"I have come that they might have life and have it to the full..." -John 10:10b


Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Humbled

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Blogs are merely a window.

A glimpse.

A small fraction of the bigger picture of someone's life.

They usually focus on the positives,

the uplifting,

the lessons learned,

the fond memories.

Very rarely, do they take you into the dark places.

Windows are meant to let in light, after all.

This can lead sometimes to a misconception for it's readers.

A belief that all is well and right and perfect in the life of the author.

That they always have money for amazing decor or expensive ingredients.

That they don't fight or quarrel or experience grief or suffering.

But that's just not so.

And today, after reading this,

that was confirmed to me.

Trial and tribulation skip no one.

Suffering does not only prey on the weak or poor,

it grabs hold of everyone, sometimes leaving devastation in it's wake.

No one is immune.

Not one.

Not even Edie, who has been a source of light in my life ever since I found her blog, two years ago.

This week has seemed engulfed in suffering and devastation for those around me.

And I thank God for His mercies,

which are new every morning,

to all who will receive them.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." -Lamentation 3:22-23

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Guest Post

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I'm a guest blogger :)

You can see my guest post here.

At my friend Wendy's blog.

Enjoy!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Charlie's First Snow

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This past week, we had our first snow of the season! The girls and I were so excited!

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For all of you who've been reading my blog a while, perhaps you're scratching your head about now.

"Excitement?" You ask yourselves?

Yeah, maybe because you remember this post from February.

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But you know I heard that there is an actual hormone the body secretes about 6 months after a woman gives birth that makes her forget the pain and torment of pregnancy and childbirth, thereby causing her to want more babies?

Well, I think there must be a snow hormone too.

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Because I'm ready and rarin' to go again this year!

My Alaskan next door neighbor thinks I'm crazy.

And I probably am a bit.

But I don't care.

I love snow!

This was Charlie's first experience with snow as well.

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My 40 lb six-month-old puppy begged to go outside all day, jingling his bell at the back door way more often that usual.

And when I'd let him out, watching him, expecting him to do his business and come back as he normally does, he didn't.

He played.

He dug,

He frolicked,

He pawed,

He buried his nose in it,

He thoroughly enjoyed it.
And that made me happy.

Because in some small way, it's another confirmation that he was meant to be mine.

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He's officially part of the family!

He even has his mother's unconditional love for snow!

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Monday, December 13, 2010

Annapolis Photo Shoot

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So, as I begin this post, the song "Back in the Saddle"comes to mind.

Ya know the song.

The best association with that song that I have is Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle when he's calling Vicky for a date.

C'mon! You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, the last few months for me have been so busy, such a whirlwind, a tidal wave of responsibilities and new challenges. But things are calming down a bit. And I'm glad for it.

Because the calm brings time.

And time brings BLOGGING!

So, to kick off this fresh week, I want to share with a few photos from a shoot I did in Annapolis this weekend with a dear friend, her humerus hubby and their two adorable pooches.

I'm happy with how they turned out.

Of course it helps when you're working with really beautiful people.

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See what I mean?

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Beautiful people.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Starting Over

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Life moves at a mind-altering pace.

And them sometimes, it seems to come to a total standstill.

And neither tends to happen when you want it to.

Life for me these days is mind-altering, mind- numbing and mind-blowing.

In good ways and in bad.

But the bad ways aren't really all that bad.

And the good ways are really, really good.

So I still consider myself extremely blessed.

Falling

With the holidays upon us the to-do list is ever growing.

My day to day events, although not uber exciting, make my days full.

Between raising children, keeping a home, going back to school full time, filling cupcake orders and keeping Charlie from chewing on every toy that the girls so nonchalantly leave in the floor, my days are anything but boring.

And there's something else about this season that is untellable.

I say untellable because it's not really a secret,

its just not something I want to announce on the internet, either.

But the time will come when I can tell the untellable.

And then maybe, the fact that I haven't blogged regularly for almost 6 months will be forgiven.

But I will try to ease myself back into the blogosphere in the coming months. The girls continue to grow at lightning speed rates and they say things that I hate haven't been documented properly.

Leaves on the Water

So here I am.

Again.

Starting over.

Again.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Meet Charlie

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Overwhelmed.

That is all I know to say to describe my life these days.

Blessed and totally overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed with stressful things,

overwhelmed with sad things,

overwhelmed with really good things too.

Like Charlie.

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He is the newest member of our family.

Meet CHarlie

He's a 17 week old Goldendoodle and he's perfect.

No, really.

Perfect.

He doesn't jump, he doesn't chew. He merely whimpers when he needs to go outside, because yes, he's housebroken. He's affectionate, he's smart and he makes my heart happy.

I've had him only 4 days and already he walks on a leash at my heel on my left side with little to no tension on the lead. He walks like a pro next to my big double stroller when we go to the lake. He can sit, lay down, come and we're working on stay.

He's gentle with the girls and calm. SOOO calm. Even when someone new comes to the door, he just sits down, watches them for a few moments and approaches slowly to start sniffing.

Newest member of the family

Love him.

