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!”

smith rocks

like i said... i went hiking at Smith Rocks... it was glorious!!! i think i could spend 8 hours just walking around taking pictures there... however on Wednesday i was there to be a "serious" hiker... it's ok to laugh at that statement...so i didn't take as many pictures...

here are my favorite;

Jesse... guy in the picture... and i had a great time hiking misery ridge/monkey face.... if you want a great feeling of accomplishment; do that hike... and don't give up!!! the view from the top is incredible and the feeling of actually pressing on past the 9 million stairs you have to climb is awesome!

be glad in it

Psalm 118:24
"This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it."

In the last 3 days my world has been turned upside down. I have been challenged in my faith, mind-set, goals, hopes and i hiked Smith Rocks, which is a whole different kind of challenge. =)
Over and over in our christian lives we are taught that the Jeremiah 29:11 life is for us... and i totally believe it is. I stand on that promise that God does have a plan for me and a Hope and Future are mine, but sometimes I get so caught up in that hope and future i forget to live today. Maybe it's just me, but i get too caught up in my dreams, visions and goals that i don't live my moments well. The last three days feel like 3 years, and at the same time 3 seconds. Because i am a photographer i capture things in my head as visual images, right now i head is FULL of beautiful-scary moments from the last three days.... On Tuesday of this week i decided to take a risk. On Wednesday i hiked Smith Rocks. On Thursday i decided that instead of being scared of my risks and falling off rocks, i was going to REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

I know i sang the song a million times in Sunday school and Christian preschool. I also know that i have forgotten and taken for grated that verse and the song. Each day is a gift, each breath is a piece of tape holding that gift together, each giggle is a ribbon, each terrifying moment brings you closer to understanding that gift. Sometimes i forget that. Sometimes i want to rush through the gift and get to the other side. Sometimes i want the puzzle to just be done already! I want to live my gifts well. I want to walk them wisely. I want to get to the dream God has for me, but i also want to enjoy the unwrapping the present. I want to embrace the sunsets, and city lights from the top of Pilot Butte. I want to slow down and rejoice in it. I want to sing the song over and over and over.

I believe that as i walk, not run, but as i walk through each day and as i pray my way through the challenges God's dream and my dream will unfold. I'm sure it will be different than i imagine, it wouldn't be amazing if i had it all figured out. And so, i breath in deeply. I watch the stars, i take some risks because;

This is the day
this is the day,
that the Lord has made
that the Lord has made,
i will rejoice
i will rejoice,
and be glad in it
and be glad in it,
This is the day that the Lord has made i will rejoice and be glad in it.
this is the day
this is the day
that the Lord
has
made.

Bread of Life #3

Psalm 91:4
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

simply amazing.

Kent, Oregon

As we have previously established, i like to drive and i drive a lot. Last week as i was on one of my long drives... from Couer D Alene Lake Idaho to Bend.... long drive. I often drive through 'cute' towns and wish i had time to stop and take pictures. I finally decided that i was going to stop if i saw something i wanted to capture. I am so glad i did!!! I actually turned around to capture the old gas station and auto shop in Kent Oregon. I am pretty sure less than 100 people live in the sad little town on Highway 97 .... enjoy!

they're gettin' married...

so we took some pictures...

congrats you guys!

Bread of Life #2

Eat it up, like a piece of meat.
Soak in it, like a hot tub.
Revel in it, like a sunset.
Meditate on it, like when you are trying to decide what spend money on.
Think about it, like you think about the one you love.
Marvel at it, like a work of art.
Enjoy it, like a river float.
Don't forget it, like you would that one thing you forgot to buy.
Re-read it, like you've never read it before.
Pass it on, like those silly forwards.
Drink deeply, it's living water.
It is the bread of life.

Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,
so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

One Year Later!

August 14th 2007 was a big day for me. I was in Hood River/Mosier, i went to Mikes ice cream TWICE, and i also fell off The Pocket. The Pocket is a totally safe and fun way to beat the heat of August... you go, you jump, you enjoy the feeling of cold water all around you... and then you do it again! I never really got to do any of that on that crazy Tuesday last year... because i got really nervous... and instead of jumping confidently and embracing the scariness of the 30ft (approx.) leap... i hesitated and fell... tumbling down, hitting some rocks half way down and landing in the water head first... not so fun. My favorite line of the day was this, "what hurts?" well pretty much everything for the first 30 seconds... and then nothing.... except for my left foot when i bend it a certain way. 24 hours later i discovered i had a broken 3rd Metatarsal. After 6 weeks in a foot brace, a few weeks of crutches, and some great nicknames I was back to my normal self!

