i heart bend.

it's true. i heart bend. a lot. =) The last year and a half has been FULL of amazing adventures around this city. Saturday a dream came true when over 1,000 volunteers gathered and loved our city through practical acts of compassion and kindness. 1000+ fire hydrants painted. 4000lbs of trash picked up. lots of cars washed. thousands of LIVES CHANGED!!!!!

here is a sneak peak of pics.... view more pics HERE


























oh did i mention i took over 1200 pics of the whole day! I edited that number down to about 550 "keepers"!!!

Kekasmai Blog

it's up and running!!!

and has all the Just Smiles Post added in!!!! Hooray!

check it out: kekasmaiimages.blogspot.com

Introducing: Kekasmai Images

hey all!!
i have been thinking about changing my business name for a while now, and this morning it all came together with a few clicks of the mouse!!!

Kekasmai (kay-cass-may) is the Greek word for "to shine" it is also one of the words my name (Cassandra) is derived from. In "looking" for a new name i knew i wanted something different, Greek, and meaningful. Because of my Greek heritage i wanted to bring that into the name of my business. I also didn't want to just pick a random Greek word. I thought about Diacogiannis Photography, but that didn't fulfill the meaningful(i'm not sure what it means) side of things, and I'm planning on getting married someday, so it would have to change again.

One of my goals as a person and as a photographer is to shine the light of Christ into and through my life and work. When i found out that my name is derived from a word that means "to shine" it was an automatic SMILE on my face and thought in my head as a name for my photography business. Nothing else about my business has changed; i still take pictures of all the same things, I'm not biased by the fact if you are Greek or not and i am still learning and growing as a photographer.

feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions, comments or want me to take pics of your event!!!!!

Shining for HIM,
Cassie
PS- i hope to have the Kekasmai Images blog up and going soon... check my "links" in the next few days, in the mean time check us out on myspace

Karlee May Brown

She's pretty much a rockstar!

I had the incredible blessing of shooting these with my hero in photography Ben Edwards! It was such a great afternoon for a Senior Shoot!!! Karlee was totally amazing, watching Ben do what he does was inspiring and the CREATOR did an amazing job with the lighting and the crazy-cool place we got to be! All of the above pics i took on my camera, while Ben was doing his thing... but stay tuned... i'm hoping to get my hands on some of the ones i took with his camera (aka my dream camera!).

my BFF

this is Heidi Lynn Miller and myself. We hang out a lot. I consider her my BFF. I intorduce her as either; my Best Friend or my future Sister in law. Either works.
I am so blessed to have her in my life. She is amazing, forgiving, loving, kind, gentle, full of God, full of Faith and she believes in my dreams when i am a crying mess of hopelessness!!!

PRAISE THE LORD for;
moving 1 girl 800+ miles
moving another girl 400+ miles
Managers at RR who hired both girls
Silly conversations about movie quotes
Concerts with a Prayer
Crying at 302
Picking apples
Laughing a lot
OUTRAGEOUS ideas
sleep-overs
giggling under the covers
watching House, but not the gross parts
roses
road trips
outrageous ideas being a reality
spaghetti
crazy pictures
outrageous

Heidi,
i'm looking forward to many more adventures and good times. Thanks for walking with the Lord and coming to Bend. I am so blessed to know you. So blessed to have you in my life. So blessed to call you my BFF. Let's; live next door to each other, never wear shoes, have little aprons, sun dresses that match, name our kids things like Meredeth and Verily and plant flowers along our white picket fence.
i love you to the moon.

JSP on myspace

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Just Smiles Photography

"Capturing Moments You'll Remember Forever" Female 23 years old BEND, Oregon United States Last Login: 9/17/2008 Mood: artistic View My: Pics | Videos

Word of the Week= Hope

Hope; noun, verb, hoped, hop·ing.
1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
2. to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
3. to feel that something desired may happen: We hope for an early spring.

~

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds."
Hebrews 10:23-24

Hope has been my word this week. It seems no matter where i turn in my devos there is something relating to or talking about hope. Heb. 10:23-24 was on the bottom of my journal page this morning and it jumped up into my writing and begged for some attention. I am pretty sure it was that little 4 letter word that most caught my attention. H-O-P-E. The definition above spells it out nicely, so i won't bother re-defining it. My favorite line is this; that events will turn out for the best. Yum. I think mostly it relates to all that my week has entailed. I am hoping and actually BELIEVING that the events in my life are not happen-stance, but rather have a purpose, allowed and directed for a purpose. I certainly don't see the whole picture of my life, and why they are happening this way. I only have a Guide that helps me navigate each day. It's been a roller-coaster, as you can probably tell from the last week of blog postings. I've had lots of hands-in-the-air smiling moments, and then the next moment holding on for dear life with a face full of uncertainty and fear.

unswervingly.
1. Not veering or turning aside; steady
2. In a constant and steadfast manner

This is how we are to hold to the HOPE we claim to have. (say #2 with an English accent, so much more fun). FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL! I am learning more each day about the faithfulness of Jesus. He is the most trustworthy person EVER! He does keep all His promises, He does exactly what He says He will do. Sometimes i am the one who over thinks HOW it will be done and WHEN i will see the fulfillment, but there is no doubt it will be complete. In the last year and a half i have learned so much that this is true:

"You'll never know how Jesus can be all you need until he is all you have."

