Photography

I'm intrigued.... I want to start taking more pictures with my Nikon camera. I'll let you know how it goes. You may see more photos on here from time to time. Just thought I would share!

Holding onto Time

Happy Sunday to all! It has been a great weekend so far. J and I went to Sebastian, FL for two days for a little getaway trip. We went down on Friday night and spent the night. It was so nice to be able to be together in another place besides Orlando. We are very mindful of the time we have been given, right now, just us two. We want to savor every single second of being a family of two before we start having kids. Life is so easy for us right now. We can come and go as we please. We can take weekend trips to the beautiful coast or even a day at the beach. We can come home from work, go to the gym, and cuddle up together on the couch to watch some of our favorite shows. It's so nice. My prayer for us right now is to enjoy THIS moment of our story. I love it and don't want to rush it. This is a moment in time that we can never recreate once we have kids. So for now, I am holding onto the time I have with just my husband. I'm holding onto it because I love this man more every single day.

Have a great day! Enjoy the extra hours of sunshine! :)

Finding Joy...where there seems to be none.

This is quite possibly one of the most difficult times yet to date. I can't simply put into words the haziness and the pain I feel on a daily basis. My eyes are welling up with tears as I write this, but I am convinced that getting it out on paper as depressing as it seems will benefit me. I have blogged before about life as a Child Life Specialist. It is a job that I believe, changes the world as we know it. I know it sounds extreme. Bear with me. I feel exhausted. I feel like I have surpassed the possibility of ever having enough strength to do my job the way that God intends for it to be done. My heart huts. My heart hurts...all....the....time. Lately, it seems to stay, to linger. I have experienced more death in the last ten weeks than I have ever hoped for in a lifetime. I have witnessed 10 precious children die. Yes, 10 kids gone in 10 weeks. The math is simple. 1 kid approximately a week. As it would seem, some weeks we have had no deaths. And unfortunately, some... we have had multiple deaths. I have no strength left. Literally. I wake up every morning begging for God's mercy on today. I ask him ever so gently, Lord please provide a day that I don't experience yet another child returning to you. I know deep down it is a good thing. I know all kids who die go to heaven. I am truly convinced of that. It doesn't make it any easier on the caregivers, muchless the families.

I adore my job. I get the humbling opportunity to hold families up while they beg God to heal their child. I snuggle babies, love on kids, and hang out with teenagers. It really is a privilege. But, it is extremely heartbreaking and draining. In July, I will have done this job for 5 years. I am blessed to have worked with hundreds of families who have changed my life. I just need a lot of healing right now. I need a lot of mending.

Please pray that my heart would begin to heal in order to serve the hundreds of families yet to walk into our doors.

We have a new NIECE!!!

We have another addition to the West family....Parker Olivia West. Congratulations Jason and Ana on your first baby girl. :) We are so proud of you guys and can't wait to make tons of fun memories with little Miss West.

Happy 6 Months!

Jack and I have officially been married over six months and it has been absolutely wonderful. I love him more and more every day that I am blessed to share my journey with him. He is the best husband I could ask for and I am blessed to have him in my life. Here's to many more months and years with the most amazing man I know.

Picture Entry

I decided to take a break from Facebook in December. It is now February and I'm doing well with it, although I do miss posting pictures about my life. I like being able to share with my friends and family what's going on in the West household. I hope you enjoy the following pictures!

A New Year, A New Year of Surrender

Happy 2011. I believe that this is going to be a WONDERFUL year. Last year was fabulous. In 2010, I traveled to several different places and was blessed to have married the absolute love of my life. It was a year that will be remembered very vividly for the rest of my life. I was given the humbling gift of becoming Mrs. Jack West. At this point, we have been married for five months and have loved every minute of it. We put in so much work towards our relationship prior to marriage and it has been an investment that served us well. We are excited about what is to come for us in 2011.

My heart is dedicating 2011 as a year of "surrender." I am surrendering my life to the son of God, my Redeemer, my faithful Father. I am surrendering my marriage to God in hopes that he will continue to bless us as we put him first and foremost above ourselves. I am surrendering myself, my heart, my desires, my needs, and my wants to the One whose will is above and beyond more than I can even imagine.

I have decided to start my year off a little differently than other years. I am dedicating myself to a newness that brings me peace, hope, and energy. I am sorting through the thoughts and emotions and finding the REAL ME this year. My prayer is that I will no longer conform to the ways of this world, but will follow the One who created me and therefore find who I am. There have been so many times in my life that I have shifted my thinking to become who others want me to be instead of finding out who I really am and surrendering it to God. I am dedicating more time to reading, crafting, and finding what really energizes me. I want to continue to create a home for Jack and me. This means finding what we love, what works for us, and going with it.

I am starting off this year with a new book. It was a Christmas present from my husband. I know this book truly changed Jack's focus of thinking and I am excited to experience what God wants me to learn through it.


Interestingly and ironically enough, the first chapter is called "The Freedom We Surrender...and the Heritage That Sets Us Free."
Here's to another year, but one that will hopefully be different, one that falls closer to God.

Happy New Year!