Sabbath

Today is Sabbath. A day of rest. A day to spend in worship and with fellow believers. I look forward to this day each week. It’s a time when I can stop worrying about life and just spend time with my Savior in worship and song.

I have to teach the Kindergarten Sabbath School class and today our lesson is on prayer. The message is, “We can talk to Jesus anytime, anywhere”. I forget that sometimes. I think that I can do it all myself. That He isn’t interested in what I’m doing and what I need. But the memory verse really sent it home to me. It is found in Jeremiah 29:12. It says, “Pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” That is all it takes. Just take time to pray. Make time to pray. It is something I need to work on and with His help I will.

I took this photo a few weeks ago. I have been wanting to take it for a while but our weather wouldn’t cooperate and it was always cloudy or rainy.

On Monday morning, April 19, I was on my way in to work early. It was about 7AM and I was coming over the Harbor Bridge and noticed the sunrise. I knew I had to try to get my picture.

So, I stopped at the First Methodist Church down on the bayfront and took this.

Digital Photography

I was able to register to take the "Oh! Shoot!" photography class offered at jessicasprague.com and given by Candice Stringham. Yesterday started the second week and all ready I have learned so much!

The first lesson was on shutter speed. I learned that a fast shutter speed will freeze motion and a slow shutter speed will show motion (motion blur). It was a lot of fun trying to use these settings for different photos. She also told us about panning and how you can photograph someone or something moving and still get a sharp photo of the subject with the background blurred which shows the motion.

This week's lesson was on aperture. A small f/stop (i.e. f/1.8) is an open aperture which means you will get more background blur and the focus will be more on the main subject. A large f/stop (i.e. f/22) is a closed aperture and that means that more of your photo will be in focus.

I am having so much fun with this class and can't wait for each week to start and the next lesson. I will post some pictures later to show what I have learned these first two weeks.

Happy New Year!

The beginning of another year. How time seems to be passing so quickly.

Our New Year's celebration wasn't anything too exciting. We had some family and friends out for some fireworks and even though there was a huge bank of fog, it actually made the fireworks more intense so see them through the mist. Everyone was done and gone by 8:30PM.

Thomas had his cousin Kayla spend the night and they made up their beds in the livingroom and watched movies til they fell asleep.

Me, I was in bed by 10PM. Is that sign of old age?

Some things Iwould like to accomplish this year.........

Take more photos. I am going to try to do the P365 project where you take one photo a day and make a scrapbook layout.
I'm going to try to eat more healthy and hopefully lose some weight.
I want to read my Bible more and study it as well as other books. Angela & Mom got me a One Year Bible that we are going to try to read it through in a year. Also there is a group on Facebook that is reading the Conflict of the Ages Series through this year that I would like to get in on. You start with Patriarch and Prophets and read through Great Controversy, in order, one chapter a day.
I want to be more organized this year. Organize my home, my desk at work, my computer files, my church clerk files.
I want to take a photography class. I want to learn how to use my camera and get great photos.
I want to spend more time with my family doing meaningful things together.

So, there is my list. Hopefully I can accomplish most of it if not all of it.

Happy 2010!

Wonderful Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas! We opened some presents in the morning. Thomas actually let us sleep til 5:30AM! He had a great time distributing the presents to Dad and Me and himself.

Then we had to go feed the cows since it was a little chilly. Thomas and Daddy filled the buckets with cotton seed and brought it to the troughs. The cows were very greatful for the food and even let us scratch their heads a bit. I got some wonderful photos of some of the calfs.

We got cleaned up and headed into Corpus for brunch at Courtney's. We visited with Tom's brother and his family and my mother-in-law. It was fun watching Kaiden play with his Christmas toys. He got a 4-wheeler just like Uncle Troy's and had a great time comparing the two.

Then we went over to my sister's house to visit with them and my Mom.

All in all, it was a wonderful day spent with loved ones. Just how Christmas should be.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, it's Christmas Eve. The shopping's been done. Almost all the presents have been wrapped and are under the tree. I have a day off from work to get ready for tomorrow.

December has been a busy month. Thomas' school put on a Christmas program at the three churches in Corpus Christi and each week was better than the first. I'll post some photos later. Thomas had a few solo parts on his coronet and did very well.

Mom has come to Texas for the winter and we will enjoy having her here this holiday season. We have to share her with my sister and her family but I get to see her every day which is nice.

We had a cold front come in last night or early this morning so it is cool today and feels a little more like Christmas than the 70 degree weather we had yesterday.

Tomorrow will be spent with my husband's family for Christmas brunch and then we will go to my sister's for Christmas dinner. This is the first year that we haven't had everyone just come to our house. I don't know which is more stressful.

Well, there are a few things I need to get done today so I best get started. Merry Christmas to everyone!