Um, can we say.... BUMMER???

Something bad happened. Something very very very very bad. Something so bad you are going to read this and your insides are going to curl up, twist into a ball, shrivel up and die. Something SO BAD that I feel as though I could have taken my whole life, compressed it into a tiny little flower, and took that beautiful gorgeous little flower and flushed it down the toilet. Are you ready...........................





MY HARD DRIVE FAILED. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I know. Most of you non-computer people are like, "uhhh what'th tho bad about that??" (please read previous sentence with a lisp).


WELL. LET ME TELL YOU what's so BAD about that. Not only does my world REVOLVE around this tiny little technological failure, but it is the basis that I am building my photography career upon, storing my life on, living my life around, and LIVING AND BREATHING FOR.

Okay... deep breath. I know I'm being a little over dramatic, and no I don't live my life revolved around my macbook, you can stop sweating now. BUT, it is one of the most unexpected frustrating things I've had to deal with for a while now (besides the whole Zack being deployed thing, obviously that one takes the cake).. BUT, aside from a few tears (& yes I actually mean a FEW) and some frustrated, angry comments directed towards all of technology, I am trusting the Lord in this and I'm just going to have to take a few hits, get my hard drive replaced, mourn the loss of what was on it, and move on with my life hopefully with a new and functioning hard drive. The Lord will provide... right?

I am not a worrier by any means. In fact I can usually take any situation and laugh it off and just give it to the Lord... BUT, for some reason when it comes to finances I am a HUGE worrier. Maybe it's b/c I've been broke my entire life. I don't know. But Zack has really stood up as the man of our relationship and been an enormous encouragement to me in this area. Money is JUST money. And when has God ever NOT provided for us?????? NEVERRRRR. So I really need to get over myself, get over my money-worry-oriented mind, and just trust the Lord that He will provide. And He will. Because He promises that He will. So therefore, I surrender my hard drive, our finances, my lack of Adobe Photoshop, and everything else to Jesus, and I will bear the weight of this situation NO MORE.


On a LIGHTER note: I did an engagement photo session yesterday with some friends who's wedding I'm shooting in the fall. It went great despite the sweltering heat.. As soon as I get the means to do it, I will post a few for you all to see. AND, last but not LEAST....


........


...................ONE MORE WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK AAAOOOHHHHH MMMAAAAA GAAASSHHHH til I get to see my FARTYman!! I can't wait. As we speak he is currently testing for his final security convoy.. so more power of the Lord to him. For fun they painted each other with war paint. Haha. Zack is second in from the Left and Jennings, his military wife, is back Right. Oh boys..



I also received this HEARTfelt email from the battalion commander today::: So warm and fuzzy isn't it?

Hello friends and family of CLB-46. This is LtCol Eric Davis, the battalion commander. Thank you for taking the opportunity to use the Marine Corps’s latest technology to support friends and families of deployed Marines and Sailors: the mass communication tool.

Your Marines and Sailors are actively engaged in pre-deployment desert training here in 29 Palms, CA. After a month at Camp Lejeune, NC working on individual and company-level training, we have moved into a new phase of training, working on battalion-level operations. I am pleased to report that we have passed all of our training events, as graded by the base training staff. Your Marines and Sailors have been tested in various thought-provoking scenarios involving Iraqi role players, challenging weather conditions, and simulated munitions. They have improved with every event and are fully ready for our deployment to Iraq.
Thank you for your continued support.


Anyways, Love you all and thanks again for your prayers. Update again soon!

Ten.

Ten more days 'til I get to see Fartyman. AHHHH. I can't wait. It's going to be the best 4 days of this whole year I think. So just for an update on my man:

He's been doing really really great. His platoon has been training nonstop in the ungodly heat of Twentynine Palms, California. They have been running security convoys, blowing stuff up, learning how to shoot huge guns, etc. While they have been training, there have been people grading them and watching them making sure they are doing it correctly. Apparently they have been KICKING ass in their training. So, the other night, their higher ups let them all drink 2 beers. I bet those were the best 2 beers Zack has ever drank in his life. But anyways, tomorrow OR the next day, they will be doing their final testing for their platoon. You can be saying prayers for that to go smoothly without any bumps in the road, literally.

