Settling In

Well...after a looooong trip with my parents and Ashley's dad, we finally made it to Wisconsin. We left Friday morning for Margaretville, NY to visit my grandparents there and spend a night. Then after a great evening with them, we left early the next morning for Elgin, Illinois. It was a pretty easy trip, except for gas and tolls were a pain. Then driving through Chicago traffic, bumper-to-bumper, was stressful. But we made it safely to the hotel. The next morning we left Illinois to make it to church in Baraboo that Sunday.

With alot of help from my parents, we've got the apartment set up and unpacked. I have to say how thankful I am that we were provided this home for the internship. It's a very nice place, cozy, and just a few blocks away from my favorite coffee shop :). And a big thanks to the guys that repainted the walls, I love the colors.

We've spent alot of today and yesterday exploring the area with my parents and walking around town. I love the area so much. It's hard to explain it unless you see it. But once you do, you can't help love it too. I think this next year here will be amazing :). I'm also excited to get back to a somewhat normal schedule, and get back to work. After so much time off you start to go crazy. Especially this past month I have felt kinda like a gypsy, spending much of our [Maine] home time packing up and living off of as little as possible, then spending a weekend on the road with all our belongings. It's nice to be settled down and to relax and feel like you're at home.

So you will definitely see more posts from us later after we get some more stuff together. I'm sorry I haven't really been taking pictures (I don't know whats wrong with me) but I stole some from my father and my husband and a couple I took to atleast give you something to look at. (Also sorry, they are mobile pictures lol).

Al Ringling Theater

Downtown Baraboo

Gary, Indiana

Cleveland, OH

Al Ringling Theater in Baraboo

Chicago, Illinois

Back to Blogging

Sometimes I forget I have a blog, and then those times I do remember I am always too lazy to type out a full explanation of why I haven't been blogging and what I have been up to since I was gone.

So, to get you back up to date.. Let me first tell you this: We have decided to take the internship! We will be moving out October 26th to Wisconsin to spend time there in ministry for a year. We're very excited (not so much for the drive) and so thankful we were granted this opportunity. So now we have a little less then a month here in Maine trying to spend time with as many people as we can.

With that said, we have been filling our spare time with various activities and cool stuff. Ash left his stinky, tiring, boring job at the mill and has been helping out with some handy work for other people. It's been nice having him home :) Recently I've gotten more into photography. I was nervous for the longest time to try and go bigger with it, mostly because I didnt feel I was good enough. But after doing a couple more shoots I started to gain confidence. Now I'm booking sessions like crazy and investing in better equipment to keep up. Here's some of my work..

So if you had told me 4 years ago that I would be married, moving to Wisconsin, and starting my photography business, I would have thought you were crazy. God has surely blessed us and done some amazing things in both of our lives. It's been a very interesting time and I'm always looking forward to seeing what happens next :)

Eighty Degrees in March

When it is nearly 80 degrees in March, you kinda can't just pass up an opportunity to be outside. Like I might have mentioned in my last post, I LOVE the outdoors. LOVE being anywhere there is water. Lake or ocean, or even a pond, I'm happy. After work, I thought it would be a nice restful idea to just take a drive and find a sandy area to throw down a blanket and relax with my husband. It was the best idea :) Of course....I forgot my camera, so I was left with only Iphone pictures. But to make up for it, we ended the afternoon with a tasty supper.. ice cream :-D

Finding Beauty

After four or so months of winter its nice to finally be outside enjoying the warmth. On a day like today, I couldn't pass up the beach. There's something about the ocean that just screams how great our God is. It's one if His many creations that never cease to awe me.

The Little Things

Winter Blues

It seems like it has been so long since my last post, but really it was two weeks ago. Time drags on in the winter and I never have any motivation, I feel numb. It's a challenge for me. But I found encouragement last night. We meet up at Dairy Queen for youth group yesterday and we ate our Blizzards and talked. But when it got to be Bible time, we didnt just talk...we discussed; we studied. I heard their personal trials and how they applied scripture to their lives. But through this, a passage was shared, one I had read over and over but never thought deep about it. One that didn't have meaning to me until now...

²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob?
   Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
   my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

                                                           -Isaiah 40:27-31 (NIV)

My cause is not disregarded by God. He has not lost track of me. Don't you know? He is everlasting, never tired or weary. Why do I put up this fight? Why do I think I am losing strength? I can't depend on myself. I can't supply for myself. Even though I go through these times, I pray God will use them for something. I know He is at work, He is still there. I am wholly Yours, Lord.

The Importance of Pictures

I forgot that I live in the digital age and no longer print out pictures. I also forgot how much I cherished photos too. See, having all my pics on my computer...it fills up so much space. After a while, I am more likely to delete old photos then back then up or print them off. Those are photos I will never get back.

There was this trend going around a while ago, the 365 day photo challenge. To take a photo of something that day that you want to remember, something that tells a story. I love walking into homes and seeing their refrigerator covered in photos of family or just sweet memories. I miss that. I especially miss comparing the difference of an old photo to today, whether its because of who is in that photo or the time, etc.

My parents had so many scrapbooks on their bookcase, each one was of a certain time or occasion. I would always be the one to pull them out and browse through them again and again. I loved seeing my family before I was born, how different they looked, (my dad didn't have any grey hair then!). It's good to look back every now and then. 

So with the help of Shutterfly for sending me $20 for being a loyal customer, I'm spending the morning catching up on my pictures. (Plus the fact, I have so many picture frames I've gotten as gifts that I have failed to fill out too).

Even with the digital age, it should be easier to capture "moments" since we have cameras on our phones now. I regret the times when I didn't snap a picture of something important. So here's your challenge...whenever something made you laugh, cry, smile, even ponder or just plain tells a story...snap a picture of it :)

...and don't delete it like I did.

Baby Shower 2

It has taken me this long but finally they are here.... Pictures from Marcy's second baby shower with us :) We had a nice Saturday afternoon shower at the church with some family and church friends. It was a fun day! Here are some photos to enjoy :)

PS. most of them came straight from the camera unedited :P

This is my favorite picture :) (haha)