New Blog!!!

Hello Internet stalkers!  I have a new blog site come on over and check it out! www.samphotography.com/blog

See you over there!!!

 

 

Brenna + Michael =

Let me introduce you to my dear friend Brenna…

Brenna and I met in 8th grade when I transferred to school at Shepherd.  She was kind and easy to be around, totally FUN.  She always stopped to include me which met so much to me — the awkward new teenager from another school.  She was popular and rightly so — people loved to be around her.  Soon we found ourselves on a Volleyball court and when high school came we found ourselves in the middle of a court as often as possible.  She was 5′ 1″ (and I think the 1″ was to make the roster look better) but beware — don’t let her size fool you, she was fast and the best setter in the conference.  Brenna was also very smart – Valedictorian of our class.  (she is rolling her eyes right now reading this and can’t believe that I am telling the internet all of this!)

High School has been over for 16 years and over that time frame I have had just a few opportunities to hang out with Brenna.  When we get together I am always amazed at her ability to remain her fun-loving self, brilliant and full of life.  She can still bring a room into laughing tears with her stories and how she tells them.

I was able to hang out with Brenna last week and also got to meet her very charming boyfriend – Michael.  I also was able to do a session with them and even with the horrible wind, we were still able to pull off a great shoot.  Brenna also brought her parents along and it was so fun to get to spend time with them too!

Brenna and Michael were so fun to spend the afternoon with.  They brought great outfits, were up for trying anything, and just look at them together — I love how they look at each other.  This is what I love about my job, while a picture is worth 1000 words, the one word that came to mind when I took these was  – LOVE.

Seriously Brenna… you are so beautiful!

Classic Brenna with head back, full on laugh!

Michael, you pulled this off and can’t believe you made it work.  Very few could pull off this cool of a pose and make it look natural!  Nice work!

Thank you both for such a fun time and Thank you Brenna for your friendship both then and now!

Hope

Not just Hope in general, but Ethiopia Hope.  I had the opportunity to hang out with this amazing family who just recently adopted through the Ethiopia hope program at our church.  I have been able to spend time with some of the families from this program and ask them just the general question — “How is it going??”  I get the same answer for them all so far — Kids are kids not matter where they are from!  And while it is an adjustment for the whole family — IT IS SO WORTH IT!

This family was not any different… adjustment? Yes — Worth it?  YES!

I took a story from the adoption blog of this family and wanted you all to read it to full comprehend what this family has done for this adorable little boy –

While we ride up the lift, AJ has one of those moments where he starts talking about before. “My mom says don’t go outside,” he says. I ask why his mom wanted him to stay inside. Turns out that his mom would go to work. He doesn’t know where she went or what she did while she was gone. During her absence, his job was to look after his little sister. I am estimating that at best, AJ was 5 and Enot was 3 when this was going on. “Don’t go outside” was probably the best shot she had at making sure her kids would be ok when she returned.

This was a conversation that took place between Mom and AJ as they rode the lift on a family ski day and it was titled “Babysitter at age 5″ What a change from last year to this… now Aj gets to be a kid, and enjoy it knowing that he is so loved and cared for by this family!

I LOVE the look on Jen’s face in this picture!!!

Look at this smile!!!

Siblings rocking it — Don’t they just look cool??

Good job to this family for making the decision to make life better for this little boy!!!

Love at last…

They sat during our meeting snuggled into each other with dreamy smiles on their faces.  I love to visit with newly engaged couples… the far off looks of being totally lost in each other is mesmerizing to watch.

Hallie = is caring, (she works as a nurse).  She is smiley, bubbly, and fun-loving.

Dave = is a pilot, and in true pilot form, he is charismatic.  He is also slightly reserved and mysterious.

Together they are adorable…  we sat chatting about their big day and visualizing the perfect day for them.  And Oh the fun stuff we have planned!  Can’t wait until this fall when I can post up the pictures of their beautiful day!!!

The Good and The Bad

Here we are at the end of our DARE journey.  I am glad that I did this though most of you have probably learned way more about me than you ever wanted to know!  Thank you for taking this journey with me and while I admit… I did not do every DARE, I did learn from every one of them.

