A peek behind the lens

It's a rare thing for me to be in front of the camera. But just so I can formally introduce you to the amazing piece of technological equipment that I'm now going to be using, thought I'd share the updated artist self-portrait that I'm going to be using to represent myself. The last one I took is from over five years ago and I thought I'd change things up a bit since I'm definitely not the gal I used to be. Care to see how far I've come? Here you go...

THEN: A rare moment of pause at a Jewish Orthodox Wedding I was shooting with my camera and dedicated flash on a bracket that flipped.

NOW: Less the long hair but PLUS so many more years of both life and professional photography experience and in full-frame sans a bracket!

Stay tuned for updates on all of my adventures. New camera, will travel...

All of us Ellwoods... now in FULL-FRAME

Here in the Ellwood house, we are big believers in divine intervention. We owe it all to the Lord for the things He's blessed us with us and we do it all for the Lord because it's only right to pay forward when you've received tremendous blessings.

Currently we're in a state of flux with regard to God's blessings...

• D is in his last year of graduate school and working his way towards a doctorate
• I'm in the process of applying to a grad school program that I looked two years for and was convinced didn't exist until it (essentially) found me.
• Miss A is just more of a delight and joy every day with the things she says (yesterday she wished D a "Happy Birthday" - mind you, it's months from it) and does (this morning she made us breakfast in "My kitchen" as she calls it)

And our most recent great blessing is that I was finally able to upgrade most all of my photography gear. This is something that I have been dreaming and thinking about for YEARS and praying about with all of my heart. But the fact of the matter is, these types of things take time and more specifically God's time. This was something that was all just a matter of God providing it in His good time.

So, without any further adieu, I present you All of Us Ellwoods the way God sees it... in Full-Frame (aka from my new pro-grade camera body) ...


His provisions, mercy, and grace are new everyday. And it's only because of Him that we have what we have and we're doing what we're doing. Thanks be to God.

Half bookworm, half night owl

Oh Miss A... what are we going to do with her?

Check this out:



Yes. That is Miss A. And YES, she is reading books in her bed with a FLASHLIGHT when she's supposed to be winding down and going to sleep!!!

Honestly though? It's hard for me to be mad about this because 1) she gets her hybrid ways of being a bookworm/night owl from D himself and 2) SHE'S JUST SO DARN CUTE!!!!

I mean, REALLY, people! Have you ever seen anything so sweet? She's so into books that she'll go to whatever means necessary to be able to read them in the dark!!! For parents like us (who are teachers), this is something that we couldn't be more proud of. And all I gotta say to Miss A about that is this: Go on with ya bad self, lady baby! GO ON!

---

P.S. Miss A's latest chuckle worthy moment: This morning D was changing her and getting her dressed and she said the following - "That poop was Ah-MAY-zing!!!" *We have no idea where she got this from since she certainly hadn't done any such thing in her pants. *

P.P.S. Lack of regular posting here is due largely because my camera died on me about two weeks ago and then mysteriously started working again - this also happened a couple of months ago. I completely expect it to go kaput for good any day now so I'm in the process of getting a new one/upgrading and you better believe I will announce it here when that blessed day arrives.

Throwback day: Let's go, Stillers!!!

This is a bit of a throwback that I stumbled upon just this week as I was cleaning out and reorganizing our hard drive. Miss A was about eight months old in this picture and I had gone out for the day only to come back and find them dressed out for a Steelers game on TV.


The other day when Miss A woke up she said two things:

1. "I wake up."
2. "I wanna watch football!"

What can I say? A love for football and Steelers is just in her blood.

The big girl bed

It's finally happened, world. Miss A has gone and grown up so much that she's no longer sleeping in her crib.


As you can see, she's quite pleased with the whole situation.



I got this bed for F-R-E-E but we just used the crib bedding we have because the bed was the same size as the crib. Doesn't make any difference to Miss A though. She's all about spending as much time as possible in it, on it, or climbing in or out of it. If I'd have known how much of a kick she was going to get out of it, I would have gotten her one a lot sooner!!



And this bed is SO amazing (to her, at least) that it inspires her to be super silly and do all kinds of "weird toddler things" as detailed in the next photo. *shrug*



Miss A is just growing up so fast! It's both exciting and sad.



They just grow up so fast and try and shut you out of their rooms so soon...