My New Hobby

My new hobby

is something I am not good at {yet}.

But oh, camera, you make my heart go...

thud. thud. thud.

 <3

A List...

I have made a list to compile all the random things that I have in my head. You are welcome. 

1. I have been sick for a whole week. It led to 2 days of sick leave from school which I had to be convinced to take. I hate missing work. It was diagnosed as bronchitis that developed after I had a virus. My throat really hurts. 

2. Me and N had a fight this past week. It was bitter sweet. I hate to argue with him, but we got a lot of things worked out that we didn't know needed to be. 233 days into this thing and I am thinking that we are going to make it. Not that I ever doubted it. 

3. Speaking of N-I talked him into making my very own collage. He was skeptical but did it anyways. I think it turned out pretty nice. Except for all the blank spaces in my house that that stuff once was. Oh well, I will just have to go shopping to fill those places. Just don't tell N. 

One of the items on this wall might have been a wedding gift that got painted

because it was ugly totally not my style.  

But I'm not telling! 

4. As I type this my dog is sawing logs in her sleep. Sheesh. Can't a girl get some peace and quiet around this.

5. The Lord has laid sponsorship on my heart. Again. No again, again. Because we already have 2 sponsor babies. They are boys and absolutely beautiful in my eyes. One day I hope that I will get to meet them. If not here on the Earth then in the presence of sweet Jesus. But if we do sponsor again, I want a girl. 2 boys and a girl. Doesn't that sound like the perfect little family. In the family of God. That brings me to #6. 

6. At our previous church we sang a little ditty and it went a something like this...

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God.
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by the blood. 

Join heirs with Jesus, as we travel this sod. 

For I'm part of the family, the family of God.  

If that song could earn me crown in heaven, I would be a rich girl. NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa (That's for you Kelly.) ((I know you are reading this.)) (((You can't deny it.)))

7. I just laughed so hard I started coughing, and I think I might have lost a lung. 

8. Speaking of babies, wait, what? Oh, oh well. I have baby fever again. What's new? But I have come up with a Baby Bucket List. In my head there is a list of things that I want to do before we have children. I think I am trying to trick myself into waiting to have lots of little ones. On the list there are things like go to Washington D.C with N. Start and hopefully finish grad school. Save $5,000 or more. Learn to sew baby clothes. Be in a situation that I could quit my job if I wanted to. There are many more but I won't bore you with those. 

9. Recently we went to a Memphis Grizzlies game. We got on StubHub the day of the game and found an awesome deal on some seats. We couldn't resist so we called up some people to join us and we were off. The awesome part is that Tenth Avenue North was giving a concert when the game was over. 

We had good seats. Nuff said.

10. During the game, the friend who went with us noticed that the lone guy sitting on the row behind us looked like the lead singer from T.A.N. So I did what any normal person would do. I got out my phone, googled them, and awkardly held my phone up to compare the face behind me to the face on my phone. Sure enough, it was a match. Don't worry though-I stayed calm and collected the whole time. Ok, who am I kidding. I begged the guys (N and our friend) to strike up a conversation (which they did) and we (me and N's sister) got a picture with them. Amen and amen. 

Someone forget to tell me that I look ridiculous and that I am the size of a cow. 

Some friends I have. 

11. Since we are on the topic of cows, I will delightfully tell you that this cow is on her way to becoming a, ummmmmm, well I don't think I would like to pick the name of a smaller animal to put here....chick, ostrich, flamingo, nor bald eagle sound good. So I will just say that I have successfully been on Weight Watchers for 2 weeks and I have lost 8 pounds. Can I get a hallelujah? AMEN. (That's also for you Kelly. You can thank me later ;) )

12. The more I teach and become a member of the Real World Club I regret not appreciating nor taking advantage of my college years. I like teaching, but I don't think its what I am made to do. Special Ed? Yes. 100% yes. Teach at a school? Probably not. Too many rules and rule breakers. Have I told you that I love to follow any and all rules that are given to me. I have a very active conscious, and I have trouble sleeping at night when I know others are not following the rules. It gives me the chills.

13. I have very cute puppies. They are helping with #8. But,  every time I wake up to presents on the floor from the smallest in age and size in our clan, I think twice about my journey to motherhood. But I am sure my child's poop will be cuter than my dogs. 

14. And since this list has been pathetic enough to include the word poop, I will end it here. You are welcome. Because #15 would have included the words mucus, toilet, and medicine. Again, you are welcome. 

Verse 2

Its time for verse #2 people! I am reaping only good by memorizing scripture (and all the Lord's people say, of cousre) and its just number 2 for this year. I am anxious to see what the year will bring, and how the Lord will remind me of His word. On to my new verse (while the other is tucked away safely in my heart, not to be forgotten).

Psalm 46: 10 (NLT) says:

Be still and know that I am God. 