If you are struggling in your marriage, I hope this has made you realize that you are not alone and if you are not struggling, I hope this made you aware of somethings to make the next struggle that does come your way more manageable. Here is another song that I heard today — it is a song of encouragement.  Sometimes God brings us to our knees to show us beautiful recovery.  “beautiful the mess we are, the honest cries of breaking hearts are better than a hallelujah sometimes” — Amy Grant

Thank you for taking this journey with me!

This is the final dare:

Write out a renewal of your vows and place them in your home.  Perhaps, if appropriate, you could make arrangements to formally renew your wedding vows before a minister and with family present.  Make it a living testament to the value of marriage in God’s eyes and the high honor of being one with your mate.  (taken from the Love Dare pg. 199)

Love Endures

As we get to the final two Dares in the Love Dare, I am inspired by this.

Love Endures…

Endures Time, Endures Distance, Endures Heartache, Endures Bliss… and God’s Love Endures Everything.

Here is a song for you…
I love this song because it is realistic.  We expect so much out of “Love”, and what we should do is expect more Love out of us.

Love won’t…

Pay the mortgage, get you a bigger house, make you want for nothing, make life perfect…

But Love will…

Hold us together to make us a shelter to weather the storms of life.

Life will have storms no matter what, can you imagine life without someone to weather them with?

Today’s dare,

Spend time in personal prayer, then write a letter of commitment and resolve to your spouse.  Include why you are committing to this marriage until death, and that you have purposed to love them no matter what.  Leave it in a place that your mate will find it.  (taken from Love Dare pg. 194)

You and me together…

we could do anything… anything.  Thanks Dave for the great song lyrics! (here is the full version if you are interested!)

He told me we were going to Denver for him to do a triathlon.  Taking the kids and spending the weekend.  Me ~ who was so ready for a trip~ I was so excited just to be going somewhere… I had gotten stir crazy and was just ready to go.  I had scoped out all of the fun spots to hit in Denver and was so excited.

Friday morning of the planned weekend, I was at work and got a text with instructions to check the computer at 9:00am exactly.  Well I did and there was a video from my husband on there ~weird because he had been traveling for the last week and was supposed to be on his way home so we could go to Denver.  I watched the video and he instructed me to have the kids packed for the weekend and there would be a babysitter at the house at 10:00am to take the kids so I could get ready to go on a trip to a surprise destination to meet him ~wherever that was.  Grin… Grin… Grin… then LOL and Scream.

A surprise trip and he took care of the babysitter!  WOW-WEE!  Oh and it get better… the sitter showed up with a list of things for me to pack and then whisked my kids out the door to go stay ay my best friend’s house — wait… my kids are going to Kim’s house… and babysitter (Kelsey, whom we adore!) will have them there… that must mean… Kim and her husband Devon are coming with us!!! LOL and Scream some more!!!

I could relive EVERY detail of that trip for so many reasons but the main reason is that it was something I NEEDED.  My Soul NEEDED a break… a get way, and my husband realized it and met the need.  It was not an easy thing to do… the planning alone to pull off a Surprise Trip is time consuming and EVERY DETAIL was covered.  I did not even know where we were going until we boarded the plane in Salt Lake and the reader board said LA.

LA???  what a weird destination choice but who cares… it was a trip and when I got there… I realized why LA and I loved it.  He (I say “he” and I mean “they”… Kim’s husband was in on the planning too!)  They planned for us to hang at Universal for the first night and then surprised us the next day with a road trip to Santa Barbra for lunch and then up the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Cruz.  We stayed in Santa Cruz for a day and a half then headed back to Santa Barbra for another day and night before it was time to head home.  It was just a 4 day trip but it was so great… I have never been on a trip that I was not the event coordinator!  I got to just sit and relax and not worry about where we were going and what was next.

I could write for days about that trip… but the point of the post here today is that the Dare for today is about fulfilling your spouses dreams.

