a little chalk + a lot of imagination = a tennis court

Thankfully, I didn't receive a call today. Hung out with the kids, worked on images, and made a delicious dinner. Getting my old-style refill page/page protector order ready to submit to Creative Memories. This is officially last call for the old-style pages and protectors!! My order will go in early tomorrow (Monday)... if you need something after 9:00 am, you may order directly from the website.

this caught my eye tonight...

I'm too tired to post tonight and am on-call tomorrow (need to be up super early). Some good news: Ren's first football game of the season was this afternoon... and they won! Hopefully, I'll have a moment or two to share some tidbits from the Beth Moore simulcast (first, I must process).

One week left of summer vacation and so much still to do! But for now, sleep.

random bits of random

1. Okay, I'd been saving this little tidbit for just the right post. After waiting for several months, it dawned on me that there may not be a "right post" for the Yummie Tummie. After all, I'm not about to be posting muffin-top pics.

2. Too, I really like THIS VIDEO. Brandi Carlile has a new album coming out this fall and will be coming to the Twin Cities in September. (Her first show has sold out but there are still tickets available to the second.)

3. You really need to hear this incredible God Moment story shared at church a couple of weeks ago. For those of you who roll your eyes at my "there is no such thing as coincidence" expression, this is exactly what I'm talking about. When you begin to take note of those supposed "coincidences" by writing them down and keeping track of each moment, you will begin to notice God's perfect orchestration of the world around you.

(As a side note, the above taping took place at an earlier service than the one we attended that weekend. The man Dave refers to was actually at the 11:00 am service... it was a powerful moment, seeing him there in the flesh after just hearing the story.)

4. Speaking of coincidence, do you remember the story I shared about running into my favorite teacher from many, many, MANY years back? I posted it to the blog a couple of years ago (just click on the orange link above) and spoke of how reassuring it was to see her at my son's new school. You will not believe what happened just the other night as we were attending the middle school orientation (yes... another new school). While the teachers were introducing themselves, I spotted another one of my favorites from that very same parochial school many miles away. Mrs. R made a lasting impression; she had a way of treating her students that made them feel very special. (A childhood friend on Facebook said exactly the same thing.) How reassuring it was yet again, to have such a familiar presence in a new and little bit scary place.

God is good, all the time.

5. And last but not least, the Beth Moore simulcast is tomorrow (Friday) night - be there or be ☐.

us... tonight

True to form, the hubby made secret dinner plans for us tonight. After attending a meeting at my son's school, we dropped him off with Aunt Stacey and went out for dinner alone. What a nice surprise :-)

14 years

It's our anniversary today. So much time has passed - yet in the blink of an eye. Looking back to our dating years, my hubby used to brag, "I've never dated a girl for this long"... and that was only after four months!

Amazing.

We've been through a lot in the last 17 years (having dated for three years before getting married) and I wouldn't trade a second of it for the world. We are, at times, like night and day. But I appreciate those differences and have learned to work with them instead of against each other. My hubby is fun and spontaneous, has a great sense of humor, and really knows how to pay his wife a compliment. He's also a talented musician and photographer, an awesome Halloween costume prop designer, and - aside from his lifelong passion for AC/DC (blech) - has great taste in music. Not only can he carve a mean pumpkin and take care of things around the home, my hubby also makes movies.

It's no wonder time has flown by so quickly! I can't wait to see what the next 14 years have to offer :-)

Alpha - it's worth checking out

My boys love Man vs. Wild so when they shared this video at yesterday's service, it immediately captured their attention:

You'll find more information about the course HERE. There is a course locator on that site as well but if you're local, you could check into it HERE. (Hosanna! offers both a daytime and evening course.)

It's a great way to explore the Christian faith and a safe place to ask all of those questions perhaps you've been afraid to ask.

overwhelmed with pics & looking 4 a creative solution?

I am an avid scrapbooker and self-confessed photographaholic (a deadly combination). I usually only make time to scrapbook the moments or images that really grab me. Not necessarily in chronological order. When I have a large number of images that I want in an album (say this summer, for example) I usually turn to the Creative Memories PicFolio Album and Milestones Album Kit. Then I bling it up a bit with some add-ons.

It satisfies both my need for speed and creativity, while still allowing room to journal.

Jesse | Minnesota Senior Portrait Session

A sneak peek from today's session:

Jesse was such an easygoing model, truly a joy to photograph. When I first met him several years ago, he was a boy... certainly not the young man I saw today. Wow, does time fly.

Thanks for braving the poo piles, mosquitos, and field critters. Enjoy your senior year, Jesse!

The Butterfly Story

Remember that family, the one several of you helped out via the adoption photo drive? They just received pictures of their little girl! The story had me in tears. It is such a beautiful reminder of God's love and a wonderful assurance of His hand in the details of our lives.

