Everything that is great about my FAVORITE season.

Weather, weather, weather.  It’s the most frowned upon conversation and it happens every day to every single one of us.  Around this time of the year the talk of the town is the weather and how it is too hot, too cold or too indecisive.  Well I feel like I've been having the weather conversation with everyone recently and I always get asked what my favorite season is.  The question has always been followed up with a long pause and then a long preface explaining why I liked all the seasons.  Well I will no longer be pausing after being asked this question; I have my answer and it is fall.  There are several reasons for this answer but rather than boring you with my love for trees, shades of oranges and reds, football season and I am going to jump to…

For the longest time I have said that the Saturday before Halloween was my favorite day of the entire year and I am sticking to it.  It is my favorite day because when I was in sixth grade, sitting in the back seat of my dad's old car, listening to U2's "All You Can Leave Behind" album, wearing a black volleyball jersey with a red ribbon in my hair, I felt a joy and happiness that I will never forget.  The sun was radiant, the smell of leather and coffee was lingering as I sung my heart out to Beautiful Day with my dad and sister.  It's almost like the day knows I am excited for it's arrival, because it has yet to disappoint me; it's always that perfect 70 degrees and the sun shows up ever year.  

I got to go home for the first time in 2 months this past weekend and it was just wonderful.  There is nothing in the world that can compare to pulling back the bedspread on your bed and seeing your favorite sheets sitting there all warm and ready for you to snuggle up in them, now that was one heck of a sleep.  Then to wake up in the morning to the smell of baked apples, biscuits and bacon is a joy in itself.  Wow, home is great.  I've come to realize that my parents LOVE to buy me things when I am home, weather it's clothes or grocery's they shove things in my hands and tell me to get more, this is one of the many perks of waiting two months to come home.  I'm not complaining.  A delicious dinner can always be expected on Saturday nights and of course my sister and I get to choose what the family eats, so all day we go through our options, the anticipation builds and then there it is: the best grilled chicken in the world, fluffy mashed potatoes, about 3 pounds of broccoli and the best kind of bread around.  Now home is great, but home is even better in the fall.  Mom had the house decorated with all things Halloween, the leaves on the pretty tree in front of my window were starting to fade into a pretty orange and I got to take a fat nap on my favorite couch with football playing in the background.  Pumpkins are all over the town, signs for Fall festivals are hung at every corner, haunted house advertisements are on half of the billboards and the whole world is crisp and familiar.  Home, home, home.  

Highlights from my weekend include: Jumping up and down and screaming my face off with my sister during the Tech/TCU game (welcome to the big 12 TCU!!), shopping with my dad, getting to hug my very best friend and my absolute favorite was helping my mom get ready for her Halloween party.  

A while back my mom told me she had been going to this dance/workout class, well a few weeks ago she told me the truth; her and a bunch of other ladies were really practicing the Thriller dance.  The purpose behind learning this dance was so they could flashmob at this Halloween party!  Can I be that cool please?  My mom dressed up as a zombie and my dad was a news director who got murdered with a clapboard, he had an entire script written up on his shirt and he wore the clapboard around all night.  It was so much fun helping them get ready.  I admire how much the two of them seek out fun.  They are too precious.  

Dad ironed on all of these cool news related things to make his costume super real. 

We could not get over how cheesy "gory gash" sounded! 

How creative is this? 

We found red "blood" sprayed all OVER the house after mom & dad left

Applying the gory gash. That stuff was sickkkk! 

My. Favorite. Picture. EVER. 

You can't read it, but he typed out an entire script that would have been read, had it been true BREAKING NEWS! 

Coolest parents around!! 

I haven't left my bed in 7 hours.

