Photography

Photography is a real love of mine, as most of you know. I aspire to be a photographer (and an author, but that's another post).

Lately I've been really pursuing this "hobby". Taking tons of pictures, reading lots of books, and getting the chance to follow a wonderful photography around to a few of her sessions!

Yep, that's right. A fabulous professional photographer let little ol' me follow her around when she was here last week doing some shooting (and she even took the time to teach me a few things as we went along). I had a blast! And discovered first hand how amazing she is (check her out! http://www.lovinglegacyphotography.com/).

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you a few of my "photography sites". And let you in on the fact that I'm (hopefully) getting a nice camera (at the moment all I have is a little point-and-shoot) SOON!

Check out some of my photos--
http://www.atwinforgod.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/atwinforgod/

Please Sponser Me!

Hey guys! I'm raising money for LIFE CHOICE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER INC by participating in their Walk for Life October 17th here in my area- I would just like to ask you to please make a donation by visiting my Firstgiving page: http://www.firstgiving.com/brycemclemore

Anyone who know's me knows how important the fight against abortion is to me. The Pregnancy Resource Center is really trying to make a difference. But they need our help!

You can donate online with a credit card. All donations are secure and sent directly to LIFE CHOICE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER INC by Firstgiving, who will email you a printable record of your donation. Whether you give $5 or $50 or more-- it doesn't matter. Every dollar makes a difference!

Please send my page on to anyone who might like to donate!

MyLifeIsAverage

Last night I discovered mylifeisaverage.com. I stayed up until midnight laughing hysterically over the posts, and the fact that just about every single one of them has happened to me or is extremely close to something that has. MYLIFEISAVERAGE

Today, I realized the word bed actually looks like a bed. MLIA

Today I installed a program and it asked if I had read and agreed to the terms and conditions. I hadn't, but I clicked 'yes' anyway. The program didn't know I lied, and began to install. MLIA.

A fortnight ago I finally solved my rubiks cube. I waited two weeks to post this so that I could use the word fortnight. MLIA

Last night, I was really hot in bed, so I took one leg out of the covers. Then I got scared because it was too dark and my leg felt unprotected from somthing hiding under my bed. So I put it back under the blankets. MLIA

Today I though of the perfect comeback for an argument I had three days ago. MLIA

Today, I found myself looking at 90 photos on facebook of a person I had no clue who it was just because my friend was tagged in one of them. MLIA

Today I won a million dollars, but I closed out of the pop-up anyway. MLIA

Today, I put my iPod on shuffle. I skipped most of the songs to get to the ones I like. MLIA

Today, my mom told me to clean my room because the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. I'm still confused. MLIA

Today I didn't know what to do on the computer, so I started to click and drag the mouse across the screen to make hilighted rectangles. It was amusing. MLIA

Today, I wanted to comment on a friend's status, but it was only a few seconds old and I didn't want to seem like a stalker. I waited a few minutes and then commented. MLIA

Today, I filled a Windex bottle with blue Gatorade. I then sprayed it into my mouth infront of my mother. She began to panic and scream and get hysterical. I thought it was funny. She didn't. MLIA

Today, as I was waiting on line at a store, I noticed the cashier had a British accent. When it was my turn, I faked a British accent in conversation. He asked me where I was from, so I admitted that I was faking. His British accent disappeared as he said, "Me too." MLIA.

Today, I went fishing with my dad and brother. When we got back, my mom asked "How many did you catch? One fish?" Then my dad said, "Two fish!" Then I said, "Red fish!" Then my brother said, "Blue fish!" Then we all high-fived. It was a nice family bonding moment. MLIA

Today I saw a crunchy looking leaf in the street. I went substantially out of my way in order to step on it. MLIA.

Today, I couldn't hear what someone had said, so I asked them to repeat themselves. They did, and I still couldn't understand them. I just nodded and agreed. MLIA.

Today I saw a man being chased down the street by a cop. He was yelling " you can't catch me I'm the Ginger bread man." I laughed so hard I cried. MLIA.

Today I was eating a cupcake when the phone rang. I panicked and stuffed the entire cupcake into my mouth. I still don't know why I did that. MLIA

Today, Microsoft Word decided to shut down without explanation. I chose not to send an error report to Microsoft. MLIA

This morning I woke up from a good dream. I tried to force myself back to sleep so I could continue the dream. I failed. MLIA.

