My Good King

Well, I mentioned a while back that I wanted to do a layout that describes why I LOVE digital scrapbooking. And here it is. There are actually more reasons, but I couldn't fit any more on the page, lol! And I wanted to share these photos I took of the kids at the beach during sunset last Friday. I really like how they turned out. I'm in the beginning stages of a large project. I want to hang a collection of "artsy"-type photos in our living room as the focal point when you walk in the door. But I want the pictures to be of our family. So I'm taking the kids to the beach several times over the next several weeks and I hope to get a few winners that I can use on our wall. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use these. And ... on another note ... school starts in one week, but I'm just not ready. I've so enjoyed having my kids home this summer. But more on that tomorrow.

Credits here . Can you tell how I've been spending my free time :) I had the most fun taking these pictures! I just asked Ashley to tell me a story (she is quite the storyteller and quite the drama queen--she takes after her aunt, lol!) . As she was telling her GREAT story, I just used the "continuous" mode in the fancy, shmancy camera and shot away. Went to Seal Beach today with Teena . So fun and relaxing. Why don't I have pictures to share? Ummm, I kind of forgot the CF card (to store the pictures on) at home. That's only the second time in less than a week that I've done that. Aren't you proud of me?! In case any of you were wondering, yes, I am a total "spaz." :)

Yeah. Uh, the main reason I haven't posted for days is because of my new toy. Wednesday night my hubby comes home from work around 10:30 p.m. (he had to make up some hours). I stumble out of bed to open the door, cause apparently he forgot his key. I open the door with my eyes half shut, give him a quick peck, and tell him good night. He says, "I want to show you something. Can I show you now?" Not wanting to be a self-absorbed wife, I acquiesce to his request. He gets a box, and takes out a small box. I read "Canon EOS" and I can't believe my eyes. I blink several times and it still says "Canon EOS." All of a sudden (and I'm soooo not kidding), the enormous fatigue I felt earlier completely leaves me. I am soooo excited I can feel the blood pumping through my veins. I have to touch this thing. So I ended up staying up until midnight playing around with it. What is it, you ask? The digital SLR camera (Canon Digital Rebel Xti) I've wanted si...

A very tired Ashley arrived last night from Italy ... tired, but sooo glad to be home with her Mommy and Daddy :) She had a good time. She was up all night and went to bed at 6:00 a.m. She's up now, and hopefully she'll go to bed around 9:00 or 10:00 tonight. We're just going to take it easy and give her time to adjust to home life again (and recover from jet lag, lol!). Mommy? I'm walking around with a smile plastered on my face. NOTHING will remove the smile from my face because my "baby" is home, and that's all that matters :) So glad to have our "light" and "life" back into our home. Edit: Yes, the stories are amazing! And she's quite the storyteller, so I'll let her do the telling :)

We went camping at the Malibu X RV X Park yesterday and today. We were there for the first time last August and we LOVED it. It was my first time camping in a tent. They have RV set-ups (of course, lol!) and a tent area. Every site (almost) has an ocean view. My favorite part is that you can hear the ocean waves at night when you go to sleep. Oh, and there are no bugs really--except ants, but they didn't visit us this year :) Oh, and the bathrooms (with showers) are super clean 24/7. They also have a rec room, a game room, and a jacuzzi. Yeah, camping at its best! And did I mention, it's right off of PCH, so you can also go to the beach?! So we went yesterday and came back today. It was so adorable to see Carlos with my husband. He is at the age where he totally idolizes his Daddy, and wants to be just like him when he grows up. And he wants to help him do everything. So while Carlito was setting up the tent, he very eagerly exclaims, "I want to help you, Daddy." So...

I think I needed an extra dose of grace this week--not sure why. God, as usual, answered, and gave me this Scripture. I'm sure I've read it before, but it really hit home when I read it yesterday. I think this is one of my new favorites. I've read it several times these past couple of days. Just thought I'd share. The Lord is merciful and gracious; He is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us [ahh ... feels good to know] , nor remain angry forever. He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. [that's how my husband is with our kids] For He understands how weak we are; he knows we are only dust [what a relief]...