All I wanted to do today was eat fajitas (the Hispanic club is to blame) and go see Taken 2.  I hate One The Border and I was craving their fajitas, I had checked showtimes and had mentally prepared myself to go see this movie.  The only issue with all of this was that I did not have anyone to partake on my afternoon adventures with.  Once I set my mind on something I am determined to make it happen, it's the way my brain works.  If the thought of frozen yogurt pops in my head, I will be thinking about it until I eat frozen yogurt, if I tell myself I want a certain kind of necklace I will think about that necklace until it is in my possession.  This has served as a sever issue.  I had myself convinced I was going to eat fajitas and see this movie today even if I was going to do it by myself. 

I was walking to my car hoping someone would randomly call me, text me, see me and say, "Hey Heather, I am craving fajitas & I really want to go see this movie! Do you have anything going on this afternoon?"  I honestly believed that was going to happen, HA.  Well I ended up at home, sitting at my kitchen table with the same sandwich I eat twice a day and Grey's Anatomy on the TV.  I was let down, I was legitimately upset at my current situation and at myself for getting my own hopes up.  

After lunch I crawled in bed and watched more Grey's Anatomy, took a two hour nap, woke up, watched more Grey's Anatomy, read, caught up on all the blogs I follow and wallowed a little bit.  The reason I am telling you all this is because I hate wasting my days!  I got plenty of sleep last night, a whopping 9 hours, I was not tired when I got in bed this afternoon, but I slept anyway.  I wanted to go on an adventure today, I wanted to enjoy this cool weather my heart has been ACHING for, I wanted to have fun & make the most out of a plan-free Friday afternoon/evening.  Well none of that happened, I am still in bed.  I have gotten up for water and to grab my camera so I could capture my oh-so-eventuful Friday in bed.  

I have been trying this whole "having fun" thing out and I enjoy it.  "Having fun" means staying up PAST midnight, starting movies at 11 PM, enjoying the company of friends, driving around Lubbock with no where to go and saying "yes" when friends ask me to hang out, despite how tired and worn down I may be.  Before starting my "having fun" spree I was more interested in getting enough sleep than almost anything, I would always ALWAYS put school work first (and although that is important, go have fun, then do school!).  I AM IN COLLEGE, WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?! I need to have fun, I need to be adventurous, I need to enjoy what's left of my college career, so I guess that is why I got so upset that I wasted a perfectly good day in bed being unproductive.  However I really did enjoy it, in hindsight.  I am still a little bitter, but I am well rested…   

Sometimes, well actually all the time, the Lord knows what we need better than we know what we need.  Apparently today I needed sleep.  

[I still have fajitas & Taken 2 on my mind. Someone join me sometime this weekend/week :)] 

My view for the day. 

Wallowing. 

At least I had a good book, cheeze-its, my favorite sweatshirt blanket & "The Stars of Track & Field" to keep me company.  

Photography.

Being born with a camera in your face can cause one of two things to happen; you are either repulsed by photographs or you become obsessed with them.  From second 1 of my life, until now, I've had every minor detail and every major detail of my life photographed or video taped.  

My grandfather the photographer.

My Grandaddy and Nana owned a wedding shop in San Antonio called 'Julio Vera' back in the day.  Nana would do the invitations, dresses and wedding planning while my Grandaddy was back in the darkroom developing photos.  I don't know too much about him, but I do know he was an incredible photographer.  My dad tells stories of helping out in the dark room, stories of how difficult it was to transfer the prints over to canvas, stories about the chemicals and stories about how intrigued he was by all of it.  I've seen a few pictures developed by my grandfather and besides the fact that they are beautiful photos, they were taken by the man who inspired my father, who inspired me to love photography.  

My father the photographer.

I swear my father prefers to see things through the lens of a camera than with his own two eyes.  Every single event my siblings and I have ever been too or taken part in has been documented.  I mean seriously, EVERY SINGLE THING EVER that I have EVER participated in has a photo to go with it.  I don't want to say I hated the constant snapping of the camera, but I didn't necessarily enjoy pulling over on the side of the road to take bluebonnet pictures every year, or being embarrassed as my father took a first day of school picture at the flag pole.  I would complain because he would take to long to adjust his settings and the sun would be in my face and I didn't understand why every little thing I did had to be accompanied by a photo.  

