Project 1 and Photoshoot 1 Done!

Cupcakes worked! Though I didn't have the nerve to put as much food coloring in as the example on Pinterest, so they're pastel girly basketballs, but they're definitely basketballs.  And now, they're my consolation prize for a done and over with bracket. I mean two 15's beating two 2's???? It hasn't happened period in 11 year and it happens twice in one day??!!

Also, photoshoot was awesome! The weather was gorgeous, the mom was excited and into it and we had a ton of fun.  Just a few sneak peaks while I work on editing them.

Headed to my second (or third or fourth job priority wise) then another amazing photo shoot with an incredible new family to do their adoption announcement photoshoot! So excited to be able to be involved in this stage of their life!

So yeah......

My productivity this week hasn't been what it should have been.

Tuesday I had lessons and Bible study as usual.
Wednesday I stayed at work an extra two hours to cover phones and such so someone else could take the day off with it being Spring Break, then ran home, got food, ran back, did kids choir.

Yesterday, my phone was going psycho with texts as I was walking into work because turns out, my grandpa was getting a 5 inch section of his large intestine removed.  I only found out from my mom about 10 minutes before I got an email from our church staff prayer/hospital visit coordinator with my grandpa's name on it. So, since the person who was supposed to do the visiting works in the same office I do, I ended up being the one to go, even though as administrative support staff I'm not supposed to do hospital runs.  Needless to say, that cut into my work day quite a bit.  It also cut into my evening of errand running since I didn't even get back to the office to head home until 4:30 instead of my usual, get off at 3:00.  So I got a late start, and only half my running done.

So, I'm off at 1:00 today, thank goodness! It's been quite the crazy week considering it was supposed to be a really easy week!

Maternity Photoshoot at 2:00, do a few errands on the way home, dump card to computer from photoshoot, cook dinner, clean kitchen, bathroom, and put away the 5 loads of laundry I've managed to do without putting away this week.  Work Saturday 9-2, bake the cupcakes I've been promising my husband all week, edit maternity photoshoot, prep for a family/baby shoot that will be happening somewhat spur of the moment sometime between now and Wednesday.  Sunday church, food for Lifegroup, possible photoshoot, workday at church for kids choir musical sets. Monday, start all over again!

Somewhere in there I will decorate for spring, change wreathes, doormats, do my hanging planters and buy patio chairs, organize our closet and change out to spring/summer scentsy scents.  I also need to color my hair, find/make curtains for our dining area and get a couple new cloths for photoshoots.

Oh, and watch a few basketball games this weekend! March is my favorite month, birthday month and March Madness!

When we started dating I agreed to learn about one of my husband's 8 sports he loves, and turned out, I learned to LOVE this one! I'm almost worse than him when it comes to yelling at players/coaches/refs.  I get so into it.  He thinks it's hilarious cause I can be baking cookies, or doing my nails, or have a fashion magazine in front of me and then suddenly I'm stopping my girl thing and complaining about someone's stupid attempt at an ugly 3, or ranting about their free throw percentage.  Yeah, I'm weird!  But, I love my basketball, and I will watch a game or two, and definitely all of Duke's games. They're my team.

Back to work now that my copies are done.  Hopefully I'll have photoshoot previews by the end of the weekend and before and after spring decoration pictures for you.

Giveaway in the Works!

So I recently realized that if I'm going to be blogging more, I'd like to justify it with more followers, so, I'm wondering, what would you like to read about more?

Food - baking, cooking, budgeting, planning?
Fashion/Beauty - tips, coupons?
Clothing - discount/sale tips, re-purposing?
Spiritual - notes from Devotionals/Bible studies, Worship music tips?
Marriage - date nights, books?

Comment with any ideas, I'm up for whatever.

The plan is post 200 (I'm at 171) or 20 followers (I'm at 12), whichever happens first, and I'll host another favorite things giveaway, filled with my everyday life must-haves.

Last time these were the prizes (posts found - HERE, HERE and HERE)
It's been another year, so, there have been lots of new things I've discovered and made favorites!

I'm getting excited!

Lots of photoshoots coming up soon!

Maternity pictures this weekend.
Family pictures later this month and next month.
Mini shoots in late April.
Bridal portraits in May.
A fantastic wedding in July.

And those are just the contracted shoots!

It's going to be a good Spring!

Now, if only it would feel like Spring, instead of July already!
80 and sunny and windy and humid all week, ALREADY!

