Hanging out with Seven!

At the beginning of October i started a new job; i am now a "professional" nanny! Seven is his name...being super chill is his game! He is seriously one of the most laid back babies i've ever encountered!!! He smiles a lot, has the cutest giggle and is a rolling machine!!!! We hang out 3 days a week from Sunrise to Sunset! I love it!!!

so with out further hoopla.... this is Seven.....

Live Your Moments Well

"By this time tomorrow, today will be the past.
So what you do today will be the past that shaped the future."
-Greg Kooistra

Jillian Senior Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek at what i LOVE LOVE LOVE to do... Senior Shoots!!!!
Jillian is Rad... and we had a ton of fun downtown today!!!!!

Everything

this is the best version of this skit i have seen recorded! even if you've seen it... watch it again.

fall photos

I know for sure these will not be the only fall photos i post this year. Bend is simply incredible in the fall... and i have been quite shutter happy!!!! we will call this Girl Shoot 2008 On sunday i went down to drake park to take "fall pictures" with 4 amazing friends! check it out...

Girl Shoot 2008

Simply Noel...

"my" Jenna Kay...

Katie beautiful Katie...

Mekenzie... the model.

crazy me...
we had a lot of fun...

more fall pics... just around the corner!!!!

Intentional

intentional. it's a good word. it's meaning is really basic: to do something on purpose.

Everyday we do things on purpose. We get out of bed on purpose. We leave the house on purpose. We go to work on purpose. We have fun on purpose. We choose a certain attitude on purpose. We love people on purpose.

I know for a fact that none of you want to read about my purpose in getting out of bed everyday at 6:15am or about the purpose my work, or why my attitude is a certain way(or maybe you do). But the thing i want to post about tonight is loving people on purpose. Sorry if you were hoping for a "top 10 fun things" post. This isn't one of them... also let me apologize if i am too honest or have made you uncomfortable in the past. It's just the way i am wired; I don't sugar coat things very well.

loving people on purpose. first off i am not talking about the love of romance or love of chocolate cake. I am talking about the not-always-glamorous-sitting-in-the-mud kind of love. The intentional kind. For example:

When someone blesses me with coffee or a note of encouragement just because. NO OTHER REASON!!! that's intentional love. Or how about when someone texts you just to let you know they think you are wonderful... because they really do... no other reason.
That's intentional love. I could make this all super spiritual and bring out some great story from the gospels about Jesus loving people intentionally but i won't. Look it up... the stories i am talking about are there.

I look around my life and see something that makes me sad. two words capture it pretty well:

Social Leverage.

Don't know what i am talking about? Hang out with some people... you'll see what i mean. I was going to classify this with young adults, but it applies in a lot of age groups. People looking for the "cool kids". People wanting so bad to be "in" or "noticed". People striving for attention. So many times we don't even realize that we are stepping on people to get there. We are only intentional when it means social leverage for us. We so often only go out of our social bubble if it will benefit us(ME) in someway. Why? Why? Why?

Can we please just love people? Can we please just try? i dare us.
here are the practical things i am talking about:

- go out to coffee with someone you've never had a 1-1 conversation with... and ask them about their dreams, hopes and wishes.
-invite someone to your "hang out" who doesn't normally come... mix things up a bit.
-buy someone flowers, just because they reminded you of that person... it doesn't matter WHAT that person has or HASN'T done for you.
-STOP. and ask someone how their life is... and be ready for a possibly long answer. don't rush past moments.
-buy someone's bottled water when they don't have enough change... i did this at trader joes and caused quite a stir... it was really funny how people reacted to a SIMPLE act of kindness.
-smile. it's beautiful no matter what you think... God made it in HIS image and HE is beautiful... your smile could LITERALLY change a day(and in turn a life)

i know some of those things sound so "cheesy". But if you honestly look at your life... do you see yourself as someone who INTENTIONALLY loves people or someone who rushes on past? May you think you are intentional, but are you only intentional if it benefits you? OR perhaps you know exactly what i am talking about because you live in the same world i do... and wonder if someone will be intentional with you... just because they think you are great and not because you can benefit their life.

let's stinkin love people well this week. Please.

the view from my porch...

