Tips for Taking Passport Photos

We have our passports! I had to change to my married name, and Little Bear of course needed one. They came in the mail yesterday. Of course the first thing I did was flip mine open to see how my picture turned out. Don't tell me you don't do the same thing. My first driver's license picture turned out terrible. I had my hair back in a ponytail so all you could see was my weird little bangs, my glasses were tinted, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat because I had just passed my driving test, and for some reason the flash created shadows between all my teeth so I looked like I had just eaten a spinach salad with extra pepper.  I've learned a few things since then about picture taking for official documents.

Tips for taking passport photos (without looking like a zombie):

1. Wear your hair down. Have you ever thought you were looking at a picture of a bald guy, and then realized it was actually a woman with her hair pulled back in a ponytail? I have. Don't let that be you.

2. Take off your jacket. I know your shoulders barely show in the picture. But inevitably your collar will be crooked, and the extra bulk will make you look like you have no neck.

3. If you have automatic tint glasses, make sure they are clear.

4. Don't ever get glasses that tint automatically in the sun. Your optometrist will try to convince you that they are very convenient and protect your eyes from the sun. Don't believe him. They take forever to go clear again when you walk inside. Everyone will look at you like, "Why is she wearing sunglasses inside?" Your friends might even start to call you Fanny Crosby. Trust me. I know this from experience.

Okay, I know number four doesn't really have anything to do with passport photos. But it's a really good tip anyway, and since I'm just full of practical wisdom, I'd thought I'd share it with you. Well, I'm full of it anyway, you can decide about the wisdom part. Haha

Stone Mountain

Monday our good friends, Eric and Marie Lee, took us on a tour of the great city of Atlanta including a visit to Stone Mountain, dinner at Chow Baby's, and put put golf. First we rode the cable car to the top of Stone Mountain. It sounds kind of redundant to me. Stone. Mountain. But I guess most mountains are made of dirt and rock. This one is just rock. It really is one giant granite stone. The biggest granite rock in the whole world actually. Hence the name...Stone Mountain.

The mountain and park surrounding it have an interesting history. The first tourist attraction, a wooden tower, was built on top of the mountain in 1838. But it blew over in a storm a few years later. Oops. In 1915, somebody got the bright idea to make it into a Confederate monument. So Mr. Borglum got to work carving the head of Robert E. Lee into the face of the mountain. But he made a big stink in the local newspaper about the working conditions and they fired him. So he moved out to South Dakota and carved Mount Rushmore instead. The second guy didn't like the way it looked so he blasted Mr. Borglum's work away and started over. Unfortunately it was hard to get ahead (get it, a HEAD. Never mind) and the carving was not completed until 1972. It really is much bigger than it looks. Legend has it that you could fit a school bus inside Robert E. Lee's ear, but I don't think anyone has ever tried it.

Over the years the park has added many tourist attractions for year round fun including the cable car which we rode to the top. Stone from the mountain has been quarried for buildings all over the world, including the Panama Canal, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, and the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty much every state has a building that was built using granite from Stone Mountain.

Now you know all about Stone Mountain. There will be a quiz at the end of this post.

Just kidding.

Yep, that's us. Even Little Bear gets in on the crazy!

View from the top

Miracle Baby

Bring out the party hats, my baby is nine months old!

Can it really be that just one year ago I was waddling around feeling excited to be finally in my third trimester of pregnancy? And then about four years later I finally went into labor. Haha. Not really, but that's sure what it felt like. After three years of marriage and a miscarriage, I felt like I had waited so long for a baby. We are so thankful for our sweet Little Bear. He truly is a miracle and a gift from our Father.

Little Bear: happy, laid back, observant, cautious

Favorites: anything outside, singing, people, bath time

I love how he's curling up his toes because of the tickly plants.

"My island!"

He is smiling and squealing just watching the water.

Loves his daddy!

Four Years!

Happy Anniversary to us! On March 12, 2011 we began the rest of our life together. In the short time we have been married we have traveled all the way around the world visiting the Bahamas, China, India, and Nepal. We've also been in most of the States including Alaska, moved 12 times, and enjoyed every minute of the time we get to spend together.

We spent our honeymoon on the beach in the Bahamas, so every year we try to do something ocean related like visit an aquarium or eat fancy seafood. It's our little tradition and it makes our anniversary really fun.

This year we spent the day at the Atlanta aquarium. We had such a good time! Little Bear really loved watching all the colorful fish and the other children running around. He even sat still and watched the dolphin show. We were all able to really relax and enjoy the afternoon.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have from the day. All the rest were accidentally deleted along with pictures from the last few months. So sad.

Closet Overhaul

Here it is, my giant pile of clothes. It is probably a sin to have this many clothes. It's been a while since I've sorted through them, and since we will be moving halfway around the world in just a few months I needed to take stock of what I have. We plan on only taking four suitcases total. We may take another if we need to, but we would have to pay extra. My goal over the next couple months is to build a minimal wardrobe, and shop for a few new things to replace what I need that is worn out.

It took me a couple days to sort through it all because everything had to be tried on and evaluated.  I took out all the maternity clothes, and anything too big, too small, or worn out.

 

Isn't he a cutie?

Here's what I ended up with. Apparently I really like blue. So I decided to work with that for now. All of these can be mixed and matched and accessorized for a ton of variety. I'm traveling with just these for the next month. I'll see how it works and modify as needed.

Capsule Wardrobe Model:
9 Shirts
4 Skirts
3 Sweaters
2 Jackets
Total = 18 pieces

Sleeping Like a Baby

Sometimes I wish I had counted how many different beds we have slept in over the past two years. Hundreds, I'm sure. It doesn't bother me really. I can sleep just about anywhere. I definitely would fail the princess and the pea test. Put a pea under my mattress and the only thing that will change is the pea. Just don't mess with my pillows. Mr. Adventure gets a little embarrassed and annoyed that I have to haul my pillow into every hotel, prophet's chamber, and pastor's house. Especially when I was very great with child and insisted on bringing my giant body pillow with me everywhere as well. A girl's gotta get comfy!

He looks so peaceful doesn't he? Sleep is a rare and beautiful thing. Somehow I was under the delusion that babies did a lot of it. That was before Little Bear came along. I have since concluded that sleep is for teenagers and old people and the rest of us don't need it. Especially babies. OK, maybe some babies do it, but not mine. He's too much like his father. After all, who wants to sleep when you could be playing? Ooo, pick me!

 "We can sleep when we're dead." -Mr. Adventure

Between going to bed in a different place every few days, crossing timezones constantly, staying up late for meetings, acid reflux, and teething I'd say it's understandable that Little Bear has trouble sleeping. Not having more than a couple hours of sleep at a time for months on end is exhausting for me. I really struggled for a while. Until I found that Grace that is sufficient. But I am learning that instead of begging for a good night's sleep, I simply need to ask for grace to be patient with my baby when he needs me at night. He truly is sufficient. Yes, I'm still tired. But that's OK, someday when I am old and not needed anymore I will sleep. Today, I will just enjoy every moment I get to be with my Little Bear.