Portraits with Carly

So as I continue to learn how to use my camera and take quality pictures, I've been roping friends into letting me do portrait sessions with them. Carly was kind enough to agree. And I'm so thankful for her! She was super patient as I was taking her picture and she was lots of fun! And obviously, she's very photogenic so that made it pretty easy to get some great shots! Anyways, as always, constructive criticism is welcomed. Especially when it comes to lighting...that's my sore spot. I don't have reflectors yet, so I think when I get some of those and learn how to use them it will help with some of the lighting conditions. Any other suggestions on how to help with lighting? I really want my pictures to have a warm feeling to them. Also, I don't want to have to use additional lighting, but I know at some point, I might have to...sooo that's another battle for another day.

These are some of my favorites from the day. Enjoy :)

Hymns

I love hymns. Like words can't describe how much I love them. I think there's something incredibly special about them...a connection to the body of Christ from many years ago. There's a comfort knowing that our ancestors who wrote these stunning lyrics loved, struggled, praised, cried, and went through very similar situations as we did during their walk with Christ. And while I value modern worship music, it often lacks the depth and clarity that hymns have in presenting the picture of the gospel. I especially love movements such as Indelible Grace, Red Mountain Music, Sojourn Music, etc that are writing new music to go with hymn lyrics from long ago.

In any case, we sang "Before the Throne of God Above" at church on Sunday. I don't think any other song paints the beauty of the Gospel as well as this song does. This is my ultimate love story. My long awaited fairytale. My Jesus desperately loves me...he has engraved my name on his hand, not just written, engraved. It's permanent. He claims me. I. AM. HIS.


(disregard the images...some of them are kinda strange)

Because a sinless Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free.

My Photography Endeavor Continues

I'm learning. Slowly. But, I'm learning. I persuaded 2 of my friends into being my model subjects so I could practice taking pictures. I definitely have a lot to learn, but I'm catching on. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took during our little Sunday afternoon session. Enjoy :)

The City Beautiful!


Fountain at Lake Eola


And another Fountain shot :)


My sweet friend, Angela


Angela's friend, Alanna, who I met for the first time this day. And she was kind enough to put up with me taking her pictures all day!



I need to work on giving direction a bit more, but Alanna still looks very pretty!


These 2 have been friends for a long time. Love that I was able to capture some pics for them :)


Her hair reflected the light so beautifully!


2 gorgeous girls.


And this is my favorite one of the day.

So, once again, please feel free to leave your thoughts, feedback, advice. All are welcome. :)

Paid the FULL price

I was thinking about this tonight...well, let's be honest...I've been thinking about this for a long time in a variety of ways. For a long while I've been trying to make sense of the law and grace. I've lived a life of legalism for so long that it's become a constant, daily discovery to understand what it means to live by Grace.

So, tonight in particular I was thinking about this idea we have as Christians to "do our best." From my personal experiences, it seems as though we (those who call themselves Christians) have forgotten that Jesus paid the FULL price for our sin. I think we get it stuck in our head that we have to do our absolute best and run as far as we can and then Jesus will pick up the baton and finish the race -- like he makes up the difference. But I don't think that's true. I think, rather, the Gospel speaks to Him taking it all. By claiming His name, we've won the race. I no longer have to "perform" for the world. Rather, I can live and love in His name. He's done it already for ALL of His children. He. Paid. The. FULL. Price.

It still doesn't make entire since to me...I doubt it ever will. But I suppose I'm just kind of tired of hearing people say "Yes Grace, but...". There's no "but". Grace. God's Grace. The Cross. Christ's DEATH for OUR SIN. We have been given NEW life. The Gospel is very clear about that. Claim Jesus as your Savior and the deal is done. There are no other conditions. Why do we make it so complicated?

The Return of Fall Baking

I like to bake. But really, I like to bake the most between the months of September and January. So right now I am in my prime. I wanted to bake a birthday cake for some people in my church small group and so I asked my friend if she had any unique cake recipes. She sent me this recipe for Gingerbread cake and it seriously might be my new favorite cake recipe. A-MAZING. And sooooo simple.

The recipe is to make 12 cupcakes but since I wanted a double layered round cake, I had to double the recipe. I also ended up baking it for about 35 minutes, I believe. One major tip is to make sure your pans are floured well. My cakes stuck in my pans some and I had a bit of a disaster with that. Luckily, frosting covers up those flaws :) Finally, I didn't use the cream cheese frosting part of this recipe. It barely had any cream cheese in it and I had another recipe (I believe it's from a Southern Living magazine) that was much easier and way delicious, so I used that.

Anyway, ENJOY.



Gingerbread Cake Recipe from Allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup hot milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter or line with paper liners a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Cream 5 tablespoons of the butter with the white sugar. Add the molasses and the egg and egg yolk.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared tin.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes or until slightly springy to the touch. Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and remove to a rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe (From Southern Living magazine, I believe):

Mix at medium speed two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese (softened), a stick of butter (softened), and a 32 ounce bag of powdered sugar together. Stir in 2 tsp of vanilla.

If it's warm in your house, the frosting can get a little runny (for lack of a more appetizing word), so it may help to refrigerate it for a short amount of time. Especially if you're going to do any type of piping.

I'm exciting to make this recipe again. Definitely a new favorite!!!

It Is Well With My Soul

My roommate shared this video with me tonight. I've sung this song a thousand times. And I've always loved it. But I love it even more now that I know the story behind it. Our God is good and loving in all conditions at all times. Hold tight to faith. Cling to the love of Christ.

Selfishness...short and sweet

This'll be a short post. But this has just been running through my mind. I think as part of our human nature we tend to think that our sin only affects ourselves. I think that's evidence of our selfishness, or rather, or self-centerdness (I think maybe I just made that word up). But the reality is, our sin affects the Body of Christ. It affects others. I've been thinking about this as I've been trying to wrap my mind around suffering such as hunger, homelessness, disease, etc. And the reality is, my sin is partially to blame. My lust for material items, my desire for status, my longing for the "American Dream" often comes before my heart for the poor and oppressed. If I were half as desperate to see them redeemed as I were to buy that new pair of shoes, perhaps things would be different. And I know, I can't take the weight of the world on my own shoulders. But I just think it's important that in this selfishness that we live in that we recognize that even when it comes to the affects of our sin we are selfish. Now more than ever do I see the importance of God's Grace. It covers all. I am thankful.