This is my entry for the I ♥ Faces weekly photo challenge!
This week at I Heart Faces the theme is the "beach".
There is so much to like about this image... That's my kid...my sweet sweet James. His arms open wide as if to measure the greatness of what he sees. I can sense his anticipation as he waits for wave. That was the first time he actually enjoyed the beach & wasn't so grossed out by all the sand. This image amazes me seeing his little body against the big ocean. I see such beauty in my child and in nature. Both are God's miracles. And both take my breath away!
Something I stress over is scrapbooking. Of course, I love love love taking photos and I absolutely adore creating fun and oh-so-cute scrappy pages of my boys....
but I can NEVER find the time.
That's not even what stresses me out.
In order to work on my scrapbook, I have to lug out ALL of my stuff,
scissors, paper, cutting tools, cutesy little embellishments, and so on & so on...
It takes so much time to lug it out and put it all back up nice and neat.
I have even left it out before on the formal dining room table...
Since I have NO kid free space to do this "scrapbooking hobby" my materials end up destroyed and hubby ends up ill at the not so lovely table decorations.
That doesn't even stress me out!
What causes me stress when I think of scrapbooking is...
all of the unfinished pages I have started,
all of the supplies I have purchased {with the best initentions} and never used
all of the adorable kodak moments I captured but never actually got them in a book for anyone to view and enjoy!
Living in the digital age of uploading photos...my boys never get to sit and flip through old photos of themselves.
Now that causes me stress.
So, I have officially joined the digital age completely...
and started digital scrapbooking.
Check out the very first 12x12 page I created:
I am so impressed with myself.
I have recently learned about the whole digital designing process while "branding" myself and my new photog business {since I am too cheap to pay the big bucks for someone else to do it}. I am actually designing my own Christmas cards for the upcoming holiday season. The more I have learned about the designing side, the more I realized I LOVED it...
so why not try applying it to digital scrapbooking?
{My hubby is thinking - just what she needs, ANOTHER creative outlet!}.
When I place my next print order for one of my photography clients, I will simply order this image for me in a 12x12 print {so all of my images on the page will be top quality}. Then I will simply slide the print in one {of the many} scrapbooks I already own.
I am so excited and feel slightly accomplished {even though its just one page}.
I have been purchasing design supplies/tools for my business from The Shabby Shoppe and I am inlove with ALL of their stuff! Yummy!!! Yummy!!! I have drooled over many of their adorable digi scrapbooking kits for a while now. I actually purchased my blog elements from The Shabby Shoppe and I love the way my blog looks!
Not to mention that the ladies over at the Shabby Shoppe are soooo unbelievably talented and give out lots of tutorials and ideas on their blog.
I plan on using my pictures, my previously purchased kits and their ideas to create something adorable and sentimental for my family.
I am set and I am going to give this digi-scrapping thing a shot.
I store all of the supplies on my computer. There are no scissors to worry about hiding from my kiddos. The kits I own {digitally} can be used over and over and over and mixed & matched with others...the possibilities are endless.
You know I will be throwing a big party when I finally have just ONE book completed and full of my very own pages. I can't wait to share!
I am so thankful for my "girls" weekend get-away last weekend.
Whew! I have had a rough few weeks and I NEEDED to be with my BFFs.
So,
Amy and I drove up to Charleston, South Carolina
to spend the weekend with Jan
at Jenny's house.
Amy and I left our kiddos at home for 2 whole days!
Rock on!
Our friend, Jan {who's baby boy is in one of my previous posts},
is leaving the country for a few years
and we needed one last chance "to be together"
...the 4 of us.
We have been friends
...the 4 of us
...for over 15 years now.
Good food.
Good friends.
Good wine.
Being friends with these amazing women is such an honor & a blessing.
They are so easy to be with and always have been.
I can be myself when I am around them
...it's like exhaling, relaxing and just being real.
I can count on them to keep me grounded when I need to be and encouraged when I need that, too.
They let me whine and cry about something and then tell to put on my big girl panties and deal.
They each have their own practical advice and always know just when to give it and when to bite their tongue.
In some ways we are so alike and yet in others we are very different.
And these girls can make me laugh so hard until I almost pee in my pants.
Most of all...they love me. They know the real me and love me anyway.
The only way to repay them for the amazing gifts they continue to give me
...is to forever love them back.
We have all 4 lived in the same town {ages ago} and we became the best of friends.
We have lived all over the US and we're still friends.
We have been mad at one another...gotten over it...and we're still friends.
We've gotten married (half of us more than once), had babies...
been through really good times and really bad times and we are STILL friends.
And now, Jan, is moving across the ocean and we will still be friends...the 4 of us.
I am a better person for being a part of such a strong bond between this group of 4.
I am a better wife, a better mother and certainly a better friend because of each of them.
They inspire me daily and I am so thankful they are in my life.
They are my sisters and love them dearly!
It's funny how our chats over the years have gone from
sex to breastfeeding...
really great expensive shoes or a really great dress
to practical diapers and coupons
hot dates to potty training...
weddings to pacifiers...
road trips to car pool...
late night trips to the Grill {in Athens, GA} to "getting our bodies back" after having babies.
We have been through alot over the past 15 years.
Now {well, when we get the chance}, we laugh about the old days, while sipping a glass of wine
and watch our kids play together...
We only hope that they too,
will be friends like we are...
or get married to each other.
Certainly, since the 4 of us have produced
9 kids - 5 boys and 4 girls...
we will get one betrothed couple! Right? {wink, wink}
Since this is Music Monday...I really wanted to post the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler
...ummm, ok, I really didn't want to. But it sounded good. Didn't it?
{My girlfriends, while reading this, just vomited a little in their mouth.}
But, I did find a song just as meaningful...
and a little less cheesy!
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life. So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time. Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial. For what it's worth, it was worth all the while. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.
I love you, my sweet sweet Jan. I hope you have the time of your life! {and take lots of pictures}
Thank you for being a friend Traveled down the road and back again your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow And if you threw a party Invited everyone you knew You would see, the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say, Thank you for being a friend If it's a car you lack I'd surely buy you a cadillac Whatever you need, anytime of the day or night I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow And when we both get older With walking canes and hair of gray Have no fear, even though it's hard to hear I will stand real close and say, Thank you for being a friend And when we die and float away Into the night, the Milky Way You'll hear me call, as we ascend I'll see you there, then once again Thank you for being a friend
