Merry Christmas from The Sartins

Mom took this picture nine years ago for our annual Christmas photo to be mailed out to practically everyone we knew. Our grandma used to make us cross-stitched sweatshirts to wear for the holidays. This was the year I realized they weren't "cool" but was forced to wear them for the picture considering Jackson and Jill were still cute enough to pull them off.

Last night we found those sweatshirts, and somehow we all managed to fit into them. Tyler was over and we thought it would be a good idea to recreate the photo as best we could. Mom had a good laugh and it was totally worth the embarrassment.

Making Bows

My name is Jessie.
I like making things.
Today, this is what I made.I read about them on Heather's blog, and since my mom and I were in a crafty mood, we grabbed her old Gooseberry Patch Catalogue and got to work making these fun Christmas bows.

Maybe There's a Loving God

I went to a lecture last night about the Star of Bethlehem with friends from my LIFE Group. When it was over, and we had time to talk about it, we walked outside with a silent appreciation for the night sky, reverent awe, if you will. So often, our minds get blown away by the idea of galaxies far far away, but what amazes me is the God that created them.

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Psalm 19:1-3

Sara Groves wrote a song (Maybe There's a Loving God) that reminded me of these thoughts.

I'm trying to work things out
I'm trying to comprehend
Am I the chance result
Of some great accident
I hear a rhythm call me
The echo of a grand design
I spend each night in the backyard
Staring up at the stars in the sky

I have another meeting today
With my new counselor
My mom will cry and say
I don't know what to do with her
She's so unresponsive
I just cannot break through
She spends all night in the backyard
Staring up at the stars and the moon

They have a chart and a graph
Of my despondency
They want to chart a path
For self-recovery
And want to know what I'm thinking
What motivates my mood
To spend all night in the backyard
Staring up at the stars and the moon

Maybe this was made for me
For lying on my back in the middle of a field
Maybe that's a selfish thought
Or maybe there's a loving God

Maybe I was made this way
To think and to reason and to question and to pray
And I have never prayed a lot
But maybe there's a loving God

And that may be a foolish thought
Or maybe there is a God
And I have never prayed a lot
But maybe there's a loving God

Even Nature Dresses Up for the Holidays

Merry Christmas Y'all

Texture

Photoshop is overwhelming and I'm learning in extremely small baby steps.
And today I learned how to apply textures to photos.
The past two nights have involved me staying up late downloading textures, learning how to add and edit them.

Here are a few of my first experiments.
Sartin Family Photo Shoot.

Intimacy 2009

Bailey and I on campus before finals.

My friend, Rachel on her Aggie Ring day. (I also removed a girl in the background!)

A random roommate picture from back in August.

Learning is fun.

The world has enough women who know how to be smart.

It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.

-Stephen Marshall
Just some thoughts to ponder.

Painting Trees and Drawing Faces

With the school year coming to a close, I've noticed a sharp increase in my free time. Once upon a time in my young life, this would've been quickly filled with mindless hours in front of the television screen. Though I still enjoy a good thirty minutes or so in front the t.v. on occasion, usually when I spend too much time in front of the moving picture box, I end up feeling gross, lethargic, and somewhat guilty for using my time so poorly. There are so many more stimulating things one can do with one's time don't you think?

Recently, I've been falling in love with canvases, sketchbooks, and cameras.
Honestly, our God is the ultimate Creative Being, (He designed the world and all that dwells in it - wow!) so why not be inspired to create or at least appreciate the uniqueness that makes you, well, you?

Saturday I attempted to mirror our Creative Creator by being a little creative myself. This was a pretty small canvas; a trial run for a much larger one that will be a sister to the tree painting above our couch right now. I bought new paint brushes and wasn't fond of them, so it's a bit rough around the edges.

Then Sunday night (considering it's now in the wee hours of Monday morning) I couldn't sleep and pulled out my old sketchbook. While listening to Sara Groves on iTunes, I started drawing to "I'm gonna live my life inspired, look for the holy in the common place, open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed."

In an earlier post, I talked about how I loved painting trees; it should also be noted that I also love drawing faces and people. Though my the pages of my school notebooks are littered with doodled profiles of Little Mermaid-looking faces, the following is my most recent drawing endeavor.
Enjoy :)