They say it's your birthday...

Well for another 6 months, Dustin is officially older than me.  I have to embrace those six months since my wrinkles are showing before his.  Like most men, he is aging gracefully and still is as cute as the day I met him ;)

As we creep closer to 40, I tend to think of our age more in terms of how long we have been together rather than our actual age.  So Dustin and I have been together for 15 years!!  Wow, not sure that makes me feel any younger....

15 years together and you really start to get to know someone.  In many ways, Dustin and I balance each other out.  He is more logical, I am more emotional. He is an observer and quieter.  I am not.  We choose different things to get worked up about, so we can calm each other down if necessary.  On the things that matter though, we are very similar.  I think that as you grow older with a person you do change, and while your love never waivers, you do learn to love different things about each other.  

When you first meet Dustin, it can take a while to figure him out.  But if you take the time to get to know him, you will be glad you did.  He is quick witted, smarter than the average bear, amazing with music knowledge (he would win on "Name that Tune"), caring, opinionated, strong willed, and fiercely protective of his family. 

I am beyond blessed to call him my husband and have my daughters call him Daddy.  LOVE YOU to the moon and back, Dusty!!! XOXOXOX

Dusty and his girls...

Chips and Queso...Aussie style (Addie LOVES feta cheese)

Birthday Cake...Chocolate Chip with cream cheese frosting

Those were the only candles we could find.  

Family shot =)  (Anais is like family!)

Day ? of pictures....

So that didn't take long for me to lose track of my days....but here is another picture.  

Morgan had a race night on Friday....outside...in the COLD weather.  The pool had steam coming off of it because of the temperature difference.  Oh how this is different from swim team back home where we were sweating our tushies off ;)

Addie, such the trooper supporting her sister =)

Trying Something New

They say you learn something new everyday. Today that was true. Morgan tried sushi at school and learned she liked it. I asked where the sushi was from and she said a friend's mother made it. Sooo I learned something new and made fresh sushi. Tuna and California rolls. Not perfect, but yummy!

I'll learn to get better :)

Open the doors...

Playing with shadows

So this time I was trying to work on correct exposure with two different types of lighting.  When I took the picture, obviously the more I opened the door and the curtains, the more light came in.  I could have left this picture at just a lesson in lighting, but I decided to make it a life lesson....

What are doors used for?  To keep things out...the elements, people, animals and anything else you do not want in your house.  However we open them when we want to let in fresh air and let people into our home.  The doors our like our hearts and minds.

The biggest thing I have learned during this experience is that we need to "open our doors".  I don't just mean to different types of people, but for different experiences as well.

In my opinion, people need to take the time to know the people around them.  Talk to them, ask them questions, take an interest in them.  I ask people alot of questions, partly because I am nosy, but mostly because I am truly interested in learning about them.  Getting to hear other's experiences and opinions make us better people.  And while I do not agree with everyone's viewpoints, I enjoy hearing them and having a conversation discussing our differences.  I think in the end we both walk away better people for it.

Certainly the way we grow as people is too "open our doors" to new experiences. I think we learn to appreciate what other cultures, but it also makes us appreciate ours that much more.  We take the good and bad from each experience and use those lessons to create who we are.

In the end, I am glad we opened the door on this experience, I am glad that I opened the door and met the friends I have here and I look forward to opening many more doors.  My hope is that my children have learned to keep their doors open and create a life full of "fresh air".

Taking time to "look through the view finder"....

When you look at the picture above, what is the first thing you notice?  (aside from the dust) What I DON'T see is the blade, it was moving too fast to be captured in the picture and it got me thinking.  Our life is alot like that fan blade, it moves so fast that sometimes you can't see it.  BUT if you really try and focus on the fan blade, you can get a glimpse of it as is zooms by.  The only time you can really see the blade is when the fan stops.

Our life is like that right now...turned on and sometimes turned on high speed.  Morgan is playing netball twice a week and swimming three days.  Addie is doing dance twice a week.  Both have piano lessons, homework and friends.  I have some how managed to fill my time by volunteering for too much, and exercising (NOT too much).  And Dustin of course is working and working out.  Whew some weeks fly by and I am not sure how we even got through it.  The days and months keep blending into one.

I love the activity and the busy, but sometimes we ALL just need to stop and look around.  See what we have to be thankful for, see the beauty around us and cherish all of this experience.

With all of that being said, I am taking a friend's idea and elaborating on it.  I would like to take one picture a day and post it to this blog.  Not all will have a life message, but all will be about our life.  I figure if I make this my goal, then I will be forced to slow down for at least 10 minutes to reflect on the day, all the while practicing my photography skills.

So in the meantime, slow down and try to see the blades....

HUGS and SMILES =)
Amy Jean