Little Girls in Springtime

The first year program with this pretty little girl is drawing to a close. Makayla just turned one year old this month! These pictures are from her 10 month session. We'll be getting together very soon for her last session! I can't believe how time flies! Makayla was teething at this session, so we had a little trouble getting her to smile, but she is a beautiful girl and the pics still came out great!

A Picture Around Every Corner

On our last day in Spain, we traveled to the beautiful old town of Tarazona. The town winds its way around a hill, and is thousands of years old. The buildings are a crazy mix of Roman ruins, Mudejar towers and Spanish plaster walls. Like so much of Spain, I felt like there were thousands of pictures around every corner. We spent about an hour climbing a million stairs to the top of the city, and then descended through the old Jewish quarter, abandoned long ago when the Jews were expelled and still shut up to this day. So without further ado, the town of Tarazona.

Friday Fav: I Loved Her First

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As we head into wedding season, I thought it would be fitting to share one of my favorite songs, I Loved Her First by Heartland. This song came out the year that we were planning our wedding, and I danced to it with my dad. :-) It's such a sweet song that perfectly sums up all of those wedding day feelings!

I Loved Her First lyrics

Look at the two of you dancing that way
Lost in the moment and each others face
So much in love you're alone in this place
Like there's nobody else in the world
I was enough for her not long ago
I was her number one
She told me so
And she still means the world to me
Just so you know
So be careful when you hold my girl
Time changes everything
Life must go on
And I'm not gonna stand in your way

But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it's still hard to give her away
I loved her first

How could that beautiful woman with you
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew
The one that I read all those fairy tales to
And tucked into bed all those nights
And I knew the first time I saw you with her
It was only a matter of time

But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it's still hard to give her away
I loved her first

From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
Someday you might know what I'm going through
When a miracle smiles up at you
I loved her first

Love you, Daddy!

Marriage Truths

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I recently came across an excellent post about marriage, and after contacting Kelly for permission, I am reposting it here for you to enjoy as well. Kelly has summed up in one post a lot of truths about marriage and how to keep your marriage strong. Hope you enjoy this article as much as I did!

~~~

A Letter To My Children About Marriage

Dear Children,

Should the Lord give you the good gift of a husband or wife, and I hope He does, there are a few things I want you to know.  Things that you may not hear from anyone else, and certainly not on TV or other media.  Sadly, your church may not even tell you.

Marriage, sweet little people, is not for the purpose of your happiness.  Happy as I want you to be and hope you will be, you must yet understand that marriage is God’s design and His purposes must be pursued in order for you to be truly happy.  His end is holiness and He will use all things in a life devoted to Him to fulfill that end.

To my girls:

Marry a man whose first pursuit is Christ.  After that, he is not hard to please.  Admire him, cheer him on and show gratitude, and he will fall over himself trying to please you.  Smile often, speak well of him always, and do whatever necessary to try and maintain a pleasant mood about you so that it transfers to your home, making it a place where he and your children love to be.

You’ll have bad days of course, crying days even, and that’s when you go to your bedroom, kneel on the floor and beg the Lord to carry you.  Then get up, get a fresh perspective (crayons will come off the wall), and try again.  Above all else, make a home.

To my boys:

Marry a woman whose first pursuit is Christ.  After that, she may be hard to please  only if you don’t know “the secret”.  What is that?  I’m glad you asked.  The secret to pleasing your wife is to make her feel safe and treasured.  You may have to move out of your comfort zone to do this at times.  She won’t always readily translate the oil change to love, though it means that.  But let me give you a “secret question”–a question you need to ask her often.  It’s not just in the asking, though.  Be sure to focus your eyes on hers, maybe even touch her shoulder or face, and then ask:  “What’s on your mind these days? “  And then be ready to listen.  She will perceive this as your protection over the matters of her heart.  Tenderness, listening, protection.  That’s what she wants.

To you all:

If your wife or husband does something really stupid, forgive.  If they do it again, forgive again.  Forgiveness must be the propelling force in your lives each day. Dwell on the strengths, push out thoughts of their weaknesses.  Take every thought captive–choose to love.

Here’s that part you are not going to hear often:

If you find yourself “not happy”, having lost attraction, disinterested, etc., you are not permitted to even think about a divorce.  If you find yourselves arguing more and more, don’t think for a minute that “the children will be better off out of this”, because they won’t.

The vows you took on your wedding day were not suggestions.  They were covenant vows, before a Holy God, family and friends, to stay with this person the rest of your life, even if you don’t feel like it.  You swore a solemn oath and if you can’t live up to it, don’t get married.  Decide up front that your marriage is irrevocable.  There is far more motivation for getting along if your “marriage house” has no door.

Do not share intimate thoughts or feelings with anyone of the opposite sex.  Do not find yourself alone for any length of time with such either.

Divorce is not a “private option”.  It will affect multiple families for many generations.  When you “separate what God has joined” you permanently injure far more than just yourself.

Guard your marriage as fiercely as you would guard your own life.  Treat your spouse as an extension of your flesh, just as God sees you.  Treat your spouse like other family members.  You know, “you gotta love ‘em, they’re the only family you’ve got”.

I want you to be happy, I surely do.  But I will pray for you to be holy.

