He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

The resurrection by itself is something I thank God everyday for. When I think about my sin and how He chose me… you… my family…

It makes you stop and think about this life and how precious and fragile it all is.

This man right here I am thankful for.

He points me everyday to Jesus, he is my knight in shining armor and am more in love with him now than I ever was before.

So, today is Easter, and it reminds me all I have to be thankful for, but I was just wondering….

what holiday do you associate with “being thankful”? I hope you’re thinking turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, the works…

Because this Thanksgiving (November 22, 2012) is supposed to be our due date for Baby # 3, which we have tentatively named ‘punkin’.

So, will ‘it’ be more like ‘jellybean’?

Or another ‘peanut’ ?

We can’t wait to find out!

I’m so excited to let you all know about my brand new niece, Adelyn!

My brother and sister-in-law welcomed this gorgeous little one into their home last month, and it was a blast going to visit her.

She wasn’t feeling particularly photogenic when I went to visit, but I managed to snap a couple of fun shots!

Welcome to the world, Adelyn!

Running is not my forte.

The first day I ran, I told my husband, Zack, that I would complete 4 miles. I think I only ran a quarter mile that day…

However, I always, always say, “if I can do it, anyone can”.

I started from scratch. No training in high school. I was the girl in college doing the eliptical, but never ever saw the need to run. I always thought, “what’s the big deal with running?”

That is until I had my first child, Josiah.

Ah yes, running was going to “get me in shape” post-baby.

The long, grueling process was painful, but I wanted to prove I could do it!

It is a paradox that you can literally achieve anything you put your mind to.

Running in my opinion is 80% mental and 20% physical. It’s also a great way to think and pray for me. I pray a lot when I run. Plus it’s great to get some sanity when I’m having a bad day or I feel I might go out of my mind with my two children. (Understand I love them dearly, but you just have your days! Right?!)

So, in 2009 I completed my first half, the Virginia Beach half-marathon. My second was last year, City of Oaks (a.k.a. kick your butt, or what’s with all the hills half-marathon).

Next month, my sister and I will be running our first half-marathon together in the Raleigh Rocks half marathon. Yes, I urged her to start running 1/2 marathons and she completed her first last year with her hubby! :0)

Here are some pics of past marathons and of course the shoes I love wearing…Brooks.

It was a day to get introduced to the band Ordinary Sinners who had a great idea for a shoot.

I hope you like what we came up with.

Here are some of my favorites from that day.

It’s amazing how many different emotions she can convey with those adorable little eyes.

These are from a lazy Saturday a couple weeks ago when we had some girl time!

I had an awesome opportunity last year to get to attend a workshop called shutterbabes (love the name).

Abigail Seymour is such a sweet photographer to even offer this great workshop. She is very gracious and is so spunky. The workshop was all about capturing photos in a better way. Taking pictures of my babies is something I love to do with my kids every chance I get and I want to get even better at capturing breathtaking images.

The morning started talking technical aspects of our cameras, questions, and then we were off shooting. I had so much fun being able to connect with other photographers and shoot this sweet little boy. Then I came home and showed my husband what I had “learned”.

Here are some pictures post workshop.

Ordinary Sinners is a local rock and roll band that is all about Jesus.

One of the band members booked a whole office complex in Cary and we had a blast coming up with fun spots to shoot.

Look for the whole shoot on the blog next week!

They chose the Brier Creek shopping center, so we braved the cold and had a good time scouting out fun places to catch some fun shots.

I hope they had as much fun as we did!

The conditions for the shoot were not ideal… it was rainy and kind of dreary.

But the guys were great sports and I think we got the job done.

You can see several of the shots on Hadynn’s shiny new website (and check out their new album while you’re at it!).

And here are a few of our favorites :

The drive both ways was absolutely beautiful.

We couldn’t resist a little fun with the camera.

Enjoy!