Greg and I just finished the second half of "the Curious Case of Benjamin Button" tonight. Yes, I know it doesn't have two halves but we started it a little late last night and couldn't keep our eyes open any longer to finish it, so we finished it tonight.

ANYWAY, for those of you who have seen the movie I have a question...

What is the connection/relationship between Benjamin and the clock maker? I just want to know WHO the clockmaker was in relationship to him. I had a hard time understanding all the begining stuff because we couldn't really hear it all that well. So, that's my question. If you can help, please leave a comment.

When I was in Wisconsin I had the great priviledge of photographing two little ladies that belong to my dear friend Sarah. Sarah and I swam together in highschool. There were only four senior girl swimmers and Sarah and I were two of them. We have lots of fun memories from those times. Although we lost touch through college and after we found each other again on facebook (gotta love facebook). It was great to meet her two sweet little ladies and to catch up again. Next time I'm in Wisconsin hopefully we can see eachother again and maybe our husbands will be around. Here are some storyboards I put together to show off these cute little ladies!

Oay, so you may remember this post about our families friendly biggest loser competition and you may remember this post about joining the gym. I figured it was about time for an update...so here goes.

I am actually enjoying going to the gym. Gulp! Did those words just come out of my mouth? I don't look forward to it everyday and sometimes I have to make myself go but once I'm there it's actually not that bad. I really wish I had a personal trainer so that I knew what to do in order to reap the biggest benefits. Anyone wanna chip in an purchase me some PT hours?

Anyway, we go at least three times a week and usually right after breakfast. I go get my shoes and Naomi says, "I don't wanna go to the dym", but I tell her we're going anyway. She loves it there, don't let her fool you. She gets to play with other kids and they have a slide there, she loves slides. Micah is doing better too, he may protest me putting him in the carseat but once we're inside and he sees the "stairs" he's hooked. Today when I went in to get them after working out I found Micah on the bottom of the slide on top of a little girl, she was lying down as if just having slid down and it was like he just climbed up on the slide on top of her. They were both laughing and having a good time, so I guess it's okay.

My workouts are different every time. I read somewhere that if you do the same thing every time your muscles get "complacent" (my word) and don't work as much. So, I walk for 30-40 minutes on the treadmill and then lift weights for about 20 minutes. I have started to run more on the treadmill too. If you know me well you know this is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I am NOT a runner. I only run when being chased. So I started out small. Walk 15 minutes, run 1, walk 1, run 2, walk 2, run 2, walk 1, run 1 and then up to three minutes running. Today, I ran for 11 minutes without stopping. Mind you my run is probably a jog for most people but it was still running for me. So, it made me feel good anyway.

I know that I'm not going to be where I want to be in order to win the competition in July but at least I'm actually starting to get some of the healtier habits in place and I think that was the whole point of the competition.

After the confession post Greg and I have had some great conversations. One thing that came out of those conversations is the accountability thing. We really have a hard time being consistent and keeping each other accountable is not always the best thing for us. So we decided it would be best if we could see what we were and were not doing every month. So on our calendar we have five different colors for the five most important things that we wanted to change.

Each color represents a specific task and when we complete the task we write our initial on the calendar for the day in the specific color. It's not as complicated as it may sound. So we mark a red "X" when we do our Family Devotions. Orange is for personal devotions. Green is for getting out of bed by 7am. Blue is for going to bed by 11pm and Purple is for exercising. It's really good to see very clearly what we are doing each week and what seems to be getting neglected. Since we're getting up at 7am I am able to take time for my personal devotions while Greg hangs out with the kids if they're up before he goes to work. This makes my whole day SO much better. I'm not going to lie and say I do this everyday but it is much more often now than it ever has been. So, let's just pray that these good habits continue and the old ones die hard.

