1. Reflections from the weekly radio broadcasts on marriage and relationships:
When it comes to finding a mate in today’s culture, we’re really are consumeristic (sic). It’s all about what you can offer me, whether you can satisfy my needs or not. We really do think that way, I know I have. If the price is not too high, and the benefits are good, then I will stay with you, but if the cost goes up, or the benefits go down, then I’m outta here! This is such a sad mentality for dating! And it can carry on into marriage too, hence so many divorces. People are not a commodity! Our mentality should be, are you a person that I can offer myself to for the rest of my life?
And on forgiveness. I stumbled on this blog post because the photo was so neat, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the thought-provoking content:
“We live in an age in which everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven.” (Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco)”
“If we have no real sense of right and wrong, then forgiveness is, by definition, impossible. Indulgence is possible, but not forgiveness – indulgence being the affirmation that “we’ll just let it go this time,” and forgiveness being the gift of grace even though a sure enough wrong has been done.”
“Confused? The culture is. But think about how this plays out in parenting. We see what happens when children have no boundaries, and are indulged rather than held accountable and forgiven. Such children become insufferable. Why would we imagine that it works differently with adults?”
Where everything is permitted, there is no accountability (it’s ok because of x). Without accountability, no wrong can be done and w/o a wrong, there is no forgiveness. This cultural attitude is why I’m only just beginning to understand real apology and forgiveness… I always seek to justify my side in arguments, I guess because I don’t trust in real forgiveness from hubby? And he has the same tendency. Neither of us is very good at taking accountability for something, so I’m not sure we’ve ever truly forgiven each other! I always have a reason why I am not fully responsible.
This is why it’s so hard to say ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I’m sorry’ admits that a wrong was done. ‘I’m sorry’ puts us at the mercy of another human being. It’s a scary place to be. But with God it’s different. God doesn’t forgive us because He understands where we were coming from. That’s not true forgiveness! He holds us fully accountable but when we call on His mercy He truly forgives us for all our wrongs!
2. This week the routine has not gone very well. I was sick on the weekend, Saturday was rough but then Sunday I was completely useless with a fever and chills and a miserable nose. The first few days were spent just trying to whip the house back into its normal semi-tidy state-especially the kitchen. Besides playing catch up all week, the biggest pitfall has been getting up. Because I’m still recuperating I never managed to drag myself out of bed till almost 8. Blissfully, the kids slept in till about the same time, but every morning I was trying to wake up in peace and get through a brief prayer, while trying to tune them out. Also, because I’m still feeling run down, I have been more tired throughout the day, leading me often to take a rest break at the computer, which doesn’t help me get things done around the house.
Still, I wanted to finish the week strong and did I ever! The last two days were some of the best.
This is what you call enthusiasm – Thursday night I left the counters clear and crumb free and even swept the floor! I also read stories with the kids both days, actually on time…and kept on top of the dishes for a change!
3. I miss cheese! Since milk seemed to be adding to my heartburn etc when I was pregnant and I’ve been able to link the upsets to foods with cheese like pizza, I’ve concluded that cheese is bad for colic. Since I like to sleep at night, and have had rough nights even when having cheese for lunch, I’ve largely cut it out of my diet, though I do still drink milk. Unfortunately, I’m really missing it. I stopped making bruschetta when I made the connection, my favorite veggie pie (one of the best foods ever) has a cheese sauce. I even want to make potato skins for supper because DH likes them, but I don’t want that cheese to be in my system, so I wouldn’t get to eat them too. As a result, I’m not making them. Sigh, it’s hard to find tasty meals and go a whole day without having cheese in some form.
4. On Friday we went to a Valentine’s playdate at my son’s little friend’s house. This was the first time they’d seen each other since before the baby was born and they were both really excited 🙂
The mom also has this habit of making cute food, and today did not disappoint, check out these adorable cupcakes! Mmm, they were so good too. Whipped cream is WAY better than frosting!
