Neat Artwork

I was out shooting a photo assignment at a local church today and saw these posters in the foyer. I wish I had more wall space because I would totally save up to buy a couple of these! They are so neat and such a great idea! Essentially it is the whole book of Genesis on one large poster. They also have the books of Exodus, Proverbs and Psalms.


Cannot imagine having to be the designer and fitting all that type on there! but kuddo's to the one who did!

Here's the website if you want to check them out!

Bad

So, some friends shared this with me and I laughed. Piper is a good sport! So I thought I would share it here too! Hehee!

I plan to update with the rest of the pictures from Michigan soon. I'm a bit behind this week.

Ah...Michigan....

I've spent this past week with my wonderful family in Michigan and we've gone and done sooo much!! I've climbed the dunes in the coast of Lake Michigan, dipped my toes in the frigid waters of Lake Superior, gazed at lighthouses, caught teeny-tiny frogs for the inspection of little eyes, driven the golf cart around the Christmas tree farm, got left in the back of the Christmas tree farm while the nieces left me in the dust, and was followed into Subway by a Homeland Security police officer. It has been great! : )

"Aunt Nasty" made an appearance on the car ride to Michigan as monkeys, minnies and babies were flying from the back. Aunt Nasty confiscated them for a brief respite before returning them to their short little owners : ) Of course she played along in launching the little critters back and forth.

Part of the fun was had on the golf cart! We rode around the Christmas trees on the farm and followed trails for hours on end. Then.......

I gave Madison the wheel only to be left in the dust as the girls sped off and teased me as they offered to come back and get me but then would race on by! It was all fun though!!

Beautiful Lake Michigan!

The Cherries were almost in bloom on the cherry trees in the UP!

The Old Mission Point lighthouse.

Me on the 45th Parallel on the shore of Lake Michigan.

A teeny little frog I caught that Lauren took a liking to. These little frogs were all over the place at the Old Mission Point lighthouse.

So those are just a few of the pictures, I have many more to post, but figured I'd do it a little at a time! Besides, I'm beat and ready for bed. This week has been great. I love my family, I just love the time I get to spend with them. I'm truly blessed with a wonderful family that we can get together and always have such a good time!

More pictures to come!

More Summer Fun!!

Hardly anything can beat early morning cartoons and bedhead!! Sure signs of Summer!

So I capitalized on having Punkin and Bug spending the night to get some new pictures of them together. They're at the age where they can easily make one another laugh - and well, it just makes for some cute pictures!


And ever the camera-ham, decked out in her bathing suit and umbrella first thing in the morning - here is a picture of Bug before we headed to our friends to go swimming.


Summer is such a sweet time!!

Summer Discoveries

So the girls have spent a few days with me and it has been wonderful! They are so much fun, so entertaining and honestly they keep me on my toes! I never know what they'll do or what they'll say.

So on their last morning with me, we sat down to watch some episodes from the Jeff Corwin DVD. Snakes, elephants, bats, birds and insects. Little bug quickly grew bored by the third episode and went out to play. Before long she burst through the front door and rushed to show me her find from outside. "It's an insect!!!!!!!" She said with the greatest of joy as she held up a crusty, petrified worm that she found on the sidewalk.

I couldn't help but laugh and encourage her in her discovery.

Bug's "insect"

...further examination...

I love the wonder and exploration kiddos have!

They are such a joy!

Jitter Bug

Little Bug had her dance recital Thursday night. She made us all very proud!!

I can't believe how fast she is growing!! But she is such a joy to our family every single day.

15 Balloons

I cried on the football field.

And all it took was 15 balloons.

I honestly do not have any words to describe where I'm at or how I feel. Truth tells me that Christ is right here - and I believe. I know He is here, holding me, carrying me and giving me the strength to persevere in a time that I am so weak. A friend reminded me of this Friday night as I was very close to a full-on "come-apart."

I couldn't allow myself to come apart as I had a huge creative task ahead of me. Getting three days of main art for the newspaper out of one event. The Relay for Life.

I haven't covered one of those in probably four years. The last time I did I was a wreck after having lost a dear friend to the disease. Typically a loss of a loved one spurs one on in such events. I don't know why, but for me I tend to shy away. Not that I don't desperately hope for a cure to be found or more money raised to help those who have cancer. I was just very much still raw. I'm still raw. Especially after learning of another dear friend's diagnosis of lung cancer just the day before.

And so I held myself together - talking to people, taking pictures, getting names, thinking ahead to the next three issues of the paper and how images will go together and all the technical stuff that rolls around in my head when shooting.

And then there was little Logan Miller. A 10-year-old with an infectious smile, sweet spirit, a huge heart, and leukemia. A boy who was ready to walk proudly in the survivors lap - but not just for himself. For his friend Matthew that he met in the hospital who also had leukemia. Matthew was 15 when he lost his battle to the disease this past October. And so Logan not just walked for himself but also carried 15 purple balloons - one for each year of Matthew's life and a white balloon symbolizing his death.

How wonderful and sweet to carry on the memory of a friend and keep fighting a battle in the face of losing one so dear to the very same battle.

After talking with Logan, that's when it hit and I just had to walk away as I fought back the tears. The sight of his precious little smile and the balloons that floated in the breeze overhead. It was all too much.

I was once told that emotions are like pandora's box. You can hold them in, box them up, keep on truckin' yet once the lid comes of - even off a corner - they all come out.

And that they did. Right there on the football field.

I'm thankful for sunglasses : )

So in the midst of all that has happened these past two weeks, of which I truly don't have the energy to write about on here, I found that my thoughts returned to a friend who recently suffered a devastating loss. In the midst of it, she told me that she wanted to learn from it. She wanted to know what God wanted to teach her in that time. Even though there was great sorrow, pain and sheer hurt - she knew God had a purpose for the pain.

God always has a purpose.

I can recall a time I was so deep in depression that all I could literally do was lay in bed and repeatedly cry out to Jesus. This went on for days. His name was all I could get out. I know in that time the Holy Spirit was interceding on my behalf.

He is interceding now.

So 15 balloons brought me back down. Stopped me in my tracks and forced me to let it all out. And also reminded me that in reality my problems aren't that great.

And when I am weak - He is strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,

in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.