Birthday Re-Cap...

Can I begin with "I don't know where to even begin"??

Oh my goodness....

First off, I just need to say that I have never felt more loved in my life than in the past 3 days. I've thought a lot about what to write here today, but words cannot begin to express how awesome this past weekend was.

Lori being here was incredible. From the moment she stepped into Bush Intercontinental till the moment I dropped her off at departures - we tore up Houston. :) We crammed more into 3 days than an ordinary person would think was even remotely possible!! Not only did we do a lot, we had a blast!! And we recorded almost every moment on camera!! Right before I left for the airport I read a post on Ali Edwards blog about capturing an entire weekend. I thought that was such a good idea, so I literally toted one or two cameras every where we went!! I took way more pictures than I can share here, but I'll put some good effort into it! :)


Friday
So, on Friday we left the airport and stopped for CFA. Right then and there we decided that sharing meals was going to be our thing, to cut down on costs and to avoid tummy overload. :) That proved to be a great plan!! After lunch we went to Jennifer's for an afternoon of hair makeover for Lori. She was still working on a prom updo so we hit Scrapbook Emporium right next door. Found several fun things in there! Then we spent a few hours with Jennifer (who's awesome, I might add!) getting highlights and cut. Jennifer and Lori totally hit it off, which proved to be very helpful later in the weekend! (I knew they would - there was just too much awesomeness in the room!) I do think that Jennifer was a little scared because I was soooo hyper and I'm not sure if she's ever seen me quite like that. Maybe with Kimmie here, I get pretty hyper when Kimmie is here! :) So we finished with hair (which looks amazing!) and left for By Design, pausing at Panera Bread to split a sandwich. (mmmm, bacon turkey bravo). For the record, we did a lot of eating this weekend - but not over eating because of the splitting thing. It was kind of genius! Lori loved the store, all the pink, we totally took a bunch of pictures. We sat down to scrap at 8 and worked about 10 minutes and decided to call it a night. :) We both had been too excited to sleep the night before and had been up way too early!! So we left By Design and went to Scrapbook Junkie - found a few more fun things there. Then Rob was really surprised when we showed up at home at 10pm, we were scheduled to be out till 1am!! So we put on jammies and scrapped in the living room for an hour or so and then called it a night...

Saturday
My kids (bless their little hearts) seriously got up at 6am. I'm still not sure what that was about, but it was the beginning of a trend. There was not one night this weekend that we slept more than 6 hours! We decided, well, we are up, so we might as well head out to IKEA. Lori had never been and we toured every nook and cranny of the store!! I totally got a ton of fun ideas for my house, so it was very inspirational!! And we took more pictures. :) Then we decided to try out Memorial City Mall. Oh my Mall!! It was AWESOME. We are so totally taking the kids there some time over the summer, they have the coolest play place I have ever seen in a mall!! no exageration there, I promise. We hit Penney's, Macy's, Charlotte Russe, New York and Co (I had an additional 30% off total sale coupon) Express, Old Navy and Target. It was way cool!! In all, we walked 8 hours that day, needless to say we were pretty wiped when we got home at 5:30. Upon arrival, Rob threw steaks on the grill (expensive ones that were about to expire = cheap) and we sauted some mushrooms, threw crescents in the oven and whipped up a Moonlight Salad. Wow. Dinner was sooooo good. Topped off with some Kitchen Sink Bars. incredible. About 8:30 we got a sudden urge to check out Michael's and found some steals there right before they closed. Then we finally got to scrapbooking about 9:30 or 10 and worked about 2 hours before bed. Unfortunately, that was the extent of our scrapbooking, but it was cool because we got to do so much more in the way of other things. :)

