Baby Time!

You may remember Asher. He looks a little different than when you saw him at five days old. He's now almost four months old, and just as alert as he was at five days. Today, he entertained us with his baseball skillz, some baby talk, squeals, and a few wails. And although he didn't give me the oodles of slobbery spit bubbles that I was eagerly anticipating, I did manage to sneak by with a few shots...

You can't help but smile...

Have a great day!

Oh, Baby!

Remember this little guy? He was my first newborn session a few months ago, and we're scheduled for another shoot soon. I'm getting antsy. Like, really antsy. He's super-duper cute. So to tide me over until I have some new pictures to share with you, I will gladly look at these and smile...

See them bigger on my Facebook Fan Page...

and P.S. YES I realize I'm waaay behind (almost 4 weeks) on my self-portrait project. I'll be featuring some new pix soon... My new wireless shutter release I got? Got it to work once. Can't get it to work now. Why, electronics, do you spite me?

Reflections

I like to write. I've kept a journal since my senior year of high school. There's something about seeing my thoughts written down in my own penmanship that makes me feel reflective and nostalgic. This evening I ventured out to Barnes & Noble to pick out a new journal. My last one, full of three years of The Life of Jen, is nearing its last pages. I read through my last year's entries this week, and they made me realize a few things...

*God is good. My journal is another source of communication with God--it's where I voice my prayers, my hurts, my gratitude, and my dreams. It's very humbling to read back and see how God has answered my prayers and calmed my heart when needed. Sometimes it's too easy to forget His faithfulness. Reflecting on my writing also made me feel a connection to the book of Psalms... The Psalms are about people, their struggles, and their joy of living life under God. It is poetry and prayer to be set to music and worship. (My favorite is Psalm 139.) I hope that if my thoughts and words were set to music, that they would be just as honoring to God as the Psalms...

*Memories fade. In flipping back through my journal, there are several times where I went for months without writing. And it made me mad. What did I miss out on remembering? It bothers me, because I know that I have a horrible memory. My journal and my photographs are some of the few ways I really truly remember special moments in time. One day, when I'm old and wrinkled, and with the help of these precious memory-savers, I hope I can remember exactly what I was thinking and feeling during those special times...

My new journal...

My life in words...

"Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience."

~Henry David Thoreau~

Happy writing!

P.S. Also picked up Crazy Love and Wuthering Heights at B&N (and yes, I will be reading Wuthering Heights in my very horrible, really really awful, British accent just for kicks)... Dreary, rainy days call for good reading...

Through the Eyes of a Child...

I love miniature people. I love their big, bright eyes, their long lashes, their soft hair, their dirty faces, their tiny little features, their shy smiles, their funny facial expressions, their attempts at saying big words, their uncontrollable giggles...

I love how their minds work, how they smell, how they can see the good in anything, how a hug from them can make you feel loved unconditionally, how they say what they think, how they surprise you with their intelligence, how they can sing off-key and still be cute...

But most importantly, I love their innocence. They make me want to be a better person. To judge less and love more, to believe more deeply in my faith so that I can be a Godly example to them...

I am grateful to be surrounded by so many beautiful children with such beautiful hearts.

Here are a few photos from River Bluff children's choir practice tonite.

I hope you can see what I see...

See more pictures here...

A Walk in the Park

Today was such a beautiful day. Pretty much my definition of Perfect Weather. I wanted to take advantage of the beautifulness and visit the trails at Sequiota Park this afternoon (as did most of Springfield, apparently!). I mostly walked along the dried creek bed and by the railroad track footings to grab these pictures.

Even though I'm not especially in love with any of these photos, it was still good to get out and challenge myself on seeing something beautiful in everything I saw. Isn't that what it's all about?

I believe that you can find beauty in anything. Sometimes, it's obvious beauty that we're drawn to. And other times, you have to look a little harder... but beauty is there... just waiting to be found.