Ellie Holcomb's "Marvelous Light" in American Sign Language!

Just a few days ago, Ellie Holcomb asked her fans to send in videos of them singing/dancing along to her song "Marvelous Light", because she wanted to include them in her music video!

So, because Sarah and I are such big fans of her...and we're beginning American Sign Language (ASL) students...we decided to learn Marvelous Light in ASL!

Ellie Holcomb's "Marvelous Light" in ASL from Rebekah Hope on Vimeo.

I am not who I once was
Defined by all the things I've done
Afraid my shame would be exposed
Afraid of really being known
But then you gave my heart a home

 

So I walked out of the darkness and into the light
From fear of shame into the hope of life
Mercy called my name and made a way to fly
Out of the darkness and into the light

Years of keeping secrets safe
Wondering if I could change
'Cause when you're hiding all alone
Your heart can turn into a stone
And that's not the way I want to go

So I walked out of the darkness and into the light
From fear of shame into the hope of life
Mercy called my name and made a way to fly
Out of the darkness and into the light

There's no place I'd rather be
Your light is marvelous
Your light is marvelous

You have come to set us free
You are marvelous
Your light is marvelous to me

So I walked out of the darkness and into the light
From fear of shame into the hope of life
Mercy called my name and made a way to fly
Out of the darkness and into the light


UPDATE:

Ellie included a couple seconds of our video in her music video!!

We're at 1:06. :)

(Thank you, Ellie!!)

National Naval Aviation Museum | Pensacola, Florida

My family and I knew before we went to Pensacola that one thing we would definitely do is spend a day at the National Naval Aviation Museum. This incredible museum has been in existence for over 50 years with several expansion phases...each time we go, it's bigger and better!

Both my dad and his dad were in aviation in the Navy, so we consider ourselves aviation nuts...and we're history buffs, too...so this museum is one of our favorite places. Since the weather wasn't good most of the week we were in Pensacola, we ended up spending one full day and part of another day there!

I don't have any pictures of Sarah and me sitting there during the IMAX movie with ridiculously big grins on our faces...we loved it so much...but if you ever go, check out the Magic of Flight movie. It's the best.

These pictures are a peek at only part of the museum. In order to really get an idea of how big it is, you'll have to go there yourself! But for now, enjoy this little tour of the National Naval Aviation Museum!

The beautiful sight that greets you as you walk in the door!


The Blue Angels flew A-4 Skyhawks from 1974 to 1986, and they are suspended above the light-filled atrium in the central part of the museum.


Also in the atrium is this N2S Stearman biplane. It's very special to us because my grandfather flew Stearmans when he was in the Navy in WWII!
Years ago when my grandparents were visiting us, we drove over to the museum for the day. When Deedee walked around the corner and saw the Stearman, his eyes filled and he whispered, "That's the plane I used to fly!"


The newest part of the museum is Hangar Bay One, with a runway painted on the sidewalk!




The first aircraft you come to when you walk in the door is Marine One!


This particular helicopter flew Presidents Nixon and Ford.


It was fun to see one of the Blue Angels' F/A-18 Hornets up close!


This helmet was signed by many former Blue Angel pilots.






President George W. Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln (as a passenger) in 2003 in this S-3 Viking!

A few years ago we watched a documentary on PBS about the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier, which was sunk in the Gulf 22 miles out from Pensacola for use as an artificial reef. It was fun to look up and see that name!










One of our favorite parts of the museum (okay, probably Sarah's and my favorite - ever) is this WWII street on the second floor.




There's a little pipe somewhere that has different scents coming out of it in this (adorable!) kitchen.

Every time we go there it smells like ginger snaps. :)












This room would be inside an old Navy ship.


The darkroom!


"If all else fails, look out the window!"




This optical landing system would be on an aircraft carrier to help guide the pilots down onto the deck.

These aircraft were recovered from Lake Michigan! They're in the "Sunken Treasures" exhibit.




Just off the atrium. Planes and planes and more planes!