Love is extravagant at times and as I look back over the last 18 years with my husband… some of the times that really stand out are the ones where we were loving each other extravagantly.  Surprise trips, parties, that Christmas present that I worked so hard to surprise him with, that Birthday he bought me my first camera, our weekends away in Chico, the list goes on and on.

To love each other extravagantly is to know your spouses needs and do whatever it takes to meet the needs.

Overwhelm each other with Love.

Here is today’s dare:

Ask yourself what your mate would want if it was obtainable.  Commit this to prayer, and start mapping out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires, to whatever level you possibly can. (taken from Love Dare pg. 189)

Yet Another –

Please understand this… we did not come from a “religious” background.  We did not go to Sunday school or church, We did not pray before we ate, We did not tithe, We did not read the Bible as a family, the list goes on and on.  Our parents certainly did not pray together.

Here is another Dare that I do not have much input on… Praying together.  I have been praying for my husband for awhile now and it has made a huge impact on the way I pray.

It was recommended to us that we pray together to strengthen our marriage.  Sadly, I can count on one hand the number of times we have prayed together since then.

It is awkward to pray together if you are not used to doing it.

What do you say?  Who does the speaking?  What do you pray for?  They should give a class on this somewhere.

Ask your spouse if you can begin praying together. Talk about the best time to do this, whether it’s in the morning, your lunch hour, or before bedtime.  Use this time to commit your concerns, disagreements, and needs before the Lord.  Don’t forget to Thank Him for his provision and blessing.  Even if your spouse refuses to do this, resolve to spend this daily time in prayer yourself.  (taken from Love Dare pg. 184)

Today’s dare…

I do not have any words of advice or a story to share on today’s dare.  Why you might ask???  because I don’t do it. Not that I don’t want to, just that I don’t actually get to it.  If you do it, please comment and share a story so that the readers will be encouraged to follow your lead (myself included).  I can give all kinds of excuses as to why I don’t do it, but the real reason comes right down to priority and I have not made it one.  I will work on it and if you have a story to encourage us that are not doing this… Please share!

Commit to reading the Bible everyday.  Find a Devotional Book or other resource that will give you some guidance.  If your spouse is open to is, see if they will commit to daily Bible reading with you.  Begin submitting each area of your life to its guidance and start building on the rock [of God's word and not the sand of this world] (taken from Love Dare pg. 179)

Behind again!!

Wow… this blogging everyday thing is getting rough!  I only have a few more dares to blog and then I am off to blog about…. imagine this… PHOTOGRAPHY.  I mean that is what I started this for! 

It has been awhile since I started this blog and was looking for something to write about… I mean really who wants to read random rambling from SAM?  I chose to blog the Love Dare for a few reasons and here they are:

I needed something to write about!

I have been wanting to read through this and I knew this would force me to do it.

Many of my friends were/are struggling in their marriages and I thought “why not share what we learned (and continue to learn) so my friends do not feel so alone in all this”.

And for accountability — not for just me, or you… but for me to God.

Today’s dare is about Accountability –

Do you have someone in your life that is a positive influence and willing to offer you wisdom when you need it?  Is that person Christ focused and willing to tell you what the bible says about your situation?  Do they challenge you to be better, do better, and live better?

I have these people in my life and I am so thankful for them… they talk me down from the ledge when I am ready to JUMP!  My Mom always gives me the optimistic outlook, with the biblical backing of what God wants from me.  My sister is always there to support whatever crazy cause I have decided to throw myself into (and usually jumps right in with me!!).  My friends are always there to let me cry on their shoulders, make me laugh and see the bright side.  All of these people are so instrumental in my life.

If you don’t have these kind of people in your life, I am sorry and you should connect with me so that I can encourage you.  We all need each other… and if you are struggling in your marriage then you really need to have positive people in your life to encourage you and share their life experiences with you.

Find a marriage mentor — someone who is a strong Christian and who will be honest and loving with you.  If you feel that counseling is needed, then take the first step to set up an appointment.  During the process, ask God to direct your decisions and discernment. (taken from Love Dare pg.173)