Let's Go For Some Drama!

New assignment for the week!  She gave us a wwwoooorrrdddd and the word was DRAMATIC.  Ooohhh yessss.  Now, how to interpret . . . 

What is dramatic photography?  When I went to Pinterest it shows darker images or quirky ones with interesting styling.  My wheels were turning . . . 

In comes dramatic 14 year old daughter, perfect dress from Target, and bright red accessories to put together a "Lost Doll in the Woods Look."  I like them!  Very different editing and so much fun to do something out of my comfort zone.

This kid was a champ!  This is right up her alley and she 'got it.'  I love this girl.  She's so much fun and sweet!  She's like her momma and kind of likes her quiet time away from the noise of a beautifully, full house.

She just got her braces off and WOW!  Lock her door and don't let her out for a very long time!

Thankfully she's not too boy crazy just yet.  I think having a couple of brothers helps.  

She's brilliant, beautiful, funny, creative, a little rambunctious, and the perfect teenage daughter.

She is capable of great things and has overcome a lot of obstacles in her short years.  Just makes us all stronger.

Our little lost doll in the woods - Zoe!

GRATEFUL

We had a break in our bitter cold weather this weekend.  This time last week we weren't going anywhere soon.  It had iced then snowed on top of that, and then there was the COLD.  Bitter, bitter COLD.  

So we stayed home a lot of the weekend.  It had been Christmas Break you know.  So we'd had lots of together time.  LOTS.  I mean, L O T S.  

We got 'the call' that afternoon that there would be no school the next day because of it.  Usually, I'd be grateful for a Snow Day.  This time, not so much.  I was ready to be back in a routine, back on the mission field.  My kids and I craved routine, and apparently I was not being much of a self-motivator in that area - not feeling too good towards the end.  Ugh.

But THIS weekend was what I was grateful for.  Sunshine.  No need for a heavy coat.  

The ability to get out a little bit and S T R E T C H.  

My beautiful friend Laura found this old tree farm, and since there was no fence . . . we played for a bit.  Running and jumping and discovering.  

I started a new photography class this week.  I'm SO excited for some inspiration and getting back out and doing creative things!  This week's assignment was about "Defining Your Style."  I love a good semi-posed shot, not too formal.  I love color, and light.  I love an interesting composed photo.  I love a shallow depth of field to maximize my chance of getting some good bokeh.  

Gratitude

Thanks to my friend Karen, I've discovered Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.  She had an excellent daily devotional and weekly video over Advent.  She has a book called One Thousand Gifts.  I'm learning to be more grateful and stopping and noticing things around me more.  In order to do that she has given us a schedule of things every day to be grateful for, if you go to her website search for Joy Dare (I couldn't find a way to directly link to it).  Shocker.  I'm a little behind.  It's Christmas break.  The kids - all FIVE of them - are home.  They don't care as much about dishes and clean clothes and order as I do.  Plus, I have a hard time completing a thought or a task that's more than 10 minutes long.  No wonder I'm behind!  I think my new year will start when the kids go back to school.  How do homeschool moms do it?!

Day One's Gratefulness Project - 3 Gifts Heard . . .

Dryer

Need I say more?

My children would have been an obvious choice for three things heard.  I opted for my dogs.  My pug snores so loud she sometimes wakes me up.  Isn't that cute?  And then the Goldendoodle is just a little boy barking, playing, rough housing.  He's exactly like a 7 year old boy in a dog's body.

My brain is mush.  My head is very headachey lately and that is something to NOT be grateful for.  Ugh.

And, now, for my second day of finding things to be grateful for . . .

A Not So Boring Blog Post, Like That Last One . . .

I saw this idea over on rageagainsttheminivan
and thought it was a MUCH more entertaining way to blog about 2013 than just some boring ole pictures of our beautiful kids.  So, here goes!

1.  What did you do in 2013 that you've never done before?  I went on a mission trip to Ch*na to work in a special needs orphanage.  Life changing.  Our Father is moving mountains on behalf of the least of these!  Wanna go?  lori mcmurphy @ gmail . com (when you type it, no spaces:)

2.  Did you keep your New Year's Resolution and will you make more for next year?  I didn't make one last year, but this year it's more of a new routine that I found over at www.aholyexperience.com with Ann Voskamp.  I've got some yucky routines that I don't like and I really want to break them.  I'm sure I'll be blogging about them here :).  Starting off the day with God's word instead of social media - wow what a concept!

3.  Did anyone close to you adopt or give birth?  My cousin gave birth to a sweet baby boy!  We have some friends who adopted a baby from Uganda!  Most of my cousins, and especially my sisters are done giving birth.  I keep hoping for more adoptions in our family!

4.  Did anyone close to you die?  A death that really affected me was the death of Teresa B.  It seems absolutely crazy to be so involved with a child's life that I've never met, but we were drawn to each other by a fellowship of suffering, bearing one another's burdens.  She was an orphan with a heart of gold, but her heart could not sustain her here on this earth.  She and Avery spent time together at the same healing home and that is how I 'met' her and advocated for her.  Thank you Jes*s that she was SO LOVED by a family here on this earth.  Beauty for ashes.

