click here to open post Aug 24, 2011 | posted in Personal | 4 comments

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!  Tomorrow I board a plane headed for home. HOME! I feel so parched. I keep imagining myself just standing on the beach, soaking in every ounce of aloha I can stand.

Alison and Emory, I am SO thankful that you are getting married, for a million reasons, of course, but sincerely, THANK YOU for bringing me home.  xo! N

click here to open post Aug 22, 2011 | posted in Personal | 7 comments

I heart Instagram.
And yes, this is my actual bed, where I will be in about 22.2 seconds and counting.

I am exhausted to.the.bone.

If I weren’t an inch away from conking out face first on my keyboard, I’d give you a big, long sob story all about how nutso my day ended up being (did I say “day?” Insert, day, week, month, LIFE, any will do), then I’d likely try to wrap it all up by pointing out the positive, and somewhere in the middle, I’m sure I’d praise God for His goodness and mercy despite all the pain.

GOOD NIGHT!

Natalie

One thing about the desert? It makes you feel small. Way out here, right in the middle of nothing, I’m tiny and insignificant. My roots just can’t seem to break this impenetrable earth.

Last night it rained. The Heavens cracked WIDE open, and down came the rain. Heaven poured down miraculous relief—both for the parched earth and for this homesick island girl. Something in the rain, and how it dumped from Heaven, helped me to grow, to gain my footing, to strengthen my brittle roots. Water everywhere. An abundance of relief.

This journey with Cardon is proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated (and that’s saying a lot). I’m good at rolling up my sleeves and getting to work, and I expected this experience to be just that, WORK. I just don’t think I’d properly gauged how exhaustive the process would be. I didn’t have an accurate measure of just how chaotic (and maddening) life would become before things would start to get better. School starts Monday, and I had envisioned us being at a very different place by then. But here we are. And there’s not a thing I can do about it. That’s the hardest part. I have ZERO control. No control over when doctors and specialists will be able to see us, no control over heart arrhythmias or borderline EKGs that halt planned treatments, no control over dyslexia diagnoses or literacy centers who won’t return phone calls, no control over uncooperative special ed coordinators at elementary schools. I just feel.so.small. And the problem here is starting to feel.so.huge.

But last night, I was reminded that the rain will come. It will, and it will bring sweet relief and an abundance of clarity, capacity and joy. I know that it will, because I know that God is mindful of me, yes, even me. . . tiny and all alone . . . in the middle of the great big desert.

For now, we’ll seek shade in his grace as we wait for rain.

This is the beautiful Norton family (nope, no relation). They are spectacular in every way. It’s beautiful the way they love, laugh, play together. I left this session very much inspired to give more love, laughter and play to my own beautiful little Norton clan. :) Enjoy!

This lovely couple was such a joy to photograph. We only had about 20 minutes together, and it was plenty of time to capture their BEAUTIFUL love for one another. With a couple this in love, I could have gotten everything wrapped in 5! Nick and Alysha, thank you for the fun afternoon together! xo! Enjoy!

Love the image below, left. LOVE. Alysha, you blow my mind.