Off work & working

Today, I'm off work due to the rain we got this weekend. So, I thought it'd be a great day for me and Gabe to work on Christmas decorations. I know, I know, it's a little early. However, we're hosting Thanksgiving this year and I thought it'd be really nice to have the house all festive and bright. I love Christmas. I love how cozy my traditional-style house feels. I love the twinkling lights and I love the colors of red and green, silver and gold. I realize people like me get a lot of eye rolls, but it's a wonderful season and I want to enjoy it as long as I can!

Gabe and I have stayed in our jam-jams today and I have worked on dusting, moving furniture, and laundry so I can hopefully have the house nice and neat when Greg gets home. I love days off in the middle of working full time because you really appreciate all those hours during the day and really make the most of them! I feel like I'm jamming as much as possible into one day today.

Gabe really loved decorating his tree too. He did a great job! Love the pj's on the kiddo by the way... He looks so cute in his new Old Navy jam jams.

I just got these trees when I went shopping with my friends. I love them! Home Goods is an awesome store! I wish we had one closer to us.

These little cardinals have become one of my favorite Christmas decorations. I got them last year on clearance at Hobby Lobby after Christmas. The silver containers in the center were given to me by my brother.

I'm really sad this year because I can't put up my Christmas village. I have a beautiful Dept 56 village and we just don't have any large, flat space to put it up. It's probably a good year to skip it any way. I have a small Halloween/Fall village of just 3 houses that I put on a table in the hall. Gabe thinks its for his guys to play and hide in. I got that set several years ago at Kmart on clearance. I'm glad I tested that out with him this year instead of putting up my expensive village. I can just see Batman running through the snowy streets and it makes me cringe just thinking about it! Between now and next year, Greg and I are going to have to come up with some way to display it. I definitely don't want it just stored in my Christmas closet.

I definitely do not ignore Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. So, here are a few things I am thankful for this holiday season:

1. My family - I am blessed beyond measure with a wonderful husband and son, an amazing extended family, and probably the best in laws a girl could ask for.


2. My friends - I truly love my friends. I feel like the luckiest in the friendship department. What a treasure to be able to completely be yourself without fear of rejection or judgement.


3. My home - the safety and comfort of a warm house, good food, and people to share it with.


4. My work - it's been a good harvest and a beautiful fall.


5. My salvation - Most importantly, I have been saved from my sin. I'm so thankful for the birth of a Savior, born in a manger.

Happy Thanksgiving and holiday season to you and yours!

hi

Yep, I'm back. I knew I'd probably do it. I'd probably return to blogging. Not that I have anything too interesting to say, but I've just really found that I miss it. I miss sharing my thoughts and having a little outlet. I miss talking to my peoples on the internet too!

If you know me in 'real life' you probably know that I have a terrible time making up my mind. I just ordered our Christmas cards tonight and it took me for freaking ever. I usually design my own, but this year I wanted to go with Tiny Prints. Their cards are amazingly gorgeous and they freakin' know it too. But, they are having a sale until tomorrow, so luckily, I was able to get my cards for 20% off. I still spent more than I wanted to, but spent about what I normally do every year. This year though, I'm cutting my card list down a bit. I'm tired of spending a bunch on cards and postage and decided to weed it down. And, I'm going to hand deliver a bunch of them as well. I'd really like to bake more this year, and may be able to with working a seasonal job, so cookies and cards will be nice! Gabe loves helping me bake, so this will be a great activity for us.

If you know me in 'real life' you probably don't know that I am in love with anything Pennsylvania Dutch. I know. Weird. Here's an example:

It started with a trivet that was given to me that originally belonged to my Grandma Smith. I've always loved it and have admired the vintage style. More recently though, I've been really browsing the web looking at other P.D. art and I'm falling for it! I think I should have been born in a totally different decade. Seriously.

Speaking of favorites, I had the opportunity to go to this little store called Anthropologie this weekend. Sigh... I could've spent our savings in that place. I really could decorate my entire home with products from there. But, to save my marriage, I walked away with these lovely measuring cups.
Man. I really sound materialistic in this post, don't I? Well, I'm not really. I like to buy pretty, special things every now and again. It's not often that I get to go to a giant mall, find a new store and spend nearly $30 on a set of measuring cups. Gulp. And, it's not often that I can shop in a store without hearing "MOM! I want to go look at toys!!!" It was so nice to just leisurely walk around and not worry about time. I could shop all day just because of the time it takes me to decide.

I learned this from a friend that recently purged many of her possessions and moved into a smaller home to do some mission work. Only buy new items that you think you will love in a year. I have really tried to apply this rule to all my purchases... It certainly helped me when I was at the giant mall this past weekend.

Thanks for welcoming me back, blogging friends! I've missed you!

So Long, Farewell....

Ok, so I probably should've done this a long time ago... I am going to stop blogging. Oh, wait, I did do that a long time ago! (Not intentionally, but it happens...) I'm going to say 'goodbye' to this site. I'm kinda tired of it. I've had my fun, and well, I have a lot more to keep up on! I'm going to try out Blurb and make my blog into a book to keep. Hopefully my old blog is still up and I can get that one printed too.

Thank you to all who have checked this thing every once in a while for updates... I'm so thankful for your comments and the time you took to read it. If you have Facebook, catch me on there... I'd love to get to still chat with you!

