"Differences
of habit and language are nothing at all
if our aims are identical and our hearts are
open."
~~ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
by J.K. Rowling
Hi all,
On July 19th, JABB reached its 20th anniversary! So happy
anniversary to you all! I'm grateful to have each and
every one of you as members and to have so many memories of
those who have come before and left their mark on JABB!
To commemorate the occasion, I'd love to invite you all over for
a tea party or whatnot but with distance being what it is, I
thought I could still welcome you into my humble home in a
virtual manner. So I'll be taking you on a photo tour of
my house with focus on the JABB/TBAA related areas.
Welcome!
God bless,
Jenni
A Tour of My
House... Where JABB Happens ;-)
So, first of all, this is one of the first things you see when you
come in my front door. It's a print of a reflection John Dye
wrote during the 9th season of TBAA and, below it, you'll see a
very Joshuan art print that I got off of Etsy.
Also in my living room is a print of the Monet
painting that Andrew and JenniAnn discuss in "The
Unbroken Circle" which has a special place in my heart
as one of the first stories I wrote after John passed
away. (Apologies for the glare which makes its way into
some photos. I love having lots of windows... except
when taking photos!)
Another of my favorite paintings, which
also gets discussed in "Unbroken," is represented in the
living room: "The Lady of Shalott" by JW Waterhouse.
It's also where the name Willowveil, the castle where
Andrew, JenniAnn, and their brood live, comes from.
One thing that comes up in that story is that I associate
daffodils with John so, naturally, they make an appearance in
my dinette (which is basically just part of the living
room.) If you squint, you might be able to make out some
of the thread angels I left around as part of Pay It
Forward in Memory of John Dye.
Just below that, you can see one of my
favorite mugs. Unfortunately, the handle broke off
but I figured out a way to still make it useful. :-)
Since I mention my dogs fairly often,
it only seems right to show what Danika was doing
while I was taking these photos: sleeping right under
the Lady of Shalott. Don't worry, Leo shows up
later!
Next we move into the hallway with the following ode
to Ireland which I think a certain caseworker would
quite like.
Just to the right of that if my guest bedroom/office
which is where the majority of JABB is written.
Right at this desk!
Just above it are two very special pieces created by
Kim for "The
Carpenter": a poster for St. Genesius'
production of Jesus Christ Superstar and the
St. Patrick's Day party invitation. Just below
the latter, you can also glimpse a photo of my pet
frog, Flick, who was memorialized in the story "Benediction."
And over to the left side of my computer desk is the
memorial board I started shortly after John's
death. And also Gus-Gus from Cinderella
who was photo-bombing from an unpictured bulletin
board. Oops. Somehow, I think Mr. Dye
wouldn't mind.
I actually wanted to put
this tour together and send it earlier this
afternoon but this happened shortly after I pulled
my desk chair away to dust... I guess he
really can nap anywhere!
My own
bedroom is to the other side of the hall but largely left
out of this tour because it's a really hard room to
photograph due to being quite dark (lovely for sleeping
in, though!). Nonetheless, I did get this snap of
the door of my bedroom closet which shows my array of
Dyeland, TBAA, and John Dye themed anklets I made way back
in the days of the old JABB Store. Each one has a
charm like a pocket watch, peace sign, etc. representing a
TBAA episode, John Dye role, or related.
Now back through the hall, living room, and dinette to my
kitchen where we find the fuel for JABB. Not
pictured is the red velvet tea first mentioned in "The
King"... because I drank it all, apparently.
Sad... When I first wrote that bit of "The King," I
actually didn't know if red velvet tea existed so I had to
Google it. Sure enough, Stash sells it and it's
yummy! Also shown is the mug I designed and bought
after the demise of my "I Heart Andrew" one.
Right across from the coffeemaker is the door to my
basement, the design of which is heavily influenced by the
TV show Beauty and the Beast which is integral to
the Dyeland stories. Like Vincent and Father, I'm a
hoarder of books. If you look towards the bottom of
the first photo, you can see part of my collection of
chihuahuas which I started after my co-founder dreamed up
Chiwawa as the JABB mascot.
And here's a close up of the angels section of my library
featuring three Ken dolls a JABBer sent me that rather
look like a certain AOD...
Beyond the TV show, the actual fairy tale "Beauty and the
Beast" gets referenced multiple times in Dyeland stories
along with magical roses, a shape-shifting Prince, and a
certain tot named Belle. And no wonder... I'm
kinda obsessed. All the books on this shelf are
different iterations of the tale.
Here are my crafting cabinets (which
spilleth over as evidenced by some of the mess along
the sides of the photo) with some pretty familiar
photos bordering them. If you look really close,
you can see a couple references to other non-TBAA
projects of John's.
And here's my stained glass window (it's actually paint)
which doesn't really have anything to do with JABB but I'm
pretty proud of it... even if it desperately needs
touch-ups after a decade.
And the final room on the tour is the one I most recently
finished. It's the...
Also known as my Harry Potter-themed storm shelter.
And, finally, my ode to Professor Snape... partial inspiration
for the character of Marty/Metatron and originator of Andrew's
"Always" refrain.
Thanks for visiting! Maybe one day
you can stop by for real! :-) Until then... remember
that God loves you! Always. :-)
This
newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for inspiring 20 years
of JABB... and apparently some interesting decorating
choices.
JABB
Portal JABB
TOC JABB
522 (Photo
Credits: The
photograph above
is from
Touched by an
Angel and
owned by CBS
Productions,
Caroline
Productions, and
Moon Water
Productions. It
is not being
used to seek
profit.)