Photo ShopTouch Up

The joy of professional makeup artists and photo shop =)

Old News, New Pichas

In my perusing escapades online as I construct the template for my dream wedding (hey, everyone else is getting married! bear with me for a bit, the infatuation will pass...) I stumbled across these bridesmaid dress photos from a designer I worked for in NYC. lol How neato. God I was skinny.

This was my favorite dress I wore that day, I'm glad it just so happened to be the one they used! I accidentally found myself bookmarking a beautiful wedding dress by this same designer (Alvina Valenta) and realized later that it was the very same dress I wore at the casting that booked me this job! lol small world.

My Mosaic

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/). Using ONLY the first page, pick an image. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php). Save the image and post it where you like!
1. What is your first name? Kayla
2. What is your favorite food? God's Desserts
3. What is your favorite color? God's Palette
4. Favorite drink? Jack Daniels w/ mango! lol (that's for Carolyn!)
5. Dream vacation? honeymoon
6. Favorite hobby? laughing at yoga
7. What you want to be when you grow up? radiographer
8. What do you love most in life? family
9. One word to describe you? ethereal

He is Risen Indeed!

This resurrection day my family worshipped together and individually, the "Passion of the Christ" our sermon.

I tremble with silent tears. My soul aches. My "...heart is crushed and my conscience smitten."

I am without adequate words, grateful He accepts my tears.

Abba, I am weak. I am weak. All I want to do is love You. Help me love You more. I love You, Lord. Jesus. I wail for not telling You sooner or more often, "I love You." I love You.

__________

"Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross"
chapter one: true contemplations of the cross

"Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - Hebrews 12:2-3

Let us meditate a moment on the passion of Christ. Some do so falsely in that they merely rail against Judas and the Jews. Some carry crucifixes to protect themselves from water, fire, and sword, and turn the suffering of Christ into an amulet against suffering. Some weep, and that is the end of it. The true contemplation is that in which the heart is crushed and the conscience smitten. You must be overwhelmed by the frightful wrath of God who so hated sin that He spared not His only begotten Son. What can the sinner expect if the beloved Son was so afflicted? It must be an inexpressible and unendurable yearning that causes God's Son himself so to suffer. Ponder this and you will tremble, and the more you ponder, the deeper you will tremble.

Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that uou are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts. Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand.

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we of ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it.

But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of paslm singning, yes, than even on hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new, as once he was in baptism.

If, then, Christ is so firmly planted in yor heart, and if you are become an enemy to sin out of love and not fear, then henceforth the suffering of Christ, which began as a sacrament, may continue lifelong as an example. When tribulation and sickness assail you, think how slight these are compared to the thorns and the nails of Christ. If you are thwarted, remember how he was bound and dragged. If pride besets you, see how the Lord was mocked and with robbers despised. If unchastity incites your flesh, recall how his flesh was scourged, pierced, and smitten. If hate, envy, and vengeance tempt you, think how Christ for you and all his enemies interceded with tears, though he might rather have avenged himself. If you are afflicted and cannot have your way, take heart and say, "Why should I not suffer when my Lord sweat blood for very anguish?"

Astounding it is that the cross of Christ has so fallen into forgetfulness, for is it not forgetfulness of cross when no one wishes to suffer but rather to enjoy himself and evade the cross? You must personally experience suffering with Christ. He suffered for your sake, and should you not suffer for his sake, as well as for your own?

Two texts in the Old Testament apply to Christ. The first is, "Thou art fairer than the children of men" (Ps. 45:2), and the second is, "He hath no form nor comeliness" (Isa. 53:2).

Evidently these passages must be understood in differing sense. To the eyes of the flesh, he was the lowest among the sons of men, a derision, of the suffering and to the eyes of the spirit there was none fairer of Christ lies in than he. The eyes of the flesh cannot see this. What, then is the nature of this beauty? It is wisdom and love, light for the understanding, and power for the soul, for in suffering and dying Christ displayed all the wisdom and the truth with which the understanding can be adorned. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him, and they are hidden because they are visible only to the eye of the spirit.

