A little bit of this and a little bit of that

What you are about to read is EXTREMELY random so consider yourselves warned! :)

~ Our church is starting a 40 days of Purpose series and I'm super excited. I love the book "A Purpose Driven Life" and I really enjoy Rick Warren. We did this five years ago, but it was right before I started attending this church so we just missed it. I think everyone could use a refresher with this and I am VERY excited to do so! We belong to a great small group that meets on Tuesday nights and we will be following along with what is preached about on Sunday. I think it's a perfect refresher for the new year!


~American Idol starts tonight!!! WOO HOO!!! I think Ellen will really bring something to the table (no pun intended) HA! I love her sense of humor and I am so excited to see how she does! Of course, I love Biggest Loser too and this is on the same night now. What did I do before the DVR?! While we are talking t.v. I watched The Bachelor last night against my better judgment. Is it just me or does it seem super scripted and even more fake than usual? I don't know...it was a bit much...but I digress, I still tune it, so can I really judge? Probably not. Any Ugly Betty fans? Wed night is my FAVE night for t.v.! (with Thurs. a VERY close second because of the best show to hit the airwaves, "The Office".) I absolutely love "The Middle", "Cougar Town", and "Modern Family!" Now to add to my excitement they moved Ugly Betty to Wed nights! I have read though that the ratings are not good for dear Betty...I don't get it...I just love it. Sigh...oh well. Obviously you can see my love for all things t.v. HA!

~I'm realllllly trying to plan my meals better for the three of us and get all of the ingredients beforehand. It was kind of an unsaid New Years resolution if you will....of course so was working out and I haven't done that too well either. I need some inspiration. I feel like I make the same things every single week. I just stick with what I know and what is easy, but that gets boring. We'll see...

~My mom, Connor and I went with our friend Jen and her daughter Maya to the Children's Museum the other day. My mom had gotten us a yearly pass so we really need to go more often because Connor loves it and it is a lot of fun! It's a great museum! They had just opened up a new section and it was all about Barbies! Of course Maya was thrilled! I enjoyed it as well because some of the barbies brought back a lot of memories. It was fun and Connor even liked it! My mom even went down the big slide with Maya and Connor at the end of the day! GO GRANDMA GO!!!







~So that's about all the randomness I will bore you with. I feel like it should be Wed. or even Thurs. I've been in a blah mood today, I need to snap out of it! Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

I ♥ Faces: Best Face Photo

Well since I am trying to get back into the swing of things with blogging, I thought I would try to participate in a few more I ♥ faces themes each week. This week is best face photo and I immediately thought of a picture that I took of my 2 year old son Connor last week. He was all bundled up and ready to go outside and play when I snapped this. He was so excited to go out and see the snow, we were just waiting for his dad to get his jacket on when this was taken. It seems like I rarely get a good shot out of him anymore what with him being two, extremely busy, and just all around sick of his mommy shoving a lens in his face....so I was thrilled with how this turned out! :)
If you want to see more "face photos" click on the I ♥ Faces link above and check them out! Also, stop by and tell this wonderful site a Happy Birthday while you are there! They are celebrating their first year as a WONDERFUL photography community!

