A New Home

For all of you lovelies who have read this blog at some point or another or even followed it, I will be switching to our new blog now that i'm married and a Lucht!

The blog will be a place for updates on our lives, a place for shared DIY ideas and the latest recipes that we're trying out, as well as a sounding board for our thoughts.


Go have a look-see:

We Lucht Out

A New Home

For all of you lovelies who have read this blog at some point or another or even followed it, I will be switching to our new blog now that i'm married and a Lucht!

The blog will be a place for updates on our lives, a place for shared DIY ideas and the latest recipes that we're trying out, as well as a sounding board for our thoughts.


Go have a look-see:

We Lucht Out

DIY: Simple n' Sweet Favor Tags

Wedding planning is in full swing, and I thought I'd post a DIY as i'm working on some details for our big day. Instead of ordering them, or ordering labels for them, I decided to look around for everyday items with which to make our favor tags. 

#1: Shipping tags w/ a reinforced hole. [You can get these at your local office supply store.]

[The ones I chose to use are 2 3/4" x 1 3/8". There are bigger ones if you prefer to make larger tags.]

 #2: Get a stamp that suits your personal style and gets your point across. I found this adorable little thing for a buck at Michael's. Make sure you have one of the tags with you, so you can make sure that your stamp will fit on the tags. 

#3: Get ink--feel free to use one of your wedding colors or a complementary color of choice.

#4: All you need to do is ink your stamp (make sure to do a test run on a scrap piece of paper), and press down firmly. Voila:

These are so easy and affordable to make! Have fun!

P.s. I stamped mine on both sides, so I wouldn't have to worry about having to twist and turn the tags to get the right side to show on the favors. 

I am a cheater.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

I cheat you of your God-given destiny...because

you demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment...because you

"deserve better than this."

I cheat you of knowledge...because you already

know it all.

I cheat you of healing...because you're too full of

me to forgive.

I cheat you of holiness...because you refuse to 

admit when you're wrong.

I cheat you of vision...because you'd rather look 

in the mirror than out a window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship...because

nobody's going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love...because real romance

demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven...because you

refuse to wash another's feet on earth.

I cheat you of God's glory...because I convince

you to seek your own.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

You like me because you think I'm lways looking

out for you. Untrue.

I'm looking to make a fool of you.

God has so much for you, I admit, but don't worry...

If you stick with me

You'll never know.

-Beth Moore

I'll start and end with that.  I'm going to chew on this. 

You know--we all have "friends" that struggle with this... 

May we experience grace that will lead us to freedom through humility.

Today in Pictures: Staycation.

I'm still very much adapting to living at my parents' again. As i'm trying to figure it out, i'm exploring places that i've already known with new eyes.

With that being said, here's how I staycayed today...

---a good read in a good seat---

---sun-basking---

---vitamin D dosage---

---lovely little beauties--- 

...all in the comfort of the backyard.

Solitary Refinement

Although it can feel like a prison, solitude is actually a discipline that has its main function in being a means of grace. This is very much where I am right now with all the transitions in my life--leaving things, moving out of places, ending jobs, saying goodbye's... I'm not telling you this in a "poor me" kind of tone, but rather I say it because I know that despite what I feel (both justified and some unjustified emotions), God is at work. By no means is the process easy, but I know it's well worth it. And in the midst of it all, I am learning (though sometimes i'm not the most gracious learner) to trust Him despite the illusions my uncertain external circumstances may paint for me.

Henry Nouwen eloquently states what i'm going through quite well in these few snippets (emphasis mine):

"As soon as we are alone,...inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distraction manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This makes the discipline of solitude all the more important." 

"It is this nothingness (in solitude) that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. The task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone. The wisdom of the desert is that the confrontation with our own frightening nothingness forces us to surrender ourselves totally and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ." 

"solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and God alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that God is actively present in our lives-- healing, teaching and guiding-- we need to set aside a time and space to give God our undivided attention. (Matt 6:6)"  

We are not confined in solitude--but rather, we are being refined. I pray that by His grace, we--I-- give Him room to do so. 

"They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles. They will run and never faint." Thanks for the reminder, Isaiah.

Hodge Podge Friday: I love the mailman.

Ok, Ok, maybe the mailwoman and the occasional FedEx person. I don't know if our postal worker is male or female, but I do know that I love him/her.

1. Goodies that have come in the mail in the last week and a half:

My wedding shoes :D

Three cardio, interval workouts in a box:

Inspiring snail mail:

Engagement Pictures Set 1:

Engagement Pictures Set 2:

2. A lasting utterance from this past week:

"Being disoriented is good; it causes you to stop and be still--to really sit in the presence of the Father."

- Professor Liang

3. My current state with everything that's going on:

Disoriented. Well, at least know I know it's a good thing ;). 