The greater and the more wonderful is the excellence of his love by contrast with the lowliness of his form, the hate and pain of passion. Herin we come to know both God and ourselves. His beauty is his own, and through it we learn to know him. His uncomeliness and passion are ours, and in them we know ourselves, for what he suffered in the flesh, we must inwardly suffer in the spirit. He has in truth borne our stripes. Here, then, in an unspeakably clear mirror you see yourself. You must know that through your sins you are as uncomely and mangled as you see him here.

If we consider the persons, we ought to suffer a thousand and again a thousand times more than Christ because he is God and we are dust and ashes, yet it is the reverse. He who had a thousand and again a thousand times less need, has taken upon himself a thousand and again a thousand times more than we. No understanding can fathom nor tongue can express, no writing can record, but only the inward feeling can grasp what is onvolved in the suffering of Christ.

Martin Luther - "Easter Book"

(c) 1962 W.L. Jenkins
(c) 2009 Nancy Guthrie

Weider PowerBell PLEASE!!!!

So this is what I get for having to watch commercials in a hotel room. Something else to spend money on lol





This is what I'm saving my $$$ for =;^)

I'm learning such amazing stuff form my fitness correspondence course! I looove it. Mum has to practically pry my nose out of the books to get me to do much else. (yeah...I really should clean/vacuum my room - it needs it lol)

Freedom’s Source

“…to depend on the simple existence of the First Amendment to guarantee our freedom of expression is a serious mistake…” This is Howard Zinns’ opinion of the First Amendments’ assurance. I hope to develop and assert a carefully constructed opinion on this issue for myself by the end of this paper. To aid in my critical thinking process I will be looking at how the American people have allowed themselves to be desensitized to the value of our freedoms.

Zinn discusses both the Alien and Sedition Acts—laws abridging the freedom of speech passed by Congress—rather extensively in the first part of his chapter.

“The number of people jailed under the Sedition Act was not large—ten—but it is in the nature of oppressive laws that it takes just a handful of prosecutions to create an atmosphere that makes potential critics of government fearful of speaking their full minds.”

In this quote I first notice that Zinn refers to the Sedition Act as an oppressive law. I allow that I am not as well versed in such affairs as he; yet, I disagree with his chosen vocabulary. I have noticed smudging of the fine line separating freedom and treason. From what I understand of the Sedition Act, it is in the interest of prosecuting those who wrongly accuse the government—an act of treason—therefore my opinion is that such potential critics should and ought to be fearful. While the First Amendment gives us the privilege of free speech, discernment should be cultivated when exercising this freedom. I strongly believe the American public to have blinders on. We have neglected to enforce our constitutional power to govern ourselves and instead we’ve acquiesced; allowing politics and fickle opinions to govern resulting in the product being a gravely desensitized America. To quote wisdom as spoken by James Madison:

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.”

I concur. “…the abridgment of the freedom of the people…” is in the surreptitious form of political correctness—by which America is slitting her own throat. Tolerating the exploitation of sacred freedoms such as free speech is an appalling, detrimental, weakness. It is beyond unfathomable to me why so many Americans lack respect for the words/ideas/laws written to help, not harm, their country! Where is our patriotism as a nation? If one does not agree with the governments’ dealings, it is forgivable—it is a free country. We, as the American people, ultimately still have control of this society’s destiny; let’s do something constructive (not seditious) about it! Excuse the following explicit visual, but let us not be so “open-minded” that our brains fall out!

When people are linked in common goals, in shared pursuits, in genuine patriotism, pride, and support for each other, is when those goals and pursuits are accomplished. It seems to me that it is when freedoms are wrongfully exploited that they are then taken away. People should be free to express their opinions, absolutely, but no at the expense of the nations safety or morale. Freedom isn’t free and therefore should be treated in kind. I would like to close with an inspiring, perspective filled, quote:

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the solider, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves under flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protesters to burn the flag.

Were it not for the brave, there would be no land of the free.”

- Author Unknown

Fitness Femme

In line with my fitness obsession.... here are some visuals I found fascinating! enjoy :) My current favorite female physiques are Belinda Benn (Australian Fitness Model) and Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser trainer!) & Heather Downey (fitness model). My goal is to have my body rival theirs!!! :) haha we'll see