smores
does that have an apostrophe? hmm…never had to spell that one in grade school. we thought we would share a few fun pics from our unbelievably cold fun camping trip last weekend. the camera was put away a lot of the time, it is like a new baby and i’m afraid i will break it! but some of the highlights not caught on camera…skunks bigger than ben, temps below 30 (farenheit dad), a suicidal adventurous hike, lots of extra layers of clothing, bonfires, propane, yummy food and laughs. we had so much fun guys, thanks to our friends roger and julie for making it worth the frozen fingers and toes!
"i'm going for a bear hunt!" - ben
yes, we went inside
sitting on a rock in the middle of the river
the boys
beginnings
and drum roll please…okay it is likely to be a bad idea to ask for drumming at my house…amidst an insane week (that would be a whole different post) the business website went up yesterday! yep, i am feeling pretty pleased with myself in this brief minute, even as incomplete as the site is at the moment. so we thought we would let you all watch our baby steps to success, or at least that is what we are praying will be the outcome. this week i get to photograph a line of wedding stationary, a floral shop and on the 10th of march we have a bridal photo shoot, which should round out some of those galleries. a big thankyou to everyone who voted on the business name…in the end we decided to keep it in the family 
you can find our new digs here ~
http://williamsdesign.paradepro.com
hopefully we will be able to simplify the url in the future, but for now you can find us there!
the only galleries that are viewable are ‘carriage’ and ‘ever after’. also, the slideshow is not working yet, so you have to hover over the bottom or top of the photo with your mouse to see the arrow that will let you maneuver to the next photograph.
enjoy! and we would love to hear your feedback!
warning
i went to see the doctor on friday and they made me fill out one of those stress tests (just filling out that form was stressful). ridiculous, i know, me stressed? what could i possibly be stressed about? i am typically one of those ‘whatever floats your boat and wherever the wind may blow you’ kind of people…but apparently i have had a lot to be stressed out about in the past two years. what does that look like in real life? well, something like an ulcer, anxiety attacks, possibly even a chronic condition like GERD. seriously? anxiety attacks? me!? i mean, come on, are those even real?
i was just about to laugh in the doctor’s calm and knowing face when it hit me, like a big ugly spit wad from the mean kid in 4th grade…i am stressed. i am stressed out of my “calm and collected” mind! i yell raise my voice when i am on edge, can’t sleep at night, pray less, worry about insignificant things that are out of my control, do not eat the way i should, and am now having chest pains. chest pains at 26.
i am sure there is some great, life-changing lesson i am supposed to be learning right now, but instead i have spent my time since visiting the doctor cramming like a med student over all of the possible diagnoses the doctor laid on the table…as well as second guessing her statement that my heart is in fact okay…i mean, what does the ekg machine really know anyway?
right now i feel bitter, and cheated, how could this all be my fault? if by rising to the challenge and accepting all the curve balls thrown my way results in health issues, what other course is there? maybe the surgeon general should start putting warnings on anxiety-producing life events…
congratulations on the upcoming birth of your child! “warning! may cause severe, detrimental health problems if you are allergic to stress”
you just purchased your first home! “warning! you are about to think in the form of red dollar signs for the rest of your living days”
stellar job! you get a promotion and the privilege of relocating! “warning! you are about to go through more changes than a one year old on prunes!”
okay, so that is a little extreme, of course i don’t expect the surgeon general to step in, but i am still a little peeved that this whole predicament is somehow my fault. in a couple of days i will have gained some wonderful, peaceful perspective on the whole situation, but for now this is my message to the world:
don’t worry, be happy…or else!
ambition
so the time has come to get the business rolling…new equipment has arrived, the website is ready to be seen by the world (at least the portion of it that is on the internet) and weddings are beginning to be booked so the only thing left is of course the one i have been putting off since this time last year.
