Re: Today's Blessing

I was blessed with another winged visitor to my yard today. A Northern Flicker. He wasn't there long...just long enough to drink from out pond fountain and then he was gone.

I just happened to be sitting by the window that is next to our pond and I saw him arrive. I am wondering if he's the same one I saw eating berries, hanging from our vines yesterday. It was too dark and too late when I saw him then, he was gone in a flash...just like today.

I haven't been feeling too well lately, so I suppose God's been bringing me the birds to photograph. I just haven't been feeling up to going into the field and also we've been busy with Christmas events. Thank you, Lord, for another close encounter. What a blessing it has been to have these little winged creatures visit me.

"The 12 Days of Christmas"

Straight No Chaser is an awesome acappella group of 10 guys and they are fabulous! I heard their rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" on TV and had to google them.

Their album is now on my Christmas list...is it too late? Anyway, here's the link to their homepage. All three songs on there are great, but I especially love their 12 Days. They arranged it themselves.

Their Africa song sure takes me back, too. What a blend and fresh sound they have. I could listen to them all day long! I bet you'll like them, too.

"Cake"

This is the funniest comedy bit about cake I've ever seen. I laughed so hard I was crying and my stomach hurt. I haven't laughed that hard in SO LONG! I know some of you need a good laugh, so watch this. *Warning: If you think cra_ is a bad word, he uses it twice. Other than that, it's totallly clean. Also, don't read the comments on the Youtube site as they are not screened for bad language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Im9Le9Vy2o

"Deck the Halls?"

Today our house is adorned with outdoor Christmas lights for the first time since 2000. My mother in law and my father both died in 2001 and my husband has not wanted to do the lights on the house since then. I can't say I blame him. Working myself into the Christmas spirit has been difficult for me as well since our loved ones have passed, but I just love the lights. Well, today our oldest daughter decided to put up the outdoor lights herself. She asked her dad to help her and he agreed. I'm so happy that he finally has done this again. It may seem like a small thing, but I think it represents something much larger. It may be that he's letting go of something or moving on from something. Or, I could be wrong and it may be as simple as continuing to be the great dad that he is by helping his daughter accomplish something she wanted to do.

I took photos of them as they put up the lights. It did my heart good to see them up on the two- story roof, working together to accomplish a goal. My husband is never more sexy or manly to me, than when he's engaging our children and doing things with and for them. Good job today, honey! I'm proud of you!

We also put on the Christmas music, drank homemade egg nog and put up our Christmas tree. There aren't any ornaments on it, yet, just lights and garland, but it already looks so pretty.
That's part of what's special about Christmas. The times that we stop doing the normal mundane things and take time out to decorate the house in a different way, make or bake something you don't eat or drink year-round, or buy something you wouldn't usually buy.

Tomorrow we will go to an annual event. It's the Family Christmas Concert that we go to every year. Come rain, snow, sleet or hail we always attend this concert at our university. It always marks the beginning of the Christmas season for us as we normally don't have any Christmas decorations up at this point in December. It is just a fun evening. Mom sings in the choir and when the concert is over we traditionally go to IHOP for a bite to eat and to talk about the concert. It's not the same as when dad was here, but then...nothing is. We still have a nice time.

Boise, Idaho-Architectural Landmark

Paul took me shooting this morning. It was supposed to rain a lot today, but weather is often great for photography when bad for most other things. Anyway, I shot this porch in downtown Boise. It's circa 1896. The house is a Boise Architectural Landmark. There's still a hitching post and step out front. Maybe I'll post a couple more photos of it. I will be adding them to my website, though.

"Boise Feis by the River"

"Sarah & Amy, ready to compete at the 2008 Boise Feis by the River"

This past weekend, our girls competed in a feis, also known as an Irish Dance Competition, and pronounced like "fesh". Feisanna are always an exciting, but exhausting time. Dancers come from all over to compete.

