Week 6= kisses!

Well….my computer has officially called it quits on editing any photos. My ol’ girl is tired and is refusing to take less than a *DAY* to edit one photo. I will try to miss her when I take her out back and shoot her. NOT with a camera. I love her….but I have limits ya know.

So I had to look back a little bit to find a photo for today. It’s still within 6 months, so it’s not like the photo is OLD, I just like to shoot new photos for challenges or use really recent ones.

I shot some Bridal portraits for a friend of mine and it’s still one of my favorite shoots! It was totally fun and they let me shoot any idea I had! I LOVE those kinds of shoots.

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We were losing light FAST, but I knew I had to have this photo, and I’m so glad we had just enough light to pull it off.

Now, head over to iHeartfaces and check out those photos! There are some A*MAZING photographers with wonderful creativity! You’ll learn a TON!

**and HOPEFULLY in about 10 days, I’ll be able to get that NEW BEAUTIFUL COMPUTER I’ve worked so much extra and overtime for!**

Letter of Intent: Gymboree

Real letter sent to Gymboree just yesterday:

My Dearest Gymboree:

I am a diehard Gymbo FREAK!

I’m the freak Mom that buys a collection of clothes and makes sure I have the shoes and socks and p @ n t i e s and pajamas and hairbows to match.


I go to great lengths to complete a set! Even for Halloween!

As my daughter got older, I made sure she had the purses and bracelets to match.

But I am seeing an increasing trend in the quality of clothes that I find very disturbing. We are not a wealthy family, and I have to work extra to afford to buy new Gymboree once or twice a year, 3-4 times if I work REALLLLLLY hard!

The last few orders I’ve placed though, the hems have come undone after only ONE washing! Her little sister shirt ordered last spring (under momof3darlings@XXXXX.com email) unraveled after only her first wearing! Being such a Gymbo-nut, I figured it was a one time thing, I hadn’t had any previous problems, I’ll let it go. But then it happened on my next order as well! This last order, I had 2 of her shirts with problems after the very first washing! The Daddy rocker shirt, the hem came unsewn, and then her drum Girls rock tshirt came unsewn at the COLLAR! After this last incident, I have to tell you, I just cannot continue to buy my beloved Gymboree.

I am a member of several Gymboree message boards over my obsession, I make custom hairbows to match all the gymboree lines,

and I blog quite often about my obsession with my beloved Gymboree (www.momof3darlings.wordpress.com, search Gymboree), and I’ve turned many mothers onto your store by the adorableness of my daughter in your clothes!

But as a Mom who works so very hard for my family, and to afford this love-affair with your products, I just cannot continue it any longer with the quality being so poor.

I heart Gymboree, and the loss of your adorable products will leave a hole in my Gymboree-loving heart. No one does sets and collections like you do. Please, for the love of adorable collections everywhere….fix this ever-increasing problem! I am begging you.

Love,

Dana

And then yesterday I received the hokey reply email from them.

Dear Dana, if you will return the shirt, then we’ll refund it….blah blah blah

That’s admirable. Thanks. However, it doesn’t fix the overall problem. I’d have to send a total of 4 shirts back. I don’t buy shirts without the pants. Or the socks. Or the purses.

{ahem} Sorry, I get carried away.

This last purchase was special. I bought it special for her. She’d outgrown almost her entire wardrobe and I had to have something! I was a little depressed over the expanding time of unemployment…so I charged it. I wanted her to have something nice for her Hospital visit in December. So, to have something come and NOT last after I charged it….and spent a good little bit of money on it….

Yeah….I’m done, Gymboree. I loved you. Our love affair was vast and extensive, but I will no longer purchase anything new from you. I could have posted pictures ALL DAY…(seriously, like all day. That was MOST of her wardrobe.) but no more. I may purchase used, cheaply, but no more new. You do not deserve anymore of my money. And in THIS economy….might I add a little….

SHAME ON YOU.

Fix the problem. You will miss me.