119 Days

So it's been 119 days since I last blogged. I know everyone was waiting with bated breath and losing sleep wondering where I have been...o.k. maybe not...considering it's only really family that ever reads this (if even) HA! Anyway, on top of this being 119 days since I have last blogged, it is also my 100th post. Yeah...nothing too exciting, and let me tell you, I have been sitting on my 100th post forever (119 days to be exact) because I wanted something good, something really fun, something exciting...unfortunately I don't think I can bring all that to the table but I really, really want to become a more avid blogger. I enjoy it. I enjoy writing about my family, sharing pictures, stories, etc. It is something that I know I am going to be glad I did in the long run.
As for what's been up with us in the last 119 days....well, I'll just narrow down the big things. We had a very fun Halloween...Connor was dressed as Elvis and I thought it was creative, cute, and hilarious! We sprayed his precious blond hair all black and gave him sideburns. He was a hit! Thanksgiving was nice, we traveled to my in-laws for a delicious dinner and came back the same night. Christmas, however was very hard this year. My aunt Joyce (my mom's sister) passed away on December 23rd, all too soon. She was only 48 years old. Twenty years ago, my aunt suffered through Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She fought and she won! However, we had no idea that what once saved her life would eventually be the cause of her death. You see, she had gotten interstitial lung disease from the many bouts of chemo and radiation she had 20 years ago. It came and it hit her hard...and fast. My parents and I were able to go visit her in St.Louis where she was in the hospital. For this, I am incredibly thankful...I was able to hug her and tell her I love her...little did I know it would be the last time. This was in the beginning of December. She was weak and couldn't breathe a whole lot but we were hopeful! We prayed for a miracle, after all, God asks us to pray BIG! We did...we prayed big...but God had different plans. My beautiful aunt was given the diagnosis of having 6 months to a year to live while in the hospital. She was able to come home and hospice was brought in. We were planning on making a trip the first weekend in January to be with her. She sounded great on the phone, so happy to be home....four days after her coming home, we got the news. She had passed away in the early morning on December 23rd with her two boys by her side. My aunt was an amazing, amazing woman. She raised three children all on her own. Two boys and one girl. The yongest two...twins. She was SO much more than an aunt to me, she was a friend...the person I called in college when I had a problem and I was afraid to call my mom. She and I were so, so close. I miss her everyday....everyday. I cry at the strangest moments, but it is getting better. God knew what he was doing when he took Joyce home. She is walking in Heaven with my uncle Gary and my grandma and grandpa now! She is breathing freely and rejoicing with angels....thank you God for that!
Well, that's my update for the past 119 days. I'm sure I left a lot out, but I'm going to try to start fresh here! ;) OH and I made this layout today!!! It is my first attempt at making one and I'm pretty happy with it!!! I finally am putting my photoshop and html skills to use! How fun!! Let me know what ya think! :)

My little Elvis on Halloween with his Geisha girlfriends, Maya and Olivia.

My little sweetie on Christmas morning


Myself and the three most amazing cousins ever...Andrew, Jamie, and Ashley. These are my aunt Joyce's three children.

My BEAUTIFUL aunt

You Capture:Something New

This week's You Capture is about photographing something that you have never photographed before. I immediately thought of this past weekend because I went to the NHRA drag races here in Indianpolis for the first time. My dad goes every year and I have never been, but was able to go this year. Those cars are amazing! They go at least 300mph!!! I was very excited to take some shots at the race, but not sure how they would turn out. These are my favorite....they are taken just after Tony Schumacher took off on his winning run! I was thrilled to capture these! For more you capture's, head over HERE!

Da' Bears!

Oh how I looooooove football season!!! My husband is the biggest sports nut I know...seriously, like he is crazy about stats and stuff and can tell you who won the world series or super bowl in like 1956. Some call it geeky...I call it smart. Ha! So needless to say, Jake is happy when football rolls around, because I love to watch it and we root for the same team...the Chicago Bears!!!!! It doesn't matter that we moved to Indiana three years ago, our hearts will always be in Chicago. Never will we be Colts fans...no offense to any Colts fans who may be reading this. :)One thing we are certainly VERY excited about this year is one certain player and his name is Mr. Jay Cutler....

I have high hopes for him and so does Jake. We are so excited to see what he can bring to the table as the Bears new quarterback! Not to be left out, Connor is rooting right along side with us! We are raising our little man right, to root on the best team in the NFL! (in our eyes at least) GO BEARS!!!

Comfort

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

~John 14:27

Future Baller

So pretty much the only thing Connor talks about from sun up to sun down is basketball and football! Basketball trumps football though lately, even though we are constantly telling him to say, "Go Bears!" We will be doing his 2nd bday theme in basketball because honestly, I have never seen a kid so hung up on something. He shoots the ball all day long! He loves it! We took him to the park yesterday and I got some shots of him doing his thing!!! :) What can I say? My kid is a natural! ;)