Me, the amateur photographer. 

My sophomore year of high school I decided to take photojournalism as an elective class.  At this point I was asking my dad more about the photos he was taking rather than being annoyed by them and I was excited about using his old film camera because all I had ever shot with was a point and shoot.  The class was a blow off and I still kick myself for not utilizing the information I was being taught, but I did love the class.  The dark room was the coolest thing ever and I would have loved to just live in there, seriously LIVE in their.  After the class was over I had officially caught the photography bug.  Only 2 or 3 of my friends had an SLR camera, so I asked them questions and that's when I asked for a fancy camera.  For Christmas the following year my dad handed down his Cannon D20 to me & he invested in something WAY cooler.  He spent lots of time teaching me the basics of aperture, F-stops, ISO's and all that other photog lingo.  I had learned a lot in photo class, but I enjoyed being taught by father.  

For the next few years I would shoot around for fun, taking pictures of friends, animals, nature and anything else I thought was cool.  I then got asked to do my very first real photo session and I was thrilled; my dad let me borrow his camera, lens' and flash sending me out the door with some last minute tips.  I then got to learn all about photoshop and man was I overwhelmed.  I've been absolutely blessed to do sessions for several different families at super cool locations.  Every time someone asks me to take pictures for them I am unbelievably humbled.  Are you sure you don't want someone more experienced, with a nicer camera and nicer software?  Today the Lord spoke to me in a very special way while driving home from a session.  

He told me: "Heather I have given you a special eye for photography.  This is something that is special to you, so it is special to me.  You are blessing these families with pictures they can cherish forever.  You are sharing the love you have for Me, with them as you spend time with these people.  Allow them to be a blessing to you as well.  You are special and your photos are special.  I love how excited you get about lighting and facial expressions.  Continue forward and never doubt the talents I have blessed you with."

Touche God, touche.  

There is nothing in the world that compares to getting the perfect shot.  There are always one or two photos that are better than all the rest.  Here are my three favorites from today!!  

Don't you just want to love this baby forever?  Look at those pretty blues!! 

#United2012 (my best friend is a superstar)

One of the down sides of graduating high school is that you will never have a REAL summer again.  When I say a real summer I mean that they will be filled with work, work, school and work and school again.  Lucky for me I can only speak for the work part (I will never have to take summer school, SCORE), but the days of sleeping until 3 and staying out crazy late are brought to a minimum.  I have had 2 REAL days of summer this year, it's almost August…  Along with getting my summer taken away I've been mourning the 'death' of mission trip and camp.  My two favorite weeks of the year, never to happen again.  When I say mourning, I mean tears and lots of laying face down on the floor.

Lucky for me, this year my church decided to do a community mission trip.  They worked within our county, rather than traveling to a different state.  Such a fantastic thought.  Of course, I was working so I couldn't help out as much as I would have liked to, but I got to attend worship and the message all week which was a sweet sweet treat for many reason.  

Reason number 1:  I love my church so so so so much, any time I get to spend with those people is a special time. 

Reason number 2: Time travel.  Sitting in that pew listening to Johnny Brower, the great, speak truth, brought me right back to those precious times of Breakaway and mission trips before.  If someone were to walk up to me and tell me I was a Sophomore in high school, I would have believed them.   

Reason number 3:  Seeing my brother worship and lead in prayer.  Swoon.

My favorite reason:  Watching my very best friend lead worship every night.  She was leading in songs we had been singing along to for years.  She was the one on stage and it was so pure and clean and beautiful- so Shelby.  It was just the most special to hear her sing Come Change Our Hearts- Josh Tullis.  One of Shelby and I's favorite songs is Weightless by Natasha Bedingfield, these are some of the lyrics, "Surround yourself with friends who only call you a Superstar."  Well Shelby, I'm not just saying it anymore, you really are a SUPERSTAR.  

Traffic, family & murder in KY.

