Max Porter's

The place I work, yes! But even better, an awesome place to hang out, drink some good coffee, have a tasty treat, and great atmosphere. I love Max's!!

Josh and Libby...

I was so blessed & honored to take Josh & Libby's engagement pics this week. They are the funnest couple ever!! We went down by the river & found some amazing spots. This is just a sneak peek of a couple of my favs, which was really hard to choose because every pic was SO cute! I can't wait to put up the rest so can see them ALL!! I think you can see by just the few here how much FUN they are!

homeschooling & a little more....

Yes, I am a homeschooling parent & yes, I work part-time as well & I guess part-time again too. The fact is, I have always carried many different hats while being a mommy as most of us mommies do. It's not just taking care of babies, wiping bottoms, trying to discipline, teach & correct that fill my days or never really has. Ever since we married, we both have been involved in ministry, serving, working of some sort together & individually.

Our decisions to homeschool was not just one of those, knew we would homeschool forever moments. In fact, we may only homeschool for one or two years... it's hard to say. Life hands us many unexpected things at every turn it seems.

I guess... that's what keeps it interesting and definitely always guessing.

Inititally, I homeschooled our oldest 2 when they were still preschool age. We didn't really have access to a preschool at the time, so it was up to me to make a schedule, charts and come up with fun activities for each day. I don't remember all the details, but I know we did lots of crafts and reading together. It was fun, just the three of us. I also carried other responsibilities as the need arose and pretty much always met with other moms, had a group of girls to disciple and kept involved as much as I was able. Having two children, 16 months apart certainly wasn't enough, I suppose.

Then, when our oldest was ready, off she went to "Reading Class",which is very similar to Kindegarten, and she pretty much never looked behind. She loved school and she loved me, but she really loved her friends and new social life. Eventually, Josiah followed suit and suddenly, we had two elementary age children in school full-time. This enabled me to get a part-time job, which I did. A few months later, number 3 arrived. And life just sort of seemed to be put on pause for a little while....

Now, about 4 years later, I have one in preschool, homeschool the oldest 2, and have a precious little 2 yr. old that follows me like a shadow. In the last 4 years, I have taught a whole classroom, taught one at home, taught none, and now teach 2.

I still also carry other hats- such as; helping my husband with discipling the junior-high and highschool age girls, serving on the worship team, and most recently working part-time at our local Starbucks. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance all of that, but hopefully, the balancing act will become easier with time.

running appendum...

I wanted to add a note about running especially for those of who never have run before but want to start, ran a long time ago but haven't for years, or recently had a baby and want to get back in shape.

I have fit into all of these categories at some point and since Jeff has coached both Track & Cross-country, he knows a lot about injuries, muscles, joints, etc. He has basically been my own Physical Trainer. Before you start any exercise program and if you have been very sedentary for many years, please see you Dr first to just check on things- you wouldn't want to keel over in the middle of a run.

I am not an expert on this subject but can share from much personal experience. The best way to start is to start slow and also to start for the right reasons. If you are looking for a quick weight-loss plan, running is not the answer for you. You would be better off to just cut out all those extra carbs in your life that you aren't using and will stay on your butt. Running is the most effective long-lasting weight loss plan but you don't see results for a very long time. Also, it's not good to start running if you are overweight. All that extra weight is killer on your knee and ankle joints and can cause serious injury.

After each pregnancy, I still had about 20-25 lbs., I still needed to get rid of, so I would get on an elliptical trainer or just walk, bike ride or swim. These are all low impact and help build up those unused muscles again while gradually beginning to loose weight. It's also a great a way to get out that nice new stroller and take baby for a walk. If the weather is bad, go to the mall! Once I was about 10-15 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight, then I would slowly start running/walking. It's best to run for maybe 15 seconds, walk for 45 seconds and do this on and off until you have gone for about a 1/2 hour. You can slowly increase your running time until you are running for longer periods and walking for shorter. (for example- walk for 30 seconds, run for one minute and so on) See what your body can handle but don't push it. It's not worth it to go fast and then not be able to go at all because of an injury. A friend of mine recently started a similar program called "Couch to 5K". Here is the link:

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

There is also an app for it on the I-phone.

You can also go to runnersworld.com for great training tips and articles that are super helpful.

Eventually, you will get to the place where you will be running almost exclusively and won't even feel the need to walk. The time this will take is really dependant on too many variables to even guesstimate. How often you run each week, how long you exercise for, how overweight you are, etc, will really change the way you feel.

Jeff always says that if you can talk while you are running (have a normal conversation), then you are running at a good speed. I often don't take this advice and go too fast too quickly. Unfortunately, this can lead to injury. I wacked out my knee years ago by running down many hills, too fast and just let my knees get pounded. Not my brightest idea ever. If you have an injury, make sure that it IS an injury and not just aches and pains. Believe me, if you have never ran before, you will have oodles of aches and pains. If I used my pains as an excuse to not run, I would never even get out of bed. The first few days you will feel like you've been hit by a truck and look like it too. Running is not a "pretty" sport. I usually look like a cat that has been drug through the mud but worse. My face is beet red, sweaty clumpy hair clings to my face, I'm sweating EVERYWHERE- even places you didn't want to know a person could sweat and I stink!!

