6:43 pm

Out of your deepest pain can grow your greatest strength. 

summer snapshots

More random shots, the last ones from this Summer. 

Be prepared for pictures of food...it's kind of an obsession of mine. ;)

Home alone with Andrew and John. 

Time for some cleaning and loud music. :)

Swimming dates with Johnny. 

And snacks afterward. Because we like food around here. 

Gorgeous skies.

.

A night out on the Trampoline. Movies, ice-cream, and...rain. 

We still had a blast. :)

My kids at work. Keeping me on my toes.

Girls' night at a hotel.

Fuel for long talks.

The 3 of us.

Such a good trip.

Caleb. 

Becoming quite the hard-core athlete.

Fajitas. Made by MaryAnna, of course.

Driving him to XC practice. 

Seems like yesterday I was the one being dropped off to run.

Sewing with MaryAnna.

This is the best way to do it :)

A little brother doodled. On my foot.

Such a cool design. 

"We love dessert...we're just too tired to act excited."

A birthday breakfast.

How many brothers take their sister out for ice-cream? 

Mine does. 

Swimming. 

Deep cleaning and crazy dress-up. 

Never a dull moment with Josh & Julie. :)

Pink-ness.

The cook outdid herself.

Lazy nights, just chillin'. 

love this stuff.

Frozen yogurt, at a wedding, with Julie. 

She makes any situation fun. :)

A certain amazing photo-shoot. :)

Another birthday breakfast.

A peach creation. 

Cobbler, with blackberries from our property? And vanilla ice-cream?

I think yes. 

just some thoughts...

(I scribbled this out weeks ago, but it got stashed away and forgotten about until now.)


Life is a crazy thing. 

Just when you think you have it figured out, everything changes and nothing is what it seemed.

And it's so easy to get caught up with the way I wish things were. 

There are so many things I wish I could change. 

But spending time thinking about the what if's will keep you from experiencing the what can be's. 

And you know, there are so many good things in life...just waiting to be experienced. 

There are lessons to be learned, adventures to be had, memories to be made.

But if you're so busy filling your heart with discontent, and longing for something that's out of reach, 

you'll never see the good things that are right in front of you.

I know when you've been thinking about one thing for so long, it can be hard to change your focus. 

It's like leaving your comfy place and stepping into a scary hallway, with endless doors and unknown opportunities. 

Sure, your comfy place is nice, and familiar, and...well, comfy.
But you won't get anywhere sitting there.

That dark hall and those scary doors seem daunting, but behind those doors there is something big.
Something brilliant. Something bright...
so bright it might blind you at first.

And you'll realize just how dark your world had been before.

At some point you've got to choose to stop looking back. 

So you can start moving forward. 

7:24 pm

Every second counts, 'cause there's no second try...

So live it like you'll never live it twice.

what i realized

My recent photo-shoot with these two got me thinking...and made me realize three things.

I should start taking pictures more often. I'd forgotten how much I love it.

I miss my SLR. Big bulky camera, I took you for granted.

But most of all, true love is a beautiful thing.
So much deeper than the average romance.

And thanks to my brother and his girlfriend, I know it still exists.