The best man ever....

Today is the anniversary of the day the very best man I've ever known was brought into the world. At 5:45 a.m. on Friday, December 2, 1966, Mark Anthony Ramsey was born.

He is the second greatest man, in my opinion, to ever walk this earth (Jesus being first, of course).

I'M JUST SAYIN'....

The love of my life. The answer to my craziest prayer. The owner of my heart forever. The best friend I've ever had. The only person to make me laugh so hard I've nearly peed a little. He is a true, real man.

I'M JUST SAYIN'....

I'm pretty sure you haven't met him, but those who have...well...they are better for knowing him. Better for meeting him, better for shaking his hand. Better for talking to him, better for hearing his voice. Honest. Ask anyone who knows him.

He is exactly who God made him to be....not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but PERFECT for me.

I'M JUST SAYIN'....

So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my husband. I thank God for you every single day....sometimes over and over again. You make me laugh, you've made me cry. You make me happy and you are truly my better half. I pray that God will allow me to celebrate your birthday with you for another 43++ years.

I love ya, babe.

Softer....

I'm getting softer.

I know. It's hard to believe, but I am. Just trust me on this.

Mark & I lead a small group. NOT something that I am very comfortable with, but I signed us up anyway. I did it knowing that he would be fully on board. Didn't even ask him first....really just "told" him that we are not only going to be in a small group but lead it in our home.

Yeah.....You don't know me.

THAT is sooooo not me. I have a 15 foot rule. No one gets near me unless I ask first. It's just part of who I am have been....until now.

Last night we completed week six of eight of Rick Warren's "Life's Healing Choices" in a tag team with our Sunday services at church. The study is not really what I expected but it's obviously what I needed.

Obviously {eye roll}....

So the "softer me" part: It FINALLY dawned on me this morning ('cuz I'm painfully slow at times) that our small group is, well....awesome. Not because it's at our house or because we got to pick the night and time or because of the yummy treats (they are a plus, though, let me tell ya), but awesome because of the people who attend. Awesome because God shows up every week right on time. He's never late....almost as if He walks in with each and every person as they walk in the front door ready to sit, eat yummies, talk about life and LISTEN. He's a "special" (and required) member of every small group, but it humbles me to realize that He wants to be a part of ours too.

If no one else gets anything out of our group it will be a resounding success. Why would I make such a bold statement, you ask? Because I got something out of it. I know it's not all about me. I believe with all my heart, though, that God put our group together for many reasons....and one was to soften me up a bit.

And, boy, did I need some softening....

He gave me this statement this morning...and I heard Him very loud and clear.

LIFE TOGETHER IS HARD, BUT IT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN LIFE ALONE.

Amen and Amen.

To my small group partners:

Thank you. For showing up. For coming back. For sharing your lives with us. For being who you are. For letting God work on your hearts and understanding how God is working on mine too. You have no idea how each of you has helped God soften me up. Just know that He has and with your help.

Life together is hard, but it's so much better than life alone.

Circle....

You have to watch this....you just do. Christ-Life Solutions is a ministry that literally saved me. I know, I know....GOD did that....but He used Christ-Life to do it. It's a ministry where you work through your childhood being an adult ally to yourself. Sounds hokey but it really isn't. It's working through the years of your childhood, working out the lies that you believe and replacing those old, incorrect paradigms with new, correct, God-directed ones. It was an exhausting year and a half of working through some issues, but in the end it was the best time I've ever spent on me. I still have junk....who doesn't, but my junk is far less than it was. Just trust me on that.

Christ-Life Solutions sends out devotional emails and this is the one I got today. SPOKE. RIGHT. TO. ME. God is teaching me a lesson on what I let in and how I let it affect me. Been one of those weekends where He was right there guiding my words and my actions. I made mistakes, yes, but I also followed His lead and am so much better for it.

Watch this video....What are you downloading into your circle?

GOD IS SO GOOD....ALLLL THE TIME! :0}

Stoppin' long enough to take a breath....

WOW. What a month. God sure has opened doors and I am hanging on for dear life as He takes me on this journey. Here is a recap of my last month....in pictures of course. :0)

First, Car had a soccer tournament (plus another 800+ games since then...just kidding. It just feels like 800). Turns out she's becoming quite a soccer player. So fun to watch and she's really a natural.

Then I took my girls to a beautiful rose garden at the art center to get some "school pictures" ('cuz....remember....I'm cheap and If I'm gonna buy a picture it can't be the same old posed shot. I know. I'm weird like that). It was fun....and I really don't care what you think....my girls could be SUPER MODELS. I'm totally just sayin'.

Alli ~ Age 17....

Sarah ~ Age 15....

Taylor ~ Age 11....



Carli ~ Age 9....

Mark's baby sister Makaela ~ Age 9



BTW ~ We have a lot of fun on shoots. Catching someone laughing or being themselves is my number one goal.

After school pics of my own kiddos, I took senior pictures for an amazing, creative, funny, sweet and talented girl named Jennifer. I sooooo totally love her red hair....

Then came Steven. My first "guy" senior. For whatever reason I get the girls and not many guys. BUT....Steven was the first and now they are knocking down my door. Ok....not literally, but I do have a few more scheduled! :0)

After Steven came Drew...another guy and a REFERRAL to boot! WHOO HOO for "cheerleader" customers! Working on how to reward customers who give referrals....that's not the fun part of this biz, but it's something I've got to figure out. Drew is a senior offensive lineman. Big kid who's mom said he was grumpy the day I came over. Their land is gorgeous and Drew turned out to be a great kid and a genuinely nice guy. THANKS FOR THE REFERRAL DEB!!! You da best, baby!

WHEW.

I'm exhausted just putting all that together! In the midst of all of this work, I ran my "regular" life too (you know....on top of my supergirl life)....wife, mom, full time job, running a business, soccer games, soccer practices, homework, sleep (not enough btw), hosting a small group of 12 and on and on. I am NOT complaining. I will miss my camera this winter since I don't have/want a studio and things slow down a lot so the work now is very much appreciated. I have in the next three weeks 4 more seniors and 3 families booked. And as long as the weather holds up, I'll keep booking them.

Thank you, God, for your constant provision and leading the way. Your path clearing is exhausting, but the results of hanging on to You for dear life are well worth it.

Mullen family video

Check this out. Pastor Jeff created this with the photos from the shoot Saturday. It's awesome. Wish I had time to do this with all my photo shoots!!! (Be sure to turn down the volume at the bottom of my post so you can hear the music in the video).

Enjoy!

If only....

...I had been this stinkin' cute when I was a high school senior!! :0) Meet Cassie. Gorgeous girl with a huge college softball career ahead of her. What a cool kid. Just getting started editing the photos and could not wait to share my favs so far. I have to say that little kids and high school seniors are my favorite to shoot these days. So much potential for their futures. Just a look in their eyes and you can see all that God intended for them...if you look really close. More to come of this beautiful girl!!

The two things I know....

There are only two things I know for absolutely certain....

1) God is good ALL the time; and

2) When something is right, its RIGHT.

Below are photos from one of two shoots I did Saturday. Meet my pastor and his family.

They, well, they are just RIGHT.





More to come of the other shoot I did and my favs from The Winker too! :0)