To a New Year: 2012

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!!!!

Can you believe it? It is a whole 'nother year!

There is something about a new year that becomes kind of a goal line for people. We make plans to live a certain way or be a certain way by "the end of the year." I think it's honorable. The New Year inspires us and reminds us that we still have time to become our better selves. Yay!

I have never been a person to create New Years Resolutions, however, this year I have put some thought into it.

God has taught me SO much this year. He has taught me to be a hard worker and taught me HOW to work hard. (Now, if I could just remember this everyday!) He has taught me to LOVE life. I kind of got all serious this year and forgot to have fun. He is bringing me back to that joy that He gives us everyday. I got married to my best friend this year and we moved away from home. My husband got a job in which tests his very beliefs. He is challenged everyday to put God first, really. (I am so proud of him!) I FINALLY got a job as a Hospitality Coordinator. I get to go to work and see and serve my college buddies! God is opening doors!

    My year ended with a big lesson from God. I have asked Him, for as long as I can remember, to use me and challenge me. He knows that I have never wanted to live a comfortable life. I WANT to grow. That has been my passion from the beginning. My prayer on many occasions: "Take me through the fire. Take me through struggles and test me, Lord, so that I can become more like you." Sometimes I forget that prayer. I forget that I prayed that at one point. I forgot that I ultimately WANT that. My good friend, Devon, reminded me of this. "You know, you pray and ask God to use you, but when He gives you an opportunity, you run away." Wow. Thank you, Devon. That same afternoon, I was listening to Joyce Meyer's Calm, Cool and Collected series. Joyce said: "You ask God to put you in a place where you can be used, and then you complain about being at a job where you are the only Christian. But you ASKED TO BE USED!" God showed me all of this through to wonderfully godly women. Thank you Jesus! I realized how blessed I am in that God hears the prayers of my true heart and answers them, no matter my fleshly stance at the moment.

Today is January 1st, 2012 and my first lesson of the year is a lesson that I have learned before. God knows I need to re-learn this! He reminded me today that I am SERIOUSLY blessed. I can hear God speak to me. I KNOW that He is teaching me. How many people can say that? As I was saying before, God answers the prayers of my true heart no matter what I feel in the moment. Hallelujah! I have a God who loves me and does what's best for me no matter what I FEEL!

This morning I was reading in Jeremiah 29. I have never caught this until today: God sent his unruly people to Babylon. One might say it sounds like He was doing it as punishment, who knows! What I do know, is that He told them to LIVE there, to plant their gardens, get married, have children and live long enough to see their grandchildren. He also told them to pray for the Babylonians, because they need people to interceed for them. God put His rebellious people in a place where they had almost no other option but to serve God. He got them out of their comfort zone so that they could grow and be used by Him! Wow! Best first lesson of the year, ever! Haha!

 

This year, 2012, I have made some "resolutions" if you will. Here they are:

1. To be grateful for the uncomfortable things in life, because that's where we grow!

2. To FACE my fears head on.

3. To have fun as often as I can.

4. Project 365: To take a picture every single day. To have fun documenting my year.

5. To be crafty so I can teach others how to be resourceful.

6. To work hard.

7. To be healthy, because it's the right thing to do for so many reasons.

8. To bring God back into all that I do and say.

9. To serve others.

10. To pursue God's wisdom MORE.

I encourage you all as you are deciding what New Years Resolutions to commit to, to spend time with God. What a great day to start the New Year! A Sunday! What many people consider the Sabbath day. Did you know that the Sabbath was meant to be a day dedicated to knowing God better? It is not a day dedicated to us getting to do whatever we want. It is a day we set aside to glorify God. Start 2012 by spending the day searching for God. Enjoy His presence. Dance with Him. Sing with Him. Be joyous with Him! Tell Him all that you are grateful for. He loves you. ...A LOT!

 

If you are like me, right now you are probably spending a little bit of time browsing the internet. Spend the rest of your time browsing listening to Kris Allen's Live Like We're Dying. May it be inspiring to you as you start the new year!

 

Also, check out my friend Haley's New Year Photo Session!

She is an incredible photographer with possibly the sweetest heart!

For those whose resolutions involve getting closer to God: check out the You Version of Reading the Bible in One Year! This website gives you a guide to reading the Bible in one year! Seriously, the best way to get close to God is by spending time in His Word. You'll be amazed!

 

Happy 2012!!!

Many Blessings in this New Year!!!

~Mrs. S

Disc Golf

My sweet, sweet husband loves disc golf! You might have heard of it. Some people (who don't play it quite often) might call it frisbee golf, and that's exactly what it is!
The goal is to throw the disc (a heavier frisbee) into a basket with as few throws as possible. The basket may be in plain sight, or it might be a little harder to find. Either way, the individual playing must throw the disc in such a way that he reaches the basket. Scoring is exactly like golf. There are mid-rangers, putters, drivers and fairways. Correct me if I am forgetting the rest. It is a ton of fun!

Anyways! Keep your eyes open! I have many pictures on the way of this so-called disc golf! ♥

God Bless!
~Mrs. S

Project 365

For those of you who love to document things, this could be of interest to you! People all over the world are doing what's called Project 365.

It's simple... take a picture of something you do or see every single day for 365 straight days, and POST it. The link above gives more information and has a list of websites used to connect to others doing it. Yay!