But back to injuries... So with my knee, I knew something was really wrong because it didn't go away, not after stretching, running more or when I stopped running either. Most aches and pains will disappear once you start running and get loosened up. Oftentimes, I will run for awhile and then stop and stretch once I get warmed up. This is the best way to avoid injury while stretching. Once we knew something was really wrong with my knee, I stopped running and decided to bike while Jeff ran. Eventually, my knee muscles and joints grew stronger and I was able to run again pain-free.

Note: If you ever have extreme shooting or sharp pain, you should stop running immediately!

It's also super helpful to have a running partner. Jeff and I used to run together for many years. He is MR. Encouragement himself so he's a great running partner. He will even encourage you while you are throwing up on the side of the road, pooping in your pants or crying because you can't breathe (not that I have ever done any of these- I've just heard lots of stories). And that makes running sound pretty dreadful, but that usually only happens to people who are running like 6 minute miles. I have NEVER done that so unless you are going for a world record, you won't have to worry about it either. If you find you are having a hard time breathing, you are probably going too fast. Your lungs build up with CO2 and you have to slow down or since I don't like to walk, you can also blow the CO2 out. This isn't easy to do as you have to slow your breathing down and when you exhale, you blow out like you are blowing up a balloon. After doing this, the pain usually subsides and breathing becomes easier.

When Jeff couldn't run or it didn't work out for us to run at the same time, I've been blessed to find other women who love to run as much as me. You can encourage each other and help each other get up early in the morning because you know they are waiting for you at a meeting spot.

I will do another snippet about running but more focused on the intermediate runner (once I become one). If you have any comments, ideas of your own for beginners or just tips, etc., please feel free to post below and thanks for reading!! Hope you will be encouraged to start a running program of your own!

This link takes you to the "Beginner Runner" training page at Runner's World.com:

http://www.runnersworld.com/topic/0,7122,s6-238-520-0-0,00.html

photography...

I don't know when I first started to love taking pictures. I think back when I used to watch my mom develop pictures while she was taking a photography class and maybe the awe of watching a blank piece of paper dipped into different tubs of smelly chemicals and evolve into a picture might have something to do with it. Or maybe it was the fact that my dad loved, loved, loved to take pictures. In fact, I still have his very old and somewhat archaic camera and lenses. It was kind of running family joke that he loved to take pictures of sunsets and flowers. I remember watching slide shows and picture after picture of yet another sunset or flower would come over and over again. We laughed, but I appreciate his wonder of God's most beautiful artworks. Maybe me taking pictures now sort of gives me a connection to him, since I didn't know him very well or spend much time with him as a child.

I'm not a professional photographer and I don't aspire or pretend to be. I simply enjoy taking pictures and enjoy looking at pictures others take. I have 2 friends who are professional photographers. I am continually amazed by their creativity, ingenuity and utter talent. They inspire me to be a better "non-professional" photographer.

I think I mostly enjoy taking pictures of children and nature. What God has created really does show evidence of He who created it- it's undeniable. You can't look at amazing sunset or beautiful intricate flower and just say that it came about by chance. That's like saying that Monet's paintings came about in the perfect way just randomly. You would be discounting the very artist who designed that beautiful sunset purely for your enjoyment.

I really like my camera because for me who does not know diddly squat about what I am doing, it makes it look like I do. My photo-software really helps too.

I hope to one day be able to take a digital photography class, but for now, I will just enjoy not really knowing what I am doing, but taking pictures for the pure joy of it! I also hope to scrapbook all the pictures I have taken and make a book for each one of our children. All that may have to be saved for the day when I am not homeschooling, working and juggling other hats.

But for now, here are a few "snapshots" of our life...

migraines...

I think, deep down, migraines are one of my biggest struggles of life. They are the source of much frustration, lost time, blinding pain, feeling like a failure as a mom/wife/friend, feeling unreliable, undependable and so much more. If you have ever experienced a migraine, I feel for you. I wouldn't wish them on my worse enemy.

This isn't meant to be depressing, it's just a reality I have learned to live with, but I still hope.

I struggle with the "why"... Why do I have them?, why do I have them so bad?, why haven't I been healed?, why did I feel so great when I went to bed but when I woke up could not even move without throwing up?

And the "what"... What causes them?, what can I do differently?, what did I eat last night?, what supplement should try?, what if I had taken some medicine?

Some say, they are all in your head. Well, I say, yes, they are! My whole head throbs, sharp pains, moving pains, pain I can't describe nor want to remember. But it doesn't stop there, it affects my whole body, nothing seems to work right, I can't think straight. It actually hurts to think at all. My only hope is to maybe sleep, to block it out, but in a house of 7 people and a dog, sleep is mostly unreachable. Even in sleep, I can still feel pain.

I vomit sometimes over and over and over until nothing comes out anymore, but it keeps going. I wake up the next day hoping it will be gone and I can accomplish even one simple task, the ever surmounting laundry, the dishes, make the bed, but then it rebounds and comes back in even greater force. All the pain, all over again, another day gone.