She is doing well, but she still misses home a lot ("Well, I don't cry myself to sleep every night."-- ssshhh! I never told you that!!) They eat out late every night (Italians generally eat dinner between 8:30 and 10:00 p.m.) , so she's loving that! She has her quiet times with the Lord on a regular basis (soooo proud of her!!), but she hasn't done a lot of journaling. I told her I'm going to make her do it when she comes back and she'll thank me for it in about ten years :) Can't wait until Tuesday at 9:00 p.m.!!!!

We were finally able to move back home today. After several hours of cleaning up our mess at my sister-in-law's house (how can things get so messy in just a couple of days?!), we moved the mess to our house. I'm now in the process of putting the junk away (and washing the dirty laundry) while listening to praise music (Newsboys) so I can keep a positive perspective, lol! It will feel good to go to bed tonight knowing that termites are not slowly destroying the infrastructure of our home :) Next, we are looking into new windows. One of our eleven windows opens and stays open. It will be nice to have functioning windows :) We might even install a patio door (fingers crossed!).

So, I spend about an hour trying to find a VCR/TV combo that I can figure out in my sister-in-law's house. Why? Because I'm forcing myself to exercise. So I battled the hundred excuses NOT to exercise, and persevered through three TVs to find one that I could somehow manage to work. My reward for my faithfulness to myself? A nice, relaxing half hour in her "bathtub-style" jacuzzi situated in her gigantic, gorgeous, "spa-like" master bathroom. Sounded good to me. So I exercised, with the vision of myself in the hot tub in the forefront of my mind the entire time I'm sweating and contorting myself in all kinds of different positions. Then ... at last ... my treat to myself. I go upstairs, get the water going, put some bubbles in, and wait for the water to get past the jets (that's what she told me the last time). So, I turn on the jets, and water literally starts spraying everywhere . I quickly turn them off, decide that maybe the water didn't co...

I cannot believe what I just read. I know firsthand that France is a very liberal country, but I guess I'm just so out of touch. An article in French Yahoo! explains which types of couples (based on socioeconomics) should get married because it is financially beneficial, and which types of couples should just live together (they actually unashamedly call it "concubinage"--can you believe it?!). The article begins by saying that if any couples want to get married, they should think it over for tax reasons. Huh?? When did marriage become a financial business deal? I'm just so agitated right now. Perspective please, people. Am I just making a big deal out of nothing? And another quick question. I've been using my sister-in-law's computer the past couple of days, and I notice that the photos are coming out darker on her computer. The funky photo of Ashley in the previous post , is the background white on yours? It's white on my computer, but blue on her ...

Note: Please read the previous post first or this won't make much sense! This is my niece at the beach last winter. Such a sweet photo, but the weird colors on her jacket look odd, and I think it would have much more feeling if I made it black and white. Sooo ... after increasing the contrast, playing with blending modes to fix her "rainbow" jacket, cropping out the person next to her, and removing the color, this is what I came up with. And that's why I call Photoshop my friend :)

I've been meaning to do this post for a while now. I am so enamored of Photoshop, and I want to help all you curious ladies to understand why I can be so passionate about an inanimate object, lol! So I figure the best way to demonstrate is to show you some classic "before" and "after" shots. For those of you already familiar with the wonders of Photoshop, feel free to exit my blog now :) I won't be offended. By the way, I'm totally an amateur at the most basic level, and I have no training whatsoever. You may not even like what I did to the photos. And that's perfectly okay! Photography is so subjective anyway. I just wanted to share this piece of my life with you. Photoshop has to be my friend because I just have a regular "point and shoot" camera, and the pictures just lack that extra spark that makes them stand out. I'm sure when I get my Digital Rebel xti sometime around Christmas I'll still find plenty of excuses to use it! So...

For those of you who have been waiting for an Ashley update, we spoke briefly yesterday morning, and she's doing very well overall. She does miss home, though. She told me she cried three times because she's so homesick. I remember those feelings from when I was young. I just wanted to jump into the phone line and hug her (and bring her back with me!). But she was at the pool with her American cousins when we spoke, and she was very positive and upbeat, which felt good. I have to say, my heart just melted when I heard her sweet, pixie voice exclaim, "MOMMY!!" as I picked up the phone and said, "Hello." You could totally hear the deep sense of comfort and joy she felt just upon hearing my voice. She sounded like this sweet, innocent little girl instead of the teenager I deal with on a day to day basis :) She did say that the l-0-n-g letter I gave her (see this post ) helped "A LOT." Did I doubt even for one minute that it would help? Um ... I have t...

