Shalley House

Dan and I went out to the house for a meeting on Monday. Check out the progress...the entire house is sheetrocked! woohoo!

I'm standing in the kitchen looking into the breakfast area/living room, through the back door.
I love this space!


the garage. yay!

God speaks even in bubble baths!

After last night's post, I had a bubble bath to relax right before bedtime. I took my book into my bath. Wow...what a message God was sending to me! I am currently reading several books, including Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love. While she isn't a theologian (and never claimed to be) and has some very different views on God, she is an excellent writer. I love how rich her descriptions are!

The following are excerpts from her book:
"I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I eat and read and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life -- whether I will see them as curses or opportunitites (and on the occasions when I can't rise to the most optimistic viewpoint, because I'm feeling too damn sorry for myself, I can choose to keep trying to change my outlook). I can choose my words and the tone of my voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts. ...learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select what clothes you're gonna wear every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. So, I've started being vigilant about watching my thoughts all day and monitoring them. I repeat this vow about 700 times a day: 'I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore.' " - Elizabeth Gilbert


I'm a school teacher. I make my living by managing other people's children, their teenage children. This is by far my greatest challenge. Another includes managing my attitude, my tounge and my train of thoughts as I stand in front of them. A few handfuls worth of students really test my patience. I'm easily flustered and frustrated when they misbehave, refuse to follow my instructions, or smart off to me. It takes everything I have to guard my tongue and resist telling them what I really think about them. I love all my students...this doesn't change when they act up. Seriously though, I'm the adult. I can control my tone of voice, my word choice and what thoughts I allow to creep into my mind.

As a photographer, I've been stuck in the middle of a really annoying situation. I didn't do anything wrong and can't really point my finger at who is actually to blame. My professionalism and credibility has somewhat been attacked. That's super hard to deal with! Most of all, its hard not to let my brain develop all these mean, hateful, full of expletive thoughts into words. It's even harder to breathe deeply and try to remain calm when my heart is racing and I want to scream. I've been so proud of the self control that I've maintained. Seriously. I typically fly off the handle and regret it later. Thank you, Lord for working in me to change this terrible habbit.

In my regular 'ole life, I can sometimes be known as a complainer or one who thinks negatively. I am sooooooo analytical and I have a sick way of thinking about the most morbid events that could ever possibly happen to me. Naturally, I'm just not Miss Positive Ray of Sunshine. I have bad days. I get down in the dumps. I'm tired a lot. I'm fairly lazy during my free time. This often sends me spiraling into a non-thought-controlled way of living. I hope to change this. I hope to overcome this. I want to pray about my thoughts. I want God to jump in them and start shaping them to be pleasing to Him. I want people to love to be around me!

I am a work in progress.

PhotoLaw

Please pray for the person that is rude, mean, hateful, vengeful, full of malice, inexact, cruel, nasty, spiteful, catty, vicious, bitter, hostile, jealous, vindictive... and completely out to get me.
I mean this from the bottom of my heart!

More than anything, please pray that God brings me wisdom in how to handle this particular situation, that He strips me of pride and makes me learn humbly!! I'll post about sand paper people later.

In the mean time, I've done some research and have found the following websites quite helpful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/copyright
http://www.photosecrets.com/

Some highlights-
"If YOU pushed the shutter release, the photo is yours and the copyright is automatically assigned to the creator."
"At the moment of creation, when the artwork is 'fixed' in some form, copyright applies automatically. For a photographer, when you press the shutter release you are making a photo and gaining copyright to that photo at the same time"
"Copyright covers form but not idea. Your photograph has copyright, but not the idea or viewpoint behind it" (This means that poses CANNOT be 'copyrighted'.)

We Joined!

Today, Daniel and I joined Houston's First Baptist Church! We are so thrilled to be part of this church family and pray that God uses this as an instrument in our lives.

Ways that you can pray for us:
-pray that God continues to strengthen our marriage,
shaping us to be a reflection of Him for one another
-pray that the words of our mouth, the thoughts in our mind and hearts
are nothing but pleasing to God
-pray that we love on one another, encourage one another, pray for one another and lift one another up rather than EVER embarassing one another, mocking one another, humiliating one another or speaking badly about our spouse
-pray for patience over frustration

Thank you!

Give Life!

My grandmother is lying on the operating table of St. Luke's hospital here in Houston RIGHT NOW. She is receiving a new liver, PRAISE GOD. Please pray that the Holy Spirit lives within this new liver that God had prepared specifically for her. Pray that her body gratefully accepts this new organ and that she will THRIVE!
Most importantly pray for comfort, peace and healing for the grieving family who lost their loved one that was so gracious enough to GIVE LIFE!

*I just heard that the surgery is over and that all is well. I'll keep you posted. THANKS.

To find out more about how to donate life, visit http://www.donatelife.net/. If you live in Texas, you can go to http://www.donatelifetexas.org/. I strongly urge you to consider this! If you have any questions, please email me at sarahshalley@gmail.com.

Shalley House

More house photos...
The framing is up! Due to my inability to remember my camera early each morning and the quickness of the construction, we missed the framing photo. Sorry.
The house has 4 walls and a roof. Wow! The shingling is complete and brick has been delivered. Hopefully, we'll have more updates tomorrow.

Baby Brody

Sweet Larra's baby shower was today! It was amazing to FINALLY see both Larra and Lyns. We talk all the time, but it's been since my wedding day that I actually got to hang out with my dear friends. Larra looks amazing! Her belly is growing big and she has done so well in handling the fact that she's been on bed rest. Thankfully, she was released from bed rest just in time to celebrate little Brody with many wonderful women. So many details of this baby shower touched my heart. I was honored to have been invited and to have met and made new friends. Thank you ladies for welcoming me, sharing stories with me and letting me kiss your babies. I hope to spend time with you all again SOON. Larra, no worries...I'll be driving to Bryan to hold and kiss baby Brody. I love you!