I love these sorts of moments. A God Moment at its best. Click HERE to read for yourself.

tip o' the day

If you find the fan on your laptop running a lot or the thing overheats and shuts itself off, it might be due for a dusting. Using a can of compressed air (or perhaps a Rocket Blaster), carefully blow out the vents on your laptop.

Seriously, it's like we have a new computer.

Had a crop at our house tonight and completed a ton. I'm blinging up a couple of PicFolio albums of my most recent pics (I'll be sure to share a couple of pages with you tomorrow). Speaking of which, I have a senior session as well tomorrow. We'll be here:

Can't wait!

Photo Challenge Themes for September

Here are the weekly themes for September:

August 30-September 5, 2009: Photo Free 4 All
September 6-12, 2009: Urban
September 13-19, 2009: Lines
September 20-26, 2009: Nighttime

If you'd like to join our Flickr group for ideas and inspiration, just let me know!

the lovely aspiring photographer

I met a lovely young woman last night over coffee and talked incessantly gave her a few ideas to help with her photography. She also received some inspiration in the form of magazines and her own photography notebook. Remember mine?

Wish I would have snapped a shot of hers before sending it off. I left it photograph-less, of course, so she could personalize it with one of HER images.

While preparing for our time together, I came across a helpful resource for teens. Though familiar with BetterPhoto (they offer all sorts of online classes), I had no clue they had a section just for kids. Click HERE for details.

It was so fun to hear her say, "I can't wait to get home to take some pictures!" Thankfully, she found some encouragement in the nonstop chatter.

And to Miss J I must say: I really am an introvert.

and so it begins...

With practice four times a week, life has been a wee bit busy. It was a rough start for Ren because the boy simply isn't into running. At all. Add several pounds of gear to the mix and you've got one s-l-o-w boy. Things seem to be better this week; Ren is really making an effort to hustle. And pay attention. He's even having fun.

Go figure.

Heard about a cool faithbooking resource today. (One of the many joys of Twitter.) The blog is called "Good Grief" and is all about scrapbooking through loss and grief... a subject close to my heart. Just click HERE to check it out for yourself.

I have a funny incident story to leave you with tonight. You know when you go to Dairy Queen and they hand you the ice cream treat upside down to show how thick it is? Well, that happened today. The boys had never seen anyone do it before so it was a huge topic of conversation as we ate our treats. Ten minutes later, my 9-year old decided to test it out himself.

Ten very melty minutes later.

Needless to say, his entire Blizzard ended up in a clump on the table. (And in his hair.)

Meeley was quick on his feet and had most of it cleaned up before I even put the camera away. Because I had my priorities in order.

i think it's time to go shopping for new shoes

face your giants

And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 1 Samuel 17:32

All of us face "giants" from time to time. These "giants" try to do the same thing to us that Goliath did to the army of Israel - intimidate and bring fear. When the giants come we have to make a choice... are we going to let them make us afraid or stand up to them through the power of the Lord? David made the choice to not look at the size of the giant, but at the size of His God. So instead of running away in fear, he went out to meet his foe.

You can't run from your giants, you have to face them. If you keep running from them, they will keep taunting you, and you will not have any peace. They will be out there every morning waiting for you, just like Goliath was there every morning... "in their face". If your knees are weak because of the giant that keeps oppressing you, if you are feeling the urge to run, if you are wanting to go and hide somewhere from it, the word to you this morning is the same one that Davis spoke to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him." Actually, it's your word from the Lord... Don't let your heart fail because of it. Because the Lord is with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. You aren't facing it alone, "Lo, I am with you always." The Lord will fight your battle for you just like He did for David if you will put your trust and confidence in Him instead of fleeing in fear. The Lord hasn't given you a spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind. Do what David did, look at the size of your God instead of the size of your giant. When you do, you'll discover that your God is bigger. If the earth is His footstool, then in proportion, how big is that giant now? Besides, if God was big enough and powerful enough to bring down David's giant, He's still big enough and powerful enough to bring down yours today... He hasn't changed. So, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, because God in you is greater than any giant.

Have a blessed day. Don't run from the giants, stand and face them. And remember, you aren't facing them alone - the Lord is with you.

Devotion by About the Master's Business Ministry

the fam & i found a few new places to take pics

While scoping out one location, Meeley declared: "I saw three three bugs I've never seen before and they looked rather menacing." Despite his concerns, we braved the elements in search of some cool new locations for a few upcoming photo sessions. We had a lot of fun. Even with the bugs. And rain.

BTW, I meant to blog about this place before... the hubby and I have now sampled China Wok twice within the last two weeks and love it. The food is hotter than hot (heat hot) and the spicy dishes I ordered both times were delicious. They have an extensive menu, a lunch buffet, and the prices are extremely reasonable. Definitely worth checking out.