11.15.2008
Pictures
I don't in any way consider myself a "photographer," but I do enjoy taking pictures -- hobby-style. I am finally working towards having equipment that comes close to capturing life the way I see it, or at least the way I want others to see it. These are some of my favorites so far. If you are an actual photographer, or know more about taking pictures than I do, I'd love to get some feedback. Even if you're not a photographer, I'd love to know what you think. After posting these, I've realized that I have alot of flower pictures. This is a recent development, something I hadn't really tried until a few weeks ago. I like the flower pictures, I might dive into that a little more. So, here they are:
I like pictures
It's been a while since I've posted, and I am sorry about that.
I'm going to try to give an update on everything in my life in one post, and show you a few pictures. 1, 2, 3, ... go.
I'm nearing 2 months as a worship leader at a church in Cypress, TX. It's been a pretty good time so far. I'm learning alot, but nothing that's really changing my views of worship, which is reassuring. I'm still convinced that church needs to be simpler than we make it. I'm not so sure God cares about production and presentation as much as we think. Something about man looking at the outer appearance, but God .... something about a heart, i don't know, i heard it once. So, needless to say (well, needless to me), I'm really working hard on heart issues at church. Hopefully the "success" we gain in those matters will overshadow any success or lack of success that we achieve in the numbers game. I can't tell you how lonely it feels sometimes to think that way.
Bella is the most amazing little girl ever, of course. She's starting to smile more and more, which is fun. A few weeks ago we took her to a pumpkin patch and got some great pictures with the pumpkins and in her kitty costume. She's 10 pounds and just got her 2 month shots yesterday. She did really great, and didn't cry too much (because Daddy was holding her). Later in the evening, though, she must've gotten sore or started feeling bad, because she was screaming. It was the first time she's cried like that, poor little thing. Today she's doing great, just swinging and sleeping.
I've had a crazy week. Wednesday night I got to play a pre-Latin Grammies gig at the House of Blues. Originally we were told that it was a party being thrown by Beyonce Knowles, for 600-800 people. I'm not sure how that got confused, because there were only maybe 125, and she wasn't one of them. I heard the next day that Latin Grammy rehearsal ran long, till 1am, so maybe some of those people were supposed to come. I don't know, I just got some fun stage pictures, so I'm happy.
The next night, Thursday, I got to play violin with a string ensemble in the Latin Grammies. We played with Tommy Torres. I'm still waiting to see if anybody posts it on Youtube, but nothing yet. It was a really long day, we were there 13 1/2 hours, and only played for 3 minutes or so. But, it was a great experience, and fun to see behind the scenes of a show like that. Gloria Estefan walked about 20 feet away from us while we were waiting to go onstage.
Bethany is an amazing mother. She went through alot in the last year, leaving her family and cleaving to me, moving in with a boy, having a child. Pretty big adjustments. I'm proud of her. I couldn't ask for a better wife and mother of our child. She's pretty, too.
On Monday we celebrate our first anniversary! I'm not even sure what to think about that. I figured it would be a whirlwind year, but had no idea our lives would change so much. We're looking forward to a trip to Ft. Worth Sunday, first to play a gig with the John Sherrill Band, then dropping Bella off with Bethany's parents so we can spend the day alone in downtown Ft. Worth. It's no Italy, but it'll do.
In other news, I got my car back after a month in the shop. I ended up getting a new engine put in, thanks State Farm for helping that happen. We're also trying to figure out a new living arrangement. Our cute little one bedroom, one bath apartment worked very nicely for the two of us, but is starting to get pretty cramped. I'm still loving the new Nikon D80 camera, and I think today I'll post some pictures I've taken. Talk to you soon!
I'm going to try to give an update on everything in my life in one post, and show you a few pictures. 1, 2, 3, ... go.
I'm nearing 2 months as a worship leader at a church in Cypress, TX. It's been a pretty good time so far. I'm learning alot, but nothing that's really changing my views of worship, which is reassuring. I'm still convinced that church needs to be simpler than we make it. I'm not so sure God cares about production and presentation as much as we think. Something about man looking at the outer appearance, but God .... something about a heart, i don't know, i heard it once. So, needless to say (well, needless to me), I'm really working hard on heart issues at church. Hopefully the "success" we gain in those matters will overshadow any success or lack of success that we achieve in the numbers game. I can't tell you how lonely it feels sometimes to think that way.
Bella is the most amazing little girl ever, of course. She's starting to smile more and more, which is fun. A few weeks ago we took her to a pumpkin patch and got some great pictures with the pumpkins and in her kitty costume. She's 10 pounds and just got her 2 month shots yesterday. She did really great, and didn't cry too much (because Daddy was holding her). Later in the evening, though, she must've gotten sore or started feeling bad, because she was screaming. It was the first time she's cried like that, poor little thing. Today she's doing great, just swinging and sleeping.
I've had a crazy week. Wednesday night I got to play a pre-Latin Grammies gig at the House of Blues. Originally we were told that it was a party being thrown by Beyonce Knowles, for 600-800 people. I'm not sure how that got confused, because there were only maybe 125, and she wasn't one of them. I heard the next day that Latin Grammy rehearsal ran long, till 1am, so maybe some of those people were supposed to come. I don't know, I just got some fun stage pictures, so I'm happy.
The next night, Thursday, I got to play violin with a string ensemble in the Latin Grammies. We played with Tommy Torres. I'm still waiting to see if anybody posts it on Youtube, but nothing yet. It was a really long day, we were there 13 1/2 hours, and only played for 3 minutes or so. But, it was a great experience, and fun to see behind the scenes of a show like that. Gloria Estefan walked about 20 feet away from us while we were waiting to go onstage.
Bethany is an amazing mother. She went through alot in the last year, leaving her family and cleaving to me, moving in with a boy, having a child. Pretty big adjustments. I'm proud of her. I couldn't ask for a better wife and mother of our child. She's pretty, too.
On Monday we celebrate our first anniversary! I'm not even sure what to think about that. I figured it would be a whirlwind year, but had no idea our lives would change so much. We're looking forward to a trip to Ft. Worth Sunday, first to play a gig with the John Sherrill Band, then dropping Bella off with Bethany's parents so we can spend the day alone in downtown Ft. Worth. It's no Italy, but it'll do.
In other news, I got my car back after a month in the shop. I ended up getting a new engine put in, thanks State Farm for helping that happen. We're also trying to figure out a new living arrangement. Our cute little one bedroom, one bath apartment worked very nicely for the two of us, but is starting to get pretty cramped. I'm still loving the new Nikon D80 camera, and I think today I'll post some pictures I've taken. Talk to you soon!
10.20.2008
A Place for Pictures
Hiyall.
I love this blog site, however it's a little slow when it comes to posting tons of pictures. So, here are a few links to albums from Facebook that star Bella and her family. A few bonus pictures for you, too...
Nikon pictures
Uploads from my phone
(I am always adding to this one)
Bella is starting to do alot more lately, and is interacting some. She follows us with her eyes, grabs our hair and glasses, pushes the bottle away when she's not hungry, laughs at us (on the inside) when she fills her diapers and we have to clean it.
Today she had a hat on that is just a little too big (as is most of her clothing), and she was in her swing behind the couch. All of a sudden she started screaming and we looked to see the hat covering half of her face. I guess she woke up and couldn't see. It was funny, and I made sure to take a picture before I helped her move it.
I love this blog site, however it's a little slow when it comes to posting tons of pictures. So, here are a few links to albums from Facebook that star Bella and her family. A few bonus pictures for you, too...
Nikon pictures
Uploads from my phone
(I am always adding to this one)
Bella is starting to do alot more lately, and is interacting some. She follows us with her eyes, grabs our hair and glasses, pushes the bottle away when she's not hungry, laughs at us (on the inside) when she fills her diapers and we have to clean it.
Today she had a hat on that is just a little too big (as is most of her clothing), and she was in her swing behind the couch. All of a sudden she started screaming and we looked to see the hat covering half of her face. I guess she woke up and couldn't see. It was funny, and I made sure to take a picture before I helped her move it.
10.08.2008
Bella Pics
Here's some more pictures of our little girl. Some are from our new camera, a Nikon D80, and some are from my phone. I think you should be able to tell the difference. I'm pretty excited about the Nikon, and just as excited that my cousins Andy and Lisa just got a Nikon D90 to take pictures of their daughters. Andy, you and I will have to swap photography tips or something. Maybe soon I'll post some of my favorite non-baby pictures I've taken so far. Until then, here's the girl:
With Uncle Jason and her cousin, Jacob
I think every dad ends up with a "napping with baby" picture. This was very obviously a Sunday afternoon, if you know what my weekends usually look like.
What infancy would be complete without a visit from the financial adviser?
This is what we see all night sometimes.
First bath. She actually sort of enjoyed it.
Milkaholic
Just hanging out with Dad
If she knew how, she'd laugh at her silly Papa.
It's 12:15am, which is actually late for me now. This used to be the primetime of my evening, but now it's a fight to stay up this late and enjoy it. Bella is actually sleeping in her crib right now, alone. That's a modern miracle, so I think we're gonna stretch this out as long as we can. More than likely we'll hear her sweet voice before 1, telling us it's time to eat again.
In just-in-case-anyone-still-reads-this-blog-to-hear-what's-going-on-with-josh news, I'm in my fourth week of being on a church staff as a worship leader. I'm not sure I ever fully told the whole story on this blog, but basically I felt like God was very directly calling me into a worship leader position at a church that happens to be across the street from our apartments. It was one of those things where I felt like if I just blew it off, I would be living in disobedience. So, I looked into it, and they hired me. The next day they moved me to the satellite campus, which meets in a movie theater. So much for all those times I swore I would never go to a portable church ever again. I'm enjoying it, for the most part. Maybe once a week I sit and wonder why God would have me do this. Sometimes I think everything I've spent the last 6 years learning doesn't matter, and that I'm the only one that sees church completely opposite of everyone else. Who knows, I'm still learning.
With Uncle Jason and her cousin, Jacob
I think every dad ends up with a "napping with baby" picture. This was very obviously a Sunday afternoon, if you know what my weekends usually look like.
What infancy would be complete without a visit from the financial adviser?
This is what we see all night sometimes.
First bath. She actually sort of enjoyed it.
Milkaholic
Just hanging out with Dad
If she knew how, she'd laugh at her silly Papa.
It's 12:15am, which is actually late for me now. This used to be the primetime of my evening, but now it's a fight to stay up this late and enjoy it. Bella is actually sleeping in her crib right now, alone. That's a modern miracle, so I think we're gonna stretch this out as long as we can. More than likely we'll hear her sweet voice before 1, telling us it's time to eat again.
In just-in-case-anyone-still-reads-this-blog-to-hear-what's-going-on-with-josh news, I'm in my fourth week of being on a church staff as a worship leader. I'm not sure I ever fully told the whole story on this blog, but basically I felt like God was very directly calling me into a worship leader position at a church that happens to be across the street from our apartments. It was one of those things where I felt like if I just blew it off, I would be living in disobedience. So, I looked into it, and they hired me. The next day they moved me to the satellite campus, which meets in a movie theater. So much for all those times I swore I would never go to a portable church ever again. I'm enjoying it, for the most part. Maybe once a week I sit and wonder why God would have me do this. Sometimes I think everything I've spent the last 6 years learning doesn't matter, and that I'm the only one that sees church completely opposite of everyone else. Who knows, I'm still learning.
9.30.2008
Vote for Shepherd
I don't usually support politics, but I really think this video needs to be seen. Mostly because the music is SO inspiring. I don't support, or un-support anything this commercial says. I do support the music, though. And I think you should support the music, too. And the guy that wrote it. I heard he just had a baby.
9.29.2008
First week (or so) at home
We've survived the first 10 days of life with a child at home. Bella sleeps wonderfully ... during the day. She doesn't really like being alone in her crib, and lets us know about it. She just sleeps, eats, cries, and makes faces. Other than that, she doesn't really do much yet.
9.22.2008
Baby is here!
There's a long list of very interesting things I would love to talk about today, but I know why you're here.
Here she is.
Anabella Marie Smith.
She is beautiful, and already loves her dad SO much! It's been hard work feeding and changing her. Turns out babies take alot of maintenance. But we're having fun getting to know her. She's got the cutest little cries, which I will hopefully video tape soon and post here for her exploitation. Until then, here's a few pictures.
We've appreciated all the gifts we've received from our showers, especially those gifts that are practical :-). We love visitors, so if you're in the area (and not sick), give us a call and stop by to meet her. She's not real active during the day, so to really see her in her prime, stop by in the middle of the night. I guarantee we'll be awake :-). Bethany's mom has been staying with us this week, helping with housework allowing us to better take care of the little one. That's been a relief.
Here she is. Anabella Marie Smith.
She is beautiful, and already loves her dad SO much! It's been hard work feeding and changing her. Turns out babies take alot of maintenance. But we're having fun getting to know her. She's got the cutest little cries, which I will hopefully video tape soon and post here for her exploitation. Until then, here's a few pictures.
We've appreciated all the gifts we've received from our showers, especially those gifts that are practical :-). We love visitors, so if you're in the area (and not sick), give us a call and stop by to meet her. She's not real active during the day, so to really see her in her prime, stop by in the middle of the night. I guarantee we'll be awake :-). Bethany's mom has been staying with us this week, helping with housework allowing us to better take care of the little one. That's been a relief.
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