Amy has been recovering from a foot injury while trying to keep up her stamina by carefully bouncing on our trampoline for an aerobic period of time each day and also stretching to stay nice and limber. So, after several weeks of this, but not really dancing much at all, it came time for the feis. This is an all day event and we thought she'd have time in between each of her dances to elevate, massage and ice her foot. Well, it didn't really go as planned and after six dances in a row, she was in tears and wasn't sure she could even do a skip because of the pain. Her last dance was her trophy dance and it was a soft shoe dance. It's harder on her foot to dance in her soft shoes. (aka: gillies) I told her not to worry about it, if it hurt too much, just bow to the judge and move back in line. Well, she made it through the dance and received a fifth place trophy.

This award was in memory of Stephany Wood Perfect, an Irish Dancer that was killed in a car accident not too long ago. Quite special. Below is her receiving the award with the other competitors and who I believe is Stephany's mother. (long story, but I didn't hear the announcement. Got the picture, though!)

This was Sarah's first time competing in a feis, so she was a little nervous. Not as nervous as her mother, however. LOL I always tend to be nervous enough for both of them. Below is a picture of her, ready to begin her first dance. She looked up and saw me and smiled. Good girl!

Both of the girls danced beautifully, and more importantly had fun and did their best! We are so proud of them both. It is always nice to bring home medals, and they did, but it's more important to have a fun experience and know that there's only so much you can control. Our girls weren't wearing the flashy dresses that can cause dancers to get the judge's attention, and feel more like a "winner" or a "better dancer". We told them they need to be stronger mentally and to dance with even better technique to get the judges attention. They will have those dresses as they progress through the higher levels, but for this feis, they had their mental solo dresses on. I believe they grew a little more in character from this experience and that's always a great thing. Their friends were very encouraging and supportive and I hope we were as supportive to them. We had a great time and we're so very proud of our young ladies!

*Click on photos to see larger*

"A Year of Courting"

8/14/08

"A Year of Courting"

It was one year ago today, that Paul and I took Amy and David to Moxie Java to discuss them getting together as a courting couple. This year has gone by so fast. It has been a pleasure to get to know David and to see how he and Amy weather good and bad times together. They've encountered a wide variety of everyday life experiences in the past year and they have had time to see each other at their best and even at their worst. They have done a good job of encouraging each other and bearing one another's burdens. They have sought advice from us and others as they've faced concerns and problems.

Overall, we are impressed with David. He's had some adult decisions to make this year and has done so in spite of not being thrilled about some of them. He has done the right things for his future and in light of what God's been telling him even though it wasn't easy. He's dealt with life decisions like whether or not to go to college and a possible change in direction as far as career. We've seen him work hard and play hard. He's been very respectful of Amy, as well as the rest of our family. He's learning to joke as we do and as a result, we now must learn to recognize it so we don't think he's being disrespectful. He's always kind to our younger daughter, too, even in her bad moments, and that says a lot about his character.

We've seen how happy he makes Amy and that is a good feeling, as a parent. Amy has really come a long way in the past year and continues to mature. She's had quite a turn around in the past year and a half or two, from wanting to be a career woman as a movie director, to wanting to be a wife and homeschooling mother. We've watched as she has struggled to yield her will to match God's. She knew He was changing her mind set about several things, but didn't like it at first, but I've been impressed with the fact that she does have a heart for God and wants to please Him with her life.

We've had several opportunities to spend time with and get to know David's family as well, and that has been a lot of fun, too. Amy now goes to David's house once a week to spend more time getting to know his family. This is a very important part of a courting relationship; spending enough time with the other's family that you see them at their best and worst. A decision must be made by both the male and female as to whether or not the other's family is one to which they want to become a part.

We are all learning together and that's part of the fun. I've had several people inquire about courting and request the Courting Principles that we came up with. This is new territory for us as parents and there have been times that we haven't had an answer to a question regarding courting. We've had to assess opportunities or situations and make decisions on a case by case basis, since we've never done this before. I am sure, as humans, we have made some mistakes during this last year, but we have tried to make decisions based on what we believed was right after careful prayer and discussion.

