Capturing Memories

I love photography. I love trying to capture a memory or a moment in a single picture.

I have had numerous cameras since I was a young girl. I remember not being able to wait until I got my pictures back from the local Albertson's (you know, back when you dropped your roll of film off to be processed)! The excitement was almost too much!

I have had a small desire growing within me to take pictures for a living. I don't know if it's just a dream (we all have dreams like these) or if it's really something that I could do. I am still trying to seek that out.

Last weekend I took a friend of mine, Holli, out to play around with my camera. It was a crazy windy day...but I'm beginning to think that the Mid County area is like Chicago & should be nicknamed Windy Mid County. Seriously, I don't think it's ever NOT windy!

Anywho... Holli, her awesome mom, Ronda, & I took off for some picture taking. They were nice enough to let me get some practice in. I know that I need a ton more time practicing, (anyone wanna volunteer?!?!) but I had fun (these 2 always provide a fun time) & learned several things to do for next time!

Here are some of the pics I was able to capture...

Eighth SSMT Verse

My verse for the last half of April is... Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. ~Isaiah 46:9-10 (NLT)

Master Gardener? I think not!

Gardening... Something I have never really been fond of doing. I love pretty flowers, but would rather see them in a vase in my kitchen than in the dirt in my yard. Why? Um, not really sure.

When we moved into our house in Greenville it had an immaculate yard...full of lush, green plants and colorful flowers. I'm telling you EVERY square inch around the perimeter of our back yard was COVERED in some sort of plant or flower. EVERY LAST SQUARE INCH (in case you didn't quite understand before)!! However, it didn't take long for that to change! You see the lady of the house before us was a master gardener in every sense of the word. She had perennials & annuals every where. I hadn't a clue what those terms meant. There were tulips, roses, amaryllis, Easter lilies, day lilies, wisteria, azaleas, dusty miller, crape myrtle, lily turf, mint, iris, aster, pampas grass, & flowering kale just to name a FEW. (And yes, I did look up the names of the flowers/plants on the internet!) The backyard was just about to come into bloom when we moved in. The man of the house told us "Don't mess with anything...just watch it come to life."

Well, we did just that. It was so completely overwhelming to us, the non-gardeners! It was so very pretty as it all bloomed, but once it was done & the weeds began to creep in Darren & I were left wondering "what now?" We picked weeds. I picked things I thought were weeds, however, I later learned they were "ground cover"...or plants that were SUPPOSED to be there. How in the heck was I to know that?! We changed a few things here & there (mainly me picking the so called weeds), but we pretty much left it as is & tried to maintain what was there.

Now, Darren & I both come from gardening parents. My mom always has nicely manicured flower beds in both her front & backyards. Darren's dad has an extremely green thumb & was the edible crops supervisor for TDCJ for years. He also has a massive garden in his backyard. He can grow ANYTHING! We have given him plants that are on their deathbeds (yes, because of us) & he brings them back to life. So, we really have no excuse. We should, for all practical purposes, be able to handle a little gardening. Yea, not so much! I was even in a Garden Club my first 2 years in Greenville. Did I learn anything?! You betcha! I now know the difference between an annual & a perennial. Still can't grow them, but that's beside the point.

Anywho, after moving into our new house we decided to wait a while before planting anything. I guess we were still recovering from living in flower garden land for the past 5 years!? The house we found had one nice, little flower bed with a few shrubs & a few azaleas already planted in the front yard. The back yard was nice & untouched...think we'll keep it that way for now.

Last weekend we decided to try our thumb at "fixing up" the front flower bed. Maybe it's a sign of the apocalypse or maybe it's a sign of us maturing...okay, I won't go so far as using "us" & "maturing" in the same sentence, so let's go with us getting older...but we were excited. We were both looking forward to doing a little gardening. Say what?! Yea, I know, I was surprised, too!

We took off to Home Depot to check out their flowers & get several bags of bark mulch. We purchased a variety of flowers & plants, gathered 9 bags of bark mulch & were soon on our way. Darren's dad gave us a sago palm, so we had that waiting for us back at home. We were soon up to our elbows in dirt. We dug up one of the shrubs that was in the middle of the flower bed & planted it on the side of the house so that we had a spot for the sago palm. There's no telling if that transplanted shrub will make it or not! We then placed all our new plants & flowers where we wanted them & got busy. We dug holes, added some soil, & placed each plant/flower in it's special new home...praying that it would stay alive long enough for someone to witness our new found hobby. We laid the bark mulch & then watered our new flower bed.

It's been nearly 6 days & so far so good. Everything is alive. Yes, I have remembered to water them (thanks to my mom, of course). I took pics so that I could remember what they looked like when freshly planted & you know, just in case they didn't look that way in a few weeks. I'll keep you posted on the outcome. In the meantime, enjoy the pics of our new little flower garden! :)

Before... After.. Agapanthus... Bougainvillea Caladium Coleus Easter Lily

Gerbera Daisy

Persian Shield

Sago Palm

Bloom Where You're Planted

We have it on a little plaque in our kitchen...

