authentic

024.

2012-01-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

I worked from 8:30 this morning until 7:20 tonight.

And I got MASSIVE amounts of work done!

It's only Tuesday and half of my to-do list for the week is complete.

So I'm pooped, but it's a good kind of pooped. :)

My work today included two errand runs,

and on one of them I pulled into a parking lot to find this...

seagulls--just chilling in the parking lot.

023.

2012-01-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Spent almost the whole day doing new car things:

transferring the title over to my name,

getting new plates,

getting a new key made,

and buying accessories/neccessary things

to have inside your car.

Like air freshener,

a cable to hook my phone up to my stereo,

and wet wipes.

Where would the world be without wet wipes?!

So now as many little grimy children can

climb into my car as want to...

I will clean up their mess with my handy dandy wet wipes :)

Oh, and it was gorgeous day of the week #2

so I enjoyed running around with the

windows down and sunroof open.

022.

2012-01-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today's high was a whopping 74 degrees

and it was just loooovely.

I spent as much time as possible outside

tanning (yes, in january)

reading

and

playing whiffle ball with the little bro.

We had the windows open all day

and the whole house smelled like spring.

I cannot WAIT for permanent warmer weather,

it's just so gloriously happy!

p.s. to The Boy who doesn't like feet pictures, just don't look ;)

021.

2012-01-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

I met The Boy on his side of town

to go hang out with friends for the afternoon + evening.

We all ate dinner at two of the girls apartment

and afterwards did a bible study together.

It was a happy laughter filled evening.

Anne-girl always says it better than I could:

"I don't know, I don't want to talk as much,

...it's nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts,

and keep them in one's heart like treasures.

I don't like to have them laughed at or wondered over."

That's been a growing feeling in my own heart

over the last 7+ months.

For someone who loves to express every feeling

and been a talker her whole life,

it's a new things when all of a sudden there are certain

moments and memories that are so precious and special

that I'd just rather tuck them away for safe-keeping

rather than share them with the world to be

"...laughed at or wondered over."

Today included several of those kinds of moments.

p.s. isn't it just the greatest thing when your nail polish

ends up matching your accessories?

019.

2012-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

For the past month or so I've been on the hunt for a car,

not super aggressively, but with the hopes that

I'd have one by my birthday (next month.)

So I was sitting reading my bible this morning when my Papa

called and said that he'd found a car that he thought I should look at.

He's a car whole-saler so he'd been on the lookout

for a good one in my price range.

My dad and I drove an hour to Rockwall,

drove the car, I fell in love with it,

haggled on the price,

and I bouuuughhhtt it!

So now I'm the happy owner of a

Mercedes c230 Kompressor.

I spent most of the day filling out paper work

and doing "Ijustboughtacar" kinds of things.

And of course tonight I had to drive it out to show The Boy

and we celebrated the purchase with dinner at panera.

So excited and so grateful for this blessing!

Apparently Panera's music wasn't good enough...so we played our own ;)

018.

2012-01-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

I was halfway thru the day before I realized...

Happy 7 months dearest Boy.

The most wonderful 7 of my life,

for sure :)

017.

2012-01-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

The first work day after an extra long weekend

is always a struggle.

More emails and work to catch up on than usual

and more sweet weekend memories than usual to daydream about

instead of doing the work you're supposed to be doing.

But I made it through and tomorrow is wednesday which is midweek.

yay!

Also, please note, this is not a blurry picture of my little brother,

it's a picture of his rat/mouse (ok it's a hampster) perched on his shoulder.

016.

2012-01-16T12:47:00.000-08:00

Growing up, national holidays didn't usually mean

very much to me, because we rarely got them off for school.

But I've recently found a whole new appreciation for them

because they usually mean The Boy doesn't have to work

and therefore I get to spend an extra day with him!

Today being MLK day meant that it was one of those days.

We ran errands,

played settlers of catan

(it's his favorite board game and I'm working on learning it.)

and went to little brothers basketball games.

Days that we spend together doing ordinary

every day life sort of things are my favorite

kinds of days :)

015.

2012-01-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

Highlight of today...?
A walk to the park with The Boy and several of the littles
where The Boy stole Sam's bike for a few minutes
so that he could ride it with me standing on the pegs.
Iiiiit was an adventure I tell ya :)

Also, we watched the new Planet of the Apes
which is one of the strangest
dumbest movies I've ever seen.

014.

2012-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today was like a day long date with the boy...

I knew he was coming over but wasn't sure what time

and was awakened at a little before ten

( know...Iiiii am a lazy bum)

by a text message from him saying "omw".

Boy speak that is translated "On my way"

not to be confused with "Oh my word".

Which has definitely happened several times :)

He had some schoolwork and workwork to do,

I had some workwork to do as well...

funny how I enjoy answering emails and editing

so much more when I'm sitting on the couch

next to him while doing those things ;)

And tonight he took me on a "dape."

(what Benjamin and I used to call

dates when we were little:)

We had dinner at Olive Garden where I stuffed

myself full of breadsticks, salad,

and chicken parmigiana.

Which btw, is pronounced

chicken parmigian, not chicken parmigian-UH.

You live and you learn...

And then we went and saw War Horse!

One of the prettiest movies I've seen in a long time...

013.

2012-01-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

I got to go to Sam and Lawsons

basketball games tonight.

I don't get to go to very many since they're

usually really far away and I'm usually

still working when they leave for the games.

Lawsons team (the ten and under A team)

is just the cutest thing in the world to watch.

They're all so little but so good...

We ran to Quiktrip in between games

for $1 hot dogs and taquitos.

Quiktrip is just one of my favorite places ever.

Their cheerful upbeat employees that always say

"see ya next time!" whenever you leave,

their super clean happy stores, their endless options of drinks,

and $1 taquitos + hot dogs...

(hot dogs for the people who eat hot dogs, NOT me)

how much better could it get?!

011.

2012-01-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

"Still my soul be still

and do not fear though winds of change may rage tomorrow

God is at your side

no longer dread the fires of unexpected sorrow.

God you are my God

And I will trust in your and not be shaken

Lord of peace renew a steadfast spirit within me

To rest in you alone

Still my soul be still

do not be moved by lesser lights and fleeting shadows

hold onto his ways

with shield of faith against temptations flaming arrows

Still my soul be still

do not forsake the Truth you learned in the beginning

wait upon the Lord

and hope will rise as stars appear when day is dimming."

