Wow, this weekend has been a blur. So awesome though! I totally see God's blessing on my business (HIS business, really). This has definitely been my most packed weekend ever with ATP and I am so grateful for every client who places their faith in me to handle their special event. Plus, it's just been really FUN! I'm definitely a people person, so working so closely with different families is definitely up my alley.
Well, I only had a moment or two. We are packing up for church this morning. And immediately following is our annual Independence Day Picnic. You can bet I'll be wandering around with a camera on that one! I love the picnic because it was Rob's and my first event at Trinity and this is our third go around. We are beginning our third year here now! Seems hard to believe!! I need to come back and journal about that a bit more!
Off to church, love you guys!!
Jun 28, 2009
Jun 22, 2009
Saw This On Another Blog...
and decided to lift the idea. :) I'm not feeling super creative just yet. We are slowly recovering from this wicked bout with food poisoning. Rob finally made it out of bed at about 2:30 this afternoon. I've been up, but never far from the ladies room....
From the kitchen... frozen pizza. But seriously craving homemade sugar cookies and thinking I may have to indulge that craving when I'm fully recovered in a few days.
I am creating... a ton of laundry that needs to be dealt with. Funny how sick people still make dirty clothes. bummer.
I am going... feel better in the morning. Only been saying that for 4 days, but my belief has never swayed. I'm an eternal optimist like that... annoying, isn't it?
I am reading... 90 Days with Jesus by Beth Moore. amazing!
I am hoping... to have one of the best weeks of my life this week. It's jam-packed and I'm trusting God for the strength to finish it with flair!
I am hearing... the refrain to Here In Your Presence over and over in my head. What a haunting melody!
One of my favorite things...my Touch hasn't left my side these past 4 days. It's good to stay connected when all you can do is literally lift a finger. :)
A few plans for the rest of the week... oh, my. sadly, a funeral. housekeeping. aforementioned swim lessons. A birthday trip to the mall with a special teenager. A family shoot on Friday am, photographing a retirement dinner that evening, picnic planning on Saturday morning and a photographing a wedding on Saturday night. Sunday is our annual Trinity Picnic and I'm really looking forward to that! Like I said, I need lots of God this week! I'm excited though, I know He doesn't give us more than we can handle and it's cool that He thinks I can handle so much!
My children are very over being home together with little supervision. We did manage to make it to church yesterday, oh so thoroughly by the grace of God, let me tell you. And then Pastor and Linda invited us over for a lovely lunch and a little pool time. The kids ate that up and went to bed beautifully last night because of it. I limped my way through a family shoot last night, but thankfully the pictures say otherwise. God is so good like that.
Tomorrow, hopefully the world returns to normal. Rob will go back to work, the kids will enjoy a day of Summer Fun, and I'll hit the 90th Cookbook preparations hard, and hopefully restore a bit of peace and order into the Thoreson Household. Man, we need it.
Tonight we are starting the kids in swim lessons, and I'm so excited for them to learn! They are both equally ready to figure it out! You should have seen them fishing around in Pastor's pool yesterday. Summer has definitely started.
On to my fun finish the sentence...
Outside my window... My magnolia is working on 2 new blooms. You can't know how it blesses my heart that this tree survived Ike and is now flourishing. It's probably tripled in size since I planted it two springs ago. My camera missed the very first bloom, but I'm watching these next two like a hawk, camera in hand!!
I am thinking... about how relatively little time I've spent learning my new Nikon. Life has just been moving too fast lately. I'm hoping swimming lessons will provide me with 7 forty-five minute sessions with it. :)
I am thankful for... my health. Having 4 days of severe stomach cramps (and accompianment) reminds me again how blessed Rob and I are to be two such healthy people!
I am thinking... about how relatively little time I've spent learning my new Nikon. Life has just been moving too fast lately. I'm hoping swimming lessons will provide me with 7 forty-five minute sessions with it. :)
I am thankful for... my health. Having 4 days of severe stomach cramps (and accompianment) reminds me again how blessed Rob and I are to be two such healthy people!
