Peace

Not Your Ordinary Rollercoaster

The wind is rushing past, bringing involuntary tears to the corner of my eyes; I strive to hold my body core strong yet relaxed with the swift jerking of my body as we race over the track, bending this way, then that. The sounds of laughter are mixed with high pitched adrenaline filled screams. The pull of gravity is strong as we twist upside down, the weight of my body pushing my shoulders into the harness that is the only barrier between me and 60 feet of air and cement below. The pace slows as we reach a straightaway, my brain reminds my lungs to take another breath as I take a moment to pause and look around my surroundings. The moment I begin to relax and focus my attention on the world below, my body whiplashes as the speed jumps again to new highs; all my thoughts now concentrate on where I am and where I am headed. I strain my eyes to look at something other than the track we are eating up faster than I can blink, but everything is a blur. I release one of my hand's death grip off the harness, reaching out to grab the hand next to me, grateful that someone is beside me, that there is one thing that isn't blurring to oblivion; I look back and see the rows behind me filled with faces of friends and family, the ones I love, as we all race along the track at the same breakneck pace. In the face of a seemingly insane situation, my heart is pounding and yet I have peace. I know that the track will bring me safely home, that there is someone behind the controls, with numerous safety measures in place to keep everyone safe, and that there are many who have gone before me.

The difference between this ride and the one at Six Flags is the Maker of the ride, the Master of design; He fashioned my harness, my lifeline, by hand. He even fashioned me. He has His hands on the controls at all times, determining the speed at which we hurtle down the track. I know that NOTHING. not a single little bolt, screw, harness latch, or piece of track is out of place without His knowledge. The faith I have in the Maker is what keeps me from tearing my hair out when those blood curdling twists and turns show up on the track... the faith that I KNOW. that I know, that I know, that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) I take confidence that God will not allow hurt, pain, or chaos to come to my life without a purpose, because even the very hairs of my head are all numbered. I will fear not therefore: I am of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:7)

Lately my life has been on the twisty, crazy upside down part of the track... and it has been a challenge to keep calm and carry on in the midst of tummy flipping twists! My hair is mostly all still here, as I am pushed ever closer to lean on the one unshakable relationship I have. I am blessed with so many friends and family who are riding with me, but the only One who is completely steady and able to keep my heart is my Savior, the Maker of the ride. Sometimes when the ride gets bumpy and sways from side to side, all of us who are riding get jostled together and instead of leaning on each other, we gripe and whine about the bruises. But when I live for my Lord, instead of others it enables me to love those around me with a better, truer love. I know there are those who are on other parts of the track who don't have the support and friendship I am blessed with, which makes it poignantly clear to me how blessed I am to have the husband, children, mom, dad, brothers, sisters, and countless friends I am so wealthy with. And gives me a heart of compassion for others who do not have the love surrounding them as I do.

When I took my sister to Tennessee on a photography business trip as "one last hoorah" together before her wedding and she got bit by a poisonous Brown Recluse spider and reacted very severely, I saw God's divine providence over us so very clearly by providing swift and successful natural treatment through many medical people in our path... we even managed to have a week long family vacation in Yosemite, followed by her wedding, only 19 days after being bit - she walked down that isle as radiant as she could be, with a wound smaller than a dime that was almost completely healed!
The morning after my sister's wedding we received a call that my sweet sister in law had gone into labor during the night, and my precious little nephew, Landon Scott, had been born almost full term but with complications. The next few days were another blurring twist on the tracks as we embraced God's infinite design of little Landon, who had Trisomy 18. We sang praises to the Lord of all creation as Landon left this earth for a better place. He ran his stint on the track and beat us to the finish. I can't wait to see him again someday!

Each time as another twist or surge in speed whipped my body as I raced through the last of August, all of September, and even most of October, I was amazed at how each and every moment God had perfectly timed. Every single time another major life change came, or the small things like kids with colds/puking/fevers, each of these was timed so perfectly that I knew He was giving me grace to pass through it. He only gave me what I could handle each day... if I leaned on Him, and the grace He gives freely.

