Posted by Alli on January 9, 2010
Wednesday the stomach bug hit Damon. It had already been through my sons, so I guess it would seem natural to hit me as well. I guess I had blinders on because for some reason, on Wednesday, I was already looking forward to Thursday and spending a snow day with my friend Esther and her kids.
Instead I spent early Thursday throwing up and praying for more sleep. And all the while, the snow fell outside.
Tebow was in bed early, so I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera and took a quick photo walk outside my house.
Snow is so rare in Chattanooga, even a stomach bug can’t keep me from capturing a few images of it.
I went to bed as soon as I came inside.
[tags]Chattanooga snow, snow, photo walk, night photo walk[/tags]
Posted by Alli on January 6, 2010
As is the case with my side of the family, Christmas get togethers mean group photos. Usually in clothing my mom picks out and buys for us. This year I was able to assist in the picking out of clothes and my sisters and I received cashmere sweaters! (I’ve wanted one for a long time.)
This isn’t the best picture from our photo shoot, but it is my favorite.
For more Wordless Wednesday fun, check out the Linky on MomDot!
[tags]Wordless Wednesday, family photo[/tags]
Posted by Alli on January 5, 2010
Today I was given an excellent gift! Babyrocsmama (a friend from MomDot) pointed us to a site for free and cheap wordpress themes and I fell in love with the blog theme you should currently be seeing.
Hey! Are you reading this post in a feed reader? Move it over to my actual blog to see what it looks like!
I love plaid. Aqua is pretty and matches my eyes. I thought maybe a darker background would be better to show off my photographs. And the sidebars met some silly criteria I had.
I still have some behind the scenes reorganizing to do, but whenever remodeling is done on anything (and I know a thing or two about remodeling) some reorganizing must be done. But, let me know what you think.
Posted by Alli on January 4, 2010
On New Year’s Day I mentioned wanting to get to know God better and starting by reading The Bible all the way through. I’m happy to say that I am on track for the 90 day challenge and finished the book of Genesis today.
If you know me in real life, if you know my background (pastor’s kid, PCA raised, Covenant College graduate), it might surprise you to know I have never read The Bible all the way through.
At one point in my life I had a brief conversation with my dad (I think I was in high school). He asked me if I had ever read The Bible all the way through. I clearly remember being taken aback at the question. Read The Bible? Like a book? Wasn’t it just a reference book, like the dictionary or encyclopedia? I memorized verses from The Bible. I didn’t sit and read it like my Sweet Valley High books.
I have read entire books in The Bible. And at the same time, there are entire books I have never read all the way through (Job and Revelations spring to mind).
Knowing The Bible is God’s word and knowing I haven’t read it all makes me think I have been tuning Him out. We joke about Fuller and his “selective hearing” but I think the “selective reading” I have done in the past is very similar. I need to give Him my full attention and I’m trying to start by participating in this challenge.
I’m thankful God pointed me to Amy over at Mom’s Toolbox so I could get started. Tonight I participated in a twitter chat for #B90Day participants and I felt so at ease knowing I wasn’t the only one who was doing this for the first time. And someone asked about the backgrounds of participants and there were plenty of folks raised in the church who were first timers as well.
I am praying for all the participants, that they would remain steadfast and find those pockets throughout the day to read the chapters and savor them in their hearts and minds.
Posted by Alli on January 3, 2010
Well, I thought I would give this a try again. This is the face I make when trying to take a timed picture and hear the words, “What makes it ok to shoot a one month old puppy in the face?” Yeah, I have no words for that awfulness.
Posted by Alli on January 1, 2010
You know those pictures they show on TV or the movies where they start to zoom in and suddenly you realize the big picture is made up of a mosaic consisting of lots and lots of tiny pictures? And as the zoom continues you realize those tiny pictures are made of even smaller pictures? And it goes on and on and on? When I started this blog, I set the tagline to be “defining the circles that make me whole” but today I realized that I feel like I have been zooming in on the big picture to discover the joys of what those little pictures are that make up the mosaic that is me.
Marching forward into 2010 I know I have to look at those pictures of my life and decide which ones I need to change- should they be brighter? Should I change the focus? If I took the picture again, would the composition be completely different? Or is it a simple shift of perspective?