I am starting TODAY, on December 26th. By next Christmas I will have taken a picture every single day. I decided that I will post ONCE a week on this site as to not overwhelm you. I am so excited! Seeing as I am posting the first picture here, I will start posting on Mondays.

Take this as an opportunity to get to know me and what I do on a daily basis!

So here it goes, my FIRST picture of Project 365!

I'm feeing crafty! Today I am starting my L♥VE AT FIRST SIGHT frame project!

Repurposing and DIYs

I am so excited! For Christmas I was given some of the greatest gifts from my family!

I received, first off, a HUGE amount of fabric, thread, needles and things of that sort from my mother-in-law. I will never need to buy needles or thread, at least for a really long time. My father-in-law bought me a beautiful case for my sewing supplies. It is white with green leaves printed all over it. ♥ Yay! He also gave me some starter supplies (SO needed) like scissors, pins, etc. My sweet husband bought me some yarn, a nice new sets of crochet hooks and a Crochet Bible. (I kept telling people that I really wanted to learn how to crochet. I know right?! How could I have not learned yet?!) My "other mother" and good friend, Katherine Oram, gave me one of her old Singer sewing machines, along with some more thread, scissors, some frames (so I can be crafty) and a bread machine! Finally, my parents bought me another battery for my camera and an AMAZING flash that I desperately needed to own. Now my pictures, no matter the location or time of day, can be beautiful! Yay!

I cannot express to you all how excited I am! I have been so blessed with the tools I need to do what I really want to do, repurpose what I have, make what I want (at an affordable rate), and learn it well enough so that I can teach my own children one day (and others) how to do it, too!

Anywhoozlebees... Yes, "any-whoozle-bees," be on the lookout for new posts! Since I have so many more craft supplies and new tools for my photography, there will be many more posts! DIYs, Sewing, Crocheting, and Photography! Oh my! ♥

Thank you so much for your support! You have no idea what your encouragement and support have done for me! I love you all! Thank you!

~Mrs. S.

Sibling Session: Monica and Leah

I have known Leah and Monica since...oh, who knows! We have known each other almost our entire lives. We all grew up in homeschooling. I eventually went to a private school, but in elementary and middle school I was home schooled. (I HIGHLY recommend homeschooling.) See, some counties have home school groups or co-op groups. They hold an abundance of classes and activities. It's great! We were in the same group and eventually attended the same church. Basically, we have known each other "forever."

Monica and I had some of the same friends, so we have kept in touch on and off over the years. She recently started attended the same University as me! However, she got hitched this past March, yay! Her and her hubby now live in Germany. She is visiting for the holidays and wanted to get some pictures with her sister, Leah!

We had a lot of fun! Monica and Leah have such cool personalities, which make it easy to capture their joy and love for each other as sisters! It's great!

Thank you Leah and Monica for allowing me to take your pictures! You two are such beautiful women. Keep the faith and walk strongly in Christ as you enter into this coming year. God loves you SO much! I have no doubt that he has great things in store for each of you!

My Journey With Editing...

I wanted to share with you how I have improved, not for my benefit but because I am simply SO excited to see that I have improved, even though I still have a lot to learn!

I have been working to make my photos more natural, colorful and less intense. Some people edit their pictures to the point that it looks VERY edited. That's cool and all, but that's not me. I would rather have light and natural photos. I don't use PhotoShop. I use Photo Explosion! I found it for $30 at Target. Sweet!

Some might think that it is easy making pictures look natural. It's not that easy. Haha! First, many original shots do not have much color in them, at least, not as much as I would like. You have to add color to them. Then sometimes, the colors don't balance well. You might have to change the hue of certain colors, like red, just a tad bit so that it does not look so orange-y. Yes, orange-y. From there I sometimes like to lower the contrast so that the pictures do not look so bold, but instead soft.

Anyways, the point is: It can be a long and complicated process to simply make a picture look natural.

Now, I am no where near the level of a professional. My pictures are no where near as clear, balanced, natural and soft as photographers like The Photography of Haley Sheffield and Anna Daniels Photography. However, I have seen improvement in my editing. Which seriously makes me happy!

Here are some pictures that I have taken this year! I still have SO MUCH to learn about editing (and taking pictures) but I am so happy to see the improvements!

I honestly can't remember when I took this photo. I want to say it was in 2011, but I can't recall. Note: This is with my old camera (Canon G9 Powershot), not my new Nikon.

What I could change: A lot! Haha! Lighten their faces and skin color, just to open up their faces.
 Lighten the picture, just in general. Lighten the background a little. Maybe lighten the edges.
Note: I noticed that lightening a picture makes many pictures much softer. This picture is a little
too bold for my liking.

This picture is from earlier this fall.

What I could change: less contrast might be the biggest thing I see. maybe a different tone.

This one, also from earlier this fall.

What I could change: find a way to make this warmer tone less orange-y.
find a way to make the picture a little more soft.

A very recent shot, late fall. (See? More natural!)

What I could change: work to lighten the face a little more, just a tiny bit.

Shot taken last week. (Definitely more natural!)

What I could change: Learn how to make her skin look natural, still have color, but not so red.
Maybe a little more contrast.

If you all have any tips or advice about my editing. Please comment! I would love all the help I can get! You do not have to have a blogspot account to comment on this site, so PLEASE comment! Your advice is greatly appreciated! ♥

~Mrs. S

Sisters Part 2

I just love these photos, so I had to share!