Awesome opportunity!!!!

So excited!!!  

I have the opportunity to win a photography mentorship from Mia Coelho!   I've been following her for about 3 years now and I really admire her not only as a photographer but as a wife, a mother and as a sister in Christ.   Her photos are beautiful glimpses into the lives of her clients and all dripping with beautiful, warm, delicious sunlight.  

I am eager to learn and would be over the moon if I was actually chosen.

With all that being said I have to show 5 of my photos as part of my entry. 

It was hard to choose but here they are....

I obviously have room for improvement and a need for a mentor.  I really love photography and am eager to continue learning how to produce images that not only look beautiful but also tell a story.

Hoping to be chosen for this one in a million opportunity!!!

Prayers appreciated :)

I'll know if I was chosen or not on Dec. 25th so stay tuned!

I'm a terrible blogger :/

Wow, it has been another year since my last post.  I really need to fix my computer soon.
Well we are parents now to a beautiful little boy named Owen Asher Wells.  He is smart and funny and so handsome.  I couldn't imagine life without him now.  We love being parents to this wonderful babe!
Louden is working and going to school full time.  It's tough but he is doing well at both work and school.  I am so thankful for his sacrifice.  He has provided well enough for our family that I was able to come home and be a full time wife and mother.  God has blessed us so much, we give Him all the glory.
We now lead a community group at our house.  We now have so many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ here in Louisville.  They're our family away from family :)
This past year has been a year of joy for sure.  A lot of wonderful moments shared with amazing people in beautiful places.  Lots of laughter and a few tears.
Hopefully I can get into the specifics of this past year in my next post. Lets see if i can stay on top of this blog thing this coming year.  We shall see ;)

Change

Wow, life as we know it is about to change in a huge way.  Nine months have nearly come and gone, we are going to become parents to a baby boy sometime within the next 52 days (according to my pregnancy tracker haha).  Owen Asher Wells is due to arrive sometime around August 10, which just so happens to be my birthday, what a gift!
It is a strange mixture of strong emotions to think on this reality though.  On one hand I am so excited. happy. elated I can barely wipe the smile off my face feeling him move around inside me.  Then other days I'm so overwhelmed with fear and sobered by my own inabilities that I just can't seem to catch my breathe.  This tiny human will be completely dependent upon Louden and I for it's every need, what a huge responsibility.  Not only physical needs but emotional and spiritual as well.  Wow.  Only by God's grace and mercy will I ever be able to succeed.  Praise God that He has not left me to take on this task by myself.  There is so much hope in Him, I cling to His promises.
Ultimately, joy is the overwhelming emotion as we anticipate the arrival of little Owen.  We can't wait to meet him, seeing his tiny face for the first time and holding him close as he breathes his first breathe of life.  What a precious gift from God.  Life will never be the same. :) 

A lot can happen in a year

It has been a little under a year since my last post.  Wow! I am some kind of slacker. My life here in Louisville looks way different than when we first moved here a year ago, Jan 7. 2011 and it looks nothing like I had imagined.
Louden and I have been through a great bit this year and I feel like it has made us stronger both as individuals and as a couple.  God has been guiding us through a valley of a year.  Neither of us are working in residential treatment facilities anymore, thank goodness.  The level of stress that came along with those positions was not healthy.  Louden is settled in as a waitor at Outback Steakhouse and I have a few jobs in retail.  It pays the bills for now but we are seeking better employment.  Praying God will open some doors for us in the near future.
We moved to a better apartment that is safer and a little closer to the campus, it's a little less expensive and we have our washer and dryer hookups here!!!
I still miss home like crazy but I am getting better at coping with it.  We finally found a great church to join.  We actually just attended the membership class this weekend.  Within the church we have also joined a Community Group that meets on tuesday nights at another member's apartment.  Its like a sunday school class but more personal.  We love the people there and have made some great Godly friends that encourage us and help hold us accountable.  It's been such a blessing to be a part of.
In October of 2010, only days after finding out I was pregnant I miscarried the baby.  It was devastating and one of the hardest moments of my life.  Louden was so supportive and sweet through the whole thing and even packed me up after our visit to the doctor and drove me back to Louisiana in the middle of the night so we could mourn with our families.   It was the first time I had been home since we moved here, almost 10mths of being away.  I was so emotional driving into Natchitoches that early morning as we arrived, I began to cry as we crossed the Grand Ecore bridge.  It felt so good to be surrounded by the familiar.  It had never felt so good to hug Megan and Mama, I stopped to see them at work.  Our stay was short but sweet, I felt renewed and encouraged.  It was exactly what I needed.
After Louden and I returned to Louisville I found out I was pregnant again only a month after the miscarriage.  It felt different finding out this time, I was stunned again but cautious this time.  I was guarding my heart for fear of another miscarriage.  My doctor spoke as if this pregnancy would have the same result as the first due to the closeness of the two.  BUT I am now in my second trimester at 14 weeks and everything looks healthy!! Praise be to God! 
Louden and I are so excited to be parents.  My due date is August 10, which also happens to be my birthday :)  After finding out my insurance won't cover my maternity visits I have applied for medicare and were still waiting to be approved.  I was getting a little nervous about being this far along and still not having been to the doctor.  Again God provided a way, the seminary clinic's lead doctor is a retired Ob/Gyn and the clinic had recently been given a sonogram machine. After speaking with the doctor there he invited me to come in and we got to see our little one for the first time on the ultrasound.  He even printed us pictures!  It was the most amazing feeling to see that little being moving around and seeing the flicker of the heartbeat.  Any wall I had up before fell to peices as I looked at the screen and I fell in love with this little creation I am carrying.  The doctor said the baby looks healthy and measured to see exactly how far along I was and guestimated my due date.  He was a great doctor and man of God, so encouraging and shared in our excitement.
After such a valley of a year I am glad to look back now and see where God was always with us, working everything out to His glory.  Even though it was through a lot of pain and sorrow, I know God has been growing and shaping Louden and I.  And though things aren't all rainbows and sunshine now, I pray He continues to draw us closer to Himself.