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Perfection in a dog.




Monday, September 13, 2010

Side Note

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So, I know you've seen me speak of Erin over at House of Turquoise a few times on this blog.

I love her blog. I love her. She's absolutely adorable.

Anyway, her blog inspires me and comforts me and just plain gets all my juices goin'!

But did you know that she has a whole line up of blogs all based around some of our most favorite colors and color combos?

Check them out here.

And be happy. I guarantee you will be :)

Grownin' Up

2 comments
Yes I said Grownin'.

It's not a typo.

My brother Gabe used to say that when he was little.

It was cute.

But anywhoo...

Eva had her first day of Pre-school on Friday.

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It was supposed to be Wednesday,

but a water line broke at the school and they had no running water and therefore had to cancel class.

Eva was very disappointed on Wednesday.

But super excited on Friday!

Can't you tell?

First Day of Preschool

Don't let the photo fool you. She was just upset because I was making her pose for pictures.

What? I was excited for her...

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and for me ;)

But a little sad at the same time.

Wasn't it just last week that I brought her home from the hospital?

And just yesterday that she started to crawl?

And now, here she is,

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4 years old.

Tomorrow she'll be 16.

And she'll think I'm crazy to want to take photos of her on her first day of school.

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But today, she's 4 and well...thinks I'm crazy to want to take photos of her on her first day of school.

But I did anyway!

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And I'll do it anyway when she's 16 too!



Saturday, September 11, 2010

A Day to Remember

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Do you remember where you were?

I do.

I was standing in the middle of Momma Nell's bedroom, watching her small TV, my hair brush in my hand as I scurried to get ready for work.

I watched as they reported a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

I gasped as I saw the second one hit,

and all of the sudden,

it was clear.

It was no accident.

All day at work, we listened to the radio, kept a small TV on in the breakroom, and shook our heads in disbelief at one another.

Our hearts broke.

About a year and half later, I watched the news report the first bombs dropped over Baghdad. I was working the nightshift at a children's shelter.

I cringed with anticipation.

1 months later, I swore an oath to protect this country in front of friends and family at the Patrick AFB Air Show and 2 months after that I stepped off the bus onto Lackland AFB in Texas to begin my training in the United States Air Force.

And now, I love and support a man who made those same commitments and has quite literally put his life in harms way to continue to protect this country.

Today, on this day of horror and tragedy, I want to say

I Remember.

And I also want to say Thank you,

to my husband; To the men and women who are serving with him, to the ones who've gone before him and the ones who will go after.

You are appreciated and loved and supported.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Return of Footie Pajamas

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I woke up this morning and it was chilly outside.

Morning Sun

Yay!

That means the brisk, cool air of Autumn is on the horizon.

And do you know what one of my most favorite things about the return of cool weather is?!?


Footies

Footie Pajamas!

Happy in PJs

I love zipping my girls up in them after a bath knowing that they will be warm all night in their beds despite the cold air.

And I love that my girls get all giddy when the footie pjs go on.

I love how they shuffle across the linoleum in the mornings.

And how cozy and soft they are to the touch.

I think I'd probably wear them if I didn't think it would encourage my husband to sleep on the couch ;)

Fall is close my friends!

Bunnies

And footie pjs are just the beginning...



Thursday, September 9, 2010

Summer Recap

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So, I didn't blog much over the summer.

I'm sorry.

But life was crazy,
and busy,
and wonderful,
and stressful,
and all of the above.

But, even though I wasn't blogging, I was taking pictures.

Lots of pictures!

You wanna see?

I thought so ;)

Well, we kicked off the summer with a visit from my parents, little sister and brother (professional photographer from Hawaii).

I have LOTS of pics of this on my computer, but they are not mine, they are my brothers and I'm afraid to touch them or edit them for fear that you may think I took them and believe me to be a much better photographer than I actually am.

But he did take a few photos that I know I have permission to share.

Such as this one, from my girls' Wizard of Oz birthday party.

Wizard of Oz party for my girls <3

It was a pool party complete with blue gingham bathing suits and ruby red flip flops!

My Two Dorothies

Ruby Red Flip Flops

And cupcakes, of course...

Wizard of Oz Cupcakes

WOO Cupcakes

The Summer progressed from there with more visits from family...

SIL and Neice <3<3

Like the one from my beautiful sister in law, Anna and her 3 amazing kiddos.

Cousins

And then there were neighborhood bbqs...

Neighborhood BBQ

Friends and Babies

Playing House

complete with cupcakes, of course.

Mascarpone Cheese cupcakes

Girls + Cupcakes= <3

Juice boxes,

Juice Box

Dogs,

Rocco

My Summer Stray

Lots of dogs ;)

Checkers

Morgan

Soccer,

My Little Mia Hamm

My Soccer Star

Family Movie Nights,

Movie Night
More birthdays,

Nutella Cupcakes

and a big End of Summer Luau to bring it all home.

Pina Colada

Coconut Shrimp

All in all, it was a very ABUNDANT summer.
And we've all made it out alive and happy and truly blessed!

My Happy Girl