This is how each family member feels about traffic… 

Hitting traffic on a 12 hour car ride is as inevitable as finding a comfortable sleeping position on a 12 hour car ride.  Our steady 0 mph speed resulted in watching ridiculous youtube videos & taking some pretty funny photos of double chins & goggly eyes. We would also take turns blurting out "shake your butt baby! WORK IT SMOOCHIE!!" and boy oh boy did my father find it hilarious.  If you don't know what youtube video I am referring to, you have lost my respect.  

Normally family reunions are awkward because all of these people know you & you would really rather hide in a corner than talk about yourself or hear about 'funny' stories that took place 20 years before you were born.  When I say 'normally'  I mean that is how I felt about family reunions when I was too young to understand the importance these people had in my grandparents, aunts', uncles' and mom's life, back when I had no interest in any of these people or any of their stories.  However, somewhere between a 3 hour breakfast and watching my Papa break down into a puddle of tears while watching a beautifully put together video of the Frederick family through the years, it was more than just being there because I knew I needed to see these people and spend time with them.  These were the people that my mother was surrounded with growing up, the people that knew her the best as a child, teenager, young adult and now mother of 3 grown children.  That is special.  Plus having my awesome cousins & RIDICULOUS uncle Mark cracking jokes the whole time made for a good ab workout!  Did I mention how bummed I am that I didn't get the pretty Frederick glass blue eye gene?  

Hillbilly Heaven y'all.  If I were a serial killer this is where I would go to have fun. I was convinced we were going to get murdered in this cabin.  Hillbilly Heaven was going to be my resting place & there was nothing I could do about it.  It took 3 gravel roads and an uphill battle (Suburban vs. hill) to reach our cabin. The beautiful cabin overlooked a private lake and was surrounded by unbelievably green Kentucky trees.  After plotting out how we would escape if someone came for us we enjoyed lots of hiking, zip-linning, star gazing, games of CLUE, fishing, story telling and laughing.  The cabin was inspirational & truly indescribable.  The bugs I could have done without, but everything from the sky, grass, trees, clouds & smell was so alive & fresh.  

That was our little adventure to Kentucky! We also stopped off at Mammoth Cave & that was a whole experience in itself.  I slept in 4 different beds last week, after that NOTHING beats coming home & resting my head on my own pillow! 

My best friends wedding.

Now that I am 20 years old I have wisdom & I carry knowledge & sophistication (pshhh).  Along with that wisdom, knowledge & sophistication came my first 'tear jerking I'm-really-proud-of-you moment.' I always laughed at the mom's on Dance Mom's when they would cry after their daughter did an incredible job on stage (who am I kidding, I laugh through the whole show).  But really, you've seen your daughter dance hundreds of times, what's so different about this time?  Proud tears I guess.

Well no, not 'I guess' I now know and understand the emotion of being so proud of someone that salty water wells up in my eyes.  So my freshman year of college I met this really cool girl named Leah.  She was way too pretty & sweet & every boy in the world wanted to date her.  Well this really cool girl named Leah decided that I was pretty cool too so we became best friends.  I got Leah all to myself for about 2-3 months before I had to start sharing her with my friend Brandon.  Lucky for him, I approved.  I more than approved, I got the privilege of being more than just Leah's best friend to Brandon, we built a friendship and it became something I treasured.  I tagged along often, we were 3 pees in a pod.  You know I was there when he asked her out on their first date?  Awkward for me.  I also got to be there when Brandon got down on one knee, in front of a completely empty terminal, to ask sweet Leah to be his bride forever.  

I don't know anything about marriage, because there is no way in heck I am getting married in the next 10 years so my mind is not even in that place but I did catch onto a few things, I mean I was living with a bride-to-be.  Leah was preparing to be a wife & Brandon was preparing to be a husband, that is all I knew & I had to understand that.  