I don't know what the future holds, but it seems that David and Amy are very well suited for each other. I do know they both have some more maturing to do before getting to the point where they are ready to be engaged or married, but they are doing it right and following God's will. For that reason, I know that it will all work out for the good.

"Trip to SoCal-Day 7"

Today was laundry day. We pretty much stayed home and did laundry and watched DVD's. The girls also planned what they'll be filming with a friend next week and also played cards and on the computer. I took a nap since I've been having trouble breathing and it's quite tiresome. I had to use my nebulizer twice today, but I'm doing better now. I also was stuffed up and had a headache so it was a great day to do nothing but laundry.

Another day I didn't take any photos. Tomorrow we will be going to Balboa Park, so I should have more photos to post.

Trip to SoCal-Day 6

Well, today I got up early again to see Sarah off. She's been walking with my sister, Laura, at 6:15 in the morning. Ugh! Not my cup of tea, being a night owl. We went to Frasier Farms after lunch and boy are the produce prices awesome here! We got cantelope for 88cents. The whole cantelope, not per pound! We also got grapes, white peaches, plums, and nectarines. We also got cashews really cheap. Some of the fruit will take a few days to ripen, but some of it is ready now. YUM!!!

After the store, we went to my sister's house to swim. The girls went right out to the pool and I ended up not ever going in. It was the first time my sister and I had some time to ourselves to just chat and catch up on everything. If you get the chance, you should go to her website and see the beautiful silk scarves she hand paints and sells. HERE'S THE LINK Her website is not very old, so be sure to check back and see what's new. She's always painting and adding new ones as she sells others.

We had a nice afternoon/evening with Laura and then headed home and watched a DVD and then went off to bed. I realized that I never took any photos today. Bummer.

"Trip to SoCal-Day 5"

Today we got to visit with my good friend from high school, her two children and also her mother. We had a great visit and then went to Taco Bell for lunch and came back and visited some more. I was sad when they left as she and her family are moving to Texas in two weeks. Who knows when I'll see them again. We took a few pictures before they left. I shall post one here...

"Trip to SoCal-Day 4"

We got up at 5:15am today to take Paul to the train station where the commuter train will take him to where he is attending school this week and next. We will pick him up again on Friday afternoon. It will be lonely here without him. Just us girls.

We came home and went back to bed and when we got up, it was too late for church. In the afternoon we went to the Christian Bookstore and then to the beach. We did a little "souvenier" shopping and then headed down to the beach. It was a beautiful afternoon/evening. The girls made a picture for their dad. I'll post it here...

It was really sad cause I was sitting there on the beach and some seagulls came and landed nearby. I noticed that this guy was limping. Then, I could see a fish hook was through his leg. Poor little guy. I wanted to go help him, but I knew he'd just fly away and I know nothing of helping birds like that.

We went to Taco Bell for dinner after the sunset. Hey, it's cheap and we like it...what can I say? Even though I grew up here, it is weird driving around because so much has changed that I find myself not recognizing familiar places. It's so strange.

"Trip to SoCal-Day 3"

We slept in today and then went to my sister's house to swim. We had the pool to ourselves. It felt good to swim. We then went to an old favorite ice cream place called, "Pepper Tree Frosty." (see photo above) They have yummy chocolate dipped cones. Problem is you have to eat them fast! Prices have gone up from what we remember.

We came back to my FIL's place and ate lunch and are now waiting for my sis to come over and take in a move with us. We are thinking of going to the beach this evening. I want to pick up a new small Bible with large print at a Christian Bookstore in Carlsbad.

We're enjoying our time here so far!

