new mexico

photos, stories, thoughts, words

we are driving a rental van this trip, which is rather strange. but there’s this sweet storage space in the floor that Melissa calls the Jew hiding place. On the day we drove to Albuquerque, we ate lunch at Rosa’s Cafe in Amarillo which has been tradition for the last couple years.

^this was our view much of the time.

^the trees actually do turn colors here. it’s beautiful.

^ and yes, in corrales there are signs for horses.

^ the sandia mountains are beautiful.

^ new mexico definitely has cooler and prettier license plates than texas. the normal ones are yellow, but these turquoise centennial ones are nice.

^ we spent the day with my cousin Esther and made these lovely earl grey tea cakes. recipe here.

and even though i have to keep chapstick in my pocket at all times because of the desert climate, being here is worth it.

but still, i feel like texas is my home. that’s where God has called us.

 

this weekend

a day in the life, photos, stories, thoughts, words

…was GFA’s Friday night prayer meeting (which you can now watch online on Tuesdays, and the first Friday of every month! www.gfa.org/prayer)

Good times.

And also good food.

And also taking a family picture. [The way we kept smiling was tickling each other while the self timer counted down.]

Melissa surprised us and came home for the weekend.  She cooked us good food, and kept us laughing, and also some of the family went garage saling, which always seems to happen when she’s home.

a story of God’s provision

stories, thoughts, words

As many of you know, lately I have been wanting to buy a DSLR camera.  Ideally I would get one before we went to New Mexico and before a friend’s wedding, so basically before November.

First, my friends Casey and Eric had the idea to do a raffle to raise money for me buying a camera, with the prize being me doing a photoshoot for someone.  It seemed like a great idea and was working out, until we found out that doing a raffle as an individual in Texas was… illegal.  So, that door closed.

Second, I started pursuing looking on Craigslist for used cameras, planning to buy one of what I have in savings.  God opened doors  there – it seemed like it was working out to  go that path.  I had contacted one guy, in Mansfield who was selling a Nikon D80 and and 18-55mm  lens, for $600.  But it wasn’t working out smoothly to meet with him, and then, that evening I looked on Craigslist again, because Casey had encouraged me not to get my heart set on one specific camera.   And, there was another D80 listed, with an 18-135mm lens, for $100 less!  Dad called the guy (who was named Ernie… I thought he would be an old man) and it turned out that he had only had the camera for a few months and then got a D90, and that (this is the best part) he was a worship pastor!  We met him after church at his church (also in Mansfield… it seems like I’m fated to buy cameras from people in Mansfield) and now I own a camera!

It’s like Amy’s story of how she got a job… God just dropped the opportunity in her lap, and it turned out to be the perfect one.

Praise the Lord.  That’s all I can say.

photos from early fall

photos, words

^ a sunrise

^ one of my favorite things are the morning glories that grow through our fence into the alley

^ this was when we dropped off melissa to go to school at DBU. she really does love it there, she’s just squinting because its bright and i was taking a long time to take the photo.

^ morning glories.  really, my family is more successful growing flowers than vegetables.

evening downtown

a day in the life, photographic journeys, photos, stories, thoughts, words

This evening some of us girls went to downtown Carrollton, for a ladies chocolate walk they were having.  Basically walk around the square, go in all the fun shops,  and eat the chocolate samples.

^ really sweet balls of thread at the antique store

^ this picture pretty much sums up clara’s infatuation with owls.

^ a cameo

^ through the viewfinder of a cool toy camera

^ us five girls

^ Summur with the big bag she liked

^ Melissa at Vintage Martini in a big fur coat

^…and me in this ridiculous coat, in which Clara thought I looked like a magician

this is my family.

photographic journeys, photos

^ my aunts, uncles and grandparents on my mother’s side.  my mom is the girl in the middle of the people sitting on the couch.

^ mema and grandpa big mike on their wedding day.

^ auntie margo [margaret ann] and mom [paula jo]

^ my grandfather was a professional photographer, and he worked in los alamos during the building of the atomic bomb as an army photographer.

back from india

photographic journeys, photos, stories, thoughts, words

As many of you know, I went to India for two weeks this summer at the end of July.  There is so much I could say about it, but it was a spectacular and fabulous and amazing and wonderful and fun trip.  I am so glad I was able to go, and to experience another culture.  We visited Delhi,  Udaipur in Rajasthan,  Mumbai, and Kerala.

^ Sharlena and I before a day in Delhi

^ We were given leis everywhere we went.  It was such fun.

^ Intense bike ride through the muddy water

^ The foursome.

^ We drank – and brushed our teeth with – so many of this big water bottles

^ The group in front of the gates to the President’s Palace

^ Clara

^ Singing in front of the India Gate in Delhi

^ There was a really big group of people watching us

^ Awesome bag and shoes that I got when we went shopping.  Bartering is fun.

Well, that was only Delhi.  And only some of it.  A small some.  But, more will come later.

And, I would say that this trip was, indeed, life-changing.