Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

some lists of things

Things I Miss

Feeling at home
sunshine
summer
Mom & Dad
sharing life with girlfriends
evening walks after dinner
Zoetic Images
my Dad's cooking
Trav & Jennifer
sunsets
being close to family & loved ones
ice cream at Kendrick Park
watching the dogs play in the river in July
journaling
playing cards with my grandparents
flying kites at Nelson Park
Chapel
fishing with my father-in-law
Tuscany's
my hammock
belonging


Things I look forward to

visits home
seeing the dogs after work
mom's laughter
the smell of spring
lunch breaks with Eric
seeing my little brother hold is little girl
thunderstorms
Eric's hugs
being free from student loan debt
being a mission team photographer
living closer to home
Zoetic Images
holding my babies
heaven
summer/changing seasons
fishing with my father-in-law
having a home that feels like home
playing cards with my family
phone calls from Dad
reaching my weight-loss goals
belonging


Things I am thankful for
a warm place to rest
friends even though I'm far
hope of heaven
Christ
my pets
my family
Eric's hugs
memories
sunshine
ability to have a healthy life
my education
Dad's yummy cooking
ice cream
beauty in nature
a job that I can enjoy
my camera
being loved and sharing love

Deer!!

So tonight I was cooking some yummy spaghetti for dinner and I looked out the front window to see a huge pack of dear roaming around the neighborhood. I've seen 4 or 5 around here before but never this many at one time. This is also the first time I've seen any males near the house. There are two bucks I think! Here are some pics!

How many do you see?

If you look closely at this next photo you can see the two bucks head butting!


Oops a neighbor dog started barking!

Spring Fever

Here are a few things that really made me smile today!

Today it got up to 62 degrees!!! We took a walk through the park today and followed part of the river that runs through town! It was sooo nice and sunny! And it felt like spring, only there's still no buds on the trees yet! Maybe soon!!!

I got a fun letter from one of my best friends who lives in Boston right now. Her words always bring me joy and lighten my heart. Thank you God for sisters.

I tried a new stir-fry sauce tonight for dinner and man was it YUMMY! My hubby even ate the veggies! Now that's a big deal! :0)

The new Man vs Wild show airs Monday nights and the hubby and I always enjoy watching it together! Bear is nuts!

I've decided to start a new Friday morning tradition for my blog. I want to do weekly Haiku poems to summarize what's been going on. YAY!

I'm one of THOSE bloggers...

So according to my friend, I'm one of those bloggers because I don't blog very often. I will vouch on my behalf that I do read alll of my friends blog posts, even though I don't always comment. In fact they're listed on my google home page in the RSS feed. Here are the top ten reasons why I haven't blogged very much lately.

1. My life is pretty consistant from day to day, so I never really have anything interesting to blog about. I wake up, eat some breakfast, check in on the hubby, check in on the weather, take a shower. Then I check my email and facebook and the blogs, hoping that I might have something to do that day. Then I pay any bills that need to be paid. Then I check the classifieds for new job postings or home rental postings. In the afternoon I eat a snack and take a walk if it's nice, then run any necessary errands. Then I fix dinner an watch some tv or read. Then I check my email/blogs/facebook and go to bed.

2. I usually blog any new photo sessions that I've done. However since the move my business has taken quite a setback and it kinda depresses me a little, but hopefully things will work out. I've put some flyers around town but nothing's come of it yet.

3. I like facebook better than blogging, and I really enjoy how easy it is to keep up with some old friends that I miss, so I spend my computer free time on facebook. I have tons of friends popping out babies these days and I like to oogle over their new pictures.

4. Looking for/stressing over trying to find an affordable rental home here takes up a lot of my energy these days.

5. I spend the rest of my computer time, uploading prints, working on albums, and reading new info about equipment and training that I wish some day I could afford to take part in.

6.. I can't think of any more reasons.