I will be honored by every nation.

I will be honored throughout the world. 

I pray that this radiates through me daily. So many times I just need to sit back and just know. Know that He is God. Everything is pointless without that realization. 

Tonight, Be still. Because He is God. 

Craft Bug

I have always had a, ummmm, lets call it a fetish, with all things crafty. If its DIY then I am all about it. I love the satisfaction of seeing something and making it my own way with my own hands. I have even dreamed about opening my own boutique with all my hand-made stuff in it. Not that I am that good, but I enjoy it so why not let other people enjoy it too.

On that note, the craft bug has made a recent visit to my house and I am loving it. My creativity comes and goes with the tide and right now-red flag people! Its high tide in the Russell household.

Let me show you what I have been up to. And what I will be making very shortly.

As you know, I got a camera for Christmas. It was a little plain and needed a little Whitney-fying. So I whipped this right up...

Ok, so probably not whipped, but it wasn't that hard at all. I just used a pattern that I found on the internet and glued a freshly plucked made fabric rose and ta-da...my camera is now clearly a girl.

Next, I am on to making this...

I have some fabric that I am going to use and the zipper to boot, so as soon as I finish this post I am going to get started on it. Hopefully it will look similar to this when I finish. Minus the Gussy tag, because that would be plagiarism, cheating, not my name. But if you want a fabulous Gussy product, I am sure that she would love for you to support her very own crafty business. I am only a tad jealous that she gets to stay home and sew and play with her puppy and be darling all day. 

I am currently collecting things to make my very own Gallery Wall. The Nester is so inspiring when it comes to making you want to clean and declutter your home. I am so excited to create my very own wall like this. I will be sure to share it when I finish. 

I have never admitted this publicly before, but I have a slight weakness for wreaths. I love all things fluffy and beautiful on a door. Wreaths just set the mood for any guests that come a'knocking. So this is what will be on my door for Valentines. Adorable, right? And so versatile. This fluffy piece of goodness is screaming my name.  

And when I am finished with all of the above, I will make these darling darlings my spring project to brighten up my living room. I mean they seem easy, adorable, and soft. Not to mention cheap. And I am a guru for cheap. Amen. 

So this is what I will be working on these next few days. I hope to make a dent in my craft wish list on this three day weekend. And you know that I will share how everything turns out when it is finished. That is if I haven't cut, sewed, or glued myself to death! 

Snowpalooza 2011

Today was the first {big} snow day that we have had in a while and needless to say, it. was. fantastic. 

It started off very slow and lazy as me and N watched movies that we rented the night before in anticipation of snowpocolypse 2011. We did take the pups out though for a little fun. We had the best time watching them play. 

This was Oliver's first snow ever and I think he is a husky trapped in a poodle body. 

He loved it. 

It took Belle some time to warm up (no pun intended) to the snow.

But when she did, there was no stopping her. She chased and ate snowballs all afternoon.

Flower, our kitty, wasn't too fond of the snow. 

Her princess feet haven't graced the snow but maybe 2 minutes today. 

 Notice the snow caked on Oliver's feet. Bless his heart. 

After about 2 hours of refusing to come in, he was frozen. 

 She is very ferocious. When it comes to snow.

And thats it. 

 N and some of his youth played football in the snow today.

I tagged along so we could walk our dogs and I could try out the new camera.

And I caught this shot. 

He was pretty proud of his air.

I was pretty proud of the shot. 

We are out of school tomorrow. That means this is a 3 day week. Once again, God proves just how much He loves me. 

Our First Christmas: Part, well, Christmas

Well Christmas has been said and done for 2 weeks now and I am just now recouping enough to tell all about it. I had a really hard time getting into the spirit this year for some reason but it came and went none-the-less. I am glad Santa's trip didn't depend on my attitude. If so, there would have been a lot of sad children around the world. 

Back to our first Christmas. It in itself was wonderful. I will treasure the experience and traditions we started for as long as I live. We kicked our Christmas bruhaha off with a trip to Zoo Lights with some friends. This leads me to one of the best parts of my Christmas. 

I was straightening the house for our guests. I was putting things in their rightful places when I placed a present under the tree. Thats when I saw it. The presents of all presents. In that moment I was Ralphie, and I had just spotted my very own Red Rider double action carbine BB gun under the tree. It was my very own D-SLR camera. From N. And I was shocked. See, I had put a very small bug in his ear earlier. A bug that may or may not have sounded like a whine. And probably most certainly lasted for weeks. But like I said, it was just a bug. So when I saw this under the tree (he had just placed the box under it without wrapping it) I went crazy. It was no time before I was digging in and snapping photos of anything and everything that crossed paths with the lens. Once our friends got to our house we not-so-patiently asked them to take a picture of us in front of our tree with the new baby, uhem, camera. 

