Some snowy photography

I decided to go out and do some photography this morning. It probably wasn't smart though seeing as I'm sick, it's freezing, and within 10 minutes of being outside I got dumped on by snow.

Here are the results of my 10 minutes!

A "little" bit of snow

Not the most fantastic photo ever, but this is the view from my window on a lovely snowy morning. 

Uncooperative Camera

I had a little fun this afternoon shooting photos of my wedding rings since I'm sick. Besides my camera being slightly uncooperative not wanting to focus, I think they are pretty!

Stuffy noses are no fun

Hello everyone!

Here is the first recording of a piece of one of my songs. It has horribly done, but oh well! And I am very sorry about the fact that my mouth is not in time with the sound. :-( So annoying. Enjoy! (And I'm getting sick so please don't judge me too harshly.....prayers would be welcome though since I have to sing tomorrow night at a Thanksgiving dinner!)


Isn't that the most flattering image of me?

Oh and I also meant Psalm 71....not 72. Ooops

Business Card

I just wanted to share the design of my new business card simply because I'm proud and I think it's cute.

P.S. Got a job today in Debenhams! Probably my favorite store because I love ALL clothes.

P.P.S. I have written the melody for for my song on Psalm 72 today. And I am so happy with it!

I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on how the moving process is going for my husband and I. Oh my goodness....it is so stressful!! So we have our flights booked for June 16, 2011 with the intention of leaving here that day to go to Virginia where we would seen family, and then proceed to drive across country to California hitting up a bunch of States and people before we arrive. We haven't gotten to see any relatives since the wedding or even really during our wedding! Only my grandparents could come and not the rest, so we definitely would love to have a reunion before we go live on the other side of the country from them. Leaving this early would also allow us to get settled into Napa Valley, find a church, get jobs lined up, etc before Scott would have to start school. He was planning on starting school in August but because of the green card application process, he has to push it back until January. Not such a bad thing because it means he can work and we can put away from money for when he can't work because of school.

However, we just found out that the green card could potentially take a year (!!!) to process which would mean we wouldn't be able to leave until October 2011. :-( What a set back. I was absolutely devastated when we found that out. So then we looked at what that would mean, us staying here for longer, or if he could be over there on a student visa, etc etc etc etc. When we learned of the green card issues we thought we would only have to push our plans back until the end of August. But then we learned that it would have to be October! Well that just takes a huge junk out of our plans.

But then! When we thought all hope was lost. I found a visa that would allow Scott to come to the States while awaiting the processing of his green card. SO, if all goes as planned, hopefully we can apply for this and leave on June 16th, same as before. That would be absolutely amazing!

BTW, if you are in TN, LA, NM, or AZ and would let us stay with you during out drive in July, please let us know! That would be fantastic!

I know that was a lot of info that no one will probably read, but I thought I would get it all out anyways.

Much love!

Photo of the Day:

Whenever you feel like there's no other way, God always opens something up.

Variation on Psalm 71

I finally finished some lyrics today. This is my first attempt at taking a passage from the Bible, in this instance, a psalm, and rewriting it to fit a musical structure. I'll post my new one with the original. Need to get working on the music now! If anyone has any suggestions of other passages they like that would be nice in song, let me know!

Lyrics for Psalm 71:19-24

Your righteousness, O God, reaches the heavens.
You've done amazing things.
Though I've seen many troubles,
You will raise me up with wings.

Chorus:
I will praise you with the harp
I will praise you with the drum
My lips will shout for joy
For you are faithful, Holy One.

You will rescue me
From the depths of the earth.
You will comfort me
And increase my worth.

Chorus:
I will praise you with the harp
I will praise you with the drum
My lips will shout for joy
For you are faithful, Holy One.

Bridge:
My tongue will talk about you,
How you helped me all my days
For they were put to shame
Those who led me astray.

Chorus:
I will praise you with the harp
I will praise you with the drum
My lips will shout for joy
For you are faithful, Holy One.