Today, my little brother threatened me by saying that he would tell people I wear underwear. I am really confused as to how that's an actual threat. MLIA

Today, I realized that the word OK is a sideways person. I totally forgot about what I was doing and proceeded to make a whole family of OK people on a word document by using different colors and font sizes. MLIA

Today, a friend and I had a discussion about dinosaurs and came to the conclusion that t-rexs were only angry and aggressive because their arms were too short to hug one another. MLIA.

Today, an annoying Facebook friend was counting down the number of friends he had left to get to 1,000. When he finally reached 1,000, he made a big post to celebrate. I removed him as a friend. I win. MLIA

Today, I got a text while I was almost asleep. I pretended to ignore it, but I couldn't sleep until I had looked to see what it said. MLIA.

Today, I was at Blockbuster. Someone had put Hannah Montana: The Movie in the horror movie section. It made my day. MLIA

Today I went in my backyard to do something. On the way back inside I noticed a wasp in my path. I ran past it, closed the door, and locked it. I still don't know why I locked the door. MLIA

Today, I was clicking a retractable pen. My friend asked me to stop, but then I just had to click it one more time so that it would go in. For closure. MLIA.

Today, I ate lunch at a restaurant. The waitress told me not to touch my plate because it was hot. When she left I touched my plate. It was hot. MLIA

Today, as I was going to bed, I noticed my teddy bear was completely covered by the blanket. I moved it down a little so he could breathe. MLIA.

Today I made myself a bowl of popcorn. After spending 10 minutes eating all the non-buttery pieces and saving up the buttered ones, my dad came over and grabbed a handful. I haven’t spoken to him since. MLIA

Today, I was listening to music on my computer and thought I smelled my mom cooking brownies. I wasn't sure, so I turned the volume down. I still don't know why I did that. MLIA.

Today, I was in the shower. I knocked over my conditioner, and, causing a domino effect, my bodywash and shampoo toppled over. I caught one thing in each hand, and the other bottle I kicked with my foot and then caught. I looked around with pride to see if anyone had seen my ninja-like skillage, but then I realized I was in the shower. Alone. MLIA

www.mylifeisaverage.com

New Blog Design

Well, I'm sure all of you guys noticed the new design. Any thoughts? Please share! I'm pretty terrible when it comes to graphic design, etc. Sooo, I would love to know everyone's thoughts on how it turned out. Right now I'm also working on changing all of the side photos of the family, hopefully that (and possibly descriptions of them all) will be done sooner verses later. We'll have to see... I'm super busy with life in general lately. But I'm working on some up coming blog posts now! So, prepare to be amazed! (Or slightly disappointed, your pick.)

Family

[for all the inquisitive ones out there... yes we were on a slanted piece of ground when this shot was taken]



I love my family a lot. They are the absolute best thing since... sliced bread.

Unless of course that's toooo cliche (not to mention all together strange) for you. If so we can just go with WINNERS.

Because that's what we are.

WINNERS.

This summer we went on a [epic] trip to the North Carolina Smokies. I took a million and two pictures, which shouldn't surprise anyone. We had the most amazing time, hiking trails, makin' smores, going tubing, white water rafting, horseback riding, and just leaning back in old fashioned rockers on our porch enjoying the beauty of God's creation.









Oh yeah, did I mention we had the cutest little cabin ever... 'cause we did.

We also had the cutest little wooded backyard.

Win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win...

Spending a whole day out on the water was one of the trip's highlights. I'm a Floridian. I LOVE WATER. A gorgeous lake (one of the biggest stinkin' lakes I've ever been on... if it even was a lake) nestled in the middle of the Smokies (we were surrounded by mountains)... it was breathtaking and oooh so fun!

Isn't God's creation glorious???

And on the way home we even got to visit some humongous Indian Mounds... it was a long climb to the top but taking a picture of the stairs from the top made it all worth it.

Just in case you were wondering... yes, I do love my life.

Looong Overdue, I Know, I Know...

Sorry for taking soooo long to post again! I really have no excuse... unless you count the fact that I've been out of town AGAIN. Goodness, I can't wait to get home and spend the rest of my summer chilling by the beach. It was awesome though! We took a trip to the NC Smoky Mountains. If you're super nice (I might) have a few pictures to share with you... as it is it's time for me to get on the road home, so I'll have to leave you with this long overdue set of snapshots. And away I go...

She's pretty much GORGEOUS.

Falcon girl, Falcon girl

This car is pretty much amazing.

Yep, that's MY sister.

Lyndsey and the puppy of EVILNESS. Kidding, he's a cute puppy when he wants to be.