Sunday
Again, an early start. Had to be responsible this day (boo!) and teach Sunday School and be at service. I really enjoyed documenting the baptism, that's always a neat experience. I got to wear an awesome new outfit that I had bought the day before. I think I forgot to mention that our little shopping trip was extremely productive!! Lori loved our church and everyone was very gracious to her.
After service we waited in Rob's office for a bit and then Monique came and got our children so we could have some grown up time with Rob. After much debate (you don't even want to know how much) we settled on Carraba's (mmmmmm) for lunch and Lori and I split the manicotti. yum. Then we fought our way through traffic down to Galveston and played on the beach for an hour. It was a perfect day, perfect weather and so beautiful. I hadn't been down there since Ike, so it was cool to see what is still there. We started back home about 4:30 but Rob just seemed to be dragging his feet. Of course, I'm freaking out because at 6 we have life groups and I knew we were going to be late. It just seemed to take forever to get home!
Finally we got there a few minutes after 6 and there weren't any cars but Kevin's, and he wasn't in it! Lori loaded me down with our stuff from the car and I walk in the door to a living room FULL of people and streamers and yelling "Happy Birthday!". It was amazing, I promise. I was completley clueless. A bunch of our students were there, and some of our parents from church, and Jennifer and Bart and their kids. And of course, Lori. I nearly started crying several times, in fact I'm blinking back tears just typing it! It was soooo cool. Monique and Jennifer and one of the other moms had coordinated all the food and snuck a house key from Rob and even snuck one of my scrapbook pages out of the house to make a cake with my page!! It was beautiful. That part really got me. And we took tons of pictures and it was just a perfect, perfect birthday!! They provided all the food and even cleaned up when they were done. There are little '30' stickers all over my house now, on my peanut butter and on the mirrors, even on utensils in the kitchen drawers. Every time I turn around I see them, and it reminds me not how old I am, but how loved I am. :) Just for being me. That was the best part.
Everyone stuck around till about 8:30 or 9. Jennifer gave me the gift of joining Facebook for my birthday (along with the awesome cake AND an iTunes gift card) so that's going to be really cool. Lori gave me a new pair of pink Converse - oh yeah, I'm going to ROCK those! And Monique gave me a beautiful silver eiffel tower for my charm bracelet. Rob and the kids gave me a new (much needed) new purse. Kim sent me an amazing set of bird stamps in the mail, I can't wait to play with them!!
After everyone left and we fought Sarah into bed, I burned a disc of all our adventures and then Rob and Lori and I sat in the living room and discussed life and ministry and love and marriage and everything in between. That part was really incredible too! We stayed up till almost midnight again, it was just too hard to stop talking. I can't believe how long we have all been friends and I am the most blessed woman ever!

So, I want to thank all of my friends for the cards, the gifts, the party, and most of all - the love that was so extravagantly displayed this weekend. I really want to thank Rob as well. You would not believe how loving, generous, and supportive he has been this weekend, so helpful with the kids and just wanted me to really enjoy this time. Lori kept joking that 'He really raised the bar" and I totally have to agree. I kept thanking him for his awesomeness, but I'm planning a special thank you. :)

I haven't even READ my facebook page yet, I wanted to document all this before I lost any tiny bit of it. I cannot believe the life I have and each of you are so precious to me, whether you were here (having a college weekend) with me or sent me stamps in the mail or even typed 'happy birthday' on my wall. I have had 30 years of wonderful and for that I am truly thankful!!


PS - I have to run to staff meeting, but I will come back and post pictures very soon!

Pay Per Play for Missions!

So I was talking to theLOFT this evening about going all out for God with missions giving. We've been on a big kick about 'Lost Change, Lost Souls' lately, and the power of a penny. I was on my expotv.com user page earlier this afternoon and noticed that I have made $739 in the past couple years in Pay-Per-Play videos. Talk about the power of pennies!! So I committed to give the rest of my pay-per-play for the year to Speed the Light. I usually average about $30 per month. In saying that I suddenly realized that my kids in youth group could raise that average, and if we all started talking about it - we could REALLY raise some money for missions!! So if you have a few moments, please visit expotv.com and watch a few of my videos. My member name is Antho. I'm pledging to give all of my pay-per-plays through 2009 to Spped the Light - the money buys sound and video equipment and vehicles for A/G missionaries across the globe. It's seriously an amazing cause. Our youth group goal is $5000 for 20096 and we are sitting at $569 for the year thus far. This is something we can all do together!!

Here's a linkie for you! Thanks for your help!!

11 Years TODAY!

Woke up this morning to snuggle with the love of my life... again. And just marveled (again) at how amazing it is to walk through the journey of life with my very best friend. I know how cheesy that sounds, but can I say that I really mean it? Being married to Rob is like attending a sleep over party that never ends. I am so blessed to be with him and we have such a good time!!