Thank you, Julie for letting me get this off my chest. It totally needed to be said! Now, go check out the rest of Julie’s page! She has an amazing family and amazing fellow blog readers who write along with her Letters of Intent.

It’s good therapy.

Care for the orphan

I’ve been following this story out of Haiti since I first caught it on CNN, and my heart is just broken.

Attorney: 10 US Baptists charged with child kidnap

AP – Parents willingly gave kids to U.S. missionaries

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday’s hearing and represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

The children taken from the group, ranging in age from 2 to 12, were being cared for at the Austrian-run SOS Children’s Village in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

The U.S. citizens, most of them members of an Idaho-based church group, were whisked away from the closed court hearing to jail in Port-au-Prince, the capital. Silsby waved and smiled faintly to reporters but declined to answer questions.

Adrien said he met Silsby in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. She told him she was looking for homeless children, he said, and he knew exactly where to find them.

He rushed home to Callebas, where people scrape by growing carrots, peppers and onions. That very day, he had a list of 20 children.

The Rev. Jean Sainvil said some of the children were orphans and might have been put up for adoption. Children with parents were to be kept in the Dominican Republic, and would not lose contact with their families, Sainvil said in Atlanta. Sainvil stressed that in Haiti it is not uncommon for parents who can’t support their children to send them to orphanages.

Even Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said he recognized the Americans may simply have been well-meaning who believed their charitable Christian intent justified trying to remove the children from quake-crippled Haiti.

This just makes me sad. I understand the intent, if the intent was indeed to take them to a safe location to be better cared for. I understand it so well. This leader went about it in a wrong fashion, but I understand her heart. Things were done irresponsibly, the team didn’t know what was going on, and there is conflicting reports on what the leader was ultimately planning.

Over and over again in the Bible, God mentions taking care of the widows and orphans. God planned for them to be taken care of.

Oh how my heart wants to do this! My heart is certainly big enough, and the love in my family is big enough. I so want to start a Children’s Home of my own! Send me all your orphans! I’d take any race…and I’d build right here. I’ve already designed the home. LOL How funny is that? I have no way to fund a project of this magnitude, but the desire is there. I’d sell all I had to do it…if this was God’s plan for us.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.

Pray for these missionaries! Pray for these families who saw no other hope for their children but to give them away! But whatever you do, don’t look away, do something.

A rerun at a perfect time!

I am reading the Bible through in a year, and I was concentrating on the New Testament and got a little behind in the first. As I was catching up this morning, I remembered that I had blogged this story! I am so glad I studied this lesson for Sunday school because now, reading it again, I understand so much MORE of my Bible reading! So, I am sharing with you again, maybe it will reveal something for you guys as well!

The 10 Plagues of Egypt

Yesterday, I was blessed to have one of our girls from the Owasso Children’s home stop by. She’s all grown up now, a high school graduate, and a brand new, proud aunt! It brought back all the memories, good and bad, from living there. On one hand, I loved it, loved my girls, loved the experience, and would gladly do it again in a SECOND. But on the other hand, it was not at all what the administration said in all the interviews: all the promises, all the expectations on both sides, all the demands, and our general job description. And sitting there with one of our girls, we were able to talk about our memories. We laughed a lot, thinking about the fun stuff, and we were able to talk about the hard times too. She never understood as a young teenagers what happened…until she was an adult. And she went in search for me. She’s the one that told me that in all her years there, (she told me she had 7 houseparents in just ONE school year!) we were the only ones to make her feel a PART of a family. That she was truly loved. So in the midst of chaos with our administration, our God-given instructions were still fulfilled.

This director, or at least our immediate superviser, was our authority and we were to obey his commands, directions, explanations. Period. Was he fair? No. Was he right? ahem…most certainly not. But did that matter 1 iota to our circumstance? Nope! And did anyone care? Again….not at all. But we were obedient to Christ, and in the end, we did not stay.