A Journey of Faith; Cheers to my Mom!

hey check it out:

A Journey Of Faith

it's my AMAZING Mom's NEW website.... she created it. Yikes! How does a mom of 13 manage to make a website "on the side" while homeschooling, being a mom, being a wife, and having a life????

Secret #1 about my mom: She is Superwoman.

Secret #2 about my mom: She is the BEST pie-maker in the whole world

Secret #3 about my mom: She is competitive; you would never know until you've played Hand and Foot with her.

Secret #4 about my mom: She has never been to Hawaii, and doesn't really want to go; Australia is her secret dream vacation.

Secret #5 about my mom: She is able to mulitply time. Seriously. I am pretty sure her days have 35 hours in them....

Secret #6 about my mom: She can spot a lie a mile away. She also knows when someone is being fake, but thinks they have her fooled.

Secret #7 about my mom: She looks 10 years younger than most people her age...Ask anyone who's met her... She doesn't at all look 4_ years old OR like the mother of 13!!!

Secret #8 about my mom: She had a cancerous tumor the size of a lemon in her throat. Ask her the story it's pretty rad.

Secret #9 about my mom: Even though she is 4_ years old, she still has so much to give this world!!!!! I am excited to see where God takes her on this next FAITH adventure... ask her about her definition of Faith, and you will find out 2 things; A. she could be an English Teacher B. she actually lives a life of faith!

Secret #10 about my mom: She is MY all time FAVORITE person to go on a girl date with, because she loves me!!! Not just in the "mom way" in the REAL person who actually cares about my life sort of way.

Oh and if that's not enough, she also has a REALLY great blog that she keeps up all the time!!!

BEWARE: if you click this link make sure you carve out a chunk of time, you will get sucked into my BIG AMAZING GREEK FAMILY and the incedible life they live. aka, you won't want to stop reading. =)
click:
I'm Ghana Adopt

PS- i love you mom!!!

Happy October... it's snowing.

That's basically all i wanted to say, but i think in order for this to be a real blog post i have to actually write something semi-intelligent.

today i have been listing my thoughts in ABC order, so we'll go with that and see what happens.

A. I have 3 brothers here in Bend for the weekend! Hooray for Gregg dating Heidi and Josiah and Elijah tagging along for some fun!!!!

B. It really was snowing for a while tonight. I was really pouty about it. Don't get me wrong i love snow, but not in October. This could be a long winter.

C. I have a new job! Hooray!!! God totally blessed me with a nanny job. My mom's new website says i am a professional nanny... which made me smile! Seven is 5months old; He and i had lots of fun adventures our first week together. We went for walks, swang on the porch swing watching the sunset, took naps, and laughed a lot. He is in that stage were the drool is a constant drip... so the cuffs on my sleeves were rather wet =) I'll keep you updated as Seven and i go on adventures through growing up.... hanging out with a 5 month old is giving me great perspective on life/being a mom/being a baby/growing up.

D. Red Robin and i are still friends... don't worry i haven't peaced out on the dirty bird yet!!!

E. Emerge is rad. Corey Parnell can preach. The series we started tonight has a long title: How I Learned to Let Go and Stop being such a Control Freak. And if tonights message was just #1.. it's going to be a great series.

F. I'm praying about taking a trip. It's been over 2 years since i went overseas and the ache in my heart grows everyday. My AMAZING brother Jeremiah, who by the way is learning Arabic, is 21, handsome, single, amazing, smart, funny, gifted, nice, crazy and did i mention he loves Jesus. Oh. he loves Jesus. ---no that was not an add for a future wife, i just wanted you to know what i think of my brother.---anyways, he lives in the middle east and is doing AMAZING things to dispel the kingdom of darkness, and bring LIGHT and LIFE to a hurting culture. Mostly i want to go visit him, but i also want to see what God is up to in the middle east.

G. i miss my sisters. the 3 oldest Greek princesses are all on different Continents!!! and the little 3 live 450 miles to far from me.

H. why is it snowing?

Happy Anniversary ...to us.

This week celebrates meeting my BFF and the adventure of the last year together.
Here's to us; Heidi Lynn and Cassie D.