I (Heart) My Blog

Yes, I do... which is why it's a bit painful to end. I love that I can tell funny stories and talk deeply and give my friends little nicknames and be real about so many things in life. I can talk endlessly about the mundane, yet weirdly interesting things in my life. I can speak honestly about what the Lord is doing in my life. However, life is changing. My goals are changing. My time is becoming more focused and I find that I don't have time to do all that I like to do... so I need to hone in on what's most important to me. Because I like my job and working and getting a paycheck, I like leading a youth group and spending time preaching/ministering to them, I like photography and this new business, I like having a little house to take care of... I don't have time to have two blogs. And this one's gotta go.

If you have read this blog for a long time, I thank you very very much for your interest! Who would've thought that anyone would even care? Thank you!! And please don't just forget about me... :)

If you want to stay in touch, there are three ways.
1. www.naomielle.blogspot.com ... read it. There will be alot more posts in the future. Including personal posts. And ALWAYS with photos! (Everybody knows that photos make the post SO much more interesting!) Hehehe... :)

2. www.facebook.com/naomielle ... just friend me. Even if you don't know me and just wanna look at photos. Or check up on the random status updates. I'm okay with that. :)

3. Last but not least... to all my real life friends... I guess we'll just be required to have one of those old-fashioned, face-to-face conversations. I like those. "Fireside chats." They're my favorite. Let's go out for coffee. It'll be fun! :)

Thank you all again... and be sure to change your RSS feed to www.naomielle.blogspot.com ... because soon Jewels Of Truth will disappear into cyberspace.. never to return.

Farewell. :)

I Don't Have Time

The empty blog space of three weeks tells this better than I can.... I HAVE NO TIME. None. It's 9 days until Christmas and the only Christmas decoration in my house is a green tablecloth. I have a total of three presents ready, though they are not wrapped. And honestly? I can't really think about Christmas until at least Sunday...

So I'm giving a quick update on my life.

1. Thanksgiving was relaxing. A weekend at my parents' house, cooking, baking, taking family photos and working on my photography website. Which is definitely coming along, though not all finished. But you can check it out anyway. www.naomielle.com :)

2. I took my roommate's senior pictures outside/inside after a winter snowstorm!! She's graduating from Penn State and in spite of the challenging lighting situations, I was pretty happy with the pictures! :)

3. My uncle passed away unexpectedly a week ago... And I couldn't go "home" (to Wisconsin) for the funeral. That was very sad. Though the saddest thing of all is that he didn't know Christ personally.... :(

4. I went to TWO college sports events in one week. A basketball game and a hockey game. The bball game was interesting, but the hockey game made me stand up and yell!! LOL I don't know what it is --- maybe the semi-constant fighting and people getting thrown out of the game that makes us more enthusiastic fans. And I don't even know half of the rules.. and I still get rowdy! :)

5. The weather is C-RAZY lately. We cancelled youth group last week, tried to hold out, but there was a possibility of ice. What do ya know? The roads were fine... and then Sunday, I go to church early (as usual) for worship practice. The roads were clear, and it wasn't even raining. Pastor walks out of his office, steps outside and the ground is as slick as glass. Four people grab their cell phones and start calling everyone. Everyone who was at the church, and a couple people already on their way got stuck. I personally had 2 teenagers in my car and a kid. We slid half-way down a hill, finally got to a gas station parking lot, stayed there for 1 1/2 hours and then made it to some friends' house to hang out for another 3 hours until the roads thawed... CRAZYness.

6. All my roommates are moving out in a month or so. That means two things: 1) It's gonna get a lot lonelier at my house. 2) My budget just went shoestring, aka. I have no extra money and I get another lesson in God being my sole provider. No wonder the Lord's been reminding me of how trustworthy He is! :)

7. I'm scheduled to second-shoot 2 summer weddings with one of my greatest photography influences: Kristen Leigh!! YAY!!! I can't say how super-super-excited I am about that, and I know I will learn ALOT. It's funny how photography is kinda taking over my thought processes. During the college bball game, I stared at the row of photographers by the court and was so distracted because one was using a Pocket Wizard and I couldn't figure out where the off-camera flash was coming from... hmmmm...

8. I went to a baby shower for my sister-in-law tonight. "Went to" makes it sound like I just attended. We planned it and co-hosted with her and her family. Classy pink-and-white everything, because it's a girl! :) The food was delicious and gorgeous, too. I liked the savory ham salad sandwiches the best... and the strawberry/cherry cheesecake trifle. MMMM!

9. Only a couple more parties, events and meetings... and then Christmas break! For (school) kids, that means vacation, sleeping in and hanging out. For me, it means time with the family, time working on photography stuff, time actually figuring out creative Christmas gifts--late, and my year-end sabbatical....
-considering my life.
-praying for the Lord's direction.
-making changes.
-setting new yearly goals.

And yet, in the hustle-and-bustle, we must remember... I must remember.. that this life is but a vapor. And I pray "Come quickly, Lord Jesus."

Cooper

In case you don't read my other blog... all about my weekend there. Or least, the important, makes-me-cry part..

http://naomielle.blogspot.com/2009/11/cooper.html