Menu Monday

So I've got an easy week here!  For one thing, I haven't cooked yet this week, which is actually kind of sad, but I don't mind every once and awhile, especially on Spring Break Week when alot of my friends are on vacations, or at least off work. 

We ate out Saturday night, used a Groupon for our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant on Sunday, and had the leftovers from there tonight.  Not a bad start to Spring Break week if you ask me!

 

So, here's the rest of my week's plan.

Tuesday-

Crockpot Cooked Whole Chicken, Rice and Broccoli

Wednesday-

Chicken and Dressing, and Sugared Carrots

(Literally, Stove Top Stuffing in a casserole dish, a layer of cooked chicken, a can of Cream of Chicken Soup, baked 20 minutes)

Thursday-

MARCH MADNESS KICK-OFF

Buffalo Wild Wings Takeout, Homemade Pizza, Fruit Salad

Friday-

Chicken Fajitas, Fruit Salad

Saturday-

Tangy Beef, Jasmine Rice and Steamed Broccoli

(Was supposed to hit the menu a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to set it up early enough.  Just stew beef, Italian Dressing and Parmesan Cheese in a crockpot all day.)

I'm actually off a little bit this week,, or at least have a reduced after hours schedule with it being Spring Break, so I'm hoping to experiment with a few baking projects in the evenings.  

I also have a photoshoot on Friday, so hopefully I'll have a few previews to show off by the end of this weekend as well.

I am working Saturday, and it's a pay week, so I have a short list of DYI projects for around the apartment as well. 

Basically this should be a very productive week.  I'll make sure to take pictures so that I can share any successes with you soon.

Have a great week!

 

Baked Potato Soup

So, originally I'd planned to use THIS recipe to the letter, but then, I noticed that it called for 5 POUNDS of potatoes.  I don't know about your house, but the 2 people in mine would have needed 2 weeks to eat all of that! I mean I love potato soup and all, but that much of it, even I couldn't eat before it started growing it's own green fuzzy stuff :)

So, I adapted it.  And here's how I did it.  I'm kicking myself for forgetting to take pictures now, so next time, I make it, I'll totally post the pictures, but this came out too good not to share the recipe now.  Seriously, it was good, my husband had two bowls, and he's so not a soup man!

In a Crockpot cook - 

4 Large Baking Potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
3 Cups Chicken Broth (24 ounces)
1/4 of a large Sweet Yellow Onion chopped into small pieces
Garlic Powder
Salt
Black Pepper
Paprika
(season heavily)

Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8.

Soften (to semi melted) 6 ounces of Cream Cheese.
Cook 3-4 pieces of Bacon. Crunch up into large "bacon bits"

Beat Cream Cheese into soup mixture in Crockpot.  Fold in 1/2 of the Bacon.  Re-season delicately.

Cook on high for 30 minutes.

Serve garnished with Shredded Cheese, and remaining Bacon.

ENJOY!!

I'm kind of loving things......

...when it comes to our small group at church and it's slow growth, we get new people, but only a few at a time, giving us a chance to get to know one couple before 8 more show up and baby step our way into a larger group.

...when it comes to my job, seriously, a year ago I couldn't dream of what I'd be doing now, looking back on that, I love my job more!

...when it comes to my Bible study ladies on Tuesday nights and our conversations, deep or pathetic and hilarious.  I love our bond of say anything in front of each other, whether it's just our core group or the bounce in and out stragglers.

...when it comes to my students, who pretty much all practice their hearts out and are ready to learn at every lesson.  Also, Thursday's I teach at home and it's my husband's day off so I never have to worry about getting the apartment ready, he makes sure it's spotless by 3:00 when I get home from work, and I love that! Start the weekend off with a clean house and I don't even have to do it!

...when it comes to our home and organization and downtime.  I love coming home at night and cooking for my husband.  I love throwing on my sweats and crashing on the couch next to him in front of something completely mindless on the TV and just being there.  Not having to have a plan, or schedule, or think about anything.  Just being in the room together, lazy and relaxed and us.  Yes, I called myself lazy, when I'm with my husband, I can turn off my OCD, Type A brain and be lazy for him, he's so worth it.

Menu Monday

I made it!! Barely!  It was a long day, I left church for about 45 minutes between work and choir/volunteer time.  I'm supposed to get off at 3:00 and choir starts at 6:45.  Yeah, long day. My menu totally starts on Tuesday this week because we had scrambled eggs, bacon and bagels for dinner at 9:15 when I got home tonight!

