Wednesday, October 7, 2009

“Catch” Up…

I feel like I can’t keep up over here on this blog!!  I have photos to edit, and laundry to fold… field trips to attend, and ball games to watch…  can’t keep up!!  So, if you see a little less of me over here, I hope you understand!

Last Friday night I got a great shot of James’ catch…

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The name of the game was FRUSTRATING. This catch was the second play of the game. It was a 50 yard reception.  The ball wasn’t passed to him anymore during the game.

FRUSTRATING.

Praying for a good attitude.  His and mine. Not to mention the rest of the fans.  Praying for the coach to have wisdom beyond his years. 

Remembering that this is his first year as head coach after 32 years of the same coach… but remembering that this is the last year for James to play… and that makes it hard.

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Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the Extraordinary Women Conference.  I got to hear one of my favorite authors speak, and one of my favorite singers sing! 

Can you tell who they are?

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I tried to take pictures…

Karen Kings*bury & Man*desa!

One of the big surprises of the day was speaker, Angela Tho*mas.  I had never heard of her before.

Turns out, I don’t have to write my book… she already did!  :)  Angela was a single mom for 7 1/2 years.  Her speaking touched a place in my heart of pain… and ended up bringing yet more healing to my soul…

Funny how you go into something thinking that you are okay and suddenly you are in tears.  And God is saying…. there is still this place of pain… and I want to heal it more today.  And He does.

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Saturday evening we relaxed at home.  I told myself I was NOT going to work on photos on the weekend.   I did a little, but mostly spent time with the kiddos! 

I had to really stop and realize that my week last week was much like I had taken a full time job on.  (and I have, I just have to manage the time myself!)  Once I got my new lap top, and my photo editing software, I needed (and still need to) play catch up on the editing… and I am learning so much…

See What I learned to do today!

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Do you like it?  You can see some more of the work I’ve been doing on my photo blog!

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Sunday afternoon, I took some more photos!

Then we went to my sister Allison’s house for birthdays and they had an obstacle course set up and we had a great time!  I took pictures (shock) only about 300 or so… yeah… they need their own post! :)  hoping to work on those and share sometime soon!

I took this picture of my kids…

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They love getting their picture taken! :)

Pam

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

House of Hope Banquet

On October 17 there is a banquet for the House of Hope.

House of Hope is where we have went for lots of outpatient counseling.

House of Hope is going to be opening their residential program for young teen boys very soon.

They need our support.

At the banquet….

Leah will be singing a song.

Pottery will be auctioned off.  Pottery made by some of the kids who have been in counseling… Including some of mine…

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A slide show will be shown… made up of my photos…

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If you are interested in attending, please let me know!  They are trying to fill the tables, and there is no cost to attend.  A free will offering will be taken…

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Pam

Monday, October 5, 2009

Jadon’s birthday!

Today is Jadon’s birthday!  He is 6 years old! 

 

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Last night we celebrated, with his cousin Travis, at my sister’s house.

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Tonight we stayed home and I fixed his favorite meal, and we played his new game & he built his new legos!

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Happy Birthday Jadon!  We love you!!

Pam

Friday, October 2, 2009

YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 53

YGMT...moment 2 Time to announce the winner of last week’s year anniversary contest for playing along with YOUR Gonna Miss This Carnival!!

The scientific approach to choosing a winner…

Me:  Lucas, pick a number between one and eight.

Lucas:  10

Lucas: I mean, why?

Lucas: ummmmmmm…. seven.

Lucas:  why?

Me: You just picked the winner for my blog contest.

Lucas:  What do I get?

LOL!!

#7 is Carrie @ Martin Manor Happenings!!  Congratulations!!  Carrie is a faithful blog friend, who has played along with me about every week I can remember!  I am thrilled that she is the winner!  Let me know where you would like a gift certificate to and I will get one on it’s way to you!

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So, after a year of writing these moments, I find myself with a question or two… do I keep counting the weeks?  like 53, 54, 55??  Is that what I do?  Or do I just go to calling it a generic “YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment”?  Any thoughts?

I also find that it is one of those weeks when I wonder what I have to miss?  I miss not freezing at football games!  I miss not having grumpy kids…

How about missing having 2, 5 year olds… for the past month Jadon and Kiahna have both been 5 years old… On Monday Jadon will turn 6! 

Somehow I need to pull together a birthday celebration of some sort.  I have nothing ready!  Oops!  Been too busy trying to figure out how to run a photography business to do much of anything but the necessary!

