p31 and a new level of confidence (also possibly the longest post ever)

i have talked before about how i have been conflicted with my feelings towards my photography business.

about the time that i started feeling so confused, i stumbled across a group called Pursuit 31. it was started by a woman who was feeling the same kind of conflict i was.

the pull towards forgetting her priorities (being a godly wife and mommy)

and pushing to better the business and make more money.

i found out about a retreat that this group has, and was shocked to see that there was going to be one in connecticut! 

what??

no one ever comes to the north east!

i had to go.

just had to.

i had to meet this woman who was living out what i wanted to be living out!

so this past week, i was able to spend 2 days with some incredible and amazing women.

women who are living lives to serve God, and working to keep their priorities with their business in the right place!

here's how it started.

thursday morning, i walked into a beautiful home 

(owned by desirea. another godly woman who lives to please God!)

and looked around a room of 14 other women, and thought.

"what on earth are you doing here, rachelle?"

but i stayed.

because, what else was i gonna do?

karen shared her story, and asked us to share ours.

so we did. tears and all.

she then challenged us to keep our marriages first.

our Jesus first, and to have the kind of faith that God calls us to have!

then we spent a couple of hours talking about the business aspect.

um.

ya. here again, i thought.

"what on earth are you doing here, rachelle?"

have you seen my website? haha...did you try clicking on that? i tricked you. as if i am going to show my blog "website"! ha

then i went back to my hotel suite.

with 5 other women, who i had never met.

it always amazes me how a relationship with Jesus can bring people so close, so fast.

it really is a family.

anyways...we stayed up for.ev.er.

talking. asking questions about each other, about the Bible, about our families.

it was amazing.

i seriously love these girls just like they are my homegirls.

no lie.

(seriously so much love for you anglesea, stacy, sharna, katie and beth!!)

then the morning came.

pretty quickly, i might add.

and here is where my same question came back to my head.

see...i am not a wedding photographer.

i am a portrait photographer, and the thought of being in front of other photographers and posing people all by myself terrified me.

for real.

i wanted to get in my car and go home.

when we arrived, i felt like i was back in high school all over again.

i pulled out my...cough xti cough...from my bag that i bought for 2 dollars at a cough thrift store cough...and tried to be all..

ya. wassup girls.

i'm cool

i know that the cost of my camera and all my lenses are not even close to how much your one lens costs.

but ya know, i got this!

and you know what? 

the girls didn't even judge me!

it was unbelievable.

and so with my new friends, and the confidence that they had in me.

i had the time of my life.

and here it all is.

oh, and even with all these images? i could have uploaded a million more that i have on my computer!

and just like that.

i went from being a portrait photographer

to just a plain old photographer!

who knew?

and i have to thank not only karen,

but also all the other girls that were there.

we all cheered each other on, encouraged each other, and gave each other more confidence.

and i gotta say.

it sure feels good!

so bring it.

whose wedding is next??

i'm totally in.

*hafta give mad props to the ones who made everything so beautiful!

the hair and makeup done by Simply Goreous by Erin and Professional Makeup by DeLieto

the planning by DeeDee and Heidi of Always and Forever, 

also, our hostess Alicia whose heart for God amazes and challenges me!

and obviously, karen. whose at fault for all of you reading this super long post!

rounding up

as much as i love to hear that my boys are growing in knowledge,
i could have done without riley's putting his math to practical use with the comment
"mom, now you're 35. you round that up to 40!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
you NEVER round up with ages riley.
never.
learn that now.

moving on.

because of my mom, i have always looked at birthdays as a way to show someone that THIS is their special day...
for the whole day.
i remember waking up to pancakes with candles in them,
balloons hanging, and a day full of special treats.

i realize that now that i am practically 40, i can not expect that kind of treatment.

however.
i was proved wrong this year.

i woke up to this

made by my mom, and taken with my new...

IPAD 2!!