Tuesday- Tangy Beef, Rice and Steamed Broccoli
(Stew beef in Italian Dressing and slow cooked in the dutch oven or crockpot.)

Wednesday- Turkey Club Paninis

Thursday- Crockpot Baked Potato Soup thanks to THIS recipe found on Pinterest.

Friday- Grilled Chicken with leftover soup

Saturday- Takeout of some form (every other Saturday)

Sunday- Whole Chicken in the crockpot (yes, I do this every other week or so because it gives me 3 days of already cooked chicken to use for quick dinners!)

There you go!
ENJOY!

I would work out.....

• if I could only breathe through my nose.
• if I could sleep through the night without waking up 3 times to blow my nose.
• If my ears would stop being plugged from blowing my nose so much.
• If I wasn't afraid of face planting on the treadmill while running and sneezing at the same time.

I HATE Texas allergies!!! Spring started 3 weeks ago, and ever since we've had so very diverse weather.  60 and rainy one day, 80 and sunny the next, 70 and windy for a few days, then repeat.  Because the weather can't calm down, my allergies can't calm down and my sinuses feel like they're pushing my eyes out of my face.

I've been living on over the counter generic claritin, plus a sudafed/ibprofen combo (essentially advil cold and sinus, but cheaper) in the morning to kick start it out of my face, and then again at night so I have a 50/50 chance of sleeping. I've done more Afrin nose spray than is suggested and quit that for fear of rebounding worse, but every once in a while I get desperate in the morning when I'm completely plugged and use it once. 

My question is, since nose sprays seem to do the most good, does anyone know of one that you can use longer term than 3-7 days? At the rate I'm going, I'll be a mess until April, and seriously, this runner needs to run! It's just really hard to do when you can't breathe or you're trying not to sneeze yourself into a faceplanted position, or freak out the people at the gym with my sniffling sneezing.

Any ideas?

Currently, my reality is.....

Due to everyday chaos, life stress, and brain deadness on a Wednesday night, I'm stealing this concept from a blog friend at "Us Just Playing House"

My reality is....

• Husband's slow season, lots of projects around the apartment.
• Husband's slow season, lots of cheap dates at home or out for free, dinners in, and DIY projects.
• Spring/Summer weather hitting and destroying my sinuses.
• NEEDING most lightweight pants, skirts, cool things that aren't dressy after the job change!
• Cooking and Baking experiments.
• "Pinning" 1000's (literally!) of pins that I will get to eventually!
• Spending lots of nights in cuddling and watching movies and TV shows together.
• LOVING my Coffee/Bible Study nights with my girls!
• Getting excited about our two couple friends weddings and two couple friend's babies coming in the next few months! I love showers!
• Spending roughly 45 hours a week at church between work and church and volunteer time and loving every second of it! I love the worship department and helping kids praise God! (Even when they're so goofy I can't really praise through the distractions!)
• Secretly (or not so much now) dreading my husband's busy season returning in 2-3 weeks even if it means more money because it means less time with him :(

Let me know if you play along with this idea! I may have to make it a weekly thing!

Menu Monday has returned!

 

 "Menu Monday" was a part of my weekly routine for about a year and a half on both this blog and my old one, and I have to say, I've missed it!  The button is a bit simple for now, but feel free to grab it and link back if you're doing a menu on your blog as well!

I try to buy only what I need each week as far as fresh foods go.  I keep meats in the freezer at all times, as well most basic non-perishables, so once a month a restock one category, (dry goods, canned/bottled things, baking products, frozen, meat, etc....) and just buy fresh produce and dairy every 3-4 days.  It majorly cuts back on weekly spending, usually I only spend about $40 a week on food, and then once every month about $80 on a stock up trip that lasts a few months.  I'm also a stacking coupon on sales fan, though I'm not extreme to any extent!

I'm a simple, totally informally trained, cook on instinct (color, texture, smell) without a formal recipe cook.  I love looking at recipes, but I'm not a measuerer, so I basically look to see what flavors and ingredients they're suggesting and then wing it.  Plus, I'm cheap and don't buy ingredients if they only go in one dish, so I ad-lib alot of things.  I'll try to provide as many "recipes" as I can, just realize that all measurements are only approximate. :)

So, here goes!

Monday- Homemade Pizza  

      Which my husband will then be able to have as leftovers for lunch for the next two days.

