Days 89-90: New Momma

After work today, I went to visit my friend, Amy. She and her husband Jon just had a baby girl, Lorelai and I have been dying to see them and meet their new addition! I had a great time visiting with Amy and hearing her awesome birth story (Jon was at work, so I wasn't able to see him). Little Lorelai is beautiful and healthy and is such a doll. I have know Amy since I was 12 and she was 9. It is a odd thing to see her with a baby, but I will be the first to tell you that she is a natural and loving momma who has been truly blessed with a bundle of joy. It is a beautiful thing to see! Congratulations Amy! I am so very proud of you and the amazing women, wife and mother you have become! XOXO

Days 81-88: Bright Blossoms

Spring is definitely trying to wake up and start her glorious dance. Over the last few days the snow and cold weather has subsided a bit and seems to be leading to slightly warmer days, which in turn are slowly enticing all the glorious buds to start to open and show their magnificent colors! Thank heaven for spectacular & bright spring time!

Editoral Note

If any of you were following my blog, you have noticed by now that I have been a bit behind on the blogging...some things have happened in Greg's and my life that have been a bit hard to deal with, and honestly, taking a photo a day has been the last thing on my mind. Right now all I can concentrate on is waking up everyday and pushing on, clinging to my husband, the Lord, our families and friends, and figuring out where the journey goes to from here. I haven't forgotten about my blog and photo taking, and felt very guilty at first to be so inadequately keeping up on it. Then I stopped myself and just decided that this is MY blog...I can do what works for me and if my very best is a picture a day or a picture a week or a picture a month, I need to do what I can, when I can and stop feeling guilty about it. So, that is what I am going to do. From this point on, when I feel inspired, when something happens or when I need to take a photo to find my sanity, I will post it and let it be a part of this journey and just let my blog be a blog...no pressure, no expectations that will drive me crazy trying to fulfill, while dealing with the hard time we are going through right now. Thanks for your loyalty and support and the love you show by following my blog...I certainly plan to keep posting, and I hope you plan to keep reading! XOXOXO

Day 80: Winter Moon

Saw this beautiful sight tonight...

Day 79: Lemon-y Freshness

Well, the party was a success and mom was thoroughly surprised. Now for the day after clean up process...lol. When we dumped all the lemons that were in the water jug into the sink they filled the house with the most amazing aroma...it smelled SO insanely delicious...something about the smell of fresh, potent, clean lemons equals absolute perfection!

Day 78: A 60th Surprise!

So, as I mentioned before, we threw my mom a birthday dinner to celebrate her 60th birthday. She knew that the family was getting together to have dinner and spend time together, but what she didn't know was that we invited all her friends for a surprise celebration for her! I am so grateful for my awesome husband and siblings who contributed so much and helped the whole thing come together. It was a great night and she was completely surprised! I am glad we were able to celebrate her and her special day!

 Middle layer of the cakes...fresh raspberries and fresh whipped cream.

The bottom cake.

 She had no idea!

Friends and family!

Mom and MoMo.

The finished product.

Make a wish! 

I think she ended up eating every raspberry off the cake!  

Miss Em + Raspberries=Happiness

Becky, Sky and Baby Awesome.

Day 77: Party Preperations

Tomorrow we are having a birthday dinner for my mom for her 60th birthday! I spent the day cleaning the house and preparing food. All the glass wear on our bar is so rarely used that it collects so much dust; which in turn lead to me washing every piece before the party. Can't have dusty glass wear! LOL.

Day 76: Happy St. Patty's Day!

In keeping with tradition, we celebrated today like true Irishmen (haha) and we wore green and made sure we had some extremely tasty corned beef and cabbage. Very tasty!

Day 75: Pretty Panoramic

Saw this beautiful sight on the way home from work and loved it!

Day 74: Splish! Splash! Taking a Bath!

Watched the girls tonight...we had a blast, as we always do! While in the bath they were being total goofballs and were cracking each other up! I had to try to capture a few of the funny moments as their faces and giggles were so joyous to see and be a part of!

Sister kisses!

Big sister bear hug!

Keira cracks her up!

Emmery is obviously pretty funny too!

Splish! Spash!

Rocking the Mohawk!

Emmery wanted a Mohawk too!