Larra & her Mama.

Look at all those bellies!

Opening presents.


My photo friends! I love you ladies. You are SUCH an inspiration to me. Thank you for all that you do to make me better.

Hope Group Girls.

Sweet Memories cakes! Adorable and yummy!

Cute Kirby.

New baby Shane.

Larra's Mom gave her a teddy bear (I think it was once Larra's).
How sweet!

Basketball: Rattlers vs Smithville

My sweet littlest sis.

Crazy fans in the stands!

JV girls! I teach all but one.

Venom, the mascot.
Varsity girls & Venom

Shalley House

A little late...this is January 2nd's house update! We have a drive way, a sidewalk and a curb.

Honey is checking out her new house AND trying to escape from the car!
Ooops, she's escaped and is on the run!

Happy Birthday to our Honey!

Though we aren't quite sure when Honey's birthday is, we know that she was born sometime this month and so we choose to celebrate it right along with our anniversary. Because Honey is a big girl and is 2 this year, we treated her to a birthday big-girl haircut. I was a little skeptical about allowing PetSmart to cut her body hair since we've never done that before, but with some convincing from Daniel, I agreed. I explained to a lady named Judy that I only wanted to cut about an inch of hair off and that she should trim her face, head, feet, and tail areas. We were going for a "teddy bear" look. When I picked Honey up hours later, she was jumping up and down with excitement to "go for a ride". I paid for the haircut, and walked Honey to the car. No sooner than I got on Highway 6, I had my little sister on the phone and I was laughing hysterically. Honey was so funny looking! She looked so different from my expectations! I had tears of laughter in my eyes as she jumped around on my lap.

Here's my precious two year old!

She likes to try and drive while I'm driving.
Pretty and sweet! Honey Bunches Wilson Shalley...haha.
No more pictures, please.

New Year's Fun

To celebrate the New Year, Daniel, Honey and I spent the night with our friends having a pajama party and cooking breakfast. It was so fun...relaxing and refreshing!

Jason won the contest for the best pj's. Ironically, he won a little bear dressed identically to him.

1 Year Anniversary!

Today, Daniel and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man! Just last night, we read these verses together:

23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

So much has happened in our one year together. Here are a few of our memories.

We moved from Grand Junction, Colorado to Houston, Texas.

I quit substitute teaching and took a job working for a private company (where I had to deal with hellaciously stressful job situations) and then quit that job and began TEACHING!

I began my small photography business on the side - hip hip hooray!

We saw snow at Easter.

We took our HONEYMOON in Riveria Maya, Mexico.

We celebrated birthdays!

We traveled to Washington, D.C. and Ruidoso, NM.

We decided to build a new house.

Tim & Natalie

My dear friends have recently become engaged! I am so excited for them and can't wait to celebrate with them at their upcoming wedding. I was so honored when they asked me to shoot their engagement photos for them before Tim headed back to Hawaii. We shot in the freezing cold, but they were troopers and did everything that I asked of them. Thank you for a fabulous day! I had so much fun. Congratulations! I love that Harrington Magic!

These are only a few of my favorites from the day. Seriously, these two cannot take a bad picture! You two are beautiful! Enjoy! I hope that you love these as much as I do.


The classroom they met in:







All images will be available for online viewing and order at www.shutterfly.com/pro/sarahshalley/kronjaeger .

Being Great in 2008

I have several lists of goals for myself in 2008. These won't necessarily all be accomplished within the next year, but I do want to try my very best to be my absolute best version of me.
In no particular order...

HEALTH GOALS:
exercise 3 days a week
eat less & eat healthier
minimize fast food, sugar, candy, caffeine, etc. *Being a school teacher and in high stress environments, this may be difficult*

SPIRITUAL GOALS:
have a quiet time to reflect, read, pray and listen
go to sunday school and church every Sunday we're in town
pray with Daniel
continue spending time with married couples
join a Bible study (Breaking Free with Beth Moore at HFBC on Tuesday nights?)
read the Bible chronologically *I'm going to try to do this in a year, but 2 years may be more realistic for me*

TEACHING GOALS:
be more organized - keep my classroom clean
stay cam - be less excitable/ reactive to student's negative behavior
grade papers weekly so that they don't pile up

PERSONAL GOALS:
cook dinner 4x a week and eat it at the table
spend more quality time, away from the TV, with Daniel
read more books
ORGANIZE and keep my house clean
walk Honey 4x a week and quit feeding her people food
send bday cards to my family and friends
call my grandparents once a week
save more $$$$
pay down debt
watch my tongue - rid my mouth of any and all bad language
be more POSITIVE, refusing to immediately see the bad in people, places and situations
be a better wife, dog-mama, daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin and friend

PHOTOGRAPHY/BUSINESS GOALS:
become more well known
increase # clients
make more photography friends... and actually hang out with them
read photography books
go to workshops
book a maternity photo shoot
WORK THIS SUMMER! * I AM FOR HIRE, even as a 2nd shooter!

Portfolio 2008

I haven't gotten around to my 2008 resolution post yet, but I thought that I would start out the new year by making sure that my portfolio is updated, expresses diversity and absolutely showcases my fave photos.

Check it out! http://www.sarahshalley.photoreflect.com/ or here.
I may put together a slide show for the blog if I can find time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!