"Bloom where you're planted."

Today, April 4, back in 2005 Darren, Grace & I (along with my mom) arrived at our new house in Greenville, MS. It was a new beginning for my new little family. We were excited & nervous, scared & anxious. It was all new... new town, new house, new job, new friends, new church family, new routine. We would be 10 hours from our old home, family & friends in Victoria, TX and 8 1/2 hours from Darren's family in Richmond, TX. That's tough with a 8 month old baby. However, we were ready for this new journey. It was clear God had his hand in it & we were trusting him for what lay ahead.

We soon became a "family". I believe a special thing happens when you live away from family & friends. You really learn to depend on each other, for that is all you have until you meet new people. We were lucky because it didn't take too long to settle in, meet people & find a new church home. Darren settled into his new job & I (with the help of my mom that first week) began to make our new house into a home. Greenville truly became our home. However, I must make a note that you may take the Texans out of Texas, but you will NEVER take Texas out of the Texans!! Okay, now I can move on!! ;)

We celebrated many milestones in our new home in Greenville. Grace took her first steps there. We marked her growth on the door frame of her closet every 6 months. We celebrated birthdays, Christmases, & every other holiday there. Luke joined our family 2 years later. Many fun times & many fun memories took place for our little family.

Fast forward nearly 5 years. Now it's fall of 2009...Darren & I are both feeling a certain discontent. What is it? Why were we feeling like something wasn't right? We knew God had placed us in Greenville, but we missed "home". We missed our families. Each time our parents left the kids would cry...that wears on you after a while. It seemed to get harder & harder to be away from "home". You would think after nearly 5 years we would be used to it. Nope, it wasn't that way for us. In December of 2009, we made a spur of the moment trip to see Darren's mom & dad in Richmond, TX. His mom didn't seem to be doing very well health-wise & so off we went to surprise her with a weekend visit. We drove straight through...not a fun task with a 2 year old & a 5 year old. We had a great visit, but as we were leaving it hit Darren hard. We both began to pray that we could be relocated back to Texas if it was what God had in store for us.

At the time I was in the middle of studying the book of Genesis for Community Bible Study. God was in the process of teaching me much about Abraham & Sarai (Sarah). It seems there were many similarities between Sarai & me. I was learning that God was writing the script & that I need to allow that because his plans would prevail no matter what. I can't tell you how many times I wrote "God's plans will prevail no matter what." in the margin of my CBS notebook! Darren & I both changed our prayer from "move us back to Texas" to "we want to be where you want us to be. If it's here in Greenville then we are going to need some help, but if it's somewhere else let us know. Our desire is to be back in Texas, but we want to be where you want us...we need your help to bloom where you have planted us." We specifically told him that we were going to trust him. That was hard because in our heart of hearts we wanted to move back to Texas. We still struggled, but God didn't. He was in control all along. We were trusting him, but still feeling that all too familiar feeling of discontent.

Then, one morning while doing my daily Bible study for CBS I ran across this quote...

"God often makes our nests less comfortable in order to move us into a new place."

Whoa, what?! I just sat there reading it over & over & over again. It was as if the person writing our commentary for the book of Genesis was speaking right to me...as if God was whispering in my ear. I just cried. This was what I was feeling. My nest... my home... the one I loved, was becoming less & less comfortable. It doesn't make sense because it was a lovely home, we had created many memories in that home. We had made many great friends...friends who soon became like family to us, yet we were growing less & less comfortable. However, after reading that one simple quote I understood. I knew it was okay for me to be growing "less comfortable" in my nest. God was at work. He was making it ever so clear to me.

Many things began to line up. Little did we know, that indeed he had new plans in store for us. Not only did God have something new in store for us, but it was back in Texas! We had a peace like none other with this new journey. It was a peace just like the one we felt when we moved to Greenville 5 years earlier.

In mid January, Darren was contacted about a position at a station in Beaumont, TX. The unique thing about this station is that it is where Darren got his start in the television business 10 years earlier. By the beginning of February, he accepted the new position & by mid February we were putting our house on the market & preparing to move. The kids & I were going to stay for Grace to finish out her kindergarten year, however, that just didn't work out. We needed to be together, as a family, starting this new journey. So, on April 5, 2010, we loaded up the car & moved our not so little family to Beaumont, TX.

Did you catch that? April 5, 2010...5 years & 1 day later than when we first moved to Greenville! Wow!! I didn't realize the dates were almost dead on until just a few days ago as I was reflecting on all that has taken place this last year. It made me smile. God knew all along. He knew the dates by memory...years before any of it took place.

All I can do is smile at where God has taken us together as a family, where we are now, & the places that he has still in store for us. If I can simply remember to let go & allow him to be in control then it would be a heck of a lot easier! Plus, I need to allow him to let me...

"Bloom where I'm planted."

Our little family in April 2005...

Here we are in April 2010...(I promise I didn't always have that hair style...geez!!)

Seventh SSMT Verse!!

My SSMT verse for the first of April is...

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful song. ~Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)