Trip to SoCal-Day 2

Our family arrived in Southern California this afternoon. $5.19 a gallon was the most expensive gas we saw on our drive here. The drive was uneventful for which we are grateful. We could hardly see Mt. Whitney (left) due to the smoke in the air obscuring the view of it, though. The Eastern Sierra's are so majestic. I will try to post a photo if I got a decent one while driving. (the wind shield is cracked in front of my side of the car)

We went and stopped in at my sister's house when we first arrived. It was good to see her again. Then, we went and grabbed some late lunch at Taco Bell and she went home from there to finish her work day. We are now resting at my father-in-law's house enjoying the ocean breeze, which we have missed since moving from here almost 13 years ago.

My husband is actually here on business, he is attending management school for the next two weeks, but we will be able to see him on the weekends since we are here. Last summer when he went, we stayed home and it was not fun. Our extended family is here in SoCal, too, so we will get to see them. My husband's side is out of town though, so we will only see mine this time. We will also get to visit some dear friends we haven't seen in quite some time.

Time to watch the Count of Monte Cristo with the family. More tomorrow...

Amy takes time out to call David. Kids these days have it so good!

"Trip to SoCal-Day 1"

We left our home in Idaho at 6:30am this morning and arrived in Bishop, Ca. at 6:30pm (Idaho time) so we were on the road for a full 12 hours today. Most of Nevada had bad visibility due to the smoke from the fires. There's a layer of ash on the pool at the hotel where we are and the air quality is bad with the air blowing and the ash in the air falling all around. The temp is 106 degrees. Ugh!

I think I'm too tired to swim anyway, so I'm going to take a cold shower to cool off and then rest. It feels so good to just lie down or even just sit on the soft bed after being in the car all day. Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We only have about 5 hours left to drive tomorrow before reaching our destination. Yeah!

It's just not a road trip until you have to stop and wait for road work!

Here you can see how hazy it was from the smoke. At times we couldn't even see the mountains.

"Happy Father's Day!"

Here's a couple of photos of Paul and the girls I snapped today. They only give me five or ten minutes and they are done with pictures so it's amazing I got any good ones. Amy kept blinking right when I pressed the shutter.

We had lasagna for lunch and then Paul and Sarah and Steven (a friend from church) went four-wheeling. Amy and I stayed home and vegged.

Paul's a wonderful dad and awesome husband! He even took a day off work last week to attend the homeschool conference with me! Here's one I took of the three of them on the trampoline. They've had fun bouncing around on here on more than one occasion. Paul loves his girls and they love him! Pretty cool, eh?

Click on a photo to see it larger!

"They're Gone!"

Well, our girls went off to youth camp this morning. This is Amy's last year at youth camp. I think I will be quite lonely this week until they return on Saturday aftenoon. It's a good thing I have a long to-do-list to keep me busy! haha

I pray they will be open to whatever God wants to teach them this week and I pray for their safety and that they will have a blast.

"I voted!"

Today I took part in the election process. Yep, I VOTED!

It was funny cause I decided to just run down there with no make up or anything thinking I'd just pop in, vote and go home. Well...6 of my friends from church were running the poll, wouldn't you know it. Oh well, they love me anyway.

"On Freedom and Liberty"

With the election drawing near, I have a couple of quotes I'd like to post here.  They pretty much speak for themselves, so I will just say this...We were warned!

"As government advances, freedom gives way."  -Thomas Jefferson

"Liberty has never come from government.  The history of liberty is the history of limitation of government power, not the increase of it."  -Woodrow Wilson

"Praise You in the Storm"

Some of my friends and family are going through some extremely tough times right now, including myself. This song really encouraged my heart. I hope it does yours, as well...

"Old Family Photo?"

On Mother's Day we fooled around with making our three generational photo to look like an old fashioned photo from days gone by, so we all put on our serious faces. It took several takes to do it without bursting into laughter. Too funny! Not sure how they did it back then...just generally unhappy folks? Who knows? We didn't have the old clothing to go with it.

I then added the aged effects to our previously color photograph and ended up with this...do you think it looks more like a line-up of a group of female bandits or something?

