Brittany to the rescue!!! Christmas Card Meltdown No More!!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Brittany over at BGW Photography! After reading my last post, she called me and told me to not stress, she could take a couple of shots for us. We had so much fun with Britt and her husband Jared. We have been friends with them for several years, and it is so fun to see them work as a team (Jared is Brittany’s assistant). They are so funny, and really talented too . So w/o further ado, here are the pictures from our Christmas Card Session. Take a look and then go on over to BGW Photography and check them out!

Christmas Card Meltdown

…I am about to have one! AAAAHHHH!!!! FRUSTRATION!

Ok, let me take you down the road that led me to this place. A couple of months ago I had it in my mind that Tim and I would have a photo session with our friend, Brittany, who has just jumped head first into the world of photography. She is good at what she does, and it is very affordable ($50 for a session is freaking awesome). I talked to her about it and thought I would love to have the session when it was snowing. Turns out that her oh so affordable price is not so affordable on our budget right now (and it is snowing a lot today!). Dang it.

No worries, we can just get a picture taken at Cade’s Cove in Gatlinburg when we go for our family reunion. When we get to the cabin for the weekend, it was total chaos. There were 22 people supposed to stay in a 4 bedroom cabin. Have I mentioned that Tim suffers from severe claustrophobia? So we get there, things get worked out, and we have a great time. Tim stayed up with all of the guys in my family playing poker until 3am. (And let me just point out to you that I was trying to sleep on a pull-out couch right by them the whole time…note the word trying). Anyway, Tim has known about my plans for a picture at Cade’s Cove for some time now. Saturday morning comes, bringing with it the time for Cade’s Cove, and my wonderful husband (I am not being sarcastic here, I really do believe he is wonderful, we just do not share the same thought process) has plans of his own. He says that he wants to stay at the cabin while everyone else is gone so he can get some homework done. Well, I don’t have to tell you that this began a fight. In the end he came to Cade’s Cove. Only to have it rain the whole time. Ugh! I even packed nice clothes for us to wear because I knew that we would be taking pictures for our Christmas Cards.

Ok, so what am I gonna do now? The next morning as we were literally walking out the door to leave from the weekend, my mom says that she has found a great angle on the porch and wants to take mine and Tim’s picture. I say ok, Tim is not so willing, but gives in anyway. And the picture turned out great! Even though I have no makeup on and am wearing Tim’s old ratty orange t-shirt that he wore two days ago b/c I for some reason over packed for him, but didn’t pack really any clothes for me. I was so surprised. And excited! We finally have a picture! YAY!

My mom emails me the picture, and it still looks great! So then I start the long process of looking at the photo Holiday cards on Kodak.com and Walgreens.com. Last year we had a red card, so I don’t want to do that again this year (even though I am really drawn to all of the red ones); and there is a lot of red in the picture. So I find a card that I like, go to upload the picture, and it tells me that the quality is not good enough and it will print out blurry. ARE YOU SERIOUS???!!!

Then I decide that if photo cards won’t work, maybe I will make my own cards. That will be fun. And I can get wallet sized photos (which was the only size that would be decent quality with that picture) and glue them on front. Lovely! I am excited again! Then I went to check the prices. Did you know that wallet sized photos are way more expensive than 5×7’s?! To get 40 pictures it would cost me around $50! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!

I am thinking now of not even doing Christmas cards this year. And to think when I started out, this was fun and I was so excited. Now it just seems like a huge hassle.

Just in case you are wondering about the picture. Gah, even on here it is blurry!

i am still here

for those of you who may be wondering (i know there are probably not a lot of you out there), i am still here. i am going through some transitions in my life and some busy times that are really making me exhausted. i have so much going on that i don’t even know what to think about. i will come back to you soon. just have to get things worked out. [it is nothing bad, just some things that need to change]

thanks for reading.

simply heartbreaking

I read this post today. It just breaks my heart to read the pain and suffering children go through all over the world. But there is hope for them. First and foremost, in Jesus Christ. And then through His people. I encourage you to do research in local and international programs where YOU can reach out and help save others’ lives.

My pastor preached over the election this past Sunday. Normally, I would not like that. But his sermon was not over Mccain & Obama. He did not once mention their name nor any of their policies.  His sermon could apply to most presidential elections. One of the things that he said really stuck with me. He said, I wonder what you would define as being rich. In my book, if you have more than enough food in your house for one day, you are rich. If you have even one pair of shoes for your feet, you are rich according to the world’s standards.

I am willing to bet that every single person who is reading this post would meet both of those. If you are a Christian, it is your duty, NOT option, to take care of the “widows and orphans”. To take care of those who are needy, unwanted, unloved, “throw aways”, etc. I encourage you to do research and find the outlet you feel the Lord is drawing you to, whether local or international, and invest in it. Invest in it through prayer, financially, and with your time/love. I assure you, it is worth it.