Days 11 and 12: Pink.

This is my niece. She is adorable and since she is a girl, she has to wear a lot of pink. So instead of buying her more pink, I bought two uni-sex fleece sweatshirts for her. In our family, we appreciate all pigments in the color wheel.

Day 10: Wipers.

A few weeks ago, I had a morning off of work (due to a bout of sickness the weekend prior) so I decided to take the advice of my roommate and get new windshield wipers. I'm not going to lie- it's been a few years since I bought new wipers. I mean, I THOUGHT they were alright. They left a huge streak in the middle of the driver's side (about 1/4 of the window wide) and the other one usually didn't really take any of the dirt off, but I was getting by with them.

I took it to the auto parts store and the guy I bought them from installed them for me too. Awesome! The first time I used them it was like butter... it took the dirt off so easily. I loved it.

The whole thing reminded me of Matthew 7:1-5 -

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Day 9: God's little reminders.

My friend in Sunday School made this for me. It made me feel so loved, I can't even tell you. I'm putting it up in my room!

Last Sunday, Sunday School absolutely blew up in my face. Everything that could go wrong DID go wrong and I didn't use my God-given discernment. After that, I didn't go to worship at my church and instead ran to my Gramma's house... a place of solace and rest. After hanging out with her and my aunt and uncle, I had some peace and decided to go to church later that day at New Wine (definitely a good choice!). God had words for me there... and I'm still chewing on them.

This week, with getting more into the Word, God gave me a good idea for Sunday School. And it was SOOOOO fun!! And the kids learned a ton, which I am happy about! Now I just need to call a few more volunteers into service and we should be good to go for the rest of the spring! Praise God!

Day 8: My lapse back into photography.

A photo from Carrie and Andy's engagement shoot which I did today with the help of my awesome roommate, Jenny.

I always say I'm gonna be done with it, that I'm not going to make it into a business. And then wedding season comes around and I always end up doing it again. Why, you ask? Because I ENJOY IT. It's my art, my passion. It mixes my favorite subject (people) with my second favorite muse (emotion). My favorite things to shoot are weddings- the happiness you see in people is found first in marriage, second in the birth of children. Since I don't really want to take pictures of babies being birthed (yeah, uhhhhh, that sounds awful), I think I'll stick with weddings.

I was able to do another engagement shoot in September and the bride-to-be asked me today if I would shoot her wedding. I was ECSTATIC. They are a very fun couple and I can't wait to take photos of their big day! My cousin, Luke, is also getting married this summer and his bride-to-be asked me to be the second photographer for the day. Score! I get to do candids all day, which are by far my favorite part of shooting a wedding. Capturing raw emotion. I think my friend Vicci asked me to shoot her wedding at the end of July... I think she was serious! I sure hope so, because I really want to do it. This one's in another state and I haven't travelled to shoot a wedding since Mattie and Candice's wedding in January of 2009 (which was in Alabama... and WARM. So perfect). Needless to say, I'm excited at the possibility of traveling to shoot a wedding again and perhaps getting my favorite road tripper involved in it with me (Nicole, did you really think I wouldn't ask you?).

Jenny's friend is letting us do maternity portraits for her in February. I'm so excited, I've never been able to be a part of a maternity shoot before! Secretly I've always wanted to do one... not the cheesy ones with the paint on the belly, just one that uses lighting and makes having a baby look elegant.

Woo-hoo!! I like photography!!

Days 6 and 7: Pets and Head Lice.

This is my buddy Lenny. I was with him the day his family brought him home, and he still sleeps on the bed next to me when I dogsit him. He doesn't do that to his owner, just to me. What a sweetheart.

I really like animals. They just calm me and most of them show an intense amount of affection, which I like. Think of how much more affection God has for me! Thanks God, for that. And for hugs when I'm down and cheers when we're experiencing the happiness that bubbles out of the pure joy You placed inside my heart.

Head lice has been going around recently at the local schools. I babysat for my nanny family tonight since they had an event at the 8year-old's school cancelled due to head lice. Crazy that they cancel things because of it!