Carlito was blessed with a nice raise a few weeks ago, so we're going to use the money to fix up some things around the house. Now, I have absolutely NO experience with this kind of stuff, either growing up or in my own adult life. I'm very excited about the things we want to do; and I'm extremely grateful that Carlito is taking charge of the whole "home improvement" stuff. That's just actually w-a-y out of my area of expertise. I'll post more about the home improvements later, but the first thing we're doing is boring, but necessary: termite control. It's really bad so they have to tent the house. Which means: we have to pack and move for three days (but this is a blessing as well because we will be 2 miles away and occupy my cousin and sister-in-law's "mansion"--read: huge, fancy house :) (they're currently in Italy) And did I mention they have a jacuzzi bathtub??!! ... and a HUGE kitchen??!!) . we have to take food to cook f...

I am so excited! For the first time in my life I have girlfriends that I get to go out with on a regular basis and just chat (yeah, I know, a little late in life, but I’m actually just starting to "live." We’ll save that for another post, though!) . We’re all Christian, spirit-filled moms (there’s six of us), and they started inviting me to get together with them in June. We just got together tonight and it was soooo refreshing. I learned: That Ashley isn’t the only clever twelve-year-old that pulls the shenanigans she tries to pull on a regular basis (as in—pretend she doesn’t know how to do something; then I tell her what the consequence will be if she doesn’t figure it out in a certain time period--because I’m 100% sure she knows, and then she suddenly “figures it out”) . Another mom struggles with controlling her urge to scream at her kids on a fairly regular basis (whew!) Two of the moms scrapbook (yeah!) One of them wants me to teach her French (cool!) Another mom...

I seem to be reliving my past this week, lol! First, I run into a guy I haven't seen in almost twenty years (that was sooo neat!), and right now I'm in the middle of reliving a memory from France. I've been waiting for this day since March 16th. I can remember planting the tomato plants with this vision in my mind. I'm so excited right now (it's nothing big, really; so don't get too excited yet! It's just something I haven't done for years.) . When I lived in France, I would go home (from the university) every day for lunch because we had a good two hour break in the middle of the day. I would walk to the "Halles", which is the marketplace--tons and tons of fresh produce at reasonable prices. I would get fresh tomatoes, basil, and parsley, and walk home. There I would make myself fresh, homemade pasta sauce and have pasta for lunch. Yum! I did that almost every day for about four months. When I came back here after my year was up, I would buy t...

So, I go to take Carlos to swimming lessons yesterday, and they apparently don't have him signed up (this is only the second time this summer they've done this to me ... aaargh!) . I go to talk to the lady (actually, teenie bopper) and notice a tall, somewhat slender Asian next to me. Looks vaguely familiar, but I honestly can't place him, so I just chalk it up to my imagination. Later, after Carlos gets placed in a class, he approaches me, kind of points to me, and says, "You look familiar. ... Camilla? ... Camela? ..." I'm like in shock. He knows my name--well, almost. So it wasn't my imagination. We do know each other. Before I tell him my name, I'm frantically attempting to replay every moment of the last ten or twelve years of my life to figure out how I know him. I'm actually embarrassed that he knows me and I don't remember enough about him to place him in my life. So I finally take pity on him and tell him my name. Then I had to ask h...

Went to the L.A. Zoo today, just me and Carlos. It was so adorable to see his boyish excitement. Of course, he wanted to see the Reptile House, but much to his chagrin it is closed until 2010! I was in shock. But he had a lot of fun anyway. They have a new Spider House exhibit, and that kept him entertained. We sat down on a bench in the shade to eat our lunch, and got to see some wallabies and a large, interesting bird (forgot the name). It was kind of cool. We saw the “Ape Rain Forest” (or whatever it’s called) and we actually saw a mother orangutan with her baby. When we passed by to leave the exhibit, we actually saw the baby nursing. It was so cool. But my favorite part of our outing was the conversation we had as we left the zoo, hand in hand. :) Carlos: (out of the blue) I wish it could be Christmas every day. Me: Yeah, that would be really cool, huh? Carlos: Yeah. (slight pause) Me: When we get to heaven, it will be like Christmas every day. Carlos: (eyes light up) Real...

