June Review. The month of diet coke.

Out-of-order June Photos.

I got covered in baby snot, frozen yogurt, and sprinkles shortly after this photo was taken. The baby sneezed with a mouthful of FroYo and sprinkles and it all came out on me.

We had a fun day of adventures!

And for my next trick, I will look cute while playing the drums. 

Too bad I don't actually play the drums. 

Sleepy Cuddles. Love this baby girl. 

My photographers in training.

Look at that smile!

Decorating cupcakes!

It's a best friend tradition.

Happiness. I love fireworks. :) 

I'm teaching Trina how to swim. Our first lesson was on the floor. We might make it to the pool next time.

Play time!

Love, love LOVE this little girl. One of the most precious people in my life.

Googly Eyes. I just really like crafts.

Happy people!

VBS! I led the Recreation Station and really enjoyed it! The outdoors are my favorite classroom. I want to teach PE.

My button-making oasis. 

Cause everyone could use a little extra help sometimes. My office work-station.

Andrea's. Do not touch. My diet coke was comfortably hidden under the cup.

-- At one point, Alicia and I planned to house a clean and organized zoo in Sam's office. I think he agreed.

-- 17 inches chopped off my hair. And I didn't even cry! 

-- "In five years you'll look like the people (character models) you emulate, so choose wisely." - Donald Miller

-- I love the church office on Fridays. It's like a secret quiet hideout. 

-- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill  

-- The paper cutter in the church office sounds like something between a screeching monkey and a dinosaur.

-- "We gain power from what we are for, not what we are against."

-- I love photography, but at the end of the day, I will always be a writer. 

-- "And I know the one who holds my hope." New favorite song by Big Daddy Weave!

-- "For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
-- I wanted everything to taste like diet coke. All the time.

Painted Goldfish

I’ve always been creative, but my creativity is limited to writing, photography, music, and little kid craft projects. I envy artists who can pick up a paintbrush and make beautiful pictures with it.

If a mortal artist can put that much talent, creativity, and effort into an art project, how more much precision and love does God put into each individual He foresees?

The hard part, for me at least, is accepting it. God made me. Each cell. Each bone. Each chromosome. Each vein. Each drop of blood.

For you formed my inward parts: you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

-Psalm 139:13-16

Life after Moody: Part 3

Job applications. They're not too bad. Now I just need someone to actually hire me. I think I applied to most of the stores in Livermore as well as most of the stores in the mall in the town next to me. I just want a part-time job for the next year. How hard can this be?

eating.

Today was not great.


Out of all the things I struggle with, eating is the one that frustrates and confuses me the most. It’s the last of my struggles that I tend to talk about it.


My struggle with eating is not just about control, but, at least in my case, it was and still is a major component. The need control morphed into other destructive things. I was controlled by my need to control, thus making me not in control. Ironic.

What’s the saying about “I am my own worst enemy”? Because, in my opinion, it seems to be true in any battle for control.


Eating disorders are formed from a mixture of control, media, image, culture, and self-worth. And then somehow it boils down to being loved.


Some days it’s hardly a fight, and other days it’s an all-consuming war. And I hate it. I absolutely hate it.

And that’s all I have to say about this topic right now. Aside from the fact that it made for a handful of really terrible appointments with doctors and a long day.

Second Shooter

This past week I worked as a second shooter for a talented photographer at my church. Lauri and I have different photography styles, but I enjoyed working for and with her.

This is Ava. She's three years old and loved dressing up and accessorizing with pretty bows, long necklaces, and big flowers.

I love capturing the joy and curiosity of children through the medium of photography. Trina and Viola are used to me chasing them around with a camera, so it was fun dressing up and photographing someone who didn't know me and who I wasn't familiar with. I also had some fun playing with photoshop after the shoot!

Bug Issues.

VBS week is usually described as wonderful, busy, loud, and energetic. And I don't challenge any of those descriptions, but I'd like to add bug-infested to the list. Maybe it was because I was leading a station outside on the big front lawn.

Monday - A flying pincher bug flew down my shirt. Really? How inappropriate. I screamed and got it out.

Tuesday - A gnat that flew into my mouth when I was explaining the game and I couldn't spit in front of 50 2nd graders! I panicked and swallowed it. Gross. Nasty. Repulsive. Never again. Next time I'll just spit.

Wednesday - A spider crawled up my arm while I was talking to a class. They screamed, I screamed, and then I flicked the spider off.

**Then there were spiders at Kendra's house. One of them crawled out of the puzzle Viola and I were doing. I screamed and tried to kill it but couldn't so Kendra saved the day. And then another spider ran across the floor and I froze so Kendra ran at it and killed it. All while Viola was screaming and Trina, unfazed at the chaos, continued watching her TV show.

Thursday - There were flying little beetles on the field. Why did God create these things with wings? Seriously. 

 **Later that afternoon there was a cockroach in the office. I was calmly working on junior camp packets when two large cockroaches ran across the floor towards me. I jumped up on my chair and screamed "Bug! Someone get rid of it!" Someone finally came and stepped on the one that hadn't gone into hiding.

Friday - I picked up my diet coke to take a sip and a bee crawled out. That was the end of my diet coke.

And there you have it. I have bug issues.

makin' some noise!

Party! (Secret) Party!!

Alicia and I are DONE with undergrad! So we celebrated in all the best ways possible.

On Monday night we watched Elf and ate little bundt cakes and stayed up late and giggled.

On Tuesday we had church office adventures, which included lots of chocolate and diet coke and giggling and bugging Sam. We also eventually got some work done, as well. Then we hung out at practice for a little while and I edited some photos. And then we left and ended up watching more movies and giggling.

Then today we did an epic amount of things. Grocery store adventures for Alicia's mom to guitar stores with overly flirty young sales reps to watching Gossip Girl to coloring to BarlowGirl sing/dance-a-longs to making cookies.

Life is fun. :)