The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.

Helen Keller



All is right...

my days are filled with rowdy, teenage boys. running around like a crazy woman. work. bills. trying to keep a household of testosterone calm as they all try to be 'men'.

it can be nuts. and most days i just want to sit and breathe.

it goes by SO fast and i feel like i miss so much of the important stuff.

but today..

all felt right.

an emotional and moving morning at youth Sunday. watching my boys and other teens shine their light from their God-filled hearts.

i sat there and really saw that i am doing something right in raising my family.

we all took a Sunday afternoon nap as the rain fell.

today was full of love and laughter.

it felt right..good.

my heart felt full.

as it should everyday when life doesn't get in the way.

i will not forget today or the moments in it.

the tender love and attention of my husband. the laughter and love between my sons. the pride of being the woman in their lives.

thank you God for reminding me today of all You have blessed me with, for all the blessings you bestow upon me everyday, even when i don't seem to notice.

shay

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1)yellow

2)makes me smile

3)antique

4)splash..of color?

5)in the sun

head on over to Scavenger Hunt Sunday and check out all the other amazing photographers!

i would love to hear from you!

have a blessed week everyone!

shay

Creative slumps...

i hate it when 'life' gets so busy, crazy maybe, that creativity seems to slump. wither slowly, further away.

i feel so much more alive when my juices are flowing.

they are there. waiting to surface. just need to find a moment to let them shine.

i read a blog post tonight by Kim at Picking Poppies about shooting water and oil. i have heard of this several times, but her tutorial REALLY caught my eye. not only for the simplicity of it, but the ability to let my creative juices flow and expand on her example.

so..i know what my Saturday morning will include on my covered front porch..

if i can wait until then!

blessings!

shay

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

busy, busy week for me here again.

lucky to steal a few hours with my photobud yesterday and shoot a little. i was having withdrawal..hadn't shot with her in over 3 weeks! thanks Wendy for making the afternoon happen!

so without anymore babble, let's get to my SHS prompts for this week!

1)simple

this horse had the most simple face but it was strikingly beautiful to me. i wanted to get closer to the fence to shoot but was a little leary of the farmer that my photobud was asking to shoot his corn cob!

 2)grain

oats are grain, right?

3)transportation

an archive shot from my trip to Phili

4)stitch

if you read my last post, i am striving to have my camera with me all the time. i cannot and won't leave it in my van. so..i had to start looking for another bag that would hold my camera and lenses, my kindle, maybe my laptop if needed as well as purse stuff.

searched the bags on the internet but they were kind of pricey for me right now. so..i went to the Vera Bradley sale rack and started looking, opening, imagining.

i found one (of course).

so here is a tiny shot of the stitching.

can't wait to load it up! 

(Vera..can you please make some camera and knitting bags? Thanks!)

5)bubble

had to go to the archives for this one too.

i guess i could have come up with a new shot, but i love this baby girl and her bubbles!

thanks for stopping by!

i am off to see all the other amazing prompts for this week!

blessings!

shay

Finding Balance...

my journey has begun.

after being like the dandelion, with little pieces of me blowing away, i am finding my passion for nursing again.

finding my core. 

it is thrilling and scary all at the same time.

and in this moment, being so busy getting trained and a brand new hospital off the ground, i am missing my camera.

i am missing seeing the little things, that brought me peace when i was seeing them through my lens.

so how do i find balance?

to take a few moments each day to capture God's beauty.

this is something i have to figure out.

because i am REALLY missing my love of photography in the last 2 weeks.

how do you find balance?

any advice?

blessings!

shay

No words....

blessings!

shay

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

shs again!
long week, so my prompts were kind of thrown together!
hope everyone has a great weekend and a blessed Easter Sunday!

1)new
tulips are blooming and beautiful!

2)life

one of my new textures i painted this past week.

these words explain 'life' to me.

3)fragrant

as much as i LOVE spring blossoms and the newness of the season, my allergies do not. if it's not the pollen it's the fragrance that gets me. BUT i don't let that stop me from shooting, i just do it with a stuffy nose!

