hello to those who read…
we are definately starting what will be our summer this week..the whole realization of a schedule change…we are excited about much needed vacations, time away, and traveling which is so inhibited by school….so we will enjoy the sometimes later bedtimes and easier mornings…..but with that comes the incessant buzz of the workroom and a little harder time working….blessings there too as we enjoy the pool, and hopefully sunshine sometime in the near future….really near i hope…as in tomorrow would be grand….
while we are working ahead of schedule, we are still having to move quickly with two companies….shipping one while working with design changes and production on the other….AC and i were just talking about how we are excited about the progression of this season and the ease of workload….(HA!)….what i really mean is that nightwork has been minimal with only a small amount of stress involved….isn’t time the key to a great deal of stress reduction?

so i share…a few more pictures…this is the time in my life when i wish i had majored in something alot more useful than nutrition….IT (a great deal of understanding when it comes to FTP would be fab), and graphic design..(which would make illustrator not such a nightmare, literally)….but nonetheless things will eventually come together even if i have to recruit help in both of those areas…sigh!!
we are off to the beach tomorrow….craving a balcony about now….so it will likely be quiet around here for a few days followed by a storm of pictures from our time there…..
until next time…all of my love to bebek & sam

hello to those who read…
just pictures and more later as coffee has not kicked in yet and words are usually few at this point…talk to you soon….

hello to those who read…
i am not normal…i don’t think….what is normal anyway? what is normal life? about a year ago i think that i was resting in what i called normal…a stream of days where i wasn’t stretched and things were going usually as planned….i felt like i was where God wanted me but i was somewhat complacent in hindsight….then….my life changed, i am grateful for my new normal but at the same time crave the old… the familiar and the more familiar….it was certainly easier personally…not being stretched and completely dependent on God….it is sometimes very painful to need God as much as i do….i sometimes wish there was a place for my independence…but there isn’t…and he was so very smart in designing each of us that way…

i am convinced that God is not ok with my complacency here in our absolute abundance (mini-van driving, dinner-cooking, baseball-going, clean sheet sleeping, healthy children having….selves)…maybe comfortable is the word…i believe from what the past year has brought that God is teaching me that desires for the place we are in daily is not be supposed to be enough for us…whether it has to do with desires or with our spiritual walk….he desires for us to be completely desperate for his face and to seek him in everything big and small…to depend on someone else besides ourselves….hmmmm…i mean God alone…not someone….wow…depend on someone other than your spouse or a friend, your circumstances or something material? really?
my “mom/spouse” argument to that is that i can “do” my everyday….what a dangerous place to have put myself and something i battle daily…because the truth is that God Almighty sustains me and i am arrogant to think otherwise and i know that with every bit of my soul….now…thus grace and mercy…
so my circumstances are the same as they were ….my soul is different…when i say my soul has changed…i mean that God has me let me go far enough to be at my weakest…thus thankfully dependent on him….the Holy Spirit speaks loudly and clearly…and i look forward to restoration at his hand….

Lord…i am yours…
Prov. 51
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

so after deep thoughts…what would follow? random pictures…of course right? actually it follows well…this is vacation planning at our house….4 kids, a bottle of wine, food, and chaos with duelling laptops…km..sorry but our house is synonymous with camera…always just a room away…a trip is to come…far away to a place where they put those little umbrellas on anything you might order…

all of my love to my special ones…..

hello to those who read…
i have been thinking how i could sum your questions regarding my camera and how it is set into one post….coming from a complete amateur who just knows if i like it or not when looking through my lens….there are so many of you who just need good pictures of YOUR kids (not everyone else’s in corduroy on a day in may, in a group, in the back of a truck..thank goodness for summer)….and i am hearing that alot of you want to go up to a nikon or an slr…. at the least you are asking what i am using….
i am using a nikon d60 partially because the commercial was great and it served my needs (i have learned that i made a great decision for more imporant reasons since…HA) …in my opinion you get the power of a bigger camera and the size of a smaller one. the body is smaller and doesn’t weight as much as some…therefore you are not lugging a huge camera to your child’s kindergarten program while trying to push a stroller and open doors..yayaya…
so in my opinion the nikon d60 is a great option and from what i understand rebel xlt is about the same…i am a nikon fan because the glass is second to none…but supposedly canon is more user friendly in the handling….you pick….there is not a huge difference between the two….
so the few things that are making my pictures a little better without much effort….
1. squat…never take a picture of a child from standing unless they are the same height as you are….or unless you are purposefuly taking the picture from above. you need to be at their level and that is how i feel about that….(make sure you are not wearing your “stand-up” jeans…you know that ones that show your hiney when you bend over…ha)…
2. put your camera on automatic until you exhaustively read pioneer woman’s apperture posts or understand it enough to venture out of that zone…your camera depends on your knowledge of how much light to let into your camera….huge deal…my favorite post is “what the heck is apperture” among many others…she pretty much covers the subject and it is easy reading…check daily…end of story…
3. take alot of pictures….early morning or late afternoon when the light is not too bright and fidget with your camera after you are familiar with everything it can do…take a few and learn from them and take a few more and learn something else….it is definately a hobby for a reason…it takes practice & even work and i can’t wait to learn more…there is so much out there to know and understand….

equipment: some of this is old information for long-time lurkers but maybe not….the nikon can come with 2 lenses (18-55, 55-200)- an “outfit”….and then you can purchase however many lenses after that depending on how many limbs you plan on leaving at the cash register in the future….the only other one that i have added is the sigma 50mm 1.4 which by far is my favorite…(a portrait fixed fabulous fast lense)….

hope this helps mendy g from valdosta this one is for you…thanks for your email…
i LOVE comments and emails….they come into my blackberry and keep me company at baseball practice and in traffic…it is something besides spam and work things….no offense to sweet friends who send wonderful texts…but the percentage is way off-kelter…lol..

so have fun taking pictures and feel free to send questions….if i don’t know i’ll just ask someone else…

all of my love to my usual three….a long time but not any less important…..

hello to those who read…
just a quick post to say hi….what a wild week…i know you all are the same with end of year parties and gifts, programs and summer plans….everything around here is the same and as always in full swing….i am ready for a different schedule but cautiously aware that summer means LOTS of family time during the day and lots of focus needed to make everything happen like it should….owell, right? with God as my focus, restoration in progress, and business as usual….i will turn this season over to God almighty and rest in the fact that his work will be done no matter what…..even if there is no mother’s day out….

another sneak peak above…i can’t wait to show you what is in store for fall…

all of my love to bebek and sam…

Psalm 143:10
” Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.”