It occurred to me as well, that in another 7 years I'll have been with him half my life. Honestly, I don't remember too much about the first 7 years, so pt already feels like I've been with him for half my life. :)

I'm not sure what he's working on over on his computer right now (in the same room, how cute is that?) but he's compiled some sort of RobNanna tribute in song and has it playing gently in the background. I love his brain! I'm super excited for our date sometime later today. We are waiting to hear from the babysitter. Don't know exactly where will go or what we'll do, but he's got a Guitar Center itch and we are thinking maybe Cheddar's. Eli suggested Golden Corral, but he's staying home so he doesn't really get a say in the matter. :)

Eleven years ago I really did make the second best decision of my life (Jesus being the first, obviously). Ironically, it almost didn't happen. Two nights before our wedding we almost called it off, mostly because our family was so concerned about our ages. We seriously were up almost the whole night, in my parents living room in Pisgah, crying and praying and talking it out. I was so scared that I was going to pull Rob off the path of ministry. Little did I know how we needed each other for ministry. I knew, even back then, the brevity of the decision we were making. I knew if our marriage didn't work that he could never be an ordained minister in the A/G - which was his life's dream and calling! That's a lot of pressure on a 18 year old girl!!

I think the thought that turned the tide on our almost break up was imagining the possibility of life without each other. My heart started to break wide open when I thought of him going on about his life without me. And mine seemed to stop right there - I couldn't imagine taking another step forward without him. I felt so complete with him. And that feeling has never changed. Over the past 11 years we've definitely had our moments - but leaving has never been a realistic option because when I look out at the world without Rob anchored by my side - it's a vast grey.

When we were first married I worried all the time that something would happen to him. (his brother, Matt, passed away at 20 and Rob was 23) At that time Rob was diagnosed with a heart irregularity, but it's unoperable and hasn't been a problem so far. I asked God if Rob was too important to me and prayed that He would show Himself to me to eclipse that relationship - and He has.

If Rob would pass tomorrow, I would be ok. God is my strength and I would find all that I need in Him. It would be rough and I would cling to the Lord. But I can't say I wouldn't wake each day still reaching for Rob's touch. He truly is the love of my life, and no other man could ever fill his shoes. I literally thank God for him every single day.

Sorry, I guess that got a little morbid. I'm just so grateful to be with my One. I'm glad we listened to our hearts that May 7th, 1998. I'm pretty sure our kids are glad too! And our church, and our friends, and I'm convinced even our family too!

11 Year Documentation

My husband is so loving and so patient with me. After spending the entire morning at the salon - getting his hair cut while mine processed - he did these pictures... We brought (a very limited) tripod, the remote, and my friend Jennifer. She got a real kick out of pushing the button!! And she did great, by the end of the shoot she had taken the camera off the tripod!!

The car sticker was totally inspired by her - it's the number of years we've been married and the date of our anniversary!!

Thanks Jennifer, you are a ROCKSTAR!!



total aside - an innocent conversation between my kiddos just now.... Sarah; "Eli, where did you put the poop?" Eli: "It's right here in my hands." (speaking of the little pellets that the Barbie dog eats then 'processes' so Barbie can pooper scooper it back up that Mrs. Linda gave to Sarah for Christmas) I love how kids say exactly what they mean, don't you??


Additional convo with the E-man; he's reading The Boxcar Children

Eli: "It's good, but when is this book going to get really, really exciting?"

Me: "I can't remember. I've read it, but it's been like 20 years. I just remember it's really good."

Eli: "Man, that means you were like 9.." hesitates sheepishly... "or maybe 10." (he's not supposed to tease me about getting old)

Me: "Boy, do you want to die?" (I'm teasing him back, with a pancake flipper in hand)

Eli: "Well, kinda. I can't wait to go to heaven and be with Jesus!"

This kid is SUCH a Christian! I love it

Proud Mama

We got this letter from Sarah's school today. I didn't put it on Facebook, that would be bragging. But I figure it's ok to 'document' it on the family blog, right?? Rob is concerned that she might not be GATE material, but we'll let the school be the judge of that. Mrs. Terri said that at the very least she 'for sure' needs to be in the advanced reading group. I think that's funny cause she seems to be reading a lot slower than Eli did at this age, but more correctly, less guessing. I love how they are different people..

