Share Your Faith.

Sharing your faith always seems a lot easier when you are sharing it with people you don’t know that well. Why is that? Wouldn’t you want to do everything you can to help the ones closest to you? Knowing that in the back of my mind it’s what I need to do…it’s still hard. I have found that sharing my faith on this blog is something that is so easy. Mostly- because all of you are awesome and supportive, but also because I don’t know any of you. If you don’t like what I have to say, you don’t follow me and that’s about it. But if it’s someone close to you, you are risking a lot more.

{via}

One time a good friend of my described it as this. If someone was in a burning building and you knew that they would burn to death, wouldn’t you do everything you can to save them? To pull them out of the fire? 

When you think of the big picture, the end goal, the REAL reason we were put on this Earth, it makes sharing with loved ones that much easier. The problem is, we’re not always thinking of the big picture.

Sharing my faith on the blog has opened me up and I find myself sharing my faith a lot easier to real people (not that you aren’t real, but you know- like in person). It’s a perk I didn’t expect when I started this blog a couple of months ago, but it really has been faith building. Thank you all for being so supportive and for helping me on my walk.

Weekend Shenanigans

I can’t believe it’s been a week since I last posted, because it really feels like just yesterday! I’ll be honest, this morning I woke up and thought “Oh no, people are going to be so mad I haven’t posted in a week!” Then I snapped in to reality and thought, “Who are you kidding, no one will even realize…”

Usually I try to take as many pictures of my weekend as possible. I love going back in a couple of months to see what I did. Kind of like a diary of pictures. But this weekend was SO CRAZY that I didn’t even think, or have time, to take pictures. It’s hard to believe I fit everything I did into four days. Usually I hate weekends like this and can’t wait for them to be over, but everything I did was a blast, so I was sad for it to end.

This weekend was so much fun. I was running around like crazy. I started off with an AMAZING steak dinner at my roommate’s parents house Fri night. Since my family is all the way up in CT, it’s nice to have family meals again. Her parents are a hoot too…and always have the best wine. They even have a wine vault. Yes. 

Then I had a double-header weekend and shot TWO weddings with Ms Carly. The one on Sat was so much fun because it was at a country club wayyyy out in the country. The couple was a really good looking couple as well, so it made for some great pictures. The wedding on Sat was also at a country club, but not in the middle of the country. This was also fun because it was a young couple, everyone was so excited to be there.

Carly before our double header.

On Sat night after the wedding we headed to Richmond and crashed on some couches for the night. I felt like a real nomad- and this was totally unlike me. But the girl's house we stayed at was a really cute townhouse downtown. And her boyfriend (who is Carly's friend) is in a band, Stonebrook Moonshine, and he gave us a private concert. He is seriously AMAZING. This is the poor quality video I made, but check his band out here. Seriously. 

Sunday morning we woke up and explored Richmond. We ate breakfast/lunch at a cool hole in the wall. Then stopped at some thrift store where I got some cowboy boots. YEAHHH!

I left the country club early to drive down to NC to see David (I was only a couple hours away anyways, couldn’t pass up seeing him!).While he was warming up for his game, I got some quality pool time at his apartment.

He had an early game on Monday, which meant we actually got to go out on a date after to a real restaurant. Usually it’s midnight and the only thing open is Wendy’s. Miss this little guy like crazy!

Now, it's back to my desk in the real world, working that nine to five. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

HAPPY HUMP DAY PEOPLE!

The Imaginary House I Plan on Pinterest.

It's been a while since I shared with all of you the imaginary house I am planning on pinterest, or the imaginary closet I wish I had...but I've been pinning a lot this week, so I thought I would post some of my faves!

{via}

Love this color combo! Maybe an office one day?

{via}

Love the idea of filling up the wall with big statement pictures. And I LOVE that they are simple and not too busy in black and white. 

{via}

  Who doesn't want a sparkly kitchen? Not me.

{via}

 Caaa-ute! I'm in a Toms phase.

{via}

 Love these colors for spring! I love that necklace!

{via}

 Love this bathing suit from anthro!

{via}

 I don't think I could pull off blue on my toes. I have long toes...it would make them look too much like fingers.

{via}

 Something is refreshing about a package that is wrapped pretty. It makes me not want to open it.

{via}

 Also in a lace phase....

{via}

 These are adorable, and they aren't too expensive either! I think like $13.00 or something in that range.

