talk about pure JOY!

For those who read my photography blog...sorry. This is the exact same post. :)

Does it get any better than this...?



Oh how I miss the joy of swinging.

A few weeks ago Jonathan and I got the privilege of babysitting three joyful children for 6 days. It was a busy time but it was a blessing to us. We spent a Saturday afternoon playing outside. I grabbed my camera. These are the results.





This one makes me smile really BIG.






"How are you?" His greeting of choice...it'll melt your heart, especially when you haven't seen him in a while.









Even the dog joined in on the fun...





Disclaimer: Sorry for the extreme grainy-ness of these pictures. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to reset my camera settings from my previous photo shoot. It works in some of the pictures...not so much in others ;)

missing in action-but I'm still here...

It has been quite a while since I've written on here. I haven't left blogging by any means--I just haven't updated my own blog. I've even caught myself getting frustrated with other bloggers who don't update enough but then I realize it's been three months since I have! Last time I updated I was feeling miserable with stitches in my mouth. It felt like I was never going to feel normal again back then--and here I am feeling completely normal. Rather than write forever I'll just update in bullet format about a few things. I'm not gonna lie--this might be a pretty dry post but I wanted to update nonetheless!

-I've started a photography business! It has been a whirlwind-a roller coaster of emotions. I never thought I could really create a business around something I enjoy doing so much. It has taken time, and still is taking time, but I'm having fun. It definitely reminds me of the complete reliance I have on God. It constantly puts me in battle with sin and I have to submit each day to God's will and not my own. It's also given me so much joy to hear people excited about the pictures I've taken for them. I want to give all credit to God because he has given me this gift to bring Him glory!
Read my photography blog LMP Blog
and visit my new website LMP website!

-Jonathan and I are looking at houses! I never thought I'd be saying that! We haven't looked too much but we're excited about hopefully find a great starter home. The housing market is kind of different here in Midland (compared to places like Houston) so it's been interesting figuring it out. One house we were kind of liking just went into contract--bummer. I like even more now that I can't have it! I'm excited to be on this adventure with my best friend and husband. Some of the houses we've seen have cracked us up! People are so funny...and weird with the way they live. One person had 4 fridges!! FOUR! Really now, is that necessary??

-A couple of weeks ago we can became members of our church, Christian Life Center. We are so thankful for our church home for so MANY reasons. God's word that is preached there faithfully each week by Pastor Billy, our new friends who have loved us so well, Pastor Billy himself for embracing and loving us (I saw him at HEB today and it made my day!), but most of all everything that God has taught us while we have been there. I thank God that he promises to sanctify us continually. Where would I be if it weren't for God's grace and mercy?

-This week the Petroleum Museum (where I work) is having it's annual birthday party! It's going to be a long night but fun at the same time. It's western themed so I'll be wearing my new boots and hoping they don't kill my feet! I'll be sure to post pictures of the party.

Okay, it's 9:30 and since I take about 20 minutes to get ready for bed I better get off this thing. Yes, I go to bed early-don't judge!

I've missed blogging...sorry I've been so bad.

a year ago today...

Happy Anniversary John and Laura!

I can't believe it has been a whole year since John and Laura's wedding. It is just unreal. The memories of that day...the memories of the weeks leading up to it and everything else are so fresh and real. I feel like I'm still getting over the excitement of the whole thing. It was a whirlwind weekend!
John and Laura got married in Dripping Springs, TX at a bed and breakfast. It was a perfect Texas hill country outdoor wedding.
It has been a joy to have Laura in our family. I only wish we lived closer together so we could spend even more time together. I'm thankful for the time we did have in Austin before I moved away...
Here are a few of their engagement pictures and bridal portraits I took last March and May.

**Update**
the pics will have to wait till I have the energy to get on my other computer. I just got my wisdom teeth out so the energy isn't really flowing...
That's another thing...when I look at these pictures from their wedding...I never thought I'd be sitting at home, miserable, with stitches in my mouth a year later! I would much rather be dancing at my brother's wedding right now ;)

Okay I just got them off Laura's facebook instead...





...and they're tiny, oops! Eh, I'll fix it later!

-L

forgive

A quote from the book I'm reading right now...

To forgive someone means to release from liability to suffer punishment or penalty...forgiveness is undeserved and cannot be earned...forgiveness requires that you absorb certain effects of another person's sins and release the person from liability to punishment. This is precisely what Jesus accomplished at Calvary. He secured our forgiveness by taking on himself the full penalty of our sins. Remembering what he did to purchase our forgiveness should be our greatest incentive to release others from the penalties they deserve.

I don't think I've ever understood what forgiveness means...especially in my marriage. I hope that God will grow me in this continually.

My life these last few months...in pictures

Okay. I always have things I want to post. In fact, I write the post in my head...but then I never find the time to do it and then before I know it's just too late. So since I really don't have that much time right now I've decided to post a few pictures to just show you the things I want to talk about. I hope you enjoy!