5.  What countries did you visit?  Ch*na!  That country has my heart!  If the Father called us to live there and work I would not hesitate.  For now, it's short term missions.  We started out in Be*jing and did the tourist thing, then off to Cha*yang to work with special needs orphans.  When I walked in I felt like this was where I was supposed to be, it's a piece of my puzzle.

6.  What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?  Have less stuff.  Be content with a more simple life.  Less visual clutter.  Less.  More peace.  More time with Him.  Be more on top of things.  Be healthier.  Move FORWARD.

7.  What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory and why?  We spent time at the beach!  If you don't believe in the Father then you've never been to the beach.  AND, we were with great friends!

It was VERY humid.  I must explain my hair.  I can't explain the Barbie arm in the last photo.

8.  What was your biggest failure?  I fail daily in some way.  I'm more often a distracted, grumpy mom than I am a happy, connected mom.  But, in Him, I am given grace and peace, and a fresh start every morning.  If I had to think of one big failure it would be that I couldn't break through to our exchange student better.  I don't lose sleep over it, but he was a tough nut to crack.

9.  What was your biggest achievement this year?  Learning to use my camera and taking photos of my family and friends.  Hopefully way more of that for 2014!

Some from the beginning of my classes.  

Some towards the end of 2013.

10.  Did I suffer illness or injury?  Nope.  Thank you Father that we were all healthy!

11.  What was the best thing I bought?  Probably my 50mm lens for my photography classes - it's the only one I use now!  I think my next lens will be a 35mm.

12.  Where did most of our $$ go?  Our old pool.  Taxes.  Blechhhh!

13.  What did I get really excited about?  One of our kiddos from Cha*yang going into foster care!!!  Watching G*d move that mountain!!  Oh, and, taking much better photos - I kind of get geeked up about a good shot.

Sweet girl experiencing the love of a foster family!  Looking forward to seeing what G*d does with her in 2014!

14.  What song will always remind you of 2013?  I LOVE the song by Gungor "You Make Beautiful Things,"  and then there's "You're Beautiful" by Phil Wickham.  Gorgeous music.

15.  Compared to this time last year, are you:
  * happier or sadder > I'm happier!  Moving FORWARD is good!
  * thinner or fatter > Fatter (that part makes me sadder).  Is it lack of exercise?  Diet?  Yes.  Yes it is.
  * richer or poorer > Poorer.  But we are getting our budget under control and figuring it all out, so that part makes me happier.

16.  What did you wish you'd done more of?  Eating healthier, being more organized, waking up earlier to be connected to Him.  All those things would give me peace.

17.  What do you wish you'd done less of?  LESS SOCIAL MEDIA!  I really like Instagram because I like photos so much.  And, dumb Facebook keeps me connected with other photography peeps, not to mention my GRANDMA is now on FB!  But, if I could just reduce it to once or twice a day.  What would that do for my life?

18.  How did we spend Christmas?  Just our little family, GaGa, then Mom and Melvin, then the Pikiti family came for lunch, and we saw Chelsea and Jett.  Thanksgiving was our BIG family holiday with my sisters and their families staying a few days - my favorite.  Mom always said one day my sisters and I would be good friends, she was right!

19.  What was your favorite TV show?  Modern Family.  Yes.  Hilarious!  My next favorite show is America's Next Top Model for photography reasons only - hate the dumb drama!  But I actually learn quite a bit about posing, and lighting!

20.  What was your favorite book?  I can't remember if I read UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand this year or last (I think it was last), but I recommend it to everyone.  It is by far my most favorite book!  I also read Wonder by R. J. Palacio which was excellent.  I read it to Ethan.  Great book!

21.  What was your favorite music?  I usually listen to Contemporary Christian and not much else.  I am a huge Gwen Stefani fan and a closet Britney fan.  Love music with a good beat or music that speaks to my heart.  How cheesy is that?

22.  Favorite movie?   I loved Catching Fire, Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (I guess I'm surrounded by kids, huh?).  I thought Identity Thief and The Heat were funny, but too much of the 'f' word (can we be more creative please?)  I did not like American Hustle or Oz the Great and Powerful.  Great Gatsby was ok.  I still want to see The Book Thief, Monsters University, August:  Osage County, Saving Mr. Banks, and Madea's Christmas.

23.  What did we do on my birthday?  I don't even remember.  Probably went out to eat?

24.  What one thing would have made my year immeasurably more satisfying?  Rock hard abs and a body that doesn't jiggle.  Well, how do you get that Lori?  Shut up.

25.  How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?  Hmmmm . . . not important would be one way of putting it.  If my goal is to NOT leave the house in my ugly Target slippers and my pajama top with a hoodie on is that good or bad?  Should I be more fashionable in 2014 or just continue to look for ANOTHER pair of my favorite slouchy yoga pants and call it good?  I don't want to end up on www.peopleofwalmart.com!

26.  What kept you sane?  All five kids were in school for the first time in August.  That's 16 years of having at least one child at home if not more.  It was a milestone.  I love it.  I love public school (one in private).  We are on the mission field.

Now, let's rock this 2014!