Listened to this song at least 10 times today.

So gorgeous.

And so needed on this day.

010.

2012-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Today's Ben's last day home before he heads back to college,

so we spent the day staring at his face

and storing it up to for the next 4 months that he'll be gone.

Jk about the staring part.

We did go to Raising Canes for lunch

(I'm super not impressed with their food)

where I won...

...a slice of toast.

(Also not impressed with their prizes)

But mom made up for it with the most delicious

last meal for Benjamin tonight

Roast, potatoes, green beans and sweet tea.

Oh man, it was good.

We stayed up late watching a movie

and watching finish up packing,

and then we had to say goodbye before we went to bed

because he is leaving at 4:30 am tomorrow.

009.

2012-01-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Today marked the close of my

very lovely winter vacation.

I enjoyed time away from my computer,

late late nights watching movies and talking on the phone,

sleeping in, staying in my pj's all day,

coffee with friends, and dates with The Boy.

But I'm excited to be back to work.

Really, I am.

I'm excited about all the ideas

I have for the new year,

the weddings and portrait sessions I have coming up,

and all the unknown possibilities that this year holds for me :)

008.

2012-01-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

A year ago today I saw The Boy (at church)

for the first time in a year and a half.

I said hi and that it was nice to see him, then moved on.

Today I walked into church holding that same Boy's hand...

who I'm happy to say is now my best friend + boy friend.

Happy how things change, yes?

The boy took me out for an impromptu date tonight,

impromptu is my favorite,

and he is my favorite,

and I got to wear some of the new clothes

that he bought me for Christmas,

so it was lovely obviously :)

I look like a cheeseball, I know.

I just wanted a picture of my adooorable shirt that

The Boy bought me for Christmas from Neimans.

It's really the darlingest shirt ever, this picture does not do it justice :)

007.

2012-01-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Boy and I fiiinally got to open our Christmas presents

from each other this morning and it was kind of alot of fun :)

This afternoon we went to a friends wedding

and I told him as we were walking up to the reception

that as much as I love shooting weddings

I'm really liking getting to go to weddings

as a guest, and with a date ;)

Finished the day at Grandmommy and Pa's house

where we ate yum food and watched football.

006.

2012-01-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

Today was crazy gorgeous,

especially for January.

It got up to 70 degrees and we had

the windows open all day in the house.

It feels like spring which is kind of not

fair because then I get excited for Summer.

Tonight the Robinsons came over for dinner.

For the first 12 years of my life almost

every friday night was spent at their house,

laughing, swimming, and playing,

into the wee hours of the morning.

I love the happy comfortable feeling you have

when you're around people that although you may not

see them all the time anymore...they're still just like family :)

My hair was feeling a little bit anne of green gable-ish tonight.

Some of my favorite verses :)

005.

2012-01-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

I'm wringing out these last few days

of everyone being home and nooo work!

The whole famfam went to lunch at chipotle today

and ate OUTside because it was so gorgeously warm.

Seriously, if it hadn't of been for the slightly chilly breeze

I would have run home to go lay out by the pool. :)

Had a doctors app. this afternoon to have my stitches removed

(first stitches ever!)

and it was really weird/gross feeling.

My doctors office is riiiiight across the street from IKEA

and I've been searching for a new desk chair for a while now so...

I went to IKEA where I found the exact kind of chair I've been wanting

and I also bought a new comforter.

After that it became a little bit of a

"if you give a mouse a cookie scenario"

because after buying the new chair and comforter

I of course needed some new throw pillows to go

with the comforter which reminded me that

I had a gift card to bed bath and beyond so

I had to go there next to look for some

cute accessories :)

I came home and while assembling my chair realized

that I am absolutely terrible at using a screw driver and wrench

and Sam had to come rescue me and basically finish the chair himself.

It felt pretty lame that I couldn't figure out 6 bolts/screws all by myself,

but I'm grateful for brothers who are smart about those things :)

Then of course two of the boys decided that they absolutely HAD

to have a haircut at 9 PM, so we bartered back rubs for haircuts

and made it happen :)

Life is just so much fun :)

004.

2012-01-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today was gloooor-ree-yus.

Dan & Bethany were in town for an interview

that Dan had scheduled

so since Bethany was going to be alone all day

while Dan was interviewing

and The Boy was working

I got to keep her company!

We did starbucks,

lunch downtown with The Boy,

shopped for some new furniture for The Boy,

and watched a movie.

The Boy came home from work

I cooked dinner and we got to hang out

for the rest of the night, hooray!

We went for a walk and he made me laugh,

and then when it got to cold to be outside any longer

we came inside and he beasted me at a board game...but just barely ;)

I'm starting to catch up on the large deficit of time with The Boy

that had grown during the 2 weeks he was gone.

Spaghetti, cheesy garlic bread, chicken, and IBC rootbeer--his favorite.

003.

2012-01-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Today was the day I've been counting down to

for the last 2+ weeks.

I picked up The Boy from the airport this morning

and spent the rest of the day smiling from ear to ear

just because I got to be near him again.

We had lunch together, watched a movie,

and then tonight we got to have dinner with Bethany and Dan.

(who we've decided to sometimes call "bil," short for brother in law.)

They're only in town for 2 days, so we're going to make

the most of their time here :)

Oh happy day, The Boy and is back in

the same state as me :)

Every now and then we practice our attractive faces,

just to make sure we've still "got it."

Dan & Bethany brought me a Christmas present and it was

this DARLING lens mug that I've wanted for a while...isn't it the cutest?

002.

2012-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

No pictures today.

That's a weird first :P

Today I felt a little bit like a kid

on Christmas Eve, because

The Boy of all boys comes home tomorrow

and I can't wait to see his face.

So all day long I felt like I was just trying to

keep myself busybusy stopping every 5 minutes

to wonder whenwillitbetimetogotobedalready?!?!

For the second year in a row I took all

of HSAA's (the athletic association that my siblings play sports through)

basketball team pictures. It amused me so much to watch

the differences between the guys teams and the girls teams.

From the 10 and under teams

all the way up to varsity it was the same.

The girls all came with their hair curled

and fixed pretty, make-up on, and worrying

about wether or not their uniform made them look "fat."