All my commitments, down the drain.

I can't tell you how many games I have missed, how many recitals I so looked forward to seeing, special outings with friends, part of our honeymoon and so much more...

I can tell you that, migraines have forced me to slow down, to enjoy the little things, like being to hugs my kids in the morning, being able to make dinner, functioning normal. I guess this is what pain does to us. It helps us to appreciate the little things in life and not take them for granted.

I hope to find a healing one day, if not a healing, then a cure. Too many I know suffer from these awful things, my mom, my brother, my half-sister, my half-brother, my cousin and her daughter, .... my friends.

"Yet this will I call to mind, and therefore will I hope, because of the Lord's great love, I've been redeemed" Lamentations (I can't remember the reference #)

I know that God has redeemed me and my head as well. In the midst of pain, thankfully, my only reprieve is worship songs, scriptures and prayers that come to mind. If it wasn't for those (and when I can sleep), I don't know what I would do. I don't even know how they come into my brain, but they do over and over. Sometimes I can't remember what God has spoken to me after a migraine and sometimes I do, but whatever happens, I can focus on Him and somehow that helps keeps things in perspective.

The picture I chose for this is my husband. (& our children)

I'm extremely thankful for all those in my life who have helped out when I had a migraine. I'm thankful most of all for my husband, who has sacrificed over and over again for me, even the day after our wedding. He has always been dropped everything for me and done whatever he could to make me most comfortable, he has missed out, picked up, cleaned up, and loved me through every single one.

Our children as well have had to learn things they may never had, how to make dinner, change diapers, pick up responsibilities and miss out on things as well.

I appreciate my family and am so thankful for them.

I also am thankful for so many through out my life who have helped out when I had a migraine- Jolene, Michelle, Anita, Janell, Kathy, Candace, Crissie, Cindy, Jason & Sara, Ashonalee, Anne and so many more...

You have helped me in great time of need and I will forever be grateful.

running...

Running, I guess, has always been a part of most of our lives. Who doesn't run as a child through fields, up hills, to school, through the woods, everywhere?? I was blessed to grow up in the country with 50 acres to call my own. We had a creek, pond, deer, an old apple tree orchard, and so much room to explore. Those carefree days were spent doing what our bodies naturally love to do, running!

As I reached my high-school years, I still enjoyed running down our looooong road with our German Shepard, Susie. The wind would whip across fields almost knocking us down, sometimes icy rain would pour and yet, we still would face it together.

After Jeff & I married, I learned that I had joined with a practical track star! Little did I know, that I would enter a whole new world of running starting shortly after the honeymoon was over. We started simply, just running as far as I could, then further. Eventually, it became like torture to me and was torn with wanting to run, yet it was miserable for me. My lungs hurt, burned with each breath. If you've ever had asthma, it was very similar.

We couldn't figure out what the problem was. Maybe I just loved running through fields & over logs over road running, maybe it just wasn't "fun" anymore, maybe just going to fast too soon??? Turns out, it was none of these. I had very low Iron and once I started taking supplements, I could breathe easier, freer, and began to enjoy it once again.

We ran together in many runs, relays, tria-thalons and more for many years, on and off, between having 4 babies, moving here and there, traveling around the world & just living life.

I have been chased by dogs, bitten by dogs, chased dogs myself, carried pepper spray, ran in slippery ice, hail, sleet, extreme humidity & more. I'm not a fast runner, I've never really won anything for my efforts. But I can honestly say, I don't regret it either. I love feeling like I could run forever, up hills and down. I love running with no pain. Jeff can no longer run because of an injury in his knee. I pray for his healing so we can once again run together like we used to.

Now I run for different reasons, sometimes just to stay in shape, or for a cause, My dream is to run a marathon, even a half-marathon would be huge for me.

Unfortunately, I have migraines. That is a whole different topic. But let me say, migraines do affect my running, more than I like to admit. For now, I am content with running as much as I can and I try not to think about how far I have worked up to before my life is rudely stopped, thrown down and stomped all over for a week or two and then I pick myself back up again, put one foot in front of the other and keep moving.

I'm thankful for the friends in my life who have encouraged me to run even when I really didn't feel like it or want to. I don't think I've ever said "thank you" officially. Thank you for inspiring me, for putting up with my whining, for encouraging, for picking me up when I fell down (or literally crashed)... Thank you Rochelle, Jordan, Kami, Robin, Laurie, Amy, Deb, Crissie, Erica, Sara, for many others who I don't know your names but you have inspired me and others.

Right now, I'm "training"- (I say that term loosely, because training for me is just managing to get maybe 2-3 runs in a week and running the whole way.) for a special run. It's for my good friend Sara, whose son is Autistic. We are doing this run to help out the school he goes to. If you live in this area, feel free to join. It's only a 5-k and while I'm pretty sure Sara will be dragging me through the finish, a lot of you could run that no problem. SO, get you're runnin' shoes on!

Check out the link below if you want to sign up:

http://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=854&mgroup_id=216