A Winter Wonderland + Wonder-Dog Engagement Session: Emily & Adam

 

As I drove on the snow-covered streets, the sun shining powerfully across the cold winter's afternoon sky, my mind raced with ideas.  Emily and Adam are adorable and their love is something special and sweet- with a healthy mix of fun!  I knew they were hoping to incorporate their beloved dog, Duke, into the session and my mind was full of ideas.

The five inches of fresh snow created the most beautiful scene around the rustic barn and evergreens.  It was the perfect setting for a couple most at home in the outdoors.  After starting and growing their love in Ely, Minnesota, this winter backdrop told their story idyllically. Within a few moments, we were drudging through thigh-deep snow, laughing and capturing a love for the ages.  The calm breeze, and relatively warm temps were a welcome change from the last few weeks- and enabled these two to smile joyfully, while wrapped in a warm quilt and holding a cup of ...marshmallows! :) They make this frozen tundra we call Minnesota look romantic, fun and beautiful!

Here is the sneak peek- including a few from Duke, the wonder-dog! 

A New Year: Giving and Gaining

I love the new year. I love setting goals, making plans, hoping dreams and looking forward.  I love the idea of a fresh start and knowing that a year from now, I will be changed.  I will continue to be shaped, molded and grow, by God's grace.

But this year, I have a whole new mindset.  While I am setting my usual goals and laying out the groundwork for our schedule and plans as a family and professionally, I am also intentionally trying to live in the moment.  Looking forward is at times, necessary and beneficial; living in the moment, however, has become a lost art in our culture. 

I don't want to be so busy planning that I miss living.  I don't want to be waiting for the next big event in my life that I don't soak up what is seemingly mundane.  The mundane moments are often the most precious, the most beautiful and the things my heart will long for later.  It's watching my little boys build the bonds of brotherhood over playtime.  It's reading a story to my baby and having him look at me with bright blue eyes and a huge smile- silently and yet powerfully communicating his love to me.  It's the unbridled joy my son exudes while flying down the snow-covered hill. It's laughing until I cry with my husband over something small and silly.  It's tea with a good friend. It's even choosing patience and joy when I don't have either anymore.  It's stopping to soak in the vibrant sunset in the early hours of the day. It's all this and more.

The word that continues to come to mind as I sit and write this post and as I have think about hopes for this new year is that of SIMPLIFY.  Simplifying the calendar to allow for quality time with those I love most.  Simplifying how wrapped up we are in technology and putting the phone, ipad, and the computer down.  Soaking up the simple moments and uncomplicating the clutter that our lives can fill with.  Less IS more.  Less stuff; more experiences.  Less comparison; more gratitude.  Less stress; more trust.

What could you do to simplify? What could you do to live out the phrase, coined by missionary, Jim Elliot, many years ago:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose?" 

I have always loved this quote. Now I want to live it.