The guys on the other hand, goofed off the entire time

and begged to please not have to smile in the pictures

and look like weenies.

It was a fun evening to say the least :)

001.

2012-01-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

The first day of a new year always feels

rather nostalgic and special to me.

Thinking back over all the unexpected twists and turns

my life's taken over the past year

and imagining all the possibilities

that the coming year holds.

One of my favorite quotes is from

Elizabeth Browning and she says:

"Dwell in possibility."

I loooove that perspective.

I realize that there should be a balance

to everything, and that I probably

hang out a little to much on the

castles in the sky dreamland side of things,

but goodness,

it's just so much fun sometimes I can't help it :)

And so on this one day a year I allow

myself to over-indulge in dreaming about

all the possibilities and "what ifs"

the next year holds for me.

Happy Happy thoughts indeed :)

Oh hey Luke...hey.

My absolutely adorable new winter dress shoes that I'm in love with.

365.

2011-12-31T22:26:00.000-08:00

Did you see that number at the top??

365.

I can't think of anything else that I have ever

done 365 days in a row without stopping once.

I realize it's not some amazing feat

that I was able to take 2 pictures a day

for an entire year,

but it was a bother at times.

I can't tell you how many times I would be laying in bed

about to fall asleep and I'd remember that I hadn't taken

a self portrait yet.

I'd stumble out of bed in the darkness

grumbling to myself about what a stupid idea this was...

and take a self portrait.

Self portraits at midnight when you're half asleep

are not attractive I tell you :)

But it was a fun way to document the year.

And I'm so so glad I did it.

One of the main reasons I started this was because

I've always wished I was a better journaler,

but I'm just not.

I never remember to write every night

and I'm not good at recording day to day life.

So I knew I needed to come up with a way to

document my life daily, and then be kept

accountable for it.

Hence the two pictures every day and a blog

to keep me accountable :)

And I did it.

365 pictures of the day

and 364 self portraits.

The year 2011 in 729 pictures.

I only missed one day of self portraits

because I really did think I had taken one

and didn't realize until the next day when I went

to post it that I in fact, hadn't :(

boo.

I'm type A and that one miss is

really going to drive me nuts.

I'm working on getting over it.

moving on...

I've been thinking about wether or not I want to continue

with this idea into the next year,

and I've gone back and forth about it.

I love having a whole year documented.

I love being able to go back and get a daily peek into my life.

I so quickly forget things, and I hate that.

So I think I will continue...

just with a few little changes to the rules.

I don't have to post EVERY day.

If I miss a day here and there, it's ok.

Also, the self portraits don't have to be taken by me.

The reason for the self portrait in the first place

was to have pictures of me

(when I was young and hip--haha)

to show my kids someday.

That may sound super cheesy,

but if my mom could pull out a book

full of pictures of her from when she was 22

and little descriptions of what her day to day life was like

I would looooove that.

Hopefully I will someday have a kid as sappy and sentimental

as myself who will appreciate the effort.

But I'd rather have pictures of me that are more than

just my face, so my "self portraits"

don't have to be taken by me, I just have to be in the picture :)

And I want more people in my portraits,

I want to end up with lots of pictures of me with people

who are important to me :)

(hello family, get ready to be photographed!)

Also, my goal when I write is not to write for the readers

but to write for myself and hoped for future kidlets.

I felt like a lot of the time this year I would catch myself explaining

who people were or what certain things meant...

but I really want the writing style to be just like I would

write in a journal to my littles.
Some of my favorite verses are Deut. 4:9-10b

“Only take heed toyourself, and diligently keep yourself,

lest you forget the things your eyeshave seen,

and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.

And teach them to your children andyour grandchildren,

…and I willlet them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me

all the days they liveon the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

This blog is just one way that I want to "take heed"

and do my best to not forget the things I have seen.

I want to be diligent about recording the goodness of my God

who "daily loads us with benefits"

so that someday I will remember and tell my children all about it.

So this next year I'll change things up a little,

but the (almost) daily posts with continue :)

Looking back over this year...

6 internships and 13 interns,

first out of the country trip/wedding,

crazy roadtrip with a few besties,

The Boy who's made me smile every day for the last 6+ months,

first family vacation in foreeeever,

trip to indiana to meet The Boy's family,

visits from two of my out of state besties,

my first jury duty,

the best Christmas present ever,

The Boy graduating

AND

his family visiting,

God's graciousness in letting us keep our dad for a while longer,

...oh snaps it's been a good year :)

And looking forward:

"...the land which you cross over to posses

is a land of hills and valleys,

which drinks water from the rain of heaven,

a land for which the Lord your God cares;

the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it,

from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year."

Deut. 11:11-12

So, here's to another year of Authenticity!

Happy New Year!

p.s. I'm absolutely terrible at scategories. really I am.

364.

2011-12-30T17:27:00.000-08:00

Today all the boys went golfing

and the girls went to the American Girl store in Dallas.

I remember the first time I went to the American Girl store

in Chicago, and I was completely enamored with it all...

But good grief, that place is just a little bit overwhelming.

Two whole stories of dolls, and clothes, and accessories.

Everyone met back at Grandmommy and Pa's house

for Pizza and football/movie tonight :)

It was funny because yesterday Mollie got out

and was lost for most of the afternoon.

We eventually found her because someone had put up

"found dog" signs all over the neighborhood.

Then tonight some neighborhood boys

brought a tiny white puppy to our door

and said they found her in the alley

so we took her and said we'd try to find the owners.

We took a picture, made signs, and started putting them up

and within 5 minutes of mom putting the first one up

the owners called us asking where we were because it was their dog.

It was nice to be able to help someone else

the same way someone had just helped us :)

363.

2011-12-29T15:25:00.000-08:00

Doctors app. this morning

Then ice skating with the cousins

Dad came home from the hospital this evening (yay!)

just in time for dinner with the cousins + aunt&uncle + grandparents

and opening gifts with them :)

362.

2011-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

The first few hours of today were spent

in the ICU waiting room.

Although we found out around midnight

that Dad was going to be ok,

we stayed until he got settled into his room

and we could all go in and see him.

When mom called and told all of us that

we needed to get up to the hospital quickly,

most people we're already in bed, and everyone was in their pj's

hence my self portrait of the day in my pajama's,

boots, hoodie, and messy bun.