And here is the original passage:
Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
You would have made me see many
Troubles and calamities
Will revive me again.

I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God,
I will sings praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy
When I sing praises to you
My soul also, which you have redeemed.
And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
For they have been put to shame and disappointed
Who sought to do me hurt.


That was a mouthful!! Now on to my next lyrics. Going to go peruse the Bible and see what jumps out.

Runner Facade

Today I started running. Well, when I say run, this is how my hour workout went: run...walk...run...walk...walk...walk...run...walk...walk...walk...walk........

I am not a runner, and I may never be. But my goal is to lose 13 pounds in the next two months. I love walking. I walk everywhere....but run? Not not usually. I do, however, like to wear the cute workout clothes, walk out of my house, have everyone stare at me thinking to themselves, "she must be a great runner, look at those clothes," and then proceed to jog out of view and then start walking again. Yes, this is my normal routine.

So, as of yesterday, my husband and I are OFFICIALLY moving to the States in June. Regardless of whether or not he gets into the Culinary Institute of America, we will be road-tripping across the U.S. in June to settle in Napa Valley, California. Really can't wait! So stoked! So if you want to meet up with us as we drive through your state, let us know! We have a completely open schedule. :-)

The day before yesterday, we went down to Edinburgh to watch my sister-in-law dance contemporary Highland dancing. It was beautiful! Kudos to me sister! Here is her photo. :-)

Photo of the day:
*Will post later. Doesn't want to load photos right now.

Singing the Bible with a hint of Grace.

Yesterday I sat down to write lyrics and was frustrated by my inability to portray exactly what I wanted to in my song. As I wrote before, I have the chorus sorted out by the verses still evade me. I can see the image of what I want to describe, but getting the words to cooperate while I try to stick them on paper is maddening! You go into the process thinking, "I am going to write the greatest song that has ever been written!" And you come out saying, "wow, that just sounds ridiculous." Grrr the frustration.

So after that frustrating moment, after Bible study last night, I decided that what I would really like to do and think would be pretty and classic, is to sing through different psalms or passages of the Bible. Obviously this would still require a bit of rewording so that the passages suit song. Since my strongest point is not writing lyrics, and probably writing the music, this takes a little bit of stress off me and hey, can you really go wrong with singing the Bible? I don't think so. Plus, who wants to hear what I've said when you could hear what God says instead?

So that is my new challenge.

As a last thought, I wanted to share something from Bible study last night. We are talking about grace and reading through Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace and this passage constantly strikes me. Take as encouragement for living Christ-like today.

'A counselor, David Seamands, summed up his career this way:

Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people...We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.


"The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the church," says Gordon MacDonald. "You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace." MacDonald has put his finger on the church's single most important contribution. Where else can the world go to find grace?'

Are you showing the world, your neighbors, your family members, your friends grace today?

What a challenge.

My photo of the day:

Dani and Chris Engagement Shoot

So today I took engagement photos for some lovely friends of mine, Dani and Chris. Here are my favorite photos of the day! Got them all edited today as I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. What a great editing movie. They haven't gotten to see them yet so hopefully they like them! :-D

"Pictures I Take"

I started writing a song last week but only have the chorus worked out. I sat down to write the versus this afternoon but it just was not going anywhere! The song is trying to convey how all of our memories, good and bad, are composed and formed by God.

Here's the chorus I have:

Looking through pictures of the past,
These snapshots of moments come to life so fast. 
And as I twirl and fly,
They collide in front of my eye,
To form a perfect vision,
The painter of the pictures I take. 

What do you think?

A New Beginning

Hello everyone reading this,


I have decided that I want to create a new blog (I tried starting one for a photography 365 thing but it failed) to document the changes in my life, post my photography and songwriting. It also just gives me something to do during the day between job hunting, piano practicing, cleaning, and teaching. I am new to songwriting so will occasionally post my lyrics to have people read and review them. We'll see what happens! 


Love,
Kendall