Planting Trees and Psalm 148

On Friday night we were able to plant 18 trees in Grandpa Ferguson's pasture under indecisive clouds. I took these pictures shortly before watering the black hills spruce trees and wrapping the aspens so the deer won't eat them. It will be interesting to see if they survive, and if we can water them enough during a possibly dry summer.

I was inspired by both the clouds, which look like waves of water, and the prairie grass and my brother BJ's corn (which apparently is dying because it needs water), which both echo and contrasted the sky. Then Saturday afternoon, while the boys were napping, I found these words from Psalm 148 which reflect the the visual inspiration with scripture.

If you click on the picture, it should enlarge so you can read the words better.

Here is the blog post with pictures of my brothers building the ponds in December 2010. 
http://www.ochsnerfamily.blogspot.com/2010/12/building-pond.html

New Photography Blog

Just a note to my blog readers (pretty sure mostly my family) that I now have a separate blog for Becky Ochsner Photography that I use to post updates related to my business.  Here is the link:

http://www.beckyochsnerphotography.com/blog/

I'll see if I'm able to put a link to it on the side of this blog so that you can easily link to see sneak peaks of recent photo sessions and announcements.  So much on the way!

Tulip Time 2012

 {Above image taken of the square in Pella during April, when the tulips were in bloom}

This time of year I start getting hungry for Tulip Time food - funnel cake, spiced beef on a stick, ribeye sandwhich, and the Asian food booth on the west side of the square in Pella.  The first year back in Iowa it was fun to introduce Brian to Tulip Time food, since he claims Orange City Tulip Time isn't anything like Pella's, and it wasn't really a part of the tradition each year like it was for me.  We look forward each year taking our family, enjoying the festival, and being a part of the community.

He does claim that he went on a date with someone who was the Tulip Queen in Orange City.  Funny thing is, every time I ask him what his memories are of Orange City Tulip Time, that is the only thing he can come up with.  It could be that it is the only thing I remember him saying too.  That is probably the case.

We are looking forward to watching the Tulip Time parade tonight in Pella, IA.  They usually start right before dark, so our kids will be in "crazy because its past bed time" mode.  They will love the bands, lighted floats, candy being thrown, and of course ask lots and lots of questions about everything.

After walking a bit from food stand to food stand, maybe meeting old friends who are also usually in the throws of keeping track of their kids, we'll grab coffee and find a spot to sit that gives us good access to the street to grab candy, and gracious neighbors who don't mind rowdy boys.  Neither of us grew up dressing up in dutch costumes, so we haven't really gotten into that tradition with our kids, though it would be very cute to get pictures of them dressed up in the future.  Probably should work on that before they get too old and protest.

And just in case they go on a date with a Tulip Queen in the future. 

I'll point out the "Future Queens" float to Ezra tonight and see what he says. 

Like me, he's probably more worried about eating good food.

Contentment

Learn to like what doesn’t cost much.

Learn to like reading, conversation, music.

Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.

Learn to like fields, trees, woods, brooks,fishing, hiking and exploring.

Learn to like life for its own sake.

Learn to like work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well as it can be done.

Learn to like the song of birds, the companionship of dogs, and laughter and gaiety of children.

Learn to like gardening, carpentering,  puttering around the house and lawn, and being creative.

Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the sound of the rain on the roof and wind and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.

Learn to keep your wants simple. 

Refuse to be owned and anchored by things and opinions of others.

Lean above all, to make God the most important part of your life.


About a year ago I found this poem at my Aunt Julie's house, hanging by her kitchen sink.  I copied it and took it home, and hung it near my kitchen sink for a few months, then on my bathroom mirror, and then I brought it to my desk to do something more with it, to give it a little more life, and maybe make it easier to remember. 

{Click on to enlarge}


I could not find the original author, only that it was on the back of an obituary many years ago, though Aunt Julie's mom, who owns Camp Creation near Leighton, IA, changed some phrases in it.

I posted this poem on my blog about a year ago, and got responses from friends who really appreciated it.  So I thought some might enjoy reading it again.

I've been collecting things I find on contentment over the past year, but was impacted by one line in worship last week Sunday.  During the responsive reading of The Law, the congregation spoke, "We will be content through any circumstance, because of the strength of Christ with in us."

As a response to the tenth commandment, "Thou Shall Not Covet," we committed to being content.  And then I thought of this poem again, and pulled it out of the folder I had filed it in.