Today my aunt, uncle, and cousins flew in from San Fran,

AND my grandmother turned 29 ;)

After getting to bed around 3

and sleeping in a little bit,

we spent the rest of the day in between the hospital,

birthday celebrations, and hanging out with the cousins.

361.

2011-12-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Today was probably one of the most

eventful days of my life.

Not something I want to repeat.

Without going into a whole lot of detail,

my dad went into the hospital with chest pain tonight

and the doctors told him when he got there

that he'd had a heart attack.

Praise the Lord that he went when he did

because they were able to clean out all the blockage

before any further damage was done.

Needless to say it was a stressful scary night for our family

but we're so grateful that God spared our dad's life!

360.

2011-12-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Highlight of the day was definitely skyping The Boy.

I asked him if he could just keep our skype

open all day long and his computer near him,

so that we could have like a live feed

going between us throughout the day...

but he didn't think that was a good idea for some reason.

I don't know why ;)

In his defense, he had no idea that I was taking

the screen shot below when I took it, so he's def not posing ;)

He's just naturally that good looking all the time :)

Christmas presents from besties are a favorite.

Especially when they're wrapped like this :)

359.

2011-12-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Meeerrrrry Christmas!

My favorite part of every Christmas is the few hours

we have as just our family on Christmas morning.

Even though we're a (kind of) big family

everyone's always bought presents for everyone,

even the little ones.

Those are my absolute favorite presents.

They're always funny and sweet, alot of times

they were less than $5, but a lot of thought

and special wrapping went into the process,

and it makes it so much fun.

After family stockings and presents this morning

we got ready and went to Church

where Rachel and I sang a duet.

I love singing with her!

We had our usual HUGE Christmas lunch at Mimi's.

Stuffed ourselves, and then hung out and

watched football for the rest of the afternoon.

This evening we came back to the house

and Grandmommy and Pa came over.

Grandmommy brought boatloads of delicious food

we had a fire, and opened presents.

Todays self portrait is of my darling boots

and leg warmers that I'm kind of in love with.

The aftermath of Christmas with 11 people :)

358.

2011-12-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve!

We started our Christmas festivities with

our usual hopping from house to house,

first our aunts for our big lunch/dinner

and opening presents with one set of grandparents + aunts.

Then to the next grandparents house for

dessert and more presents!

I left all my wrapping for my family until tonight...

so I think I'll be up rather late doing that :)

You can't really tell...but Luke decided to add some festivity

to his outfit by tucking his jeans into his red socks. Awesome-ness.

357.

2011-12-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

"Oh let me ne'er forget

that tho the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the ruler yet."

356.

2011-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

In case you didn't know,

the song "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"

can be sung to the tune of

"O Sing a Song of Sixpence."

I know this because Rachel and I did it this morning.

You should try it :)

355.

2011-12-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Today I wore a bright red Christmas sweater

with snowflakes on it,

a bright red ribbon in my hair,

and painted my nails Christmas red and gold.

3 days until Christmas! :)

354.

2011-12-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Shopping day number way to many.

I found that pink shirt today at Target.

Really people? Who wants to wear a shirt like that?

bleck.

Today while at the mall I overheard a mom tell her little girl:

"You need to get to know your aunt.

She's about to be a plastic surgeon

who makes millions of dollars."

Oh boy.

I came home with a super awful headache

tonight, and Emma dear decided to play with

my hair to help it go away.

She's the cute nice one in the picture

I'm the frizzy ridiculous one :)

353.

2011-12-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

Moooore Christmas shopping today

in the ever increasing madness that grows

with every day that brings us closer to the holidays.

Plus also, I miss The Boy.

352.

2011-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

Even though he officially finished his last

under grad class in August,

The Boy officially walked the stage today

and received his diploma!

I'm so so proud of him :)

We celebrated with a little get together at

our house afterwards with

our two families and some friends...

So much laughter and happiness!

Tomorrow The Boy leaves me

for a way to long.

Yay for Skype, right??

351.

2011-12-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

The Boy's Family is here!!

They drove in from Indiana this afternoon

and we spent the rest of the day hanging out,

throwing the frisbee and baseball,

(Jeremy is super impressed with

my baseball throwing skills:)

eating, talking, and opening presents :)

The Boy's family had bought and packed

several presents for me and I got to open them all tonight.

Jeremy (The Boy's brother) gave me a hard time

all afternoon about how they didn't have any room for their

suitcases on the way down here because my presents

took up all the room in the trunk.

I am now the owner of a lot of Michigan Wolverines apparel

(i.e. two t-shirts, a snuggie, and a hoodie)

But don't you worry, I'm still a Longhorn first and foremost

but I'm also quickly becoming one of Michigan's

biggest fans :)

They also gave me a whole picnic set,

basket, dishes, blanket, etc.

to use when The Boy and I go on picnic dates.

Cutest thing ever!

Disclaimer: I didn't take this picture.

But it's my absolute fav from the day so I'm breaking the rules :)

350.

2011-12-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

Spent the day cleaning and getting ready

for The Boy's family to come!

I've been counting down the days for

this weekend to get here, so happy it's finally here!

Started doing my first bit of Christmas wrapping tonight

while listening to Christmas music...

I love this time of year!

One of my favorite books in the whole Bible.

349.

2011-12-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

Tonight Emma love came into my room

and asked if she could sleep on my floor.

She looks like a little angel :)

348.

2011-12-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

The weather's turned super nasty just in time

for all the holiday shopping/parties/running around.

Driving to Choir tonight it was raining so hard

I felt like I was driving through a monsoon :P

In other (much happier news)

The Boy's family will be here in

less than 3 days! :)

347.

2011-12-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I have boatloads of

Christmas presents left to buy,

I spent almost the entire day out

with the siblings trying to remedy that situation.

Every year I get all stressed out while shopping

in the holiday craziness

and promise myself that I will get my Christmas shopping

done waaaay before the middle of December next year...

and every year I wait until December to start shopping.

When will I learn??

346.

2011-12-12T22:57:00.000-08:00

My first day of Christmas break

was spent sleeping in

reading

and working on Christmas gifts.

So excited that the holidays are finally here!

345.

2011-12-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

Church

Wedding shower

Rest

Skyping with The Boy

and crazy hair.

