We have a sweet, 1 year old pup named Heidi, who is absolutely the most loving dog I've ever known. We got her on Josh's birthday last year (January 30th) at a local pet store. It was a very spontaneous, but so rewarding, decision. Here's the story...

We were eating lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and I started to feel guilty about the fact that I hadn't gotten him a birthday present yet. Now, before you start thinking I'm a horrible wife... if you know Josh, you know that you don't just get him anything. It has to be something... A) He needs or B) He really really wants. And everything I'd suggested getting him, didn't fit into those categories. So here I was, on his birthday, brainstorming what to do. I finally threw out the most random idea imaginable.

"What about getting a puppy?"

Josh loves dogs. So his eyes got all big and bright and he smiled at my suggestion, but then he immediately thought about my allergies to dogs and said we didn't have to do that. Now, everyone knows that "we don't have to" or "you don't have to" always means "I really really want you to." Bingo. I knew I'd found the perfect gift.

So, off we were to the pet store - any pet store - to find our puppy.

After browsing a few places, we finally found a small local shop with a litter of "golden retreivers" for sale. They were all adorable, but there was one with the sweetest eyes looking up at me that I fell in love with. I asked the lady if I could hold her... and I never gave her back!

They happened to cost the exact amount of birthday money that Josh had received from his family, so we felt like it was a perfect gift. We took her home in a small box and got ready to dive into what we joked about as "parenthood." Little did we know...

Training a puppy is tough work! Potty training, teething, chewing, eating, whining (all throughout the night)... we hadn't experienced a newborn baby, but this had to be close. Luckily, it didn't last too long. Heidi was a smart puppy (she takes after her momma ;) ) and learned not to pee in the house by two months old. She and I also experienced our first "snow fall" together last February. It was beautiful.

As Heidi grew, we began to notice that our "golden retreiver" pup wasn't growing the signature long, fur coat that a normal golden has. And by 10 months old, when the coat still hadn't come in, we realized that she couldn't be full golden. Not that this particularly mattered to us, we loved her the same (and me and my allergies were actually a bit thankful that her coat wasn't getting long!) But it's always good to know what to say when someone asks what kind of dog you have. So this probed us into researching other mixes and looking at pictures to see which ones Heidi identified with most.

She definitely shared similar characteristics with the golden, but her short coat and short ears reminded us more of a labrador retriever. So, I decided to do a little google search about golden/lab mixes and found that they are incredibly smart, playful, super loving, friendly and great family pets! All described Heidi, perfectly. It is claimed that they actually have a less likelihood of getting diseases passed down through their breed. While I was researching, I found the sweetest tribute video a family put together for their golden/lab mix, Nova, that could pass for Heidi's twin! Watch this adorable video below.

I feel like the mystery of our sweet pup's heritage has finally been solved! We are so grateful for this loving addition to our family, and we highly recommend a golden/lab mix dog as the perfect companion. Eager to please, and eager to love. What more could you ask for? :)

Heidi, pictured left, at one year old.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought to yourself,"I need to be a better  _________." And you fill in the blank with a list of roles that you have in life?

Wife. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Teacher. Student. Christian.

I have. So many times. It's as though I am constantly falling short of where I believe I "should be." And it's the "should be" expectations that trip me up. Sometimes I place them there, and sometimes they are placed there by others. But the weight is entirely too heavy to carry alone.

Of course I want my heart to be full of the love of Christ, I desire to be a great housewife, a talented musician, a trustworthy friend, and I wish I was making straight A's on every test. But the reality is, I'm not always all of those things I strive to be.

In fact, on my own strength I am lucky if I am any of those things.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

- 1 Corinthians 15:10

I am learning, daily, that my only true failure is trying to do things on my own. The writer of this verse found in 1 Corinthians - Paul - did a lot of things for the glory of God, but he also spent a great deal of his life in opposition to the faith. God not only forgave him... but used him to make, arguably, one of the largest impacts in Christian history.

Many of the disciples also failed to live up to the "should be" expectations. They weren't the most eloquent, they fell asleep in Jesus' darkest hour, Peter denied him and Thomas doubted his resurrection. Yet, Jesus went out of his way to restore these relationships and bring about peace to the turmoil that I'm sure they were struggling with.

Going back to the verse above, see how quick Paul was to remind everyone that his hard work was not merely his own strength, but the grace of God within him? That's me, too. If there is anything noble or good within me, it is all because of Jesus. I am not good, nor will I ever be good on my own.

So, back to the mirror. I say I want others to see Christ in me, but I find it hard to look in the mirror and not see my sinful self. How can I change this? With the help of Scripture (which happens to also refer to itself as a 'mirror').

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

- Ephesians 1:4

How is it that we can be looked upon as holy and without fault in the sight of GOD... and yet still worry about the expectations other people have for us? Perhaps our view of people is too big and our view of God is too small.

I really enjoy taking pictures. In fact, I'm doing a little project on Facebook (365 project) where I take a photo a day for a year. It's been quite interesting and tedious, but I think I'll be so thankful for the memories once the year is over.

I have been dreaming about getting some new lenses for my camera - a Nikon D60.

But of course, that means money. Lots of money. So for now, I am thankful for the kit lense that it came with. :) I take pictures whenever and wherever I can. I'm the girl that carries her big, honking camera pretty much everywhere (athough, I have slacked some because the camera on my Droid is pretty good quality). I'm excited that next month I'll have the opportunity to shoot my little sister's engagement photos! We're going to the beach. I think it'll be so much fun. Here are just a few photos that I've taken lately with family and friends.

A spontaneous "bridal" shoot I did with my friend Jen.

My filmmaking brother-in-law in SC during Christmas.

Christmas photos of my little friend, Asher.

One of those "hold out your hand" snapshots of me and my love.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! ...probably not. :)