Take a deep breath!!!!!

Weekend Highlights:

The Wedding was beautiful!

Bible Jeopardy was a soaring success (might have something to do with the deafening car horns they got to beep when they had the right answer!)


Mark and I did our complete budget for the next while last night.
This was our wonderfully nutritious meal. Man, I have to get groceries!


Then we watched...

It was the most successful budgeting night we've ever had.

Ok...on to the really good stuff

We are going to Toronto & Montreal
in May!
We'll be seeing...
Steph & Josh


My Cousin Nicole & her boyfriend, Brenden

Its going to be AWESOME!!!!

and for the final part of my exciting news post....


...drumroll please...

In October....
...we are going to see...



U2
in Vancouver

I cannot even handle life right now!!!!!!!

I'm sooooo excited!!!

So, its been an incredible weekend!!!

The Joy of Raw

Well, thanks to my great friend Justin, my photography for Lance and Cindy's wedding was not a complete failure. The ceremony pictures are going to be a trial to edit. The candlelight was incredibly beautiful, but a nightmare to photograph. I'm really happy with the family & wedding portraits. There aren't that many compared to past weddings, because the freezing cold weather almost killed the bride, but the ones we did, I'm pretty happy with. The one thing that saved the pictures was that Justin told me to shoot in raw, which gives me alot more control of editing and restoring.

I don't normally do this, but I thought I'd share 3 pictures from the wedding, just so you can see
the results. (The rest will be posted on the Life in Moments website after Lance & Cindy have received them)




I'm also so grateful that Leah was at the back of the church, with Starlas Canon on a tripod. Most of the good ceremony pictures are because of her!

Overall, this was a great weekend. I will post more tomorrow!! :)

My Weekend!

Tomorrow, I will be photographing a wedding of my friends,

Lance & Cindy

This will be my first wedding using my new camera

And the lighting is going to be mostly...

So, I'm hoping I can capture something like this...

and not this...


As well, on Sunday, I will be doing

with my junior youth class.

Busy Weekend!
Pray for Peace!! :)

i love this boy!

One song comes to mind. It goes like this...
'Whatta man...'

A Grateful Heart!

Well, I can't even begin to tell you the excitement I feel at all of the stuff I am getting.

I recently hosted a Norwex Party
I had a few friends there & we had a fun evening.
My mom was thoroughly convinced, which takes a whole lot when it comes to cleaning!

This is all the stuff I'm getting with my Hostess Package
(Possibly the best Hostess package I've ever seen):

Spirinetts

Laundry Detergent

Dental Floss

Car Cloth

Toothbrush

Cleaning Paste

Mattress Cleaner

3 Enviro Cloths

Enviro Cloth Travel 4 Pack

Body Pak...so excited about this!

Value: Over $200...WOW!

I'm really excited because this puts me one huge step closer to completing one of my Resolutions for 2009!
Thanks to all the ladies who made this possible!!!! :)
I'm so grateful!!

These are the rest of the items on my list to get still:

Wet/Dry Mop


Dishwasher/Washer Magnet Balls


Dryer Balls


Spirisponge


Micropad (like Magic Eraser minus formaldehyde)


Toilet Brush & Cleaner


Kitchen Dish Cloths


Bath Mat (Holds 10x its weight in water)

The Posh Life...Sigh!!

If I had money & the body to boot....these are some selfish things that I would want.
(I will be posting my unselfish wishes later)

A Custom Closet...and a wall just for my bags!!


Mario Batali, at my house, cooking for me daily!


A Lake Cabin


An in home recording studio


The Blur Leather Mail Bag! ($835..eek)

Lauren Conrad's One shouldered Rouched Dress (Her design) in Black


Many Sweater Dresses with leggings


A Range Rover


1980 Toyota Tercel in this fantastic Green (i've wanted this car as long as I can remember)



ALSO:
March is one of the 7 months that has 31 days.
It also happens to be the month of "Momentary Abandonment."
Momentary Abandonment: Giving up something in your life (momentarily) that inhibits a regular activity in your daily routine.

So people, TAKE A STAND. Give up something that inhibits YOU! For the next 31 days.

So, I, Ruth am willingly choosing to give up:

People (thats the magazine & the website) & Pop

What are you giving up?

Over there...

Today`s Post is on my other blog...cause it has to do with my fitness journey.
You can find it HERE! See ya there!

Changing My Heart

For the entirety of our marriage, we have been dealing with infertility. I can't say its at the forefront of our minds all the time, but some days are much harder than others.
Today, Sarena sent me a link to the blog of a woman who had lost 3 children at different stages of their lives. The grief that she went through is unbearable and yet she gained strength in God & became resilient. One of her friends came to her when her second child died & asked her this,
'Picture the Lord asking you if I are willing to accept a new trial for his glory. Are you willing to hurt in order to draw eyes and hearts toward Jesus? Are you willing to do God's work and suffer because he needs you to?' She says that she began to feel like an honored soldier. That really got me. How often through this journey have I whimpered & complained? So many times that I've lost count. I play the victim more often than I play the soldier. My heart has questioned God's plan for my life. Another friend put it in perspective for me. She said, 'Whatever it is, He WILL be glorified!'
I want my life to resound with the glory of God. If he wants to wait till I'm 100 so that I can laugh like Sarah (Genesis 21) or if chooses to close my womb for my lifetime, it will be for His glory. He promises to be faithful to complete the work He began in me (Philipians 1:6)
And so I've realized that hurting is not a bad thing. Even the wondering isn't a bad thing.
He wants me to not say 'Why are you doing this to me?' but 'What are you doing in me?'He wants me to rely on His strength, His promises, His faithfulness and to believe Him at His Word...
...He really is changing my heart!

'God is my strength, God is my song, and, yes! God is my salvation.
This is the kind of God I have and I'm telling the world!'
Exodus 15:2

'Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not one detail has failed of all the good things God, your God, promised you. It has all happened. Nothing's left undone—not so much as a word.'
Joshua 23:14

'Your love, God, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I'll never quit telling the story of your love— how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives' foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world.'
Psalms 89:1

'The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living.
Reverence for the Lord is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.'
Psalm 19:7-10

Glorious Baking Success!!

Well, I am not a baker by any means, but I have discovered a new love for baking bread!
On Monday, I made a double batch of the yummiest bread!! I had enough to make cinnamon buns & 18 buns!! Yahoo!!
My baking attempts are almost never a success, seriously!
So imagine my joy when I pulled these little beauties out of the oven!!
Sheer Joy, I tell ya!

This is the recipe:

Dissolve 1/4 to 1/2 cup white sugar in two cups hot water
Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast on top of the water and let it proof (15 -20 min. is plenty)
Add 1/4 cup oil
A large pinch of salt
Stir in enough flour that the dough doesnt stick to your hands when you knead it (i think around 6 cups)
Knead dough for 2-4 minutes (my mom always says 100 times is best)
Put 2 tablespoons oil into a bowl and roll dough in it. Allow to rise until double in size
Punch down, split in half and put in two greased bread pans.
Allow to rise a second time
Bake in 350 oven for about 30 minutes until top is golden