21 Reasons Why I Love Bailey

Today my best friend and roommate turned 21. In honor of her, I'd like to list a few reasons, (21 to be exact) why I just love her!

1. Her love for the Lord
2. She's morning person like me
3. Her discipline in being in God's Word daily
4. The way she flips her hair back in an exaggerated way when she feels special or flattered
   
5. Her joy overflows into my life
6. The accountability she holds me too
7. She's always singing, and doesn't care who's listening
8. When she gets giggly and I can say anything and it'll make her laugh
9. "Looks like The Blur with a new paint job!", "Pink is my signature color" many other movie quotes
10. Her patience with me when I'm scattered and a big mess
11. How good she is at teasing her hair and keeping it classy
12. Her love of frozen pizzas
13. Her consistency
14. The way we have our spots at the kitchen table where we study
15. Our alter egos, Ingrid and Francesca
    
16. I'm just amazed by her Godly wisdom
    
17. Her great taste in music
18. Her super animated, goofy faces she makes when shocked or excited
19. How easy it is for me to startle (and by this I mean scare to pieces) her because she's so jumpy
20. How frugal and wise she is with money
    
21. Experiencing life with her through Project 365

So many of my favorite memories have Bailey in them in some way and I'm so thankful for and truly blessed by her friendship. I look forward to the memories we'll make and the things we'll learn as the year(s) pass.

Happy Birthday Bailey, I love you!

Painting Trees

I've always loved painting trees. In elementary school, the only time I every made it on the artwork of the month wall was for my tree painting project.

My mom came to visit for the first time since she helped move me in and I was a little embarrassed that our house was still only half decorated. I've been talking about getting a big canvas, painting it, and hanging it over our couch for months now though we still have a huge, empty wall framed by a coat rack and tall lamp. She made a comment on the importance of always making a house a home, no matter how long or little one may be living there. Inspired by her words of encouragement, I faced my fear of buying such a large blank canvas, browsed for some ideas on etsy, and spent the day painting these trees. :)

Roommate Photo Shoots

Twice this semester I've had the opportunity to take pictures for a few friends and their roommates. It's been so fun for me to hang out with these girls and then edit their beautiful photos. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to grow and learn as "picture-taker" and thought I would share a few of the photos from our "shoots."

I'd like to call these lovely ladies the Horse Haven Roommates. I know Rachel and Michelle (top middle and right) from church and have developed a sweet friendship with them over the semester. Their roommates Mallory, Lindsay, and Andrea were super cool and kept me laughing the whole session!

I've known most of these beautiful girls since my freshman year of college through Aggie Sisters for Christ. I titled this "shoot" the Red Brick House Roommates. They are so sweet and dear to me and it was a privilege getting to spend time with Megan (standing,) Sara (far left) Sarah, Kelyn, and Victoria for the afternoon.

Happy Halloween!

I celebrated Halloween last night. My dear friend Ashley and I dressed up as bags of Jelly Bellies, and I have to say this is probably my favorite costume to date, besides my Beauty and the Beast costume in '92. We went to a bonfire and I had such a great time meeting new people, seeing old friends, and singing worship songs under the stars.

I know that some believers feel Halloween is a holiday celebrating pagan traditions, but I feel this holiday can be used as a great way for God's glory. What an awesome opportunity we have as believers to share truth with people! What other holiday has masses of people walking the streets and ringing our door bells or looking for a group of people to hang out with so they can show off their creativity in costume making?

Halloween is a huge part of our American culture and the foreign exchange students here at A&M are soaking it up. We had few people at our bonfire bring students from other countries (and thus other religions;) while we were singing How Great Thou Art by the fire, I saw them watching us with curiosity. I didn't really get to talk with them, but I wonder what was going on in their heads as they saw us genuinely worshiping the one and only God we love. I wonder if they saw how we loved each other, or how we were wise with our bodies (not dressing up in the Mean Girls lingerie attire or not fulfilling the American stereotype of self-indulgent drinking,) and thought there was something different and attractive about this way of Life. I wonder if they walked away thinking, "Well that was weird," or "I'm glad I got to experience this part of American culture," or "Who is this God they seemed to love and who they claim loves them so much? How do I experience this love?" Just a few thoughts to ponder...

As I grow older, I hope Halloween will remain a fun time of pumpkin painting, costumes, candy etc... but I hope it will always be as purposeful as this one. Enjoy the pictures!

Me and Ashley in Jelly Bellies costume before we left for the party.

It was such a great surprise to see Sarah and Heather at the bonfire! It was so cold too

Sartin Family Photo Shoot

Last weekend I was supposed to take pictures for a young family at FBC Conroe. At the last minute they had to cancel, which was totally fine, because my family was able to take pictures instead (thanks to the inventions of the self timer and tripod.) I'm pretty sure our last complete family photo was taken my freshman year of college in 2007... so were due for an update.
I wanted a nature backdrop, so we found this place behind the Old Navy/Kohls strip center on I-45. Little did I realize that in order to get to it, we would have to trek down a hill, avoid hidden fire-ant beds, and get pricked by thorn bushes.
We had a great time taking these, but in the future, I will avoid a such a terrain when I'm the photographer and part of the photo... and maybe one day, Jackson will actually smile...

Self Portraits

I hate taking pictures of myself.
Now that probably makes no sense due to the fact that I take a picture a day every day of myself and roommate. Let me explain, I love taking pictures and don't mind being in them, but I hate hate hate taking self portraits. I feel it's a bit narcissistic.
But I made a light reflector out of foil and cardboard because this weekend I'm family taking pictures for a friend and her husband and daughter. Naturally, I tested it out on myself and here are the results... I decided after looking these over, I don't really hate self portraits. No, my complexion isn't clear, my right eye is bigger than my left, my hair is a mess and my eyebrows look a bit uneven. But we aren't made to be perfectly symmetrical. I don't believe in mathematical beauty. This is me, with all of my imperfections. And I like it :)

Fun Photo of the Week

As Bailey and I were walking back to my car after taking Picture 46 of our 365 project, something caught my eye near my feet. I paused, grabbed my camera and snapped this picture. It kind of reminded me of Charlotte's Web.