I need to work on that.  I need to get balance back in my life.  I need to let God lead rather than trying to run ahead & figure it all out… I know that… doing that is a different story.

Even though the week has been long, and mom is stressed out… my children are precious & I will miss these days… fleeing by so quickly…

So, GO AC FOOTBALL!  Happy Birthday Jadon!  Take a deep breath self.  Headed to the Extraordinary Women Conference tomorrow for the day with ladies… looking forward to that!

Now, your chance to share… what will YOU miss?

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Can we talk about something else?

Can we think about something else?

My neck, back & behind are sore.

My brain is sore.

I am struggling with overwhelm & low confidence…

photography.

photoshop.

customers.

photo processing.

screen checks.

pricing.

this is starting to feel much more like work than fun.

So, let’s talk about something else, shall we?

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Lucas’ teacher told me this week that he sees now why Lucas doesn’t start sentences with capital letters & end them with periods.

me?

Okay, i used to have this program that made them all capital for me, so I got out of the habit of pushing the shift key, so now it is hard to remember to do it, and all the kids are typing that way, so it makes me feel young and hip right! :)

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Another Varsity Football game tomorrow night. It’s been a hard season.  We won the first 2 games and haven’t won since.  Lots of injuries.  New coach.  It would be so nice to see things come together for the team.

James is pretty bummed.  He wishes he would be passed to more.  He doesn’t understand.  It’s hard for me to understand too.  (remember me, the one who didn’t even know what position my son played and this is year 4 of him playing!)

Hoping for a good game tomorrow night.  Praying for safety for the players.

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If you are reading this and I used to have your e-mail address… and you haven’t heard from me in 3 weeks by e-mail.  It’s because I don’t have your e-mail address anymore.  Please resend.  Thank you.

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I don’t know how things are going with Kiahna and school.  I admit to being a little confused and discouraged.  She is going 3 days.  And the teacher says that it is “much better than last year”.  But she is not anywhere near being capable of handling kindergarten.  Sometimes I wonder if she comprehends. 

She has been learning the letter “P” at school all week… so we are in the van and she hands me her paper and I say…

“Oh, look Kiahna this letter starts mommy’s name, what is this letter?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do, what is this letter?”

“I DONT KNOW”

“Well, what is Mommy’s name?”

“Mommy.”

“No, My name is Pam, what does Pam start with?”

“I don’t know”

“What is this letter?”

“I DONT KNOW!”

The teacher told me this week, “I don’t know how  you do it.” 

I don’t think I like that comment.  That comment makes me feel like she is seeing something I am not.  It makes me feel like Kiahna will not be ready for kindergarten next year.  That comment scares me.

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Blah-dee---Blah-daa…

wanna talk about photography again?

me neither.

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Jadon cut himself in the chin with his scissors at school today.  Got blood on his shirt and went to the nurse and she gave him a clean one.

I’ve washed and returned the school nurse’s shorts 3 times, and now I have a shirt.  Interesting… all my other kids have NEVER went to the nurse for clean clothes…. Jadon has 4 times, in what? 6 weeks of school. (and all 4 times were in the past 2 weeks!)

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Last night I decided that I needed to mop my kitchen floor.  I really didn’t want to.  So, to motivate myself I decided to shatter a 9x13 dish of 1/2 gone chicken enchiladas all over the floor.

The floor is mopped.

Jadon cut his foot tonight.  Guess I missed a spot.

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Poor Jadon…

Poor James…

Poor Kiahna…

Not sure what the other three could complain about… but I am sure we could find something!!

Poor Me!  LOL!!  Sounding kinda whiney and tired, like I should be in bed, aren’t I!

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Heard about an acquaintance who’s husband is doing to her and her children what mine did, this week.  I sat there thinking, I should talk to her, call her, do something to encourage her.

Her faith is strong.  Her hope is too… Much like mine has been.

But, am I an encouragement or a discouragement to someone just starting out on this journey?   I don’t know.  I want to be an encouragement to her… to anyone else going through this nightmare…

Here I am 4 years of hoping, waiting, praying, and walking it out… my circumstances are the same… but I am living life.  I am happy (most of the time, but we aren't talking about how my photography has been going)

I’ve found God to be HUGE in all of this, even as my prayers for HSSH seemingly change nothing in him.  God has taken care of me and my children.  He has protected us.  He has carried us through.

That has to be an encouragement doesn’t it?

