We made it home from vacation Friday nite. Yes. the same day we left.

Ben is either a lunatic or a genius. I am still struggling with which.

Just kidding.

although i did want to inflict bodily harm upon him when he suggested that we push through in Louisville, I SUBMITTED to my husband’s will (with a few codicils of my own that he happily accepted), and we arrived home to sleep in our own beds at 11:30 pm. We briefly toyed with the idea of stopping in to small group as we were passing by there right about the time the discussion usually starts wrapping up, but we decided that our rank selves would probably not have been very welcomed.

Oh how to catch up on a week’s worth of craziness? I can’t. Not all at once. So I’ll just share the bits and pieces here as I get to the pictures this week.

I am deep in the throes of work catch up right now so this one will be short and sweet, but here’s a picture of kaylen a.k.a. "Miss Pouty-Puff-n-Stuff".

 

Hope Spring Break was a fun time for everyone else. I’ll be back with more fun later!

Stay Tuned for Part 2: Taking Karissa into a gas station bathroom in the Georgia Hood because she had an accident and I only have 5 wipes and a spare pair of underwear and some dude has been in the bathroom for the last 12 minutes. And needless to say, we were very much minorities. Good times, good times. All this and more when terra talking returns.

Ok so i forgot about track tuesday. We’ll just catch up next week, shall we?

I actually packed us all back up in record time today. I guess knowing where everything went and how it all fit together was a big part of that. all that’s left now is to crush up a little pharmaceutical sanity-saver into the kids’ cups before bedtime here in half an hour, pack up the laptop and cameras and try to get a few hours of shut-eye before getting woken up at 2 am by Mr. Go-Get-Em to get on the road. Now, if this plan of ours works, it will be a GEM. If it backfires, well, we’re effed.

The plan is that the kids will sleep for 5 or 6 more hours in the car, allowing us to get through florida and well on our way up georgia before they wake up and want breakfast/need to stop. We will then bypass the morning rush hour Atlanta traffic as well as miss the early afternoon traffic there, and be cruisin’ on to Kentucky by lunchtime. Speaking of  Kentucky…so, we’re driving through Louisville (the state capital i believe), and plastered HUGE on the side of a skyscraper is a picture of the good Colonel himself.  Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Sanders. It took me another 3 days to put all that together. That Kentucky Fried Chicken actually originated in Kentucky. Hence the honoring of the Sanders dude in the state capital. Apparently for putting Kentucky on the map. Its complicated I know. I was pretty impressed with my own astute observations.  they don’t call me Captain Obvious for nothing. Ba-LEEEE dat.

So anyways.

Lots of good vacation pictures.

Beach pics at high noon are MUCH harder than i anticipated. So mostly those suck. But some are salvageable. i think. Hope.

If you look close I think you can actually SEE the sunburn happening to my children…good lord. do they make anything higher than spf 8000??? i mean, honestly.

Here is Karissa with her uber-healthy 80-degrees-on-the-beach, fully rehydrating coke to drink.

Its in a water bottle!!! Doesn’t that count a little bit?

 

Getting buried in a huge hole.

A good part of any beach visit.

Except that karissa went completely rainman on us and started FLIPPING out about being buried in the sand. She hated the sand. How is this child any kind of offspring of mine? I could LIVE on the beach. honestly. And she just melted down cause she could never get completely sand-free. I don’t get it. Kealey on the other hand – momma’s girl. She loved every part of being on that beach. The shell collecting, the sand castle building, the being buried, even getting in the freezing cold water!

All in all , it was a fun great day. A little tiring.

Ok a lot tiring.

So tiring I should be in bed.

Cause, you know, we get to wake up in 6 hours to start driving…

Anyways.

I hear its snowing back home.

So not excited about that.

Might have to gag. Definitely have to stock up on some cherry limeade before heading home. And finish my okra from the Rib Pit from tonite’s dinner. Good southern okra. it doesn’t get any better than that.

party on party people.

terra

Its Sunday Nite Live!!!

we made it.

we survived.

i have no idea how.

