Intro to an Intro

I've never actually introduced myself on my blog before.

It's really never been necessary.

After all, my husband, my cousin, and a couple of friends were the only ones that ever read my blog for the longest time. They all know who I am. In fact, I didn't even have an "about me" ditty on the side until just recently. I only recently updated that because of my new found love of photoshop and it was just another page element to create. And while I've made some new friends in the blog world, it's still not really necessary for me to introduce myself in that format. Because after all, if you explore my blog for a little bit, you'll get an idea of who I am.

But.

I've felt like God's been pushing me to tell my story.

I know. It sounds crazy to me too. Mostly because my defense is, "but I don't have a story." And then I feel Him telling me that's crazy because we all do.

It's true, I've read a lot of people's 'stories.' I've often heard them referred to as their 'God story.' A story of the pivotal moment in their life when God intercepted and changed things for good.

I can't relate to that.

God and I go way back and it hasn't always been pretty.

I attempted to introduce myself here when Mary and I started our Complacency Challenge (what a blessing that was to me!). But it was barely a start.

So before I attempt to tell my story, can I just complain that I don't want to share 'my story.' "It's kind of ugly. I don't want to put that out there for just anyone to see." Well A.) What makes me assume they don't think my current story is ugly? and B.) IF they don't think my current story is ugly, maybe they will see how great God really is. and what great work He can do. Really.

So bear with me while I gather my thoughts and attempt to share my His story. Soon.

Super Day

Sunday was a Super Day. They had infant dedications and baptisms at church. One of babies is the son of a sweet gal from my Bible study. Rusty and I left at the end of the service so she sent me the videos of what we missed. I was expecting Pastor Mike to make me laugh. Instead, what he said about S's little gift from God made me cry. It was really special!

A few people came over yesterday afternoon. Of course our lovely weather changed some people's plans but that's okay, I'd rather have them home safe than on the roads. Plus, I don't think I could have eaten any more food so I'm sure it was for the best.

As always, these little guys were entertaining. Dakota loves the extra attention he gets when the boys are over and we love how tired he is at the end of the day!

Today we got home early because of the weather and spent our afternoon eating way too many leftovers from yesterday.

That makes for two super days in a row... hope you had a Super Day, too!

Double Cuteness

Wednesday some friends came over for dinner and I got to snap pictures of the girls for a project their momma is working on. It was dark out and the lighting was horrible and I was trying out new settings so I messed up a lot of pictures. Thankfully twins are cute no matter what! Especially when one is pouting and the other so sweetly talks her sister into taking pictures with her. Lots of love between these two!

Super Easy Chocolate Fix

AKA Chocolate Eclair Dessert

Beat:

2 packages french vanilla pudding

3 C. milk

Fold in:

8 oz (or more) cool whip

Layer into 9x13 pan (or custard cups) with graham crackers.

Top with chocolate sauce:

Melt 4 Bakers chocolate squares

Stir in:

1/4 C. butter

1/4 C. corn syrup

1 C. powder sugar

3-5 T. milk

Refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Yup. It's that easy. And pretty tasty, too! Thanks, Robin!

Happy Birthday, Ang!

Today is one of my very best friends, Ang's birthday. Here is a picture of her birthday last year. We always end up having to celebrate it during the Super Bowl because of basketball...

Ang is such an amazing friend to so many people. She has a huge heart and is such a loving and giving person. I have never met anyone that doesn't love Ang and I don't know of anyone that could ever have a negative word to say about her. She is always so positive and such a great example of sharing the Lord's agape love. There are a lot of friends that will share your sorrows, but not a lot of friends will rejoice with you. Ang is a friend that I can cry to or truly rejoice with. She and her husband, Gabe, are such an inspiration to Rusty & I. They have done so much for us and are always there. No matter what.

Plus, she's so stinkin' cute she even looks good in a potato sack!

Love you, Ang! Happy Birthday!!

Updated: Another Super Bowl birthday cake:

One More...

..because I was sure you wanted to see the ruffle butt onesie in action. ;)

Okay, I'm Not Very Patient

This beauty is going to be ONE very soon.

So of course I begged her mama to let me take her picture.

Then talked her mama into bringing the whole brood up to see us.

Then I took their pictures too. As quick as I could because her daddy wasn't real excited about it. ;)

And I know these photos haven't even made it out of iPhoto and into Photoshop yet (seriously, those eyes haven't even been to photoshop yet, and when they get there I wont be touching them!). I know I'm going to want to play with them (and about 300 others) even more in Photoshop.

But I'm not patient enough to finish editing before posting more.

And I was just sure you would want to see more of her too.

Because she's adorable.

Delightful.

Gorgeous.

And her family is pretty darn cute too!

AND just as fun as they look in photographs!

Coming Soon...

....more pictures of this beauty. And her brothers. And even her mama and dada.

Isn't she adorable?

I Love Saturdays

I'm actually up and (almost) ready for church on time today. So I thought I'd post an update of what we've been up to (since the rest of today is pretty full and will deserve it's own post later)!

Friday- I can't remember what my excuse was for not blogging. I can't even remember what we did that night....

Saturday- Started with a photography class. It was a lot of fun. I already knew a lot of what we did, but learned some fun new stuff to try out. Also learned I was going all about macro photos completely wrong.

And now have a better way to take them. I've been using many of my lenses for the wrong situations. Switched them up a bit and got much better results. SO much fun.

After class, I couldn't find my keys. This is not typical of me. It stressed me out. I retraced my steps and looked everywhere. Turns out they were in my ignition with the doors unlocked. Not so much fun.

I ran some errands after class (to finish some prep for this afternoon...). When I got home, Rusty and I ran out for a bit. Mostly to get groceries but we made a couple pit stops before the grocery store. I'll post pictures (as soon as I take some) of what we brought home. It's not a big deal, but something I'm really happy about!

We then went out to eat with Sara and James. We hadn't seen them since October so we were long overdue. We went to the ISU basketball game. James gave me another photography lesson and has me wanting more accessories for the Canon. (I know.. I'm fixing my eyes on things above right now and not on things of this world.)

Rusty's cousin's daughter (did you follow that?) performed with her gymnastics group for halftime. She is a little stud.

And I'll have to post about today later... but I'm excited about it! :)

Nubs

Tonight I'm missing a lot of somebodies.

I'm missing my husband who is off at basketball.

I'm missing some gal pals that I haven't gotten to talk to much during this busy season.

I'm missing family that lives too far away.

I'm missing my niece who I haven't seen nearly enough of lately.

And I'm missing this little guy.

Who left his book about Nubs at our house.