A few random thoughts.....

First: I saw a miracle this morning. With my own two eyes.

Taylor and Carli are best friends although neither will ever admit it. They truly love each other but fight like cats and dogs at least once a day.....usually bed time. You see....they share a room. I know. I'm a mean mom. :) At bed time, one of them will yell at me "SHE WON'T BE QUIET!!! Ugh! I want my OWN room!" It's our nightly ritual.

Here is the miracle.....this morning, Carli is in the kitchen getting cereal and Taylor is in the bathroom doing her hair while her oatmeal is in the microwave. I hear Carli yell "Taylor! Your oatmeal is done!" Taylor responds "Thanks SISSY!"

NOT. EVEN. KIDDING.

Taylor walks out to the kitchen and Carli turns around to her and says "You look cute in that shirt."

Again. NOT. EVEN. KIDDING.

God was in that house this morning. I drove to work praying that whole scene take place a little more often.

Second: I learned something VERY important last night.

I was sitting in a bookstore coffee shop with Mark and we talked about a lot of things. Over the course of the evening it became very clear to me that my relationships....until yesterday....have been played out in a dark room. Meaning I've spent a huge majority of my adult life fumbling around trying to understand and put things together without being able to "see" what I was doing or what was around me. Simply stated, until the right person came along, the room would be dark. I wouldn't know how to do it right and would continue to stumble along. God directed me to the light switch and He turned it on. This relationship with Mark is filled with light. A light that gets brighter and stronger every day. I'm starting to see the things around me and understand what it takes, what I want, what I need, how to be a good partner. It's funny how when God is involved it all comes together so easily and so much better than when He is not. For the first time in my life, I'm figuring it all out and enjoying the journey. God is good and I am very blessed to finally have the light ON.

Third: I need some prayer.

Mark does a 40 day fast every year during this time and I have decided to join him. Will be the hardest thing I've ever done (I think....I have no idea what to expect). RELAX. It's not a starvation thing.....it's a reduction thing. It is a healthy decision and I know in my heart it will be exactly what I need during this spiritual journey I am on. God told me so last night when I asked Him if I should do it. I plan to blog about it so you can follow along if you'd like. We begin March 4th. Until then, pray for me and Mark. I'm taking a leap of faith and following God's direction here.....I need you to pray for my ability to REDUCE.

JC is my BFF!!!

Light and corn....

I bought my Nikon D80 last October and had no clue how to really use it. If you know me at all I am absolutely, positively a person who learns by watching and doing versus reading so I rarely open the owner's manual. Wade bought me a DVD about my camera to watch, and I have watched it, but I really think my mind is kinda weird that way. I gotta want to learn before my mind fully opens up enough to let what I am learning soak in. I have a way of, on the surface at least, getting what I am learning but it doesn't sink in initially. I know that is very much my ADD and while it is frustrating to me that I am that way, I know it is equally as frustrating to others at the same time.

So, after having my camera for a year now, I finally signed up for an 8 week class on how to USE my camera. I bought the darn thing, put it on "Auto" setting and off I went. I have had good success in that mode but that's like having a manual transmission car and never getting out of 1st gear. The car can do so many more things, go way faster and get you to your destination quicker and easier if you drive in the right gear. Seriously, I am a slow learner!!!

Tonight is week 4 of class. We had an assignment to take actions shots so that we freeze the action and then caught the action blurred (you do this by adjusting the shutter speed and f stop in case you felt like that was important to know). All this is to be done in MANUAL mode....which means I (yes, me, myself and I) control all the functions of the camera. I had no problem with freezing the action. That setting and control actually makes sense to me and as a sports action photographer I GET that. I did, however, have a problem with the blurred action. But, have no fear, FINALLY, I figured it out. The light bulb came on! I have to say though, I am my biggest critic and my own worst enemy. I was really down about how I wasn't figuring it out and how the heck could I be a professional if I didn't even know how to do something soooo simple! Then WHAM. Something I did worked, I tried it again and it worked again. WHEW...world crisis averted.

Anyway, all of that to just show off a few pictures I took Sunday on my way to church. Nothing fancy, but something I figured out (and none of them have anything to do with the action shots of my assignment! I will post them later). I'm excited!!! The two of the twinkle of light through the tree in my front yard are pretty cool. Made me smile so that makes them worth the post, I think. :) The first one of the corn is just to show you all where the little demon children live ready to prance out and kill all the adults ("Children of the Corn" movie, in case you didn't know)...I so hate that movie! The other one of the corn tassles is to show all you city folk what the corn looks like when it's ready to harvest. See my post of the tassles from earlier this summer. :0

JC is my BFF!!!