Jack and Lea Ann

"Little ditty 'bout Jack and Diane Lea Ann....Two American kids growin' up in the heartland..."

It's true. I sing that song (John Mellencamp 'case you just landed here from another planet) in my head whenever I say "Jack and Lea Ann". I'm weird like that....

Movin' oooonnnn....

Meet my sweet friends Jack (aka Jacky Poo) and his lovey bride to be, Lea Ann. We do church together. We also do life together. I love these two awesome people. God brought them together and it's a pretty cool thing to watch. Amazing how God can just work a buncha junk all out and whats left is two people He made for each other. Just sayin'.

They are getting married in September. Watch out world....Jack will have a WIFE soon (finally)!!! :0)


This is Lea Ann describing what she feels like planning a wedding....I can relate. I can totally relate.

My favorite pic of the day....because they told me that in marriage you have to always come to your partner with your hands open. Not to just receive but to give (what's mine is yours and all that). ANNNDDD....lay it all out there for God to take it and do with it what He will. After all, it's all His anyway. :0)

HAPPY ENGAGEMENT JACK AND LEA ANN!!!

My "Life List"

A.k.a BUCKET LIST. It's all the rage in the blogger world these days so who am I to not do one myself. After all, I am a follower and such. Actually quite interesting the things I want to do and the things I have done.

Plant a garden that produces edible veggies (edible being the key there) :0) -- Kiss the Barney Stone in Ireland -- Run a Marathon -- Swim with dolphins -- Stand a top the Eiffel Tower -- Watch as my girls cross the stage for their high school, then college diplomas -- Take our girls to both Disney Land AND Disney World -- Cook a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner for our entire family -- Skinny Dip -- Turn my photography business into a full-time gig -- Earn a salary of $100k and give half of it away to my church each year -- Shoot a wedding -- Learn to french braid (again) -- Helicopter over the most beautiful waterfall in the world -- Photograph my husband in front of the Pyramids on a camel -- Drink a beer (or ten) on the beach of the Florida Keys -- HAVE A REAL HONEYMOON WITH MY HUSBAND -- Send flowers to all the people I love on the same day at the same time to thank them for loving me back -- Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef -- Purchase the coolest, bad assest lens on the market so I can shoot killer actions shots in low light and high speeds -- Marry the greatest man on earth -- Be the best mom and step-mom I can be -- Walk on a real, live glacier -- Parasail in the Bahamas -- Tandem parasail with my oldest daughter in Virginia Beach -- Tour Israel and walk where Jesus walked -- Share my testimony with a very large audience -- Truly forgive the two people who hurt me most in my lifetime -- Sit inside the Sistine Chapel and tour Vatican City -- Refresh my French speaking skills ("J'ai voudrais un coca, s'il vous plait" can only get one so far...)-- LOVE LIKE I'VE NEVER BEEN HURT -- Take a trip for one week, just my little brother and I -- Get a massage with my husband at a high end spa in a luxury resort -- Go on a mission trip Africa and meet our World Vision son -- Hang with my niece and nephews for more than just a few hours once a year -- Grill out steaks as much as possible -- Learn to salsa dance (and be good at it) -- Go on an African safari with my family -- Shoot a gun at a shooting range -- Meet Vince Vaughn -- Lay on my death bed at the end of my life with NO REGRETS.....

My list is still a work in progress, but I know most of this is totally do-able. And if I accomplish nothing else in this world, I've succeeded because JC is my BFF. Just sayin'....

If horses were wishes....

I love the title of this post. I learned the other day that it's an old English nursery rhyme that basically means it's useless to wish.

Amen to that.

If I could wish...

• I'd wish....for the day when things don't seem so hectic and crazy. We'd stop running in 8 different directions and instead relax and enjoy the journey God has us on....
• I'd wish....for a plate that is not so large and overflowing. Too many things to juggle...and handle...and worry about...and wonder why...and on and on. My sweet husband says God gave us all of this stuff right now, in this time, because WE can handle it. And we can....I just wish...it wasn't so much.
• I'd wish....for a cold, diet wild cherry pepsi and a glass of ice to always be at my beck and call. Seriously. This stuff is GOOD (might even go so far as to say it's my new fav...)
• I'd wish....to hear the words "HEALED" for friends and family. And I don't just mean healed. I mean healed....physically, mentally and most of all spiritually. I'd wish for no more lost souls and restoration for the weary, because I've been there and I know that feeling of being lost, lonely and afraid. My heart breaks just thinking about the pain in this world on so many levels. Breast cancer, COPD, divorce, hurt from the rejection of an unworthy parent, on and on. God has a plan for it all and clinging to that is the only thing that keeps me from losing it. GOD HAS A PLAN and there is NOTHING that He cannot do.
• I'd wish....for us to just be a family. Not "step". Not "blended". Just family. We are getting there, it's so hard though. BUT....I'd soooo do it all over again. I'd marry HIM again and again and again. *sigh*

I decided that since wishing does me absolutely no good, today (and everyday) I'm praying. For God to do what He does and be where He is. For God to just keep walking beside me and reminding me that He is there. It's all I need and all I can ask for. Your will be done, not mine, sweet God. And thank you....for diet wild cherry pepsi. :0)

Senior rep photo shoot....

Crystal....

Karlee....

Rachel....

I have a 2011 Senior Rep Program in the works. It's gonna be great (not a new concept by any means, but new to me!). I have 7 girls from 4 different schools participating. Basically they represent Out of the Ashes Photography and refer their friends in exchange for my doing their senior portrait session for no charge. For every booked referral they earn credit on prints. Simple, really, and I'm excited. Above is the last three girls. All are gorgeous and I'm so excited about all 7 of them!!! I'm itchin' to get out there and start doing the shoots, but they all wanna wait until they are "tan and gorgeous"! Really? Give me a break. Gorgeous, girls.....you are already there!!! :0)

Thank you God for what you are building in me, around me and for me. Amen and AMEN.