That's what my sunday was made of :)

344.

2011-12-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a very loooong and happy day.

Spent the first half of the day at a

family Christmas party/reunion for my mom's side of the family

and the second half with The Boy!

The Boy and I were supposed to be taking

a little girl from his church ice-skating,

but soon after we got there we found out that they

were closing for their big Christmas ice-skating show

and Christmas tree lighting.

So we decided to just watch the ice-skating show

with Ashley and then come back next month

so we could actually go ice-skating.

After that the Boy and I went out to dinner

with several friends and then to see a movie.

We had to rush through dinner a little bit and

still thought that we were going to be a few minutes

late for the movie, only to find out when we got there

that they were having trouble with the projector and didn't

end up getting it started until about 30 minutes after we got there.

And then to top it all off, we all got free tickets to use next time

because we had to wait so long.

Score!

I didn't get home until almost midnight,

and it wasn't until I was already in bed half asleep

that I realized I hadn't taken a self portrait today.

Hence the very sleepy face :)

343.

2011-12-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

Today was just the loooveliest of days.

I went shopping and out to lunch with

3 dear friends who I hadn't hung out with in forever

and we had so much fun talking

and catching up on life in general in between

trying on clothes and eating delicious soup from Panera.

Then it was time to get home so that I could

spend hours (just kidding, only like, one hour)

getting ready for my super fun date tonight.

And what was the super fun date??

Ohhh, well. Lemme tell ya.

The Boy and I went with two other couples

to see the Nutcracker Ballet downtown :)

We had dinner at an adorable little italian bistro

in sundance square and then walked through the Christmas lights

to Bass Hall for the Nutcracker.

And then afterwards we walked in the freezing cold

to the cutest little gelato shop where we got, uh, gelato.

Chocolate hazelnut for muah, and mint chocolate chip for The Boy.

That Boy of mine...is the best :)

342.

2011-12-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Finished wrapping up Christmas presents

to all my couples from this past year,

AND finished everything else that absolutely

had to be done (work-wise) by the end of the year.

So happy :)

I read "The Help" over Thanksgiving weekend

and tonight mom and I watched the movie.

SO good.

The acting was amazing, I love the time period,

and it was just such a well told story.

I'm kind of really ecstaticly happy about my christmas wrapping this year :)

341.

2011-12-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Today is day three hundred and forty one.

I can't believe I'm so close to finishing a whole year

of self portraits and pictures of the day.

Having to write and post pictures every day

has been a good reminder of how quickly time flies...

340.

2011-12-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

Got my check today for doing jury duty,

It was nice to regain a little bit of

my tax money :)

There's really nothing else interesting to

say about today, I just worked.

All day.

And got alot done.

That is all.

339.

2011-12-05T18:50:00.001-08:00

Spent the late morning/lunchtime/intotheafternoon

with Grandaddy Garner and Grandma Myra

because today is Grandaddy Garner's Birthday.

(Or, as the Boy likes to call him, G-diddy-G)

Worked from 3-8:30 today, almost non-stop.

Not my normal, preferred work hours,

but hey, when you work for yourself

you get to be flexible with when work actually happens.

338.

2011-12-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

Today was just lovely.

Went to church with the Boy

Was introduced to boba tea by the Boy

Went Christmas shopping (at our favorite store: Target) with the Boy

Ran through the rain with the Boy

Went to Starbucks with the Boy

Laughed at the Boy

I'm not exactly sure why today was so wonderful

but if I had to guess,

I think it has something to do with that Boy ;)

(sorry about the sap--I just can't help myself sometimes)

337.

2011-12-03T18:42:00.001-08:00

I have sneezed and coughed

approximately 107 times today,

and I do not exaggerate.

I hate how the end of a cold kind of

drags on for forever.

I'm currently in that stage where I am

SO over being sick, my body doesn't feel

very sick, but I have a constant tickle in my

nose and throat making the coughing and sneezing

almost incessant.

And really, lets get down to the main issue here.

I currently have myself on a strict (almost)

NO sugar diet in hopes that it will speed

the recovery process.

But who wants to be on a no sugar diet

when there are cookies, and egg nog,

and hot chocolate to be had??

336.

2011-12-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

"Redeemed and so happy in Jesus

No language my rapture can tell"

Things that made me smile today:

finishing and mailing off

FOUR client discs.

When I went to the post office to mail them

my postman asked for my "autograph"

instead of my signature on the receipt.

He always does that, and it always makes me smile.

Getting to help a dear friend with a last minute

graphic design problem.

Sometimes, life is hard, and hurts a little bit.

But all of the time, life is good.

Because I serve a God who gives only good gifts.

It's all about choosing an attitude of gratefulness.

335.

2011-12-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

December 1st!

I know it's cliche, but seriously,

how is it December already??

I spent the day workingworkingworking

because my be-done-with-all-my-work

goal is only 6 business days away.

And I think I'm gonna make it :)

334.

2011-11-30T21:46:00.000-08:00

I woke up quite sick this morning

sore throat, headache, coughing, etc.

I tried to get up and work for a little while

but ended up back in bed with my laptop so that

I could attempt to at least do a little work from bed.

But that didn't last long either, I finally just laid down

and half slept while watching a movie...

Tonight everyone was home

which between work, school, basketball, etc.

is a very rare thing around here so we celebrated

by going out to dinner together.

I still wasn't feeling good at all

so I took some nyquil and hoped that I wouldn't

fall asleep in the middle of dinner.

I definitely felt a little loopy and drugged all evening,

but it was fun to be all together as a family...

I love those guys alot :)

One of the brothers doesn't like having his picture taken apparently.

333.

2011-11-29T23:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my dad's last ministry dinner for the year

and this one was in Dallas.

The Boy came and I got to show him off to a lot

of our friends that hadn't met him yet

and that was so much fun :)

332.

2011-11-28T23:18:00.000-08:00

This morning started with a run to Care Now with The Boy

after he got up and realized his knee had unexplainably

swollen up to were it looked like there was

a baseball sitting on his knee cap.

The doctor couldn't figure out why it was swollen

but just sent him home with

anti-inflammatories to make it go down.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting back

into the groove of working.

My goal is to wrap up all my work that needs to be

finished by the end of the year in two weeks,

and then have two weeks off for the holidays before

it all starts back up again.

331.