~~~

Please take a  moment to visit Kelly's site at www.generationceder.com She has lots of other great articles like this one!

We're not the only ones

We're not the only crazy renovators in our neighborhood. The whole area is in a constant state of turnover as the previous owners are moving out one by one as their age makes  it impossible to live on their own. A whole new group of young couples and families are slowly settling into the neighborhood, and many are taking on renovations just like we are. This home in our neighborhood seemingly changed hands a while ago, and the renovations began last fall.

I love the blue siding and the yellow doors that our neighbors went with. The entire top floor was added to the little house and, once the siding was put back on,  it now blends in seamlessly with the rest of the house.

The renovation was done by contractors, and was only recently finished. This makes me feel better about the relaxed schedule that we use for our renovations. Hey, if the pros can take six months, we can take six years, right? Right. :0)

Anywho, thanks to Google street view, you can get an idea of this little house's transformation.

Before:



And After:



Pretty cute, right? Let's hope our house and this one serve as inspiration for the rest of the neighborhood, because Lord knows these other homes could use some updating. :-)

Friday Fav: Broken Hallelujah

As I mentioned earlier this week, I attended a memorial service for a beautiful lady that went home to heaven. Her stepdaughter sang this beautiful song at the service that was so perfect for the feelings of those left behind that day. The song speaks to me in so many ways, as I have had many days where my life is in pieces, and it's all I can do to try to praise Jesus in whatever way I can.

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Broken Hallelujah sung by Mandisa

With my love and my sadness
I come before You Lord
My heart's in a thousand pieces
Maybe even more
Yet I trust in this moment You're with me somehow
And You've always been faithful so Lord even now

When all that I can sing is a broken Hallelujah
When my only offering is shattered praise
Still a song of adoration will rise up from these ruins
And I will worship You and give You thanks
Even when my only praise is a broken Hallelujah

Oh Father, You have given
much more than I deserve
And I have felt Your hand of blessing
on me at every turn
How could I doubt Your goodness,
Your wisdom, Your grace
Oh Lord hear my heart in this painful place

When all that I can sing is a broken Hallelujah
When my only offering is shattered praise
Still a song of adoration will rise up from these ruins
And I will worship You and give You thanks
Even when my only praise is a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

I lift my voice
Your spirit moves
I raise my hands
I reach for You

'Cause all that I can sing is a broken Hallelujah
And my only offering is shattered praise
Still a song of adoration will rise up from these ruins
And I will worship You and give You thanks
Even when my only praise is a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Operation Gratitude

Yesterday I did my grocery shopping, and when I went to BJs, a display table caught my eye. BJ's had launched a campaign for the month of May to send as many letters as possible to American soldiers serving around the world. Their display is set up so that you can write a letter right there, and drop it in their box. Or you can write a letter at home and bring it back to the club.

May is Military Appreciation Month, not to mention Memorial Day at the end of the month. This is such a simple way to tell soldiers that we appreciate their sacrifice, and it literally took me five minutes in the store to write a simple letter to a soldier thanking them for the service.

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Here's how you can participate:

• If you are a BJ's club member, you can write a letter in the store, and drop it in their mailbox.


