Thursday, March 25, 2010

What a week.

Quick post....
Some things going on in my life at the moment:

-I no longer have a website for my photography so if you want to check out my pictures go to the
Beyond the lens photograpy Fan page  on Facebook=o) Loooooooooong story short...I'm back to doing the photography on my on...I don't plan on doing it full time ANYtime soon. Right now I'm just enjoying doing it for other people on the side and for an affordable price so they can have memories to last forever without breaking the bank =o)

-I soooo enjoy keeping up with all of your blogs...and I appreciate the wonderful comments...I'm hoping that I will now be able to have time to comment on all of y'alls blogaroos. (all of my 4 or 5 readers =o)....that I Love dearly)

-Reese kept a bow in her hair for all of 2 minutes!!! Pics to come soon.  I also got to paint her finger nails and toe nails...she LOVED them...she went around showing her fingers to everyone going OOOOOOOoooooo Priceless!

-We have finnaly got everything moved back in the house...we had to squeeze all our new furniture into our itty bitty living room...but it worked and looks really good. Hubs got his new huge flat screen up...so as you can imagine he is very happy....once again, pics to come soon.

-Garrett informed me  one afternoon this week that he "knows evwey thing" wish I could zap some of his knowledge to me...like how come he has to draw on his carpet with a blue marker after we told him he only uses markers for the marker board and then joyfully proceeds to tell us "come look what I did!"...once again...pictures to come.

-all the mess with house we were going to buy straightened itself out...all thanks to God! Thank you so much for all that prayed for us and with us.

-aaaaaaand Congrats to one of my blogger friends from   Good Golly Miss Molly  on becoming a first time mommy!!!! Makayla is Beautiful!!! And also a big Congrats to another blogger friend from Rada Rythm and Rhyme on becoming an aunt!!!!

well, I think thats about all for now! Hope you all are having a GRAND week! The weekend is almost here!!! Get happy!!!



Now the GOD of all grace...will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered...

1 Peter 5:10

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

So much to say...so little time.

 
( The Hubs and Me enjoying our time away)  
Quick update:
Our weekend get-away was soooooooo amazingly wonderful! We had a blast!
Some of our activites included:
-2 mile run down Pigeon Forge Strip (it was awesome!)
-Bowling
-Roller Skating
-Lots of laughing!
-go-cart racing
-Shopping
-......yeah, I wont go there. ;)
Hopefully I will have some pics up soon of our bowling and skating adventures....
It was a FAB weekend and I can't wait for next years marriage retreat!

Since we have been back I have been super busy, things have picked up where I work so I'm slammed with orders to get done. I also have lots of photo sessions booked up that I'm getting ready for.
We now have a website so when you get a free chance go to
and check it out!

I will leave you with a cute pic....This picture was taken last week, Garrett was brushing his teeth and I walked out of the room to do something and when I came back this is what I found...Reese LOVES doing whatever her "Buba" (thats what she calls him) does. So sweet.
Hope everyone has a GREAT week!!!
P.S. 
Say a little prayer for us, we still have alot of mess to workout with that house we were going to buy...to make a long story short the lady is trying to run us through the mud after all the work we put into making the house look good on the inside. ( I wish I had a before and after picture It looks sooooooo good.) We have now gotten a lawyer, and it could get messy...Just be praying that it doesn't and it all works out smoothly. Thanks in advance!


May Your faithful love rest on us, for we put our hope in You.

Psalm 33:22

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Garrett's Bed-time Prayer

One of my most favorite things to do with my kids is pray. My son Garrett (who is 3) always has the funniest prayers, it's usually  the same thing "Thank you God for Nanny & Pop, Myma & Daddy Dean, Nana, Anna -and on through a list of family members-"Easter bunny and eggs" (don't know why he is so hung up on the Easter bunny but he has always thanked God for him.) "Grandma B, Mommy, Daddy and my sister Reesie & thank you for my many Bwessings AMEN!" Every now and then he will throw something different in. Hubs and I always share glances of pure joy and sometimes laughter during Garrett's bedtime prayers. Like most kids his age, you NEVER know what's going to come out of his sweet little mouth.

Yesterday after Garrett's class was done at church I went to get him and his teacher hands me his paper from the nights lesson...I noticed she had a smirk on her face and she told me I needed to read what Garrett told her his bedtime prayer was...Below is what he told her to write.
I read through it and was ...thinking He is just precious....then it hit me, waaaaaaaait a minute!
I backed up and saw BROTHER chaWhat?!?! He must know something I don't know lol
I asked him on the car ride home why he thanked God for his brother. His response: " I just wanted to, and and and  I want one....*pause* and and and that's what God Do's, He makes boys."
Hubs and I laughed and laughed.
My heart is for adoption, so maybe one day Garrett will have a little brother =o) or who knows...maybe we will have another little one down the road.
If you ask my Hubs he will totally disagree with the above sentence =o) I do have him praying about adoption though....I know that if God lays it on my heart He will do the same for Hubs...we shall see =o)

Today we head off  to TN for a marriage retreat!!! whoo hoo! We have been soooooooo looking forward to this. We have a blast every year! I'm also doing  a session for a couple while we are there...so excited about that!  It is AMAZING to be able to have fun and goof off with great friends and spend some great time of reconnecting and learning how to make our marriage stronger. I treasure my marriage and don't take it lightly that I have been blessed with a wonderful Godly husband. It is not every day you find one like him, especially in this day and time.
Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I know I will ;)


No wonder my heart is filled with joy!
ACTS 2:26





Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Men...Uggh!

