I GOT IT!!!!!

I am SO STOKED!!! I finally got my camera! I will post pics soon but I just had to share. Thank you to everyone who helped me get it. I decided to call my photo business Urban Rose Photography. In honor of my style and middle name. YEA!!!

Valentine’s Day Invites

Some V-day invites I created

A Year of Lessons

Well 2007 definitely had some tough and great lessons. I learned:

• That I CAN get through school
• That I CAN argue with my husband without yelling =)
• That if you want your church to be great, you have to MAKE it great
• That the the people who surround you are the MOST IMPORTANT people if your life and that you should make them feel as such
• That I DO sin, I DO fail God, I DO mess up.....and I DO get forgiveness
• That God is always right on time, and even when for every mile there is another trial that God's grace is SUFFICIENT.
• That humble pie is GROSS but good for my soul
• That I CAN lose weight and keep it off (20 pounds and counting!!)
• That holding a grudge is a WASTE of energy
• That I'm married to the most wonderful man. He treats me like I'm the queen of his world and that there is nothing that he is not willing to do to make sure I'm taken care of. I love YOU Mat!
• I SERVE the BEST Jesus!

What a year!

I'm Dreeeaaming of a Caaannnon Reeeebel....

Well I can dream. I've started saving (so I'm not buying anybody Christmas presents!) =). I'm so selfish!

School is FINALLY out!!!!!! Now I've got to find out what to do with my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don't start again until the end of January. With Denice!!! She's going for her Masters. I'm so proud of her! Oh~so Stef and I were in Target yesterday and we were talking about kids and how Mat and I are going to be some of the most relaxed parents and how Denice's poor kids were going to suffer under her parentage. (Can you imagine having a linguist for a mother?!) We decided that their punishments would be having to READ THE DICTIONARY and LEARN 50 NEW WORDS! On top of that I wouldn't be surprised if her kids had to put them in a proper sentence. Poor kids--they're going to go to their Aunt Steffys and Deannas for some fun. Like, if they are bad at our house we're going to be like "Oh! You were bad? Have a popsicle? AND you learned a lesson? Have two!!" Just as long as she doesn't name her kids something like Eugene and Eugenia. Awww...her poor unborn children.

Mat is doing good. He got a job at In 'n Out (and LOVES it!!) and is waiting on a response from a law firm here in town that would be a great opportunity for him. His work schedule stinks because they put him in smack dab in the middle of the day. Yuck! But he likes it so oh well...

Well I'm out of cleverness....Stef is sucking it all out of me! Ta ta!

Friday Photography

So I have this hairbrained idea~I'm going to drop out of school, buy this old abandoned building and open my own photography studio. That would be so much fun! But I guess I couldn't do it without knowing a thing or two about accounting and owning my own business, so I guess I'll stay in school! =) Stef and I went out to have a photo day at the end of daylight on Friday and I found the COOLEST abandoned building--it had SO MUCH texture and feel to it, so we made it our back round. Below are some of the pics that I took of Stef--I really want to get into this whole photography thing. If anyone is feeling generous I'll take the digital Canon Rebel XT. =) What do you think of the pics?--think I could eventually start my own business? Isn't Stef beautiful?!

Inspiration

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When you might have won had you stuck it out,

Don't give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victors cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be close though it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,

It's when things seem worst,

That you must not quit!

This poem seems to mean a lot to me right now. There is a lot going on and I'm beginning to get a little down. I've tried to keep a good attitude about everything, knowing that it's all going to turn around and come out fine, but its tough. School has proven to be a lot harder than what I expected. My teachers have very high expectations of their business students, and traditionally I would have just said forget it-I'll just give the minimum, but that's not getting me good grades. I have the rest of the semester to pick everything up and do great. And I can do it~that's different. I would not have cared that much before. Pray that Mat gets a job-for both our sakes. I know everything will turn out okay but it's the going is a little rough right now. Lots of changes. But change is good, so I'm excited to see what become of everything going on. Well, back to work.