• You can also write a letter from home, and submit it one of three ways;

1. Return to the club and drop off the letter

2. Mail the letter to Operation Gratitude, 16444 Refugio Rd., Encino, CA 91436

3. Submit your letters online to www.bjs.com/facebook

It will only take a few minutes of your time, but it will mean so much to the soldiers. There is a list of helpful hints and guidelines on the BJ's website that will help you write your letter.

Operation Gratitude also sends care packages to the troops, and offers you the option of both writing to the troops, or writing to our veterans. I know that when my brother-in-law is deployed, (and he has been many, many times) the thing he appreciates the most is a letter from home.

Please consider taking a few moments to write to a soldier. It really is for such a great cause, and ironically, ties into what we've been talking about this week at Words On Wendhurst. :-)

God Bless America!

Spain

So I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of our trip to Spain last month. I took over a thousand pictures, but luckily for you, I will not be posting them all here today. :-)

The Monday after we got to Spain, after a whirlwind arrival where we reunited with old friends, hung out at a youth retreat and attended services at two different churches, we took a little break and traveled to the Monasterio de Piedra, nestled into the little mountains about an hour from the city we stayed in. I've been to the monastery multiple times, and love it a little more each time. The monastery was mostly destroyed in a war about two hundred years ago, but the nature reserve around, lovingly cared for by the monks, is still intact. It's a beautiful, tranquil place, probably one of my favorites of all the places I've been in Spain.







If you climb a million stairs, you will end up on the top part of one of the mountains, where you can overlook the monastery below.



There is tons of water at this reserve (unusual for the area we lived in) which has all been directed into various waterfalls - all beautiful!



You can go behind this waterfall



into this cave, with its glowing moss.





Most of our time there, we used the one highway that goes through La Muela, which sits at the top of a hill. It's got a ton of wind, so the hill is covered in windmills. They are really neat looking.



Coffee in Spain has got to be the best in the world. No, really. It is just that awesome.



And everywhere you look, there is sky, and more sky. I swear the sky is ten times bigger there. :-)



Our city has a Roman Theater that has been excavated for tourists to see. It's really pretty at night.



This cathedral is famous all throughout the country and in Latin and South America as well. It's called El Pilar and it is huge. During the day we were able to go up into one of the towers and take pictures of the city, then we went back at night to take some more pics of the cathedral all lit up.







I think that's it for now. I've got a million more to sort through, of which I'll share some with you. :-) Isn't Spain just beautiful?

Gratefulness

I read a bunch of posts over the last few days about Mother's Day. Some were happy, a lot were whiny. These moms  basically talked about how their husbands and children had not met their expectations for the "one day that was all about them." And while I can see their point about how hard it is to be a mother, the overarching theme that hit me while reading this post was the amount of ungratefulness. Ironically, many of these women were complaining that their children seemed ungrateful of the work that the moms do for their children every day. However, the mothers, by assuming that they were deserving of "praise" or "pampering" by their children, were exhibiting their true hearts of ungratefulness.

Proverbs 31 talks about a virtuous woman, and in one of the verses, it says that her children "rise up and call her blessed." Last week I went to a funeral for a lovely woman from our church, and her children did exactly this. They all spoke of the love she had shown them, of the work ethic she had taught them, and the example that she had been to them by being a sweet, perpetually smiling mother. The praise from her children wasn't forced, canned or expected. It was honest and sincere and came from the heart.

It's noteworthy that in Proverbs 31, the children weren't celebrating their mother on Mother's Day (that we know of). The virtuous woman wasn't expecting her children to praise her. From everything we know of this woman, she worked hard, cared for her family, and had little concern for herself or "what she deserved".

Lover and I were talking the other day about expectations. He hates all events that come with mandatory gifts, because they create an expectation that the person deserves a gift, and the giver is compelled to give a gift. It is much easier for the person receiving the gift to feel as if they deserve the gift, and therefore be less grateful.

It's not difficult to be grateful when you understand that you are not entitled to anything. That there is no guarantee that you will have anything, or receive anything. God promises us food and clothing, and that is it. So, if you have food in your belly (and your cupboards) and clothing on your body, your expectations have been met. Absolutely everything beyond that is given to us, and we should therefore be grateful for it. Make no assumptions that you deserve a healthy family, or even a family, for that matter. Do not assume that you deserve a large home, with a yard and a dog. Do not assume that your husband, children or family should praise you, or that you deserve a day off.

