Our Little Miss | Life

Oh my, how time seems to be flying by and every moment I am trying to embrace.

We went in for our 21 week appointment at the beginning of August and knew/hoped that we would be able to find out the gender of our baby. B and I wanted to know so we could start calling the baby a he or she, figure out a name and be able to be a bit prepared with either pink/purple/yellow or blue/green things! So as we sat, with my belly smeared in jelly, my heart was beating quick, and palms a bit sweaty. The ultrasound assistant smiled and knew within seconds, as our little one was not being modest. She said it is a girl with a smile and immediately my heart sang.

I will take this moment to be honest and say we were thinking boy. After thinking over this I think my hoping for a little boy was that little boys are momma's boys and I wanted just that. A few nights before I was day dreaming of our family one day. With kids of our own and kids placed into our life through adoption. As the dream played out I remember at one point handing something to the one I knew was my oldest and it was a girl, when I came back to reality I had such a peace and this joy that filled me at the very thought. So when the ultrasound assistant said it was a girl all doubts, fears and any thought of a boy just seemed impossible. All of a sudden I knew she was a girl, and felt like I had known it the entire time (even though I did not really). I love being able to call her, just that, a her and refer to her as little miss.

With every kick and every glance I get at her pictures my heart longs to hold her, kiss her toes, and stare at her for hours. Until then I am embracing each movement and each reminder that we are so close now until December.

I just can not wait :

To show her the love of our God, His purpose for us, His passion for us and His plan for her.

To instill in her what our parents have taught us to be important.

To raise her to love others, and to be selfless.

To teach her to say thank you and please.

To teach her to share, and bless her with little gifts of adventure, exploration and creating.

To fall in love with our new family: B, me, baby and Hunter.

(Selfish reason) to become more selfless as my life because so much less about me.

To be able to fill a little life with so much love, support, and to be filled by her joy.

To do our best to create a good human being.

I just can not wait.

Selfless Friendship | Life

This post was inspired by a talk with the beautiful lady above. The shot was taken at the beach, self-timer, Canon A-1 film camera. The lady is a lovely Iowa kindergarten school teacher that I have known for the past 10 years, she is one of my dearest friends.

One of the things that I have learned since being married is that we have different needs/holes that are to be filled by different things/beings. There is a big place for God, and a relationship with our creater, which is the most important and vital of the three. The second (for me) is romance, my husband and the amazing friendship we have together (going on four years). The last one is (girl) friendship. I need someone to talk with and talk with and talk with again, sometimes about silly things and sometimes about heart wrenching things. This hole for girl-friendship, in my life, God has filled with my mom, my mother-in-law, my (not-so-little) sister and several other beautiful ladies.

One of the most important things I have learned about friendship is that it is all about who I am. Hah! Oh please, let me explain... I need to be (in the very least) what I expect people to be to me. AND if I strive to be an even better person this means I am going to strive to be above and beyond those expectation. So in the end it is the farthest thing from a selfish act, in fact it is selfless. Because when you are to others what you want them to be to you, your needs, wants and desires take second. I was so inspired by a quote once that says "Love without depending, listen without defending and speak without offending". I think if we applied that to our relationships life would be easier, we would become more selfless. And in becoming more selfless the contentment of life just appears. I have this quote written on a journal and feel as if it is one of those that should be read every morning (if not hourly on some days). But life is not about perfection, it's about the journey, taking the small steps to become the person you want to be, that God wants you to be. So journey on, my friends.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

July Camping Adventure | Life

We got the wonderful blessing of escaping up north for our Independence day! As I have stated in posts of the past, I am rediscovering my passion for film. A small reason for this is because my Nikon digital cameras are our bread and butter, so taking them on a camping trip probably isn't the smartest thing to do. So here is the film from the long weekend. 

We had a beautiful first few days. We tented in a small space next to the landing which is only big enough for small boats and canoes. No cell service for miles, and no electricity. Our beagle, Hunter, got to come with us and was free to roam. Hunter got so warn out by day two that he would try to fall asleep wherever he could, the picture above is one such place, all cuddled up like a wild dog.

