Today we celebrated Easter with our wonderful friends and family. We went to church this morning where we watched and were privileged to meet our guest band The Crabb Revival. They were amazing. We were expecting the normal Crabb family southern Gospel but what we actually got was an anointed and very talented group of musicians. Jace made the comment that not only was the Holy Spirit in the building but so was the holy spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughn. The guitarist was very talented.

I watched all the kids at church hunt Easter eggs and sat and talked with friends for a while. Then we went to eat at Memaw and Papaw’s house for lunch. I was surrounded by friends and family all morning then, I just relaxed with my husband this afternoon. Now, I am sitting here overwhelmed by all the blessings God has given me.

We are learning now more than ever that when you are faithful to God, He will be more than faithful to You. We have been blessed more in the last two weeks than we ever have, and it’s all because I know we are right where God wants us. I am sitting here now thinking about the wonderful friends and family we have and fighting tears. He is an amazing God who never ceases to surprise me when I think nothing can be done. What a great day!

Last weekend we went with our church youth group to Lone Tree Bible Ranch in Capitan, New Mexico. This camp was one of the highlights of our teen years and we were so excited to get to go back as sponsors and create new memories with these teenagers. This is the one place that I can go to and not want to come home because of its absolutely stunning beauty. It has an amazing view of Sierra Blanca and the smell of the pine trees takes your breath away.

One of my favorite things to do when we go is to get up early the first morning that we are there, and sit on the porch with a cup of hot chocolate. Then, I get to watch everyone’s faces as they come out of their rooms and see the beautiful view. I don’t know why but I always feel closer to God up there. He really outdid Himself when He made this place.

We both climbed the alpine tower this year. I was very proud of myself because this is the first time I have ever climbed. I actually made it to the top on my first try and didn’t have a panic attack! I threatened to give up several times but my pride got the best of me and forced me to press on even though everything inside me was screaming to stop. I really didn’t want to be the panicked girl half way up wanting to get down. I was even more proud of Jace who climbed to the top of the one side while we were trying to talk a terrified girl, who was squealing very loudly and would not go up or down, into coming down.

It’s amazing how easy it is there to go from the adrenaline rush of the high ropes to sitting around on comfy couches playing music and games. We had an amazing time and I already want to go back.

You can see all of my photos here.

When I graduated from high school in 2003 I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I just knew I was going to be a photographer. I quickly enrolled in all the photography classes I could take.  Then I found out how hard it is to get a photography business up and running and how much competition there is in the field. I quickly decided that it would just be a hobby. Through the years of taking photos, I learned that I’m much better at photographing objects or just candids of people instead of portraits. Here are a couple of my favorite shots over the past year or so.

This one was taken in Dallas just a couple of weeks ago. I love the lines and the beautiful blue color.

I shot this one a couple of years ago on the 4th of July. My cousin Keely was throwing poppers and I caught her in the air, mid-throw.

This was my favorite photo from our trip to Dallas a couple of weeks ago. I love the curviness of the tree in front of the clean lines of the buildings.

This is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken mainly because this is a candid. My cousin Braz just happened to be playing in this bin and look over at me when I had my camera out.

This was taken at church during our youth revival last year. I didn’t have a tripod so I didn’t get the clarity that I would have liked but the colors came out amazing!

My dad’s 1958 Cadillac. Enough said.

Jace’s cousin didn’t want her photo taken but I caught her right as she was getting out of the pool. I really enjoy shooting in natural light. It come out so beautiful.

Matt was privileged to play his bass at his graduation. I loved getting this shot. I was so proud of my little brother.

I took this shot just messing around after church. I had just bought my first pair of Louboutins and they were hurting my feet after being on stage.  I took them off and laid them on the piano and when I looked down I immediately went and got my camera.

(click on the photos to make them bigger)

Last month we decided we needed a vacation before we strangle each other or some other poor unsuspecting citizen. So, on Friday we loaded up the Cadi and headed to Dallas since the Bahamas was out of the question. Bummer, I know! We can never figure out why, but there is just something about Dallas that makes us really happy so, that is where we always head when we need a vacation.

As we pulled into town we stopped by Papasitos, one of my favorite places to eat in Dallas. I could live a very happy and large life on their white wine butter sauce alone. To our surprise and glee our wonderful waitress packed us up some extra food to take to our hotel and munch on.

Saturday we shopped until we dropped. We went to the mall first then Jace talked me to going to Fry’s Electronic Store. My first thought as we walked in was “what did I get myself into? We may never leave here”. This is like the mothership! Jace’s eyes immediately glazed over and we were off. I have to say though, it wasn’t that bad and we didn’t spend too terribly much.

Sunday we managed to find ourselves downtown. We found this AMAZING BBQ place called Sonny Bryans Smokehouse. That was the best meal we had all weekend. The BBQ sauce is so good!
We then had time to kill and the weather was beautiful so we walked around the west end area. We saw where JFK was shot, the old courthouse and I got tons of great photos. We then went and saw Avatar at the 3D IMAX. We arrived, got our tickets that we pre-bought, and stood in line. After being in line for about thirty minutes I realized I bought the tickets for 12:00 and it was 3:30. Crap. I went and begged the little girl behind the counter to please let us in and she thankfully squeezed us in. Literally. Every seat was taken. I really liked the movie but I HATED the stupid glasses you have to wear to see the movie. They don’t fit my little face, so I had to kind of set them on my head. Hour one, they hurt. Hour two, they hurt worse and I was getting agitated. Hour three, I was done, done. The guy beside me was sitting in his seat as well as mine and my head hurt. GET. ME. OUT.! Whoever invents the 3D movie that you don’t have to wear glasses to will be my hero.

All in all we had an amazing weekend. Here are some of my photos and you can see more here.

We had a great Christmas this year! Jace and I take turns every year on who’s family we spend Christmas with and this year was my families turn. So we stayed here in Midland. This was our second Christmas as a married couple and we wanted to have a special day just for ourselves, so on Christmas eve we slept in and had a day to do what we wanted. We got up late and made breakfast burritos for brunch then watched movies and relaxed all day. You know it’s a good day when you don’t get out of your pajamas!
Christmas day we got up and made our tasty turkey. I love our turkey! It is the juiciest, tastiest turkey you have ever tasted.

After the turkey was ready we went to my parents house for lunch and gifts. Lunch was amazing and I ate more starch than I’ve eaten in about 6 months and I think I gained all twelve pounds that I’ve lost back but it was SO good. Next was gifts and there were a mountain of them to open.

My favorite gift was our new macbook pro, in which Jace promply whisked away, opened it up and worked his magic to make it a MEGA MACHINE.

After we opened gifts we all went to see Sherlock Holmes and then Jace and I went home. We had great plans to have a romantic steak dinner that evening but we were so stuffed from lunch and popcorn at the movies that we just had leftovers.

Now all the decorations are put up for the year and I am back on my diet, but I have wonderful memories of this Christmas that will last a lifetime. You can see the rest of our photos here.