a peek at my week

Jason has been in Kansas City for the week and I MISS HIM!! After being single for such a long time, I definately appreciate and deal well with being alone, but man do I miss having my amazing man around. He brings me such joy and keeps me motivated. This is not the only time he will be away.. he sets out again like next weekend for Memphis and this time.. it's longer! I can't be selfish.. he's renovating my parents bathroom and I get to join him for the weekend portion of his trip. After reno he is doing music for a church retreat in Mississippi. Sigh. This man does have talents.. he's called and in demand. I certainly can't complain about that. I love having my best friend and true love to live the day to day with. There are trials, don't get me wrong, but they are all worth it in the grand scheme. God knew what he was doing when he gave Adam a partner. It's more than just the romance.. it's so much deeper. A partnership.. someone to face the world with. ahh.. Thank you Lord for the blessing of marriage. Thank you Lord for the blessing of my husband Jason.

In other news.. here's my week at a glance. Oh! And it's raining!!! We've got hurricane tropical depression Issac here over our humble Missouri. And the drought infected ground says "Ahhhh!"

* we went on a date last Saturday~ Q'doba (had a coupon)~ a walk at the park~ and Hunger Games
* Reunion with college friends at an old hang out~ The Mud House
* Practicing photography in the front yard with Boo~ yes, some said it was a little creepy
* Princess party with Kid's ministry~ Me and Princess Bitsy (we watched "Princess Diaries")

keep it wholesome

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Ephesians 4:29-32

 

I just read one of the BEST articles on marriage and how to show your husband respect by guarding what you say. (Thanks Jennifer for sharing the link!) I am inspired and I want to share it with you so you can be inspired as well: Here are some of the highlights that really stood out for me:

 

DO NOT bash your husband to other people. EVER. Honor him with every word!

 Running him down with your words is VERY disrespectful. Even if your husband doesn’t ever find out about it – talking about him in a negative light sets off a series of disrespectful thoughts in your mind that will erode your respect for him over time. And the people you talk to may hold a grudge against your man or think ill of him for the rest of their lives. You can’t take those words back.

 

If he DOES find out what you said – he will be extremely hurt and his trust in you will be shattered. Your words to someone else may well destroy your relationship with the man you love.

 DISRESPECT IS CONTAGIOUS!

 If your friends badmouth their boyfriends/husbands and badmouth other people in their life, YOU WILL BE TEMPTED to do the same! It is so easy to turn a wonderful time with our girl friends into a gossip-fest and man-bashing session that is extremely dishonoring to God, to ourselves and to our men. That is sin. It is ugly. It is destructive. It contributes to the breakdown of MANY relationships. NOT WORTH IT!

  know that if you are having a fight with your man, it is really, really tempting to run to everyone in your life (other than him) and vent, running him down, telling them all about the awful way he treated you and how horrible he is. Then they will pat you on the back and sympathize with you and agree with you that he is Satan and you are a total victim. As soon as you see yourself as a victim – you are powerless to do anything constructive. But you know what? An argument or misunderstanding usually has guilt on BOTH sides of the relationship. There is almost never one party who is 100% innocent. How much more constructive to focus on what YOU did to contribute to the problem and to try to work through it with God and your guy.

 

I really love this next section: It's about FACEBOOK. I seem to have a super sense about inappropriate ness on Facebook. I'm super sensitive to it.

 

There are SO MANY opportunities to disrespect your man on this medium.  It is quite terrifying.  And many women do a really horrible job of showing proper respect here.

 *DO NOT talk about the details of your relationship on FB!!!!  PLEASE!!!!!  I am begging y’all!

*Complaining about your man’s habits, his diet, how he looks, how he dresses, who he is talking to, his job, his parenting skills, his romantic abilities, his faults, his bad habits, his hygiene, his snoring, his unthoughtful behavior is extremely disrespectful!  And it makes you look awful.  This reveals much more about YOUR character than it does about his.

DISCRETION AND WISDOM

It is time for us to learn to have discretion – not sharing intimate details of our relationships with other people.  And it is time for us to learn wisdom – keeping a hedge of protection around our relationships and valuing our men MORE than our desire to entertain our girlfriends with funny, sarcastic, biting criticisms of him.

God instructs us that he who holds his tongue is wise – and where words are many, sin is not absent (Proverbs).  He also instructs us:

 

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:29-32

 

celebrating pops + some honesty

I'm in a slump. I have been taking pictures in manual mode and it's TOUGH! And it's a lot of work! The past two events that i've take photos at.. not happy with. You know what though, (as Dorie would say) Just keep swimming!! I'm learning something new and trying to step up to the next level.. of course it's going to be hard. I just have to keep on keeping on and not give up. I'm starting to think that maybe I need to do more auto modes for events.. or maybe even more of a mix between the two while i'm still learning. Events move fast and It's extremely difficult to catch it all and do it well when you are unsure of your settings. God, help me not to give up. I have the horrible tendency that when I'm overwhelmed, I want to give up.. throw in the towel and move on. I HAVE TO perfect this. I HAVE TO learn this. I love it too much to quit. I"m looking forward to having direction from a pro. I will be starting a photography class at OTC in October. I am very much looking forward to it. I know that I can do this. I am thankful for people like my friend Lindsey who give me opportunity to learn and to work with her. I am thankful for my husband who believes in me and is always encouraging me and building me up. Thank you Lord for these people.