One Year Later I am in awe of all the things God has done in my life. That crazy Tuesday seems like lifetimes away, but at the same time the details will forever be etched in my memory. In order to commemorate such a fine milstone, i made a trip back to Hood River/Mosier and had a BLAST with my "family" (Dunagans and CCHR). To them;

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT THIS LAST YEAR!!! YOU ALL MEAN SO MUCH TO ME! I'M SO GLAD I WAS WITH YOU WHEN THIS SCARY DAY HAPPENED AND I'M SO BLESSED BY ALL THE LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT YOU SO FREELY GAVE ME ALONG THE WAY!!! I LOOK FORWARD TO MANY MORE VISITS TO MIKE'S AND AWESOME ''POCKET'' MEMORIES!

and now for the pictures....

I went to Mike's Ice Cream... twice =)

I went back to The Pocket.....

This is looking over the cliff from where i fell.
These are my feet hanging over the edge...
The cliff towering over me...
Happy One Year Later!

Check out my blog post from last september to see the diagram and pictures of the bruised foot!

Bread of Life #1

I love the word of God. The B-I-B-L-E yes! that's the book for me!!!! so i've decided that periodically in the next little i will have "the bread of life" moments on here... All it is, is the Word. Nothing long and super spiritual. Just the Word. Because there is POWER in it. Sometimes the world(and the church) don't need our ramblings about how we feel about a certain verse or chapter, we just need the verse or chapter. Let's take a break and just enjoy the Word, just like we would a really good meal. One of those meals that makes you sit back and slouch a little while you enjoy the after taste and full feeling.

~
Proverbs 13:12
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life."

thoughts from the road.

I like to drive. It just one of those random facts about who i am. I also happen to drive a lot. I bought my lovely Honda Passport on February 14th 2007(happy valentines day to me!) and it had approx. 89,000 miles on it. Today it has over 117,500... that's over 28,000 miles in about a year and a half! most of those mile spent by myself!!! I love long road trips, i love short-ish road trips, i like to drive. I like to think, laugh, listen, pray, dance, and sing while i drive. Yes, i did say dance. Ask Heidi... i can bust some rad moves while driving. I also like seeing things that make me laugh out loud, even though no one is around to hear it. for example but not limited to:

1. road names such as: Tweed Rd. Sagebrush Way. Bodacious Drive. and of course all the Market roads in Bend.

2. a cow. one, not two, not three. One random cow on the mountain pass.

3. motorcyclist with a helmet, but no face shield... I imagine small insects flying at your face at 55mph would not feel so good.

4. better yet, motorcyclist wearing a helmet, but a tank top and ripped jeans. Yes, his head will be saved, however the rest of his body will be shredded to pieces, if he happened into a wreck.

5. girl in bikini on the side of the road... standing on a snow bank attempting pictures under a waterfall. Can anyone say Hypothermia?

and last but not least

#6. woman standing on the side of the road wearing a sparkling(think tap dancing) hat, black t-shirt with an open back, holding a cardboard sign that says this, "$179,000 Waller Road." Did i mention that the lettering was glitter-paint? I'm not sure if she was trying to sell the road or house on the road..... hmmm not sure.

I also have become a fan of photography-while driving. It's a new art. The key is to keep watching where you are driving and just point the camera in the direction of the object you desire to capture and see what happens for example:

the small print says, "not a swear word."

ok so it's to small to read, but we've all seen the signs, "DEER"
and in small print "NEXT 3 MILES"
Will someone please explain to me how the deer instinctively know not to go further than 3 miles down this stretch of highway for fear of losing their life? Because for some reason, i don't see Bambi and his mom having this conversation;

Bambi, "Hey mom, can me and thumper go play chicken with those roaring, colorful, rather fast moving animals?"
Mama Dow, "Ok Babmi, you can go explore the wild and exciting road, where the automobiles play, but only within these 3 miles, because this is where they know and have been informed that we are. So beyond the 3 mile mark, they won't be thinking or looking out for us there. Please be careful. But have fun!"

Road Trip anyone?

Pancakes Anyone?

This is the coolest pancake i have ever seen in my entire life. Yes, it is a Frog Prince. Yes it is all one piece, and yes i did eat it. It was also very Yummy. Thank you Mr. Gilstrap!!!! My life is now closer to being complete, because i have experienced the world famous Gilstrap Frog Prince Pancake!!!!!

seriously people. Show me a cooler pancake, i dare you...

In response

The following is a response to a friends blog titled big faith by my dear friend Ann Dunagan. Thanks for the inspiration
---- --- ----
What a beautiful picture of faith. I am learning right now how to handle my faith, it's delicate like a flower, powerful like a lion, passionate like a dance and at times as confusing as a maze. What does one do when they have passion/vision/dreams/prophetic moments yet they are like that picture of the girl with the rock? TOO big for me to figure out and 'make' happen. Often too big for many to understand or see. What then.... then i must stir up my faith and cry out to the One who gave them to me in the first place... and then stand in FAITH believing He does indeed have a PERFECT PLAN that reaches beyond this moment, this week or even this life; His plan reaches into eternity. And so i stand in Faith. Sometimes my hands are lifted in worship, sometimes the standing turns into kneeling/crying out in prayer and sometimes i just sit in a silent moment and try not to think about it or figure it out.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1

We have all heard this verse in sermons, videos, plays... in the bible reading about a month ago. But when we stop to think about it here are the 2 things that come to mind;

#1- faith is a big deal and hard to wrap my head around.
#2- faith goes right along with Hope, and hope is something i can understand and wrap my head around. Hope is something we all have and hold onto. Hope is what the world needs. Hope is the message that makes sense to a world lost in darkness.

and my hope is found in NOTHING less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

uh oh i LOVE that hymn... i could go on for hours... but i'll leave it at that.

thoughts? words of wisdom?