Which brings us to…..the REAL lesson! LOL The Isrealites had been taken into captivity by authority that was cruel and unreasonable in their demands. (that’s familiar!) They cried out to God (last weeks lesson) and He heard their cry and sent Moses.

Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh (speculated to be either Ramses II or Thutmosis III…it’s in my lesson, I cannot take credit for the info. LOL I only found it VERY interesting to know who it could possibly have been!) and said:

Exodus 5:1-

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”

And of course, Pharaoh was LESS than pleased to hear this!

verse 2 goes on to say: “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

Pharaoh, in hearing of their whining, demands that the Israelites not only make the bricks, but NOW, they must gather the straw to MAKE the bricks as well! Oh and in the same timeframe….nice…..

And the Hebrews blamed Moses and Aaron for making their jobs and their lives ever more difficult.

Gosh, I wonder if I were in the same circumstance, could I have gone on? Could I have approached Pharaoh again? Could I have led these whiny people out of Egypt? I hate whiners…

Why would God send Moses to do this, only to be turned back without fulfilling what God had directed him to do? That doesn’t make any sense now does it?

Well, not to US…to our natural eyes. In Exodus 4, God TOLD Moses that He was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart.

And even in rejection and failure, Moses did not turn away from God. He QUESTIONED his calling understandably, and that’s where Moses had to go to God to inquire AGAIN of what his calling WAS. Gosh….kind of like getting alone with God to reestablish communication….It’s important to do this. God DESIRED Moses to keep returning to Him for instruction, for encouragement, and to TRUST HIM! If it had been just a walk in the park, how much would Moses have learned? How close to God’s heart would he really have come?

God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart to make it more difficult, but to strengthen Moses and show HIS soveriegnty.

And that is what began the judgements poured out over Egypt and WHY. God was judging the Egyptians for their oppression of the Isrealites, but ALSO to show them that He is GOD! They experienced the Almighty power of God FIRSTHAND!

The first plague was: water turned to blood. My human self just gags at the thought of this. We have to have water for our very survival. It affects every portion of our lives. And the magicians were able to partially duplicate it.

The second plague was: Frogs. Everywhere….they came up from everywhere and were into EVERYTHING! YUCK! And the magicians were able to bring MORE frogs to the land, but were unable to get RID of them.

The third was: Lice. (some versions say GNATS) I have dealt with lots of lice in my years teaching. It’s GROSS and NASTY and it itches and it’s miserable and it’s HARD to get rid of! I just itch at the THOUGHT of this plague! (it does NOT mean YOU are gross or nasty, do not misunderstand my hate for lice as JUDEGEMENT, it just means lice are gross and nasty! Doesn’t mean you are dirty…I am well aware of this fact. No hate mail. )

Also, PLEASE notice…the magicians were UNABLE to recreate this plague:

Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

Fourth was flies. Fifth was disease of their livestock. Sixth was disease of man and beast: boils. Not fun. Seventh was hail, eighth was locusts (destroyed their crops, all food supplies had been effected by this point) and finally the ninth was 3 days of total and complete darkness.

But the last, and probably my worst nightmare, death of the firstborn.

All of these plagues could have been prevented, that’s important to know. Our actions have consequences…..

At the time the death of the firstborn was announced, God instructed the Isrealites to cover the doorposts with blood from a lamb and the angel of death would passover their house. I love the 10 commandments movie at this point….it grows dark….the Isrealites are seen in their homes huddling together as the angel of death moves through their city. It’s scary and a great visual for this part. Also why people still celebrate Passover today: it’s a reminder to us how God saves us!

I cannot imagine waking to find my firstborn dead. I cannot in a million years fathom the sound of that city on that morning. My heart breaks.

I love the part in the lesson that says “In every way possible, God wanted His people to remember their deliverence. He reminded the Hebrews to take advantage of teachable moments when they could tell their children about God’s miraculous action of the exodus.”