4. Here is one of the pictures that I took of one of my best friends, Becca, this past week:

You can see the rest here: Life With [ED]

Have a great weekend! A few more final projects, a lot more moving, and i'll be more sane by my next entry--hopefully :). 

Blogg[ED].

A little dabble here. A little dabble there. I've finally started a separate blog for just photography-related posts. It's not just a blog for pictures, it's represents a lot that Dave and I will transition into once we're married--working as a team. The site is appropriately named "Life With [ED]." [ED]= Elizabeth+David--aka Team [ED].

I've been blessed with various jobs here and there--shooting engagement pictures, family portraits, even weddings (crazy!). We're really excited to see how God continues to shed light onto this part of our adventure. Dave has the business savvy mind, so it's been really encouraging to have him help me along the way with pursuing this as a more-than-just-a-creative-outlet type of thing. To be completely honest, there have been times when I've been a bit iffy about diving into the world of photography as any form of business venture, but there have been affirming moments along the way. Plus, life's all about faith.

I'm learning faith right now.

We're both learning faith.

Insert leap here: ___________.


We'd love the support; check out the new blog and follow us!

"We Made Teacher Cry."

I told them earlier on in the semester that I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad, I cry when I'm mad, and that I cry when I'm feeling about almost any other strong or noteworthy (sometimes) emotion. Although I didn't want to bank on the fact that I would, I had a feeling that I'd end up crying in front of my adult-aged students at the end of the semester--not because I was mad or frustrated. Instead, I'd be crying some mix of happy and sad tears--happy because the semester had been such a great experience and sad because I was going to miss my students AND because it'd mark the last class I'd teach at the American Language Institute at CSULB. 


With finishing my master's program, moving home to live with my parents for a few months before the wedding, and getting married, I find that I'm saying goodbye to a job that I love, friends who I adore, and a city that i've called home for the last 6 years. I had told my students this, and they decided to say goodbye in the sweetest fashion ever:

Next to each one of their pictures, they each wrote a note expressing their thanks and wishing me (and Dave) all sorts of  happy wishes for the upcoming wedding :). 

The minute my student Will pulled this cork-board-creation out of his bag, I knew that the tears were going to flow freely.


Grammar 3 Students,


Thank you for investing your time into this class.
Thank you for inspiring to be a better teacher.
Thank you for making me laugh.
Thank you for making me cry ;).
Thank you for making my last term at the ALI so memorable.
Thank you for blessing me.
Thank you for being such a great class!


I really just hope for each and every one of you that you become lifelong learners--in and out of any kind of school environment. For those of you who are going home, I hope that you take things that you've learned with you. For those of you who are staying here in the United States, I hope that you keep those things near as you continue to build on them. 


Love,


Liz

2 Moms+ 2 Photographers+ 2 Friends= One Engagement Shoot Blogged TWO ways!

This past weekend, Dave and I were able to experience something that is hard to put into words. Neither one of us are the editorial, really-good-in-front-of-the-camera type of person (well, at least i'm not). When it came time for engagement pictures, we weren't sure what our experience was going to be. Instead of having us pose, Rosina and Sarah showed us that they are on a photographic journey to capture couples as they are, to facilitate space for couples to just be, and to create an environment where couples are able to look back on that day and remember exactly what they were feeling towards each other and the adventure that led them up to that point. Thank you for capturing memories, and helping us make some new ones. We laughed, we cried, we sang, we danced; and in the best sense possible, it was almost as though Dave and I were the only two people in that beautiful field. That just goes to show how natural and easy it is to be around both Rosina and Sarah.

Thank you for being on a mission to celebrate love by way of capturing REAL moments. Your creative eyes are only outmatched by your beautiful hearts. You've blessed us with pictures that we'll be able to look at and reminisce with "for as long as we both shall live." I know it sounds cheesy, but the hope and knowledge of forever are anything but. 

Go check out their full blog posts from the shoot!

Rosina's post:

Sarah's post:

I was telling Dave my hope of these images being reflective of what the rest of our lives will be like--full of laughter, worship, and love. :)Amen.

In a Field With Trees

On March 12, 2011, I became a fiance when my Dave asked me to marry him in a beautifully crafted tree house--perfectly situated in a lovely field full of trees!!! Since things have been pretty hectic with my last semester of school, I'll post about that ASAP.  Until I can follow through with that, I'll more than gladly show you two sneak peak shots from two amazingly talented, easy-going photographers I get to call friend and now new friend :). Thank you, Rosina and Sarah. We're so excited and thankful that you're going to be there for our wedding! Just looking at these pictures makes me giddy! 


I'll be sure to post more about the ahhh-mazing e-shoot experience once the other pictures are ready to go!


'Til then:

a la Sarah:

 a la Rosina: 

I CANNOT wait to see what kind of wonderfulness they come up with! 


