swing swing

sometimes I get really random ideas. 

yesterday I thought how I wanted a picture of feet wearing flats standing on swings, so today I asked Holly if she would go with me. I like that she isn't working everyday anymore. you can't just execute ideas like that on your own without looking creepy. we may have looked creepy. 

it is a very good quality in a friend that they will support your ideas and go along for the fun of it. 

after driving all the way to one park to do this, I realized my memory card was not in my camera, so we drove home and decided on a different park. on the way we found a two-person swing set that was kind of abandoned by itself. perfect. no weird stares from onlookers. 

here are the results [the purpose of this was to create a new blog header. i did not go with the feet, although I may switch it around at some point]. these pictures are also not super focused...and some of them were guinea pigs for my trial of photoshop. so far, I don't like it because I don't really know how to use it. you can see all of them here. 

baby eli photoshoot

On Tuesday I had the chance to go take pictures of precious baby Eli. What a cute kid! He is only 7 months old and has had 2 haircuts already, I've never seen a baby with more hair. 

I have a couple more baby shoots in the plans and then I think it's safe to say I'm done building the portfolio of kids. 

Here are my favorite shots of the day: 

JOY

I feel like Megan and Julie tonight. 

You know, when they drink a soda/are around people? And Steve & Seth have to ask them to drive around New Circle before they come home?

God is so good. 

Tonight I am just overcome with His goodness and sovereignty and purpose. Tonight at church Jon [overall] talked about His purpose for us and how he has plans for our lives. Things I know but don't often let sink in deeply, you know? 

After church I had a great conversation with a TC girl about how good He is and how we don't have to worry about our lives because He has us. I love talking about the goodness of God with high schoolers. Probably my favorite thing to do. 

THEN we had campaigners and talked about Luke 5, just digested the first 11 verses with a group of students, really dove into it. Love looking at scripture with students. We pulled out so many great truths and promises.

All these things are really exciting, and I love each of them, but over all of this I am just so thankful we serve the God we do. We sang "Our God" by Chris Tomlin tonight. Some of the lyrics are:

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

I just love that God alone can give me this great joy. That how I feel right now flows from nowhere else but His goodness. I only want to be in his hand. I only want Him. 

His plan for my life, Him to be glorified through my living, Him, just Him.

Thats all. It's 10:00 and I work in the morning, who am I? I can't sleep like this.  

a few things :)

 [random picture for a random post. found this downtown. i liked it.]

1. today i drove all the way from cincinnati to lexington with my windows down. i love driving with my windows down. who else is thankful for no humidity the last couple days? love it.

2. at the TC soccer game last night i saw some girls that graduated last year who came back to watch their team, and it was so fun to see them! also at the soccer game, one of the junior girls tore her acl. she got carried off the field, be praying for her!

3. today i got my yearly labs drawn up at cincinnati children's, hence the being in cincinnati...it is weird being on the patient side of things after working as a nurse. it is also weird being 24 and going to a childrens hospital. nbd. 

4. i am about to go to kroger to pick out another watermelon because the one i got yesterday is gross. who knew watermelon could be gross? so i'm going to research how to pick a good one, and hope it works! can't have my watermelon being gross, i love it too much!

5. the high schoolers don't have school friday, so megan and i are going to meet with our little small group for lunch. i feel excited. they're awesome. 

6. holly went on a cruise and told me about a beach in st. maarten with an airport right behind it. stalk her blog for a little while, because she'll post about it one day. it sounds and looks awesome. 

7. i have been scouting out some places to use as backgrounds for senior picture sessions. do you all have any good places in mind?

8. cincinnati ballet is doing a show to the music of Over the Rhine. umm... so excited!! i just looked up when, and it's April 29 & 30...Megan & my birthdays! perfect. i want to go.  

9. does anyone else think it is easier to memorize scripture than to know it? i mean like to know it deeply to where it affects your day-to-day life. maybe it just does and sometimes we don't notice, but i want to know it more than just memorization. does anyone know what i mean?

i hope you all have a great end of the week! thanks for tuning in to the randomness if you made it this far.

everywhere

cancer seems to be everywhere i look lately. 

my sweet friend Libby was just diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. if you haven't been reading her blog/praying for her, head over here and dive in. her and justin are such awesome reflections of Christ. 

my yearly blood test is on wednesday. i am not nervous going into it because my hope is in Christ. whatever happens, He is holding me and He is good. He has kept me cancer free for over 7 years now and that is a huge blessing.

 now i know i work with kids who have cancer, and that is definitely something i love, but so far it has not been too hard. people ask me all the time, "how do you do it?". i usually answer right back about how i love it, that kids are tough and have great attitudes, and are extremely resilient. [all true things]

i am obviously a new nurse because i am seeing now where it is hard. 4 out of the past 5 days i took care of an AWESOME kid with a wonderful family that i have become attached to. everyone told me to "just wait" until i had my first patient like this. 

[by "like this" i mean my first patient where you start out with a family at diagnosis, and take care of them consistently their first hospital stay...and get attached. everyone gets attached to a hem/onc family at one point]

i am going to love this kid, and love this family, and be on my knees before His glorious throne. for libby, for this awesome kid, and for Christ to be glorified. 

my friends, Christ is BIGGER than cancer. and that is truth we can rest in.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble

[psalm 46:1]

precious silas.

first, i have to say, my friends have the cutest children. ever.

my sweet friend angie let me come practice taking pictures on her precious little boy, silas. he is probably the cutest kid you'll ever see. and a very lucky kid to have such awesome parents that love the Lord.

here are my favorites. head over here for the rest :)

and if you know any families that want portraits of their kids, send them my way!

storms & promises

i was sitting on the couch reading this afternoon and all the sudden heard it start storming. i love being at home when it's storming. love. feeling a little curious i opened the front door to see a DOWNPOUR. awesome. so what do i do? of course, i throw on my rain boots, grab my camera and an umbrella and head out. risky? yes. worth it? yes.

after snapping some photos in the front of the house, i headed to the back door. guess what was waiting for me? a rainbow! not kidding. one of my favorite things ever. why, you ask? it is one of the first promises of God that i learned about. i remember reading in high school about how the Lord promised not to ever flood the world again because of our sin, and marking that promise with a rainbow.

[I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy  all living things. When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.]

 Gen 9.13-16

i love how something so simple means so much, and is directly sent as a promise from the God of the universe, and how easy it is to just pass it by with much thought. i also love how it shows up in storms. its like He whispers to us in our storms about how he will always be there.

anyway... sorry if this seems a little random, i just get really excited. you didn't think i'd leave you without pictures, did you?