I hope as I continue on life's twisting turns and miles of track that I will not ever forget this season, the joy mixed with heartache, hope, and a peace that truly surpasses all understanding.

It's After 12 and I'm still in my Pajamas

I will spare you the details of all the daily hubbub, phone calls, photo work, and work associated with preparing for a vacation this morning (a mini weekend away, and yet it still is a lot of work!), but since I'm on a roll with confessions... it is after 1 o'clock and I'm still sporting my comfy pajamas. It's quite a luxury to accomplish all my duties and still be decked out in such soft goodness, a fact I'm quite relishing as I ponder the prospects of our upcoming weekend of camping! We are headed up into the mountains to enjoy the cool mountain air, laugh with friends, hike some more mountains, and relax by the clear blue of Lake Tahoe. I'm looking forward to inhaling the intoxicating smell of pine trees, granite earth, and pure mountainness... to take some photographs that will make me smile at my babies' chubby arms and legs in 2o years... to come home smelling like campfire smoke and in dire need of a hot shower... and I'm also looking forward to being unplugged from our fast pace for a few days.

While on the phone for 3 minutes max this morning with my mom (getting our family's all time favorite recipe for pancakes since I misplaced my copy), William decided to take his need for nourishment into his own hands... quite literally. I had a total and genuine "Mom moment", when I told him not to move and ran to get my little point and shoot camera... took a picture and then dealt with him. Look at that guilty look! :)


I hope you have a great weekend too!
~laura

Hello!

Hello, my name is Laura, and you probably don't remember me but I used to write in this corner of the internet.

When I was 8 years old I started a diary... and then switched to a journal when I was 11 because the word "journal" sounded oh so sophisticated and much more mature than "diary" to me, in fact it still does. I filled a few journals through my teen years, but as time has worn on my writing has grown more and more sporadic... now I am proud of myself if I pull the book off the shelf and let my thoughts loose more than twice a year. It's really a sad thing, and I know I will always regret not sitting down for a moment and reliving my current state of affairs on paper. My great grandmothers on both my mom and dad's side suffered from memory loss, so I am pretty sure my time is coming when these journals will help me remember who I am and where I am from. I just hope it's not before I journal some more. Sometimes I turn to journaling when I am sad or frustrated... which doesn't make for some very nice reading later on. Writing the good things, the small things, the blessings are what I will want to read when I am 89 and can't remember if I brushed my teeth yet or not.

So, suffice it to say that I am purposing to journal more, both in my pretty journal with my swirly font and here in my online journal with the boring type that Blogger chose... this is the place I can share photos without having to go to the trouble of sending them to the printer, picking them up, sorting them, and then pasting them into my book (one reason I'm so in love with Polaroids!).

One last thing, and it's sort of a confession... To those of you who have clicked and refreshed my blog so many times to only come upon the same posts, I am sorry! It is not that I haven't had stuff to share, but more the time and diligence to sit down and let my thoughts and photos do some talking! I think a kind of fear has been growing in me for a long while now, in posting online in a public place. I am one of those girls who gets bruises on the inside of her knees from all the knocking when speaking on a platform... piano recitals were especially hard growing up, since you have to use your feet to man the pedals! :) It's intimidating when I think about so many people looking at my photos and reading what I have to say, but in spite of my unfounded fear of people's opinion, I am going to forge ahead and start posting more... promise!

Happy July to all of you! I hope you are relishing your summer days as much as I!

~laura

i:heart:faces {and textures!}

The creamy silkiness wound around my middle finger in a comforting and familiar way. The tiny, soft nubby knit in pastel plaid was all but faded, holes dotting the entire landscape of my blanket. My mom told me she mended the blanket so many times there isn't much of the original left! I took it everywhere with me; whenever I needed a bit of snuggling I would wad up the blanket into a bunch and then slide that smooth edge up and over my middle finger and slowly wiggle my fingers back and forth... with my thumb in my mouth. Yes, I was a dedicated thumb sucker until I was nearly 5 years old. Hello, my name is Laura and I am a recovered thumb sucker. ;)

I am also a sucker for something else... textures. Walls, fabrics, furniture, paint, wood, floors, photographs, hair, paper (and yes, blankets).... I even pick my favorite foods (and my not-so-favorites) by their texture, not just their taste! Texture adds so much to an otherwise quite simple object.