WOW that was hard – 14 hours the first day, driving OUT of that crazy storm that hit Chicago at 4 am, getting to Atlanta around 6 pm. The girls did SUCH a great job, only getting antsy towards the very end of the day. Kaylen was more of a trooper than I anticipated, but also slept a lot less than i would have thought. The second day, we were up at 5 am to leave atlanta, and made it here to ft. myers by 3:30 pm. We hit a TON of stupid traffic for accidents and whatnot. Definitely tired of the car and everyone in it – we were all so tired of everything – by the time we got here. but waking up today to gorgeously warm weather, and going swimming together – that made it all worth it!

 

 

 

 

So – I really really thought i would stay up till midnite to have my first drink of Coke in 6 weeks. Ok I obviously underestimated my extreme tiredness from the last three days, and then I got to thinking – why drink just a can of coke from the fridge? I should hold out for a McDonald’s Coke. And as of yet – we have not gone to McDonald’s. I am shocked at this. But strangely, not completely crazy with craving yet. Maybe for breakfast in the morning.

It was a lot of fun just playing in the back with my girls on the drive. I told them stories, taught them to play "Go Fish", explained how to look for the exit numbers – you know, all practical stuff! And for the first time in a few years, i just put on the swimsuit today and got in the pool with them. I haven’t done that in a while cause, well, i hate how I look in a swimsuit. its stupid and selfish and petty i know, but, we all have our own journeys to go on and this one is mine. I think they loved having me be "the fun mommy" again.

 

 

Its making me really evaluate how much fun I can be putting into the everyday. By just doing simple little things. Like taking walks. I went on a small one tonite before dinner with kealey. She found a coconut. A completely rotted out coconut but MAN was she impressed with that thing. She carted it the whole way back home, all 8 lbs of it! (This meant, of course, that I had to carry the scooter AND push the baby stroller, but seeing her look of accomplishment and pride – totally worth it!)

So yeah  vacation is going well. I need probably 3 more weeks of just vegging like this to feel fully myself again I think. I may even try to scrap a page or two this week. THAT would be the ultimate sign of relaxation.

I’ll be back for more tomorrow I am sure. Can’t leave you all hanging all week!

 

terra

Oh my lord.

What a day…

It started with, obviously, my grandiose plans from this morning.

After 5 hours of working on stuff, I took the girls to get McD’s pancakes because, well, I didn’t need the mess. Long story short – Kealey started the car for me as I was still getting Kaylen dressed. While her and Karissa were in it. In the garage. With the garage door shut.

So after a good verbal smackdown on my apparently death-wish filled children, we make it to McD’s in time for breakfast. Always a good time. I HATE when they stop making breakfast items a good 20 minutes before breakfast ends. Here’s a hint – JUST SERVE IT ALL EFFING DAY please.

Then we come home to more packing/preparations.

This time, the death wish was transferred to the kitty.

They tied him up to the dog’s rope that keeps him in place every nite. Its bolted into the wall, about 3 feet long. The kitty jumps on the couch, but then doesn’t have quite enough rope left to jump DOWN from the couch. After about 5 panic filled minutes of me trying to keep pumping the cat’s heart and loosen this unbelievably tight knot – I finally got it loose and he was able to breathe. AGAIN with the verbal smackdowns.

{SCREAM}

ok i feel better now.

thank God for good friends who know when to take your children, feed them, play with them, and just give you a break for a while. I then was able to get all the deliveries made of orders, finish up the last minute shopping, and even get my first real meal in 2 oer 3 days, i lost count. We made it to dance class, I made it to Macy’s (no swimsuit luck though – I need to lose about 183 more pounds apparently) and then to Awana. I am BEAT.

I have all of the girls’ stuff packed. All of the baby necessities ready to go.

Now I just need to finish the snack packing/separation, get all my supplements packaged up, and find a bag large enough to take all of my electronic equipment plus fun stuff for 20 hours of entertainment for moi.

I am thinking this will easily turn into a 22 or 23 hour day for me.

So why the heck am i sitting here blogging?

I guess for sympathy??? no?

who knows.

Ok i am back to packing.

 

i’m mrs. lifestyles of the rich and famous.

you wanna piece of me?

 

terra

Until my first drink of that beautiful beautiful substance in over 6 weeks.

