny took this for me from the porch. PS... I love it. Drives Great. :)

Six Flags

2008-11-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

I went Sunday to Six Flags Great America with Matt, his friend Josh and my sis Tomi.
It turned out not to be as cold as I had feared.. we went on the last day of the season.. while the lines were still long... they weren't as long as last year when I went.. and we were able to ride all the major rides... which was AWESOME.
I didn't get a picture of Matt and Josh, but here's me and sis.
Also, here's a picture of "Frightfest" which is what Six Flags does in October. They really go all out and turn this theme park into a scary halloween experience!

Jaydan

2008-11-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

2008-10-30T06:06:00.001-07:00

2008-10-25T21:12:00.001-07:00

Jaydan went Trick-or-treating at Great Granny's this weekend.. The picture in the dark was his reaction to the Halloween Parade!!

2008-10-22T05:19:00.001-07:00

Eric Church

2008-10-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

You'll have to click that link or copy and paste it.

http://video.aol.com/video/eric-church-sinner-like-me/1862138

I was fifteen when my daddy's old man
Caught me half way through my first beer
He laughed so hard when my face turned green
He said “You come from a long line of sinners like me”

Now me and my brother go to see him some times
But he don't have much to say anymore
So we sit on his headstone with a fifth of Jack D.
Here's to a long line of sinners like me
La de dah de dah
La de dah dah de de
I come from a long line of sinners like me

My mama had a soft spot for a hell raisin' boy
So she had two more just like him
It takes an angel to raise a family
That comes from a long line of sinners like me

Well now maybe who knows one day I'll settle down
Give my dad a grandson of his own
And when the doctor smacks him, he'll probably take a swing
Cause he'll come from a long line of sinners like me
La de dah de dah
La de dah dah de de
I come from a long line of sinners like me

On the day I die
I know where I'm gonna go
Me and Jesus got that part worked out
I'll wait at the gates til his face I see
And stand in a long line of sinners like me
I'll stand in a long line of sinners like me

La de dah de dah
La de dah dah de de
I come from a long line of sinners like me
La de dah de dah
La de dah dah de de
Here’s to a long line of sinners like me
I come from a long line of sinners like me

2008-10-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

2008-09-28T17:44:00.001-07:00

A little Bluegrass Craving. :)

2008-09-28T17:27:00.001-07:00

2008-09-23T07:05:00.001-07:00

I couldn't get the regular video... But I suppose the commercial will work. Chris Brown.

2008-09-11T20:54:00.001-07:00

Seriously... Listen to this song!!

2008-09-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

Simply Being Loved

2008-09-06T15:45:00.001-07:00

2008-09-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Pictures, Dishes, and Socks... It's our whole lives down to one box.

2008-09-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

2008-08-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

2008-08-29T05:03:00.000-07:00

2008-08-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi

2008-08-16T18:50:00.001-07:00

If you really knew me... You'd know this is one of my all time favorite songs.

2008-08-15T06:20:00.001-07:00

Sunday in the City

2008-08-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

Navy Pier

Michigan Avenue

Bike Path on Lake Shore Drive

If I could post the big version of this picture you could see in amazing detail the pigeon flying in front of the building.
What a great day Jeremy and I had. We visited the Gold Coast Art Fair, Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and a beer at Navy Pier. all with 78degree weather. :)

2008-08-04T06:58:00.001-07:00

Someone told me I still had a snowman on the bottom of this page. I guess I hadn't scrolled to the bottom.

Enjoy Matt Nathanson

Fireplace

2008-07-30T16:13:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad's new Fireplace (under construction).... but you get the idea.

2008-07-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

Washington Monument and the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.

Back of the White House. Don't be fooled. Camera
lenses are the only thing allowed between those
gate bars. :)

This was very exciting! Rehoboth Beach and the
Lighthouse Inn. Some friends Laurie and I met
own this very cute Bed and Breakfast. Matt took
us on a tour. They are two blocks from the beach
and two blocks from a very nice shopping area
and GREAT restaurants. Laurie and I ate at the
Purple Parrot. Yum!

This is out of order. But this is how we
treat this nephew of mine. Set him up with
Satellite TV and lock him in a pen.
Of course we can see him the entire time.
But it sure is funny to see him watching TV
so intently. Jaydan Druw will be 18 months in August. Wow.

2008-07-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Washington, D.C. This is an old mansion turned art museum.
Inside was a special exhibit of Native American Art.

Said Art.

The White House Facing Pensylvania Avenue.

WWII Memorial

Lincoln.

Trip to See Laurie (and Keith and Kyle!)

2008-07-25T04:19:00.000-07:00

Probably have to break this up a bit into a few posts... But I recently was able to visit Laurie in her new home near Dover Delaware. We had a great time. Went to see Batman "Dark Knight"... Baltimore and the aquatic center, Washington DC and the Pentagon City Mall, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, and the Delaware State Fair.. Not to mention the hardcore shopping and what seemed to be a blur of outlet malls and bargain name brand prices! :)
Thanks Laurie for a great trip!
Laurie said "We surely did not let the grass grow under our feet!"

Baltimore Aquatic Center

This was really amazing. An old powerplant
that the city renovated and made for retail use.
What was really amazing was inside the Barnes and Noble
you could actually walk through the smokestaks
and look straight up to the ceiling. A very beautiful downtown area.

Flipper

House Update

2008-07-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Mainly wanted Laurie to see the Ceiling Fans... :)

My Idol.

2008-07-23T11:34:00.001-07:00

2008-07-16T15:54:00.001-07:00

2008-07-13T07:28:00.001-07:00

"The stars are the jewels of the night,
and perchance surpass anything which
day has to show."
- Henry David Thoreau

Slowing it down...

2008-07-12T21:15:00.001-07:00

I've been watching too much Disney Channel

2008-07-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Far Away.

2008-06-24T20:03:00.001-07:00

It's New and Improved

2008-06-20T18:21:00.001-07:00

2008-06-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

jaydan druw

2008-06-19T10:45:00.001-07:00

Ryan and Brandi's Wedding

2008-06-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Chicago

2008-06-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

After Wicked a couple weeks ago, I had the chance to watch a segment of the evening news!! It was very cool.

2008-06-09T22:15:00.001-07:00

2008-06-01T07:09:00.001-07:00

2008-05-26T21:29:00.000-07:00