this precious life.

Soooooo get ready for an overload of spring purtiness!lovliness!marvelousness!gorgeousness!beautifulness!{simply some take-your-breath-away blossoms designed by the Creator himself.}*sigh*. I love Him. A spring garden is a painter's artwork a poet's words and a lover's heart. A spring garden dances in the rain, while umbrellas open up like flowers. Gardens shimmer in dewy mornings and whisper sweet nothings in the afternoon The earth is painted with cheer and colors sing their songs. Butterflies kiss the petals as eyes meet under the open sky. Dandelions & daffodils parade in the sun. Painters, poets, and lovers see magic come alive A spring garden is a daydream, It's majestic & melodious, and blooms in our hearts. It pulls at heartstrings and makes the world smile at the sun. See more images by clicking here {Images: {Em}ily- yes. that means me:)} {Poem pulled from Ruche's spring lookbook . Author unknown}

{If you didn't see my preliminary post about Kelsey's visit, you might want to read that *here* before you scroll through these images:)  } Kels and I did have a lovely visit and were able to sneak away several times {amidst my hectic and rather stressful schedule that couldn't be put off last minute} to explore some places together. I was so thankful that Mama and Daddy allowed us to do that even though at times, I could almost see them listing in their minds the amount of things I'd have to catch up with the next week!!  Kelsey was a huge help when we pulled off Mama's Birthday Surprise and I'm so thankful for her willingness to serve and to also allow me to spend time knocking out h/w and such while she was visiting. And I think that gave her a good amount of time to relax amongst the whirlwind of everything!  Loads of photos were taken and even more memories made:) {Thank you Jesus for everything you orchestrate. I am continually amazed by your ...

{I'd like to introduce my 2 film cameras- in two separate posts} Film cameras are what first got me interested in the world of shutter speeds, ISO numbers, exposure, DOF, etc. Needless to say, I knew *nothing* about those things when I owned my first film camera-- nor would it be until many years later that I would first discover their uses... but just being able to capture a smidgen of life as it flew by me was enough to pull me into photography! Ever since leaving those days of film {when all I knew to do was press the shutter and replace the roll of film} for digital, I've wanted to go back. To use film more as a hobby but develope my knowledge of it nonetheless. Here's a look at the two cameras which will help to get me started down that road. {what happened to the camera that got me interested in the first place, you ask? Sadly, after much use, it took it's last picture for me while on a trip out West in '05} This last fall at a cousins wedding, I ran into a g...

Isaiah 53   1 Who has believed our message    and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,    and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.   4 Surely he took up our pain    and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,    stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,    he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,    and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,    eac...

In celebration of Mama's 46th birthday, Ellyn wanted to take Mama "on a walk down memory lane". So we collaborated and while Ellyn came up with all the great ideas, I helped her to bring those ideas to life.  Last Friday we had Mama's best friend from college come in town with her family as a surprise then Saturday morning we gave those two a gift card to go out to breakfast while everyone at home worked busier than bees to prep the house and food the luncheon that would bring together some of Mama's dearest friends. {yes, this was the other surprise!}.  Enjoy the snapshots!  A fruit appetizer with Strawberry Greek Yogurt dip and Passion Tea Lemonade to drink {the centerpiece is a grouping of potted pansies in mini-milk jars for the ladies to take home} Ellyn and I were so thankful for all of the kitchen help!! A mixture of fresh spinach and greens topped with Craisins, feta cheese and apples and served with chopped pecans and Raspberry Vinaigrette on the s...

This lil 'ole blog 'o mine was in desperate need of a spring makeover but those kind of things take time. Time I don't have. Since it was really starting to bug me, (it was just so dreary-- why would anyone want to visit it when I myself didn't even want to?!) I took a break from h/w to see what I could do. What I discovered was that blogger finally add interesting fonts to the line up! So in the 15 minutes I had, I switched everything to a clean, white layout, threw in some dynamic fonts, tweaked a little color here and there and viola! An incredibly simple blog layout for the present but something that is way better than what was there before! In the future when I really have time I'll tweak it and make it a bit more personal and interesting:) {I'm loving this script! except in previous posts I had done a lot of side notes in a smaller size font and now with this font, they are too small to read! oops!} Often times it's the little things that jump out a...

We were at the Dayton Air Force Museum a few weeks ago and I could help but notice the gorgeous clear light while touring the Presidential hangar. Elisabeth was my "buddy" that day and since she has always loved ballet, we shot some silhouette images of her poses. I would have loved more time to work with the silhouettes and tweak some things but 10 minutes was all we had so I'm happy with what I ended up with:) Oh and just a week or two prior to this, I had the idea to begin taking & collecting silhouettes {of people,places,things} so it was really fun to be able to start off with these images! Too bad I don't have access to this hangar all the time!! {all images are mine-- please ask before using elsewhere}