To be continued... 

Holly and Paul--Married!

Although it's true that a couple's wedding day is about them, it's also about so much more than that: It's about friends, family, community, love, and the rest of their marriage. Those facets of a wedding celebration were very much evident at Paul and Holly's wedding this past weekend. Despite the blustering winds, family and friends excitedly came together to celebrate this couple. It was an honor to be a part of their day as Holly is the mother/mother-in-law to two of my very dear friends. Congratulations to the both of you. Your adventure in one of God's greatest gifts has already begun :). 

And this about sums up their whole day 

and the rest of their days: 

Pointed hat. Poignant Words. Point, for the Archbishop.

I can't wait to see it!

We're camping out!

I couldn't care less about it!

Am I the only who doesn't care about this royal wedding?

I can't wait to see what Catherine's going to wear!

No, Prince Will, it should have been me! 

Are you serious? I have better things to do than watch this.

Wherever you stand on the issue, there's no denying that the Royal Wedding caused quite the commotion. Did I stay up into the wee hours to watch it? Nope. Do I have an opinion about people who did stay up to watch it? No, not really. Do I have an opinion about people who thought it was a complete waste of time? Meh, I guess not. 


What I do have to say is this: My interest wasn't piqued because millions of people were watching, because the whole of a country deemed it a national holiday, or because the Prince was marrying a commoner. My interest was piqued because I heard a news anchorman say, "I can't believe how spiritual the ceremony was. It was rather surprising. Maybe it's because Europe has been in some challenging times lately."


Right after those words were uttered, he continued to talk about how the Archbishop of Canterbury had said something along the lines of all weddings being royal because all men and women are children of the Creator [King]. My jaw dropped. I think it's because I don't often hear profound things said on the news. Not only that, the whole sermon the bishop shared for their wedding was apparently an incredibly one (I'm taking the word of credible sources on that one for the time being). For such a broadcasted event, I can't help but think how amazing it is that so many people got to hear that message. Some may call it such a "spiritual" ceremony, but I think it really boils down to the bishop truthin' it up. A historical event threaded with powerful words of truth is something we don't come by too often anymore--especially when it comes to marriage and covenant. 


I don't know the now Duke or Duchess, but I do hope and pray that those words ring true in the depths of their hearts. What an example that would be for the rest of their country, and in many ways, the rest of the world because there will be echoes of this event in days and years to come. 


Thank you, Archbishop. Really, my hats off to you. 

Chew On It!

His 

faithfulness 

finds 

its 

home 

in 

us.

"Whoa!" is right!

A Series of Sweet Surprises

Summary:

Spring break.

Sweet friends.

Sleepovers.

Starling Diner.

Summery-weather in the springtime.

Sand between my toes.

Sassy, silly little girls.

A series of sweet surprises, indeed. I'm on my final spring break as a student for a while. Although I still have work, i'm doing what I can to make it feel as "spring breaky" as possible. Long Beach is a great place to be for such an occasion.


[An aside: This is my sixth year in Long Beach, and it's a place that has earned a sweet, sweet spot in my heart. I love the character, I love the people, I love the memories that I've made here. Some things have come to an end, and many things have been birthed here. Today was just a reminder of all of those things.Cheers to you, Long Beach. Thank you for being a momentous memory bank for me.]


In the midst of running around, laughing, watching kids lose themselves in their land of play and swim in mud-like sand, I found myself so, so thankful for the sweet life that I'm getting to take a part of right now. 


Here are some pictures of my friend Katy's kiddos. Friends clad in bathing suits and spending time together during the springtime made for a great environment in which to snap some shots of these sweet girls (who are growing up way too fast!). They are such reminders of what it means to be beautiful and free: 

 [The picture below CRACKS me up--I just hear thumpin' runway music playing whenever I look at Soph struttin' her stuff!]

A no-complaints Wednesday. I hope yours was just as great :).

Caley and Jordan

Six years ago, Caley met Jordan at friend's birthday party where he was DJing up a storm. Apparently Jordan wasn't just smooth with the beats because they have been together ever since. With that being said, they're making it official this coming August!


Caley's sense of humor and Jordan's cool-as-a-cucumber attitude made them a joy to work with. It's undeniable that they love each other, love laughing with each other, and have an ease with each other that's contagious. 


Here's to the future Mr. and Mrs.
[Can we say future cute kiddos??]:

Just in case you're wondering, 

those are Caley's Jimmy Choo's that are making 

a peek-a-boo appearance :)

  

 This might be one of my favorites of them:

 No, I didn't tell them to pretend to play tic-tac-toe.

 It was totally their idea :). 
Oh, and I think Caley let Jordan win.

Thanks again, you two, for letting me take your pictures. I can't wait 'til August!