Anyway, onto the good stuff.  I was standing up on the stage in $20 payless shoes & in a really pretty plum dress, Brandon was standing at the alter in his tux & pretty white shoes, You're Beautiful by Phil Wickham was playing & in walked the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.  She was head to toe in a beautiful lace dress, I look over at Brandon & watch one of those 'I'm-going-to-take-over-your-face smiles' do exactly that, take over his face.  Flash backs of redbox runs, family dinners, signs, retreats, Sunday mornings, bathroom talks, cry-fests, scrubs & late night drives to McDonald's started to flood  my mind & my heart, I was overcome & that's when those proud tears began to stream down my face.  I got to watch this relationship unfold from day one & here I was watching it begin all over again.  

I'm really blessed to have these two beautiful people in my life.  You two are young, but your faith is strong & that is what's going to lead you.  I believe in both of you individually & as a couple.  Being able to watch two of my favorite people become one, was such a rewarding experience.  Love you both so much!! 

 Grocery shopping like big kids.

 Brandon & I decided that from this night forward we would be brother & sister.

 Youth Camp with FUMC Carrollton 

 Wesley Spring Retreat.  We hiked in TOMS, cheer shoes & converse. Oh & we almost DIED climbing this rock. 

 We MET each other on this night.  Looks like we've known each other forever, huh? :) 

 The night they got engaged!

Before she became Mrs. Brandon Clark.

Children.

Applying for jobs is a complete drag.  After struggling to find employment last summer I told myself I would stay ahead of the game this time around.  I applied for several nannying jobs, let every person I know that I was home for the summer and that I was able to house sit/ dog sit/ babysit/etc... All that integrity landed me not one, not two, not three but SEVERAL jobs.  Thank you Jesus.

Let me give you the low down on this week:  I have babysat for 2 different families, nannied these 2 precious girls that I get to work with ALL summer, house sat, taken care of 2 different families pets, photo sessions & worked at my church in the nursery.  I'm probably missing something, but anyway... this has been a very busy week and the following will be just as crazy.

I feel like I could be in a movie; shuttling kids around, waking up at dawn to feed dogs, playing barbies and picking play-dough out of my nails.  I am a certified housewife.  Not really, but I mean...

So, I love kids.  Love, love, love.  I love them enough to spend my summer coloring, blowing bubbles, changing diapers, watching ridiculous TV shows and painting wiggly toes and fingers.  You know what else is fun?  Partaking in their imagination:  Today I was able to pull a story out of my butt about a crocodile named Lucy who snuck onto a boat with her penguin friend named Penelope.  I went on and on for 10 minutes, the 2 & 4 year old were appalled & frankly, so was I.  I knew I had an imagination, but really?

So my point... The reason I love kids so much is because of their innocence!  Once the story about Lucy & Penelope was over they continued to ask questions, "well after they arrived in Australia were they able to escape the big black spider?" (Lucy & Penelope had to hide from the big black spider "Blacky" while on board the 'Barton').  These two kids were so invested in the well-being of Lucy & Penelope that they were asking me to continue the story as I was walking out the door.  I envy their innocence and the beauty that holds.

(Imagine this being said in a high pitched tone) "Oh hi mommy, come with me.  I think I am going to make you some dinner" Remember when you would pretend to talk like a baby with a doll and your voice would raise several octaves?  I'm officially THAT girl.  Today I was the baby pony and I was supposed to follow the mom around and do everything she was told.  Of course I had the 4 year old telling me (the baby horse) what to say every other sentence and whenever I tried to add in my own dialogue the four year old would get upset and tell me, "That's not what the baby pony says, she says this..."

Oh and another thing... Yesterday the four year old was able to entertain herself with a purple bracelet for 25 minutes. WHAT?  She used her imagination, turing the bracelet into a hula hoop for her fingers, she pretended it was a flying saucer, then a sun, then a frisbee... She went on and on and on.  I was so impressed by how many different things this bracelet could be turned into.

With all this being said, I am going to try and take on the mindset of a four year old more often.  I am going to blow bubbles because they are pretty, I am going to use blocks to build a castle and I am going to pretend I am buying the oversized dollhouse so the four year old can check me out at the store.  Children are so much fun and I've really enjoyed taking on their perspective this week!