Reflections of Christ

If you haven't heard about "Reflections of Christ" you are really missing out. Photographer Mark Mabry photographed recreations of scenes from Christ's life and ministry, and the photographs are so beautiful and touching. They really strengthened my testimony of the Savior and His love for me because they really brought him to life. I was especially touched by "Healing" where Christ is healing a blind man. The interaction between Christ and the blind man is so incredible, and it makes me feel like I'm intruding on a tender, sacred moment meant to be just between them. You can see the whites on the man's knuckles where he is gripping Christ's robe, and if you look closely, you can see the goosebumps all over his arms. And there is so much love and caring in Christ's face - you can see how much he loves the man, and all of us for that matter. One of my favorites that I find my self getting lost in time and again is "Resurrection." It is a photograph of the resurrected Christ wearing white robes standing with his back to the camera, looking into the distance. His hands are by his sides, and you can just see the nail prints in his palms. The photograph is just amazing and has so much power. I'm actually going to buy a large print and have it matted and framed and below the print I'm going to have a space for Isaiah 49:16 "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."

If you go to the website you can see the photographs, and there is also a slideshow of the photos set the the most beautiful version of "Come Thou Fount" I have ever heard. I loved it so much I bought the Reflections of Christ soundtrack on iTunes (its all wonderful). I encourage all of you to go to the website and watch the slideshow. I know you will grow closer to your Savior. I know He lives. I know He loves us all more than we'll ever be able to understand.

Reflections of Christ

I'm in Love...

... with photography (and Nick, of course)!!

I went to a seminar put on by the Nikon School in San Diego today with my dear friend Kim. It was kindof expensive, and I felt really bad spending the money, especially when there are so many other things I could have bought with it, but it was worth every penney!! I learned SOOOO much today about my camera, about aperture, f stops, focal length, white balance, noise, ISO, lighting, color, editing... my brain hurts and I love it! I am so eager to try all of the new things I learned about my camera. There are so many things they told us about that I never realized I can do, and that I NEVER would have figured out on my own. I'm looking into taking more photography classes at the local junior college. This is something I would really like to pursue. I'm not super fabulous, but I get better and learn more with each shoot I do, and it is something I really love to do and have fun with. I have SOOO many ideas of things I want to do and photo stories I'd like to try out.

My friend Kim and I always say that someday when we have kids and we're stay at home moms, we're going to start a photography business and start bringing in so much money that our husbands will be able to retire early and we'll work while they stay home :) Maybe someday...

Me and my beloved camera

Too funny!

http://abc.go.com/primetime/afv/index?pn=player&itemId=6662893

Seriously, go watch this video. Its a little two year old boy named Jace and he's quoting all different presidents. My favorites are Nixon and W. Bush. SOOOOO funny. Loves it.

Bubbles

I did a photo shoot for my friend Melissa this weekend, just because. We played with bubbles - the pictures turned out cute, but I think they would work better if I did it with children. Anyone willing to volunteer their kiddos to play with bubbles while I take pictures?

Catch Up

So... its been a little while. We've been busy.

The Ducks got knocked out of the playoffs by Detroit (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) in game 7, which meant that Nick had to shave his playoff beard that I agreed to let him grow (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!)The playoff beard in all its glory

Nick's best friend Jason got married a month ago, and we're renting a house together. It's fun to finally have another girl in the house. We've been having a ton of fun playing board games and all sorts of stuff... that is when they decide to emerge from their room. LOL.

Strawberry season is here! I love living in Southern California so close to the strawberry fields. There are always little stands on the side of the road selling fresh picked strawberries, so I took advantage and made a cake! It's a lemon poppy seed cake with strawberries and a white chocolate whipped cream filline. It was SOOOO good, and super easy to make. Anyone who would like the recipe just let me know.

Today was my day off and I decided to go to the temple. I also living so close to the Lord's most beautiful temple :) I did a session and the walked around the grounds and took some pictures. Here are the results. Enjoy, and then go to the temple near you and feel the Spirit.

The flowers were the most beautiful I've ever seen them. The foxgloves were amazing. I'm jealous of the brides that are getting married right now. Not only do they have the most beautiful building ever in the background, but they also have amazing flowers, and they don't even have to pay for them!!

I still haven't had the chance to play with my soft focus lens, so hopefully soon!

Two things:

1. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad Mother's Day is over. It has been an incredibly long week in the flowershop, and I don't even get a break. I have to go right back to the bank tomorrow. Boo.

2. I bought a soft focus filter for my camera that I am WAY excited to try out, so I need volunteers to be my models :) You know you want to. Kids, couples, friends... anyone. Lol.

Our Kids

Okay, so this is my fourth post today, but I just had to put up this picture of our primary class. They are so cute! The five boys are the ones who show up on a regular basis, and no, its not 2 of the same boy... they're identical twins. Thankfully their mom always puts Jayden in tan pants, and Joel in dark pants. I love these kids so much!! Missing from the picture are Aubrey and Nicole.

Starting at the top and working clockwise: Trevor, Joel, Sarah, Isaac, Jayden, and Riley.

Quack Quack

We got to go to game 6 of round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Ducks knocked the San Jose Sharks out of the playoffs and moved on to the next round. They play Detroit... uh oh. This is going to be a tough round for the Ducks. They lost game one last night 3-2, but we can totally beat the Red Wings. We've done it before and we can do it again. Everybody think good thoughts for the Ducks!!

Sushi

We went for sushi today. Yum!!

New 'Do

I got a hair cut. I'm loving it.