I know the provision of His hand, because it has been my what allows my life to happen. I know the kindness of His friendship, because in my most lonely moments, He has been my faithful friend. I know the most intimate Love, because when i long for it most, He shows up and His presence is indescribable! Sometimes i am afraid to be alone in my house, but then i hear Him whisper my name, and my heart skips a beat. There is nothing like KNOWING the Jesus you live for. It makes holding on the HOPE so easy, because when the doubt try to sneak in, you've got all the proof of your life that HE is all you need. HE is the only one who holds the keys to unlocking the life you dream of! In fact it's highly likely he gave you the dream in the first place!

Get to know the ONE who is HOPE and LIFE. The One who knows the WHYs, WHENs, WHATs and HOWs. and hold unswervingly, not only to Hope, but to His hand; it might be a wild ride.

just some thoughts...

Why doesn't the JOY of obedience compensate for the PAIN of it?

That is the question i have been asking myself all week....I'm not sure that it is a complete sentence that makes actual sense, so let's hope the jumble of thoughts to follow help us come to some conclusions...let's back up; On Monday September 8th I know without a doubt that God was asking me to do something. After lots of tears and toiling i actually did it.

It wasn't fun. It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't easy. It WAS hard. It DID cost me. It made me cry.
but i did it.

this is the equation we have cooked up in our heads:

knowing what's right + doing it = good.
good= joy, happiness, giggles, jumping-in-daisy- moments etc.

HOWEVER
good doesn't always equal those things.
I know we all know James 1:2-4 but not even that brings comfort.
WHY?
I know, Know, KNOW that i did what i was supposed to do.
and i am glad knowing that, but the pain of doing it is still real. How do i deal with that?

Should i just pretend all is well? Should i smile and say i am fine, when really i am about to burst into tears? Yes, sometimes tears are not the right or appropriate answer, but what do i do with the pain? Why does something i know is right and good hurt so much?

"it's building character."

AWESOME! Please let me tell you that next time you are sitting in the mud of life crying out for answers. I KNOW it's building character, and i know someday i will look back and see 20/20 what God was doing and the purposes of Christ in my life won't be stopped by this little speed bump. But can anyone relate to just wanting to understand a little bit of the WHY?

Sometimes i feel like we as Christian Young People try so hard to "be ok" with our lives and have the picture perfect appearance, but for once can we be real with our feelings? Let's at least acknowledge that they are there. I am not saying that we should be lead by our feelings and emotions, if that was the case i would have said a big HECK NO to what i know in my HEART and HEAD that God was asking me to do. My feelings and emotions are actually the things that are in pain because of the actions of the heart and head.

are you tracking with me so far? I'm thinking as i type and re-reading as i go =)

here are the facts of my life this week:
I walked in obedience.
My feelings and emotions are in pain because of that obedience.
I know in my heart and head i did the right thing.
It still hurts.
WHY? that is really all i am asking. Why? Why does it have to hurt so bad?

and what is it with HOPE?
I hold on to the HOPE to which HE has called me.
I know my HOPE is in Him alone.
My HOPE is built on who He is, not only what He has done.

But how do i balance HOPE with real life? How do i HOPE for the right thing? HOPE is comforting, and something to hold on to, but what if I don't want to get my "hopes up"? It's now about balance. Balancing what i know about WHO Christ is AND the fact that He does what He says He will do. WOW, what an incredible God we serve! I love how i can look at the mess that is my life and see just that; a mess. But He looks at it and sees something beautiful!!! He sees the finished masterpiece, with all the puzzle pieces in the right places. Amazing.

i know that was a lot of rambling... and i'm strangely ok with not having a "packaged-nicely conclusion with a side of wit and humor" for you.

one thing is for sure about this week... i am learning more and more about who i am and what makes me tick. What makes me cry and why they do. I'm learning to love being in my skin, without trying to "fit the mold" of who everyone else is... i can be me, YOU are the one who has to decide if you are ok with who i am!

Floating for the first time...

...not me silly, i've done it a million times... but today i got to take Hosanna, Sarah and Elijah on their first Float on the Deschutes! Here are a few of the questions i had to answer BEFORE the float....