Much Love,
Gabe's Mom, Greg's Wife, and Wish I Might.

Kinda fired up.

Ok, so I had this entire post written about why I haven't been blogging (it has been intentional) and how I'm t-o'd at the photog world right now and I deleted it all. I figured the first post in a long time shouldn't be about how I'm fired up.

To sum it up, it just seems like there's a lot of negativity out there for beginner photographers. I get so frustrated by it. I was really new once. I still consider inexperienced compared to many, but now, I consider myself more than "just a mom with a cute kid and a fancy camera" (as was said about me once). Seriously. The hurtfulness! Why?

My point of tonight's blog is this... If you are new at something, do everything you can to flourish it. Enjoy it. Do not be discouraged by others. If you have an eye for it and creative ideas, you can learn the technical part. And, remember that beauty is in the eye of the camera-holder... your pictures are beautiful because YOU took them and you captured a moment that was meaningful to you. Who cares if they're grainy or they have a little blur, if you see beauty there, there's something special there.

Granted, you're probably not going to be pulling in the dough with grainy, blurry pictures. But, that doesn't mean that you aren't an artist, finding something special and beautiful that needs to be seen and shared. So, keep on clicking!! Some of the most-commented pictures I've seen on Flickr aren't really taken of anything spectacular... they are from ordinary, day to day scenes, seen in a new, special way. And, a lot of them are grainy or blurry. Go figure...

A Sweet Partnership.

My Mara Bracelet - In Remembrance of Kary

I've mentioned the organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) before... It's such a wonderful gift to families who have lost a baby. As a photographer and a mother, I am so honored to be a part of it. The families I have met have all touched me so deeply and have all made an impact on my life.

One of my friends from high school lost a sweet little girl named, Mara. After Mara passed away, we got in touch again. We talked about Mara, our other children, and our lives and how they have changed since losing a child. Her mission is to make these beautiful bracelets for other people who have lost children. They are such a nice remembrance gift. She and I were talking one day and I told her I'd be glad to photograph the bracelets so she could share them with others. Something very special came from that...

A renewed friendship, and the gift she has given of making bracelets for all the NILMDTS families I work with. This weekend alone, I was contacted about two sessions. When I get a phone call from the hospital, the rest of my world stops and I am focused on getting there. I pack my bag, print off a consent form, grab my brochure and camera, and I go.

It is a comfort to me to know that I can send a small token of love to the mothers of these children when I send a Mara bracelet. I know it is made with love, and I know Mara is thought of each time a bracelet is made and sent out with the cd of images.

It's amazing what can form from loss. God can use it. He does use it - every time. We live in a fallen, sad world, where loss is allowed to happen. The miracle in loss is that God uses it to change us. We will never be the same after our world comes crashing down. I never thought I'd be in this place... I never thought this is something I could do. But, with experiences like those I've had, with friends who give, I have been changed and blessed. Thank you baby T, baby E, baby A, baby J, baby K, and of course, Kary & Mara. Your lives will always be a gift to those who love you.

Picture Organization

I finally got a project done tonight that I've been wanting to do for some time. I went through all of my thousands of pictures and organized them into a system that I think will work for me. My main objective was to organize them not by date, but by category. I am terrible with dates. So, categories (seniors, families, newborns, etc...) work much better for me. Within those categories, I have subfolders by session. It's been a marathon, but thankfully it only took me one evening! I've made it through this tedious task by watching old episodes of Dexter. Creepy show, but entertaining in only a way a Showtime series can be!

While sorting pictures, I came across this oldie, but goodie, of me and my Momma. I love this picture. You can see the love between us. I've been very blessed to have such a wonderful Mom. She truly did everything she could do to raise a good family. She put her own desires aside so many times, just so we could have better. I love my Mom... Thank you, Momma, for teaching me so much about being a parent, for being real with me, for loving me always, and for listening when I really need to just talk. I know I can be myself and you won't judge me. Thank you.

Slowing down... for a minute.

Alright, alright... My blog's not broken. My husband always says, "I think there's something wrong with your blog..." Life has been crazy. My house is a mess, I have folders of pictures waiting to be edited and digitally scrapped, I don't get much time with my son, and I have about 8 thousand craft projects I want to do. Besides that, there are dishes in the sink, my bathroom desperately needs cleaned, and we need new sheets on the beds.

Life, please slow down a bit!

Since I last blogged, our family has grown by 2 feet...


Little Douglas Gregory was born April 30, at 6:40 pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz, and was 20 inches long. He is about the sweetest thing ever made! My brother and his wife, Sonya are excellent parents and love their little Dougie so much, as do we!

I've been taking a lot of pictures. This one of Dougie was a big accomplishment for me! He's such a sweet little guy! I have really enjoyed taking his newborn pictures. Newborn sessions are a favorite for me.

I've also been taking some pictures of this sweet boy. My Gabers is growing up so fast. I can't believe he's 4 years old. His behavior has greatly improved as far as the tantrums go. We've found that a quarter reward system seems to work really well. At the beginning of each week, he starts out with $5.00 in quarters. When he misbehaves, quarter(s) are taken away. When he behaves really well, or does something really great, he's rewarded with quarters. It seems to be working out really well.

I've also been taking pictures of other people's kids! This cutie pie would not leave his tongue in his mouth throughout the entire session! It was hilarious!

Oh life, you're moving so fast! Slow down just a bit so I can catch up!