2011-11-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Boy flew back today and I picked him up

this morning before church.

The plan was to head straight to church from the airport,

but the dear Boy was sick sick from so much fun

with his family over the weekend.

Which meant that I got to take him back to my house

and take care of him all day :)

Tonight we had a fire and watched

Home Alone with the fam...

hello Christmas season I'm so happy you're here :)

330.

2011-11-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

This morning I donned a navy shirt

and put a yellow ribbon in my hair in preparation

for watching the Michigan vs. Ohio St game.

The Longhorns always have and always will be

my favorite college football team

but The Boy's team is Michigan so I think that

I could maybe work on having two favorites :)

And since Ohio St is their biggest rival

this was not a game I could miss. ;)

p.s. Michigan won. wootwoot!

This afternoon I put up the Christmas decorations in my room

I just love my little Christmas tree so so much.

329.

2011-11-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas music

Putting up the Christmas Tree and other decor

Finishing "The Help"

(such a good book, now I can see the movie)

doing zero work work

drinking hot chocolate with eggnog

watching Christmas specials on TV...

Today was super lovely :)

328.

2011-11-24T22:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

After getting up at 4:20 to take the Boy

to the airport

(I must really like that guy or something)

I came back, took a little nap,

and then got ready for two more

Thanksgiving celebrations!

The first was with mimi's (my dad's mom) side of the family

and the second was with

grandmommy and pa (my mom's parents).

The cowboys (who I could really care less about)

and the Longhorns (who I definitely care about)

both won today, and they both won with

a field goal in the last few moments of the game.

Today is a day of giving thanks

and while there are so many things

that I could (obviously) be grateful for,

I won't post them all here.

I'll just touch on one thing that I've been

mulling over a lot the past few days:

I'm grateful for a God who gives good gifts,

always and only.

Like Psalm 16 says:

"My goodness is nothing apart from you..."

Oh, and guess what else?

We have now entered the guilt free

listen to Christmas music as much as you want zone :)

327.

2011-11-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

I am so so happy that the holidays are here!

Today I just worked a half day

and now I'm off until Monday, hooray!

Tonight we did our Thanksgiving with

my dads dad and stepmom and his sisters

and the Boy came with us.

Afterwards we came home and watched

our two traditional Thanksgiving movies:

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

and

The First Thanksgiving.

The boy is spending the night tonight

because I'm taking him to the airport tomorrow morning

at o'dark thirty so he can spend the weekend with his fam.

326.

2011-11-22T19:18:00.001-08:00

Here's how today basically went:

Edit pictures for a few hours

go practice piano

edit for another hour or two

play the piano some more

then more editing

and finally dinner

and a little more piano playing

before I talked to the Boy.

I don't normally enjoy practicing so much

but I'm working on fun Christmas songs

and it was just such a nice break from

sitting hunched over my desk straining my eyes

for hours on end.

And in the end I'm done with

all the editing I needed to get done

and I can now play 4 Christmas songs

almost completely without mistakes :)

I rarely get excited about new apps

but I was pretty happy when I read that this one

had just been released this morning.

325.

2011-11-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

This week is a two day work week for me.

Which means that today I had to buckle down

and mow through boatloads of editing and other work.

It turned freezing here the other day

and my fingers almost fell off this afternoon while editing...

It was cloudy and gray most of the day

and then late this afternoon it started raining and has

poured rain pretty steadily ever since.

I love it.

I can't believe that we only have

a few more days of Fall left to enjoy.

In just 4 days we'll be decorating the house

from top to bottom with Christmas decor,

listening to Christmas music,

watching Christmas movies,

and be in full blown winter/holiday mode :)

Tonight I started reading Ann Voskamps One Thousand Gifts

for the second time...seems appropriate

to read a book about learning gratefulness

the week of thanksgiving :)

324.

2011-11-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

Spent the whole day with the Boy + my family

Mostly laughing so hard.

Because they're the best :)

323.

2011-11-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

Spent half the day with the boy

and the other half shooting my last wedding of the year.

The church that the wedding/reception was held at

was the coolest church I've ever shot in.

I had to do most of the portraits indoors

because it was an evening wedding

and therefore it was dark outside during the time

that we took most of the pictures,

but I've never minded it so little.

322.

2011-11-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

I've never been so ready for the weekend...

Today I wrapped up bunches of

odds and ends kind of work,

and the cleaned the house from top to bottom

(well, almost top to bottom. minus the boys wing and playroom)

while the rest of the family was gone.

I really like cleaning when I have the house to myself.

Tonight was the kids expo night for Friday school.

Emma got to perform with her gymnastics class

it was the cutest thing :)

I'm hurrying off to bed now because

the Boy comes in the morning!

The sooner I go to sleep, the sooner he gets here :)

(it's kind of like Christmas morning)

321.

2011-11-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Had a wedding that had to be completely edited

and mailed off by 5 o'clock tonight

aaaand I did it!

My eyes were burning and my back was aching

from sitting in my uncomfortable desk chair

and staring at a computer screen all day

but I'm so glad to have that deadline past :)

Now just one more day until the weekend:

The Boy comes

I shoot my last wedding of the year

and I sing in our Thanksgiving Choir contata.

favorite mug. lovelove.

320.

2011-11-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

Just a normal busy Wednesday around here.

Dropped off the littlest guy for basketball conditioning

on my way to piano lessons this morning

and then picked him up on the way home.

Tried to get some work done this afternoon

in the midst of getting the house picked up

for mom and dad to come home,

feeding the kidlets lunch,

and listening to the annoying ice-cream truck man

who, despite the fact that it's november,

a school day,

and 53 degrees outside

still chose to cruise my neighborhood

driving us all crazy with his chime-y sounding music.

Then off to AWANAS and choir practice tonight

and back home just in time to talk to the Boy

and then fall into bed :)

319.

2011-11-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Today was an eventful day--

I had jury duty for the first time this morning

and I was very hopeful that it would

turn out to be something interesting,

but instead, after sitting in a room

with about 50 other adults

They said our case had been dismissed

and we could all go home.

laaaame.

Mom and Dad were in Houston all day

(and will be there until tomorrow)

so tonight I took the kidlets on a little wilderness adventure

through a little trail that I had noticed leading into the woods

behind our house a few days ago.