Another shot of that dear little Stearman. :)


My dad flew in a T-6 Texan like this one for his first flight in the Navy!


Before we left NAS Pensacola, we drove over to the Blue Angels' area of the airfield.


Identical #7 jets - two-seaters so they can take media people up for rides (if they think they can handle it..."think" is the key word here... :)).
They're also kept ready so that the other 6 pilots can use them if they have a problem with their jet.
In Brian Shul's book Blue Angels: A Portrait of Gold, he shared this story...
One day at an airshow, the #3 jet was having problems, so that pilot landed, jumped in the #7 jet, and quickly took off to rejoin the others.

The narrator is technically the #7 pilot (he takes the place of one of the solos the following year after being a narrator).
A concerned little boy hollered across the fence, "Hey Number Seven! I think somebody is stealing your jet!"
The narrator never deviated from his script, but just this once, he felt like he needed to.

So, off-mic, he yelled back,
"It's okay, I said he could borrow it!"
:)


The Blues' supply plane is a C-130, and it's flown by an all-Marine crew. (Oorah.)

The Blue Angels' hangar.

If you're interested....check out the Virtual Tour of the museum!

FLY NAVY!

- Rebekah

Blue Angels Practice Airshow | Pensacola, Florida

We were so excited to find out that the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team would be practicing while we were in Pensacola! They typically practice on Wednesdays and fly at airshows during the weekend. Sarah and I grew up going to the Blues' Homecoming airshow at NAS Pensacola every year in November, until about 10 years ago. The Blues came to the airshow at Keesler AFB here on the Coast 3 years ago, but we hadn't seen them since then. My dad used to be in the Navy, in aviation (he wasn't a pilot), so we've always had a great love for the Blues.

It was a windy, chilly day, but we all had a great time. A special side note: Brian Shul, a friend of a dear friend of ours, flew with the Blue Angels for the 1994 season, taking (beautiful!) pictures and writing all about the team and their experiences. He published a book, Blue Angels: A Portrait of Gold, of which we are thankful to have a copy! I know the names of these maneuvers only because I spent hours reading the book and looking at the pictures years ago...and yes, I had to look most of them up again. :)

Enjoy!

The water in the bay was so choppy!


A Navy training jet takes off...


A fisherman and his catch.




These little girls were sitting near us on the seawall. They were so cute and excited to see the airshow!

Telephoto lenses don't like to focus in a hurry...so this picture of the Diamond Formation (planes 1-4) on takeoff isn't clear. ::sigh::


Aaaand one of the solos takes off! (They're numbers 5 and 6.)














The solos practiced the Inverted-to-Inverted Pass several times.

It takes precise timing, and to the crowd, it looks like they're going to fly right into each other.






The solos come together for the Fortus maneuver, with landing gear and tail hooks out.


Fort Pickens is across from NAS Pensacola, so we were almost at show center!


The pilots rendezvous "behind the crowd" to get ready for the next maneuver...


...the Diamond Dirty Loop. Dirty meaning their landing gear is out.




Mr. Shul describes this as "the very graceful Diamond Tuck-Under Break, requiring precise timing and consistent roll control by everyone."


Echelon formation.




Echelon Parade Pass over the historic lighthouse on NAS Pensacola.

Tuck-Away Cross.






One of the solos breaking off from the Delta formation.

 
(Not sure what this was, but it looked cool.)






The solos in Section High Alpha.


It's a little hard to chase a very fast F/A-18 Hornet across the sky with a camera.


Diamond Tuck-Under Roll, differing from the Tuck-Under Break only in that they start the maneuver inverted. (Sorry I'm being so technical. I just had to figure it out. :))


The solos, together for the Double Tuck-Over Roll.


Delta Formation.












The name for this is either Vertical Break or Fleur de Lis. It's so cool.






One by one, they all break off from the Delta and head for home.

The small crowd gathered at Fort Pickens cheers!

And then we're all a little sad because it's over, and the air is once again quiet (6 fighter jets together are really loud!).

For the love of...the Navy, and aviation,

Rebekah