Jonathan and I have been babysitting our sweet Abigail (niece) every other Thursday (more or less). I must admit she gets a little spoiled over here...although we do try to lay some ground rules ;)




Back in March we all (me, Jono, Jeff, Jenni, Jim and Peggy) went to a ranch outside of San Angelo that my father-in-law's company owns. Charlie and Michelle drove out from Dallas to join us as well. It was so much fun. This picture is just after we got back from a late night "mule" ride to go star watching. It was quite chilly!



Here is a picture of our new friend Haley. She has a counterpart too...Justin...but this is just of the girls :) We've been hanging out with Justin and Haley a lot lately. In fact I think she's coming over in a bit while the men are being "manly".




Of course, I have to post these pictures... but do they need a caption? See previous post if this doesn't make sense.
By the way, he was so kind and so familiar. I felt like I've met him 10 times before. He was completely gracious...




Easter! A happy girl chasing bubbles and hunting for eggs.




OH MY GOODNESS. This girl is precious. Last night was her very first recital (!!! she's so old!). She might seem old to us but she was by far the youngest dancer there. The picture of all the legs is not mine (but I'm tempted to say it is). Apparently during the recital the little girls need to be entertained...they're watching a movie in this picture. Abigail is on the far left. This picture is PRICELESS!

Hall of Fame 2009

Today will be long...

Hall of Fame at 6:30 tonight. 900 + people...and I'm a hostess. I'm looking forward to getting dolled up, greeting people...
There will be a lot of Midland money in this room...a lot. I hope my 3 1/2 in. heels don't kill my poor feet...who am I kidding? They will! But hey, they're RED!

Will I get to see George W?? Hmmm?

The inductees are... George W. Bush, Ted Collins and Herb Ware (team), Jim Henry, Johnny Warren. Three of these are alive.

It will be exciting but I'm really looking forward to the weekend!


-L

"Mom...it's no big deal, it was just a photo shoot" -Chloe

Jonathan and I went over to the McKnight/Lawless household for dinner last night. It was a fun evening and RELAXING...even though Kristi and I road around the neighborhood on a tandem bike! I didn't see that coming! It was an easy little workout and the weather was PERFECT.

Here are some cute pictures of her girls...

sweet Kayleigh

This is going to be super fast! I wanted to give you a sneak peak, Shawn. I'm going to be out of town this weekend with family so I won't be able to edit the pictures and get them to you until next week. But I've been playing around with them before work this morning. I had to post some of them for you to see! These are some of my favorites...

Satan cowers

I have a list of things I need to be getting done right now. But I need to post this. My best friend, Emily, was in the hospital exactly a year ago. It was life threatening. It was really scary and it took a long time for her to recover. She just wrote this post as she remembers this time of her life exactly a year ago. It's a post that glorifys God. I love it and I just want more people to read it. I hope you don't mind Emily...

"I just had a moment. This exact time last year was a Tuesday/Wednesday. And this moment exactly 365 days ago I was lying in a hospital bed praying and pleading with God that if this was going to be the end of my life that he would just take me and not make it drag out any longer because I was done. The phrase I used was "I'm finished fighting." I remember beginning to cry and wishing that someone would wipe the tears off my face because my joints were arthritic and swollen and my body was toxic and I couldn't raise my arm to do it myself. I remember thinking, "God, truly your will be done because I don't know what else to do," and that was the last coherent thought I had for the next 3 days. It was a Tuesday. And the next twelve Tuesdays after were all some of the worst Tuesdays of my life.

But God showed me that He is faithful. And God showed me that His hand is not too short to deliver. And God showed me that his will is good. And it is pleasing. And it is perfect.

And I cried a lot. And I was angry for a little while. And I just plain did not understand.

But God showed me through my brokenness that His provision was perfect.

And even though I felt like the world was moving on while I was frozen {literally, with swollen shoulders and no range of motion; and the pain in my back so intense that I could not get out of bed by myself, wash my hair, face, hands, or eat by myself},

God showed me that His strength is perfected in weakness.

And His love is abounding. His timing? Flawless.



I have night-horrors every now and again where the memories of pain and frustration are so real that I wake up crying. Sometimes the fear is so strong that my mind recreates it and my back will begin to tremble with spasms. I fear it. In the last 365 days there is not a single one I can remember where I did not remember the last year.

But then I have a moment, and God just says, "Beloved, Who am I? Did I not carry you through that? Did I not fulfill my promises? Did I forsake you though you doubted me? It was My hand. It was My will. I am. I will always be."

And then I remember. And I can lay down the burden and the fear. I can walk by faith because it was He who taught me. Is it appropriate to raise an Ebenezer here? Let me declare, "Look what God has done. God and none other."

None other."

