Wedding of Your Dreams

Looking to plan the wedding of your dreams? We can help!! Alred Wedding Consultants and Charity Lynn Photography are teaming up with an incredible wedding giveaway. One lucky couple on March 29, 2010 will receive a design package from Alred and a full service photography package from Charity Lynn. How awesome is that! For more information check out our website. Pass this information on to every engaged couple you know!

Are You Coffee?

We all want to make a difference in our world. I think it's wired into our DNA. Because of disappointments and hurts we believe it's not possible, but it is...you just have to be willing to make it happen.

Here's an email I received from Klemmer & Associates. Hope it inspires you to live your dreams of making a difference in your world.

"What are you most like: a carrot, an egg, or coffee?

A carrot starts out firm, but when you put a carrot in boiling water it becomes limp. An egg starts out with a hard shell and is soft in the middle, but place it in boiling water and the inside becomes hard. And when you put coffee in boiling water, it changes the water completely.

What challenges have you been experiencing in your career, family life, physically or spiritually? Think of any of those situations as the boiling water.

Some people are like carrots. Oh, they act tough enough, but the challenges of life soften them, they wilt and won't stand up for themselves any more.

Other people are like eggs. As they confront challenges they get hard on the inside. They're calloused, they become unable or unwilling to feel and do not allow themselves to connect and relate with other people.

Leaders are like coffee. When thrust into the challenges of life they actually change the situation.

Action Step #1
Buy a bag of coffee and put it on your desk as a trigger device.

Action Step #2
Write a brief paragraph describing the biggest challenge you face in your life right now. Then, write another short paragraph on exactly how you'd like your life to be in that area right now. And finally, write a sentence that describes one specific action you will take this week--no matter how big or small it seems to you--to change your life to being exactly how you'd like it to be."

Fun with Light!

So last night hanging out with my family my brother & I started messing around with my camera. My bro, a blossoming photographer himself, came up with the idea of playing with light. Here's what came from our fun.

My sister's lips:

My brother's self-portrait:

For photographer's wanting to try:
We set our camera on a tripod on Bulb mode. F/22. Turned off all the light and used a household camera.

It's a New Year!

Ok, I absolutely adore this girl on YouTube.  I came across her music and her voice, song & music just draws you in!  Check out the song she wrote, 11:59!

A Morning in Sodor

This morning, still in our pajamas, I decided to enjoy some time playing with Porter in his imaginary world of Sodor. For Christmas, his Grampy made him a train table to contain his plethora of Thomas and Friends. Once order was restored to the island a sweet sing song voice began to emerge as Porter fell deeper and deeper into the world of his imagination. Before long his sister joined in bringing her Littlest Pet Shop animals to join the fun and I was quickly forgotten. I stole away to grab my camera and took a few shots of their morning play.

Are You Committed?

I read somewhere, “Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.” I know every year I take the time to reflect on the year past & hope for the future. I realize my failures and I make promises to myself with a twinge of guilt. I know myself. I know another year has gone by with the extra 10 pounds of baby weight. I know I still leave the laundry sitting in the baskets for days. Last year’s resolutions? February they were shoved in a drawer (the one on my list to clean), forgotten. Why do I even bother?

Yet, here is another new year. Here’s another fresh start. Maybe this year will be different. As I meditate on 2009, and when I say meditate, I really mean in between cleaning spilt chocolate milk, breaking up a squabble, administering a Hello Kitty Band-Aid, scrubbing out black marker from our bedding, and fixing lunch I mentally sort through rambling thoughts of this past year.

What have I learned from this past year? Lately, I’ve been reading the best book by Brian Klemmer, The Compassionate Samurai. It talks about being extraordinary in an ordinary world. In the book he talks about the history of the samurai warrior. They lived by a strict code of values. In fact, there are 10 codes: commitment, personal responsibility, contribution, focus, honesty, honor, trust, abundance, boldness, and knowledge. In essence their lives were full of purpose & their commitment to themselves and others allowed them to live a life of value and fulfillment.

Klemmer states, “Commit to things that are meaningful to you because you were born to make a difference in life. They only way you’ll ever see that coming to pass is when you start to make commitments”.

Where does that leave me with this New Year looming in front of me? Where do I start?

Commitment. That’s my resolution.

Committed to God. Committed to family. Committed to myself. Committed to my future. Committed to friends. Committed to the things that matter.

You were made to make a difference. Are you committed?