When you have removed the expectation that you deserve something, suddenly everything becomes a gift. The air you're breathing, and the fact that you can breathe easily. The sound of your children playing (maybe even fighting) because you have been given children, and healthy children at that. The beautiful items surrounding you  in your home, and also the home you live in.

Some of the many, many gifts I've been given are:

• A husband who loves me and wants me to be happy, cares about my needs and cares for me the very best that he can.


• A family protected from illness, death and divorce.


• A beautiful home to call our own.


• Brothers and sisters in Christ that continue to expand my family.


• My own health including being able to walk, talk, hear and see.


• The fact that winter is always followed by spring.


• Friends who support me, uplift me and encourage me.


• A variety of foods in my pantry, cupboards and freezer.


• Gas in my working car.


• Multiple pairs of shoes for my feet.


• A closet full of clothes.


• Extra rooms in my house for family and friends

I could go on and on all day. When I stop to list the things I am blessed with, it is truly humbling. Anything I may have wanted to complain about becomes paltry in comparison. Life may be hard, mundane or discouraging, but remember;

"He never promised that the cross would not get heavy, that the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered our victory without fighting but he said help would always come in time"

Hang It Up

One of my winter projects was to finish the bare wood coat rack we purchased on our vacation last year. I finally finished this long-procrastinated project, but then we were gone for a month, so I hadn't gotten around to posting the after pictures of this piece. I am really happy with how the staining and sealing came out, and I've learned the power of sanding when it comes to achieving a professional finish.

This is the first furniture piece that I have braved the staining process of, so one of the reasons that I put it off so long was that I was nervous about ruining the nice coat rack we had bought. :-) Does that ever happen to you? Your apprehensions about doing something cause you to procrastinate indefinitely? Yeah, me neither.

This project was pretty straightfoward. The piece was already sanded butter smooth, so when it came time to stain, I just wiped it all down with a damp rag, and loosely assembled everything so that nothing would stick together during the stain. Here's what the raw wood piece looked like.




I set the rack on a garbage bag to protect the floor, and went about staining. I used the same concoction we've been using to match the existing woodwork in the house, so that the coat rack would coordinate with the other wood. The rack is made of parawood, not gumwood, oak or pine, so the color ended up having more red undertones than the trim in the house. So it goes, but it's not a perfect match.

After the stain had dried (and I gave it ample time to really dry) I started on the lacquer. For previous projects I've purchased clear spray lacquer, which is a little tricky to work with. But, I was working in the middle of winter, inside, so spraying wasn't an option. Instead, I bought a can of brush on lacquer, and the stuff worked like a charm. Three thin coats later, (over the course of a couple of days) the rack has a hard, smooth finish that looks professionally finished. The stuff does stink to high heaven though, so make sure you can throw open windows or work outside if you can. It's not even necessary to sand between coats, so this stuff is the easiest of easy. Then I just let everything cure up for another week or so before we started using the rack. I'm not sure that the week's worth of waiting was necessary, but I wanted to make sure that it was perfectly cured because I was working in less than ideal weather conditions.

Anyways, like I said, the finish came out like a charm, and I love how it looks. We're definitely "throw-it-on-a-hook" people, not "hang-it-on-a-hanger" people, so this works really well for us. :-) Here are the afters.





Oh, and just so you know, I never worry about getting stain on my hands when finishing any type of wood. Gloves really reduce your dexterity, and it is so easy to remove stain from your hands. When you are done staining, just grab a dollop of vegetable oil (or any other kind of oil) and pretend you are washing your hands. The oil will pick up all the stain. Then you can wash again with soap (to remove the oil) and you are back to normal! Easy peasy. :-) The stain will mess up your manicure though, so just keep that in mind. Here's the proof:





Some notes from this project:

• I used rags to both apply the stain, and wipe it off. I use old T-shirts, sheets, whatever we have laying around, and then just toss them when I am done.


• Make sure to stir your stain really well so that you get even coverage. Same thing applies for the lacquer.


• I used cheap throwaway bristle brushes from the home improvement store (each about a dollar) for applying the lacquer. I used a fresh one for each coat as I didn't want to mess up the finish. The only thing that really matters is that you use a clean, natural bristle brush.

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on The Porch and

I Made it Without My Hubby @ Shanty2Chic

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land

Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

Furniture Feature Friday @ Mustard Seed Creations