I think this illustration by John Piper describes wonderfully what is happening in response to this post and Emily's faith...

In time God's wisdom will be plain

Valentines

Happy Valentines Day :)

It's valentines and we woke up to rainy, cold weather. Usually this would make me cry (literally...maybe) but today it made me excited! I love when I have no where to be but it's rainy outside...especially while watching a movie. I feel like I haven't done that in forever! :)

Jonathan is off getting milk...for his cereal and THEN waffles for lunch. He's taking a while....hmmm....


--EDIT--

Today has ended up being such a beautiful day. The rain cleared and now it's sunny again. I always like the sun...even when we're in a drought (does that make me a bad Midlander??).
Jonathan took forever at the grocery store! He came home with hydrangeas, wine, chocolate and a gift. He had gone to his parent's house to get everything. Instead of explaining everything...I'll just show pictures:


My mother-in-law got me these sweet glasses that we saw about a month ago at an estate sale. I had no idea she bought them! If you come visit me I'll make you lemonade :)
Notice the daisy stir stick?? CUTE.





I got Jonathan peanut butter! Don't worry, it's not going to kill him. We watched a show about the best sandwiches in America. There's a peanut butter restaurant in New York that only sells PB sandwiches! You can order their peanut butter online at ilovepeanutbutter.com
He loved it!



Jonathan got me wine, chocolate, hydrangeas (not pictured) and a book with love letters written by famous Christians in history (i.e. Martin Luther and Martin Lloyd Jones). I loved it!
The wine bottle is really cool...



Then we made breakfast!



On a none Valentines related note...for those interested (mom, Laura) here is a picture of my teacup cubby! I am so glad I bought this thing (even if they didn't go as low as I wanted). It's not quite complete yet. I eventually want to fill each corner with a different tea cup (all four of them are the same). I need another unique and different one from anthropologie...you know to keep it looking young. I really love it! Mom, notice the center, left mug...that's the one I just ordered. In the picture above of our bfast table you can see the rest of the plates on the other side of the table. I LOVE them!




-L

the things of this world

“If you give your soul up to anything earthly, whether it be the wealth, or the honours, or the pleasures of this world, you might as well hunt after the mirage of the desert or try to collect the mists of the morning, or to store up for yourself the clouds of the sky, for all these things are passing away.”

Charles Spurgeon


Lord, help me to believe this with all of me, every moment of the day. Help me to treasure you infinitely more than anything in this world.

Kayleigh and Ethan

I took pictures of my friend, Shawn's, two children. These kids are the cutest kids. I told her that her kids make me want to start a family.

It was so much fun taking these pictures...I had to get used to chasing Ethan around. I'm not used to people walking out of shots! Thank you Shawn for giving me this opportunity!

oh my goodness...picking out pictures for my wedding album is SO hard!

I originally had 500 favorite pictures...then I was told I need to narrow it done to 100! I thought I was doing good but I still had 230! Now I have 165 and I don't think I can handle it anymore! Every time I walk away and come back to the pictures I find more I love. I just need to remember this is just for the album. I can frame all the pictures I want for the rest of my life!

Just had to share that with my few readers. ALSO, I have to choose a picture for the cover and a picture my photographer will create a "signature art print" out of. Goodness.

It has been fun re-living such a great time though! It makes me miss people though :(


-L

inspiration

I just stumbled across the website. It's so random. It's fun to come up with ideas though. I like the idea of collecting images of what I like and then reproducing them in real life with a REAL budget! I put this together...it's a representation of my living room...sort of...kind of...

Some of these elements I have some version of. Other elements are part of my plans for the future.
For example...we just got a white armoire similiar to the one pictured except it's shorter, longer, and cooler! But the feet are almost identical. It's where we keep our TV and I'm so excited about it. It's our very late wedding gift from J's parents.
Another example...the red pillow: I love this pattern and actually you can buy this fabric. I want to get it in yellow and recover this retro looking chair we got from J's grandmother. The plate represents all the plates I have in my living room (on the wall, mantle, etc). I am addicted to plates...seriously. The mirror represents the antique frameless mirror I have hanging on our wall. The chaise...well I love them and I want one! I love nesting tables but haven't found any yet. I like the white lamp...the yellow rug (from pottery barn kids!!). I just put the coffee table in there because my design needed one! Ours is so much cooler and one of kind. We're not sure who made it (J's great grandfather maybe). It's long and low and held together with wooden pegs. It's amazing. It used to have our TV on it but since we got the armoire we were able to resurrect it! The only thing missing from this picture is a couch...I just could not find a good one, oh well!

Michaela is the only one who's seen my place! I need more of my girls to come out to me! Read Michaela's blog...she says my guest bed is comfy!

Alright...back to my to-do list. J is at a men's only bible study right now so I have the evening to get things done!

Leave me some love!



LMT by jandl