PhotoShoot

This weekend, my little brother and his girlfriend allowed me to take them downtown and take some pictures with my new camera...  I might have found a new hobby!

Which one is your favorite?  

Do you have any pointers for me?

I've missed you all!  I WILL be back tomorrow.... and I'm having a GIVEAWAY Friday!  Yay!

Tired, Crying, and So Happy

Would you believe that this is the first chance I've gotten in a WHOLE WEEK to sit down and blog?
Between designing blogs, work, school starting, and life, I have hardly had a minute to myself.

Right now, I am sitting down, drinking coffee, eating a bagel, and pretending like I have nothing else to do but enjoy.

Sometimes, I desperately need this pretense.  I have to forget all that is going on around me for, say, 30 minutes.  I have to teach myself how to breathe again.

Thanks, mom, for making me so Type A (that's why we get along so well...).

Now, I'm off to read from GivesMeHope, just to have a mini cry here in the coffee shop, and to remember what I love about life.
Here's an entry I read there a month ago that just made me break down (in a good way, that is)...

When I was 8 years old, I was in a car crash and lost my left arm.

For 14 years, I’ve dreaded having to put on my prosthetic arm everyday.

5 months ago, I woke up and went to put my arm on. I found it with a ring on the finger, and a note in the hand that said, “Liz, will you marry me?”

My fiance’s love for every piece of me GMH.

If you need a pick-me-up and a minute to breathe/cry, check out the site.

Until tomorrow (I hope), dear friends!

Wordless.... Thursday?

This little one just turned three.  I hope he stays this precious forever.

She loves ice cream.  I mean... loves it.

I just can't get over them... It doesn't help that they are super sweet.
Mmm... Hello, adorable baby fever.  (Just kidding, honey...)

Project Backpack

This year, we had our 2nd Annual "Project Backpack" with our church.  All we do is buy bookbags and school supplies, pack them together, and hand them out around our community.  This year, we had 500 bags, and next year we will definitely need more.

We packed all 500 bags in 45 minutes on Saturday.

We put these fliers in so that they would feel free to come and get to know us better!

Billy and I got to take a team out to our block (which I've written about before - but we go once a month) and we saw some of our friends out there.  Being able to bless people we already know and love was amazing.  This is one of our favorite families.

We toted around as many bags as we could get.  Some families needed up to 15 bags!

This family was on our block also.  One of the families from our church has fallen in love with this family, and they called them before we came so they'd be expecting us. 

It feels so good to pour out.  You feel as if you've been more full even though you're so empty.

A Move and A Hiatus

I haven't blogged in over a week.  I think that is record time for me since I started!
However, it was a much needed hiatus.  We have lots of changes and transitions coming up in our lives and ministry and taking this time to pray has been glorious.

Also, as many of you know, we moved two Fridays ago (August 6) and it pretty much has enveloped me over the past week.  I've been unpacking, finding where other unpackers put my things, and rearranging every little detail.  I still don't have it right, but I might not for a long while.

Some things I learned from our first move (after marriage):
1.  The husband and I are opposites.  We have the same goals, but completely different ways of getting there.  We actually came to a happy agreement that we would tackle different things and just trust one another to get them done.  I just didn't want to see how he did it.

2.  My mom helped us cut in while painting our new townhouse.  She's got amazing precision.  Billy and I tried to cut in some, but when my mom returned the next day, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to try to cut in again or to fix my mistakes with the white ceiling paint we had to buy (to, well, fix our mistakes).  I didn't protest too much.  I'm great at delegating, I found out.

3.  Dead ticks in your carpet doesn't mean you have live ones (I hope!).  It means the people before you have dogs, and then they sprayed.  Yeah, that's what it means.  (Really, we haven't found any live one - Real-life friends, you're safe!)


Also, today, I'm wishing happy birthday to my beautiful mother.  She's 29, again.

Q-tips

Do you want to know how something this small can make a huge difference at a time like this?

Well, when your husband does this, how can it not?

Even though we have had a crazy week (see Tuesday's post), God has provided in big and little ways.  Sometimes it just takes a Q-tip to get you through the day.  And, oddly enough, it has.

Thank you for your prayers.  We are picking up a key for a new place today.  It's been a whirlwind, but like Cait commented,  it's truly a blessing in disguise.

3 Days

We are supposed to move in to our townhome on Friday.
We got a call yesterday from the current tenant (mind you, we weren't asked by the agent/owner if sharing our information was alright) - saying that she was not ready to leave then and we were going to have to push our date back.

WHAT?!

I was basically freaking out.  I mean, we have to live somewhere.  We can live on a tight budget or without nice things, but I'd like a place to live.
And we are down to 3 days to figure it out.
3 days is not much time for me.

But 3 days is enough for God.  He raised his Son in 3 days so that I could have assurance of his love for me.
I am confident not in my agent, the current tenants, or even the market.  I'm not confident that I can work it all out.
I am confident in only One person, but that is enough for me...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to [her] life?"  (Matthew 6:25-27)

If God can feed the helpless birds, he can definitely house us.  Definitely.

 (via)

Like a Chicken.

1. You know these two expressions:

"Running around Like a Chicken with your head cut off," &

"My brain is fried Like a Chicken,"...

Well, they suit me lately.  However, as odd as it may be, I am liking the busyness.  It gives me a sense of purpose.  It's as if crazy kind of suits me.

2. I got a new planner to help me organize all of my crazy chickenness.  

Don't you just love it?  I do.  Being organized is my only way to survive my multi-tasking, 50-thoughts-at-a-time mind.

3. Busyness = less frequent blogging.  I'm sorry.  Please pray for me though as we get ready for our move this weekend.  I will be posting pictures next week about all of the fun that moving will be.

4.  Change the World Tuesdays as a meme flopped.  I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to do that again.  However, Chloe, if you'd like to do one again, send me the link and I'll put it in my post.  Thanks for your participation last week.  

5. I'm considering going bob.  Like Heidi's:

Yes or No?