I cannot believe I will have made it. I have two VERRRRYYYY hard days of resistance ahead of me though. Traveling south, in God’s country where when you ask for a coke at a restaurant they ask you what kind…..ahhhhhhhh, life is good. Well, it would be better if i had actually lost any amount of weight giving up a good 1/3 of my dietary intake via coke, but, macht nicht. I am almost at the end of this little journey and I think I will hopefully have  a few minutes on vacation to stop and really think about what I learned from giving up something so near and dear to me during Lent.

Right now, however, I am running on the adrenaline that only comes from the sheer panic that sets in right before a large trip is planned with three children in tow.

In the car.

For 20 hours.

all together.

……………………………………

Dropped a grip O’ money at wally world buying pretty much anything under the sun that seemed remotely entertaining to the older two. I probably need at least one or two toys to entertain kaylen.

So here’s my list for today:

• Finish folding laundry and put away everything that isn’t for vacation.
• Find a swimsuit from the bins downstairs that will fit Kaylen.
• Run to Macy’s for one last desperate search to find a swimsuit in "beached whale size".
• Arrange 2 order deliveries for 2Sisters, and then deliver them.
• Type up instructions for fish feeding and ensure that we have someone who can come feed the fish. (Do I have any takers???? Great experience for the resume!!!!) Give a big HOLLA to Grant – THANKS!!!
• Pack the girls’ activity bags. I was going to paint them all cutesy with their names and stuff but now I am thinking letter stickers will be a MUCH better way of not making myself crazy.
• Pack the girls’ suitcase. don’t forget underwear and socks. and toothbrushes.
• Pack my suitcase. do’nt forget above mentioned items.
• Clear the hard drive of all march client folders so i have some space for vacation picture unloading. Burn DVD’s as needed.
• Take the dog to the vets over in BFE, arrange for pre-payment so sister can pick him up a day early and bring him home. figure out plan for Saturday/return so he is not in cage all day.
• drive home from vets over in BFE.
• Feed children lunch, kealey on bus on time.
• Karissa to dance class at 4:45.
• Mad dash home at 5:45 to pick up kealey and friend for Awana.
• Awana’s. During this time need to run to Jewel to pick up some fruit to slice up for snacks for trip on Friday.
• Pick up kids and go thru drive thru for  some chicken for dinner. Got the fruit at wally world already, and picked up Panera soup for once we get home. MUCHAS gracias to my ethnic friend CLC for pitching in and taking one for the team.
• Feed kids dinner and put them to bed in warm pj’s or clothes so they can transfer right to car in the morning.
• Load Ipod with new songs and workout video that i have to figure out how to rip into itunes.
• Make sure all dishes are cleaned and everything is straightened up cause i HATE COMING HOME TO A MESSY HOUSE after vacay. And its not usually messy its just – crap i didn’t clean up before we left.

Ok so – really – things are handleable. I can do this. It will just require a lot of planning today and a lot of staying OFF this thing till later tonite. And probably a lot of coffee because for some god-forsaken reason I am up at 5:15. and I have a grip of laundry to fold. And outfits to separate into ziploc baggies for the girls. 

i had a really good chat with a friend yesterday. Just real conversation. About what is really going on with her in life. Its so good to have those catch up times. I am so thankful for my friends. I have been truly blessed. I love talking with each and every one of you. You all help me so much throughout each day, in different ways, and I do’nt tell you all thank you enough. So if you’re reading this, thanks.

I have heard from so many of you who liked Track Tuesday and offered suggestions for further playlists! I can’t wait till next Tuesday now! And just a word of explanation on this past playlist –

Those are CLASSIC guitar rock songs. Not up to date by any means.  Those are the foundational songs upon which any and every mp3 player should be built.They should just  come pre-loaded with those songs. There will be some more current selections in future playlists, but I was merely giving the younger crowd some edumacation on how to begin building your music library. Just wanted to clarify that since some people were questioning whether or not I have turned on the radio in the past 18 years. Which I have. but rarely.

I’ll update tonite on my list progress!

Kaylen says "Please please please let it be Easter morning soon so my mommy can have  a coke again. Amen."

In the infamous words of Mr. Rob Van Winkle -

Stop.

Collaborate.

and Listen.

terra j.