Speaking of school and GATE. Kindergarten Roundup is tomorrow. How is that possible?? Sarah is my last baby and she officially leaves the nest in August. And she's so little!! Guess we'll just have to give lots of extra lovin this summer. I know she's going to love school though. She's so excited to get 'rounded up' tomorrow, she can't wait to go to school with big brother.

This is another random page from yesterday's playing... Kind of a list of goals for the next 30 years.

And I noticed this fun reflection in the bathroom today. No, the white balance isn't off, that's really the color of the light in that room. I hate taking pictures in my bathroom for that exact reason, but it's a very cool perspective, so I went ahead and did it anyway. :)



Ok, so we are headed to church, via the library. My book club book is in and our next meeting is Monday night. agh! I hate being behind.

iPod Touch = LOVE!

didn't really expect to fall for this little piece of technology quite so bad. The thing of it is that it can do so much!! It makes me dream about what an iPhone could do. Maybe some day it will come to Verizon, a girl can dream, right?

Anyway, some of my favorite features include the Genius playlist generator (with words), the calendar, my tv listing ap, air hockey, the grocery list ap, and the most fun - the pick up line ap. Miles of fun in that ap, let me tell you. I've taken to sending Rob one cheesy pick up line a day. Today's was "Baby, are you on the radio? Cause I'd like to wake up with you..." Way to keep the spark going, right?

Well, I'm going to go have lunch with my radio star. toodles!

A Wave of Creativity!!

Today has been unreal.

I've totally neglected almost all my responsiblities today. Well, not quite, I did pay bills this morning and I've been running laundry off and on all day. But other than that, I just pulled out my scrapbook stuff and set to play. The creativity has been flowing! I've finished 6 pages, and I'm well into my 7th. Not only that, but I've planned and pulled 9 ore pages for the next time I get to play! I don't know what got in to my head lately, but I'm loving it! And it's not just scrapping, I'm feeling very inspired for photography as well!! Looking forward to Friday's shoot. and I'm trying to talk Rob into that little anniversary session as well. :)

And for your viewing pleasure, these pages are in the order they were created in. That very first one is from yesterday...

Been Meaning To Share....

About a month ago I finally found some new bedding for our master bedroom. Oh, and I hung curtains! Isn't that awesome? We've only lived here 2 years now!! Anyhoo, I found this great bedset at Tuesday AM for less than a hundred dollars. Yay! No more fighting over our two small comforter - we both stay warm all night long now!!

Not quite finished with the room yet - I'm going to do an anniversary shoot for Rob and I - then paint the pictures brown and modgepodge new photos onto the canvas. Don't you love how it's all done in my head and not even started in real life?? tehee.

Touch!! (and other adventures)

This is my new toy! No, I haven't named it just yet. Target had an even better sale this week - the 8gig for $229 minus a $25 gift card and I just had to bite. I love it! I can totally see how this is going to make my life easier!

Well, it was definitely a weekend!! And I'm in Monday mode, trying to recover from too much going on, as usual. Sarah's still been sick... grrr. Hopefully, Lord-willing she'll go back to school tomorrow. We are definitely to the point of being in each other's space. The first few days she was home I was good about slowing down and spending time with her, but now I'm just too far behind and had to play catch up. She didn't like that. She did go to bed really well tonight, so fingers crossed!!

Saturday night, after I got home from photographing a First Communion (which was good, but way too in the box - wish I could have been a little more free to just shoot) Rob told me that our dear friend and mentor Tricia Cunningham was going to be in the Houston area for the week. Well, actually she's in Brenham (boo - 2 hours away) and we have a hectic schedule till Thursday, when she'll be going home... So we decided to run out to the airport and see her yesterday. She was so funny, saying she couldn't believe we'd drive an hour each way just to spend an hour with her. And I'm like, "But it's TRICIA! Of course we would!" She's usually in California - which might as well be the other side of the world. Houston is a breeze! :) Anyhoo, it was a great hour of coffee and catching up and just relishing all that God is doing in our families. Very awesome and you know what? I would have driven 2 hours each way just to spend a little time with someone so amazing. Do you know anyone like that??

So here's our pic. Taken courtesy of Eli, my budding photographer. And knowing him, he probably saw that sign and found it funny, took it anyway. Yep, we are definitely SMOKIN'. :) So glad this picture turned out so much better than my dweeby Heidi picture.