Next task...eating better. I'm starting slowly. Very little soda. No more chocolate during nap time. That was by far my biggest weakness. I would just sit down at the computer and pig out on sweets while the kids were napping. No one could see me so I figured it wasn't a big deal. But really it wasn't helping me. So, now I drink crystal light instead and just try to forget about the sweets. The eating healthier thing will be my biggest challenge but I'm trying to do something everyday that will benefit me in the long run.

In other news. Naomi and I baked some banana bread today. You can find the recipe here. It's super yummy!
Just a shot of me and the kids.
That's all for now. Sorry this was so long. Get back to work!

okay faithful blog readers, it's time for you to step forward and help me out (yes, again).

I love to paint. I love the colors, the mess, the freedom.


I'm not particularly good at painting but I just love to paint.

My best friend is an amazing artist and she can paint like no one I've ever met in person. She paints from photographs and with her own style and twist makes that photograph come to life.


I studied art in college for two years.

I was a graphic design major. My college did not offer a photography degree otherwise I would have majored in photography. So I went with the "next best thing" as my advisor told me to.

Being an art major had its perks. I got to paint. I got to sculpt. I got to throw pottery (on the wheel of course). I got to try my hand at printmaking. I made a stained glass window that still hangs in the halls of my alma mater. My tests were easy and papers were almost non-existant.

I loved everything about my art classes...until I really started the graphic design classes. I took a few classes and liked them enough but there was just something that was holding me back. My skills were not on par with my classmates. My desire to work as a graphic designer was changing.

In the middle of the first semester of my junior year of college I changed my major. I was always one of those kids who said, I'll never change my major, I know what I want to be when I grow up. Well, I shouldn't have said that. Come on, who really knows what they want to be when they grow up, when they are only 19 years old? Okay, some people do. Well, I guess I never really wanted to be a graphic designer in the first place, just a photographer so it was only time till I faced the facts, right? I guess I did know what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was 19 years old. I just went to the wrong college to make that dream a reality. But college was free so I wasn't about to pass that up (by dad is a prof).

Eventually when all was said and done I graduated from college with a Major in Theology. I had minors in Lay Ministry, Youth Ministry and you guessed it, Art! All those art classes my first two years made my art minor a given. I was going to be a youth minister and I was excited. I had no idea what the future held for me but I was a fresh graduate and a new Mrs. so I was ready to face the world.

I worked as a youth director for two years while my husband went to the Seminary. I was his sugar mama. I loved working with the youth. I had a blast creating retreats, programs, Bible studies and just hanging out and getting to know who they were and what they struggled with. It was an incredible time in my life. I was very happy with where I was at in life. I used my graphic design background to help create eye catching flyers and postcards for the kids. I designed many t-shirts and posters. I had just enough knowledge about graphic design to make me dangerous.

My love for art has never left me. It has changed. My appreciation for different mediums has grown over the years. I don't have a complete knowledge of the subject because really, 8am is not a great time for art history class and a dark room with the soothing voice of the professor narrating the slides just isn't very condusive to my learning style. But I slept great!

I taught myself how to cross-stitch after seeing my aunts do that for many years. I asked my mom for a sewing machine for Christmas when I was 25 even though I didn't grow up with one in the house. I taught myself how to sew...and I had lots of help from two wonderful women! I have dabbled in just about every craft medium there is. That is why my husband says that I have a new hobby every week. That is why my shelves are full of supplies. I may need them again. I have a hard time parting with art supplies. I think I need to see someone about this. I need to get my new craft space organized and whittled down.

I am itching to get creative again. To throw caution to the wind and just paint whatever I want. To sew a closet of dresses for my little girl, because she wants to wear a "pretty dress" everyday. I am so wanting to make my own embroidery designs. I want to start the t-shirt quilt for Micah's bed that is waiting. I really just want to have a crafting day where all I do is craft to my hearts content. No worrying about the mess or the diapers, or dinner. Just being creative. Moving from one project to the next even before the first one is finished if that's where the creativity is leading me. Ah. It sounds so nice. But it doesn't sound realistic. I guess I just need to manage my time better and try and get something created in the hour I may get during the day and the few I have at night.