Ok so, on the request of a few readers, we’re going to start something new here at Terra Talking. Track Tuesdays.

on track tuesdays i will help you load up your favorite mp3 player chock-full of terra recommended musical goodness. By next tuesday I might have a cool program to help make this easier…but for today – you just get a list.

Ok so for our first Track Tuesday, we will begin with the fundamentals of any good playlist: a kickass recognizable guitar riff. you should be able to recognize ANY of these songs within about the first nano-second of play, just due to their unique pulsating rock beats and rhythms. These are the classics, folks. Love them, learn them, live them. God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you – put it in the soul of everyone. Amen.

(element credits go to Heather Ann Designs, Eclectic Kit.)

This should be a good start for your rock and roll playlist. Next week, we’ll discuss some good workout music. (or i might change my mind cause we’ll be on vacay next tuesday so i might whip out my favorite jimmy buffet tunes or something…)

Moving on.

so AGAIN i was sick this past weekend but managed to fight it back into just 2 or 3 days of  general malaise. Ok seriously. I did not eat ANYTHING solid for almost 2 whole days and STILL did not lose weight. When even anorexia fails you, man, it is a sad sad world indeed. I did have a blast on our little mom’s getaway weekend. Got a nice pedicure in time for our trip, got my eyebrow made into two separate ones,  and got to SLEEP IN. Well, technically not sleeping in since we didn’t go to bed until 3 am…but..it FELT like sleeping in.

What is up with this weather? i tell you – it is getting to be almost as depressing as Seattle around here with all this cloudiness and gloom. I am SO ready for vacation its not even funny. Although, after vacation, I’ll probably need a vacation from my vacation. 20 hours in the car with three kids and all the ensuing paraphernalia….yeah. I’ll need some liquid relaxation for sure. I have started the packing. Its a very paltry start though so…i won’t even share till I have more done. I have to shop tomorrow probably, since tonite i have a meeting for MOPS which we are starting between our church and another church in Naperville that our good friends Neil and Brandi pastor at. Should be a good time.

I feel like I will never be done with the laundry.

I feel like it will never be warm again.

I feel like I could devour an entire cake right now.

Oh – see that little munchkin over there to the right?

Teeth are falling out of her head. Its funny to hear her talk cause, well, she has no teeth to put her tongue against to form certain phonetic sounds. For instance, the other day she said she was going to do Mass in the snow. I was a little confused but thought, hey, good for her. Explore other religions. I said "Mass? how do you even know what that is?"

"We do it at skthool mom"

"You do mass at school? like a church?" (me thinking, oh lordy, what ELSE are they doing in the 2.3 hours a day she is there?)

"no – MAFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-uh" (like she’s trying to over-enunciate it)

"OH! Maps! you’re going to draw a map in the snow! how fun! where are you going?"

"{huge huffy sigh} MOM. no. like numbers. MAFF"

Oh.

Math.

Seriously – try to say it without using your front teeth. Its harder than it looks.

And then this little one. Getting more spitfire by the day. But she’s such a good little model, letting me drag her around all day to get her picture taken.

She makes me laugh just by being her.

Slower than the 7-year itch I tell you. But sweeter than molasses.

 

Ahhh the loverly world of print packaging is beckoning.  and an uber fun trip to the post office when the brood has awoken. The excitement of my day is overwhelming.

So there.

there’s your update!

just me

Happy Birthday bro! i hope it is a fun day for you, but you make pretty much any day lots of fun, just by being you.

 

Bound to make you at least smile. If you haven’t already seen it 8294 times like I have. This is just a taste of the wonderful, every-day crazy that is my middle little brother. The "Carlton". Dancing on the side of an obviously busy highway with little to no regard for his safety. Putting on a show to make people laugh cause that’s what he does best.

here’s a few more "Daniel-isms".

Here he is trying to be some kind of freaky deaky dog whisperer to my two hellaciously crazy ADD dogs. it didn’t work. As you can tell from the picture, this is but a split-second pause in them jumping all over him.

But keep trying daniel. Someday you’ll get them to listen to you and "RElinquish! Relent! Repent! SUBMIT!!!" Then you can sell your system on an infomercial and be rich. You can add that million in with the million you find in spare change just walking around and you and linz will be set.