K, and when I was taking the iPod pic, I noticed my face studying the screen and thought you can see how I spend my evenings as of late - working in Photoshop with my eyes all studious like that. Except I try to 'work' in my glasses instead of my contacts, but haven't gotten that far this evening just yet...

Oh My Heidi Swapp!

Well, I didn't know if it was going to happen today, but I managed to make it to my favorite scrapbook store over in Clear Lake. My all-time favorite designer, Heidi Swapp, was here for the weekend teaching classes. I wish so badly I could have taken the classes, but I just had so much going on this week. I kind of went back and forth on whether I would run out there today, but I'm so glad I carved out time for it. She's very sweet in real life, uber talented and she loved our store, of course!!

but now I'm exhausted. I shot a birthday party this morning and a First Communion this evening, I'm totally ready for bed now. Oh, and our friend and mentor, Tricia, will be in Houston tomorrow for a bit, so we are going to run out and meet her. yay!

Oh, and YES, I know I look like a total dweeb in this picture... It just goes to show you how ridiculously excited I was to meet her. Oh well, I'm a geek and that's just who I am. But I'm a geek who got to meet Heidi Swapp today!!

Fear and All His Friends

ugh. I am so sick of our media right now. Seriously, these people are out of control lately. Between all the dooms-daying about the economy and inflation and now the Swine Flu nonsense. Yep, you heard me right, nonsense. I'm so tired of the media hyping people up and taking away their hope, and I refuse to participate in it anymore.

Dave Ramsey had some really good things to say about the media, and the economy, and a lot more during this free simulcast last week. I did not get to hear the entire thing because we had kids open houses at school, but the 45 minutes I caught were awesome. You can find out more here.

Town Hall for Hope

For the record, I think Christians need to be the calm in this stormy time. Watch yourself when you are taking in all of this frothy stirred up media frenzy and remember that God is our strength, our deliverer, our healer and our provider. We have no reason to fear. Let me remind you of a couple of verses flood your heart with some peace...

Psalm 27:3
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

Psalm 46:2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

And also, remember that we need to keep our hearts turned toward Him, rather than the desires of the flesh and this rotten, fallen world...

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

Psalm 34:9
Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.

Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This is where I turn when the news gets scary. I'm spending extra time with God right now, making sure my heart is right so that when that trumpet sounds, I'm ready. I'm also slowing down with my kids and speaking words of life to them, reminding them of what Jesus did for each of us and encouraging them to check their own hearts. I believe that's the best investment I can make right now.

A few Moments

Ok, heading out the door here in just a bit, but I have realized this afternoon how very bad I've been about blogging again. I'm sorry. I sometimes wish I could remote post from my head, cause I'll find myself thinking about blogging in random places like while waiting at a stoplight in the car, or while sitting under the dryer at the beauty shop, or when I'm standing in line at that bank. All those little snippets of time that could be utilized for good if I was just a bit more organized, right? That iPod Touch sure would come in handy, wouldn't it?? (actually, it's on sale and comes with a $30 gift card at Target this week, but I am being good and holding out for my new camera first, hoping they run the sale again later in May). Anyway, y'all have been on my mind...

New camera. So I mentioned that. I've been 'shopping' for about 2 months now. By shopping I mean reading consumer reviews, comparitive studies, and asking the opinions of other avid Nikon users. About a week ago I was praying about it and God spoke to me about paying cash for this camera. I know that seems obvious, but sometimes I really get excited about things and Rob had already given me the go-ahead, knowing I was good for it. I committed to God that I would wait until I had ALL the cash to buy it. That was a week ago yesterday. As of today, I'm 80% there. God is so good!! My goal is to buy my new camera for my birthday, a little 30th splurge from ATP to me. :) Rob's pretty excited too, cause he's dying to shoot second camera on the d40x.

ATP has been crazy good lately, it's really exciting. I love my job so much, and have been literally submerging myself in the business this month. I just noticed my post count on my sister blog and it was 25 posts this month, compared to 3 and 6 (or something similar) per month earlier in the year. I'm not done either, I've got 4 more shoots this weekend and I'm loving it!!