Tuesday- Whole Chicken in the Crockpot, served with Brown Rice and Broccoli

      Literally just as it sounds.  Clean the yucky stuff out of the inside of a whole chicken.  Sprinkle generously with equal amounts salt, pepper and paprika, cover with one can sodium free chicken broth, cook on high 4-6 hours, or low for 8.

Wednesday- Chicken and Rice Stew Served with Yeast Rolls

     Made with the dark meat and some white meat from the leftover chicken, chicken stock, corn, carrots, onion, black pepper and the leftover rice from the night before.  Combine everything but the rice in the crockpot 5-6 hours before serving. Cook on low.  Add 1 Cup Cooked Rice and 1 Cup Water, cook on high for 30-45 minutes.

Thursday- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

      Chop up all remained white meat from Tuesdays chicken, saute in butter, garlic salt and parmesan cheese, set aside.

      Cook 1/2 Pound Fettuccine, drain and set aside.

      Alfredo Sauce-

      1/2 Stick Butter

      1/4 Cup Milk

      1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

      Garlic Salt to taste/smell

Melt Butter in small sauce pan, bring to low boil add garlic salt.  Whisk in milk, simmer on low until it reaches boil.  Remove from heat, beat in cheese with wire whisk.

Combine all ingredients in bowl greased lightly with olive oil.  Serve with fresh bread and a side salad or steamed green veggie.

Friday- Meatloaf, Potatoes and Broccoli

Saturday- Chili (using leftover meatloaf as ground beef)

I'll add the recipes for the meatloaf and chili later this week as I'm running out of time tonight. 

ENJOY!

Recipe Expirimenting

So I'd seen a few Strawberry Muffin recipes on Pinterest that looked interesting, but they all involved alot of fat.  Sour Cream, Shortening, Cream Cheese, (most of which I don't even keep on hand) etc....so I decided to make up my own recipe.  I combined another muffin recipe I had with my own general knowledge of cooking and baking and I have to say, they turned out really well!  So well in fact, that I got 18 muffins from the batter at 9:30 last night, I've only had 2, and there are only 8 left!  Guess my husband is a fan!

So, I thought I'd share my lucky little creation!

1/4 Cup Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1 Ts Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Ts Baking Powder
1 Cup Chopped Strawberries
2 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.
Line 18 muffin cups with liners or spray thoroughly with non-stick cooking spray.

Chop strawberries, set aside in small bowl.
Mix Butter, Cream and Milk, Add Egg and Vanilla, beat thoroughly.
Add dry ingredients, combine until everything is wet, do not over mix.
Dust strawberries with confectioners sugar, fold into matter.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake 17-20 minutes or until tops are golden.

Next time I think I may pull them out 5 minutes early and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar to make them a little fancier, but they don't really need any extra sweetness.  They're more of a scone flavor than a rich buttery muffin flavor, so you could serve them warm and buttered too, but I'm kind of a purest with my bread products and prefer them as is.  Just a couple of suggestions in case you like options.

Enjoy!

Full menu for this week coming tomorrow.

New Layout

I'm doing a little playing with my blog, let me know what you think, it may keep changing, but for right now, I think I like it.  I think, but you never know. :)

Cream Puffs

Last night we had a couple of friends over for dinner. I love having people over for dinner because it gives me a good excuse to make foods that are hard for two people to eat before they go bad.  Case in point, Double Chocolate Cream Puffs!

 
Cream Puff -

1 C Water
1/2 C Butter
1 Cup Flour
4 Eggs

Preheat oven to 400.

Bring water and butter to a rolling boil in a medium sauce pan.  Add flour.  Remove from heat, beat in eggs, all at once.  You can use a handheld electric mixer or a whisk, the dishwashing-hating me chooses the whisk every time!

Drop 1/4 cup fulls 2-3 inches a part on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.   Bake 30-35 minutes or until they're puffy and golden.




Chocolate Mousse Filling-

1 Large Box Chocolate Pudding
2 C Milk
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream.

Beat Milk and Pudding Mix until blended and thickening.  Add Cream, beat one more minute. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes.

**Use half chocolate milk for extra rich mousse!

White Chocolate Sauce Drizzle-

1 Cup White Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Melt chips in a microwavable bowl.  Start with 30 seconds, remove, stir, and then add another 15-20 seconds if needed.  Don't heat until completely smooth or chocolate will burn to bottom of bowl.  Add cream and beat with a spoon until mixture is smooth.    Use immediately, or refrigerate and reheat (15-20 seconds) to use within 2 weeks.