{via}

I. LOVE. THIS. LOOK. I would probably button it up a bit more though :)

When the boys are out to play

The girls are left to stay. This weekend was SO much fun. It was a much needed weekend home. For the first time in a while I wasn't traveling to another state, I was at home...where I live.

1. The boys from my friend's small group left to go on a manly camping trip for the weekend. So that left us girls alone to have a girls night. We decided to be super girly and do a throw-back girls night and curl each others hair, put on absurd eye-line stickers from birch box, and have a photo shoot. It was fun to pretend we were 15 again. 

2. Before our girls night in we made it to the town fair. We didn't get there in time to buy tickets to get on rides, so I just took pictures of them instead. 

3. Went to my friend Jake's baseball game. Jake is David's best friend and ALSO is in the minors. The first weekend I thought I had away from baseball, it finds someway to get back in to my life.

4. Some quality Jesus time. "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." -Psalm 37:7

5. The high school lacrosse team i coach had a car wash. It's been a year since I had my car wash so I let them do the job. It has also been a year since I bought the car so I made them sing happy birthday to it while they were washing it. I thought I was funny. 

6. This one is good. Toward the end of last week I got to work and realized that I forgot to bring my lunch. I was bummed because I didn't feel like spending money to buy lunch for the 4th straight day. When I got to my desk I found out that I was needed for a 4th of July photo shoot, and the only qualification was that I needed to eat hot dogs and hamburgers...and literally stuff my face in to a watermelon. #nobrainer

What did everyone else do over the weekend? Any exciting plans out there?

Surprise!

It’s already Wednesday and I’m just now getting caught up from the weekend. I took a quick road trip to Maryland, where D was playing for the weekend. He wasn’t expecting me to come until Saturday morning. On Thursday afternoon he was joking around that I was going to come and surprise him early. So, I decided to be spontaneous. I threw whatever was on my floor in my bag (i.e. nothing that matched), and ran out the door.

I got to Maryland just before his team got back to the hotel after his game. I had my good friend Dave (hey Dave! Different Dave then my boyfriend...) keep me posted about how their game was going while I was driving. That way I was able to text David about things he was doing during his game, so he wouldn’t suspect I wasn't at home following along.

On his way back to the hotel (while I was waiting in the hotel parking lot in my car), he was still joking around about me surprising him.

Here was our texting conversation:
David: Hey, we’re on the way back to the hotel. I’m going to go get something to eat..want to come? (At this point he is still joking about me coming to surprise him)

Me: Yeah, sure! I’m here surprising you. Just call me when you pull in.

David: Ha..ha. I always invite you to come, like today, and you never actually do :(

Me: No, I’m really here!

David: Wait, really?

Me: No, just kidding.

David: You got my hopes up.

Me: No, just kidding, I am here.

David: Suz, promise me if you are here or not.

Me: No, I’m not home. Gotcha!

…this went on for a while, then I called him…

Me: Hey I’m really here. I’ll meet you in Denny's. (yes…Denny’s was the only restaurant within miles).

David: Okay, I’m in the entrance waiting for my food (still playing along).

Me: Okay, see you there in a minute!

David: This is a really mean joke you’re playing…

Then- while he is still on the phone with me telling me how mean of a joke it was that I would get his hopes up that I actually came, and didn’t, I walked in the lobby of Denny's. He was absolutely floored. He didn’t really know what to do. Then we giggled for a little about our conversation leading up to this. Usually I’m bad about surprising him. I get too excited and tell him before I get a chance to actually do it. But this time, I kept my mouth shut and BOOM.

Here are some fun-filled pics of our weekend!

 Getting his model on.

 Quack Quack

 Safe!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! HAPPY HUMP DAY! Wooo. 

I have some people I want you to meet.

Hellloooo people! What a weekend it was. Can’t wait to post more about it later on. But because it’s rainy, and because this is long overdue, I would like you to meet some people. Go check out these awesome blogs and leave them some love!

Jessica at Lovely Little Things

Hi lovelies! I'm Jessica and I blog over at Lovely Little Things. I'm all about laughing til it hurts, coffee dates, & bike rides. My life consists of love for Jesus, cute dresses, good books, and fitness. I believe that passion will take you places that you never thought you could go. My blog is filled with all things lovely and inspirational :) The purpose of it is to make sure that I stay creative no matter what and that I appreciate the little things every single day.

Come say hello, I'd love to meet you!