My quiet times have also been awesome lately. I feel a maturity coming on with 3o. I'm sure all my friends are having a hard time digesting that one, but a maturity for me, by my standards, not by the world's. :) It's wierd, I was wrestling so hard with this upcoming birthday for the past 6 or 8 months, but in the last week or so, I feel a peace with it. Like yeah, I'm 30, I've figured a lot of this stuff out! Ok, maybe not that far, but I truly am in awe of what God is doing in my life. I never dreamed that I'd be running my own up and coming business and developing client strategies or learning Photoshop or bending my brain around all this new information. It's totally overwhelming and empowering. It makes me wonder where I'll be in another 10 years? (eek! we'll cross that bridge when we come to it) But 30 is neat, cause I'm confident in where I'm at. I know I have a lot of things that I'm not good at, but I've come to grips with that and can stand back and say, I'm just not good at that and thank goodness other people are! On the other hand, I'm really beginning to realize the things I am good at, and starting to see how God has woven this this thread of unconnected talents together to do something big for His kingdom. How awesome is that? I now know that God created me just the way I am (with all my flaws - bad teeth, big personality, stubby baby toenails and all) and who am I to say I don't like it?? I love that He can use me in spite of me. I still get hurt, a lot. Far more often than I ever talk about on here, but He's teaching me to look to Him for my self-worth, and that hurt people hurt, and all I can do is be loving and consistent.

Ok, well, I'm quickly realizing that this is far too much post for a quick one before I run to church. So I'm going to sign off for now, but I feel at 'Things I Know at 30' post coming on and I'll try to get back to it as soon as I can. And you know what? If I can't, I'm not going to lose any sleep over what you are thinking about me in the meantime. :) Thanks my faithful blog followers, it's just really cool to know you are there! blessings!

Two Pages From Yesterday

I really barely scrapped yesterday morning, before my day got interrupted. It was a tiny reward for finishing my editing and allowing a break in my crazy work-all-hours-of-the-day-and-night life lately. I had started this Easter page and then had the second one's product pulled and sketch done, so maybe a half an hour of 'play'. It was very fun though!!

Saturday's Pages

So I guess I was in a yellow mood last week. ironically! I actually had a really rough couple of days, thus the relative blog silence. A lot of times, when I'm in a mood, I don't post. No sense in spreading my funk, right?

We had a great life group last night, and a wonderful service on Sunday morning. I was supposed to be at staff meeting this afternoon, but it got canceled, so I get to kick around home and catch up on editing and cleaning and just general paperwork instead. yay! It will feel so good to get caught up again, right before I get slammed at the end of the week. I've got four shoots between now and Saturday night, so that's pretty exciting!!

Didn't I say I'd be right back??

Wow, I have been so on top of things lately, haven't I??

Just have a moment, but wanted to share this awesome pic Rob took at a shoot a few weeks back. I love it! Right down to the lens cap in my pocket. That boy can OWN second camera...

neat quote.

"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence. "

- AG US Missions Candidate Orientation

As an artist, I am truly inspired by these words of wisdom... had to share. Be back soon!

Big Ordination Day = Sleepy Girl

Wow. I want to journal all that was in my head last night, as it was spinning trying to calm down to go to sleep. Hopefully I can remember it all, but I'm pretty wiped out and Rob won't go to bed with me at 8:30pm. (after almost 11 years of marriage, I really don't like to go to bed by myself, I need my heater!)

First off, District Council was amazing this year. This was our 4th District Council (2 in IL and now 2 in TX) and by far the best yet. Don't get me wrong, our licensing service was really special, but it was definitely overshadowed by our experience last night. Anyway, the whole Council was a leading up to Thursday night's service. We know so many people now, mostly because of Rob's role as the Sectional Rep for the past year. Every time we turned around we'd bump into someone else that we'd shared some experience with. It was like a great big family. And we just kept adding to the family throughout the week. I'm not going to name drop or anything, but it was really cool to get to know some of the high-ups in the district.

Ok, I will name drop just two places, but both of my stories have significance, so bear with me. First off, Dr. George O. Wood preached our Ordination service. And that is meaningful because he was our Interim Pastor at Central way back in college, while we were struggling so hard to stay in school and living at the campground (go all the way back to the beginning of my blog and you can easily remember the struggles we waded through during school). During that time I had suffered our second miscarriage, and he had a tv spot that really spoke to me one day. I had written a note to thank him for the encouragement, and he wrote me back. Handwritten note. I still have it. And he was our speaker last night. Doesn't that sound like a God thing? We spoke with him afterwards and he recognized us and remembered our story. God is so good, isn't He?? He signed Rob's Ordination Bible, so that's a very neat momento from the evening. Sometimes, when things like that happen, I think our life will make such a great story some day. All centered around how good God is...