(lovingly called "the 2" by my boys, who i am pretty sure love it more than i do. ya, those angry birds are ENORMOUS on this thing!!)

yes. adam spoils me.
he decided that the whole day, would indeed, be my day.
(he even made the bed!)

the boys then got me a gift card to dunkin donuts, and a super rad dunkins travel mug.
awesome.

then i got some new clothes from my parents.
we went shopping, (where adam got me some new shoes)
then went to olive garden with a gift card from my good friend Ron from church.

then my mom made me my favorite dinner
ok, so my mom spoils me too.

then we picked out a christmas tree.

then my homegirl ruthie brought me some delicious cupcakes.
then we went to riley's soccer game.
and that was it.

an amazingly, unbelievable day where i felt incredibly special and loved.

i got texts from my friends, and calls from my siblings.
so thank you.
thank you to my family who always always makes me feel loved
and to my friends who i am so grateful God put in my life.

happy birthday to me...still in my early thirties, right?

full

i have been thinking of the word full lately.

we have had a full house
i have been getting very full from all the food i'm eating
i have had a full schedule
and i am honestly full of JOY.

last week, we celebrated the life of a very special person in my life.
when i was 10, my grandmother passed away after fighting a battle with cancer.
at the funeral, a lady from my church came up to me and told me that she would be my adopted nanny.
she filled in just where my grandmother left off...
she hugged me, loved me, and loved adam and my boys just like my grandmother would have.
about a month ago, she found out that she had stage four cancer.

last week, she went to be with Jesus.
reminds you of how short life is, doesn't it?
i am so grateful that my family had the chance to spend some time with her before she left.

really special time.
we talked about ministry, and about life and about the fact that we have the assurance based on the perfect Word of God that we will SEE HER AGAIN!!
it was also a challenge for me to love people even more...this woman truly loved people.
and she showed that by her hugs and her love.
i want to do the same!


we always love when anyone from the family comes to visit.
because my siblings are all so close, we always try and find a way to be together!
my older sister and her family spent the week with us, and then my brother and his family came for a couple nights as well.
i didn't really do a good job taking pictures, but here are a few!

alright...i have more to look at, and more to write.
i am so exhausted right now, that i can barely keep my eyes open to enjoy the patriots destroying the colts!
so you know i must be tired!
i had the privilege of attending a pursuit 31 retreat last week, am so excited to share some of what i learned.  but i will have to write about that later.
my pillow is calling my name!

fun in the laundromat

i love my family

i am so thankful that my sister was here this weekend...she is not here enough.

but anyways.
i was so excited that she said she would take pictures of our family!
i thought of every single pose i could imagine, and we went work!

here we are in all our glory...

mel made the super cute banner too!

it was so weird to not be behind the camera!
i could not even wait to get home and start editing!
i am so thankful to be able to have these pictures of my family...i know i am incredibly blessed!

thanks mel :)

ps. any comments are always welcomed.
you know.
right below where it says comment.
go ahead.
do it.

photography love.

every single time i do a shoot...

or even take pictures of my kids,

i can not WAIT to get home and upload them to see what i've got!

it's honestly like i'm more excited than my clients sometimes!!

here are just a little bit of what i have been up to..

i have got some gor.geous clients!

a little crazy

that's what i am

crazy
about
these boys.

yep.
totally crazy.

i can't even hardly imagine how our lives were without them!

how much less we must have laughed.
how much more money we had...haha
and how boring our lives must have been.
we love these boys like CRAZY!

how can i not be thankful

today...
my back is really bad.
it was hard to get out of bed.

but ya know what?
i can not and will not complain.
ya know why?
first of all..
i was convicted in a message yesterday about the verse in philippians that says to do everything
yes. everything.
without complaining.
ouch.

and second of all.
God has blessed me so much, that something as small as walking slowly and with a limp should never affect my outlook on life!