All this to say, I love watching Naomi paint and experience some of these crafts for the first time. I have to make myself just sit back and watch and not tell her how it's supposed to be done because I'm not inside her mind and I'm not sure how she wants it to be done. She seems to like painting and creating as much as I do...but not quite as much :). It makes me so happy to paint with her and see how her creative mind works. These things make me happy.Then you may also understand why these things (below) make me sad. Micah was trying to eat the paint so I told him no, rather loudly so as to startle him and make him stop what he was doing and he just cried and cried. I think I scared him for life. I hope he doesn't give up on trying to paint and do other creative things. Oh and he was tired, really tired, and a little hungry. Probably not a good time for his first painting experience. We'll try again another day.

This is the stained glass window that two of my classmates and I made, and it is still hanging proudly in the art hallway!I love all the creative inspiration that is around me. Lots of blogs and websites. Lots of great stuff in magazines and books. And just from life happening around me. People tell me, "you're so creative, Jamie" and I just have to laugh because if they only knew that 90% of my creativity is stolen from other peoples ideas they probably wouldn't say that. ha!

Sorry to keep you so long. It was fun to reminice and trace my steps of creativity. This is not what I intended to post about tonight when I sat down at the computer but it's just as well. Have a great night! Go create something!

The week after we got back home we enjoyed time at home and spending time with Greg again. It was a little hard to get back into our routine but we managed. We had a few days anyway, before Greg headed out for the men's retreat at Camp LoneStar. So we were alone Saturday and Sunday afternoon but no big deal. Sunday after Greg got back we headed up to Waco to see Bob, Sandy, Kristin and her boys, Liam and Silas. Kristin was in town for a week so we went to spend the night and hang out. We had a blast!

We had dinner with Bob and Sandy and then headed home. Thanks so much Bob and Sandy for your hospitality and for spoiling us on Monday. We had a great time and can't wait to come and see you again sometime soon! Next time we head to Waco we want to check out the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, and head back to the Children's Museum.

It's always nice to be with good (old) friends! Cory we missed you and hope you can come next time!

Okay, I don't have time to explain now but I'm finally getting around to catching up. You can read below about the end of our vacation. And I hope to get even more caught up tomorrow.

I need to pace myself...lots of catching up to do and once I'm done I'll be happy but for now it's sorta just hanging over my head.

I'm catching up for me and also for the two people that told me they were wondering if I was alive because I haven't "really" blogged in a long time. I am alive...just busy having fun!

So, for now, read below to see the end of vacation and maybe soon I'll have the rest of May caught up too. Oh and I posted a few new scrapbook pages on my scrapping blog.

Just a few more photos from the day before we left.

Saturday, May 9th, was a fun day. Although I was feeling really icky we still managed to have a blast. In the morning my friend from high school, Sarah, brought her daughters over so I could photograph them. You can see some of their photos here. Olivia and my Naomi had a great time playing together! Then I went over to another friend from high school, Nicki's house. She just had little Griffin 6 days earlier and I was going to take a few newborn shots. What a sweet little guy! You can see two photos from his shoot here. After my photo shoots I drove through Grafton (where Greg and I first lived) and it was so weird to see how much that little town has changed. I met up with Julie and Clif at Target and then we went back to my parents house. The kids were done with their naps and we all got to hang out together. My sister was there watching the kids because my parents had gone to Eureka for my cousins graduation. So, we all decided to go to Uno's for dinner! I didn't really eat anything because I still felt sick but it was nice to go out with my best friend and her husband...and my sister and my kids. We enjoyed a nice dinner and conversation. When we got home we played outside for a while before the kids had to go to bed. My parents got home shortly after we did. What a fun time hanging out with old friends!!! I miss that so much! Wish we lived closer...or that ya'll lived down here :)!