We're Back

I have taken a break from my blog. A nearly three month break, and I'm back.  I took some extra time to invest in other areas like photography, reading, and organizing my home for a once-every-five-years type of garage sale that was successful. 

Here are a few images that capture just a handful of moments during the past three months.

Unseasonable warm weather during March was a gift for our family of need-to-go-outside-all-the-time boys (and mom).  We went fishing.

 

I went on a Spring Break trip to serve in DesMoines with our youth group. Brian stayed home with the kids.

 

I photographed a very precious girl turning one.

 

We picked wild daffodils with cousins on an abandoned farm in the woods.

 

We helped organize the seed shed with Grandpa in the warm March weather, and asked a thousand times when it would be warm enough to swim in the farm pond.

 

I photographed a little man who had stunning red hair under this pilot hat.

 

Took pictures on Easter morning on the church lawn.

I purchased a new lens for Real Estate photography, and practiced on one of my favorite worship spaces in Pella.  I hope to photograph worship spaces more, and create a collection of images of church architecture over the next years.  The course I most enjoyed in seminary was called, Music and the Arts in Christian Worship, where we studied how space speaks our theology, and understanding of God.

Then photographed the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Sioux City, IA for my first professional Real Estate photography session.  This hotel is beautiful. For more images of this hotel, see the "IOWA REAL ESTATE" section of my website at www.beckyochsnerphotography.com 

Real Estate photography is especially useful when space needs to sell, for hospitality venues, selling homes, and commercial properties as well.  I've always enjoyed architecture, and have done a lot of reading and research about photographing space.

We did some off-roading.

Photographed my niece, who was three months old. 

 Ended a lot of church programming, like coffee break, 412 youth group, and home builders, opening up a little more free family time.  This is our end of the year party with homebuilders. 

 Took pictures of the tulips in Pella while they were nice.  Zach is checking out the Molengraght.

And we survived my husband's back going out a few weeks ago.  I didn't take any pictures of it.  But you can imagine it wasn't fun at all.  We were glad to see the wheel chair go.  Though I think the boys would have enjoyed it becoming a ride on toy for the church drive way.  We gave it back.

And so, just a handful of things that have been happening.  I did turn 29 years old a few weeks ago.  And Elliot reminded me that even though it was my birthday, HIS birthday was next! 

Learning New Things

There is no end to learning new things in the photography field. I heard a quote somewhere that creativity is only limited by knowledge.  So in other words, creativity requires learning new things.  I've been learning about Real Estate Photography the past few weeks, and enjoying pressing my learning curve.  It isn't simple, and is actually quite complex to explain, so I won't try to describe it.

Basically it creates dynamic images, bringing out the details of the subject.  I've been using it some for my farm photography.

I was first introduced to it when we needed to sell our house in Grand Rapids.  We had one of the best, smartest, real estate agents ever, who also happened to help us find and purchase our house in 2006, and went to our church.  He photographed our house, and we sold our house in just a few months in the WORST real estate market - Michigan in 2009/10.  I know God had something to do with it too.

I used my parents cabin for my first attempt.  What do you think? 

Color Palettes, Day 6

Color Palettes, Day 5

Color Palettes, Day 4

And a picture of my brother Mark's equipment under the overcast sky.

Color Palettes, Day 3

Color Palettes, Day 2

Here are my Color Palette posts for Day 2!  To see a description of this project, see post on Day 1.

Photo Color Palettes, Day 1

The other day when I was hanging some photography in my living room, I began wondering how possible it would be to create paint colors for home use out of my images.  First, because it would accent the image, and second, because it would be meaningful to use a paint color for your home that was customized to a memorable experience.

I did a few this afternoon, and FELL IN LOVE!  Now, I'm not going to be repainting any of the parsonage, it was all done in the remodel.   BUT, I think it would be fun to present options to my clients for their own use.  HOW COOL!  It was all I could do to stop creating color palettes out of my favorite images.  It was like the first time I learned CRAYOLA introduced the box of 96 crayons.

I will post a few new on my blog each day this week.  For a teaser, the color palettes posted later this week include, Coalmine Hole, Farm Boy, Snakeweed, and Lake Michigan along with others!  Enjoy!

The image above is from Pella Tulip Time, 2011.

The image above was taken by my grandma Ferguson of my brothers and I around 25 years ago.  It has always been a favorite.

The image above was taken last October along the side of Brian and I's rented 40 acre bean field.