Saturday, December 29, 2012

Photoshoot: The C Family

I had the best manager ever at my first job I had when I was seventeen.  She was the "mama" to everyone at the store.  We have remained in touch since then and when she told me she wanted pictures of her family while they were all together during the holidays, I jumped at the chance.

Here are a few of my favorites:









Friday, December 28, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I absolutely love Christmas.  Family time, food, friends, a break from the normal routine of life...all of it is just fantastic.  This year was also my church's first Christmas as a church, so we had our first Christmas Eve service which was amazing.
 
We spent Christmas Eve with the hubby's family and with our church family.  Christmas morning we went over to my family's house and had presents and lunch.  Then we headed back to the hubby's family and had Christmas dinner.
 
It has been a wonderful break, one I wish was a little longer...but hey - we have New Years break next week too!
 









Saturday, December 15, 2012

The A Family

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting family pictures for this adorable family.  It was a great shoot and God held off the rain but kept it a somewhat dreary looking day that actually made the pictures beautiful.  Here are a few of my favorites from the day:
 











Friday, December 7, 2012

Revelation

I have always been afraid to study the book of Revelation.  I am not totally sure why.  I think it overwhelmed me and maybe even freaked me out a bit.  I mean, there are so many symbols in this book and literary symbolism was never really my cup of tea.  So that was overwhelming.  Also, sometimes just thinking about the end times freaked me out.  At least it did -- in reality, when I started studying this book last week, I was more encouraged than anything else.  It is important for us to know what the future holds and this knowledge can encourage us as Christians and should also spur us on to share the gospel.
 
So far I have studied the first chapter and the beginning of the second chapter.  I am using a commentary by Warren Wiersbe to help me delve deeper into the word. 
 
Some points that I have drawn from this book so far --
 
1. I completely lack awe and respect for the Lord.  In 1:17, John fell on his face when he saw Christ.  When have I ever done that?  I feel that I see God as my friend and someone to talk to most of the time - but I am missing the respect and awe and glory that I should be showing to Him.
 
2. "When you have assurance for the future, you have stability in the present."  I LOVE THIS QUOTE from the commentary.  It has been a constant encouragement to me this week.  I feel like I lack stability a lot of the time.  My emotions go up and down by the second and sometimes life stresses me to no end (the hubby can attest to this).  Work stresses me out and lately I feel like I can think of nothing else.  I have to keep reminding myself that each case is temporary.  Yes, I must work to the best of my ability on each case, but my future is secure.  No matter what life throws at me, my future is secure.  There is nothing in this life that can render me hopeless.
 
3. The beginning of chapter 2 talks about the church in Ephesus.  They were great at doing good works and service for the Lord and being separated from those that would bring them down, however, they had lost their love and passion toward the Lord.  Works are no substitute for love; and purity is no substitute for passion.  I think I continually live in the Ephesus church.  Most of the time I lack the passion for Christ, but I keep myself separated and pure and serve...to the point where sometimes I feel very secluded.  That is not what Christ wanted.  He wants our passion for Him.  He wants us to be in awe of God and keep our passion alive for Him daily.  We can't just go through the motions. 
 
So there -- I have already learned a TON from this book and I have barely started.  If you have ever been afraid to drive in to this book, don't be afraid.  It is encouraging, clarifying, and it will remind you of how you need to live each day.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Christmas Time!

Oh yes - it is December which means it is almost Christmas.  Since the hubby and I have been married, every year in the weeks before Christmas I have been studying for finals and writing papers -- NOT THIS YEAR.  This is the first Christmas that I have not been in school and I am trying to take full advantage of this fact.  In fact, this is the first year that I have actually decorated our house somewhat for Christmas and it made me so excited.  The hubby and I did put a fake tree up one year, but it wasn't all that exciting because I still had to study.  This year, I bought and made some decorations, but I was also given a bunch of decorations from my mom that she wasn't using - thanks mom! 
 
First, I bought this pretty red table runner.  My mom gave me the two glass Christmas trees and then I bought the jar and Christmas ornaments.
 

I bought this little cute fake tree to put on our side table.  I love using simple colored ornaments that compliment each other so this is our blue and silver tree.  My mom gave me the little glass tree with ornaments that is sitting next to it.

My mom made this cute this ribbon tree -- isn't she so talented.  She also gave me the white crystals that I put around it at the bottom.

Finally, I got us some stockings and stocking holders.  I decorated these stockings with our names and a cute little picture.  The hubby's name was the only name short enough to fit across the top so the others had to go down the whole stocking - but we each got a stocking - the hubby, me, and our two puppies.



Saturday, November 24, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I sure did!  I spent the day with my in-laws and my hubby's side of the family.  It was a great day of food, fun, laughs, and encouragement.






Saturday, November 10, 2012

Favorite Fashion of the Week

It's been a couple weeks since I have posted any favorite fashion -- plus it's been a week since I have posted anything.  So for today - you get two favorite outfits.  Both of which are dresses and both of which are from Old Navy - which is crazy to me because I never shop at Old Navy, but when I saw a commercial for their dresses and how cheap they were I had to go -- and of course I found a couple that I loved.  All girls should go check them out while the deals are going on now!
 



Saturday, November 3, 2012

Photoshoot: Brooke and Marc

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking pictures of one of my favorite couples.  They are super fun and silly which made the shoot so much fun and gave me so much to work with.  They are just adorable and I loved going through all the pictures that I took of them. 
 
Here are a few of my favorites: