Winter Wonderland

 

The Football Frenzy

So for my junior year of high school I decided to join the Yearbook staff as a photographer (surprise, surprise 😉 ).  It’s no secret that I’ve been, shall we say- absent, from this lovely blog for a while now, so if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been hiding out for the past few months– your best bet is either school, church, or football games.

Taking on the role of yearbook photographer hasn’t been a complete picnic, and I only say that because I honestly thought it would be..

Picture this- a 16 year old girl who has been to two, maybe three football games thus far in her high school experience is suddenly given a press pass and told to go down to the sidelines and take pictures.

It was an interesting season.

I’ve never been a football person.  When we were younger, my dad would take me and my brothers to the Bandera football games on Friday nights.  He tried  to explain to me what all was happening on the field multiple times, but I was always happier running around with the other kids under the stands or embarrassing my older brother, who was in high school at the time, in front of his friends…  I just couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of the game (and, as long as we’re being honest here, I still can’t.)

For each home game I would go down to the sidelines with my press pass (because I’m cool like that) and pretend like I knew what was going on, when in reality I just found a good spot where the other photographers were swarming and stayed there even after they had run off to follow the action, always watching the ball and focusing on whatever player had it.  For the rest of the game.  My philosophy?  Eeeh.. They’ll be back to this side of the field soon anyways.

Ok, so maybe I didn’t stay there for the entire game, but I sure wasn’t going to spend all of my time running back and forth when I was already trying to focus on staying out of the way of the coaches while trying not to get trampled by the players on the sidelines, as well as keep from getting hit with the ball, plus turning from the field to the players on the sideline to the cheerleaders to the band to the crowd and back.  There’s a lot more to capturing the spirit of a SV football game than one might think..

If there is one thing that I learned this season, it definitely wouldn’t be about the logistics of football, but about the players themselves.  I think that it’s so easy to assume that football is just some mindless sport that doesn’t require much dedication, (please don’t shun me yet!), but if I ever felt that way before my boys in blue sure proved me wrong.

I went down to those sidelines week after week and watched those boys play with passion and determination to succeed not only in winning the game, but in truly becoming a team.  I watched them share their victories together all season long as they saw their hard work paying off, and I watched them share their only defeat in the playoffs.  I watched them as they jumped around like madmen and congratulated one another after each win, and I saw that they were truly there for one another when they lost.  But most importantly, they showed me that football is more than just a game.  Football is believing.  Football is total commitment.  Football is mud, sweat, and determination.  Football is a brotherhood, both on and off the field.  Football is everyone coming together to support their team.  The band, the cheerleaders, the dancers, the trainers, the color guard, the parents; every one of us jumping up and down with excitement in rain or shine.  And in the end, the same painful look of defeat reflected in each of our faces, mixed with the knowledge that their loss didn’t make them any less than the champions that we all know they are.

So while this season may not have taught me anything about how football is played,  it sure did give me a new respect for the spirit of the game.

If you would have told me a few months ago that I’d end up spending my Friday nights trying not to get trampled by 200 lb. football players and actually loving it, I’d have said you were crazy. But there’s just something about the way that the players look out for each other that can make it all worth it.

They make me look so short…

{photos courtesy of mi madre}

God’s Love

16 Quotes/Verses/Songs About God’s Love

 

1.)  “It’s not about finding ways to avoid God’s judgment and feeling like a failure if you don’t do everything perfectly. It’s about fully experiencing God’s love and letting it perfect you. It’s not about being somebody you are not. It’s about becoming who you really are.”

–Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Woman

2.) “God is love. He didn’t need us. But he wanted us. And that is the most amazing thing.”

—Rick Warren

3.)   But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  –Romans 5:8

4.) When people hate you for no reason, remember that God loves you for no reason.

5.) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

6.) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  — 1 John 4:7-8

7.) Love will hold us together.  Make us a shelter to weather the storm.

8.)  His love for you is deeper than the ocean.

9.) God’s love is unconditional, unlimited, and complete

10.) “To love another person is to see the face of God.” ~Victor Hugo (Les Miserables)

11.) “Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves.”

— Joni Eareckson Tada (The God I Love)

12.)  “You are loved more than you’ll ever know by someone who died to know you.”

–Romans 5:8

13.) Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me.”  (One Thing Remains)

14.)  My God loves everyone.

15.) God doesn’t call the qualified.  He qualifies the called.

16.)  Be so busy loving God, loving others, and loving your life that you have no time for regret, worry, fear, or drama.

Woo Hoo!! There are more than five words in this post! 😉

Have a wonderful week!

Oh, Baby!

Last Saturday I was blessed with the opportunity of photographing Sweet Little Miss Madeleine with her absolutely wonderful parents.   This was my first newborn session, and you have no idea how worried I was beforehand.. That being said, I think that now would be a good time to apologize to Joe and Casey for being so awkward.. (;

All three of them were such a pleasure to work with, even if Madeleine wasn’t in a sleeping mood!  I absolutely loved being able to be there to see (and capture) all of the love that was so evident in this beautiful family, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that can see that these two are already wonderful parents.

*Click on any photo to see the full size*

Her expression is so perfect.

Those eyes!

I just love the forehead wrinkles (:

Have a wonderful week, all!!

Young Girl in the Mirror

Young girl in the mirror, who do you see?

A beautiful child shadowed by dreams,

Whose bright, shining face glows wild and free?

Or is her mind full of worry, her joy not what it seems?

Young girl in the mirror, do you believe?

Believe in the fate set for you and for me?

Will you let your worries take over, your mind be deceived?

What makes this girl in the mirror that you see?

Extravagant dreams, or dreams that are weak?

Does she know  what she loves, what she needs?

Does she have strong faith in God, or faith for the meek?

I know this girl’s dreams, and she has seen my tears.

We are one and the same, together we have no fears.

Please keep in mind that I wrote this as a freshman two years ago.  And in all honesty, I did a LOT of fixing it while up loading.. So please don’t judge too harshly 😉

Have a wooooonderful week, all! 

Photoshop Magic

Last April my grandparents celebrated their 50th anniversary, so I took some anniversary portraits for them (Of course 😉 ).   When we got them printed out to show my grandma, she was upset with the background in my favorite photo, so I decided that instead of opening the file in photoshop and changing the background color, I’d just send them to virtual Paris.

Grandma wasn’t amused..

This week’s post is a bit short since it was supposed to be done two weeks ago… I’m still catching up 😉

Lens Love

For my birthday I got a Nikkor 50mm lens, and I’m in loooooooove with it.

This past weekend we celebrated my cousin’s third birthday at my Grandma’s house, so I had the perfect opportunity to try it out [:

This little cutie and his older brother spend the entire year going around singing “Happy Birthday” and blowing out any candles that they can find, so I’m sure you can imagine just how ecstatic they are when it’s their actual birthday and they get to blow out real birthday candles and have people sing to them for real.

One of the younger kids’ favorite things to do is to go down to my grandpa’s chicken coop and gather whatever eggs are waiting for them in the nests.  Usually there’ll be one or two for them to find, but this weekend we discovered a whopping THIRTEEN eggs.

(this is the part where I go all photo nerd on y’all)  Just LOOK at the clarity and blur in these photos!  It’s absolutely beautiful!

 

And of course, all good days end with fun and games, or more specifically– funny faces and Hi-Ho! Cherry-O!!

  

(Remember, to see the full size photo in its full quality just click on it)

Have a fun-filled week, everyone! [:

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday (July 24) was my 16th birthday!! [: I’ve spent the past month taking my birthday portraits, and it was…. frustrating, to say the least.  But this week isn’t about my self portrait struggles (I’m saving that for another week [; )  This week I’m just gonna show you the photos that I actually like…

*click on any of the following photos to see the full size*

“Let your light shine before all in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16

To wish Cassie a happy, happy birthday follow this link and click the “like” button 😉

Have a beautiful week, everyone (:

What I Learned From the Turtles

We spent this past week on vacation at the beach, and while we were there we had the opportunity to go to a sea turtle release [:

While I’m most certainly not a morning person, I was more than happy to wake up at 6 am to go watch the babies start their new lives.

So, now to live up to the post title, here’s what the turtles taught me..

 

When the turtles were released, they immediately started their journey to the water.  Once they started getting close enough to the water, the tide would come in and wash them back to their starting point.  Some of the turtles had to start over multiple times, but they never gave up.

 I heard a few of the Sea Turtle Rescue team members saying that the babies would head towards the rising sun, and they did; the sun led them to their new home.  After getting pushed back by the waves a few times, the turtles figured out how to move with the waves instead of against them.  You could see that moment when everything clicked in their adorable little minds- once the turtles figured out that the waves (which were initially a problem for them) could actually help them out – because at that moment, when the waves came upon them they began to swim fast and take off towards the ocean with the wave, and after the turtles discovered that the waves were helpful rather than harmful, getting to their new home was a piece of cake

“Wait, but Cassie.. How on earth did this teach you anything?”

Well, dear, I’m glad you asked.

The turtles taught me that even when waves of despair and hurt push you back in life you can still find a way to turn them into waves of something productive.  Those waves can only make you stronger.  While they may hold you back at first you just have to trust in your sun (God) to lead you to where you are meant to be.  Once you trust in God, everything else comes naturally, just like the turtles making it to the ocean on a wave of faith.

 

“NEVER give up, for this is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” 

 

 

I’m All In

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go on my 3rd Teen ACTS retreat, but this time as a team member.  Last summer when they were preparing for the 2012 retreat, one of my friends told me that being on team would change my life, and of course I didn’t believe him.  But he was so very right.  Being a team member allowed me to step back and change the lives of the retreatants.  To watch them grow in their faith and come to know God in new ways.  It’s amazing to witness.

No matter what happens in life, God is always by your side.  Even if you begin to push him away, he will never abandon you.   It seems that these days we let our fear of the unknown get in the way of what really matters because we are too afraid – too doubtful- to simply cast all of our possessions and luxuries aside and follow Christ.  We are so worried that if we open ourselves fully to God that He won’t like what He sees, leading Him to turn us away.  If you think about it, that fear is one of the things that makes us so beautifully human.  We live in a world where our peers are constantly judging our imperfections and mistakes, which makes us feel as if our human qualities are going to make God love us less.  We get so caught up in this fear that we forget that God already knows every single part of us: every wrongdoing, every anxiety, every truth that we hide even from ourselves.  But the thing is, God doesn’t care about all of our mistakes.  He only wants us to have the courage to stand up, cast all of our doubts and burdens aside, and follow Him.  I often find myself wondering how our perfect Father could love such imperfect children, but then I remember that even the most beautiful swan was once the ugly duckling.  God knows that we are far from pure, but He invites us to follow Him so that we may take part in the good that He does and learn to become more like Him.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Christ died on the cross so that all of our sins could be forgiven.  Don’t empty that cross of its meaning by assuming that God will turn you away. If you ever feel estranged from Him, remember that He isn’t the one that has moved.  All you have to do is have faith and ask for His forgiveness.  Trust Him with all your heart, all your being, all your strength, and all your mind.

Do yourself a favor, if you ever have the opportunity to go on an ACTS retreat, do it.  It’ll change your life.

“Sometimes the only available mode of transportation is a leap of faith.”