B fished, while I read. Baby wasn't yet visible, I still only look chubby, joy.  But I felt great, and just kept snacking on a protein bars and/or a premixed fruit smoothie. There was a bathroom, the kind that is a big hole, with a toilet. It was wonderful to NOT have to go in the woods considering pregnant ladies have to pee all the time. Sleeping was better then expected... we brought along two cots, and tiny camping air mattresses, I also brought two pillows to prop accordingly. 

The last day it poured, and stormed. We went out between the clouds and caught a few fish for dinner and cooked them up under the awning then snuck in the car to watch a movie on the tiny screen. It isn't camping, unless it rains. We packed up our wet belongings the next morning and headed home, through traffic and a clear sky.

What a blessing it was to get away for a weekend and enjoy the company of B, Hunter and my in-laws.

Old Friends, Pizza & Ice Cream | Life

As a teenager I remember people exclaiming that "these were the best years" of their lives. I was floored. While living them I thought these were the best years, oh joy (sarcasm intended). But looking back I see the joy that they brought, the good memories, and the laughter. These were the years I spent finding out who I was and I think that is why they are so tough. What got me through was my faith (first and foremost): my relationship with God, my family, and these lovely ladies.
The lady on the top is my cousin, we have been friends since we were born. When I first found out I was moving to Minnesota at the age of 13 and I had to leave my best friends behind in Kentucky I thought my life was over. The only thing that kept me breathing was that I finally (after 13 years of wishing) got to live next to one of my favorite people. Below in black and white is Amy. We met freshmen year of high school, which I hated (yes I am a bit negative) and she was my sanity throughout those next three years (and still is). Right below her is Melissa, a beautiful gal I met at church, we were both misunderstood teenagers (or so we thought) and so we fit together perfectly and made it through those years hand and hand. 

These ladies and I had a night out two weeks ago. We found us a gluten free pizza restaurant, Pizzeria Lola, (two of them are extremely allergic) and spent the time remembering when, laughing and talking of how far we have come. We finished our night with some Sebastien Joe's Ice cream, homemade ice cream. My camera came along to capture their beauty and the time we got to spend together.

 

Back To Film | Life

Oh the beauty and simplicity of a film camera. My mom talks of how my grandpa captured moments of their lives with his cameras that line my shelves. She did the same with us with the camera I now shoot with, Canon A-1. The kit lens for this camera was the 50mm, I have yet to change it. The most challenging part is shooting without an auto focus, as silly as that may sound. I have yet to be brave to shoot on anything but auto, the meter is broken and has been since I took it into my possession. The auto produces beautiful results. Since I bought film for our outdoor trips, I stuck with ISO 200 so there wouldn't be too much grain. The grain that is seen in these scans is perfection! These scans were processed at Walgreens (I am a high spender), and are actually awful scans but they look great on the internet. The prints turned out great in 4x6 size. My next processing will be down at National Camera. Once I finish off this silly I will be buying pro from a local lab and processing through them.

This blog post is full of photos from our 2011 trip to the Boundary Waters. B and his family have been going there since he was tiny. It is one of the entrance lakes. We can take a tiny motor into and we stay on one of the few campsites. It is beautiful, quiet, away from cellphone service. We fish, I read, and swim. This year some friends of my in-laws rented a cabin and one day we decided to portage (carry canoes, walk and canoe again) to a water fall. We eat fish over fire, and go to the bathroom in the back woods (pictured below). The last picture is our pup, who had to stay home. Dogs are allowed but you have to pick up after them, no fun.

We just returned from our summer weekend trip and I have a camera loaded with film ready to be developed. I can not wait to see what turned out and what didn't from our adventures. As I have been mulling it over, I think I am going to capture most of our babes life in film. The color, crispness, quality and simplicity is incomparable to digital (shhh… don't tell anyone I said this). Hopefully this passion of mine will not be forgotten in the chaos of life!

Our Exciting Announcment

We are so exciting to announce we are pregnant! Our first little babe is due December 24, 2013. This holiday season is sure to be filled with the greatest gift we could have ever prayed for. We have been on a little journey so far and I did share a little about it below. We are so thrilled to be able to share this news with all of you. The cherry on top is this does not effect anything that we have already committed to, and we give God all the glory for His perfect timing! I will be taking the occasional baby bump pictures, with my handy self timer even though I don't feel quite like I am "glowing" yet. And we plan to take a set of maternity photos, possibly with a self timer of the two of us as we get further along. We just hit trimester two today, and I am thrilled.

Taken week 6 of pregnancy - no bump just joy!

Taken week 12 of pregnancy - with a photo of our little one which was taken at 9 weeks!

Merry Christmas | My Life

Christmas at our home :: This year we tried to go simpler. We love getting real trees but it seemed to us an expense that we could cut this year. With the other decorations we collected through the last two years we have enough to add a Christmas feel to the house without spending too much money this year. I did get a new little tree from Ikea (plastic and tiny). Also purchased these beautiful chalkboard designs from Caravan Shoppe and printed them at kinkos in the largest, cheapest format :: $3.95 each. All the little designs I just printed off my computer! The last thing purchased was the single poinsettia from Trader Joes! I couldn't go completely without fresh greenery... my momma was trimming some greenery. I took some home and covered our indoor banister and made a wreath type thing for the door. The "Merry Christmas" chalkboard was handmade with the little wood piece purchased at Micheals.

Merry Christmas wonderful friends, family and clients!
Blessing from our little family to you and yours.

Celebrating Three Years Of Marriage | Life

For our anniversary we got to sneak up to the north shore area to celebrate. This is actually where we spent our honeymoon so it was fun to be in the same area. 3 years (and three weeks by the time we had time to go) ago we stayed in the nice resort and went diving. This year we stayed in a local hotel and explored the rivers/falls for fishing spots or reading spots as I like to call them. I wanted to share pictures, they were taken with either my Nikon-1 or iphone. Sorry the big camera doesn't come along on these trips, we pack light!

I Have Found The One Whom My Soul Loves | My Life

I met my husband about 9 years ago. We started dating at 15, then were "just friends" and got back together December 18th almost five years ago! Today we celebrate 3 years of being married.

As I am typing it, three years, it just doesn't feel real. It seems as if I met him yesterday, I can remember every detail. His curly blond hair and big blue eyes. He was the handsomest 15 year old at Lake Geneva Bible Camp. What a stud. Driving home on the bus I thought of nothing else and on the car ride home from the church my mom just knew something was off. I told her I met a new friend and he happened to be a boy. She saw through me and knew that it was more. Dating, which wasn't really allowed up to this point. But when the boy lives 3 hours up north and across the seas for 6 months out of the year (India) you can't really complain. It was God's protection in their eyes but in mine it was torment. But now looking back I see how much we learned when talking on the phone for 1-2 hours 4-5 times a week. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, my anthem.

Nine years later I wake up next to this same man, to his funny sense of humor and his romantic simplicity. God listened to everyone of my prayers as a little girl and is still answering them everyday in our lives. We realize that no one is perfect, it is in those imperfections that God unites us and helps us grow. Three years ago we went from being two people "in love" to adding a third and asking God to help us become one, to grow in His love and have the strength to do whatever He asks of us. Everyday I learn something new about this selfless concept of true love and marriage. But every night it is worth it.

Happy Anniversary to the man of my prayers and dreams.

Below is a recap of our day. Our pictures were taken by the amazing Liz Siebenaler & Kathy King!  

Emma Inspired Bridal Shower | Life

This past weekend I got to throw an intimate family shower for my soon to be married cousin. No one has really seen our place yet so it was exciting to have everyone over and to get to plan this special afternoon. I handmade all the decor and food and my sister and mom did the dessert and helped me get everything together. The flowers were provided by the wonderful KMB Floral. I blogged more about the details over here: life.carissachristine.com. We had lunch, dessert, played the questions game, shared fun memories and advice and watched her be blessed with some gifts. It was a wonderful evening and I am glad I had my camera out to capture it!