SO, as you all know me and the Hubs are competing in our small town version of  The biggest Loser (GCSU).
It began this Past Friday 3/5. 
I began Running on my tread mill, drinking only water, fixing healthy meals and I started the painful wonderful workout class yesterday and FYI today was lower body and I KNOW that tomorrow it is going to be excruciatingly painful. Like, its totally going to take an extra 5 mins for me to sit on the toilet and then try to get back up...
Weigh-in is every Wednesday but being the impatient person I am I just had to sneak a peak today after my work out and I lost 5 lbs!!! 

 Eric has done nothing but drink water and today he did his first session with his personal trainer. He also took a sneak peak today and he had lost 6lbs!!! Don't get me wrong I'm super proud for him, BUT It makes me sick =o) lol Here I am working my Bootay off and all he does is drink water and one day with the personal trainer. 
Oh well, I'm just glad we are both losing weight!  Hopefully I can squeeze in another 3 lb loss before tomorrow...Pssh. Eric will probably lose 5 more lbs just by lifting the remote.
Look out GCSU here we come!

I LOVE getting mail and today I got my new camera strap. It looks just like the one below, super cute! I also got a new lens hood yesterday.  Now off to order a 580EXII Flash and I should be good for a while...at least that's what the hubs says. =o)



And we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love Him...

Romans 8:28
 


Monday, March 8, 2010

Merging and Hell.

I  know you all have seen some of my post about my cousin Stephanie (her and her husband did the kids murals in the house that the "the bugs ate the floor and wind blew away ;) ) She is super talented and she is also having a give-away on her popular blog. so check it out and enter...I think today is the last day to enter to win a super cute bag.
You can clink on the link below:
madebystephie
edit: hmmmmmmm link didn't work...try this one: Made by Stephie
Not only is she a talented eh,crafty person....but she is also a super talented photographer. She went to SCAD and studied photography for years. Weeeeeeeeell, We have decided to come together and join our mad photography skillz. She has had a photography business for a while now but we will be merging together and now become Beyond the Lens photography together =o)  We will be working together for weddings and big events and if she is overloaded I will take some of her clients and she will do the same for me. 

I have been blown away at all the emails I have gotten over the last 2 weeks from people wanting to book a session with me. I never in a million years thought I would be able to be doing this and I'm so thankful for the people God has put in my path to encourage me to do it, especially my Hubs He has been by biggest cheerleader and HUGE supporter to go for it... aaaaaand I am so thankful  that I get to now do what I love and what a bonus to be able to do it for others and see the joy on their faces. I still am like, are you suuuuuuuuuure you are looking at the right person's photos?!?! It seems like a dream really. But I'm loving it! (...sorry, felt like I was at the Oscars for a second there lol)

I had 2 sessions this weekend and I must say I had a blast! 
Here are some from the first shoot I did. I cannot show any of the other shoot because I haven't shown them to the client yet =o) 

 
 
 
I am constantly updating my Facebook fan page with sessions so here is the link so you can check back there for all the new photos. Beyond the Lens Photography 

Well I'm off to an hour of hell  Great work out fun =o) I haven't been in months but if I want to kick some boootay in the GCSU  I gotta get to doing something! 
Happy Monday!


For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. For as Heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8 - 9


Thursday, March 4, 2010

Double Trouble

I know you all have just been sitting at your computer checking my blog constantly for an update on whats going on in my life.

*cricket, cricket*


yeah.

any who,  busy-ness has set in once again and so I will just let you in on some of the things happening.

-We backed out of the house we were buying due to some termite damage that we were not willing to put a bunch a money in. (I will save the details for another post.) I'm bummed but life goes on!

-I'm now left unpacking things that I have packed up and attempting to get my house house back in order.

-We have decided to build (yay! so excited) so now we are trying to decide what kind of house plan we like and yada yada...lots of decisions! I hate being an indecisive person.

-I have 3 photo sessions booked this month and lots more that are deciding when they want to plan a session. Yay God! (pics to come soon!)

-I am really trying to focus more on my relationship with my Savior...I want to yearn for Him more, desire Him more and love Him more than ever.

-Hubs and leave for a marriage retreat next weekend!!! We are so excited to get away with our church family couples and have a blast.

-We have also Joined GCSU as -Double Trouble-....allow me to explain:
GCSU (Granite City Shape Up) is a weight loss competition our small town does every year. Last year I was on a team of 4 and well, I was really the only one who took it serious. I lost 15 lbs. ( I gained most of it back when the holidays rolled around.... such a bummer ) This year they are doing it in pairs and Me and the Hubs are teaming up as "Double Trouble" to kick some boootay! Hopefully this time I will keep it off for good.

As always the kids keep us going  and laughing non-stop... Garrett has been telling everyone that the "bugs ate our floor up (speaking about the house we were going to purchase) and the wind blew it away." ahhhh the things kids say. lol I love my life. I am blessed indeed!

So that's the update from me....hopefully the next time time I write I will have a more interesting post...

ya know for all my millions of readers that keep up with me ;)

...seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the LORD.

Acts 3:19