It was amaaazingly cool :)

I felt like a little kid, climbing down rocks

and over huge fallen trees in the fading sunlight

and ending up in this gully that led us to

a beautiful secluded little field that

was just bursting with fall color.

I know that Texas doesn't usually do the

colorful fall thing up very big,

but this was seriously gorgeous :)

We ended the night with pizza

and watching Captain America.

(trying to rack up the cool big sister points:)

318.

2011-11-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

"How dare we talk of making a sacrifice

for the Song of God!

We are saved from hell and total destruction,

and then we talk about making sacrifices!

...Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise

resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."

|| oswald chambers

Today I got boatloads of work done

early enough that I was able to go

to my brothers basketball game

AND the Boy came as well.

Oh happy day.

317.

2011-11-13T18:09:00.001-08:00

"...streams of mercy, never ceasing

call for songs of loudest praise."

Life would be so much pleasanter

if I could just keep that as my focus all the time.

316.

2011-11-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today's wedding-less saturday goals were:

cleaning/organizing my room from top to bottom

journaling

and working on a few Christmas

decor/gift ideas from pintrest.

Those plans were rudely interrupted

because by about 10:30 this morning

I started feeling kind of super sick :P

I managed to finish cleaning my room before

succumbing to my bed again and

I ended up staying there for most of the rest of the day.

boo.

Productive days that are interrupted by sickness are not a fav.

So many different kinds of clouds...I think I'm in love with them all.

315.

2011-11-11T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today I:

burned 11 client discs

got a box from B&H full of lovely new equipment

watched the old "cheaper by the dozen"

(I've forgotten how much of a favorite that is)

and

had an extra long phone date with the Boy.

So glad the weekend's here :)

314.

2011-11-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

Today was fuh-reezing.

I worked the entire morning/afternoon bundled up in

sweatpants+hoodie(with hood on my head)+thick socks.

And I still couldn't get warm.

This evening was my "country/barn"

engagement session and it was lovely.

And...

the moon was beautiful,

and the couple was fun,

and we randomly got to use

a vintage car in the shoot.

Awesome.

313.

2011-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

So, today was fun :)

The Boy's car is in the shop this week

which means that he has no car until Friday

(and possibly longer)

so.

That means that he has no way of getting out

and getting things he might need.

so.

I cooked up a fun little plan.

I went grocery shopping this morning,

then came home and made oatmeal raisin cookies,

then ran to piano lessons real quick,

then came home and made a yummy dinner for the Boy,

then I packed it (the dinner + all the groceries) all up and

drove out there to fill his pantry with yumm-ness.

It was so much fun.

And as it turns out he didn't have to go work today

(I wasn't originally planning on him being there,

I was just going to drop it all off and leave)

but he was there and as a little thank you he took me

adventuring in the wilderness.

Ok, not quite wilderness...but almost :)

See? Wilderness.

312.

2011-11-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

It was the beautiful Madre's birthday today,

so this after Luke's first basketball game

of the season this afternoon

we all went to dinner with the grandparents

at Saltgrass!

I love that place.

And I love this woman.

most favorite one ever.

311.

2011-11-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

Today was mostly rushed and somewhat stressful

but on the flip side I did get chic-fil-a for lunch

and I also got to drive around in the beautiful

country for over an hour this afternoon

trying to find the "perfect barn" for one of my clients.

And I found it :)

Can't wait to shoot here this Thursday.

310.

2011-11-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight I took advantage of the gorgeous weather

and went for a walk for a little while before dinner.

There won't be many more nights I'll be able to do that

before the wet cold winter sets in.

I kind of like the time change, and the way it all

of a sudden gets dark before dinner...

makes everything feel so cozy.

It's that time of year again,

for soup

and candles

and hoodies

and fires...

I tire of the wet cold rather quickly,

but for now, I'm excited about it :)

309.

2011-11-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

As I got ready for bed tonight

I was trying to remember if I'd taken a self portrait

at any point during the day.

I shot a wedding in Dallas all day

and I remembered that I took some shots

of the bride getting ready in a full length mirror

and had accidentally gotten myself in a few of them.

I was exhausted,

I didn't get home from the wedding until almost 1,

so I just quickly finished brushing my teeth and fell into bed.

Only to find, two days later when I'm actually posting this blog,

that yes, I did get a shot of myself in the mirror...

Can't you see me there in the corner,

that tiny sliver of me?

It counts, ok? :)

Shot from the roof of the building the reception was in.

I love bokeh.

308.

2011-11-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

Listened to a John Piper message today

while editing and I loved this quote:

[This] "...is what Christian women do:

They entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.

They hope in God.

And they triumph over fear."

|| Piper

I love scribbling :)

307.

2011-11-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

I just want to say:

I got SO much done today.

Yayay.

I'm drowning in work right now...

October was my busiest month so far this year

and I have an editing list a mile long

+ all my other normal day to day work to keep up with.

But today, I finished everything on my to-do list.

yessss.

And I shot an awesome senior session as well :)

306.

2011-11-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Had the sweetest conversation with the two

littlest kidlets on our way home from AWANAS tonight.

They told me all about what verses they said

and the games they played

and how the lesson tonight was about

milk and steak.

Haha...I cracked up when Emma told me that.

I love them.

I'm so addicted :)

305.

2011-11-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Highlight of today?

My size original peanut butter mood

from Jamba Juice.

I know it's probably the worst thing I could order

and super not healthy, and super fattening,

but I loved every minute of it.

Mmmm...so delicious.

I rarely get Jamba Juice because for some reason

even though I live in the heart of yuppy shopping meca

they've yet to see fit to build one within 25 minutes of me.

So since I was in Ft. Worth this afternoon/evening

with my dad helping with another ministry dinner

and there was a Jamba about 3 blocks away from

the country club we were at,

we managed to fit that into the schedule.

And I'll say it again

it was SO YUM.

These prints were hanging in the bathroom at the country club.

I so wanted to steal them.

304.

2011-10-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

All the way my Savior leads me.

Sometimes my hair does strange things

right out of the shower...

Psalm 16: one of my favorite chapters.

303.

2011-10-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

I think I felt my heart skip a beat

I'm standing here and I can hardly breathe

You got me, yeah you got me.

The way you take my hand is just so sweet

and that crooked smile of yours

it knocks me off my feet...

302.