Falcon

Our trip to NC has been pretty great so far. Being reunited with my fabulous sister was awesome! I've also had a chance to re-experience those lawnmower races a told you guys about last October. Along with a few other things. Pictures (and possibly videos) to come...





Oh, yes. My grandpa has an amazing car! Ahh, I want it (though my dream is to own an old Chevy, any antique car will do). More pictures coming soon...

Summer's Here!

My family and I are leaving tomorrow for North Carolina. We're going to be doing quite a bit of traveling this summer. My favoritest little sister has been out of town for a couple of weeks now, visiting family. I can't wait to see her again! After picking Lyndsey up in NC we're heading to South Carolina to visit friends and to attend a speech and debate tournament. Then it's off to Alabama to visit more family before heading home for a short while. We'll only be home for about two weeks before heading back up to NC for a trip to the mountains.


I know it's been forever since I've actively posted on this blog. I really want to do better! For years I've loved having this blog, it's been a great tool. I love keeping up with people this way, and I love giving others a chance to do the same. Over the next few months (and even while we're out of town) I'm going to make a point to post updates on our summer. Pictures, and possibly even videos (or a vlog, though I've never tried that before). Basically I just want to slowly enter back into the blog world. Maybe not as actively as I've been in the past, but more so than I have been over the past months.


Even though I'm not doing ANY blog carnivals or such jazz, I'm not opposed to a little accountability. I've been making a point to start working out. Because, even though I'm not fat by any stretch of the imagination I'm not in shape (and as a child I was actually a bit of a pudge). My whole life (yep, all fifteen and 1/2 years of it) I haven't been particularly in to sports and such. As a family we've always been health nuts (or at least for as long as I can remember), eating organic foods, grinding our own wheat for bread, knowing all kinds of natural things pertaining to food and otherwise, so healthy eating really isn't my problem. But I've never really loved any kind of physical activity (sure, I liked playing all kinds of games and sports with friends and siblings, but I never really loved playing anything "seriously"). So, long story short, I've been trying to do better. I've found that I have more of an interest in sports than I thought I did. Volleyball is something I really want to learn to play, and I'm going to join a team at the beginning of the school year. For now I've started working out (as I said before). I've been a real regular on the elliptical and treadmill, and hopefully even after we head out of town that wont stop. I've also been on a "diet" of sorts. No dairy, grain, or sugar products, etc. I'm going to keep that up until the end of the month when I do a "master cleanse". This is a cleanse my mom did a couple summers ago. Lately I've been having a few medical issues (nothing serious, just hormonal things) and we're hoping this (the cleanse) will help me out (and I'm hoping I'll lose some weight by doing this whole thing). There you have it. Encouragement to keep at this would be wonderful.


Haven't you guys missed the way I just ramble on and on and on?


Anyway, I've got to go finish packing. We're heading out bright and early tomorrow morning, about 4:30am I think. Oh, mother, why must you torture us so...

Happy Birthday Lyndsey!

Eleven years ago today, was a very special moment in my life. It was the day I officially became a big sister (sure, people can argue that I'm Josh's "big sister", but despite the fact that I'm 46 minutes older then him, we're still twins so it's not the same).

During the pregnancy my parents chose not to find out the gender. You might be surprised to find out that I had hoped the baby would be a boy. Why? I don't know. You'd think I would have wanted a little sister to worship and adore me. I guess my only experience as far as siblings had been with Josh, so maybe I was just longing for another brother to boss around. Who knows? But, what I got was far from my expectations. Instead I was at the hospital, along with the rest of the family, to welcome into the world, a little blond haired blue eyed baby girl who I wouldn't trade for anything.

The moment I laid eyes on my new little sister, Lyndsey, I loved her. All thoughts of a little boy flew from my mind. She was perfect.




Everyday I came to appreciate my little sister in new ways. I thanked God for the blessing of having her my life. The one plague I experienced? Instead of the "sissy" I longed for her to call me, she continuously persisted in calling me "mommy" and our mother "big mommy".




Now, she's one of my best friends. She's a confidant, someone to giggle with at night. One of the few people who understands my craziness, and is willing to listen and sympathize with all of my problems. She's a girlfriend with whom I can share anything. She offers me advice, and I return the favor (probably more than she would like). When I feel down, she's always there to lift me up.

Sure, we've had our arguments (and I've even experienced the reasons why I might have wanted a little brother instead... when you have more than one girl in the house, at times petty arguments have a way of ensuing), but I love her to death.

Happy birthday, Lyndsey Lu! I love you!