"The Voice of Truth"

This video is of a song that helps give me the strength to face another day:

When I feel trampled on and attacked.

When I'm overwhelmed and feeling so helpless.

When everything seems to be going wrong and I feel like a failure in all that I do.

When I know there's nothing I can do to help someone that I love with something they are going through.

When Satan puts lies in my head.

When my tears become so numerous that I feel like I may drown in them.

May this song encourage you as it does me...

"Post-Its"

Paul left for California early (3am) Sunday morning. He's off to open fishing season with his brother in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Virginia Lakes, more specifically. It's something he does each year if he can and he always has a fantastic time.

In March he stayed behind and homeschooled the girls while I went on an Exotic Mexico Cruise with my mom and sister-in-law. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful man to share my life with. It's just not the same when he's away, but I know he needed and deserved this time away and I'm glad that he could get away and be with his brother. He really works so hard for our family.

Before he left, he placed "Post-It" notes all over the place saying things like, "Your honey loves you!" and "I'm thinking of you." and "Miss me yet?" The "post-it" tradition goes way back to when we first moved to Idaho and Paul had taken a job that required him to travel 2 weeks or so out of the month. From the very beginning, he would leave notes around when he left so I would have them to find while he was away. I guess it was his way of reminding me that he loved me and was thinking about me as I went about my daily tasks as a stay-at-home mom.

That makes me think of God and how He gave us His Word to remind us of His love for us. A whole book of "Post-Its" that reads, "I love you." "I sent my only Son to die for you." "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "Do not fear, for I am with you." etc...

God left more than a book of His love, after He rose from the dead, and before Jesus ascended into heaven, He left us His Holy Spirit to be our daily help and reminder that He is still with us. We can draw upon His strength as we need it each day.

As I look outside I see more reminders of God's love...every buzzing bee, every colorful and blooming flower, every bird that feeds happily from our feeder this spring, every green blade of grass, every puffy cloud, every dazzling sunset. All of His creation is a daily reminder of His wonderful and eternal love for us. Thank you, Lord, for your "Post-its."

Click here for Virginia Lakes info.

"Masshu, by David"

This drawing was made by a most talented young man named David. He's courting our Amy. I never cease to be amazed by his artwork. I've always dreampt of being an artist and being able to put what I see in my mind's eye onto paper. Just doesn't happen for me.

Guess that's where my love of capturing God's ready-made art with my camera came from. God's art is far better than anything I could come up with from a pencil and my own hand. Some people have it...like David, and some people don't...like me. Oh well. Guess I'll keep appreciating the work of those who have it.

"Congratulations on another beautiful piece of art, David, and I hope you win the contest!"

Check out more of David's artwork at http://mediaghost.deviantart.com/


Masshu by ~MediaGhost on deviantART

"Serenity"

This is the 2nd video of my images on Youtube. My daughter and amateur film-maker, Amy, made it for me and I love it!

See more from AKB Productions at: http://www.youtube.com/user/AKBProductions

"New Tricks"

Okay, so I'm learning html and css code and how to design and customize things on the web. Those of you who know me are probably wondering how in the world I can do this. Well, I have NO idea! I'm as surprised as you are! I'm teaching myself, so maybe I'm a good teacher. More likely, I have resources and am using them: God, the web itself, books, friends, colleagues, etc...

Was I looking to learn this stuff? NO! It kind of just developed out of the desire to change things on my own website and blog. It started with a couple of things and has really snowballed, but I'm having fun doing it. I've found some tricks that I'm using to help my eyesight and strain, allowing me to be at the computer more than I have in the past year or so. Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking at the inevitable cornea transplants or blindness. But, I have improved my quality of life in the meantime. My daily activities aren't as impeded as they were before, and that is a major Praise the Lord, in my book!

Click on "My Links" at left, or this post title, to go to my newest blog (the photography blog) and see some of my customization. Who says, "You can't teach..." nevermind!

