Sharin' the LOVE....

My sweet cousin Stacie got married in Hawaii a few weeks ago and they had a reception last weekend. I was lucky enough to be the photog for the reception and there was love....EVERYWHERE.

Brad and Stacie Ramundt....yeah. They like each other.

The last time Brad will ever have the "upper hand"....

My little second cousin Donovin. He is about a month old and the best baby ever.

My mom, my grandma and my aunt dancing the night away. There is a lot of love between these three.

My cousin Derek loving on his niece and nephew. They LOVE him. They just do. He is that fun uncle that lets you climb on him and throws you in the air. Yeah....he's a cool guy.

It's amazing what happens between shots. That's my second cousin Cayden being Superman in the front. These kinds of pictures are my favorite....everyone laughing and cracking up. THAT'S LOVE TO ME....

My family....trying to teach my mom to use my camera. :0)

Just....us.

Carli actually POSING and ENJOYING it. Don't say anything to her, though. She will just deny it.

My honey. There are no words for the LOVE I get from this guy. He is by far and away the best man I've ever met in my life. No doubt about it. 74 days and a wake up....

There are a TON more pictures from the weekend. Many good ones, many funny ones, many tear jerkers. But today I just wanted to share the LOVE.

"....But the greatest of these is love." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

Grapple 2009 ~ the video....

Scroll down and pause the music at the bottom of my blog before you play this. It's pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

Oh....and FYI. I'm pretty sure that there IS a Jesus lesson in using a straw to blow a ping pong ball across the room. Or unwrapping and stacking a pack of Smarties while wearing gardening gloves. Guaranteed. :0)

Mark and I raced at the ping pong ball, straw blowing Jesus lesson. We both had carpet burns on our knees for a week. It was worth it though....I kicked his behind! (ok.....it was a very close tie but I'm pretty sure I won. I'm just sayin'...)

Enjoy!

If I had to choose....

If I had to choose one animal that best describes me....I'd pick a turtle. Why?

1) I'm soft and gooey on the inside too. I NEED that hard shell to protect me.

2) I don't do anything slow like a turtle supposedly does....my mind is always going 1,000 miles an hour, but I do wish that I could slow down and enjoy the scenery. You know, like a turtle does.

3) Turtles (some anyway) live like....forever. I'm planning on living forever too. Maybe not in this body here on earth but forever in heaven none the less.

4) See the silly grin on the turtle above? I grin like that most days too.

I FEEL like a turtle lately....mostly because of #1.

For the last 6 months or so I have been living outside my shell....trying not to rely on it so much. Putting myself out there.....stretching my emotions (sharing them), stepping out on the edge and making myself transparent and vulnerable.

But yesterday and today? I've put my shell back on. Fear of the unknown and anticipation of things not always being easy and fun and all that. Mark said that I "want my cake but don't want to bake it." He's right. I want the good stuff but don't want the heat that it takes to get there. But then again....who does?!?!

I'll admit.....my shell is not nearly as hard as it used to be. Not even close.

But a shell is a shell is a shell.

So....I'm a turtle. A turtle who needs to RELAX, slow down and live OUTSIDE my shell. I need to let God be the only shell that protects my soft and gooey insides.

"For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." ~ Psalm 27:5

WARNING....

I'm gonna use this post to brag on my oldest baby. 'Cuz I can.

Today, my 16 year old kiddo went, on her own, to give blood. It was her second time. The first was at her high school blood drive. She found out she has a rare A- blood type so naturally the blood place has been calling her non-stop ever since.

She asked if she could do it. Of course I said yes. I wanted to go with her but she was bound and determined.

On her way (at 8 a.m. on a SUMMER day...I know right? It's SUMMER VACATION kid! Sleep in will ya?!?), she called me and said she forgot to eat breakfast and wondered if she should stop and eat. I told her no....she should have eaten before she left but if she does it now she will surely toss her breakfast. She agreed that would not be a pretty sight.

So she got there. They did their thing.

Trip one to the "cantina"....she sat and ate her cookies and juice but started to feel pretty bad. They took her to the "room" to lay down.

