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 :)

Austin Road Trip

In celebration of Bailey's 21st birthday (and the fact that we're almost done with this semester!) we drove to Austin for the night.First we stopped at the original Chuy's on Barton Springs Road, right in view of the lovely downtown for some yummy Tex Mex. We were super excited about our amazing parking spot right at the entrance, and their amazing service. (Our waiter, Chris R. took this for us!)

After that we drove to the state capitol. Katie was cracking us up while driving because even with the GPS, she was "soooo uncomfortable" driving on wet, one-way roads trying to find a parking place. We all pulled out our umbrellas and started our jaunt around the castle-like building.

We were taking this picture below when we realized the capitol was open for visitors.

So we just walked in: the security office was waving at us from the end of the hall as we took this, he probably thought we were so strange.

Bailey being a lover of Texas history, was so excited to just roam the building - we were pretty much the only ones there too - it was pretty cool!


As we were leaving and snapped this shot in the rain and couldn't help but say,"This is by far one of the best Fridays I've ever had in college!" What a great mini-road trip with friends!

Love Me

This song brought me joy today. Hope it does for you too.
Love Me by JJ Heller

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He’s the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, “Dear God won’t you please
Could you send someone here who will love me?”

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She’s the woman whose husband has run away
She’ll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would’ve stayed
And she says…

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love really means

He’s waiting to die as he sits all alone
He’s a man in a cell who regrets what he’s done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
“Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home”

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
“I know you’ve murdered and I know you’ve lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you’ll listen, I’ll tell you that I...”

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew

Two Things God Can Do

My friend Sheehan, forwarded this to me via facebook and it encouraged me so much I had to share it! All of my life I've fallen victim to Satan's schemes, we all do, and it's so easy to get bogged down by them. It's funny though, that despite his efforts to bring us down, our inadequacies still point to Christ. As you read this list of what Satan does, be reminded that NOTHING can match the supremacy of Christ in our lives... be encouraged by and find peace in these thoughts that are not my own:

The Six Things Satan Can Do:

1.) Distract: Satan can distract us by presenting desires of the flesh that turn us from God.

2.) Distort: Like with Eve in the garden, Satan distorts God's truth and prophesy by twisting words and playing with our motives.

3.) Discourage: Satan discourages us, making us feel like our blessings are worthless and our God isn't enough.

4.) Regret: Satan makes us regret bad choices, dwelling on our sin, minimizing Christ's sacrifice.

5.) Guilt: Satan gives us feelings of being guilty so that we may feel bad about not taking opportunities, or making us doubt our choices.

6.) Comparison: Satan makes us compare ourselves to others, seeing what they are and what we aren't.


The 2 Things God Can Do:

1.) Anything

2.) Everything

"...We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~Romans 8:37-39

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
~1 Corinthians 12:9

"We are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. in its stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart."
~A.W. Tozer

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.

Distractions and Intimacy

I haven't written on here in a while; the other blog has been a bit of a fun distraction.

Bailey and I have had so much fun taking the pictures and getting feedback from others about it. It makes us both so happy when friends come up to us and say, "We love your pictures!" or, "You haven't posted anything in a few days." I'm no photographer as I've said in the past, just a girl who loves taking pictures and being creative with a camera, so to those of you keep up with the blog, thanks for your encouragement!

Recently a friend opened a new outlet for picture-taking for me: worship. She put together a women's worship night called Intimacy where hundreds of college girls came just to sing and dance in the name of the Lord, it was so sweet of her allow me to worship him in my own way as well. However, I'm going to be honest: as beautiful and amazing as it is to witness so many young women intimately worshiping God, I wasn't (and may never be) comfortable with taking pictures of them individually and interrupting their moment in His presence. You'll notice as I share some of the pictures I took, there are very few individual shots of girls. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time learning more about picture taking and lighting, playing with my tripod, and watching girls gather in the name of our God and King. Enjoy :)