"Grocery Store Gripes"

After being sick for almost a week, we were in need of some things so I headed out to our nearest Walmart, yesterday afternoon. You know, the "low price leader." Even though I was still kind of weak, it felt refreshing to get out of the house and walk around a bit.

I noticed very quickly that the price of groceries seems to be exceeding my grocery budget, by far. Was I only sick one week? Every time I go to the store, the cost of things has increased. On the upside, we are not poor. Very few people in America even have a clue what it means to be poor. Even the poorest people in our great country are rich compared to the real poor of this world; the ones who truly know what poverty is. In America, you can go to almost any church for help, not to mention all of the soup kitchens and government aid. Many of those who have "government aid" drive a better car than I do. (which also comes out of our hard-earned family budget, thank you very much!)

By the time I reached the register, I was about to fall down with fatigue and I had a splitting headache. Evidently, we needed more things than I thought. I think I must've waited in line 15 minutes, and there was only one couple ahead of me. But, of course, the lady at the register didn't know I needed to get home, so she proceeded to oooh and ahhh over their baby and talk to them like they had all day and no one else was in line. No, just me...the one about to pass out! I thought, "Well, she doesn't know how I am feeling and normally I'd be ooohing and ahhhing over their baby, too, so I'll just rest my head on this germ-laden cart and try to keep myself vertical." I almost left my cart full of groceries and went home.

While my items were being scanned, I noticed a sign that read..."Paper or Plastic? I'll take neither." "Walmart is going green." The sign then showed how you could purchase, that's right purchase, re-usable grocery bags to help the environment. Like I'm actually going to pay for, store and remember to bring back re-usable bags. You've GOT to be kidding me! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking care of the earth that God has given us dominion over, but lets not be ridiculous! Gas is approaching a million dollars a gallon and they want another .99 per bag to come out of MY pocket! It's bad enough that many items I purchased in the recent past have now doubled in price at this same grocery store. Okay, Walmart...you can go green all you want, but I'm not doing it until I legally have to; which I'm sure is on the horizon, if the liberal media and democrats get their way. God forbid. But, I digress...

I'd like to mention one other thing that really chaps my hide about grocery stores. It's when they use the shipping boxes to conceal the price tags of the more expensive items. Take the toilet paper isle, for instance. All the tags were showing for the four packs, but then you get into the 12, 18 and 24 and all of a sudden, it was pretty hit and miss. Mostly miss. Where were the tags? "Oh wait...I see one, it's under this big Costco size box that contain the packages of TP." Unless you were Gumby or about 1 foot tall, you couldn't see the prices on the bottom because the boxes were hanging over too far to be able to see them." Also, the other prices that you could see were not for the items above them on the shelf or, in some cases, any item on the shelf. So, in my feeble state, I leaned way over and used my arm and shoulder to lift the different boxes and finally make my choice. No wonder I was exhausted by the time I got to the register. Grocery shopping is hard work! Upon mentioning this problem to the lady at the register, she was upfront with me about the fact that they do this on purpose. As if I'm going to practically lie down on the floor to see the price labels...hey, wait...maybe I missed my chance to grab a little cat nap. Darn, if only I could go back and do it again. Oh, THAT'S RIGHT, I will be able to do it again; and sooner, thanks to the fact that I get a lot less for my money these days and will be back at the grocery store before you can say "pay day."

Enough is Enough

Disclaimer: This blog was written under the influence of illness and the statements herein may not be held against the author.

This may have to be filed under complaining, but I'm tired of being sick and sick of being sick and tired. Wow, now that I said it, I feel like a baby. Poor thing, I have a bug for a week and I'm fussing about it. I suppose that my currently feeling yucky isn't helping my mental state, but can't I keep feeling better instead of feeling worse again as evening approaches? I felt better earlier...

