Humbled

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

Guest Post

I'm a guest blogger :)

You can see my guest post here.

At my friend Wendy's blog.

Enjoy!

Charlie's First Snow

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

He's officially part of the family!

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

Annapolis Photo Shoot

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.

See what I mean?

Beautiful people.

Starting Over

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.

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.

So here I am.

Again.

Starting over.

Again.