Re-Do

Thanks to my lovely sister-in-law, Jennifer, I'm re-doing my 25 things list, because I realized I wasn't very random and fun in the last one. Here goes:

1. I currently have onion breath because I made a yummy mandarin orange, Asian salad for dinner and it has chives in it.
2.It annoys me, when people, overuse, commas.
3. I'm in the process of switching car insurance.
4. I see light and color everywhere.
5. There's several piles of deer poo in our yard right now.
6. It hasn't snowed in weeks.
7. I want my brother and sister-in-law to come visit so we can go camping together this summer.
8. I get gas at the corner station called "The Holiday" and when you shop at Albertson's you get gas coupons for The Holiday.
9. I've lost 20 lbs since Christmas.
10. Renting houses sucks.
11. I've had the same shoe size since I was 11.
12. I watch The Animal Planet network a lot.
13. Someday I want to own/run an icecream parlor.
14. My favorite foods are ice cream and homemade vegetable soup.
15. I really want to be a photographer for a mission team some day.
16. I wish going to the movies wasn't so expensive.
17. The other day I took a walk when it was 19 degrees.
18. The weather fascinates me.
19. I really enjoy laying in the grass and watching the clouds.
20. My top two love languages are quality time and acts of service.
21. I'm reading The Bourne Identity.
22. It takes me foooreeeevvver to finish a book.
23. When I do finish a book I get a great sense of accomplishment.
24. I kind of enjoy doing laundry.
25. I greatly enjoying eating food I make myself. For some reason, it always tastes better.

25 Things About ME!

Okay so I caved and decided to do the 25 things facebook chain, but ONLY cus my Mom tagged me. Enjoy!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. Jesus Christ is my savior.
2. My favorite season is Autumn.
3. I believe in 2nd chances.
4. One of my heroes is Larry English.
5. I treasure my friends.
6. I'm a photographer! http://zoeticimages.com
7. When I was 14 I earned a black belt in Taekwondo.
8. I'm saving up to go to Dog Training school online.
9. I've learned that winter in Wyoming is not so bad after all.
10. The sun cheers me up.
11. I've been to Mexico a billion times and miss my friends there.
12. I want to own a cabin up in the mountains with a hammock near a stream.
13. I want to be a photographer for a mission team some day.
14. I believe most things worth having aren't easy.
15. Capturing the personalities and true beauty of my subjects is what drives me in my photography.
16. Sports casters/analysts drive me insane.
17. My brother can make me laugh harder than any person.
18. One of my favorite things to do is play cards with my family.
19. I'm married to my best friend.
20. I want to take an Alaskan cruise sometime and I've always dreamed of visiting Italy.
21. I HEART ICECREAM!
22. I inherited my mother's keen sense of smell, and my favorite sent is rain.
23. I love my dogs. A lot.
24. I've always dreamed of being a Mommy some day, but pregnancy creeeeps me out!!
25. I feel most peaceful during a rain storm.


:0)

My First Winter

We had about 5-6 inches of pretty white snow last night and I took some pictures of it to share with my Texas friends and family!

sunset setting sun

So a few days ago I was driving home from running a few errands one evening and I could hardly pay attention to the road because of the sky. The sun was setting behind the mountains and reflecting off of the clouds. It created the most beautiful rich colors. I hurried home and grabbed the camera and snapped these from my front yard. Oh man I just stood there, I was in awe. I also enjoyed how the trees were creating a black silhouette. I promise that these images are not edited or enhanced in any way.. God just decided to paint the sky golden that evening. He's so Awesome!

MOUNTAINS!!!!

My in-laws helped me move our stuff from Texas to Wyoming, and before they left to go back to Texas we took an afternoon trip to the mountains. Here are a few pictures.

This little creek near a camping grounds was starting to freeze over. It smelled so good and fresh there. It was really nice.

This is a close up of the ice crystals on the water. If I had a micro lens I could make this look so neato.

My inlaws and Eric. I made them pose for a picture since it will be a long time until we see them again. Eric gave his Momma a good bear hug and I snapped a black and white. It's cute.

Eric found a cool stick and I took a picture, he's so funny and he makes me smile. I love that guy a whole lot.

These images are of some aspen trees after they've shed their leaves. I love them. ANd they look really awesome in black and white.