4)pink
this was my first pink prompt..
but then..

i was driving home from the grocery store on Saturday afternoon and happened to see this!

i mean, how many pink trains do YOU see?

had to go home, get my camera, and drive back.

i really need to start having it with me at all times!

SOOC

5)obvious

i was knitting about a week and a half ago. a hat on circular needles. i was loving the color and texture that was being woven together. i was almost ready to decrease, which is pretty close to the end of the hat and i noticed something looked a little odd.

shouldn't it have been 'obvious' to me that i somehow twisted it around and was knitting it in a twisted twirl?

i tried to undo..

but that is a frustrating task for me!

so..this is what's left of my hat!

can't wait to see everyone finds!

would LOVE to hear from you.

blessings!

shay

loving my new textures!

shay

this week has been so crazy, exciting, and overwhelming all in one!

each day i am reminded how truly blessed i am to have been given this opportunity. i am in front of a computer alot, doing simulated modules and trying to catch up with 'smart' technology in nursing.

not something i am used too.

had to come out of the dinosaur ages some time, right?

anyway, i am beat by the end of the day.

the last thing i want to do is sit in front of my computer.

BUT..

i haven't touched my camera in about a week!

i can feel the need to shoot creeping up behind me!

so, to ease myself, i opened my files to look around at earlier captures for something to post.

i shot this on my porch railing about a week and a half ago.

loved the lighting i got in the original.

then started to play around in photo shop.

anyhoo..

i loved the end result!

hope you all are having a blessed week!!!

thank goodness it's Friday in a few hours!

shay

Open Door

i find this to be so true in my life. if i dwell on the door God has already closed for me, i cannot see past, or, may not even 'see' for that matter, the door He is opening for me.

i have been in situations, places on my journey, where the negativity and entire atmosphere is so forceful that it has sucked me in, and i accept that place, that frame of mind. as if there is nothing more out there. trust me, when that happens, your faith is tried, over and over and over. and it is so easy to lose sight, to not see the 'light'. to miss your prayer of desperation, that is clearly being answered right before your eyes.

how many opportunities have we all missed..

because we were so focused on the door that we should of closed instead of the door He was opening right before us?

in the last 2 days, i am becoming more aware of answered prayer.

of the incredible, incredible blessing He has placed before me.

the answer came in His own time, certainly not mine. years. but the door He has opened before me was SO worth the wait. it was a time of learning. hard, painful lessons.

i know that now. in that time, i believe He was strengthening me.

this post is to encourge you to believe, to keep praying, to expect blessings because that is what God promises His children.

and when He is ready to answer..

drop to your knees in thanksgiving!!

He will place you where He wants you.

He brought us all here for a purpose.

His will be done, not ours.

think about that.

when you take control and do 'your will', you go against all the blessings and desires He has for you.

He knows your talents, skills, heart and soul.

He knows where He needs you to be.

'For You created my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made!'

Psalm 139:13-14

blessings!

shay



Pear Blossoms

i've had these pear blossoms ready to post for over a week now. but today seems appropriate.

i started orientation for my new job today.

so today feels like a new beginning.

a fresh start.

these blossoms resemble 'new' to me.

pure. fresh.

just think of the word 'blossom'.

 

a new season..spring.

a new season on my journey.

 

blessings!

shay

SHS

i hate it when i miss a week of SHS.

i think i was just in a fog last week, being my first week off and adjusting to leaving a job i was at almost 7 years.

but here i am this week!

i start my new job on Monday!

so without further babble about 'me', here are my takes on this weeks prompts!

1)clouds

loved the pink against the blue skies with these apple and dogwood blossoms! getting clouds for this prompt was just a bonus!

2)sunflare

still working on capturing 'sun' shots!

3)seven

6 workhorses + 1 Amish farmer = 7

4)high angle

on my trip to Phili last Sunday i was able to capture some amazing old architecture. i was in texture heaven. plus i got to meet some special and talented fellow SHS bloggers!

5)low angle

 i would love to hear from you!

hope everyone has a blessed week!

shay