Besides being totally exhausted, I have this major headache and congestion. Have you seen that commercial where the people's heads swell up with their congestion like they're going to pop? That's how I feel. It keeps me from reading and doing things that aren't boring while I'm sick. Even checking my email is painful to my head. (not to mention my eyes) And, to respond when my head is in a fog is difficult, if not dangerous. (Please see disclaimer at top of this post.) Same with trying to process photos. My head just throbs and I can't think clearly.

At least Nascar is on, that's something good. It will be even better if Jeff Gordon wins. Oooooh, he got second place just now. At least he's top 5! I like Jimmy Johnson, Kasey Kahne and David Gilliland, too, but they didn't do as well today. Bummer! Jimmy got top 5, too. Yeah!

We've had dinners from pizza delivery to fast food from town to fried chicken from the local market and I'm ready to be well and cook again. Our oldest daughter has made dinner on a couple of occasions. That was cool. Part of the problem with this "bug" is that half the time we aren't hungry and then when we are, it's like we're starving and of course we got sick right before a payday and so there wasn't much in the house that's easy/fast preparation.

Oh well, we're on the mend and that's something to look forward to. Feeling better. Ah! Soon...

Sick Day

Three out of four of us are sick today. Some kind of cold/sore throat thing. Not fun! When my hubby's sick, he just sleeps pretty much straight through until he's well again. Our oldest daughter is the same way. Our youngest and myself; however, are the opposite. We can't find any way to get comfortable and can't sleep until we're better. I think we are sick longer due to the lack of sleep. I am trying to lessen the time and severety of this illness by taking airborne. It has worked for me many times. Sometimes, I actually can tell my body is fighting it rather than giving in. I'm afraid, however, that this is not one of those times.

Blog Switch

I've had this blog for over a year and am just now beginning to use it. I had it re-directing to my website, but I want to keep my personal blog separate from my business photo blog.

I am not great at regularly blogging, but I am going to make an attempt. There will be no apologies if I fail miserably. I have people and things in my life that are much more important than this blog, although I'm hoping that blogging about those things will find a place in my day or at least, my week.

I will also try to pull some of my old blogs from my other one to include here. In the meantime, you can go to http://members.christiansunite.com/blogging.cgi. That's another blog that I have that is a pain to use, and a time-hog to boot. This one is much better and I hope its ease of use will motivate me to use it more often. Scroll down and click by Subscribe to, to be notified of updates to this blog.

Here's to another attempt at blogging...

AKB Productions Presents...PC Snow White

AKB Productions Presents...

"The Snow Persun of a Non-racially Excluding Color." (aka Snow White)

This is the cast photo from AKB Productions' latest film. It's so much fun to see the actors and actresses coming along and growing in their acting. Our daughter is also doing a fantastic job with the script writing/adapting, casting, costuming, directing, filming and editing. This was especially fun because we got it all filmed in a day and it's already on youtube. You can see the latest film plus many other short films and things that my girls have created by clicking on the word Link, below.

Link

Today is a wonderful day!

I woke up with my eyes watering and foggy and hurting with the glare from the light outside and even inside due to my corneal disease. I even had to wear my sunglasses during our church service. It would have been easy to have a "poor me" attitude today, and I think I did at first.
But then, a dear sister in Christ asked me about my eyes at church and she seemed to really have empathy for me, almost pity. I started to agree with her in my mind, but then a different thought came into my mind that could have only come from God. I told her, "I thank God for every day that I wake up and I can still see. Today is a good day."
It's easy to think of things that we are going through and get discouraged. It's easy to dwell on ourselves. Jesus never said life would be easy if we accept Him, only that He would be with us each step of the way and give us strength to endure whatever we encounter on this earth.
I heard a baby cry in church today and thought of a friend sitting down the row, that recently miscarried her precious twin babies and how her heart must ache to hear that baby's cry. I think of family members that have cancer and a life of Dr. appointments and chemo treatments and all that associated with that, not to mention an uncertain future.
So many others I haven't time or space to mention have difficult, seemingly impossible circumstances in their lives, yet...with the Lord, they endure and even have joy in the midst of struggle and pain.
In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can find spiritual healing. In His death and resurrection, we can find Eternal Life. In living each day with Him we can find victory and peace, no matter what we're going through. Personally, I can't imagine living one day without the strength and presence of the Lord in my life.
Today is a wonderful day because today we celebrate the risen Savior and an empty tomb! Blessings and Happy Easter, everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time --

a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic.