2011-10-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Favorite part of my day:

skyping with the Boy.

301.

2011-10-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back home,

and the Rangers lost.

glad we got all that behind us :)

300.

2011-10-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

After being very skeptical about the

probability of us getting snow today

I woke up this morning to about 1 inch of snow on the ground

and lots of huge wet flakes falling from the sky.

My dad and I were planning on getting up

and going hiking in palo duro canyon

but since the weather didn't permit for that

we just drove out there so that I could at least see the

"grand canyon of Texas"

It was gorgeous and the snow only

enhanced the beauty of it all.

Tonight was dad's last dinner out here

and it was a great dinner.

The guy who was there to do the entertainment

for the dinner was amaaaazing.

He sounded just like Josh Groban.

And then to top off a lovely night

the Rangers had to go and let a chance at

winning the world series slip right through their fingers :P

299.

2011-10-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

Another day on the road

Lubbock > Amarillo.

They're saying it might snow tomorrow,

that'll be an interesting twist to our trip!

"Sandwiches need chips, shoulders do not."

298.

2011-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

My dad asked me a few days ago

if I was available to travel with him

this week and help him put on

two ministry dinners in the panhandle...

I had a shoot Monday night and Saturday morning

and he was going to be traveling Tuesday-Friday

so it was a perfect fit!

So this morning we left to head to Lubbock, TX

and after driving all afternoon we finally got here

just in time to set up for his first dinner.

I love doing events/dinners/banquets,

really anything of that nature.

And helping getting to help my dad with

his ministry dinners is extra fun.

I ran the registration table, took pictures,

and helped wherever else I was needed...

so glad to be able to be a part of my dad's ministry!

We drove thru Benjamin, Texas this afternoon...

made me miss my brother.

297.

2011-10-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

After work this morning/afternoon

I went to visit my mandolin girl in the hospital.

Even in the midst of so much pain and sickness

the dear girl is full of smiles and hilarious FB statuses,

and wants to make sure that God is glorified

in her words and attitudes.

I love her so much.

I went straight from the hospital to

a senior session right in the midst of

the yummiest sunset.

Tonight I talked to my boy,

the Rangers won,

and I'm going to bed before midnight.

win.

296.

2011-10-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday School

Church

Lunch with the fam + Boy

Movie with the Boy

Homemade Oatmeal cookies for dinner

and a walk at dusk.

After only seeing him once over the last 3 weeks,

so ends the loveliest 3 day weekend with the Boy.

295.

2011-10-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

After two straight days of busy-ness

and walking my legs off

it was nice to just do simple things all day.

I slept in,

cleaned my room and bathroom,

cut the Boys' hair,

enjoyed a little piano concert put on by the Boy,

and then wen't to a chili/homemade ice-cream

cook-off at our church :)

294.

2011-10-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Best day ever.

The company my Boy works for

does things every so often as perks for their employees.

So this month they told everyone that they were going

to rent out Six Flags for employees only and everyone

got to bring their family or girlfriend/boyfriend to join in the fun!

So after hanging out with Jean and the Boy all morning,

we dropped her off at the airport (the only sad part of today)

and headed for Six Flags! :)

We got in free, they had a huge yummy dinner for free,

they gave everyone 20 "daffy ducks" to spend in the park,

and noooo lines at the rides! :)

I had so much fun,

met lots of people that my boy works with

screamed loud on lots of rides (the poor boys ears),

didn't go into a single haunted house,

squeezed his arm tight on the scary rides

(I generally dislike roller coasters. A lot.)

aaaaand we rode the swings (TWICE)

yesssss.

He is so much my favorite,

and I love every second I get to spend with him.

293.

2011-10-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Fall and the state fair just go hand in hand.

For whatever reason Jean (who's from Georgia)

adores all things Texas and I was glad that it worked out

for us to go to the fair the week that she was here.

We ate extremely over-priced fattening food,

walked a million miles,

watched an acrobat show

and a pig race,

saw the biggest horses I've ever seen,

and (best part) rode the swings.

I heart the fair :)

A crooked view of the Fair + the Dallas skyline from the swings.

292.

2011-10-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

Day two of Jean's stay here

and I introduced her to shopping in Dallas--

Sam Moons and the 3rd biggest mall in America :)

After getting our fill of shopping we got all dooded up

and went out to take pictures.

We ended the day with mexican food

and watching the Rangers WIN their

first world series game this season.

Yeah!

This is what happens when you try to take a self portrait

of you and a friend with your 50mm lens on your camera.

291.

2011-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

My Jean friend came today!

I haven't seen her since last April

and she's here until Friday, hooray! :)

After picking her up this morning

we left almost immediately for E. Texas

because my dad was hosting a banquet for his ministry

and I was helping with registration and set-up.

And Jean was a dear and came along for the ride.

It was a looong day,

almost 3 hours in the car on the way there,

then set-up and registration and dinner

then clean up and 2 and 1/2 hour drive home.

soso tired.

But, a fun highlight of the evening was

being serenaded by a barbershop quartet.

They were there as the entertainment for the dinner tonight

and as I was busy cleaning up the reg table

they came over to Jean and I

and said they needed to sing us a song.

I recorded the whole thing and you can listen to it here :)

290.

2011-10-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

Starting tomorrow my week gets very busy

with happy things and the busy-ness won't end

until the end of the week, so today was cram day.

I tried to get as much work as possible done

while also trying to catch up on laundry

and keep the house clean since the parentals

were coming home tonight after being gone for 5 days.

The house isn't perfectly clean,

and the laundry isn't all completely done,

but mom and dad are home and I no longer

have to be the one that says things like

"no you cannot have a snack 1 hour after the lunch

you refused to finish because you were 'full.'"

Look what came in the mail for me today from my boyfriends fam!

Soso happy about this :)

289.

2011-10-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Good Sundays are made up of

challenging messages

and naps

and reading

and favorite talks with the boy.

Emma drew me this picture this afternoon and said it was me.

I had no idea my lips were so big :)

288.

2011-10-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

Shot a wedding in E. Texas today

at the most gorgeous location--

Lake Tyler Petroleum Club.

It was probably the most laid back

un-traditional wedding I've ever shot,

but that just made my job easier :)

And I must admit, I think my crew and I

make a pretty awesome looking team.

WIB anyone? :)