Pray with me about that will you?  Lord, I want You to use what I have been through for your glory… sometimes I can get in the way with my thoughts and my ideas and my fears and my disappointments… help me… use me…

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Speaking of HSSH.  He has been coming to most of the kids games.  That is good for them. 

He told James that he would not be able to attend “senior night” in 2 weeks.  James was really bummed… I was relieved…

I feel guilty about being relieved, and I am sad for James… but it is so much easier if I don’t have to walk down that football field in front of all of those people and pretend like this is all “normal”

Mostly he just ignores me.

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So, there you have it, another long, pretty whiny, and maybe a tad depressing blog post…

If you know how to make my computer screen match my photo lab leave me a comment. 

That is if you want to talk photography… cause I don’t.  I am not obsessive.  And don’t lose any sleep over this.  And have not spent countless hours editing and teaching myself this week and have no idea if what I see on the screen is what the print is going to look like & if people will like it… so if you are going to critic my style of editing this would not be a good day.

K?

If you think I am losing my mind… maybe you want to come over and help me find it… cause I am pretty sure you are on the right track!

Time for bed!

Pam

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Photos…photos…photos

I have been spending many hours learning how to run my photo editing program… I am not anywhere near caught up on the photos waiting to be edited!!  I thought I would share a few with you to see if you like what I am coming up with!!

Katie Grace… (this is the one from that beautiful garden!) 

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See more of Katie Grace on my photo blog

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There are more of this family on my photo blog too.

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I got my first prints back and they don’t match with what I see on my screen very well… so something else to figure out!  Let me know what you think of these edits!

Pam

Monday, September 28, 2009

I heart faces: blue

The theme of this week’s I heart faces photo contest is “blue”… after staying up late working on this blue eyed girls pix, I had to enter this week!  Loving this pix of my blue eyed niece, Hallie!

 HKF blueweb

Pam

Yes, it’s Me…Monday

It’s Monday.  And this is my life!  While “Not Me, Monday is incredibly fun, It takes too much mental energy to turn it around some days!! 

Kiahna and I are snuggled up in our lazy boy chair, with my new lap top as I type this morning!!  We are both loving this!  She likes to sit on my lap while I work at the computer, so this makes her smile this morning for sure!!

I am so thankful for my parents helping me out and getting me this new computer.  The old computer is back in the house too.  It has a new/used hard drive installed and will work great for the kids to use! 

The old computer was built in 2001.  It is not equipped to run photo editing programs & deal with large photo files.  The difference in the speed of this new computer is mind boggling!!  I am so impressed, and while it is NOT a Ma*c as many have expressed I should have purchased, it is a De*ll.  And I love it!! 

The photography business is busy!  I have lots of pictures to edit from shoots I did while I didn’t have a computer.  I have posted some new photos on my photo blog, and will be adding more throughout the week as I get them edited! 

I have two more shoots this weekend & a few more pending appointments! 

The weather today tells me that fall is coming and it is going to become more difficult to find beautiful days to take outdoor photos.  I have NO IDEA what I am going to do when I can’t take outdoor photos.  But, since it’s God business, I guess He will have to show me!!

I do find the need to find better balance of my time.  It was hard not to play with my new computer this weekend while the kids were home, since I just picked it up on Friday afternoon.  In the future I hope to spend my weekends on the computer less, and just taking the photos as needed. 

The other thing I am finding is that working on photos until late in the night, after the kids are in bed, does not leave me very relaxed when I try to fall asleep.  I have a hard time shutting down my brain.  Last night, after working until 11, I laid in bed unable to sleep.  Finally getting up and making some tea & praying for awhile & then falling asleep after midnight.  Not ideal for 6 am wake up.

Searching for God’s balance in this new venture!  His ways.  His plans.  His vision.  Show me the way!

JAMES, got accepted to his first college!!!!  We are very hopeful that it will work out for him to go to And*erson U in the fall of 2010.  We are still working on what plan “B” will be, if financial aid doesn’t come through for AU. 

Meanwhile, he is very much enjoying his Senior Year of High School.  Enjoying his work on the school newspaper.  Doing some photography for the yearbook/newspaper.  Playing lots of Football, no catches this week left him feeling pretty bummed on Friday evening.  We lost too.  It was not a good time.

Someone gave me this picture of one of his catches from another game…

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Pretty cool shot! 

I took him and 2 of his friends out for a senior picture photo shoot this weekend!  They are hilarious…

ZACH got his drivers permit last week!!!!  I am thankful to have been through this before & to find myself not quite as stressed out about it!  Although, this child is much different than his brother, and I hate to think a bit more confident & sure of his “ability”.  Fun, fun!

