welcome

Remember Henry and Mary?! The adorable couple who was pregnant just a couple weeks ago? Welp, first comes pregnancy, then comes a baby. That’s the song, right? 

Little Samuel Lee came into the world on August 8 and Henry and Mary couldn’t be prouder parents. I stopped by few days later to grab a couple shots and let me say this: I have never seen a more expressive newborn! He already has a little personality and it’s going to be so fun watching him grow up!

I thought when I tendered my resignation I would feel relief. Since April, I’ve been working all day at my “real” job and then I dedicated early morning and late evening hours to Green Chair Stories.

I stopped going to my small group. I haven’t cooked in literally months. I can’t remember the last time I really exercised. I have sacrificed time with my friends, church and husband much more than I would have liked. 

Welcome to the Annabeth show everyone! 

I got to take photos of this precious little doll last week and though it was supposed to be a family shoot, most of my photos look like this one above. You see, every time I tried to get a family photo, Annabeth did this…

I asked Jen what the hardest part of fostering children was. She immediately looked down at her dining room table, fiddling with the fork in her hands. I watched her take a deep breath before she answered. “It’s a bittersweet thing when they get to go home. You have learned to love them. You care for them. You’re excited that they get to be reunited with mom and dad, but a piece of you will always be with them because you love them.”

A few weekends ago, I got an email from Jen Hatmaker. Well, me and the thousands of other people that signed up to get her emails. 

She is re-releasing her book, Interrupted. I read somewhere that this is the book of her heart, but she didn’t have as much readership when it was released the first time. Her book 7 was the one that got her all these crazy fans.

I know this sounds cheesy and perhaps trite, but I really do think everyone is a writer. There is no way that putting pen to paper isn’t therapeutic. When done with the only intention of working through something, it can be a salve for the worst wounds. It can provide answers to questions you’ve only asked inside your own head. It is literally the tangible version of thoughts. And sometimes ya just gotta see it in real life to really figure out how you feel.