I think my life mosaic is currently made up of Spiritual, Wife, Mother, Health, and Creativity.
Spiritual- this picture has to be sharper and more in focus. While I know God and I have had some amazing discussion in the past year, I know I need to get to know Him more. And for me, the best way to start is reading the Bible all the way through. Today I started The Bible in 90 Days. I am part of the Mom’s Toolbox group who is also doing it. I hope to blog some parts of it, but blogging about it really isn’t the point. Reading the Bible is. And I plan on doing it.
Wife- I think this picture is currently a bit dull. I am praying about ways to make it brighter. A stronger relationship, better communication, common goals- those are blanket goals I can list here without giving away details I’m not ready to share on the internet.
Mother- In 2009 the picture of me as mother changed by adding another child to the mix. It was a much more difficult experience than I expected. And in August we started homeschooling Fuller, making things even more difficult. I think 2010 will be an extension of the picture since I know we still have to find the new normal as a family of four. I don’t have a specific goal to list right now, but I’m praying on it.
On a wife and mother related subtopic, I hope in 2010 I can get a better handle on managing my household. A cluttered home leads to cluttered lives and towards the end of 2009 I was feeling the clutter closing in on our lives. I think the first few weeks of this year will be centered clearing clutter.
Health- The 2010 picture of health will be the main focus for the first quarter of this year. This is because I’m having surgery sometime this month (more on it later, and it isn’t what you might think) and I hope this surgery will help me meet some other physical health goals I have for my life. And when it comes to mental health, I am going to make sure I get some more time to myself and out of the house. Once a week should do it.
Creativity- Photography. Blogging. Crochet. I plan on continuing all three. So far, that is as far as I have gotten with looking at those pictures. I am learning more about photography every day. Maybe I can try a 365 project again. I want to keep blogging and building community. And I have a scarf I really need to finish crocheting.
I see 2010 full of good possibilities and I looking forward to seeing how the pictures develop in my life mosaic.
Posted by Alli on December 31, 2009
I took this picture via remote the other day when setting up for the all important large family picture. It cracks me up. For one, I have big hair. And the look on my face… well, I knew it wasn’t a “real picture” but it turned into something that I think actually looks like the real me.
I’ve been almost MIA from the online world for a while. I keep wondering what I am doing here and what my goals are. I’m not going to try to type out an answer at 11:21 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, but I’m just warning you, next year I will probably start with a blog post about goals and blogging.
Now it is 11:24 and I’m happy to reflect on 2009, knowing it is almost over and done with. While it hasn’t been the worst of years (I had a baby! I started homeschooling!) I think 2010 will be sooooo much better than 2009. I had a great Christmas, but I feel like tomorrow is Christmas again with all the possibilities dancing in front of me.
So, Happy New Year to you and yours. I look forward to sharing 2010 with you.
Posted by Alli on December 16, 2009
On Monday night, when I was cuddled up with my husband catching up on TV, an online acquaintance was dealing with the loss of her two year old son. Shellie is an admin on a forum I belong to and the community there decided to dedicate Wordless Wednesday to the theme of lighting candles for Bryson.
I can’t begin to imagine the horror of losing your child. But seeing how the MomDot community has gathered to support Shellie has shown me the awesome side of online friendships, so I am honored to light this candle in memory of Bryson.
[tags]Wordless Wednesday, Bryson Ross[/tags]
Posted by Alli on December 15, 2009
Oi! I got behind in posting for the December Photo Project. But, I’m happy to say I’m not behind in taking pictures.
From Sunday:
From Monday:
And today:
I made these Apple Pie Muffins. They are pretty sweet and I didn’t get the crumble topping to really crumble.
[tags]December Photo Project, muffins, birthday, apple muffins[/tags]
Posted by Alli on December 12, 2009
I had a picture for December 11th, but I was too exhausted after the fact that I just let posting the picture slide.
My baby kept getting his hair in his eyes. So we finally gave in and took him to get his first haircut!
And my pick for today is this fake bokeh picture:
I say it is fake bokeh because it has nothing to do with depth of field. Instead it is me putting the camera in manual and making it all out of focus. And I like the outcome!
[tags]December Photo Project, haircut, bokeh[/tags]
Still kicking it