In Zach’s game last week he laid on the ground for awhile holding his leg… really scared me….

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It is a horrible, horrible feeling to see any player on the field unable to get up.

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Turned out he had been stepped on & it "hit in a tendon” causing the pain.  He didn’t play much the rest of the game, but he did get in some.  Enough to make a TD, but then have it called back on a penalty… blah!  Wasn’t his night!

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This picture is hilarious!  Not that he got tackled of course, but their legs!  Maybe I could win something with this!!  LOL!!

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LEAH, oh Leah… 12 is so much fun… I can feel myself getting dumber by the day… today she wore a shirt that she pulled out of the dryer, wet.  I had just put in in there 15 minutes ago.  She insisted that “it was the only thing that matched”  uhg, uhg, uhg…

Growing pains.

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Cheerleading seems to be going well.  She is making some new friends, learning a lot. 

I helped & chaperoned at a middle school dance awhile back.  The cheerleaders were the ones sponsoring the dance.  So, I was in the kitchen selling food, along with the cheerleaders rotating in and out.  My girl always seemed to want to help out in the kitchen during the slow songs (which was fine with some of the other girls!)  She was avoiding being asked to dance!  So cute!  I am just fine with that!!  I am sure that line of thinking is limited in it’s days!

LUCAS is doing well!  Playing soccer, playing with friends, working hard at school.  Struggling with spelling words… he would love to get his hands on “whoever came up with how to spell these words!”

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JADON is doing pretty well too.  Kindergarten is going pretty good. His mid-term came home looking positive.  I have been in his classroom volunteering once a week and he is very happy & has lots of friends.

He has had a few (3 last week) of peeing in his pants at school.  I don’t get it.  We do have an appointment with a specialist that our pediatrician set up from last summer’s appt.  That isn’t until November though. I know that sometimes kids pee their pants because of emotional things.  I don’t know if this is the problem and we should be pursuing more counseling?  If any physical problems are ruled out and the issue continues we will have to start counseling again.

He is upset because I threw away his old shoes!  The bottoms were 1/2 of and there is a hole in the toe.  He loves them so much because they are velcro & his new ones are tie.  Velcro seems harder to find and more expensive this year, anyone notice that?  I just couldn’t pay that much for his shoes.  I have found him 2 pair of used shoes & he still wont be in the tie ones… anyone want a nice pair of size one boys shoes.  worn once?  sigh….

My dad told me about something Jadon told him a few weeks ago.  They were eating some candy and my dad picked up a candy, pretended to read it, and said, “this one says, give me to grandpa”.  Jadon picked up another one, pretended to read it, and serious as ever said, “this one says, give it back.”

He is a never ending adventure!

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KIAHNA is going to 3 days of preschool now!!  Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday!  Very exciting!  I don’t think that things are going perfect with her at school, but they are going better as far as I know. 

The school is helping break her finger sucking habit.  (and I am thinking after what we have been through who cares!!!) but they don’t want her to suck them, germs ya know, so we are trying to help her stop so she doesn’t get in trouble for it at school.

I took her shopping last week!  We had fun shopping for cute bargains!  I love finding things on the clearance rack & at lightly used shops!!   I really love it when the two work together!  Like this jacket I got at Once Upon a Child (used clothes) and this dress I got on the clearance rack at gap! 

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I was also loving the prices at TCP!

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We had our own little fashion show when we got home!  (see the tag sticking out of that last one!)

It was fun to go shopping with her, have lunch, lunch conversation!  Like, “Mommy?  If I was candy, would you eat me?” 

We have been having many interesting conversation about babies lately too.  She spent some time with friends who are expecting a baby in December.  She informed me when she got home that “sometimes the baby kicks!”  And she wanted to know if she could have a baby in her tummy & if it could kick her?

Kiahna is trying to figure this all out in her own Kiahna way… sometimes it is quite interesting, uncomfortable, & embarrassing!  Trying to sort out adoption & birth & mommies.  She has been asking people with babies “did that baby come out of your tummy?”  and “who’s tummy did that baby come out of?”  my favorite is the one she said, “who grew him?”.

How’s that for a nice long Monday update!  Our week is full of more football & more photos, and of course the usual laundry, cleaning, cooking…

A reminder that in celebration of ONE YEAR of posting “Gonna Miss This… Moments”, I am giving away a prize if you play along this time!  You have all week to get a post written and link it up with mine!   So go write YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment!!