Adrienne Cook

The days surrounding St. Patrick's Day are quite busy for Irish Dancers. We are in a new school and enjoying their professionalism and how they motivate the girls to do their best and challenge them to do more than they think they are able. They are very together and organized and it's a pleasure to be a part of their school. We were pleased, upon arriving, to find that many of our old friends from our very first dance school are now attending this school. The kids were all very excited to see each other and I was relieved that I knew so many people, as well. This is a good change for us. Well, on to our St. Patrick's Day performances...

"Age is honorable and youth is noble."

We began our St. Patrick's Day activities by just our two girls performing for a nearby nursing home, in their alzheimer's unit. The ladies and gentlemen loved the St. Patrick's Day hats, headbands and other gifts we brought them. The girls danced and it is such a joy and blessing to bring smiles to these dear folks' faces.

We spent two full days performing with the dance school itself. We performed for several retirement homes and elementary school in our area. What a great time we had with our friends, bringing smiles to the faces of so many with our Irish tunes and step dance.

Being Irish ourselves, this is an extra special time of year for us and it was fun to be back in traditional Irish Dance outfits and hairdo (via wigs)!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I Will Lift Up My Eyes

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

Sometimes I don’t understand the ways of the Lord. In fact, most times I don’t. I just keep having faith and trusting that He knows what’s best for me. He can help me through anything that happens in my life. That includes my eyesight. As a photographer, I rely quite heavily on my eyesight. The thought of going blind is indeed daunting. Let me explain…

I have a degenerative corneal disease called Fuchs’ (pronounced like fukes) Corneal Dystrophy. (Go to http://www.fuchsdystrophy.org/ for more info.) My eyesight will slowly (in most cases, but sometimes not so slowly) deteriorate until I go blind. The only cure is to wait until I can have a corneal transplant. I can’t help but wonder in what ways and how much that will affect my taking and processing of images, in the meantime, and how soon it’ll be until I can no longer effectively capture or see the art of God in His creation.

In the past several weeks I have noticed that my symptoms seem to be getting worse and that is quite scary. Things appear hazy in the morning, like smoke has begun to fill the house. I am extremely sensitive to light. In the sun, my eyes hurt and water quite a bit…making it hard to do my landscape and outdoor photography. I have trouble with night driving due to problems with glare. Sometimes I have trouble seeing people and things that are backlit.

In the time since I was diagnosed, I’ve felt an urgency to take all the photos I can before I can’t do it anymore. (At least for a while, I can have the transplant and recover from it:6 mos-1 1/2 yrs.) So, I have been doing that. The problem is that my symptoms keep me from doing the processing part of it to the degree that I need to. My eyesight is worse in the morning, so I know that I need to wait until it clears up a bit to do certain things. I have recently joined a support group for Fuchs’. Although I have a loving and supportive family and circle of friends, no one can really understand what I’m seeing and feeling like those who have or have had Fuchs’.

Although this is life altering, I will praise the Lord that Fuchs’ is not life threatening as are so many diseases. I don’t know what my future holds or how fast my Fuchs’ will progress, but I do know who holds my future and although I cannot ignore my symptoms or deny the diagnosis, I will leave my eyes and my future in the hands of the one who created them…

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I thought this picture I took last night would be appropriate to post with this blog entry. I hope you enjoy it. I know I enjoyed taking it, even though it was quite windy and cold up on the plateau of the Snake River Canyon. I will treasure every day that my eyes are good enough to capture and process such an image.