DJ Fanny Pack in the hizz-ouse!!!

You guys and your "new band" rock. I wish you the

best of continued success with hits such as "Sweatsuit" and Uncle Joey rocks my socks:FULLHOUSE.

Love you man – hope its a very happy birthday. Go get some of that grubbin’ sakura, douse it in orange sauce, and throw one down for ya homies.

Peace!

 

I cannot BELIEVE I forgot to blog about this next set of events.

So my friend Emily (who does blog, but its password protected so you wouldn’t be able to click on her anyways), has been hemming and hawing over getting her nose pierced for months, possibly even years, now. Meeting me was just I don’t know, the PINNACLE of her life thus far, and in an effort to attempt to emulate some of the coolness that exudes from yours truly, she decided to take the plunge. We were going to go do it one nite after a "girls’ nite out". (please don’t get too excited – it was a bunch of tired, worn-out moms who could barely even function past ordering appetizers…but we all NEEDED the break obviously. I’m just sayin’, they weren’t filming moms gone wild or anything there that nite.)

So anyways. Emily and i have everything set. Then our darling friend Brenna decides to come with, for moral support. (Because, you know. Women do things in packs. This is what makes us smarter. We do’nt have to make decisions on our own, we INSTANTLY get the input from 8-35 other friends and family that are always close by. This is handy both in body piercing, as well as bridal shopping and trips to the bathroom. I digress.) So anyways. Brenna knows her way around town MUCH better than myself, and she gets to our prospective piercing studio  a few minutes before us, and a few minutes before closing. (Why tattoo shops close at 9:00 pm on a weekend i will not understand. Is there some kind of "secret" place they all go hang out? Its not like a bunch of farmers lead double lives as tattoo/piercing artists so that whole bit about stuff closing early in the midwest cause of our agricultural way of life just….doesn’t match.)

So we send  Brenna in to ask our questions. brenna, brenna, darling brenna. She’s just an inherently GOOD person. And we threw her to the lion’s den of piercers and alternative body art preservers. She’s such a good sport. Anyways – the dude who pierced stuff there was gone for the nite. So off we trek to get some coffee. Driving back down the road, Emily spots a place that claims to be open. So I flip a bitch in the middle of some busy street, tires screeching, to find this supposedly open haven O’ piercing. Inside was a whole other world. I could have stayed there all nite, finding out people’s stories, observing the dynamics of a tattoo shop, talking to krys, our piercer, who had an odd obsession with patrick swayze. But, that’s already been discussed in another post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am glad Brenna came along because i REALLY was concerned that emily was going to pass out. Not from pain, but just the thought of that needle. But she was a trooper and it was over before she knew it.

And just cause I didn’t want to be left out of the fun, and couldn’t think of a cute way to get my OTHER nostril pierced, i got just a 90’s throwback cartilage piercing. Now my nose piercing was TRA-MAT-IC. He got the needle stuck and couldn’t get the stud to go through. A 45 second process took about 7 minutes. Stinging burning pain. So i was….prepared for my cartilage to sting a little.  Apparently I looked pretty surprised because brenna and emily both thought my face looked hilarious at the moment the needle went through.

Excuse the crazy eyes. These were taken with my point and shoot and in a very dark little hideyhole of a studio. So yes, i spent entirely too much time playing with them in PS.

Anyways. this post is going to take 3 years to load so I better start it now.

I am running in a hundred different directions as usual today. so much on my mind and plate that I am not even sure what to attack first. Thought blogging might help organize my thoughts a little, but no, its just reminding me of all that has to be done.

Oh. one more thought to leave you with.

 

I’d be very interested to know the demographics of their voting pool. who is voting??? And what were some of the other entrants in this category? the Route 66 bus stop in Joliet? a run-down metra station on the BNSF line on a cold January’s nite? And another question. WHY would I need or want a daily tour…

maybe they mean THREE HOUR tour…

anyways. chew on that. get back to me with your thoughts.

Hope you all have a wicked Thursday!

t-to tha – erra

Cause really, aren’t ALL my posts pretty darned random?