I ♥ Faces is a site that hosts weekly contests and I've been wanting to enter for some time, and when I saw that this week's subject was textures, I decided now was high time I start participating. So for the fun of it, here is my entry! :)

I took this shot one sunny Sunday afternoon of my sweet little Evangeline and I as we were relaxing on the green grass in Apple Hill. Scott was fishing with Elizabeth at the water's edge a few yards off, and William was in my lap. That afternoon will be tucked forever in my heart, a memory of warm sunshine on my face, laughs as the girls saw the fish, and giggles from my sweet boy blowing bubbles in my lap.



Check out I ♥ Faces and to see what all the fun is about!

December {personal}

Well, here it is, over half of January gone and I'm way behind on my blogging! Amidst the normal festivities of Christmas we also had a week with Scott in Idaho, and the day after he returned we left for Los Angeles to convene with my mom's whole side of the family for 2 days at Disneyland. Mix in there a round robin of colds and coughs, and I've been swamped! :)

I did manage to journal a bit one night before Christmas, but never got it up on here, so even though it is so late, I'm putting it up anyway for my own sake. Memories are always better with photos! :)

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~The week before Christmas~


The warm spiced scent of candles is heavy in the air, the Christmas Tree is twinkling, music is singing the praises of Christmastime. The room is quiet, except for music softly singing to the time of Scott and I typing away on each of our laptops as we sit next to each other on the couch.

The past month has been full of one thing after the other... I don't want to forget any of it, so I'm hoping to have a moment here and there this week to catch up!

Thanksgiving weekend was full with the normal family festivities followed by a beautiful and sweet wedding for two good friends on Saturday. It was fun to visit with so many friends!


We then left Sunday morning for a quick family getaway!


We took the kids and split for a few days to relax and celebrate Scott's birthday, which was on the 2nd. We had a fun time over in Reno, checking out Cabela's (Scott's dream store!), driving the old part of town to check out architecture, and hanging out in the hotel room with the kids.







We spent one day checking out Virginia City, which was fabulous but COLD. Snow and ice on the sidewalks made for some entertainment for the girls, but I mostly wanted to duck into the shops one after the other to escape the biting cold!


I stepped out of the car and immediately my eye was drawn to the drunken lines of the boardwalk. It looks like it's dancing!

Samuel Clemens had a great way with words, and I devoured his works as a young child and teen. On my bookshelf sits a vintage set of his entire collection, as well as an old copy of "The Adventures of Mark Twain", his biography. Samual Clemens worked with the newspaper company that was here back in Virginia City's heyday. Inside the store/museum they have a life sized figurine of the man himself sitting by the stove warming himself.

In one of those "brrr, I'm freezing... time to find another store" moments, we dove into this lovely little shop that had the girls wide eyed with delight forever! Little City Items Toys & Gifts was THE most amazing kid's shop I've ever set foot in. And that is saying something! :) I wanted to stay forever and forage the amazing toys Pamela Byars, the owner had tucked in every little corner! Pamela herself was behind the counter and was so kind and friendly, helping the girls with their purchases of two doll figurines (to add to their large "princess" collection). The products were all the highest quality, the kind you could pass on to your grandchildren one day and they would still be in ship shape. If you are ever nearby, it is worth the drive to Virginia City just to visit this adorable shop!





Look at those long blonde curls! :)

This was Evangeline's successful solution to the long day and drive!


I love low key family time when we don't have any grand things to do or places to go... where we can just relax and take each moment as it comes! I was really grateful for a little time away as a family during such a busy holiday season!

Then Sunday the 6th was spent hanging out over at Scott's parents' place with the family.



