You Capture! - Serene

Serene

I gave this challenge some thought. I noted in my mind how serene could be found abundantly in nature. I wanted to further challenge myself though and think about what brings me true Serenity. This word means so much to me. I work to achieve serenity in my heart and in my family and in life in general. It dawned on me though, Serenity is not from anything manmade. It's a peace and understanding and a TRUST that I find only in one place. I find it in my Heavenly Father. When I unlocked that Truth; it made perfect sense to me to use the cross wall in my bedroom. That wall brings me so much peace and happniness and Serenity. Delightful coincidence: One of my crosses has the "Serenity Prayer" engraved in it. That cross was a gift from my mom. I chose to edit my picture in a way that highlights the word Serenity. Do you see it? Enjoy!

"Serenity Prayer"
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;


Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

30 to be

My 30th birthday is a mere 4 days away. I am not exactly counting down the days; I am however, reflecting. Reflecting on how blessed I feel to have the life I have. To have the opportunities I've had. To follow the dreams I have and to have the people in my life that matter so much. I am blessed to be the mother of two amazing children. Kids that make me laugh, and make me smile and make my heart melt. I am blessed to have a husband that for better or worse has given me another chance. I am blessed that I had a kidney inside of me that was a match for my spouse and better yet that December 3rd marks one year since the amazing God orchestrated day that I was able to give my husband his life back. I am blessed to have a mom that I can call my best friend and to have a dad whom I have finally come to appreciate and now I have the chance to see his grandfather side. Which I happen to think is a great side to him. I am blessed to have an awesome brother who always looks out for his little sister. And that he married someone that I get along with so well and between the 4 of us we have created a dynamic of friendship with our 6 kids that is sure to bond them all for life even though they attend different schools. I am most of all blessed that I have come to really appreciate what Jesus Christ has done for me and have my heart opened up to receive an outstanding relationship with God. One where He guides me and holds me and comforts me at all times, especially those times where things seem dark. I have learned so much in my 20's, I know it's just the beginning. I am so excited to see what my 30's bring and to reflect back on the next 10 years to reveal other amazing blessings that are to come in my life.

You capture!- Halloween

Halloween was splendid this year!
Hubby and I ready for a Halloween Party


My nephew Joey, I love the action in this shot!

The monarch butterflies, my niece Kate and my daughter Acilia
My hubby being one with the tree :)

My son Miles, the firefighter :)
Miles
Family Pic
Acilia, my daughter
The best for last, this is my favorite capture from Halloween 2010

The one....

The one it WON'T be.
So, after my little "disgruntled" post about Christmas cards, I decided to just dive in and get the picture taking out of the way. The kids totally didn't cooperate, but surprisingly I got GREAT pictures anyway!! I took the pics and went onto Vistaprint, and made not one, but TWO cards. It's a sickness I have :) I need to compare and contrast the finished product and then pick the best of the two. Unless of course you love them BOTH and then you have to ask your husband which HE would choose, and then, wouldn't you know you suddenly like the one he DIDN'T choose better than the one he did. Yup. I add way more stress to my life don't I ? Well, I decided to go with the one he chose, since I asked his opinion and it's my pet peeve when someone asks an opinion and then does the exact opposite. What choice did I have?

Here is the card I *DIDN'T* use and please note, those that DO get Christmas cards from me, pay no attention to the pictures, since then they will look familiar when you get your card ;)

The Christmas Card

I take great pride in outdoing my creativity each year for Christmas cards. I always create a "scene" for a picture, place my children in the scene and then add it to a card on Vistaprint and from there, I sign, seal and deliver them. (Orsomethinglikethat)
Previous years, I have enjoyed the outcome. I lied, I have ADORED the outcome. I can explain all day how they looked, but, I will just show you...

Christmas 2006, Acilia and our two dogs Remo and Franko (excuse the glare please!)

Christmas 2007, my 7 months preggo belly and our daughter kissing her brother
Christmas 2008 Miles and Acilia reading the Christmas books that *I* got each year for Christmas as a child.







so, here's my dilemma, how do I compete with those?!? I am considering seeking ideas from the good old Internet, and it kills me! I should have enough creativity to continue with my joy of Christmas cards, but I'm afraid I've already done it all and there is no room to grow. New camera this year, new editing software, the possibilities are endless, but I am limiting myself to my mind blank. Oh the pressure!! (Stay tuned, I promise once the cards go out, I will post it here!!)

Blogging about the purple elephant in my life

Well, I've had blog block lately. I have posted a few simple type posts over the last few months, but nothing in depth. In truth, I had shut my feelings out to the world and when you are blogging, that isn't conducive to sharing your thoughts. My husband Al and I have been through the wringer and I am hoping the experience of it all is the rock bottom of our marriage. I could sit here all day and discuss all the things wrong with our marriage and our lack of compatibility but in truth, that means nothing today. As I move forward, I will share a little bit about the past, and more about the hopeful future.

A little over a month ago, I told my husband I felt the desperate need for us to separate. I went into the discussion fully expecting him to be on board with it, and in complete agreement. I was so sure I had *his* feelings figured out in my head and had completely convinced myself he felt the exact same way I did. He didn't. He had more to give to this marriage. That was a turning point for me. I started to feel as though my decision to separate was more of a selfish feeling, than of one that must happen. I went from feeling as though I had no choice, to feeling there was a choice. I went from feeling hopeless, to feeling hopeFUL. I have been praying through this entire journey and looking back, God has been with me each and every step of the way. I am hopeful that God will always be there for me, and that is directly related to His promise to be there and to never leave me alone. I started to feel a new sense of commitment to this marriage. I have many thoughts and feelings, but my conclusion is; unless I have tried every single avenue to save a marriage, then it is not worth leaving it. I have discovered many things about myself and have decided no matter whom I am with as a life partner, these things will haunt me until I learn to release those things, to not allow them to be roadblocks to my heart. I also have discovered that our way of doing everything backwards and upside down in our relationship has finally caught up with us and what it did was set us up for failure. I am holding on to find the tools to building a successful marriage and moving forward, leaving our mistakes behind.

There is no way to predict the future, but I do know I have a new commitment to my family that I have never had before and for that, I am beyond blessed to have discovered a necessary fact in my life. I am hoping now I can begin to get back on track with freely expressing my feelings on this blog, I am a writer, it's therapeutic for me and to have this place to share my thoughts and feelings is just awesome for me.

You Capture! - Orange

ORANGE


This tractor on top of a silo looked so silly up there, but screamed at me this is my "Orange YOU CAPTURE!" so, it was photographed :) Led me to wonder how many other times that tractor on top of a silo was photographed! Probably too many to count!



















And some more orange, because October happens to be THE best month to capture such a color :)






My pumpkin hat kids giggling with delight!




So glad my nephew Caleb happened to have orange in his hat, because this is quite a cool pic if I do say so myself!


Hubby sporting orange is a rather "hot" way! :)