From the kitchen... frozen pizza. But seriously craving homemade sugar cookies and thinking I may have to indulge that craving when I'm fully recovered in a few days.
I am wearing... hole-y jeans and an ancient Barlow Girl t-shirt, with my super cute pink Converses from Lori.
I am creating... a ton of laundry that needs to be dealt with. Funny how sick people still make dirty clothes. bummer.
I am going... feel better in the morning. Only been saying that for 4 days, but my belief has never swayed. I'm an eternal optimist like that... annoying, isn't it?
I am reading... 90 Days with Jesus by Beth Moore. amazing!
I am hoping... to have one of the best weeks of my life this week. It's jam-packed and I'm trusting God for the strength to finish it with flair!
I am hearing... the refrain to Here In Your Presence over and over in my head. What a haunting melody!
Around the house... a general air of laziness. Funny how much rises and falls on Mom. When I relax, they relax...
One of my favorite things...my Touch hasn't left my side these past 4 days. It's good to stay connected when all you can do is literally lift a finger. :)
A few plans for the rest of the week... oh, my. sadly, a funeral. housekeeping. aforementioned swim lessons. A birthday trip to the mall with a special teenager. A family shoot on Friday am, photographing a retirement dinner that evening, picnic planning on Saturday morning and a photographing a wedding on Saturday night. Sunday is our annual Trinity Picnic and I'm really looking forward to that! Like I said, I need lots of God this week! I'm excited though, I know He doesn't give us more than we can handle and it's cool that He thinks I can handle so much!
Jun 20, 2009
Why Mom's Shouldn't Get Sick...
Rob and I are still recovering from a terrible bout of food poisoning. We had baked chicken on Thursday night that apparently didn't agree with us. We were up all Friday night, on and off, and then have continued to rumble in the stomaches since then. Even now, my stomach is still talking to me. Our poor kids were pretty much on their own and that really doesn't work for Sarah. As the evidence supports. Wow, I have my work cut out for me. And I'm already so tired... We've spent the past 48 hours sleeping. So annoying to my normally super-productive lifestyle.
Jun 18, 2009
New Songness For You...
This song is in my head since camp. Give it a try, it really gets to you! My kiddos love it too!
Jun 16, 2009
I miss Peonies...
They are one of those strange things that make you long for your childhood. We've had peony plants at our homes growing up for as far back as I can remember. The color and scents are so lovely, and they are absolutely beautiful to behold. I remember holding them upside down in my palms and rolling them back and forth to spin the ants out. (ants love peonies) They makes such lovely arrangements, so large and aromatic.I also miss lilacs. We also always had them in our yard. I remember one Memorial Day in particular sitting at Rob's parents place having bbq'd food and the scent of lilacs was so overpowering. I knew that memory would be etched in my mind forever. I'll be a little old lady one day and still smell lilacs and think of that time with his family.
Well, there you go. I just made myself homesick. I think I'm needing an Iowa visit...
Jun 13, 2009
God Goes to Hill Country Camp
Just in case you were wondering...
Wow, what an awesome week.
Rob and I really enjoyed being head counselors. Yes, it had it's ups and downs. Ups being - getting to share a golf cart all week, lots of responsibility, fun perks like Starbucks in the am, and being the 'hands' of our guest speaker during the healing service on Thursday night. Very awesome. Downs being - policing the dress code with the girls, being the last person to go to bed and the first person to get up each day = major lack of sleep, and having to yell at Cabin 5 on the last night. But seriously, I would totally do it again and have some fun ideas on how to do it better, just knowing expectations helps me tremendously! I need to write down my post-processing thoughts so that if they ask me next year, I can rock it! :)
Our trip really began on Saturday, when we drove our own children to McKinney, TX to meet Rob's mom and stepdad. They kept the kiddos for a week, wow, that was an awesome blessing! Sare and E had a great time!! I think Sarah wore them out though, Mom now understands what I mean when I say that Sarah is a hurricane!! (speaking of hurricanes, the first name on the list for 2009 Named Storms is Anna, isn't that random??) Sarah took these first two pictures, thus the blur.