God in all of His infinite wisdom, strives to help us, to care for us, and to reveal HIMSELF to us. He is trying to get OUR attention. And He always gives us a means of escape when we’ve gotten in over our heads.

God is powerful. And He is loving. He guided the Isrealites out of Egypt by a pillar of clouds in the day and a pillar of fire at night. There was NO mistaking WHO exactly God was, and WHO was leading them.

I posted the lesson, and then found more information that I found FASCINATING!

The number 10 in Biblical numerology means fullness of quantity. So the Egyptians were fully plagued! The 10 commandments means the fullness of God’s moral law. The 10 plagues represented God’s fullness of justice and judgement.

Also, each of the 10 plagues are thought to represent the 10 Egyptians gods/goddesses:

water turned to blood: Egyptian god, Hapi, god of the Nile

frogs: Heket, Egyptian god of fertility, water and renewal, often depicted with a head of a frog.

lice from the dust of the earth: Geb, Egyptian god of the earth

flies: Khepri, god of creation, movement of the sun and rebirth, often depicted with the head of a fly.

death of livestock: Hathor, goddess of love and protection (head of a cow)

boils: Isis, goddess of medicine and peace

hail: Nut, goddess of the sky

locust: Seth god of storms and disorder

3 days in darkness: Ra, god of the sun

Death of the firstborn: Pharaoh himself was worshipped as king of Egypt. By taking Pharaoh’s firstborn, God was showing His dominance over even him!

God is God. He is the ONE God. He is the ONLY God, and in the 10 plagues of Egypt, He was demonstrating His power over ALL man-made gods.

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Week 5: Places I love…

This week’s theme is a great one. However, this one I’m having a difficult time with.

You see, we don’t vacation.

Not by choice, mind you, but out of necessity, out of a calling. Our vacation time is spent at Youth church camp, so that’s as close to a vacation as we usually ever see:

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But don’t get me wrong….there’s few places more beautiful…

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And we wouldn’t change it for anything! Usually, we always go as a family, doing various jobs….counseling with the teenagers….having an amazing time….but last year, and probably again this year, it will be just Austin and I going.

But, when we can “vacation”, it’s close to home, usually on a tank of gas.

Usually to Branson. That’s a “big” vacation for us, and one of our favorite places to go:

And once, when we were REALLY lucky, we went to Kansas City!

It doesn’t really matter where we go….we just enjoy being together as a family! So if a vacation means a getaway weekend in a tent by the lake, or a drive to an amusement park and a nice, family-oriented hotel….we’re happy. I enjoy my family and I want to be with them! I’d love to go to Washington state to see the ocean….or Maine to see the leaves change….or Ireland to see the lush, green hills….I’d even settle for any beach on the eastern shores of the US….but yeah…that’s not gonna happen! LOL

It’s not the beach, but it’s the PEOPLE I love more the PLACES anyway!

My husband and I taken over the weekend

BE KIND and always have your camera ready!

It’s a physical movement…

I love worship.

I love the sermons too…but for me, the worship is what prepares my heart to hear from God. It takes me out of myself. It’s convicting, it’s emotional, it’s open, honest communication with my Maker. It’s my opportunity to thank Him for saving my rotten soul. It’s one of the very few times in my life when I could care a horses’ butt who sees me. I’ve learned a lot about worship. It’s personal. And it makes me happy.

It’s probably also why I love to shoot worship photos. It’s catching people at their most vulnerable. It’s catching that moment when people are in pure love with God.

(Did I just say “horses butt“? Heh…it would appear I did. Pardon my Oklahoma-ness.)

When I first started attending my husband’s church way back when we were dating, they didn’t do that. (They did later, but not at the beginning.) You stood. You sat. You opened your hymnal and you sang. You quietly enjoyed the service. Then you left.

You didn’t clap.

A subtle “AMEN” was permitted, but only once per service, and I’m sure it was voted on prior, who was the designated “AMEN-ER” for the day. Probably a committee somewhere….

Closing of the eyes was permitted. I think.

