Future

As soon as I saw the title of this final assignment, I knew what I wanted to capture: some how, some way, my WHOLE family together, one place, one time, loving on each other.

Here is the description: "What do you see in your loved one’s future? What will they be doing? What will you be doing with them? What do you look forward to doing with them? How is their future bright? Take a step in your own personal time machine and capture something with your lens that will foreshadow your loved one’s future."

I've heard this saying many times, but it seems particularly poignant at this moment, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." Yes, in 2 short weeks we will be adding another little miracle to our family. I don't know if it's a boy or girl, I don't know what his or her face looks like or what type of personality he or she will have. I don't know whether this child will be healthy or have some sort of disability. I don't know how the dynamics will be with my three children...

This I do know, this child was known and created by a loving God. This child is loved beyond belief by his or her heavenly Father and is welcomed into a family who loves him or her unconditionally. This child is loved by family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, the blessings of this new little life. Oh the love that already surrounds this miracle. Praise God for this amazing gift of life, His perfect plan for it, and His indescribable love!



It has been a great adventure capturing the "Joy of Love" over this past month. Thanks for joining me - looking forward to sharing more love to come...

What they say

Now here's a challenge: "What do they say to you? this can be a favorite phrase or slang that they use OR it can be words that they use to encourage you and motivate you. You can also capture them saying a phrase they say over and over or just find something inanimate that best captures WHAT they say." Tough stuff. Really I contemplated first, "who says what that really touches my heart?" and then, "how the hay do I capture that in a photograph?"

Tobias recently started calling me "Mommo". No big deal, I guess. I mean, I suppose lots of kids have fun names for their parents. Yet, this little nickname has become special to me. It's something he didn't do because of his big sister. It's something special that just he and I share. It's a term of true love and affection. And I cherish it.

I set the camera on "continuous" and had him say, "Mom-mo" over and over again. Here is my precious Tobias saying my name in a way that only he can... (Ok, so I made a "story board" of this on Photoshop but it won't load on Blogger so I'm just uploading the pics)




I'll always be your "Mommo", Tobo!

Bromance

Ok, first of all, I think the title of this assignment is hilarious. Second, I didn't really follow the instructions which read, "Who do they want to spend all their time with when they are not with you? Celebrate their bro-mance or their relationship with their best bud! Photograph them with their wingman."

When Mark and his friends orchestrate a time to hang out (which, unfortunately, is relatively seldom), it occurs what they call "late night" which means when all of our children are tucked into their beds. While this is incredibly considerate of them, it makes it pretty impossible to photograph them (in the dark). They also tend to "go to the mountains" which means I'm definitely not able to capture what they do. Honestly, sometimes I'm not sure I want to know what they do, so I'll maintain my ignorance about their guy-time and move on to a different type of male-bonding.

As I mentioned before, Mark loves learning about cars. And he is passing this love along to his son. Tobias LOVES watching Mark play "racing cars" on the XBox. Mark lets Toby choose the type and color of car to race and they have fun "zooming" them around the track and crashing into things. When it's convenient, Mark also attempts to catch "MotorWeek" on PBS on Saturday mornings. Here is a photo of Toby and daddy snuggled up delving into the world of "fast cars" for 1/2 hr. We often hear the refrain, "Daddy, I wanna watch racing cars!" I love to watch this love develop between father and son - not their love of cars per sae, but their unity and excitement in a common interest.

When you love them most

This assignment was posted a few days ago. I'm attempting to "catch up" this weekend. I currently have a gloriously silent home so I'm taking advantage to complete these last couple days...

Here is "day 25"'s challenge: What makes you tick about your loved one? What do they do to go out of their way to make sure you are happy and that you have a GREAT day?

So, I am spoiled. My husband comes home from work every day at lunch. I'm not sure how to express how much I appreciate this daily act of service. Sure, he could go to the lunch room and chit chat with his coworkers. He could read ESPN.com or work on school work during his hour lunch break. Instead, he chooses to enter into what he knows will be a little bit of a crazy time (in the midst of a sometimes-stressful work day). He makes lunch for his 2 & 4 year old, he gives big hugs and asks how our day is going, he takes Tobias to the potty and puts him down for a nap, he gets the mail, and all four of us gather at the lunch table TOGETHER. It is a tremendous help to me to have this mini-break in the middle of the day particularly when my morning has consisted of rushing around, transporting little ones to their appropriate destinations, and completing various errands or chores. What a blessing this man is to sacrifice his "me time" for our family. I'm so grateful as he shows me and his children how much he loves us through this gift of time and attention.

Caught him playing games and goofing around with the kids. I love how he's wearing his scrubs and his OT badge is dangling.

We love you, daddy!

Where

Once again, I'm a little behind. This particular assignment was tough because, well, it was relatively impossible for me to get to "where" I knew he was "the one" at a moment's notice. It's also posing a challenge because back then we didn't use digital cameras so I don't have digital files to even upload moments from those days...

Thus, the scanned photos.

Mark and I were in every class together in our Occupational Therapy program with 30 or so other students at Towson University. It was a pretty intimate group and, whether we liked it or not, we became closely acquainted with one another. We became friends, having lunch together periodically and gathering at evening study groups. Somehow (um, definitely God!) we were placed together as partners to create and lead a group in one of our behavioral health classes. I'll never forget the professors response, "That was the best partner project I've ever experienced in this course." We certainly complimented one another well, yet remained "friends" for a couple years.
Study group for Anatomy & Physiology = fried brains


THEN, Mark joined our Habitat for Humanity group on a spring break trip to Charleston, SC. Experiencing him outside of the academic element struck a spark. As soon as we returned from that week, we began dating.
Notice how he has a hammer aimed at my noggin. ;)


It wasn't until about a year later that our relationship moved to the "next level"... I was doing a 3 month internship in Santa Barbara, CA. I was all alone on the West Coast while he was living with his parents in suburban DC completing his internship. His parents graciously footed the bill for a plane ticket and we spent a glorious long weekend sharing sunny CA. This is where we had "the talk" and pursued our relationship toward marriage.
Here we are at one of the missions, typical of southern CA.


So these are the 3 turning points, special places and moments, leading to our union. It was fun to search for these photos and reminisce. Oh, how great is the Lord who orchestrated all of this and faithfully brought us to this day...

Facebook

This is a kind of funny, kind of fun, "free day" assignment... "JUST DO IT! You know you have some awesome facebook photos of your loved one. Pick your favorite, copy it (save it) and print it to have forever!"

This has been Mark's profile pic on Facebook for, oh, at least 6 months if not more. We are at a friend's wedding in May of last year (I sang and played flute) goofing off at the reception. Mark stole/borrowed one of the bridesmaid's bouquets and he's infamous for making silly faces in photos without my knowledge. I love how happy we look/are.

And I've already printed it and framed it. Ahead of the game on that one!

I didn't go back to find the original file, just stole it off Facebook for simplicity's sake.

Face (portrait)

For this day (which was yesterday), our assignment was: "Your task today is to just capture your loved one’s portrait. A head and shoulders shot. Simplify the background (find a neutral wall in the home) so that the focus is truly on them and their beauty."

Lydia was available and somewhat willing (or did I force her?) when the lighting was optimal, so I seized my opportunity. For some reason, when I look at these, I just can't comprehend how beautiful I think my daughter is AND how she's grown in beauty... You never can fathom the depth of love you'll have for these miracles when they enter your lives and these photos knock me off my feet with thankfulness for this love-filled life...