Second name drop (and that's it, I promise) happened at supper on Tuesday. Rob and I were sharing a phenomenal chicken and avocado sandwich in the restuaraunt bistro. Who should happen to take the table right next to us? None other than Brother Burroughs, our retired Superintendant. He proceeded to talk with us for the next half an hour, so personable and approachable. It really made me realize what a great, relational district we are a part of.

Overall, it was a wonderful council, filled with incredible moments. The absolute highlight was last night's service and especially during the kneeling and passing of the mantle. Pastor Hayes prayed over us and his prayer was so significant and just right on. And Linda and Ginny were snapping pictures all the while. I'll be getting some of their photos here in the next few days.

Oh, and I loved my dress. The board bought us new clothes for the event and they were beautiful. I felt like a princess! We'll be wearing them on Sunday morning, too!

Ok, while I'm too tired to type anymore. I'm so glad to be home with my beautiful children and all comfy in our home again. Hope you have a good night too!!

Happy Easter!!

(a day late and a dollar short)

I'm a day late cause I'm crazy busy with photo shoots right now, yippee!!

And a dollar short cause we just dropped $497.67 on a bad bearing in our one and only vehicle. fun, huh??

But we had a beautiful Easter, totally blessed. Spent the day with the incredible Aunt Mary Ridge and her brilliant family!! It was a blast. The food was fantastic, but the company and the confetti egg fight was even better!

Today I've spent today buried in laundry, housekeeping, packing for District Council (eeeh!!) and editing. I just moved from 4 behind to 3, but I leave for a senior shoot in an hour. Very cool though, I love, LOVE my job. You all know that, I just am really seeing God's blessing all over my business lately and it's so exciting!!

Ok, well I need to go get ready for my shoot, but I just wanted to remind you all how good God is!! Yesterday was a celebration of His very best gift to us and I hope you found a still moment to reflect on that and tell Him how good He is!! I did. Love you all!


PS - it totally has to be the joy of the Lord when I'm still super happy today even after having a $500 bombshell drop in my lap this morning!

ObnRanna Observed

ObnRanna is a holiday we came up with many years ago, actually, I think it was on our first anniversary. We both had to work on our real anniversary, but then took a trip to Springfield, MO that weekend. Anyway, during the long, silly 8 hour drive we decided that 'RobNAnna' sounded like a Jewish holiday. Then we mixed it up a bit more and called it "ObNranna" and that REALLY sounded like something important. So eventually we decided that ObNranna Traditional is our actual anniversary, but ObNranna Observed is any other day we choose to randomly celebrate.
Yesterday we had a shoot scheduled with our good friends - Bart and Jennifer. They are coming up on 12 years of marriage on May 17th (happens to be my birthday). Rob shot second camera and it was a blast. When we where finished we went out to Outback for dinner, it was such a special evening. After that, we needed to get home to the sitter, but still didn't want to break up the party. We headed back to our house, took Amber home, and popped in a movie. We finally parted ways at midnight. It was such a fun night! And I can't wait to edit their pictures, but we've got an Easter Egg hunt this morning and I've got 2 shoots this afternoon. (Yay!) I thought I'd quick post this fun photo from our evening though. Eli took it. :)
We had so much fun, I think we are going to make this an annual event.

THURSDAY!!!

Do you ever just wake up in the very best mood??

It's officially my favorite day of the week and Rob and I have an entire day of fun planned! I'm so excited to spend time with him today. We've been running in different directions a lot lately and I love having 6 hours on Thursdays to spend soaking up each other's presence. It's going to be a great day, I can tell already.

So my hair's looking sweet (thanks Jennifer), I'm wearing a 'date top', my lipstick's on and I'm ready to go!! Oh, and Rob brought in these beautiful roses from our bush this morning. I am a blessed woman!!

Plus, looking forward to this evening... One of my students brought me a $10 iTunes gift card last night. Just made my evening! I can't wait to 'shop' for some new music!!

Hope you have a great day too!!

PS - I've really been enjoying this song lately. Now I really don't believe in luck, and feel more blessed than lucky, but the concept of still being in love with my best friend really appeals to me. :)