yesterday, these 2 little (i should probably stop calling them little now, huh?) boys learned about the importance of prayer in sunday school.
i am always challenged by my boys faith.
they started their own lists of things they are praying for. i loved looking at it, and thought you might too.
maybe you should start one of these!

it's no secret that my boys could play with legos forever and a day and be perfectly content.
they work so hard on their little creations, i thought i would show you some of their handiwork!

oh, they are growing up so fast.
i was just talking about the word of life super bowl that is coming up in a few weeks, and could  not believe that my AJ will be old enough to go next year!! are you kidding me right now? where does the time go?
they are the lights of my life, and i am so incredibly blessed beyond words that God has given me the opportunity to raise these boys to honor Him.


so my back hurts.
so what.
with everything God has done for me...how can i NOT be thankful?
what are you thankful for today?

a different-kind-of-biggest-loser-CHALLENGE!

i find it very intriguing to see the amount of time, effort, and sometimes money people put into losing weight and staying healthy.


i mean...it's not like i, myself, don't put time into staying healthy as well.
i do.
(some months more than others!)
but, i guess that the reason that i find is most intriguing is because of the following verse:


"For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things." I Timothy 4:8
Interestingly, giving all your goods to the poor actually profits nothing. (I Corinthians 13:3)
as does foolish questions and controversies, and arguments about the law.


*side note: it  has always blown my mind with the amount of  time and energy people put into spouting about being King James only, or the necessity of expository preaching! 
for the love of peter!!
is it me? or is this a bunch of foolish controversy?


ok. moving on.


what IS profitable is this...
and we are told to affirm constantly, or insist on, or stress:


to be careful to maintain (or, devote yourselves to) good works.
does this surprise you?


in a way...it surprises me!


to think about maintaining good works sounds..
almost...
legalistic.
which is what i do not want to be anywhere near!!


but interesting, right?
now, what would i have to be doing to devote myself to good works, in a non-legalistic way?


well..working so hard on my relationship with my Father, that i am just dying to please him.
just dying.
you know, the way a 5-year-old wants to make his daddy proud of him
the way a 16-year-old wants to do everything possible to show her boyfriend she likes him
not because they have to...
but because they just want to so badly!
and it's not so other people will look and applaud.
it's wanting to work hard because of the relationship that is there.


so that is where i want to be, and where i am going to challenge you to be.


this is a full fledged challenge, people!!


and i am totally serious about it. 
serious, because i want to surround myself with people who are striving for the same things i am.
serious because of this verse i found that i love that says "Be diligent with these matters; give yourselves wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." 

so serious that i am offering a prize at the end of the month to the winner!!

yep!

you read me right!

a real. live. prize.

i mean, it's not a trip or anything...but it is a gift certificate to CBD.

which you can, in turn, use to help yourself continue to maintain good works!!

yay!

ok. so here's how it works.

we are starting the competition on next tuesday. (november 8th)

we are starting on a tuesday, because i love the idea of starting something new and hard 

not on a monday!

and it will go until thursday, december 8th.

this will work sort of the same way the actual biggest loser show works.

there are challenges during the week.

there will be a "weigh in" at the end of each week, 

and there will then be a final "weigh in" at the end of the month, determining the winner!

(weigh in will be decided by points earned)

here are the basics:

1. Bible reading

2. Prayer time

3. Scripture memory

4. Church/small group attendance

5. Ministry 

this is open to any person of any age in any location.

i will have a more detailed chart of how it works for everyone as soon as i have a list of who will be joining the challenge.

so - either leave a comment with your email, or email me personally at ajnrileysmommy @ hotmail dot com.

oh. and one more thing

i will be like jillian michaels all up in your face pushing you..

except instead of screaming 

DO ONE MORE PUSH UP!!!

i will be screaming

READ ONE MORE CHAPTER!!

ha!

so. 

instead of counting my calories this month?

i am going to count how many people i have on my prayer list...while eating apple pie.

i mean.

it is fall, after all.

who's in?!?!

let's do this!!

I Timothy 4:15-16 "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."