I really don't have any new photos to post.. So I'll post this old one Zack sent to me a few weeks ago. He's super cute.




OH... and I can't WAIT because I'm going to get all Zack's photos from the past 2 months when I go down there. So I'll OBVIO post some on the ol' blogger so you can have a taste of his life down there.

PLUS:::::::: a huuuuuuuuuuuuge answer to prayer! We found a spot to have our wedding in September 2010. So, Praise the Lord!!



BOOTIFUL right??

biiiirthdays and brrr days

Hey Folks!

Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you all.. This weekend was SUPER busy, filled with bridesmaid dresses, Nienke's birthday celebration, soccer games, picnics, lakes, barbeques, and one glorious phone call from my fartyman in CA.




Zack has been training out in the field off and on for the past few weeks. They have fake Iraqi cities out there, and have hired Arabic people who pretend to be Iraqi citizens. They have explosions and shootings and run security procedures over and over again. It's a pretty crazy time Zack says. One night Zack was sleeping in his Hum V and he said that it was SOOOO cold at night and he was shaking and shivering like all night, and the next day they found out it had only gone down to 80 degrees! But even though 80 degrees is hot to ANYONE, from the usual 115 degrees it feels FREEZING to the poor guys. This is a picture of the desert that Brian sent his fiance Jess.. Looks hot, ugh.



AND FOR THE BESTEST NEWS EVER: We found out that Zack has 3 days off in August, wooooooooooooo!!! So I'm going to drive down there and I'll get to see him which I am soooooo excited about! You all can be praying for us & that God will bless those few days we have together, and that we'll be focused on the Lord the whole time.

CIAO til next time.

4 on the 4th

Hey folks,

Sooooooo the 4th of July just passed and for all of those who don't know it's TOTALLY my favorite holiday EVER. I'm obsessed with it. So this year, in the spirit of Patriotism, we decided to go all out and have a Red, White and Blue party. And by party I mean me, Rachel, Jess Hardy & Nienk. =) It was the best of times, and it was the best of times.

No really, it was a blast. It was good quality girl time finished off with some great fireworks at the end of the night. So cheers, girls, to a fabulous time.




For some recent Zack news: He called me from Cali yaaaay! He had to use a staticky old pay phone, but hey, I'll take whatever I can. He said he's been doing really well, but it's SOOOO HOTTTTT. He drinks at least a gallon and a half of water a day. It's hard because even in the 3 or 4 hours of sleep that you get, you sweat so much that you wake up dehydrated with a headache, on barely any sleep as it is. Pray that God will give him renewed strength in those miserable conditions.

Thanks again for all your prayers, folks! We need them to keep our spirits lifted and hope in the Lord.

Mojave Viper

Welp, folks, we are now entering Phase 2 of the Deployment. Zack left today for Twentynine Palms, in California, east of LA, and right above Mexico. Twentynine Palms is a HUGE area (932 square miles) owned by the government used for training and testing just about every weapon the military has (besides nukes of course). Zack will be staying in Camp Wilson which is a sub section of Twentynine Palms. They'll be training out in Mojave Viper and living in what looks like a HUGE campbell's soup container plopped on it's side. Unfortunately, there will be no cell phone service or internet access for the next 5 weeks that the marines are there. So you can pray for safety and protection for these boys while they are training their butts off in 100 degree weather!

In case you're interested, I am going to attach a link so you can see some training that Mojave Viper entails. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmOPveWfHS0


Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
STILL I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord.


And because I don't have any recent photos to post I'll just post an old one, and take this opportunity to say I REALLY hope that this fall is a colorful one because the rain this spring sure has been more than PLENTIFUL!!