i n • p u r s u i t

I know I've been totally slack on blogging lately. It's not like I haven't been on the computer. I've definitely been on the computer. But I feel like I don't have much of anything interesting to say. Life has been going really really great lately. I love my little family. Mike and I have been so close and connected lately. My little puppy is as cute as ever. Ladies Bible Study has started up again and this semester's study in James is proving to be a good one. My job, and my attitude about my job, has good. I've started a photography class. My photography is improving. I just got home from helping a girlfriend put together all her centerpieces for an upcoming fall-themed wedding (in which I'm a bridesmaid!) Life is good. Life isn't perfect. I don't think it ever is. But I've got a lot to be grateful for right now. Actually, I've always got a lot to be grateful for! But right now, God's helping me to remember all my wonderful bles

Rainy Days by Tiffany Anne Kuechenmeister on Polyvore.com The rain outside inspired me...

As you may or may not have known I've been re-reading my way through the Harry Potter series. I've made it to the final book and I've got to say that it really is just as good if not better than the first time I read it. I, of course, pre-ordered this book the minutes Barnes and Noble would let me. I even went to the midnight release to get this book. I sat in my car in the B&N parking lot reading the first chapter. It was difficult, but I closed the book, restrained myself enough to get home and into my living room where I stayed up until 6am reading the book. It was that good. Who am I kidding? It's still that good! I've had a really hard time putting this book down even though I know what's going on. There is so much action and it's hard to find a stopping point. I mean, seriously, I just finished Chapter 17: Bathida's Secret and Chapter 18: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. Two pretty intense chapters. What's next? Chapter 19: The

Mike and I recently started going to a chiropractor. I was kind of nervous at first because I think it's kind of scary to have someone messing with your spine. Then, we went to this session thing where he told us all about the ways that chiropractic can help us. And I went from being nervous to skeptical. We've been going for exactly three weeks today, and I'm still skeptical. Three weeks, by the way, has been the initial appointment/consultation, the second appointment/information session/first adjustment and seven adjustments since then (we go 3x/week for the first 6 weeks) I'm less and less skeptical the more I attend, but I'm not a 100% believer. So far, though, I've got to say that I really like it. The doctor and all the staff are really wonderful. The other day, I had a neck adjustment. I'm not nervous about going to the chiropractor anymore, but the neck adjustments still have me a little squeamish. The doctor knows this and tells me things lik

A bee, me thinks a carpenter bee, on some pretty purple flowers. These was taken at Linky Stone Park, a whimsical children's park while I was waiting on a client.

Today, I took Bella to the groomers for the first time ever. Well, it's possible that she'd been to the groomers before, but not with us. We've never given her so much as a bath. Oh, sure, I give her a good brush every now and then, but that's about it. Terriers aren't supposed to be bathed but every few months or so, it's not good for their sensitive skin. We'll Bella was stinky. And scruffy. Well, we like her scruffy...but it was high-time for something. So we shelled out the big bucks to get her groomed at the local PetSmart. There aren't many places around here that will hand-strip a dog, but PetSmart is one of them. Well, the lady was super nice and very informative. And, very important, Bella liked her. Want to know what I learned today? My pugairn isn't a pugairn --which is just as well since Bella is cuter than any pugairn I've seen. The groomer thinks that Bella is, in fact, neither pug nor cairn terrier. She showed me pictu

I headed to the park the other morning to take some photos of flowers. I LOVE taking photos of flowers. I think I got some real good ones. The only plant I can name is the one in the second photo, wandering jew. I am particularly fond of wandering jew and my eyes are always drawn towards them.

I like crape myrtles ( lagerstroemia ). They're good southern trees, they flower every summer, they come in pink. Of course I like them. I really wanted a crape myrtle at my house. I had crape myrtle blooms on the arch at my wedding. Who doesn't like a tree with masses of pink flowers on it? No one, that's who! I don't like white crape myrtles. Because they usually look like this... Actually, that one isn't nearly as bad as the ones I see along the highway. The ones that are supposed to be white but rather look quite brown and ugly. Yuck! We had a dying crape myrtle in our yard and had it cut down last fall. There was a few inches of stump left and guess what happened? The thing started growing! I was so excited. I really really love pink and purple crape myrtles. They are SO beautiful! Imagine my disappointment when I saw white blooms popping up on my crape myrtle. Ugh. Really? But more and more blooms have been popping up, and I don't think I&

I broke out the camera this afternoon with the notion of trying my hand in M (manual) mode. I turned my glass to my favorite subject: Bella. She stared at me as I got out my camera... but quickly got bored with me (note the yawn)... and decided to kill Mr. Lobster... yet again. Poor Mr. Lobster has got it really bad. Bella sure runs him through the ringer. But, seriously, isn't my dog the absolute cutest?