Pumpkin Patch and Traveling

Since my niece Emma was born, I've become her unofficial personal photographer. I can't help it, my camera just loves that baby! My sister-in-law wanted to take her 9 month photos (a couple of weeks shy of nine months) while the weather was nice and not too cold, so we decided to head on out to the pumpkin patch. My other sister-in-law, Lauren, and her three kids went with. Lauren is my excellent assistant when I need her to be. She's a pretty good photographer herself and her husband is my mentor. Here is a link to some of the other photos: Emma 9 months.

Here is one of the pictures I took. Isn't Emma the cutest little baby?

I also took this other photo of Emma and my other niece, Eliza, before the photoshoot. It's one of my favorites! Their expressions are so sweet. :)

The shoot went relatively well considering Emma is almost nine months old and has started crawling (soon to be walking). She did not want to smile too much because she was too interested in everything else that was going on around her. There was a train ride that she really loved watching go by. But we did get some good ones of her. I don't want her growing up too fast, but I've already got some great ideas for her 1 year photos. A photographer can never turn off their need to take photos!

I love being a photographer, and my favorite area is definitely people. This weekend I'll be trying my hand at interior photography. My mom wants me to take after pictures of her house so she can show her coworkers all the hard work she has done to it. My mother is amazing. She learned how to do so much work on her house and she has a great mind for design. I'm looking forward to spending a few days with her. Sadly, I'll be going by myself as Ben has work and school. I've been apart from him for a weekend before, but this time it will be three nights and four days! We're both pretty bummed at the thought of being away from each other (yeah, yeah, kinda sad but it's true!). My favorite part of the trip beside's seeing my mom will be visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in Springfield, MO! I grew up on her books and I still love them. I still read them, too! I am so excited to actually get to see all the things I read about.

Two Half Baths

Well, we're at it again. We have entered into phase two of Operation Bathroom Upgrade and have torn out the old vanity and the floor tile. The bathroom is long and narrow and the vanity took up too much room so we decided to just pull the whole thing out and replace it (eventually) with either a smaller vanity or a pedestal sink. I follow Habitat for Humanity's Restore Store on Facebook and saw that they had floor tile for sale priced at $1.00 per square foot. I wanted charcoal gray tile and that is what they happened to have! I bought enough for our big bathroom and for our small half bath in the master bedroom. Our large bathroom now only has a functioning shower and the half bath is only a toilet and sink. So, we have two half baths! Our next step will be taking down the sheet rock and putting the new tile in/new sheet rock.

Tearing out the old vanity.                                           More room!

                    

Aftermath of tearing out vanity/toilet.                                Goofy Ben!

Now all the tile is gone.                                                Other angle view.

I also learned how to knit recently. I've got a ways to go before I don't make mistakes, but it's really fun and it's something I've been wanting to learn how to do. I am currently working on a scarf.

And finally...

Interesting story tonight. I was leaving work and on my way to the ladies Bible study at my church when I saw a cool sunset outside of my work that I wanted to photograph. While I was taking pictures of the sunset I overheard a lady on the phone with someone who was trying to walk her through changing her flat tire. I have been praying lately for boldness around people and I have never been one who was very good about helping strangers when they need it, but tonight something in me just felt like I needed to help her change her tire. I was taught one time by my dad how to change a tire, so basically I wasn't thinking I would be that useful. She was grateful for the help because she couldn't get anyone out where she was to help her. We were both pretty clueless, but managed to change her flat tire with the help of the internet, calling Ben, and the Owner's Manual. It was actually not that hard to do, and I bet I could do it again if I ever find myself in the same situation. I was so happy after I helped her that I was able to hear God prompting me to help this girl out and that I was able to listen and serve rather than behave selfishly. They will know I am a Christian by my love.