We took 12 of our own students to camp, leaving at 6:30am on our 5-6 hour drive over to Kerrville, TX. Even the drive over was fun, but ironically, the drive home was more fun!!
At camp, neither of us got to work 'with' our kids, but we stayed in the same room as them and saw them throughout the week. God really did a work in their lives, and Rob and I were both at the altar each night, praying with them. Worship was fantastic, a fellow youth pastor and his team lead and it was amazing.
Right before we left, I had an urge to get a pedicure. Turns out, that was a really great idea! And Jennifer gave me these shoes that afternoon, I'm in love! I wore them two different days this week, aren't they cute??
Pastor's Royce and Jason were hilarious this week. I couldn't even keep up, finally got to the point where I'd just smile and laugh cause a comeback was just too slow on the little sleep I was getting. They definitely made the week interesting!
I have ALWAYS wanted a golf cart. I'm not exagerating a tiny bit. Definitely when we worked at Sonrise, but even back before then! Probably dating all the way back to Okoboji in jr. high. And it was totally worth the wait. I told Rob I wanted one for Mother's Day next week, just for getting the mail and jetting around our subdivision. Plus I learned how to peel out to a stop, approach going fast and jerk the wheel hard to skid to a stop. Very fun, arriving in a cloud of dust. The other guys on our team said I reminded them of Tokyo Drift. :) We also had walkies, and that definitely kept it interesting. Let's just say the other staff is confident that our marriage is secure! Also, on Thursday Rob and I started using our iPods to dj music over the radio, that got interesting fast! You'd be surprised what youth pastors listen too!
Came out one morning to find this site on our golf cart. Love these kiddos!!
The last night was our trek to Prayer Mountain, immediately following the healing services. Wow, the weather was beautiful, you could see the stars, but it was lightening simultaneously. The breeze was great too. Very memorable evening!
These are our friends and camp manager for week 1, Matt and his lovely wife Heather. Just to be fair, this picture was taken at midnight or maybe even after on Thursday, so it was late and we were all exhausted. They did a great job this week, and were super fun and encouraging (you can't even know!) to work with.
Heather and I really hit it off! She's a Nikon girl too!
These guys, Derek and Clint, (also youth pastors) were our Sherrif and Assistant Manager for the week. They kept us in stitches! Total hams! Also, extremely encouraging. You get the idea that Head Counselor is a tough job and encouragement is needed?? :) Also note the sodas in their hands, camp requires VAST amounts of caffeine. And yes, I was a good girl and the only Dr. Pepper that passed my lips was diet. And lots and lots of Spark.
These are my girls, we took 8 chickas and 4 boys. Every one of them had a good time!!
This is Tammy Burroughs, our DYD's wife. She's amazing. She took 3 of us lady youth pastor/wives out for dinner on Wednesday night and that was so nice! The best part was the prayer that we had when we went back to her house. Very cool! We are blessed to work with people like them.
This is the view I had for 12 hours in the past week. :)
Last time in Buc-ee's (one of four trips this past 8 days!) I noticed this sign and it totally cracked me up!!
Rob and Sarah were playing around in the car on the way home from McKinney today while I was driving. Found this cute picture on my camera when I uploaded. Lucky girl, aren't I??
Wow, what an awesome week.
Rob and I really enjoyed being head counselors. Yes, it had it's ups and downs. Ups being - getting to share a golf cart all week, lots of responsibility, fun perks like Starbucks in the am, and being the 'hands' of our guest speaker during the healing service on Thursday night. Very awesome. Downs being - policing the dress code with the girls, being the last person to go to bed and the first person to get up each day = major lack of sleep, and having to yell at Cabin 5 on the last night. But seriously, I would totally do it again and have some fun ideas on how to do it better, just knowing expectations helps me tremendously! I need to write down my post-processing thoughts so that if they ask me next year, I can rock it! :)
Our trip really began on Saturday, when we drove our own children to McKinney, TX to meet Rob's mom and stepdad. They kept the kiddos for a week, wow, that was an awesome blessing! Sare and E had a great time!! I think Sarah wore them out though, Mom now understands what I mean when I say that Sarah is a hurricane!! (speaking of hurricanes, the first name on the list for 2009 Named Storms is Anna, isn't that random??) Sarah took these first two pictures, thus the blur.