there are way too many versions of christine williams photography out there so i had to get creative…well, we know what happens when i try that out–can we say procrastination? so the list (you really don’t want to know how long it was) has been narrowed down to the top three and will be put to a vote…totally relieving me of any responsibility for this decision…isn’t that a beautiful thing?
restless
so today we decided to take a break from life…we pretty much did a whole lot of nothing as a family, we slept in, played on the wii, had an imaginary cowboys and indians episode (really, you don’t want to know) we watched some tv and ate a frozen meal for dinner…it was a really great day (it was planned downtime as joel starts school tomorrow and life as we know it will cease to exist). this evening i started itching to accomplish something…i know, i really have something wrong with me, but i just can’t go through a whole day without checking off some task on my to do…so i decided to make it something i wouldn’t usually get to and fun for the kiddos.
my fridge is soo pretty, i can’t really complain, it is stainless steel and huge inside, but the front is not magnetic (i was not aware of this fact when purchasing it) but i recently discovered that the side of it is magnetic…but i just couldn’t find any magnets that would do…and voila! craft project. i just used items we had here at the house, but you could make these with buttons, scrapbook or giftwrap paper, i was even thinking about using meaningful words or phrases out of some magazines we have laying around. for tonight though, we stuck to (literally) flowers or “wow-wor!” according to laila. we just used some craft glue, magnet paper (if you had the adhesive kind you might not even need the glue depending on the weight of the material you were using) and some fun decorations. the beautiful people on my fridge are my sweet friend candice and her unbelievably cute family and our new ((FIRST!)) niece, sweet baby adelaide.
silly i know, but i am learning about how to not be a perfectionist in my crafting and finding something simple enough for the kids to enjoy too…it is all about balance…and maybe seeing how many fingers can stick together with crazy glue. ((side note, these were taken with my unbelievably cool new iphone!))
the goods
"maggots!" - ben
history
whether you are a grandparent wanting to reminisce or just nosy interested 
you can check out our old blog at http://jehusoldier.blogspot.com. we started it right before our son (soon to be four) was born and it follows us through germany and england. enjoy!
renew
2009 slipped in on us this winter. with all the chaos that is our life we hardly noticed the change short of the obvious numeric adjustment…adjustment is the word that would sum up our last year. we felt constantly in a state of anticipation as we went from one stress-inducing turn to the next, yet each detour along our path brought with it wonderful blessings and opportunity to grow and learn.
some of the destinations? laila shivered her way through her first birthday on the top of a mountain with her grandparents and aunt visiting to celebrate with her, benjamin dove into the big 3 with a quick departure from toddlerhood (ouch!), we built our first home…and with it a sense of stability that is new and refreshing, joel worked his way through another year of full-time school and a promotion at work, we drove from the mexican border (where we live) to the canadian to spend two weeks in calgary with my parents (benjamin was the best lookin’ cowboy at the 2008 calgary stampede), we helped my brother, sean, move to arizona with us to get a fresh start, we started a small photography business, gained a canine member of the family (jake), lost a baby in november, and spent a wonderful and rejuvenating christmas in oklahoma with family.
so when january came in this year it was natural for life to just keep rolling, why invite more change? clearly some was great, and some devastating…maybe if we just kept on this road we would find some normalcy, this path could straighten out for a while so you don’t have to wonder what is around the next bend. those are the feelings we shared, without even discussing it or knowing it until i spoke with a friend this morning. friend, you know who you are. thanks.
scary bends are good. real good. we need them to be reminded of the grace and mercy of a god that desperately loves us, to be kept in check and humbled when we forget what is most important. not seeing what is ahead is an opportunity to trust, to have a faith that is unwavering and to see it fulfilled. bends bring heartache and can blindside you, but they also bring blessings that are more wondrous than anything we could have imagined ourselves.
so dear friend of mine, here is to you, and to speaking the truth in love, thank you for your perspective on our blessed lives and for stopping me in my tracks to take in this new year, this fresh, undiscovered path ahead.