So I was putting the 4.5 year-old to bed tonight and we were doing our "Thank You, God"s before we did our "Help us, God"s and he said, "Thank you for my babysitter." It made me smile really big.

Then I was putting the 8 year-old to bed and she said the same thing during her "Thank You, God"s. And then we thanked Him for His Word and being able to read really well.

I think that's my favorite thing about putting the kids to bed... having a three-way conversation with God. It's so fun! I can't wait for the day I can do that with my own children and I pray that God will bless me with one or two adopted kids, even if His plan doesn't include a husband. Is it sad that I wouldn't mind having a husband just so I can adopt kids?

Day 5: Confirmation Verse.

That's my Gramma Rose. It was her 25th birthday the other day (okay, so it actually wasn't her 25th, but I swear sometimes that she's that young!) so I took a picture on my phone of her blowing out her candles. She's so beautiful... this blurry photo doesn't do her justice. Perhaps, after all is done, I shall post my favorite photo of her. She's so embarrassed by it but I think it's so adorable that it doesn't even matter.

Today my aunts and my mom were working on some stuff for Gramma and asked what her confirmation verse was. We started looking through the bulletin from her confirmation service and we found a verse that she believes is her confirmation verse.

2 Corinthians 5:15-

"And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again."

In the midst of it all, I realize that I still live and live for Him. It's all I can do.

Day 4: "Just tape your eyelids open."

I only have one cat. Her name is Maisey Mae and I love her a lot. She loves me sometimes too, even though she harbored some anger towards me after gently reminded her tonight that she is not allowed to sit on my roommate's pillow.

There are two well-known facts about me.

1. I rather be out actually getting work done or doing something rather than sitting in a meeting. Meetings bug me.

2. I don't like talking to adults. I will never be one and I rather never talk to them or be in large groups of them.

Today I had to do both. During two separate occasions today. God was with me and we chatted for a bit during the second one, so it was okay.

Day 3: Underwear and Snow.

This is a normal day at work. "Underwear Tornado" is what this is called, and yes, we did turn it on and almost busted a gut at the outcome.

So much running through my head right now. God, calm it.

Snow is an interesting thing. Each snowflake is unique, yet lands amidst millions of snowflakes to make them just snow. Some of the more unlucky snowflakes end up in the road, getting caught up in the wheel-well of some gas guzzler. Their uniqueness and beauty fade as dirt and grime work their way into the intricate design.

I watched as a community of contaminated snowflakes fell from their carrier like a parasite. I watched as a few cars narrowly missed the soft rock-looking structure. Then, in front of my eyes... a wheel flung the community far away from each other, pulverizing some into the ground and forcing them into becoming dirt. Others were spared for a short time but had little chance of ever being made beautiful again... that is, until the plow came and mixed their grime and dirt with the beautiful, white community of snowflakes. Somehow, the mix was still beautiful. The unblemished snowflakes took on the grime and filth and made the contaminated snowflakes a little lighter. More snow fell and completely covered the dirt, making the community whole and fully beautiful again.

A picture of the Church and the Holy Spirit? Perhaps. But maybe it is just a story about snowflakes.

Day 2: Hoodies cure bad days.

When I feel threatened or disliked, I put my hood up and pretend it's not happening. Something about extra warmth around my head makes me feel better.

So do roommates. And being home.

Day 1: Chillin' with tons to do.

Instead of having a social life and actually finding a husband like 70% of the people I know want me to, I rather just hang out with those people I love most... kids. Last night I spent the evening at my sister's house with her family (and new baby!) and tonight I'm at my boss's house, watching his 18 month old. He's my buddy.

After the kid went to sleep, the dog and I decided to watch SVU and cuddle. My Saturday nights are bomb.

Puke.

I have always wanted to label a blog post that.

Okay, that's a lie. I just named it that.

Anyway, I have thee most sour stomach on the face of the earth. It's super touchy and yesterday just proved it. Apparently you can't put a ton of stuff into your body and hope it turns out alright... because most of the time it doesn't. You get the picture.

So I'm still feeling under the weather, but God is using me despite my obvious lack of physical strength. I love it when He does this. A measure of strength beyond belief. PRAISE HIM!