This was Ashley's verse the last full week of July when she attended a Christian Drama Camp. I read the passage that week when Ashley told me the verse (including the end of Deuteronomy), and realized for the first time that Joshua must have been freaked out at the thought of being the Israelites new leader because God told him the same thing (Josh 1:9) six times before he finally took the Israelites into the Promised Land to take Jericho. He must have felt completely unequipped to fill Moses' shoes (I know I would feel completely incompetent to follow Moses). Then his very first task is this "impossible" task of taking over the Promised Land, one people group at a time. But look how patient God is with him. He never rebukes him; He just constantly reminds him, "Hello ... I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." I love these reminders of God's patience with me. I still feel so often like He's looking down from heaven, pointing His finger in my fac...

Right now I'm ... enjoying listening to Carlos and the neighbor play on their slip 'n slide--the giggles, the squeals, the exchange of ideas :) contemplating sweeping and mopping the house (which I should be doing right now, but I won't have internet access tonight and I'm shriveling up without the internet and blogging, so I'm going to start blogging during the 8 hours we have internet access. I'll save the "internet saga" for another post) missing my baby doll (the twelve-year-old baby doll) . Can't wait to call her tomorrow :) excited about putting up a small shelving system in Carlos' closet so we can organize his toys (finally!) thinking it felt soooo good to splurge on a spa manicure/pedicure with Ashley last Sunday that I want to splurge again on a manicure tomorrow. I probably won't break down and do it, though :) feeling blessed because I just asked Carlos for a hug and he actually obliged me--a rare treat indeed And on that posi...

Yes, it's our 8-year anniversary. Only eight years, but so much has happened along the way. So many ups and downs. So much getting used to being married. Learning what it means to be "one flesh"--still don't know a lot about that one, but I know God will continue to show us what that means. I'm so grateful that we're both 150% committed to this relationship. Both of us will do whatever it takes to make it work and slowly improve things. So grateful that my children have a dad who loves them deeply, who really is their protector, their "safe place to fall." Feels so deeply satisfying to know that my kids feel so secure and safe with him. No words need to be spoken. They just know, way down deep, that Daddy will always be there for them. So grateful to have a husband who steps up to the plate in so many other ways. For me personally, for our family, for his family (his 3 sisters and their families), and for my family. Who is so generous in offering ...

First of all, I apologize in advance for this L-O-N-G post. Because I'm currently in "denial mode," I'm having a hard time deciding how to begin this post. I guess the beginning is a very good place to start (as Julie Andrews so eloquently stated in The Sound of Music) . A little over a year ago, my mother very generously offered to give Ashley Italian lessons. If she did well in learning Italian, my parents would take her to Italy in August of 2007 for a family reunion. Well, of course my bright child did well, and she persevered through many hours of lessons on Saturday mornings instead of sleeping in. So ... fast forward to August 2007. Yeah, she left yesterday morning (along with my parents and uncle) on a plane to Italy. And yes, there was a very selfish part of me that wanted to hit a last-minute snag at the airport and take her back home with me :( but she got on the airplane and is in Italy enjoying herself as I write this. She will be back at 9:00 p.m. on...

We've been having internet problems since last Friday evening. It goes on and off sporadically. Someone should be coming today to fix it (and of course it's working perfectly right now, lol!). I don't usually blog in the middle of the day (too much house stuff to do) , but I gotta grab the internet while I can. I'm desperate! It has actually startled me to realize how connected I am to all of you--even you, Ronalyn, and I have never met you. I have so missed reading blogs, commenting on them, and posting. I have really felt disconnected to you all (yeah, I'm a "recovered hick" but I can't erase that expression from my vocabulary--however, I don't say, "y'all." I do draw the line there. Sorry if I'm offending anyone--as in my sister and brother-in-law, but I don't consider you guys hicks.) . So I hope the person who comes to repair the internet issue can perform a miracle so I don't have to miss you anymore :)