Cotton Fields in Autumn

Wow, is Autumn ever wonderful in North Carolina! This is my first Autumn here, and a few weeks back, I was delighted to discover cotton fields! To those who grew up here I am sure this is so normal, but I have never seen it before. So today, I got out of my car to touch it and document it! Actually, the fields are half way cultivated (is that the word you use for cotton?) by big tractors already, so by this time next week I might not have found any to photograph. And for those of you up north who have never had this wonderful experience, it is pretty cool. They bundle up all this cotton into big huge rectangular bales, even bigger than the big round hay bales! I wanted to get a photograph of those also to show you, but didn't want to risk the traffic on the 2 single laner....

SHiNE in Wilmington

My friend Annah - CEO of SHiNE Christian Magazine - called me last minute on Friday to see if we'd be interested in doing a shoot at Wrightsville Beach, NC and at the Wilmington Fair on Saturday. I am so glad we went because the location, the weather and of course the models were gorgeous!

It is so exciting to be a part of what God is doing through Annah's vision for the magazine. She has some major conference calls with people in the high end cosmetic industry this week - and I know that God is using this woman to further His Kingdom in a super cool way!

Baby Feet

I thought I would post of few of Patrick and Samantha's photos that I have been having fun with :) The quote on the first image is something that Samantha reads to Dorian. It is so beautiful.

Dorian Robert

A week and a half ago Samantha & Patrick invited me over to their home to photograph their gorgeous family! Dorian is their first child and is he ever a darling! These photographs do not lie, he really is that adorable and sweet...just working on them makes me want to drive over there and hold him (which I am going to do one day Samantha!). Mom and Dad did pretty amazing at just staying relaxed and being themselves. As a result there are some beautiful photos! Here are a few that I have been playing with - I am not done yet!

That Little Silver Box

Well. It finally happened. My hard drive crashed. Why? Why not. Maybe I should have been doing those dandy little diagnostics that my photography instructor taught us about. But don't you worry Dennis....my work is all backed up! Yes it is true. However the major time suck is going to be my website. Although it is backed up on my external HD, I am not quite sure how putting it back into the newly installed applications actually looks. The re-installing process is a gem ain't it?

I have heard of MacBook HD's doing this, and for the last 5 months I have just been waiting for it, hoping that I was still covered under my Apple Care, and lo and behold, I still have like 9 months left on it! I highly recommend purchasing those little treats for your computer. Seriously, who hasn't had computer problems? That is one add-on I won't go without.

So bear with me this next month as I re-work my site! Hopefully I have no major obstacles, but we shall see :) One bridge at a time....

For the book lovers out there!

Last night a few of us girls had our Wine and Cheese get together to talk about the book "The Shack" that I have posted a couple of times about. It was fun, and I think we all benefited from being able to discuss and process a few ideas...because the book is full of them and it is easy to just read it and move on without really considering the heart - and truth in our own lives - behind it.

All in all, we all really liked it. We thought it was a great depiction of the character and the nature of who God is. I don't want to give the whole book away, but I will say that we all thought it was pretty cool that way that God chose to reveal Himself to Mack (as this great black woman who is full of love and delights over all her children). It reminded us of Gen 1: 27 "So God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them..." God is outside of gender, He is both true masculinity and true femininity! So why do we always say "He", or why does He so often present Himself to us as a Father? Here is a quote to think about from the book "Well" responded Papa turning away from him and bustling around the kitchen, "there are many reasons for that, and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed - but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence."(emphasis mine pg 94).

The book is FULL of applicable truths for our lives! Someone commented that in an interview Young said this is a fiction, a metaphor of the love of God...however I think that it is a metaphor of truth. In the Acknowledgments : "[Wayne] and Brad bore the lion's share of work in the three major rewrites that brought this story to its final form, adding their insights into the ways in which God works and keeping the story true to Mack's pain and his healing." (emphasis mine).

If you read it, apply it to your own life, because it is a beautiful picture of what God wants to do for each of His children..."The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" John 10:10

Yesterday I picked up a new book from the library "Home: A memoir of my early years" by Julie Andrews. For this next month, we might try a new thing...if you are here and want to get together with us sometime late November, early December, read any biography you are interested in (it could also be this one if you'd like!), and we'll have another ladies night to share about the person we chose :) Contact me to let me know you are in!

Have a great weekend!

Pumpkins & Maple Leaf's

Taylor you would be proud! I baked a batch of homemade Ginger Snap Cookies from scratch....and in the form of that beautiful Maple Leaf in celebration of our Canadian Thanksgiving (yes, Canada does celebrate Thanksgiving....however in October). Although I am a couple of days after the fact, I took my sister's advice to make some kind of Thanksgiving-ish food even if I am in North Carolina (Don't worry, we are excited - no wait...ecstatic - to celebrate American Thanksgiving in a few weeks!).