To serve-
Split the cream puff, fill with mousse, drizzle with white chocolate, though I'm pretty sure that's pretty self explanatory!

ENJOY!

Go figure.....

As soon as I get into a blogging rhythm/schedule/whatever our computer dies and gets shipped off to mac depot!  Can't win! As soon as it's back I'll post my weekly blogging plan for accountability's sake. I can't commit to anything without a computer at home though, since pictures are a pain from my phone.

Anyone else miss football?

I never thought I'd say it, but this afternoon, I actually found myself missing football.  Mainly because, without football, my husband's channel surfing after church landed us on the Discovery Channel and some special about how the Bermuda Triangle came about and how it creates time space portals and makes planes fly at "lightspeed" and other garbage like that. Am I the only one who assumes that people who believe that garbage and are dead serious about being warped into other dimensions must be tripped out on some crazy drugs?  I'm not sure how you'd say you were time warped into another dimension and then returned to your original portal and destination by a space force with a straight face without some crazy lsd type drugs in your system.

Anyways, I finally got him off the Discovery Channel and onto a James Bond marathon, thank goodness for that!

It's been a lazy weekend, hence the lack of a blog post.  I was planning to write more Thursday, but my headcold filled husband kept me a bit occupied, you know how sick men are. :)  Sad thing is, I enjoy him needing me so much.  I'm pathetic, I enjoy fixing all of my husband's food and cleaning up all his mess and doing all of his laundry and everything else.  I feel bad when I don't take care of him.  Is that weird?  I've been told he's an adult and it's not my job, I've been told it encourages him to be a man-child/weak leader, but I don't believe any of it.  I believe it's my privilege as his wife to also be his helper, and I help in the ways I know how. 

Anyways, the point of this blog is that without the structure of football, Sunday afternoons are actually quite boring, and I'm not a football girl at all.  I couldn't tell you who was playing who, what was going on or what teams records were, I could barely name most of the quarterbacks.  But, I miss the reliability of coming home from church to lunch and football.

Because it's freakishly cold for Houston (45) and gray as all get out, I have very little motivation to leave the house so I think I'll go back to just enjoying my husband's company on the couch and be thankful Pierce Brosnan is such a good looking Bond if I'm going to sit through them for the hundreth time.

Maybe lazy Sundays are so bad after all. :)

Let's see if I remember how to do this!

So, it's been 10 weeks, anyone still following enough to even notice that I'm posting?

It's been a crazy 2 1/2 months, but I'm finally ready to start getting back on a routine.

October started with a move into our new apartment, buying furniture since we sold most of ours in NY, decorating (for real, not with mix-match hand me downs!) and setting everything up.

November started with a 6 1/2 day weekend visit from the in-laws.

Said visit brought on a cold/sinus thing that refused to go away for 6 weeks.

Thanksgiving brought a visit from my sister and her family and throwing my niece's first birthday party.

Black Friday became blacker than planned........(see last post)

December was a blur of Christmas rehearsals, Christmas productions, extra work, decorating, shopping, shipping and baking and then sleeping for about a week.  Our church/my work puts on an AMAZING Christmas Production! Look up Champion Forest Baptist Church Miracle of Christmas 2012 for clips.  We have a full broadway musical, that leads into the nativity story, complete with live donkeys, sheep, camels and an elephant walking across the stage.  Yeah, insane.

December also brought another loss.  A good friend from NY passed away after a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer.  In the beginning of December I watched a close friend bury her baby, and then in the end of December sat 1800 miles away while dear sweet children I used to watch spent their Christmas break burying their mother.  You can read her story HERE.

January was spent trying to get a routine back with my husband home a ton of the time because of slow season in the golf business. My sister and her family were in town most of January, so I was busy trying to keep up with work, home and see them as much as possible.

It's now the second week of February and I've officially meal planned, couponed and kept up the laundry and cleaning for 2 weeks straight.  I'm planning social events and going to color my hair and I'm back in the gym at least a bit (seasonal allergies make breathing while running difficult!) so along with all of this other organization I'm getting back to blogging.

To kick it off, here's my menu for this week-

Sunday-
Superbowl Party
I made

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips-

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious or Honeycrisp apples - peeled, cored and diced
16 ounces raspberries/blackberries
2 (16 oz) cartons of strawberries, diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I used strawberry)

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3.Coat one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray. Sprinkle tortillas with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spray again with cooking spray (not necessary if using melted butter).