We took 12 of our own students to camp, leaving at 6:30am on our 5-6 hour drive over to Kerrville, TX. Even the drive over was fun, but ironically, the drive home was more fun!!
At camp, neither of us got to work 'with' our kids, but we stayed in the same room as them and saw them throughout the week. God really did a work in their lives, and Rob and I were both at the altar each night, praying with them. Worship was fantastic, a fellow youth pastor and his team lead and it was amazing.
Right before we left, I had an urge to get a pedicure. Turns out, that was a really great idea! And Jennifer gave me these shoes that afternoon, I'm in love! I wore them two different days this week, aren't they cute??
Pastor's Royce and Jason were hilarious this week. I couldn't even keep up, finally got to the point where I'd just smile and laugh cause a comeback was just too slow on the little sleep I was getting. They definitely made the week interesting!
I have ALWAYS wanted a golf cart. I'm not exagerating a tiny bit. Definitely when we worked at Sonrise, but even back before then! Probably dating all the way back to Okoboji in jr. high. And it was totally worth the wait. I told Rob I wanted one for Mother's Day next week, just for getting the mail and jetting around our subdivision. Plus I learned how to peel out to a stop, approach going fast and jerk the wheel hard to skid to a stop. Very fun, arriving in a cloud of dust. The other guys on our team said I reminded them of Tokyo Drift. :) We also had walkies, and that definitely kept it interesting. Let's just say the other staff is confident that our marriage is secure! Also, on Thursday Rob and I started using our iPods to dj music over the radio, that got interesting fast! You'd be surprised what youth pastors listen too!Came out one morning to find this site on our golf cart. Love these kiddos!!
The last night was our trek to Prayer Mountain, immediately following the healing services. Wow, the weather was beautiful, you could see the stars, but it was lightening simultaneously. The breeze was great too. Very memorable evening!
These are our friends and camp manager for week 1, Matt and his lovely wife Heather. Just to be fair, this picture was taken at midnight or maybe even after on Thursday, so it was late and we were all exhausted. They did a great job this week, and were super fun and encouraging (you can't even know!) to work with.
Heather and I really hit it off! She's a Nikon girl too!
These guys, Derek and Clint, (also youth pastors) were our Sherrif and Assistant Manager for the week. They kept us in stitches! Total hams! Also, extremely encouraging. You get the idea that Head Counselor is a tough job and encouragement is needed?? :) Also note the sodas in their hands, camp requires VAST amounts of caffeine. And yes, I was a good girl and the only Dr. Pepper that passed my lips was diet. And lots and lots of Spark.
These are my girls, we took 8 chickas and 4 boys. Every one of them had a good time!!
This is Tammy Burroughs, our DYD's wife. She's amazing. She took 3 of us lady youth pastor/wives out for dinner on Wednesday night and that was so nice! The best part was the prayer that we had when we went back to her house. Very cool! We are blessed to work with people like them.
This is the view I had for 12 hours in the past week. :)
Last time in Buc-ee's (one of four trips this past 8 days!) I noticed this sign and it totally cracked me up!!
Rob and Sarah were playing around in the car on the way home from McKinney today while I was driving. Found this cute picture on my camera when I uploaded. Lucky girl, aren't I??
Jun 5, 2009
Hello Blogsophere!
I've missed you!
Man, life has been unreal lately. No time to blog, that's not right! And I hate to tell you, but there will be blog silence again next week, I'll be at South Texas Youth Camp. Can't say I'm sorry, either, cause I'm super excited for it! Rob and I are (gasp!) Head Counselors and you guessed it, we get our own GOLF CARTS! Good thing I was promised that before my little run-in earlier this week. Oh, maybe I forgot to mention that...