My inspiration came from Elijah & Jackie's wedding-favours....Thanks Grandma Parker, these cookies are delicious!

Homemade Pumpkin Soup (from that little pumpkin you see in the photograph) and maybe some pumpkin pie will be my next 2 Autumn projects ;)

SHiNE Baby Shine

Alrighty, here are a few from the SHiNE Christian Magazine (in print 2009!) Cumberland County Fair shoot.

Amusez-vous!

Curly Girl Designs

So I was sitting in the Minneapolis airport after Elijah & Jackie's wedding, and if you have ever been to this airport you will know that, like all great airports, it has some GREAT little shops in it. I had my eye on one particularly cute looking shop, and sat on a bench outside of it enjoying my Caribou Chai & bagel while contemplating whether I should go inside or not (knowing of course that I was bound to find some cute gift that would be perfect for someone I knew and that I would just have to buy for them! Yep, it was one of those looking shops!)

Well I had some time to kill, and found the greatest line of cards! In fact there was another lady there buying a stack of them too, because they are just that cute!!!

REVEALED : Curly Girl Designs ( I have to say I love the name). Check them out, they are irresistable.

So I bought a few. Hence the post.

Elijah & Jackie : Part 2

I feel like I am a bit behind on sharing some great images, so this evening I took advantage of some quiet time I had and decided to work on a couple more .... my goal for this weekend is to have a few more of this incredible couple up here (they are probably still enjoying their Caribbean honeymoon!) as well as some from the Cumberland County Fair SHiNE fashion shoot that I did before I left for the wedding (sorry those are taking awhile SHiNE).

Enjoy these colourful wedding photos!

Pee Ess - I'm sending a word out to Ms Chantel : are you out there? Did you get the 8x10 i made for you? Never mind, I'll post it!

Elijah & Jackie

Last weekend I had the honor of photographing a beautiful wedding in Rochester, Minnesota. Not only was it a beautiful wedding, but the couple is just radiant. Elijah is a very talented photographer and person that I admire and respect. He has unlimited patience in helping others - including me when I am having technical difficulties with my computer, software, and camera....he is the first person I call! I was so thrilled to meet his beautiful bride, Jackie, as well as both of their families.

Elijah and Jackie you both radiate grace, love, talent, & mercy. God is going to use you two together in mighty ways to touch so many lives with His love! Thank you so much for trusting me with the photography of your big day. It was breathtaking.

The cherry-on-top was working with one of my close friends - Chantel - in capturing this special wedding! We had a great time didn't we?!

There are many more great shots to come...this is just the beginning!

A Nightmare. 4 Chapters In.

Well I got "The Shack" in the mail yesterday, and although I thought maybe I was "read out" from studying all day (yep, I am a college girl again), I could not put it down once I opened it. I think this is partly because I was so upset by what was going on, I never ever want to imagine going through what this family had to go through. Finally I had to turn off the lamp and go to sleep, but the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was reach over to my night table and pick it up again. There had to be a redeeming aspect, and I needed to reach it so that I felt some peace. I was not expecting what came! But at least I am at a point where I can put it down for a little while....but I can't wait for this evening to pick it up again and keep reading! I still haven't figured out if this book is really based on a true story - he makes it sound like it is in his Forward - but then again I am not sure since it is classified as a Fiction. Anybody know? Anybody reading it or have read it?

The Shack

Last night I finally did it. I ordered William P. Young's book "The Shack" from Amazon since I was already in book-ordering mode for my husband (he had me order him "Wisdom of Crowds" for work). I actually feel deep down inside that I am supposed to read this book. Do you ever get that about a book and then as you read that certain book it deposits something into your soul that in some way changes you for the ordinary? Well, I don't want to ignore the feeling because I don't want to miss out on something that God wants to teach me, or reveal to me about Himself and His love! To be honest, I ordered "The Shack" without even knowing what it was about! (That is rare for me). But it has come up subtly about 3 times. Just the mention of it in passing. The confirmation came today when my cousin - Ashlee - and I were about to get off the phone with eachother when she said "oh, I can't forget, I have a book I need to mail to you".... before she told me I knew which book it would be. I've already ordered it for myself so she can pass it on to some one else!

I am passing it on that I would like to have a little "book club" meeting sometime at the end of October for whoever is in this area and is interested in reading it too! I'll post more about it :) And hey, maybe once it actually arrives and I start reading it I will post a little here or there about it :)

Take care!