A Week Of Growth

So much happened this past week; it was lovely.

The theme at Camp JIM was "Extreme Renovation" and boy did God renovate ME! I kinda didn't expect that. I was all like, "Yay, I'll work at camp for the first time and help kids!" Ha, I was the one who was helped too:)

I met so many wonderful people, reunited with others, and grew in my faith so much! It was an amazing summer; it seemed to go by in a whirlwind of excitement, hard times to work through, and fantastic Christian fellowship and so many new friendships:) 

I got home and was just tired. Emotionally, spiritually, and physically! But I had FUN. Even through the problems and troubling things, the other counselors and staff were so encouraging:) God taught me SO much and I hope I was able to help others as well!

I'm thanking God for all the people working at camp and praying for them all! 

Allison had tons of fun with my camera and took this picture as well as quite a few other ones that I love;)

I am praying that I'll be able to work next year, too! :D
Later y'all, I'm going to sleep!
Eli

Before The Excitement Begins

Later today I'm leaving for camp! I just got back (on Sunday) from attending camp, now I'm going to work there!

 Awesomesauce!

Seriously fun stuff there, guys. At Camp Jim, I mean :D

These photos are a small peek at what I've been doing this past week:)

My dog had puppies (praising God that they're all sold to wonderful homes) and they are almost five weeks old. So yeah, that's been fun and interesting:)

 

For our Fourth of July we had a campfire, set off some fireworks, ate a special cake that my sister made (it was red and blue with whipped cream frosting and cherries on top. Just YUM.), and generally talked and laughed.

This photo would've been perfect if he had moved the sparkler a little to the side, but, this way is interesting I suppose:P

     Yes, I love puppies, so they deserved another picture:) This one is "Tonka." He just has to be the cutest, of course, I say that about all of them, but... 
     Oh, and this post is named such because I am so excited for camp! My first time being a counselor. So, I'll need a lot of prayer you guys, working with 8 to 10 year-old's can be super fun but it's a lot of responsibility for me. 
     Before the excitement begins, I must pack:)
See ya soon raccoon!

Mind Space

What's taking up space in your brain?

    School, relationships, work, family issues, friend stuff... It all has a place in your mind, but are you letting the wrong thoughts jerk you around? Think about it for a minute. If we constantly fill our minds with pure and beneficial things, it will show in our actions. That's what I've been thinking about lately.

Story Behind the Photo: I have such a wonderful sister:) 

I (out of nowhere) had an idea for a picture yesterday and she went along with it, even through all the randomness that is me. 
("Look down, no, more. Okay, this way, don't look so happy! Alright, not that sad, you know what I mean. Move you hand to the left... Cross your legs. Never mind, that looks weird." etc.)

Short and sweet, that's also me!

;) 

PS: Does it annoy you when I change the font/color/size and interchange them varying-ly?

A Mini-Look at Aperture

Dia duit (hello from the Gaelic Irish) friends, fellows, followers, family, and foreigners.

Here is a lovely orange:

The orange has nothing to do with today's topic :P 

I am here to show you the effects of aperture (app-er-cher) on photos. 

Low aperture (f/3.8)

High aperture (f/16)

You should take note that the higher the aperture number, the smaller the shutter opening becomes:

That's the only confusing part: remembering that small fact:)

All right! Any questions, comments, or concerns will be dealt with kindly addressed below. 

:)

He Arose!

Sparkles of a brand new snow, they remind me of the brand new beginning when Jesus Christ defeated death. His followers were without hope and just plain scared; when Jesus returned, He gave them hope and strength:)

Remember that guys, He arose.

Like Snow

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

   May the words of my mouth always glorify the One who gave me the ability to speak, may they bring Him honor among those who do not know Him, and may my thoughts remain uplifting and pure. Like snow.

"Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." Proverbs 16:24

Oh, I have so many snow and frost pictures guys! These last two are my favorites:)
I have to work on my bokeh and focusing though...
Even though Tuesday was the first day of spring it doesn't feel like it yet! At my house, we still have several feet of snow!!! Seriously.

  So long, farewell! 

My Favorite Irish Holiday

     (First of all, how awesome is this new design? Storyteller was great through all my indecisiveness and silly requests and such:) Shout-out to Storyteller for overcoming my fear of blog change!)

     

     So anyway, Happy Saint PATRICK'S Day! 

(Just got a new graphics editor and I love it! BTW, this is a rare moment, but I did not take this photo:( It is a super detailed HDR of the Chicago River dyed green for S.P. Day!)

     Yesterday I went around taking photos of anything green and then I used color selection to only include green. :P Here's the pictures:

Unfortunately, although I have seen their work everywhere (all my left socks are missing, as well as three of my pots of gold)  I was unable to catch a leprechaun with my camera. :( 

Ah Ireland, I would love to travel there, being part Irish:) I never have been to the Emerald Isle, so obviously I didn't take this either...  Someday I will!

  

As You've Probably Heard...

    It's Valentine's Day! 

It's not too extravagant, but I loved making it for you all:) 
This is for the normal days made special by a long-ago deed of love and bravery. 
An act of defiance and a determination to follow God's will.
To Saint Valentine, on this day of love and sweetness.

"If I sing, but don't have love,
I waste my breath with every song,
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise.
If I speak with a silver tongue,
Convince a crowd but don't have love,
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say.
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love."
(For King and Country - Proof of Your Love)

The Day After Orko

Good afternoon to you all!

If you have been paying any attention to the news or weather you should know about "Nemo" and "Orko."
They are two huge winter storms (big enough to be named, obviously:)) and we here in Minnesota got to have Orko! We got at least two feet of snow (three ft in some drifts) and I have been having lots of fun with my bros and sis in it! Here are some photos from Monday night as it was still coming down.

You can't really tell how deep it is, but take my word for it: it's DEEP! Up to my knees, anyway, haha...

This is my favorite: snow had blown over the window and the lighting was awesome! You can also see the plants sticking through the snow and a bit of green in the corner from another bush.

Snow makes awesome bokeh!





When the flash is used it highlights the snowflakes in a pretty neat way:)

After we "dug out" a little, there were tons of these huge snow piles everywhere. 







Then the next morning we got up and had to do it all over again!

Alrighty then. I'll leave you with this huge pile of hard work and sweat! Seriously, I sweated after a while. Shoveling's harder than it looks! See ya later alligator!

Eli!