Even though the stormfront that made headlines was moving in, with flurries flying everywhere, we managed to run outside for a five minute camera session with the cousins before heading in to decorate the Christmas Tree. The kids were so thrilled with their job as decorators of the tree! It was sweet to watch their joy and concentration to get each ornament positioned just right. During the evening the snow kept coming down... when we headed home around 8 we had to use 4-wheel drive to make it... the VW van in front of us was fishtailing it all the way into town! I thought we were going to witness a crash any second, but whoever was driving knew how to drive in the snow. The next morning we awoke to the muffled quiet that only snow brings. The old house was toasty warm with its thick white winter blanket!




We had over a foot of snow, which is crazy rare for our town! Usually we get an inch or two a few times through the season, but it melts off by the end of the day. Not this storm. The snow continued to fall till noon, creating the most majestic winter wonderland I've ever witnessed here.



Our sweet little town was tranformed into a fairytale! Scott saw the look on my face as I gazed out the window and shoo'd me out of the house...


my man dressed and fed the kids so I could go out in the flurries with my camera for a few hours. I love him!

I could not wipe the smile off my face for the entire two hours I was out. I felt so silly, like a little kid, and my cheeks hurt... but the beauty and quiet was so beautiful I could not help myself!




The few people I did meet while out were feeling the same way I think, because everyone was smiling and greeting one another like old neighbors.




I headed downtown to Main Street to see what I could find... it was like seeing our cute little town with fresh eyes. The snow defined shapes, lines, and architecture while hiding the normal color filled life that I normally see.




I love this photo of a darling little old lady, out braving the storm when so many others were lounging about on the warm couch, missing the fun!



A very merry Northern California Christmas to you!


~laura

The End of a Landmark

As we near one of my favorite holidays, I've been reflecting on what I am thankful for this year and as trivial as this may seem to some, I am thankful for a normal amount of leaf raking this fall, which makes it fun again!

The huge old sycamore in our yard spread it's 70 foot plus crown of leaves over our yard, our neighbor's yard and house on one side, and the road on the other. The seemingly innocent tree presided over the entire neighborhood with the air of one who belonged. It did belong, but the disease that had overtaken it did not. Most positively did not. Anthracnoses was not a welcome intruder... it made the stately tree lose it's leaves ALL summer AND fall. The dust that the disease produced was enough to induce asthmatic coughing fits. After debating for more than a year, we finally decided that the tree had to go. It was sad to see a neighborhood landmark go (the original land owners' son planted the tree in the 30's), but we have never once regretted our decision. It took 3 full days of a skilled tree trimmer, a cherry picker truck, and finally a crane to get the sucker down, but we did it, without loss of life or limb!




This cartoon was featured in one of our local papers a few years ago and I clipped it out to bring a bit of humor to our days of raking the myriads of trash bags with face masks on... Now it just makes me thankful that I don't have to rake more than the usual amount of leaves, at the right time of year!! :)


ln~

Red Apples and Orange Pumpkins

His short little baby legs ran as fast as they could across the lawn at Honey Bear Ranch to pick up the red juicy apples scattered about. The apple trees dotting the picnic area were laden with beautiful red fruit, which was pure bliss to little William who is a ball fanatic! He would find one, then see another and drop the first to pick up the second... and so on! His joy was so cute to watch! I was a bit preoccupied watching him run around and my other two girls playing with their cousin Rehn, while chatting with my sister in law Robin that the photos are a bit blurry, but I love them just the way they are.

After checking out the apples and small pumpkin patch at Honey Bear Ranch, we stopped by Boa Vista, where the pumpkins sprawled into the horizon it seemed. William never stopped moving... he just kept running from one huge round pumpkin to the next yelling "ba, ba!" (ball). The girls were in their own little world too... Evangeline darted around the field, while Elizabeth chose one pumpkin after another for her very own perfect specimen. After toting around a dozen different pumpkins, she finally settled on one when we were leaving... though I'm sure if we stayed longer it's place in the lead would have been very shaky! Every fall Robin and I have tried to get a picture of the little cousins all together... wow, what a challenge it is to get four sets of eyes looking the same way at once. We look like total bafoons too, getting them to laugh at us! :) It would probably be a more entertaining picture of the two of us dancing around to keep their attention for a split second!















Happy weekend!

~laura