So last nite I fell asleep on the couch at 7:45 pm. and was summarily dragged up to bed by my darling better half. Slept until 6 something this morning. I am hoping that that was me catching, having, and getting over the flu all in one night. It sucks that like every family with children that I know has this horrible bug and cannot DO anything or GO anywhere. I’m bored dangit! Ok truth be told. Not bored. Avoiding is probably more like it. I have craploads of fun stuff to do. But when i get overwhelmed with that, i avoid. and find something else, equally as fun, to do. Someone please give me a holla here and let me know i am not alone in this!

But I am buckling down. Since everyone is being a party pooper with their lame sick excuses. I am clearing out my office of all the old TCI files and boxes, and moving in all the 2Sis props and paraphernalia. I would love to find some good solution for the girls to be able to play their computer games on the old desktop while I work on the laptop. Or on <——— this little piece of heaven

with

this teeny little monitor to view my pictures life-sized on.

720 gigs of INTERNAL hard drive space. INTERNAL. I have that on two externals right now. I drool just to think of it. Is this coveting? Probably. Maybe wishing. dreaming. thinking. Pre-spending hypothetical money. Maybe someday.

anyways i digress. where was i…

oh yeah. Cleaning out the office to make it more functional for the purposes I need it to serve as of late. And the dishes and laundry usual catch up. I went to a business conference this weekend for photography marketing. It was a LOT of fun, so many new and great ideas. Now to just get the nice warm weather to be able to start implementing some of our ideas! We also had a really great time at the family fun nite our church put on at the BRAC center here in town. The girls were SO dead tired. I think that’s why they are still on the "sleep-in" plan that comes with the time change. Thank God! Now if we could just kaylen back to being healthy, life would be grand. I am relatively sure she doesn’t have this flu thing that’s going around, cause she rarely feels feverish. Its more like just this yucky head cold that just won’t go away. I am PRAYING it stays out of her ears again, and I know if I can just get her through ten more days till we leave for Florida, the warm air will do her WONDERS. Its just hanging on through those ten days that worries me! She’s a little trooper though.I cannot believe how big she is getting all of a sudden! She finally fits into most of her 3-6 month outfits (she is 8 months tomorrow). And she loves to eat finally! i thought maybe she was going to be one of those kids who wants to breastfeed till they’re four…but luckily we seem to not be on that path.

Kealey is losing teeth left and right. Her smile changes almost daily I think.

Here she is right before that second top tooth finally wiggled out. I thought that tooth was going to be the death of me – the WHINING that ensued over that darn thing… And then just yesterday – out pops her bottom one! While she was eating oatmeal of all things…

And look at this angelic picture of karissa. She looks so old in it! I can’t believe she is going to be four in just a few months! Here she is wearing the almost ever-present skirt, hair "yike-a-baaweena" (like a ballerina in karissa-ese),posing like there is no tomorrow. She is the hugest ham for the camera you will ever meet. Whether or not this is an inborn trait, or one which has been developed through the last year of being my main photography model, i am not sure. All i know is that its next to impossible to catch a candid shot of this kid. But …

there are small glimpses of it.

for instance.

when I acted like i was putting the camera away after taking the above shot…this is what happened.

The leap from the table to the chair in the corner.

nice.

and I wonder why she has a permanently conical shaped formation on her forehead from the many accidents she has in one day…

well I should get back to my office cleanout.

Thanks so much for all of you who wrote to me to say that you were joining in prayer for leslie. the surgery was successful and she has a long road of recovery ahead of her and needs your continued prayers. So thanks.

May you have a blessed day, whatever you’re doing.

terra

I do not presume to know how it must feel to have your life be ripped apart at the seams by a sudden close family member’s death, by the loss of a close friend in an accident, by the words "you have cancer and we need to operate immediately". I have been insulated, protected from that pain for reasons I do not know or understand, but am thankful for on a daily basis.

On Friday I had the opportunity to photograph a family who has experienced that life-ripping pain. I approached them to see if they would like to have a family session taken before a life-altering surgery taking place tomorrow. And they agreed. I know this family only in that "HiHowAreYou" kind of way from Sunday mornings at our church. Leslie was part of a group of kind-hearted women, who , knowing me not a bit more than they knew Adam, worked together to provide warm delicious meals for our family after Kaylen’s birth. Tyson is our worship leader (and MAN can that kid lead worship like no other I have ever experienced.) Their son TJ is one of the most precious little bundles of joy I have had opportunity to interact with.  And their life is being ripped apart by cancer.