And the songs were regimented by time alloted. Not by the Spirit. If things moved, it was the hand of the mom of the unruly boy as she’s smacking him in the head during prayer. The highlight of the Sunday for those opening their eyes during prayer. Not that I ever did that. Ever. But when you can see the boy being rotten, you knew to watch during the prayer for the smacking of the head. It was as common to the service as Victory in Jesus during the worship time, and Just as I am during the invitation. Bank on it.

A few of the things I’ve learned going with Michael and 4:12 Youth Ministries…

–the desire for good people to grow their church through great, Godly teaching and lots of prayer. It’s a beautiful thing to see!

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–Some, just do not want to engage. Some just do not get it, I believe, and I’m hoping that’s one thing that Michael leaves with them: the importance of engaging the Holy Spirit. Don’t just sit there with the same expression as you came in with.

And…while I’m at it: If the outward expression is a reflection of your inward self….some of ya’ll are in trouble. I’m just sayin’. Some of ya’ll can’t help the face your born with (said from the woman married to the man with “angry eyebrows”), but a smile is muscular. It’s alright to do that.

–Sometimes the favorite moments are not what you expected. Michael said how he has prayed and fully expects to live to be 200 years old. {insert laugh here} And he said he wants to be the man that even at the age of 200, God still makes him go “WOOOOOO!” (I totally, and completely get that…..) And from the back of the church comes this little tiny “AMEN” from a little tiny, old woman, with a smile on her face and a chuckle in her voice! It was one of those moments that you can’t help but smile from ear to ear! Here is a little old lady that GETS IT! God has made her go “WOOOOO!!” in her many years!

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So if I didn’t get the all out WORSHIP photos I wanted, I’m not a bit disappointed! Worship comes in many forms, and I was able to experience a movement in this church. It was a physical movement in the church you could feel, and it was beautiful. Brought tears to many eyes.

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And I thank Almighty God for allowing me to be present for that!

“On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” John 14:20

“…..fire came down from heaven…and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” 2 Chronicles 7:1

Week 4-TEXTURES

iHeartfaces

Textures are still a NEW thing for me! I only learned them a few months ago from iHeartfaces! (I KNOW!! How sad!) They had the tutorial a long time ago, however, I just couldn’t figure it out! Finally, I sat at the desk with my photoshop open in one window, and the iHeartfaces tutorial in another, and I just sat and read it like I was 4 til I mastered it! LOL I looked completely stupid and felt totally illiterate, but I’d read a line, then try it on the picture, then read a little more, then try it on the picture….I bounced back and forth until it WORKED! HAHAHAHA

But I finally got it, and I LOVE them! They just help MAKE some photos! I like to use them for busy backgrounds as well. Cover up things I don’t want people to see. Heee heee!

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I have fallen IN LOVE with Florabella textures! For this image, I used Senorita and then dropped down the color on it to match the photo. I also upped the contrast a bit.

I knew I wanted a verse as part of the texture, so I made my own and then applied overtop of the texture! Now Psalm 139 peeks in and out of the photo! YAY! This was my first attempt at making my own texture, not bad huh?

If you don’t know how to do textures, check out iHeartfaces and search their tutorials. And then check out this weeks contest!

iHeartfaces

For contrast sake, I wanted to show a before photo. Don’t laugh. Promise?

This is the SOOC (straight out of the camera) photo:

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My insanity over showing the SOOC shot is to hopefully give someone some hope that not every shot has to be PERFECT. A HUGE part of what makes my photos, in my opinion, is the post-processing. Learning the camera, learning exposure, learning apeture….is only part of it. Almost every photo will need some kind of editing. And textures was my NEWEST challenge on my photographic journey!

Be kind and always have your camera ready!

EDITED TO ADD:

Because I’ve already had quite a few people asking me how I made my own texture, I’ll explain.