They also had this neat game for Xbox Kinect where the kids jump around hitting balloons and other things. All the kids and parents got in on it, and I took some fun photos. I mentioned the game to DH and he said we could get a Kinect since his friend showed him how good it is for another game.
Then on Saturday night my brother and his fiancé came to babysit and DH took me out dancing (read was willing to come with me). I was not surprised to be one of the youngest couples there but that’s ok, DH and I really don’t care for the club music popular with the younger crowds.
This was the first time we’d really gotten to go to a dance since before we got engaged. Right around Valentine’s Day (just days before he proposed) we went to a similar event at my church (because it would actually have decent music) and it was so cute and special to watch all the older couples and think, that will be us someday. They were so much better at dancing but I realized they’d had a lot more practice together and maybe one day we could be that together and in tune with each other. Having tried again tonight, I’m still realizing it! We clearly aren’t there yet either, and I think we’ll have to start practicing at home in the living room as part of date night so we can get a handle on this, as despite years of classical ballet training I’m not much better than DH when it comes to dancing with a partner!
Lastly, on Valentine’s Day we got out some crayons and made valentines for Daddy, all of us (except the baby).
5. This week I read an interview with one of my favorite photographer crushes: Joy Harmon of Wildflowers Photography.
When I came to the question about advice for amateurs, I was eager to hear what she had to say:
What advice would you give to someone just beginning in photography and hoping to have a business of their own?
Don’t look at other photographer’s blogs for inspiration, don’t compare yourself to anyone else and start shooting in manual mode pronto.
I guess I’ve really taken it to heart! I’ve been shooting in manual a lot more, only taking it off manual mode when we had my sons little buddy over to play. But it means I end up missing out on some shots if the settings aren’t right when I pick it up.
Then I came to this question, and I was really surprised!
Have you attended college or had any formal education in Photography?
I went to Pepperdine university but not for photography. I did take a few film classes but I have learned the most about exposure and creativity with my photography by purely just trial and error.
Wow! Seriously?! I thought just about everyone who became a professional photographer that people wanted to pay money to work with, must have formal photography education. I thought it was just part of the credentials! As much as I want to take classes sometime, I find this tremendously uplifting. Even if I never get the chance to do that, or at least, before I do, I can still practice, take great photos and even get money for it (in theory). Clearly though, I think I need quite a bit more practice… It would be another year or 5 before I can get to that level, but in the meantime I’ll keep taking photos for my family and friends, not formally, just to share and bless them with.
Having started to really play around with the manual settings I can say that it makes a HUGE difference when you can tweak the settings to match the environment of what you’re shooting. All along I thought my camera was just inferior to the really expensive ones, and that there was some lighting etc, that I just would never be able to get good shots in. Now I’m learning that that is not the case and am just starting to unlock my camera’s potential!
Also, I’m completely baffled by ISO. There are preset ones in my camera, with a picture to accompany each setting, and 800 is supposedly for nighttime, and then 1600 is for a brightly lit auditorium. I would think night requires more light to be let in, but then when I try to shoot something close with one of the lower settings it’s too dark. I think.
6. The same blog that conducted the interview, has a monthly photo project called ‘this is what ___ looks like’. In one of these entries there was a link to this post, and I am in love! How fun are these? Check out the flour covered portrait! 🙂 Be sure to look at the entire baking shoot, these photos are absolutely priceless!
7. The baby is getting baptized on Sunday night and then we will be having a little party here afterwards. After a week of feeling sick, we’re going to have to clean up a bit to make this house company ready, eek! Also, here’s hoping he doesn’t cry for the whole thing!
Also, this was our theme dinner for movie night: Stuffed Pepper Pirate Ships. Not quite as impressive, but they sure were tasty:) And with a few simple modifications I will be able to make this meal for DH too. Only thing is the kids still don’t like peppers. Oh well, I think the kids could see what I was going for and the Pippi Longstocking movie was really fun 🙂
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