Merry Christmas!!!

Whoops! It is almost the end of December and I have yet to do a post for this month! Here is some Christmas-y fun!

This is my favorite ornament ever!

I love to wrap gifts! Tying pretty bows is my favorite.

In my house us three sisters have our own trees. This is mine!

Another favorite ornament!

This one was given to me by my grandpa who passed away this summer.

Another of my favorite ornaments!

I made this 13 years ago in kindergarten!

Frosty the Snowman!

Yes I do realize this is extremely immature. My dad was given this jelly-bean pooping snowman. It gave us much entertainment on Christmas, we were speculating about filling it with everything from stool softeners to marshmallow cream, when i suggested skittles, "Eat the rainbow, poop the rainbow!"

Here is our gorgeous Nativity scene :)

This is the true reason for CHRISTmas! Thank you Jesus for choosing to be born to die for my sins!

THIS IS MY NEW (to me) CAR!!!

Since there was no snow on Christmas, and we had some time after church, before we went to my grandma's house, I decided to get a car wash and take pictures of my car!

Then I thought, "hmm... lets put the top down..."

So we did! I drove my sisters around the block in a convertible on Christmas day, blaring Christmas music... it was super fun!!!

ME!!! (I did not take these pictures, my sister did- thank you!)

Lookin' cool :)

Well there you have it! My December blog post. The next time I post I will be sending greetings from Florida! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! :) God Bless!

Autumn Beauty

What a lovely evening. Listening to the Les Miserables sound track, drinking Passion TAZO tea (or as I call it, "Purple Tea") and blogging. These are photos of a Sugar Maple tree I planted in my yard, that I refer to as "my tree." Autumn is my favorite season on account of the crisp mornings, the fall smell in the air, and the beautiful foliage!

Fall always makes me think of Salvation. "Why?" you ask?

Well, I will do my best to explain. Although I am not always the best at explaining my thoughts.

To understand this, first you must know what Salvation is. To be "saved" is to believe that you are a sinner, Jesus died for your sins, and rose again. It also means to put your trust in Him, therefore you live for Him, and Him alone.

I think that Autumn is a good illustration of this.

The leaves and plants die. Just like Jesus died. Just like we are sinners, and without Christ we die.

The winter snow comes and covers all the death with pure white. Just like Jesus' death makes the sins of those who accept His sacrifice as white as snow.

Then spring comes, and with spring new life. Just like Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days in the grave. Just like if we ask Him to come in to our lives He will give us new life here on earth and eternally, in Heaven.

So, in nature, death must happen to bring new life.

In reality death must happen to bring new life.

It may not be easy to accept the road of salvation. It isn't pleasant to admit that we are sinners and our sin put Jesus on the cross. Jesus doesn't promise an easy life for His followers, in fact He told the disciples that in this world they would have trouble, that the world would hate them as it hated him, but He left them with this comfort: "Take heart, for I have conquered the world!" As hard as it is to see the end of the warmth of summer, we know we have to go through the death of autumn and live through the hardship of winter before we can experience the new life of spring. We have to be like Jesus in His death, and live a life that is not easy, before we will experience the true joy of new life in Heaven!

So, just as we can find so much beauty in the death of autumn, I find so much beauty in the saving Cross of Jesus. By His blood I am restored. By His Resurrection I live. There is nothing more beautiful than that!

Close-Ups

So, I wanted to do another blog post, but I have not had a chance to take any more photographs. I decided to go back in the archives, and found these two! They were tucked away into a file of photos I took for my Grandpa, of him and his Our Iowa Tall Corn. I had forgotten about this, and I am glad I found them!

 Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

I know that some people's favorite photographs are of vast landscapes or other such broad subjects, but my favorites are always shots that focus on the intrinsic detail of seemingly simple things. At first glance a leaf or an ant are just simple objects. However, if we take the time to look into the simple things in life, things we take for granted, we can learn many things, such as wisdom and diligence. When we take the time to look deeper than just a glance, we will be amazed by the beauty we find!

Hope you have enjoyed this short, but sweet blog post!

Thoughts of Summer

These were taken around the Ada Hayden park North of Ames. My Boyfriend and I went on a Photographic adventure there shortly after I purchased my camera!

This is my favorite one. I love the way the rays of the sun peek through!

I cannot decide which is my favorite of these two.

I do know however, that I think these look like pictures of an African savannah!

I got really excited about this one! Check out all the details you can see!

The color of the sky is so gorgeous!

I had always wanted to take a picture of a fluffy dandelion!

Okay, my favorite season is autumn! But I couldn't decide what to call this post. So that became the title. Actually the time when the seasons are changing are always my favorite times of year! I took these photos when I first bought this camera, in the first part of June. I wanted to share these pictures with everyone as they are some of my favorites!

Cookies! (and Procrastination)

Okay, so I couldn't wait a whole month to do another post, lol. I decided to make a post of the cookie making extravaganza we had this weekend at my grandparents house! These are all of the cookies, before we frosted them, along with all of the sprinkles/decorations! (the frosting still hasn't made it to the table yet)

We stacked them according to what shape they were. It is obvious which kinds are our favorites!

Playing with the focus of my camera. :)

Yes, these are Halloween cookies. I know that is unusual to make Halloween cookies, but why not? Some of you may be thinking, "Isn't Halloween evil?" Well I don't want to start a controversy, or offend people,  but I don't think it is. Some elements may be, but there also are ways to have fun on Halloween, without participating in evil things. I personally don't see what is wrong with dressing up in silly costumes, knocking on people's doors, and asking for candy. In my family we never were scary or evil things, Halloween has always been a chance to channel the actress inside me!

So, if you are offended by cute little ghostie cookies, I apologize. But really, isn't it cute!! :)

Some leaf cookies as well.

A beautiful, white pumpkin.

You should all applaud my ingenuity. I turned a cat head into an owl! CUTE!

Here is the cat head as a cat! Yes, we do take a lot of time decorating. :)

We started before 1 and finished around 6. This is the final result!

I hope this post has made you hungry, and made you think! Now, I suppose I have procrastinated long enough. I had better wash up the supper dishes. At least I will have the music of Les Miserables to sing to, and my hands will be warm!