So I'm sporting a minivan right now. Missing my Vue. I was headed to a shoot on Tuesday night and went to make a wide right turn (actually that's illegal in TX unless you are an 18 wheeler) when the lady behind me tried to pass on the right. Long story short ($2400 damage to my car later), it is in the shop for the week. I'm most bummed about my 13 year accident-free streak being interrupted. Yes, I bumped a gate at the dealership a year ago, but that did not count, no claim was filed. The good news is that I talked the repair shop into fixing that little blemish for free along with my Allstate repair. You know how much I enjoy a bargain! Plus, it will make my husband very happy and happy husbands are always good!
Sarah graduated pre-k this week. That was hard. And exciting. And funny. She, quite literally, sashayed down the aisle like the little 'princess' she is. It was hysterical! Eli was promoted to 3rd grade with all A's, the little genius! Both of my kids are growing like weeds, it's crazy. We are headed North of Dallas tomorrow to meet Grammy Ginny for a week of fun in the sun in Arkansas while Daddy and I do the camp thing. They are super ridiculous excited!
Oh, and I got a new shirt about a week ago, it's my new favorite, I paid $5 for it. Gotta love that! Old Navy had their famous 50% off their clearance merchandise sale and I cleaned up!
The big yellow and black bird makes me so happy! Also, the little gold accent birds. It goes perfectly with my bird bracelet that my mom gave me for my birthday. I need to break down and buy the earrings that match, I'm really into wearing earrings lately!
Also found this one at Target for $4.98, pretty cute!
In other news: I'm in love with my camera. It's going to be hard to leave my baby for a week and view the world from my point and shoot. :( But I'm a big girl and I'll manage. But the d90 was a brilliant choice for me, any heavier and I'm going to have work my way up into it! My bag weighs like a million pounds now. We aren't going to talk about how much $ it weighs! :)
I am, however, looking forward to a weekend with Rob, even if it means spending 10 hours in the car. It's going to be a great week!
Man, life has been unreal lately. No time to blog, that's not right! And I hate to tell you, but there will be blog silence again next week, I'll be at South Texas Youth Camp. Can't say I'm sorry, either, cause I'm super excited for it! Rob and I are (gasp!) Head Counselors and you guessed it, we get our own GOLF CARTS! Good thing I was promised that before my little run-in earlier this week. Oh, maybe I forgot to mention that...
So I'm sporting a minivan right now. Missing my Vue. I was headed to a shoot on Tuesday night and went to make a wide right turn (actually that's illegal in TX unless you are an 18 wheeler) when the lady behind me tried to pass on the right. Long story short ($2400 damage to my car later), it is in the shop for the week. I'm most bummed about my 13 year accident-free streak being interrupted. Yes, I bumped a gate at the dealership a year ago, but that did not count, no claim was filed. The good news is that I talked the repair shop into fixing that little blemish for free along with my Allstate repair. You know how much I enjoy a bargain! Plus, it will make my husband very happy and happy husbands are always good!
Sarah graduated pre-k this week. That was hard. And exciting. And funny. She, quite literally, sashayed down the aisle like the little 'princess' she is. It was hysterical! Eli was promoted to 3rd grade with all A's, the little genius! Both of my kids are growing like weeds, it's crazy. We are headed North of Dallas tomorrow to meet Grammy Ginny for a week of fun in the sun in Arkansas while Daddy and I do the camp thing. They are super ridiculous excited!
Oh, and I got a new shirt about a week ago, it's my new favorite, I paid $5 for it. Gotta love that! Old Navy had their famous 50% off their clearance merchandise sale and I cleaned up!
The big yellow and black bird makes me so happy! Also, the little gold accent birds. It goes perfectly with my bird bracelet that my mom gave me for my birthday. I need to break down and buy the earrings that match, I'm really into wearing earrings lately!Also found this one at Target for $4.98, pretty cute!
In other news: I'm in love with my camera. It's going to be hard to leave my baby for a week and view the world from my point and shoot. :( But I'm a big girl and I'll manage. But the d90 was a brilliant choice for me, any heavier and I'm going to have work my way up into it! My bag weighs like a million pounds now. We aren't going to talk about how much $ it weighs! :)
I am, however, looking forward to a weekend with Rob, even if it means spending 10 hours in the car. It's going to be a great week!
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