Her knack for entrancing babies so that they love her more than me does get on my nerves sometimes though...

Changes in the Air

If I said I was really sorry, and that I feel unbelievably terrible about my prolonged blogging absence would you forgive me?

Didn't think so, but at least I tried.

My blog feels like just another one of my many broken promises.

Oh! Will I never loose my flair for all things extremely, totally, and utterly melodramatic?

But I do feel terrible, that's the truth. Blogging has always been something I enjoyed... and reading over some of my past posts I've come to a realization. I started this blog essentially for me, back before I'd ever heard of "readerships" or any of that jazz, back before I even cared about who read my blog, and who liked it. I wanted to have a place to share my thoughts, and trivial day to day nonsense. But, much to my chagrin, I've turned my blog into something else entirely, I've tried way to hard to please everybody else... and I've failed miserably.

So here's my news. For the time being I'm done with blog carnival commitments, contests, and all that. My blog is going to continue to be wacky and creative some of the time, but other times my post might be tedious and dull. Sometimes I might participate in my favorite blog carnivals, but my blog is no longer going to be... the way it is now. (I'm sorry to say it, but that means A Blogger Scavenger Hunt is officially finished.)

My family has been having a bit of a stressful time this past month (we would appreciate prayer), and that is the main reason I've neglected my blog. But it's also made me start thinking. Posting on my blog is no longer fun, I've tried so hard to appeal to everybody (in a crazed attempt to gain more readers) that my blog has been, essentially, pointless. Sure, I've had some good posts, but for the most part things have gotten way out of hand.

This announcement might make me lose some readers, but (not to sound completely self-centered or anything) I don't really care. I would still love your opinions, and I would still love loyal readers, but I'm done with my version of pleasing everyone. Because it stinks.

No, this doesn't mean that I don't care what you guys think. What this means is, I'm done with my way of interpreting what everybody wants. My blog is going back to the way I originally intended it to be. And I'm unbelievably happy about that.

Thank you all so much for being the best readers, and the most amazing friends (you know who you are) that anyone could ask for.

If pictures are proof despite moments of stress and worry, obviously my life hasn't been tooooo bad lately...

Yes, I do still have a penchant for picnik.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Please continue to pray for Stellan.

If the majority of you are out to get me, I suppose I deserve it.

Really, I could offer the normal excuses (my computer hates me, school is crazy, people are crazy, life is crazy, etc.), but I wont.

In all honesty, I don't have any good excuses.

Over the past couple weeks I've neglected to post anything for any of the blog carnivals I usually participate in. I've neglected to post at all. If I was being honest with myself I'd admit it, I've been an all around meanie.

And I don't have any good excuses.


So I'll spare you.

Life has been crazy though.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..."

I'm not even kidding when I say that quote just about sums up my life right now.


Most of the time I feel like my life is defined by school, school, more school, drama, school, drama, school, planning for more school, and school.


Don't worry though, that's just how I feel, it's not really like that... all the time.


My freshman year of high school is almost over, which is kind of hard to believe. It's been soooo much better than middle school ever was (I shudder to even think about those days), but still lacking in some ways.


And the worst of it is, it's my own fault.


I'm being extremely optimistic though (well, I'm trying to be).


This summer is going to be 100% better!


And 10th grade is gonna ROCK!


Yeah... maybe just a bit tooo optimistic.


Anyway, I have a few awesome friends, and I know a ton of amazing people. My family's superness can't even be put into words. And I'm learning (slowly, but surely) that God's will is God's best, and that He's put me where I am, right here, for a reason.


Or, as my mom would say...

... for such a time as this.


Hmm, maybe I should become a copy-cat and change my blog name? You never know... :D

I promise I'll be a good little girl and post a real update sometime soon... or at the very least actually start posting regularly again. Forgive this completely non-perfect (is that even a word?) blogger.

Please Continue to Pray!!

Please click on the above picture... and continue to pray for Stellan.

PLEASE PRAY

Please pray for the little MckMiracle. Please pray for Stellan.

www.mycharmingkids.net

Happy Birthday, Graham!

I have the most amazing little brother in the whole wide world. He is the handsomest little fighter (he aspires to be Walker, Texas Ranger), and I love him to death!

It's hard for me to believe that as of today he is 7 years old. WOW!

How is it that my Graybaby is already 7? He's been the baby of the family for so long, and now we can hardly call him a baby anymore!