Below is an area that they use for logging and tree conservation. They only cut down the tall- tall trees so that's why they're all the same height. In the back ground is some mountains realllly far away.

Movin' on Up!

So I'm pretty sure my two blog readers know that we've moved because my husband found work. But I figured I'd officially announce it! Laci and Eric have moved to Sheridan, Wyoming! I guess for a while, I couldn't really admit it out loud, not that I was embarrassed about it or anything, it's just that it's just such a huge thing to me. I mean, I lived in the same house my entire childhood, then moved to college and lived in Abilene for 5 years. So this is my first time to live far from home. Which honestly it's not the issue of living far from home that bothers me, because I know my true home is not on this earth. It's just that, moving from Texas to northern Wyoming, is such a HUGE change! Haha! If you've read my blog at all, you know that Eric and I have been wanting to move for such a loong time. You'd also know that Eric has been looking for a job even a longer amount of time. When Eric was first applying for this job(it was a three month long process) we kinda just approached it like any other job application and figured that he should at least give it a shot. Then as the process continued and the interviews got more in depth, it hit us that this job would move us to WYOMING!!!!! Haha! i mean I'd been praying for Eric to get offered a job that would allow us to move, but seriously God, WYOMING!?! Haha! It's the least populated state in the US and Sheridan has about 16 thousand people. Well after months of waiting, and worrying and praying.. He said yes this time, and we moved two weeks after being offered the job. It happened so fast, but I guess this is where we are supposed to be for a while. I am very excited about the location, I've alwasy wanted to live near the mountains, and Sheridan is right at the feet of the Big Horn mountains and reasonably close to Yellowstone. This should be an incredible adventure for both of us, and I bet we learn how to participate in some really awesome new outdoors sports! I'm excited to see the first real snow, hopefully soon!

I tried to document the drive some with my little canon point and shoot camera. Here are some images from the passenger seat!

This is Eric just after we left Abilene!

I never saw a sign that read anything about leaving Abilene, so I figured the Dyess AFB sign will have to do. I mean Dyess is pretty much why Abilene is on the map.

I wanted to take some photos of the Texas landscape to compare them with the Wyoming landscape, plus the clouds were pretty that day.

We took my doggies to Lubbock to stay with my parents until we find a bigger place up here with a yard. The back seat was half filled with luggage and cargo, so they didn't have much room. Haha this is them cuddling in the seat.

Luna kept getting frustrated because Eisen was hoggin' the whole seat, so she was falling asleep sitting up and leaning on the back door. It was pretty amusing.

The drive between Abilene and Lubbock doesn't get much better than this. Cotton, sky and wind turbines! There are more and more turbines every time I make this trip.

This photo is the best shot I could get of a "lubbock" sign. It's hard to capture anything at 70 mph.

We stayed in Lubbock for a few days, then left reallly early in the moring to make the 11 hour drive to Cheyenne, WY. This is the sunrise between Lubbock and Amarillo.

I fell asleep for a bit and woke up when we were in New Mexico. There was a little bit of snow on the ground on Oct 18.

This is just before we got to Colorado and the first glimpse of the mountains!

This is Colorado Springs in autumn.

So we stayed the night in Cheyenne, WY and then drove the next day to Sheridan. These next images are all in Wyoming.

I'm assuming this is all green in the summer. And honestly these images don't come close to capturing what it really looks like. The terrain looks straight out of a western movie about the folks on the Oregon Trail. It's really hilly and rocky in areas and goes on FOREVER. There aren't any trees except in the mountain areas, and from the looks of it, there's more livestock in Wyoming than people.

But it does hold it's own kind of beauty.

The above image is the road entering Buffalo, WY. It's a town about 30 minutes south of Sheridan, and a third of it's size. It's closer to the mountains and verrry hilly and pretty. We thought about living here, but haven't found a house there yet.

This is our little cube of a home right now. It's tiny tiny, but very cute and we are glad to have a roof and a place to lay our heads. We're still looking for something with a bit more room and a yard for our dogs. I miss them so so much, but hopefully we can bring them here soon. I know they'll love it.

More pictures of the mountains of Sheridan coming soon..