-what are we floating on?
-how does the boat fit in your car and be big enough for 2 people?
-are there fish?
-are there sharks?
-are there worms?
-are there whales?
-will we get stuck?
-what if we fall in the water?
-how deep is the deepest part?
-will we see any bugs?
-is the water cold?
-why do we have to wear our swimsuits if we aren't going swimming?
-what if the air goes out?
-how big is the river?
-where is the end of the river?
-is there a waterfall?
-will we die if we go over the waterfall(try explaining a Spillway to a 6 year old)?
-have you ever seen anyone go over the waterfall?

instead of uploading my 23 favorite floating pics... i opted for a slideshow...

23 years young...

i had an amazing birthday! THANKS TO ALL FOR THE Texts, voice-mails, comments, emails and LOVE!!! You can't really know how much it meant to me...

I had a great day full of surprises and fun here are the moments captured on my camera!

Lily, Scooter and i tampoline-ing!
Jump Lily!

Woo-Hoo!

Jumping with Scooter proved to be a little challenging!

but we had so much fun!

After laughing, giggling, and jumping to our hearts content we decided it was time for some serious girl business before church... time to paint the toes and fingers!

cheese!

Lily, thanks for hanging out with me on my birthday afternoon...

and keeping me 23 years YOUNG!!!!

it's offical...

After a year and a few months... of procrastination i finally have Oregon Plates... on the front. Due to a really tough nut-bolt-screw-nail thing that attaches the plate to the plate frame... i cannot for the life of me(or strong guys i know) get the back WA plate off.... so Oregon for the rear is in the window... help?

Screaming Optimist

The tears won't stop.


why doesn't the joy of knowing i am obeying what God said take away
the pain of what is happening?

march 8 2009.

Please don't give up.


Why is it that no matter how hard i try to go to sleep...
1am makes sense as the "right" bed-time?

why do i keep wanting to pick up my phone and talk for 3 hours?

how can my eyes keep crying? where do the tears come from?

why is yawning the worst thing ever?

the tears won't stop, yet i have a peace in my heart and a knowledge in my head that the
goodness and faithfulness of God is going to pull me through.
no matter what happens; HIS plans for me are good.


i have a feeling the 'beep' of an incoming text is going to make my heart jump.


i have a sudden and CRAZY longing to watch star wars.


i am determined to find a really great tree, climb it, take a picture of it and write all about it.


the tears won't stop... and my face is RED from crying so hard....
when i was little and sobbing, my dad would try and make me laugh
by asking why my face gets red when i cry.

I still don't know why it does, but it still does.


don't give up.


i am trying to be the screaming optimist.

my screaming optimist... i can hear your voice;
screaming the joys of the day and that the rain is coming!!!!
your laugh makes me smile...

and then the tears come. again.


until then. this is me: trusting Christ through tears of obedience.

Great and Mighty

Hold my heart, O God, keep me ever in Your will
There is joy within Your presence here and now
But better will
Is the the day that is to come
When Your full glory is revealed
I have long endured the trials of the age
But I will say
You are great and mighty God
Robed in majesty
You set us apart, You set us free
When You captured out hearts
You are great and mighty
So in You I will rejoice, make my life an offering
I'm enraptured by the mercies of my King
And I will sing
I will sing Your praise, I will sing Your praise
O name above all names
I will count the days until I see Your face
I will evermore proclaim

Random Road Trip

let it be known; I LOVE SURPRISES!!!! i especially love being IN on the surprise! My amazing Heidi and i love adventures. We also like documenting these adventures; recently however our work schedules do not allow for any of the above =(
no surprises.
no adventures.
no photos.
and a lot of no heidi time.

Something had to be done.

Yesterday i didn't have to work ALL day! perfect. i picked Heidi up and asked her one question, Do you want Mexican or Italian Food for dinner... i was really hoping she would say Italian and SHE DID!!! We hopped in my car and i started driving.

This the WOW! When Heidi figured out where i was taking her;

This is the cool picture of the day... not what i was intending, but i was also driving and shooting... the sign reads "Portland 57 miles"
We were really excited for our adventure to Portland!
And then dinner.... Old Spaghetti Factory... one of my all time favorite places to eat!
it's true...
tummy's satisfied.

We also went shopping, and did document it, but that was Heidi's camera... so check back for more on that later.

yum... The Bread of life #5

i hope my little moments of the Word are encouraging... i don't come close to writing with such conviction and life as it brings... that's why recently i have been more quiet with my thoughts and more just the Word.... YUM it's so good!!!!

Proverbs 1:2-4

"Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young people."

I like to say, " a Proverb a day keeps bad decisions away."-- cheesy i know... true? so much so!

Bread of Life #4

Psalm 70:4
"But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “God is great!”