4.Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. Best when made and eaten the same day otherwise the fruit gives off so too much juice and it gets runny.
 
and Homemade Oreos   http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/

Monday-
Breakfast for dinner - French Toast Casserole, Scrambled Eggs and Bacon


Tuesday-
Whole Chicken in the Crockpot with Rice and Broccoli


Wednesday-
Spaghetti and Meatballs


Thursday-
Chicken and Dressing


Friday-
Chicken Quesadillas or Chicken and Rice Stew (depends on weather)


Saturday-
Friends coming over for dinner, so need to change the plan




I'll be back on Thursday. For recipes, just comment and I'll add them as I go.


If you're still reading, just let me know, will you? I'm going to work on redesigning things Friday, so things may go down this weekend depending on how long it takes.

Is anyone still out there?

Ladies I've been in a blog funk.  Could you tell? It's been almost 3 months since my last post.  I've been reading, I promise, but posting just hasn't happened.

We moved into our apartment in early October, dealt with some crazy work stuff, took 3 weeks to unpack all the way, and then hosting my in-laws (thank you those of you cringing) for a 6 1/2 day long weekend in the beginning of November.  Since then, my sister's been in town twice, we've helped host Thanksgiving and my niece's first Birthday party.  And those are just a few of the big things. 

But the reason I come out of my funk tonight, will probably put me in a different funk, but I need to share it with you for the sake of prayer.

A very dear and close friend and her husband suffered a pain this weekend that words can't describe.  They went in for their 39 week baby appointment, planning on scheduling an induction for this week, and were informed that their soon to be born son would be born stillborn that day.  Sometime in the last 2-3 days he'd somehow passed away.  At her 38 weeks appointment 7 days earlier, everything was perfect, right on schedule and measuring right on track, she'd been having braxton hicks for the last 2 weeks and watching his body move through her belly.  Due to her size, and the baby's size her doctor had said if she wasn't dialated by 39 weeks, they'd schedule an induction on her due date, which was this coming Friday.

Instead, they induced her that night, and she delivered a 6 lb 8 ounce baby boy early Saturday morning.  They held their precious little boy, and they said goodbye. 

My heart breaks for her and her husband and their families.  This was the most loved little boy I'd seen.  They tried for 7 years, through many fertility specialists and treatments and prayer to get pregnant.  After one earlier term miscarriage, this looked like it was going to happen for them. 

They did everything the doctor's said, found out his gender, named him, and were given 6 showers.  This boy would have been provided for until kindergarten with all of the things people gave out of love for this so desired baby.  Everything was set to go, room ready, carseat in the car, house reorganized, bag packed, the works. 

Please be in prayer for my friends.  For the kind of peace, strength, and healing only God can provide.  Pray for their friends and families, new/would be grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they grieve with and support them, and their church family, (it's a big affectionate and often nosy church) to support them in the ways that are best for them to help them heal.

My heart breaks for them, I can not imagine their pain.  We don't know why it happened, and they don't want to know.  Nothing will bring their son back, so knowing why isn't helpful for them. 

Pray people respect their wishes and give them the space and time to heal.  Pray for recovery and restoration, and that they will cling to their faith.  God is still God, even when we don't understand. 

A Real Post is Coming, I Promise!!

In the last 2 weeks, we've....

Relaunched the Photography Business here in Houston, website, business cards and all.

Started another home business - See HERE

I've started more students

It's still been OVER 100 regularly

And we've signed a lease to move into a new apartment in like 3 weeks


.....So, basically, I'm losing my mind.

More to come when I can construct sentences again.

Just a little bit of bragging...

Today has been a very productive day!

I got up at 6:20, made Adam breakfast, walked the dog, cleaned our bedroom, ran some errands, processed part of a photo shoot, cleaned and packed Adam's office area, and most importantly, redesigned and relaunched our Adanie Photography Website!

We had a fully functioning, but unfortunately maintained by my brother in law, website for the business for years.  But, between the relocation and needing a year off, and his anger management issues and sabotaging of it, we needed a complete overhaul.  So, it's up and running. It'll probably get tweaked again in a few weeks, but for now, this is it!  I'm so relieved, and excited and just a bit proud of myself, so go check it out! And, refer any Houston friends you may have please. :)