Summer Camp 2008

The Westside-rs

These 5 girls are AMAZING!

This is me on the last day... not sure why my smile is so big?!?!
We were getting ready to come HOME!

We were a little "mis-informed" about dress-up night

Jenine got the memo...

The Black Hole

Gross games....

This is Casey.
The goal was to get the most Cheetos to stick to the face full of whip cream.

Jenine was in a race to see who could eat half a watermelon faster...

That's the basics folks. We had a great time. Lots of craziness. Lots of God moments. Beautiful Sunsets. Amazing People. And if you ever wondered when the line,
"when heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss"
was going to show up during worship... it has arrived! Not kidding.
more stories to come!

NEW PHOTOGRPAHY BLOG~

check it out....

http://justsmilesphotography.wordpress.com/

it's still in the works, but i think overall it's going to be better and easier for people to actually see a lot of my photography in one place!!!!

hooray!

J&J July 5th 2008

Check out my photography blog for more pics...

Part of my weekend up in WA was capturing moments for Jordan and Jen Williams on their Big Day!

so close!

We almost had all the Diacogiannis Kiddos in the same place at the same time... Carissa is still in Argentina and Jeremiah had a work meeting... but here's the rest of us....

L-R= Ben,  Josiah,  Gregg,  Elijah,  Josh, Rachel, Hosanna, Me, Sarah, Jacob and Lindsey! 

morning sounds..

Beep. this morning i woke up to a text message. i glanced more at the time than the text itself. 9:07.

9:07? for real?

I have been at my parents house for a long weekend and every morning except today i have woken up to the sound of one of my little siblings whispering in my ear.... everyday much earlier than 9:07. As i lay in bed, the sun broke through the red curtains with all the power it could muster, I could hear the birds outside and the quiet hum of the ceiling fan in the living room. I couldn't hear ANY people sounds. I wanted to hope that perhaps they had all slept in, but i knew that they had all gone to bed hours before me and my silence would soon be broken. I grabbed the comforter and pulled it over my head, hoping for a few more moments of sleep. Sure enough the door flew open and i could hear a little person approaching the bed. "cassie?" came the whisper... and then a second little person entered the room, "rachel! come back down stairs, cassie is sleepin'." I rolled over and produced the evidence that i was indeed awake; my half-smile half-yawn, the messing pile of hair and my squeaky voice, "good morning girls." Sarah and Rachel both looked at me, not sure if they had just woken me up, or if i had been awake under there. They starred at me for a moment and both hurried back out of the room and down stairs. I climbed out of bed and went to see where all the other little ones were...

as i walked down the stairs i heard the washing-machine spinning someone's laundry, the shower had just been turned off, and a chorus of little voices was drifting out from underneath the door of "the boys" room. I opened the door slowly and peaked in... six little heads turned to stare. "We're playin' UNO." "what's for breakfast?" "Are you leavin' today?" "Josiah's being rude." and "i want waffles" are just a few of the phrases that turned my half-asleep self into wide awake big sister.

I tried to answer all the questions as i backed out of the room and heading back of the stairs. The pitter-patter of little feet followed me. I told them i needed to shower and then i would figure out breakfast.(i can't function with out a shower and moments to pray about my day) I hadn't even had a chance to brush my hair when the pounding started on bedroom door. "He said i have to eat waffles and i want pancakes." "can we buy syrup?" "let's take a vote."

I got them going on breakfast and escaped for the office to check email and blog updates. I listened as they helped each other set the table and pour the batter. "it's hot, so be careful." "can you get me the plates?" "i want waffles and pancakes" "are the strawberries frozen?"

in a few hours i will be heading back to Bend. I will wake up tomorrow morning in my own house, with my phone vibrating the time, the sun shining through the black curtains and the sounds of the neighbors sprinklers starting off the day. I will lay there and wonder how the weekend went so fast and if all the pictures turned out good. The silence will be loud in my ear and i will turn on my itunes to break things up while i start my day.

The morning sounds are so different here and there. Here life is so evident by the sounds. There i might not have a conversation with another human until 10 or 11. Here "cassie" is as common in my ear as "pink? or No pink?" there.

11:01.

I glance at the clock and the office has now been invaded by 3 little ones. They all want to ask me something... Here i go to answer the morning sounds.