I remember the night he was born, I remember daddy waking me up in the middle of the night, how we all rushed off to the hospital (with the exception of Lyndsey, who was only 3 1/2, and stayed home with a friend),I remember how Josh and I were there to witness the miracle that was Graham's birth.

Goodness, before any of us know it he's going to be all grown up and probably fighting bad-guys, capturing crooks, playing extreme sports, reaching a dangerous tribe with the message of the gospel, or working undercover for some secret agency... but we're getting a head of ourselves aren't we? I haven't even grown up yet. :D

Sometimes I wish I could freeze time... It's at moments like these that God helps me learn to be content, in any and every situation.

Happy Birthday, Grayman! I love you!

We're All Beachy Down Here

Well, I want to go ahead an announce the winner of the 100th post drawing. Number 17 was randomly selected (every name had a number in the order they were given in the post). Congrats to J.B. Lewis! He is the winner of either Beyond the Reflection's Edge by Bryan Davis or Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (his choice). J.B., you can claim your prize by contacting me with your mailing address (of course, we don't force anyone to claim their prizes, especially for drawings they didn't even voluntarily enter, but if you would like to receive one of the above books just let me know!).

***********************************

Today the weather was fabulous, and since we have family visiting from NC this week, we decided to head over to the beach for a few hours of fishing and hanging out.

Which, of course, made for lots of photo opportunities.

Which, of course, meant that I had a million and one amazing shots to pick from for Project 365.

Which, of course, meant I had a million and one runners up.

Which were all so amazing (of course), that I had to share them with you!

Even while looking at all of these pictures you should be thankful.

'Cause I'm not even kidding when I say I had a million and two more.

Seriously.

100th Post!

Monday, July 30th, 2007 I posted my 1st post on A Twin For God. I was completely new to the blogging world, and the internet world too for the most part.

Monday, March 2nd, 2009 I'm posting my 100th post. Personally, I think I've come a long way (though I still have a long way to go).

I would be extremely embarrassed if you went back in my achieves and read my first few posts. Of course, you can if you would like. I don't delete them for the simple reason that I think it's fun to be able to go back and see how much I've grown and changed over the years. In my blogging style and in my life.

It's been hardly two years, yet it seems like a lifetime ago that I first stumbled upon blogger and created (by some miracle) A Twin For God (of course, our whole design was much different back then) and posted about My Bumpy Road. If only I'd known.

I think now is a great time to honor all of my followers. I appreciate all of my readers, but my followers are special 'cause I actually know who they are! :)

BookWorm4God
Horsey Girl
Melissa
Magma
Mangy Cat
Shelby (or Mommy!)
Prism
Sydney
Live4Him
Flynn
Paris
Sarah
Shae
God's Soldier
Zoe
Me
J.B. Lewis
Zhorseluver
Lyndsey Olsen

Thank you all for supporting my blog by following it! In honor of this 100th post I'm going to have a spur the moment drawing (this has nothing to do with, nor does it interfere with A Blogger Scavenger Hunt). All of my followers have a chance of winning either Beyond the Reflection's Edge by Bryan Davis or Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (winners choice). The winner will be announced tomorrow or Wednesday (yes, if you become a follower by tomorrow you also have a chance).

Thank you all!

Project 365

Today is my first day of Project 365. I'll be posting one photo a day for a year. Check out my endeavors here.





It was a tough decision. I enlisted numerous judges. And in the end a winner emerged.

The runner up.

Check out the winner here.

Cute, cute, cute...

Puss Ann Guest GIVEAWAY!!!!

Like I said before, I'm not a mother but I just can't help myself. :D



Make sure you check out the update on the Blogger Scavenger Hunt in the post below!

These things are just too cute!

No, I'm not a mommy to a cute little girl who could benefit from one of these (yet)... but I just couldn't pass up the chance! :)

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

I've always wanted to learn to sew. It's a dream of mine. But I've never had a chance... my mom doesn't know how (though she wishes she did) nor to many people I know. When I stumbled upon this blog the other day, I was in awe. Not only had I discovered the blog of an extremely talented photographer (something else that I enjoy, and really wish I knew how to do) but she was an OMG creative and simply fabulous seamstress as well! *dies* Besides writing/reading (two of my life's loves) photography and sewing fascinate me. Jealousy is something I try to avoid... but this blog just had me itching with it. :D




Not to mention the fact that her daughters are two of the cutest things I've ever seen in my entire life.

The outfits and costumes she makes for them are unbelievable.

Not to mention the ones she makes for herself.

In all honesty, this women inspired me.

Check out her blog today.