In my photoshop (Adobe CS2), I hit FILE>NEW. When the box opened, I chose a size 5×7 inches and 350 pixels. Then I made sure to make the background TRANSPARENT so that anything underneath it (florabella texture and my photo) would show through and the text would sit on top. When the new box opened up with the checkered background, I went into my TEXT and manually typed out the first few verses of Psalm 139. Then I merged the layers making sure the background was still TRANSPARENT, then copy and pasted it onto my photo with the florabella texture already on top.

Then I saved my new texture so I could use it again later! VIOLA!

Wrong-way rollercoaster

I am NOT a fan of rollercoasters! I rode them when I was a child…..but as an adult, it’s more excitement then I can handle. I do NOT ride them.

Thank you, I’ll be more than happy to hold your hat/purse/sunglasses/car keys/wallet/etc, while YOU ride. I’ll be waiting over here….——->

And here lately, it just feels like my life is constantly on that rollercoaster….except, we never seem to be going UP anymore. What’s wrong with that picture?

Lord, I need some UP. My rollercoaster seems to be stuck in the DOWN position, can you help a girl out here? I think I’m about to puke…..too much DOWN.

It seems to be so much lately: Mike still isn’t working yet. This job that he got has so many hoops you have to jump through, and they are on their OWN timetable. They wanted him to start on the 15th of January, only they didn’t get him in to do his strength and agility tests OR his drug test until the 15th. They call him in at 8:30 last Friday to come in and do the tests (THAT day, no warning, come in now, please.) and the doctor said he found something wrong with my husband that he needs to have a dr check out. He won’t release him til its done.

Umm. What?

He kind of doesn’t have a job. No job=no insurance. UGH. BUT, it turned out JUST FINE, Mike’s old dr cleared him, and didn’t charge him a dime.

Only problem is, this job only starts new hires on the 1st and the 15th. Nice. So, we’ll have to wait ANOTHER 2 weeks for him to HOPEFULLY start. January’s house payment is paid. There is NOTHING for February. I trust God, though. He’s not going to let us lose our house.

But just in case, let’s get those home improvements done. Walls repaired…..CHECK. Living room painted…..CHECK. Wallpaper stripped so we can paint the entry……YUCK…gotta do that still. I hate wallpaper of any fashion.

And then we get a letter from our house insurance who wants to drop us because we had our a roof repaired in 2005. We tried to make another claim on it last fall after a hail storm damaged it again, and the insurance said NO, and while we’re at it…..we’re dropping you. We want your money to insure it, but we kinda don’t like you to make CLAIMS on it when you need to. Sorry. Good luck with that hail damage, though!

{Note to self: FARMERS was rated one of the WORST insurance companies in the nation. Staying with them for 28 YEARS was probably NOT a good idea. Check reviews BEFORE you get insurance.}

So in the process of looking for another insurance company, Mike decides he wants to go with AllState. “The guy was REALLY nice on the phone, honey! He can save us $70 a MONTH on car insurance!”

{Note to self: Thank you for giving me these little notes, I need them. Reviews are good to do before you get insurance. AllState was the ONLY insurance ranked WORSE than Farmers. Out of the frying pan into the fire….}

So when I showed my dear husband the reviews, a nice little argument began because apparently, the guy was very charming on the phone. Mike is a really trusting guy and doesn’t want to disappoint the AllState man. “I can’t tell him NO now! He gave me quotes!”

Let me help you with THAT. Thank you, I have ZERO problem telling him no. I have about 45 ways I will tell him NO on the phone. And after he emails me the quotes, I will have another 22.

OK, I’ll stop. I’m whining. I’m overly focusing on the bad. I think if I weren’t such a good girl, I’d be drinking heavily by now.

I was reading about Joseph yesterday and the passage was talking about how God was with him and blessed him. Not only blessed him, but blessed everyone AROUND him. He followed the Lord, and the Lord blessed him.

