I knoooow you know I cry all the time, but I so easily well up when I think of ALL the things in my life I don’t deserve but am ever so grateful for; most importantly eyes to see and ears to hear, a family overflowing with love, a husband I’m nuts about, and friends who breathe truth and joy in my life. God is so good.

Today we were thankful for::

XOXO

Zee fabulous Alex of Ave Styles pulled together a few yummy outfits for Melissa to hang out in around her home, with lovely hair and makeup done by Tina Burnham!

Dixie gets SOOOOOOO excited to see her mama whenever she’s away.

One of many bonuses to being bff with this girl are the homemade cookies regularly found in the kitchen.

Readers are leaders! Lol. But really, though.

She’s so beautiful!!

The light was stunning in her quaint backyard.

So evidently, it’s the new thing to water your plants in heels.

Not gonna lie. She rocked it.

Gah! So beautiful, even in a back alley!

Evening stroll in Arcadia.

LOOOVE YOU TWO!!!

Since our almost two years in business, the Mr. and I have learned a few mighty good lessons – one being that successful people don’t wait on opportunities. They CREATE them! Which is why we dove deep into creating your OWN opportunities in business. It was a blast sharing with and engaging the group, and we’re looking forward to many more down the road.

Sweet Casia of Purple Nickel was kind enough to steal my camera and grab a couple shots.

Us laughing at our own jokes while everyone pretends to be writing, obviously.

We truly believe the success of a business rests on its leaders. If you want something bad enough, you make it happen. If not, you make excuses.

What do you think? Do you agree?? XOXO!

I can only imagine the pain in seeing others moving on and living life. Mall parking lots full of busy shoppers, and friends laughing and joking. When everything in you wants to shake sense into others because a piece of your heart has been severed, what do you do.

The reality is, 9/11 is not the world’s only tragedy. Refugees overseas would share stories of their wives and children being raped and cut to pieces in front of their very eyes, BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS. Devastation happens all. the. time. And as a Christian, what do you do.

They say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.- CS Lewis quoted in The Reason For God.

For the 5th anniversary of 9/11 Tim Keller gave an address that included the following::

On the cross we sufferers finally see, to our shock that God now knows too what it is to lose a loved one in an unjust attack. And so you see what this means? John Stott puts it this way. John Stott wrote: “I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the Cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” Do you see what this means? Yes, we don’t know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue, but we know what the reason isn’t, what it can’t be. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us! It can’t be that he doesn’t care. God so loved us and hates suffering that he was willing to come down and get involved in it. And therefore the Cross is an incredibly empowering hint. Ok, it’s only a hint, but if you grasp it, it can transform you. It can give you strength.

PLEASE leave your comments on HER blog!! XOXO

Please leave any comments and love on his post. Thank you!!!

XOXO!!

Every Christmas, to this day, he spends days and days transforming our home into a winter wonderland. Just because he knows how much we love it.

I packed up for our high school Spring Break trip. My girlfriends pulled in the driveway, and we threw my overpacked suitcase in the car. He hugged us all with a huge smile on his face, then cried from the door as we drove away. He cried when I left for Spring Break.

I graduated high school, and he took me on a beautiful trip to Lake George. We went to dinner and had an Asian server. He attempted to speak her language.

He came to visit me in Italy, and we experienced our mututal love of food, language, culture, and gelato together. It. Was. Perfect.

I made the decision to leave for Thailand and work in the slums. It hurt his heart in a way like never before, but he vigorously supported my choice every day.

I fluffed my dress, and the massive church doors opened to a sea of family and friends. He walked me down the aisle and we laughed at our tears, because “we always do this”.

He came to visit our new home in Phoenix and stocked us up for the next year. If there’s ever a need, he does anything he can to fill it.

I know that if my blog posts are awful and no one cares, I’ll still have a comment from him. Every. Time.

Babbo, I could never ask for a better earthly father. I love you so much today, and everyday.

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What an example… XOXO

Our oranges and grapefruits for the week always come from the orange and grapefruit booth! I don’t know their name!

And fresh flowers are a MUST in our home!

Thanks for peeking into our Saturday morning! XOXO!!

A couple days ago, we shot across town to pick up some yummmmy sample canvas wraps to showcase in our home studio! And HELLLLO, did they deliver! The quality is superb and the prices are comparable to any major print company we’ve previously used. MAJOR, MAJOR score!!

ARIZONA PHOTOGRAPHERS – paaaalease contact me for information on the printers, and support your fellow business owners!!

XOXO!!