Trip two to the "cantina"....she sat there again and decided she felt too dizzy so back she went to the "room". This time she laid there for a half an hour.

"I read every piece of paper they had there, mom. It was so
boring just laying there. But I needed to do something!" she told me.

"Good! What did you learn?" I replied.

"Well, I learned that as much as it stunk to feel the way I
did, I saved THREE lives today, mom. THREE."

"Very cool, bug. Very cool."

She hit the "cantina" a third time. This time finally feeling much better. As she sat there she said she met a nice elderly couple.

"How long you been coming here, kid?" asked the elderly man.

"My second time," she told him.

"GOOD FOR YOU!" said his wife. "The first time is the hardest so it only gets easier."

The elderly man then looked her in the eye and said, "I've been giving blood every time I can for the last 60 years. Don't stop. You're making a difference."

She nodded, smiled and left.

"Wow, mom. I was supposed to be there today. That old guy was alright."

My baby, at the age of 16, is one smart kid. A kid with a heart bigger than her chest and a pretty good head on her shoulders to match.

I'm proud today. Just darn proud.

I'm just sayin'.

They don't make 'em like they used to....

I love Jim Croce. I forgot how much, really. Needing a change of music to listen to and he popped up. Love it....and it's true. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

(Scroll down to the bottom of my blog to pause the music already playing)

Enjoy!

Motivated by a grateful heart.....

True worship.

What is it really and how do we do it "right"?

(Insert pantie bunching here. Please don't, though. I know there is no "right" way to worship....I'm just using that word as a way to describe how we know if He feels it. Read on....with your panties on straight. Thankin' you.)

Been asking God to show me better ways to "worship" Him. I've been so busy the past month or two that it FEELS like I haven't been giving my all to God.

And I haven't. I know that and I'll be the first one to admit it.

I wondered what I'd find as a definition for worship: worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being. I then looked up reverence: honor or respect either felt or shown.

Naturally I asked Him to help with that. How could I better show Him my respect and reverence? How could I better put Him first? I knew I needed to not just rearrange my schedule, but put Him in my schedule to begin with....my time in the Bible has been severely lacking. Scheduling time for that was one way. God showed me a few others.

Took Him awhile though. I really do think God needs my help with getting things done. Really. His time management makes me nuts. He is probably chuckling about that right now since Him and I BOTH know that my help is NOT needed.

Any hooo.....

Here is what He showed me.

I am a "two service Christian". I heard that term on Sunday and I loved it. Mark and I both are actually. We serve during one service and attend together the other. Service to others....That's WORSHIP.

Loud music in the car....singing at the top of my lungs when the mood hits me. I don't sing well....the opposite actually, but God doesn't care. In fact, I'm pretty sure there are some songs where He is plugging His ears while tapping His foot. Lifting my voice to God....That's WORSHIP.

Working on a budget, preparing to combine two houses, discussing how to have as smooth a transition as possible. Mark and I have been working on that a lot lately. Working together as a team, my submitting to his leadership and him seeking my opinion. Honoring each other and loving like Jesus would....That's WORSHIP.

And then He showed me this: TRUE WORSHIP IS MOTIVATED BY A GRATEFUL HEART.

What does that mean? In order to do an assessment of how I am worshipping, I need to start with my heart. Am I grateful for my blessings or grumbling because I want more? I can do all the "right" things but still not be truly worshipping God if my heart is not grateful. Ouch.

So I'm gonna keep on working on that. I'm gonna make sure my heart is grateful and not bitter. With that will surely come honor, respect and reverence for my God.

And He feels it....even when I don't know if I've got it "right". That's what makes God so cool.

ADM Girls Soccer Action Shots.....

Pulling together one for each member of the team. Photoshop makes me want to pull my hair out but at the same time it is so cool the things you can do with it! Wanting to pull my hair out is my own stinkin' fault....can't expect it to be easy when you are teaching yourself instead of taking a class or GOD FORBID reading the manual! :0)

Anyway, thought they turned out great and wanted to share.