while you were at school...

you are a naughty dinosaur. go to timeout! ... hello dinosaur, you are a cute monkey... come on, dinosaur, let's go home

pics and a prize

today i shot my first sitting for the new business! it was a great experience. i did one of my best friends and her family. wow, do i have a lot of room to grow! in some ways, its like riding a bike and in other ways .... its so not. practice makes perfect, so i'm booking more friends before i delve into shooting strangers (with my camera).

so i'm cleaning out my 'edit' folder on my desktop to make room for their pictures and ran across these fun pics from way back...

family fun at walmart.
even ethan thinks this a lame "treat"

one of my favorite things to do is cook for people - especially other foodies. you know, people who know it's Gruyere before you tell them. on such an occasion, the boys helped uncle simon bring down their little table and chairs while i was cooking.

AND despite neglecting my blog for a good portion of the summer, i somehow earned an award! woo! thanks so much to just breathe for this fab and super cute award!

One word answers only, then pass it on to 6 friends. Here we go:
1. Where is your cell phone? bedside-table
2. Your hair? outgrown
3. Your mother? rocks!
4. Your father? cute
5. Your favorite food? chocolate
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? balanced
9. What room are you in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? cooking
11. Your fear? fear
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere
13. Where were you last night? party
14. Something that you aren’t? boring
15. Muffins? cupcakes?
16. Wish list item? balloon-whisk
17. Where did you grow up? b-ville
18. Last thing you did? edit
19. What are you wearing? t-shirt
20. Your TV? over-used
21. Your pets? kasha
22. Friends? blessed
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? lethargic
25. Missing someone? mom
26. Vehicle? SUV
27. Something you’re not wearing? earrings
28. Your favorite store? target
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? earlier
31. Last time you cried? -?
32. Your best friend? far
33. One place that I go to over and over? target
34. One person who emails me regularly? suzanna
35. Favorite place to eat? home

i realize i totally cheated by hyphenating words. what can i say? i'm a rebel.

now to pass it on:

fadkog

lisa in the boondocks

kyooty -not coyote

cassie

mrs.bear

casey

it's funny you should mention that...

I've heard it dozens of times and have had dozens of reasons to dismiss it.

But alas, after a ton of prayer and counsel (Proverbs 15:22) and some basic math, I've decided to rejoin the leagues of professional photographers. So there you go, people. Hire me. Do it now.

More info about a future website to follow. But this blog will still be active. Don't you worry. :-)

"Look, I'm not an intellectual - I just take pictures" -Helmut Newton

Chalk Bluff Camping pics

I said I would post the camping pics and I totally meant to - its just that there were so many to choose from! Here is the slide show I sent out to everyone who was there. If you want to see them, here they are...

The borders on my blog template are too narrow so they are all a little off center on this here blog. If you have some sort of interest in seeing them in their full glory, click here:


And you'll see at the bottom where I wrote, "Activities at Chalk Bluff:" that is a spoof on the Chalk Bluff website which is a little corny when it comes to the activities page.

HASAY: I'm fine just the way I am.

Where did I leave off with HASAY? Let's recap my little journey...

Over the course of the last 9 months I gained a whopping 15 lbs on my 5'3" frame. I always had an easy time of losing weight in the past (given I truly applied myself) so I worked out a bit more and ate a bit less. Nothing came off. Then I changed my meds .... still nothing. Then I got tested for thyroid issues .... nope, no weight is coming off of these bones. Then I spent 8 weeks on sparkpeople.com dieting, obsessing over counting calories, and working out. I consumed slightly less than their plan and worked out slightly more - being an overachiever and all. After 8 weeks, I lost 3 lbs. Really not worth the trade off.

After a couple of weeks of feeling really bad about myself, I made the following decision:

This is what 32 years old looks like.

I think this is just nature calling and what's the use fighting it? I resolve to exercise 3-4 times a week and eat healthy but enjoy the food I eat - even if that means having fondue once a month.

So there you have it, people. I am no longer a twig and nor will I ever be again (short of a terrible illness ... no thank you). But that's ok because if you turn your focus away from television and glossy magazines and towards the really important things in life, towards your real treasure - you will find that it has nothing to do with being thin and more to do with being healthy and enjoying life.

Its just not worth the cost of exercising and dieting to the point that this 32 year old has the body of 22 year old in exchange for the time with my kids or bible studies (which sounds dorky but they are really enriching!) or taking some off of eating healthy so I can go out to eat with friends. You see the trend.... relationships. Are my relationships affected by the fluff around my middle? No. But they were a little strained by my OCD attitude towards dropping it. So if the weight doesn't drop off - at least my poor body image can go suck an egg.

------------------------------

All of this is well and good until the dreaded Party City Halloween Costume catalog was sent to my house. Why is everything slutty? Slutty nurse, slutty cop, slutty Nascar pit crew person, slutty leiderhosen, slutty pirate, slutty bumblebee. It looks like a stripper catalog (right down to the platform stilettos) (and I mean that in the nicest way towards strippers). Unless I want to dress up as a couch potato - or go to good will and be a hobo - my options are limited outside of slutty _______.
If I lose weight in the future, I won't lie, it would be nice - but it is no longer essential to the way I view myself. As long as I get past Halloween.

Here's my latest picture - taken two weeks ago when we went camping:

Note chubby arms and face - and happy smile!

More camping pictures at a later date.

And while you're at it, visit Casey's blog for the like minded fitness and diet aficionado.

Sunday in the Park

As I have said before, one of the ideas of the home church is that when it grows to large for one living room to accomodate it, another home church sprouts from it. We decided a few months ago to have a combined service once a month so everyone at all the locations (not that there are so many .... yet) get a chance to meet and hang out and worship together. These photos are from our last combined service.