Here is the finished product. And that devil tree.

N, you are precious. 

We then ventured on to our destination that I probably could have lived my life without. But we did get a pretty nice picture out of the $14 deal. I guess all wasn't lost. 

The very next day we loaded up ourselves, all of our luggage, and 3 animals (one being a 5 week old kitten that was a gift for my sister-in-law) and were on our way. Our first stop was to drop off the animals because a lab is just way too big to tote and keep happy for 6 hours. Once that was over we headed on to Louisiana, birthplace of yours truly. We stopped at both of my grandparents houses and got into the Christmas spirit. 

At my dad's mom's house we had boiled shrimp, which is an awesome tradition that we cajun's have conjured up. It was so good that I was too messy to take pictures of the meal and too full to take any afterwards. There, we mourned the first Christmas without my grandfather and talked a lot about him. We also hugged my grandmother too many times, talked until we wore ourselves out, and loved each other even more. 

After that we were on to my mother's parent's house. They live in a 3 story, hand-built log cabin which oozes with Christmas spirit when the season rolls around. It was a quick cure for the grinch within. We opened presents, loved on a precious 4 year old cousin of mine, and kissed more grandparents. It was a treasure for sure. 

This is my mom's family. Minus a few members. (Notice the log cabin....ahhh, I can smell it from here.)

The blanket in the bottom left was my present from my grandmother. 

She said she made it, but I think she got it from God himself. 

It is that heavenly.

Like I mentioned, I have a 4 year old cousin and she always gets out all the old toys that we used to play with. She found these old block and when opportunity for a good picture calls, you just gotta answer.

It was definitely worth standing in the cold on their pond porch, don't you think. 

Yes, I said it. This log cabin looks out onto its very own pond. Its ok to be jealous. (giggles)  

We said our goodbyes there and we were quickly on our way to N's family. It was Christmas day and we were ready to break into our gifts. (Did I mention that we are the equivalent of a 5 year olds when it comes to presents? Because we so are.) We got lots of cool stuff (movies, wii games, tools, and lots more goodies) but I got the presents of all presents. Oh wait, I already got that. Ummmm, ok I was the present next to all presents...I got my very first sewing maching. Another whiney bug got this job done, too. I was so excited and have loved playing on it. All friends reading this need to take heed...only handmade (sewn) gifts from this point on!

Here we are with N's family. I grew up taking a family picture every Christmas so I was very delighted to introduce this tradition to the Russell's.

N's grandmother, Gigi, is in the red. This is one woman that I have come to treasure. 

This is my niece, LG. She got a new bath toy so we the adults felt it necessary to bathe her asap so we could play with the toy  watch her play with the toy. It needs to be said that she did not help any possible baby fever going on in the Russell household. And I ask you people, could she be any cuter? I think not. 

N and I also took our very first of hopefully many more traditional Christmas pictures. The what-will-become-infamous pajama picture. I can't wait to see what these become in the future.

 What a good husband he is to wear blue and purple too short flannel pajamas. 

Soon all was said and done with and we loaded up all of our belongs minus one kitten that was happily received but my SIL and headed home. It was so good to get home and unpack it all, but it was hard to know that it was all over. 

Lydia took the news that there were no more presents the hardest. 

She wouldn't even take "Smile for the camera" for an answer. 

So that was our very first Christmas and it was unforgettable. There was many treasures to be remembered but I can't contain myself when it comes to praising the Treasure that started it all. Mary's treasure. A treasure that I didn't deserve. A gift that can't be topped. Jesus was the name and hope was the bow that tied it all together. Without Him it would all be in vain. The treasure that one day sooner than later, I will be able to thank face to face. 

Hello 2011...

So I have so many posts to write in the "Our First Christmas" series, but for right now I wanted to share with you this wonderful opportunity of scripture memorization, accountability, and spiritual growth. Over at Beth Moore's blog, she does a bi-monthly scripture memorization. I have never before participated in it, although I have sat passively by and watched her host this many times before. I have finally grown sick of my apathy and decided that I am going to kick my sorry self in the rear and do something to impress the Lord. After searching and not finding the verse I wanted to memorize, I asked the hubs (who just returned from a youth retreat with a 101 degree temp) his favorite verse and he gave me this one:

"For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God-not by works so that one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2: 8-10

This verse should be the basis of all things Christian. Faith, grace, gift, handiwork...I mean I could sop this up with a biscuit and eat it right up, y'all. Yeow. It makes me want to squeal with excitement and joy that my Savior chose me to receive this gift-that I am his handiwork. He made me exactly the way that he wanted me. I am perfect. To Him at least. And he is the only one that matters. Amen? Amen.

So I invite you to join in on this awesome opportunity. If we (I mean me) continue to make excuses to not memorize scripture then we will never have sword of the spirit that we are told about.