April 16, 2007

I'm not very eloquent with words especially in a post like this, bear with me.

Its hard to believe that today marks the two year anniversary of the shooting at Virginia Tech. In some ways, it feels like 4.16.07 was last week however its pretty easy to try to convince myself that it never happened. This week has been more difficult than I imagined it would be. My heart has been so heavy. I remember one of the students at Tech talking about grief, described it as the ripples in water when you throw in a rock. Right at the center the ripples are tight and close together, but as they move out they get farther apart. The hard days are getting farther apart but they still exist and I definitely have had some hard days this week. Today, I'm choosing to remember the 32 and to celebrate life.

That first week, all I could do was take pictures. I didn't know how else to deal with the pain. I took over 1,000 images during that time. I have these photos on my website, but I wanted to share them with you again today. These photos are a small glimpse of that time.

Please remember the families of the 32, their hearts are heavy and aching.

beloved.

I've decided to begin using this blog not only as a way to share my photos but also as a way to share my heart more openly. So here we go...

The past 5 or 6 years have been pretty monumental in my life. The Lord has been teaching me so much about what His love looks like and just how much He truly loves me despite the mistakes and choices that I have made that aren't exactly glorifying to Him. As I've been learning about His love, He's been using the word "beloved" to teach me. I've been having a blast as He's been revealing His love to me more and more each day. I will always be His beloved and His love for me is unconditional, no matter what, I'll never be able to get away from it! As I've been grasping the concept of the word "beloved," I decided to make a commitment to accept the name He has given me and the love He has for me. I chose to make a public commitment to it by having one of my sister's friends tattoo it on my foot! I know that many will disagree with this decision, however, in the few days I've had it, I've already been able to talk to complete strangers about God's love because of it! Praise Him! I handed my camera to my sister during this event. Here are a few moments she captured for me.

{that isn't bruising. just extra ink.}

Give 'em the Old Razzle Dazzle...

I went to Chicago this past weekend to spend some quality time with my sister. She's been living there for almost 6 years. We managed to fit a lot into just two days. We met a friend for coffee, had lunch with another, shopped, drank coffee, went to Blue Man Group, slept in, visited the zoo, saw the mirror bean thingy, watched movies, visited the conservatory, and ate too many sweet treats. Here are a few pictures from our time together.

Sista! Her sweet boyfriend, Jonas, snapped this picture for us. Its the only one of the two of us since I was too nervous to pass my camera off to a stranger!

My only niece, adorable Monarch.

Sista loved this butterfly flower. Neither of us had seen one before.

We probably could have watched this guy all day. He was so funny!

We spent a lot of time riding the bus. We had some crazy experiences on them too! I was excited about this particular bus because we sat in the middle where the accordion attached the two buses.

This is the fanciest McDonalds I have ever seen. Its right next to the Chicago Theatre which explains the outrageous sign.

Our last meal together was at a restaurant that served only crepes! I of course couldn't get a typical dinner crepe and had to get one filled with strawberries and Nutella!

All in all it was a great weekend getaway. I'm looking forward to heading back that way in August for a half marathon!

Beautiful Ladies

Even though it was freezing in Nashville today, I convinced Jamie, Sarah, and Leslie to brave the cold for a little photo fun! We spent the afternoon running around Centennial Park and had a blast. We warmed up afterwards with a stop at Fidos! Here are a few of my favorites of my sweet friends!

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yum!

Elizabeth has become my partner in crime when it comes to executing my ideas. This is one that we did several months ago. When I first got my camera I wanted to try it out in all kinds of settings and situations and thus we decided to bake chocolate chip cookies. Here is my step by step documentation of that experience. Needless to say they were delicious!

Coffee!

This was an idea I'd been wanting to do for months but just never did. One evening my friend Elizabeth decided to help me out. We had a blast and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. I'd love to do some more series similar to this. Any ideas?