Pam

Friday, September 25, 2009

YOUR Gonna Miss This… ONE YEAR!!!! WITH GIVEAWAY!

YGMT...moment 2 It’s here!!  WEEK 52!! ONE YEAR of being intentional, and finding something from the week, season, year to focus on. 

Have you joined in yet?  This is the week to do it!  This week ONE participant will win a gift certificate for $20! 

The certificate will be for pretty much anywhere you want it to be for!  So, basically it is $20 bucks!!

WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN!?! 

PLAY ALONG!!

It’s that simple.  Winners will be entered ONE time, for the link they leave in the MckLinky   It must be a link to your blog & THIS WEEK’s YOUR Gonna Miss This Post.  You must mention my blog in your post.  I will leave the contest open for one week, and post the winner with next weeks’ post!

You can use the code on my sidebar to enter this little picture on your post if you want…

Now for my 100th post…

Posts can be about simple things… they can be about licking off the cake batter… or they can be about making touchdowns… this week… mine is about making touchdowns!

FOOTBALL!!!

We are attending 2 or 3 games a week these days, people… and loving every moment of it!!!  Ok, maybe not the heat so much… or the coming coldness… or the injuries… or the scare of injuries… or the blurry pictures… but you get it.  We are living it!  We are loving it!

Last night’s newspaper said that James “has 10 catches for 228 yards and three scores”  (making him our lead receiver)

He has scored in the last three games!!  And I have been there to take pictures!!

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I have learned something about photography… it’s quite deep and insightful… ready??  Pictures taken on bleachers where 100’s of people are jumping up and down, come out blurry.  Yup.  You heard it here.  Deep, I tell ya, deep.

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I’ve asked James if he wouldn’t give me some sort of signal when he is about to make a catch so I can sprint down to the sidelines and get a good clear photo… you know, so I can also still sit in the stands most of the game an socialize.  

He rolled his eyes at me.

Humph.

Tonight is a BIG game!  It is against our closest school!  Big rivals among friends and family!!  (for sure since our coach’s father is one of the assistant coaches for the other team!!) 

It hope it will be a fun, good, SAFE, game!  Good sportsmanship, and Good attitudes (fans included!!!) :) 

I hope that James scores again!  I hope that no one gets hurt on either team… the beginning of the article in the newspaper quoted the other team’s coach as saying, “I don’t remember two teams being as beat up as AC & SA are right now”.

Be safe out there tonight boys, have fun. Play hard. & BE CAREFUL!! 

Oh and…

B-E-A-T BEAT THE STARS! 

BEAT THE STARS!

FIGHT!!

:)

Ahem… sorry.. had to say it!!

Pam

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Don’t forget there is a prize this week for playing along!!  But, I believe the biggest prize is yours when you make it a habit to find something to treasure out of every week!!

“Don't cry because its over, Smile because it happened!”
Dr. Seuss

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Wondering when...

I am wondering when things are going to come together for me to have a computer in my home again... the way things look right now I may be getting the new & the old back around the same time... the end of the week...
Meanwhile, I have been tempted to throw in the towel and give up on the whole idea of doing photography as a way of supporting my family...

Feeling like I am in over my head.

Not understanding why there are so many glitches!

Saturday I was totally losing it.

I went to pick up my external hard drive...

My recovered photo files had been downloaded onto it.

I took it to this computer (my parents) and plugged it in.
So excited to see my pictures again! So excited to share some on my photo blog and here.

And disappointment.

Some of them are there.

Most of them aren't.

No one was available to help me understand why this was happening.

I was crushed.

I had paid to have them recovered. Paid more than I wanted to pay. & now this.

Plus, I realized that I had saved many of the photos I had edited too small.

Much work awaits me when I do get a photo editing system & computer going again.

What am I thinking?

Can I do this?

Is this crazy?

I had another photo shoot scheduled for Saturday evening. Feeling about as confident as a pea, I went ahead with it.

Got to the location.

Was blown away by the beauty.

Was blown away by God.

Was blown away by His favor on me.

It has been a rough start... but He is providing the way.

Teaching me.

Letting me learn.

And leading.

This is HIS idea... of that I am sure.

I am incapable on my own... of that I am VERY sure.

He will have HIS way in where this all goes. That is a fact.

Pam

(yes, all of these were taken at that location... I'll have lots more when I get my computer up & photos edited!!)