Wait a minute. {looking around} Hey! I’m following the Lord! I’m ready for those BLESSINGS now please! Any time….I could use them! At least a good back massage! SOMETHING! And I remember reading that passage and doing a little chuckle and praying to God something along those lines. Little blessings here? We’re still down here, Lord! We’re still following! Haven’t lost us yet! I could use a little help, Lord!

And then the very next passage was about Joseph being thrown in jail for a few YEARS because of his employer’s whore-wife lied. Heh. I even knew that part was coming. LOL I just liked the blessings part.

Anyway, I remember thinking all of that yesterday, and praying to God for a little UP. My rollercoasters busted and seems to only be going DOWN. It went UP in December….it went UP a lot in December, but now, seems to be stuck in the DOWN position. I NEED SOME UP.

And then last night at church after we prayed over 4:12 (can’t link them because I can’t find their page anymore. Hmmm) and their upcoming event this weekend, the leader asked me if we’d like to come along and shoot some pictures for them.

…..awwww…..WORSHIP PHOTOS! My FAVORITE! I’m your GIRL!

But like most things, the worries immediately started: you have no one to keep the kids while you are gone, you have no money for hotel, you have no money for GAS to get there, and you have NO money for FOOD while you are there.

It’s amazing how satan starts in the second some UP comes a long. Remember that.

But, the Lord has worked almost all of it out for us. I’ll have to dip into some missions money, but I figure that’s why it’s there: missions work. And I believe this qualifies, even if it’s not in another country. And my wonderful Mother-in-law and Brother-in-law have agreed to keep the younger 2 for me so we can go. (Austin’s older and I think needs to be there, so he’s going.)

So, lesson for all: if nothing else, read your Bible and PRAY. Even if it’s a sassy little prayer, it’s communication. And my Savior loves me enough to pat me on the head and tell me, He’s already been working on it…..just hold on.

I know I went on and on, and I’ve probably left everyone half a blog post ago, but it just needed to be said. For my own peace of mind, I needed to say it. One of those honest posts, not a fluff piece about pretty pictures….just an honest post.

So that’s what’s going on!

iheartfaces Week 3-Family

When I first started my photography journey, I wanted EVERYTHING perfect! I am a little control-freak in most things…especially at the grocery store: DO NOT TOUCH THE CART! IT’S MINE! I MUST BE THE ONE WHO PUSHES THE CART!

{ahem} I mean….uhhh….oh nevermind. I can’t recover from that outburst. Take it as it is. I’m open.

But, anyway, my rambling point is: I wanted everyone posed perfectly. I wanted smiling faces…no monkeyin’ around.

Now, MOST of my fantastic shots are taken inbetween the “posed” shots. That’s when they let their guard down and they relax, start talking, start laughing and playing….and that’s when the magic happens.

This particular mom is a lot like me in my “perfection desire”, she wanted that perfect family portrait. So, when I took the inbetween shots and edited them for her to see….guess which ones she wanted?

She wanted the one of her daughter loving on her baby brother, she wanted the one with her son being his adorable-self, and she wanted her and her husband loving it all.

This shoot taught me a VALUABLE lesson: TAKE the photo! Even if they aren’t all looking where you want them to look, even if they are laughing, even if they are moving and playing, TAKE THE PHOTO! You’ll be surprised which ones you end up loving the most!

In an editing note: I used my new set of Flora bella Textures and OH YES! I am in love…..TOTAL UNASHAMED LOVE for these textures and overlays…..Total love. You’ve got to try these!

BE KIND and always have your camera ready!

I WON one of the TOP 5!

YAY!!!!

Last week, I celebrated a birthday……AND….placed one of the Top 5 in iHeartfaces BEST FACE PHOTO contest! WOOHOOO!!! One of the 18 judges placed my photo in their top 5 for this week! WOOHOOO!!

This was a HUUU-UUGE contest this week with some A*MAZING photographers judging this week! Almost 1,000 entries! So yeah…..I’m totally tootin’ my own horn here. I’m TOTALLY excited! WOOHOO!!

Happy Birthday, iHeartfaces!