Lately

Well I have fallen behind on this blog yet again. haha.  It has been a series of long and busy days, it is amazing how quickly things picked up for us.  I am getting settled in at my new job and finding new challenges every day.  I feel so helpless sometimes when faced with the many sad stories and situations in these teens lives.  I have begun to pray for them by name and ask God to use me as His mouth piece because there are so many times when I have no clue what to say to them.
I miss my family so much more now.  This is the longest I've ever been away from them and it is so hard.  I just can't put into words the longing inside I have to hug them, to see them in person again.  I am thankful for my recent busy schedule because it keeps my mind from dwelling on how much I miss them.  Its giving me a small insight to what some of the kids at work feel though, the family situations vary there but all of them miss home, as do I.
Mama and meredith are supposed to come visit at the end of April and I am praying that they are able to come.  I am so looking forward to having them here! I have already started planning the things we will do and see.  The weather has been spectacular this week and the sunshine has really helped me begin to like it here.  Winter was way to cold for me but spring is wonderful here.  Louisville has a good many parks and I really enjoy going to Cherokee Park.  The flowers are really beginning to bloom now and the brown is beginning to turn green and come alive.  It's hard not to smile when the weather is this perfect. :)  

BUSY BEE

Wow it has been awhile since I've updated the blog.  My life has sped up quite a bit since the last post.  I now have two jobs and no time to lounge, haha.  I officially started my full-time position at Home of the Innocents today but I've been training since Feb.28. I am a resident counselor there working directly with the teenage girls.  It is really challenging work but I have enjoyed it so far.  I also have been working part time for my new friend Ms. Harmon, she is my first official Louisville friend and she just happens to be 83yrs old.  I guess I just have an old soul, haha.  I drive her around town for various outings and clean her house.  When interviewing me and describing the things she would need me to do she referenced the movie "Driving Mrs, Daisy" and giggled, I knew then she and I would get along great.  I really enjoy spending time with her though so it doesn't even feel like a job.  I also got my first photography job from one of her neighbors so she is helping me more than I help her. She has lived here for over 30yrs so she is teaching me the back roads while were driving around town and showing me the yummy places to eat and where to go for fun and where to shop etc.  She is really great.

 Louden is still enjoying school.  He has a ton of reading to do almost everyday, I don't know how he does it all.  He has also landed a full time position working nights at a facility similar to the one I work at.  He starts training this Wednesday.  We haven't found a church yet mostly just because we are having trouble waking up and going on Sunday morning because he works til 12am on Saturday night at his valet job and honestly I have been turning off the alarm clock while I am still asleep when it goes off.  I've done it twice now :(  We have found a church we are very interested in though called 3rd Avenue Baptist Church. They just got a new pastor in January I think and his name is Greg Gilbert.  Louden knew who he was because he had already read his book titled "What is the Gospel?".  I just started reading it and it is really good, worth the read and it isn't long at all.  The people at the church were also very welcoming, which was really nice.  I do hope we can get a routine down soon and begin joining the church. 

Sorry if this post is really boring to you all, haha.  I will get my act together with the next post and have something worth reading. ;)

Please hire me...

Well we have been here almost a month now and I am still unemployed.  I haven't heard back from the first place that I interviewed at twice and it looked super promising and I felt great about both interviews. So now it is super disheartening that I haven't heard back from them at all.  I finally sent them an email just checking in seeing if I am still being considered for the position but haven't even heard back about that yet either.  The lady did say that the background check can sometimes take up to four weeks so I am still holding out some hope but at the same time I have sent out at least 7 more applications out to various places.  I do have an interview tomorrow though at a local university for an administrative assistant position.  Maybe this will be the one!

I have also developed a sleeping problem as of late.  I can't get sleepy til like 3am now which of coarse makes me sleep til noon which I hate doing because my day is half gone by the time I wake up.  So, last night I told myself, "Self, you are going to bed tonight by 10:30 at the latest whether you feel like it or not!"  So I took an advil PM and a shot of nyquil and got in the bed.  At about 3:30am I am still staring at the ceiling, wide awake.  I am worrying about not finding a job, missing home and family and freaking out about everything imaginable.  It was a rough night to say the least. 

Sorry this entry isn't as entertaining as some have been but this is what I have been dealing with as of late and wanted to vent a little. Thanks for reading and please say a prayer for me.