Oh, the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL...Part I

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll notice that I've not posted in a several days. This is because we've had a terrible ice storm hit our part of the country and it has wreaked tremendous havoc. I will post more details later, but thanks to those who called, emailed, texted or whatever form of communication you used to contact me.

We are doing fine, no, we are doing great. There are a lot of people staying bundled in layers to keep warm because that's all they can do. I'm so grateful to say that we are back in our house powered by a generator, but we are not expected to get full power back for another 3-4 weeks.





Sounds crazy, but we are functioning. You know things are slowly working its way back to normal when Wal-Mart finally re-opened and the place is jam-packed!! But it is a slow process and it will take time before we see any normalcy in the midst of the chaos. UPDATE(2.1.09 12:30 a.m.): Some places in town are getting power back as I type, so maybe it won't be as long as they are quoting.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who do not have any means of keeping warm in their own homes. I know of families who are staying in various "warming" centers at local churches and I've even heard of families with small children who are keeping warm in coats and blankets, and that just breaks my heart to know that there are children who are literally freezing in their homes. Please keep all of these people and children in your prayers and hopefully power will soon be restored.

Keep up with my blog for more upcoming details. For now, I am posting a few images I captured on the first day of this magnificent storm, with more to come at a later time.
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Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009
The two images below were taken at 7 a.m. on Tues. morning. After enduring the power loss beginning at 3 a.m. and listening to the crackling of trees and their limbs, I didn't know what to expect when I went outside. At 4 a.m. I heard a loud crack and loud pop right outside my window. Of course, all the kids were in bed with me. I got up to look out the window, but all I could see were limbs--my favorite tree had lost a significant portion and the top off toppled limbs just barely grazed our windows. My husband left for work at 4:30 since we all knew of the impending ice warnings, he thought he'd get a jump start on the day(he's in law enforcement). Although I was awed by the visions of Tuesday morning, little could prepare me, or anyone else for that matter, for what we would see come Wednesday...





The east view of our house on Tuesday morning



A beautiful, up-close image of the ice-covered limbs



What was left of my dogwood tree on Tues. morning



Downed power lines in our back yard and my neighbor's back yard






Our driveway on Tuesday morning



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The following images are from my near-miss catastrophe when one of the trees started falling at my mother-in-law's house in Caruthersville, where we went to stay since she still had power and a gas heater. I took our dog out for a potty break when part of a tree began falling in a spot where I had just been standing with our dog. As I turned, I heard the crackling and saw the ice falling and I started running with our dog.

Then, as I thought briefly about how that could've been a different stroy, I ran up to the back porch and watched in horror as another huge part of the tree fell. I was screaming because I just knew it was about to fall on my truck. And as if God wasn't already beside me, the tree missed my truck by literally, inches, where I had left my camera. And yes, my kids remained inside at all times due to the volatile and unexpected nature of this storm.


This is the "small" branch that fell just seconds after I moved from this spot. Let me tell you, my heart was racing!



If you look close, you can see several "snapped" power lines.















Stay tuned for more of my photo journal of Ice Storm '09, starting with the unbelievable photos from Wednesday! It was truly amazing and beautiful, but incredibly terrifying and sad to think that such beauty could destroy so much. I will leave you with a preview of a few of Wednesday's images.

God Bless. And hug your children tight.


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This is the east side of my house on Wednesday. Notice that the dogwood tree is no longer standing, except for about the 4 foot section sticking up from the ground. And look at the rest of the trees in our yard.








This is the road leading up to our driveway, about two blocks. Quite the image, I literally had to pick my jaw up off of my lap as we drove on Corrinne.

The 411 on the SGP

The hallmark of any business is the ability advertise and deliver on your promise, oh, and have a logo that represents. I love designing things and creating something cool, different. So with that in mind, I have been trying to come up with a classic signature for my business logo. This is my 3rd, no 4th, oh maybe 100th, attempt at creating a logo of which I am proud, with its classic and simply-stated elegance. Behold, (drum roll please), dum-da-da-dum!