Here are a few recent pictures from Pops' 80th birthday. I do wish I had more and I had done more with semi-auto in this case. I WILL imrpove. Pops' birthday was fun. He's a lover of all things western so we decided to go all out western style. I had the privelage of helping out with decoration along with Jason's mom. It was a lot of fun. Cowboy makes a pretty cute party! =)

a group of us got togeter and sang a cheesy medly of old cowboy songs.. all we were missing was the coyotes howling in the distance and a cracklin' fire

Pops got teary eyed~ it was prescious

"home on the range" "streets of lorado" back in the saddle again" ... the list goes on...

 

the traditional swapping of cigars and man stories~ it's quite the sight.

the men marvel at an antique tool that pops was gifted~ you can hear the grunting if you listen closely enough

A sweet night of family, friends, and old cowboy classics. Happy 80th birthday pops!

the little things in life

I think one of the coolest thing about blogging is not only that you get to express  your creativity in writing and photos, but also that that you are documenting your life through pictures and writing.   Another perk is that you can see if from anywhere at any time. I love it! I don't think I have the best long term memory. I've always been jealous of my friends that can tell story after story and share memory after memory in such detail! I just can't do it. So.. my goal, now that I have my amazing i phone with an equally amazing camera, is to capture those moments , both big and small, as often as possible. So.. without furthur adue.. here are my moments from this week.

*New lip balm that took me back to elementary school- "very cherry"
* fun times with children's ministry friends~ filling water balloons for water day
*hubby snuggles in for morning coffee and devos. ~ one of my favorite daily traditions

I finally learned how to take pics of my phone screen this week. Here's a little glimpse of mine and Jason's world... this is when we first got the "emoji" app. (i'm green and Jason is grey)  We like to have parties.. My fav. is the dancing ghost at the top.. he dances across our screens quite often. Makes the day just a little brighter, huh? Yep, we're weird. (and that's ok!)

 

Have a happy weekend!

my goal

"You have to set yourself apart from the "average joe" taking pictures."

 

I have no problem with inspiration today.. thanks to my wonderful friend Nicole. I emailed her asking some advice on pricing and she e-mailed me with a wealth of info. The above quote is from her. It's so simple and obvious but it really woke me up and got me thinkin'.

I've GOT to step up my game in photography. Yes, I can take a nice picture and I have  blast doing it, but I am not, by any means, set apart. I follow several photographer blogs and sites that truely inspire me, but what am I doint to get to that point? Nothing really. Yes, I feel that I have improved naturally just by practice and being blessed with several photo shoots, but I really haven't learned the technicalities of photography. I am signed up for a class in October, but in the meantime.. i'm gonna practice practice practice!! Nicole's advice was to alway practice on manual. That's how you learn.. don't let the camera do the work.. do it all yourself. I like it.

So..what did I do last night?

I did some laundry

My goal is clarity-(learning to properly use the FStop and ISO with the right amount of lighting) It's tricky!

I also did some crafting for pop's 80th birthday party on Saturday

I was a little tired at this point, but I am proud of how the craft turned out.

my farmer husband made some yummy salsa  from the fresh ingredients in our garden....he's amazing!

We're quite the productive couple these days huh? I had fun with the salsa jars.

a little blurry.. but I like the angle and concept.

the fridge is inspirational

I loved my photo shooting so much that I snapped a few shots this morning before I walked out the door for work. This isn't the greatest in clarity, but don't you just love that little clock?! We got it from grandpa's house.

I know these pictures aren't set apart.. but that's my goal. I'm excited for more practice.. the next time you see me.. I just may have my camera in hand. I 'm going to keep it on me as often as possible. I love this hobby. I hope it's more than a hobby someday.. I could definately do this as a career. It would be perfect and flexible for having kiddos. God willing... It's my goal.

 

giggles and kiddos

Jason and I have been blessed to be a part of a young couples group at church. Miraculously.. a lot of us are about the same age and there is a good mix of us that have kids and that don't (so rare for our age) anyway.. There is a montly gathering on the second Friday of the month and Jason and I finally made one! This group came out of the church softball team that Jason plays for so it's kinda cool how the guys all get along so well. This past Friday we ate BBQ and played some games.. a classic combo. I feel very blessed to enjoy these people so much. And the coolest part.. we both do! Thank you God for the blessing of couple friends

just so you know.. this next picture was my idea to do silly faces and I don't know whether everyone else just didn't get the memo or i'm just the only one dorky enough to go through with it... although, I think Dara (in the Stripes) gave it an effort.

Sunday night we had a break from our normal routine and had all the kids (for the second week in a row) do a special service in the Sanctuary. This service was all about honoring the Missionettes or "Girls Ministries" as they are calling it these days.

These kids are the "Rainbows" They are moving into kindergarten and have both girls and boys. We will be blessed to have these kids in our class on Sunday nights now. We're so excited!

i'm kinda kicking myself for not bringing my "real" camera for this night. It was definately a prescious time with so many sweethearts all dressed up. Jason and I were right in there with the parents... taking pictures of the kids like they are our own. We love our job as children's pastors! =)

the ham

My husband, he's a ham. He likes to make people laugh. Never a dull moment with that one, I tell ya. When he's around, its just more fun. Case in point...



at the museum of science and indurstry in Chicago~ one of my favs.

the "we just found Nana's glasses in her bedroom" pose

the classic "yum yum turkey leg i'm a cave man" pose

"it's my birthday!!"

the "i'm on a picnic for my father in law's 60th birthday" pose

too cute!

yep~ he bunnied Grandpa at the Wiley family reunion~ haha!!

silver dollar city's finest

"Bring out Your Dead" a new Christmas scarf inspired him to quote Monty Python

impersonating captain america on our Anniversary

"does this gray hair make me look old?"

the "i'm a gangsta and I like it" pose

yep, he's a cutie!

I hope my hammy man has made your day! He sure knows how to make me smile. =)