Day 73: Purposely Blurred

While on a photography website, I saw this interesting technique that another photographer used and it really intrigued me, so I decided to try it. Basically you gently move the camera while taking the photo to create just enough blur to make it look abstract-like a painting. For the camera settings, you close your aperture as much as possible and then slow down your shutter so that it stays open for a good amount of time (closing the aperture lets in less light since the slow shutter is open longer to allow the movement to be caught). It didn't come out too bad, considering I was at work and quickly experimented with the technique. My photographic version of a Monet work of art! Haha!

Day 72: Can't Go Out to Play

Toler was outside and we found Ranger sitting at the sliding glass door watching her...he really wanted to go out and play! Poor little doggie!

Day 71: Panning for the Fun of It

We took Ranger to the park today and while he and Greg were playing fetch, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to get a panning shot. All in all, I would say there are a couple of good ones. Call me crazy, but I really am digging the second one. It seems almost abstract...like a painting. You can feel the movement and see the dog, but the rest is all just a blur. I had fun trying different settings, and can't wait to get some more panning shots! 

Day 70: Editor in Chief

Every time I work on my blog, Toler comes and insists on sitting with me...the whole time. A lot of the time she will curl up on my lap and go to sleep...but other times she will stare at the screen, watching my every move. I really do think she is under the impression that she is my editor.

Day 69: Big Rig Billboard

Saw this on the way home and totally loved it! Since I was driving and wasn't able to stop, I only had time to grab my phone, switch on the camera and snap the photo as I drove by.  Love it!!

Day 68: Carby Goodness

Don't ask me why, because I won't have a logical answer for you, but I have been craving carby, chocolatey goodness. So tonight, I decided it was pointless to suffer any longer and I made homemade peanut butter chocolate bars. And let me tell you...they were divine!

Day 67: Fresh and Fruity

After work I went grocery shopping...then came home, cleaned out the fridge, put all the groceries away, made breakfasts and lunches for the rest of the week and fed my hubby. I am beat! But it is nice to have that all done and have meals ready for the next couple weeks. I must say, I was ecstatic to see all the glorious fresh summer produce (strawberries, peaches, asparagus) that are now starting to be in season...and you can bet your bottom dollar...I bought a little bit of it all! Hooray for freshness! Hooray for summer!

Day 66: More Snow

More snow today! When will Spring be here? Other than work and the snow, it was an uneventful day.

Day 65: No Fear

Silver, Catherine, Keira and Emmery came to a park by our house this afternoon, so I went and met them there for a bit. The girls had a great time and played and played and played, despite the somewhat chilly temperature. There was a very steep slide that they would fly down...with no fear what so ever! Crazy kids!

Day 64: Froyo and Lady on a Pillow

This afternoon we watched Keira and Emmery while Silver and Catherine went on a date. We always have so much fun when we hang out with the girls...I can't even tell you how many funny things they do in a single hour! There were numerous times Greg and I were laughing so hard there were tears in our eyes! They are both so smart and are a total riot!

After dinner we took them to get some frozen yogurt at the new self serve froyo place down the road from there house. They had a fun time selecting their flavor of yogurt and then choosing a few tasty toppings! On the way there they asked to listen to Lady Antebellum (there favorite song is "Need You Now") and when Emmery asked she said she wanted to "Listen to Lady on a Pillow", needless to say we were laughing hysterically! How cute is that?

Then we cam home, played some more, gave them a bath, read some books and then put them to bed. What a fun night! 

The power of Froyo!

 "What did you get, Emmery?"

"Coldie!"

Only Auntie Gabrielle makes us do this! LOL

Listening to Lady A.

They love to read!

Day 63: Meeting Matthew West

After work we went with Sky and Becky to the Matthew West concert at SCF. It was a great concert and we got to meet Matthew! He is such an amazing artist, is very humble, is a talented song writer and musician, has a huge heart for the Lord and for others and he is pretty hilarious too!

All the songs on his new CD are ones that he wrote about real people...he locked himself in a cabin for two months and asked people to send him their stories...the sad and the good stories, the trials they went through, the mountains they had to climb and overcome. He then took those stories and put them into songs...songs about hope, about compassion, about victory...and most importantly, about Christ and His purpose for our lives. It was a very touching concert and a privilege to worship the Lord with Matthew! Thanks Sky and Becky for getting us the tickets! XOXO