Tomorrow this happy family picture will be interrupted. Their Monday mornings should be filled with this. And instead Leslie will have her forehead removed, and doctors will seek to do battle with the bad cells infecting her body. She will look different, feel different, be different. But her heart will be the same. Because through it all, this young courageous woman has remained strong in her faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t know how. I know that my faith would definitely be shaken were i to face a mountain of this ginormity. So I admire her. And wanted to honor her in some way, to bless their family for the blessing that they are to all of us around them.

A few weeks ago, I saw Leslie come stand in the doorway of a room we were having a church meeting in. She looked tired. Worn down somehow by the heavy load she has been asked to carry. And her loving husband came up behind her, put his arms around her and just whispered something in her ear. I didn’t hear it, but I am betting it was something along the lines of "I love you. You’re beautiful and we’re all going to be okay." She lit up with a smile and melted back into him. And the love they have for each other is so evident, so glowing, so radiant. It is amazing. THEY are amazing. And I was honored to be able to be a small part of their lives, and capture a moment in time of their story for them last week.

 

Tonite we will come together and encamp ourselves around their house, covering her and her family in prayer. There may be gaps in our circle, as the weather is cold, and everyone is tired from the time change. But I know for a fact that there will be angels there praying with us. If you are reading this – I beg you to pray with us too. At 7:00 pm, central daylight time, pray. Pray for Leslie, that she would be lifted up in strength as she undergoes this surgery and the long road of recovery that stretches out after that. Pray for Tyson, that he would remain strong, as her support, in sickness and in health. Pray for TJ, that his little heart would not break from missing his momma. Just pray.

You are in God’s hands Leslie. May you find your comfort there.

 

terra

(all images are used with the express written permission of the A family, copyright2008 2sisters photography.)

Its ten o clock at nite and i smell popcorn. Its such a unique scent. Nobody else is awake, not that anyone else in this house could reach the microwave even if they WERE awake. This is going to drive me nuts. Cause now its making me hungry.

I am so so so so tired right now. But kind of a good tired.

we went down to American Girl Place downtown today. It wears me out to think about all that was involved in packing up 8 people into the Denali, all the paraphernalia, all the planning…but seeing my baby girl asleep holding her brand new baby doll, and knowing that she’ll treasure this birthday forever – that makes it all worth it somehow. But oh what i wouldn’t give for a large bathtub and a good sleeping pill right now.

I need to do a hard drive dump and burn cause i currently cannot even upload new pics from the card onto my C drive. how does this happen? i baby this baby. i just gave him a nice upgrade to 2 gig of ram. i routinely clean off my hard drive and utilize my second installed hard drive as well as burn off to dvd and the EHD. I find it hard to believe that the life expectancy of a laptop is 2 years. Now i’ll give you that i ask a lot of jack here (yes i named my laptop after Captain Jack Sparrow. sue me.) anyways – it just occurred to me that I may actually need to SHUT DOWN tonite. I think i shut down maybe once  a week – that has to be the reason for the LDS errors.

Dang i am random tonite.

I got five hours of sleep last nite. I think I might shoot for more like 7 tonite. i feel overwhelmed at all that i have coming up in the next 125 hours. Need sleepy.

I will have pictures tomorrow of our little adventure.

And in closing – thanks to all of you who wrote to ask me if everything was ok. It is, truly, it is. I realize my last post was slightly cryptic and honestly, if i could explain it to you in 3 or 4 quick sentences I would. Its just truly, one of those long boring stories. But it’s all good. and no I am not becoming a New Age guru or anything, trying to find myself and release repressed memories. I simply need to stop and take a look at where i have been so as to get a better grasp on my bearings for wherever i am headed. This is a page i did back in June – it talks about the same thing. I am who I am today because of who I have been every other day up till now.

do’nt know why i threw that random pic in there – it just needed some extra color here tonite.

I’ve got to go pinpoint the source of this popcorn scent.

Peace out Goonies.

terra