The Face


The Booty


My new logo on my new business card--yeah, that's how I roll! Let me know what you think about!

[Lifestyle] Reed:Making Faces

One day last week, my BFF stopped by and wanted me to photograph her daughter Reed making various (entertaining) faces. Of course, I obliged, even though Reed was waaaay more interested in eating pizza!! But the highlight of the visit was getting to hold her two month old baby boy, Brody. Gosh, he's grown so much from his newborn shoot when he was two weeks old!! He's a fatty, the best kind of baby to snuggle, and my son completely adored him, but don't get any ideas, dude--at least not for now!

This is the collage I made of the ever-hilarious Reed. She has this spunky personality and it certainly shows in her images! And she's been a great big sister to her new baby brother!



I've also included a collage I did of baby Brody from his newborn shoot. He really is so very precious, adorable, and sweet as melting ice cream on a hot summer day! Let me know what you think of it as these are the first collages I've ever created!

Baby, It's Coooold Outside

In case you've been hiding in a (nice warm) hole somewhere, you know it is certainly cold outside. But we can be thankful that we don't live any farther north because temps are below 0 in some places. Remember to keep bundled, eat a hearty breakfast, and be thankful that you can keep warm during this very cold weather. I just wanted to warm a few hearts by posting some sweet images of my children during the first snow, er, ice of the season this past December.

Joy and Peace...of Cake, that is...

Lately, it's been a bit crazy in my world. With the hussle and bussle of the holidays over, so begins the new year of 2009. I've been frazzled with my day job trying to get some bugs fixed in some programs and writing new ones, and after I completed a brain-drain task last Friday, I felt a sigh of relief when I left to come home(before picking my beloveds, of course.) *just kidding*

Then comes the selling of Girl Scout cookies, which presents its own stress: making our goal, trekking out in the cold weather, and trying to not to purchase 83,904 boxes of Carmel Delights(they were Samoas, but that's another blog), because that would ruin three of my repeated new year's resolutions: lose weight, eat better, and get in shape. Go figure. Those resolutions are never any fun. (Must be why they are always on my list.)

So, I'm thinking, maybe I should slow it down, take it easy. I mean, this is no way to start out the new year. Right now, I'm sitting here, holding a little one in my lap, drinking a 25 gallon drum of water and typing. At least this seems peaceful, except for the occasional dare of my baby trying to push a key, just to get a rise out of me. (She loves to push my buttons, no pun intended.)

But being a young, working mother requires one to become resistant to all that quiet and slow-paced kind of stuff. Some of us want our cake and eat it too, but rarely do both sides win. I don't consider myself to be a super-mom or a do-it-all type. I just do enough to keep busy with my kids and to provide a little more for them by working. I don't have time for anything else outside of our world, but someday, when they are all grown up, I will have more time than a clock.

But right now, for at least 2009, I'm trying to enjoy the immense joy they bring to my crazy life, and the inner peace I feel knowing that I'm their mommy and there's no one else in the world they want to take this job, even if the economy is bad...

2009, here's to you:

Happy Lip-Smacking Thursday

I just wanted to post a fun picture of my daughter. She has these magnificent, Angelina Jolie-esque lips that I just have to kiss like 78523464154 times a day, if she'll let me. Have a great Thursday, just one more day until you can kiss off the week!

Christmas Collage

So, I created a three collages for Christmas. One went out as a small 4 x 6 Christmas card, one went to family as a present and one was for practice, which is what I've included. I will add the 'family' present at a later date. Please feel free to leave a comment.

This was our Christmas gift to some of our family members. I really spent a lot of time on it. And it did help that in most of the images they were sitting down, as if to be waiting on something or someone. May you all have a very blessed and merry Christmas. Please remember the reason for the season because Christmas is about Jesus Christ's birth. God Bless!