Lazy Day

Today is such a lazy day! Its not very often that weekends are so relaxed. I feel as though I haven't been home all week (and I really don't think that I have) because we have had something every day and every night. But today the only thing we were supposed to do was canceled, as so it turns out that I have had quite the free afternoon. I sat down last night and started a book and finished it this afternoon. And it was mindless reading, not a textbook. I took a bath for an hour and a half and watched a whole movie last night. Had lunch and layed around relaxing with my husband. Did some chores and all at my own pace. I am loving today. Tonight I am to go and play tennis with my husband. And I'm still in my pajamas. A perfect, cost-free day. Well, just to put a damper on it, I do think I'm going to get some homework, but thats good. It'll still be on my time. Well I just wanted to write about my perfect day.

Hands, Hands, Anointed Hands

Our girls are fabulous! They did such a good job on Sunday. They signed absolutely beautifully and really put their hearts into the song. It's been a while since they did such a heartfelt performance. They even got cheering and such. But they received several compliments because of the emotion and passion that they put into their song! I'm so proud of them and just had to post! I'll post pics and a video soon!

Schedules and School

Well school has started and my days are once again busy and on a schedule. I am so happy!! I am FINALLY in my last two years of school! This semester my classes are Intermediate Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Fundamentals of Finance, Intro to Marketing and American Sign Language. I am already loving my ASL class and hope that I can get a lot out of it. I found out that interpreters, if they work in a courtroom, can make about $100/hour. Not bad, not bad. Maybe a change of major? JUST KIDDING MOM!! =) I actually enjoy accounting and the work involved in it. I'll definitely be happier when I know more about the process and being able to reach a point where I have enough knowledge that I can start my own business and take clients. Until then though I'll work hard. Three of my teachers are saying that preparing for tests, quizzes etc is going take 13-15 hours outside of class. That's for each class! Welcome to upper division. But that's alright because I know if I do it then I'll just feel that much more proud if I get a good grade.

This weekend my husband and I got invited to go to Bakersfield, Universal Studios and head down to San Diego. All expenses paid. How great is that??! We're going with my in-laws. Then in a couple weeks I think we're going to be headed back down there for Praise on the Mountain. I haven't been in years and am really looking forward to it. If we get to go.

I've really been in the mood to scrapbook and haven't had the chance for beans. I take the bus up to school which takes a little over an hour. This is how long it would take in a car but I don't have to pay for parking and its free to ride the bus. How great is that! But it does seem like it takes a little longer because there is very little rest it in. So I'm beat. Last night when I got home from school the only dream I dreampt THE WHOLE NIGHT was that I was trying to catch the bus and wandering between school, the bus and the bus stop trying to find and catch a bus. It was a terrible dream because it kept me semi-awake. Frustrating. Hopefully thats a one time thing.

That's all for now. I'll write back with an update of classes and how its going. Adios!

Left...

I took a nap this afternoon (I have been SOOOO tired lately) and everyone left me home and went to church without me! sniff....so not only am I alone, I missed church. =(

I've been playing with Photoshop a lot lately, I'll have to make another post because we only have Elements at the house and the good stuff at the church. This is what I've done in Elements. You can tell I'm still pretty much a beginner--you should have seen the stuff I did before this!

BEFORE AFTER (There's still too much glow but I love the glow look)

BEFORE AFTER (Nano is totally my favorite subject. He isn't camera shy (in fact it cheers him up anytime--I just had to get these ones because of the look and tease him) amd those eyes!!!

BEFORE AFTER(Lina's BEAUTIFUL, I didn't work very long on this because I was just experimenting. I probably should have made the backround b/w.)

BEFORE AFTER (I'm still not sure how to do a fade over correctly but this turned out okay.)

So you can tell I'm not very good still but I'm working on it. This was all in elements. I love regular photoshop. In my second life I'm going to become a good photographer and go into business for myself. What the heck! I think I'll do that in this life~anyone have an extra Canon Digital Rebel XT lying around somewhere???