Jenna at The Life of the Wife

 Jenna is a SUPER CUTE blogger and mommy of one. She posts about everything life related- like food, and LOTS of fashion and make-up advice. She is a make-up guru and has so many weekly tips on taking care of your skin, what makeup she likes and fun other products. She wears lots of cute headbands that always make me want to get one, and visits a lot of blogger retreats…which means she posts about them and gives bloggers like me the chance to learn about them even if I wasn’t there! Oh! And she does a weekly link up party with Vlogs.

Kate at Kate as of Late

Kate is a 20-soemthing blogger (and full time student!) living in sunny Florida. She occasionally posts pictures of sun and palm trees (making everyone else who doesn’t live in those conditions jealous…), her two sweet pups, and everything else going on in her life. Kate is SO positive and is one of my daily reads. If you need a quick pick-me-up and are feeling down, head over to her blog and it will immediately make you feel better. Go leave her some love!


Hope everyone had a great weekend. And if you live on the mid-Atlantic, stay dry!

Pictures From Shooting My First Wedding

Remember that wedding I photographed this past month with Carly? Well it went REALLY well. I wasn’t half as nervous as I thought I would be. My goal for the day was to mainly learn and watch what Carly did, and if I got a couple of good shots from it as well than that would be okay too :)

While I am trying to get my actual photography website up and running, I thought I would share a couple of pictures since all of you have been so supportive! I want to get a better template to present them in as well, but for now- this is what you get :)

Drum roll, please....

 The fact that the bride was BEAUTIFUL made it a lot easier to get good pictures. She seriously could have been a model. I definitely learned A LOT. I’m in love. It was SO much fun and I can’t wait to do my next one in the next couple of weeks!

Tip: Just because your aperture might go to 1.2 doesn't mean you have to keep it at 1.2 the entire time. There are a lot of pictures where I wished I bumped it up so I had more in focus...like both of her eyes, instead of just one. Just something I might experiment with next time!

June Sponsors Now Open!

Hi everyone! I’m happy to announce that I am now accepting sponsors and advertisements for JUNE. Please see my sponsor page or email me at SuzelsSays@gmail.com if you are interested!

Stats (as of 5/10/2012)
-264 GFG Followers
-700+ Page Views per Day
-Average 15,000+ per month

Have a great Thursday! Can you believe it's Thursday already? I feel like this week flew by!

This one time, I went to Uganda…Part 1

Fall of last year I had a clear calling to get involved in some type of mission trip. I have never been on a mission trip so I was a little confused on where to start. I had just moved to the area, so I wasn’t quite plugged in with a church yet. I knew a lot of people who went on mission trips before, but it seemed like all of them got connected because they were in some type of organization…and I knew that would take time. I prayed about it every day, and knew that if it was my calling, God would open up an avenue.

On the road to Mbarara

 A couple of months later, around January, I received e-email from my Cousin, Katie. She was writing to friends and family explaining that the Lord had put missions on her and her husbands heart and that they have committed to be missionaries in Uganda for at least six months. I responded to the e-mail saying I was so happy for them and how excited I was for them to go over there and serve God’s Kingdom. I explained how that has been my heart as well and I was looking for opportunities to go on mission trips. Never in a million years did I think that she would respond back to that e-mail and invite me with them!

I didn’t even think twice about it and told them that I would definitely come join them for a couple of weeks while they were over there. It would have been foolish of me to even consider not going, especially since it was so clear that this was an opportunity that God had laid out.

So there I was, 2 months later…plane ticket booked and ready to start my adventure. I wasn’t sure what to expect and what it was going to be like. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t get a lot of people question if I should be going because of safety reasons. When I told people that I was meeting my cousin, her husband, and her four little kids (all under the age of five) over there they got even MORE concerned that someone would bring their children over there for that long. What little faith. I would simply respond to them as my cousin responded to people who gave her the same backlash. “Don’t you think my children are safer in Uganda under God’s will, then here in America not under God’s will?” BAM! Can I get an Amen!?

Just a pretty door on the trip :)

Friends from Katie’s church had sent me thousands of dollars of school supplies to bring over with me and leave with the schools in the village. It was AMAZING to see how God provided all of this, but how in the world was I going to get 330 lbs of school supplies, plus my own stuff, half way across the world by myself? My cousin invited David as well, and ohhh I wanted him to come so bad. How much fun would it have been to travel to Africa with your boyfriend?! And, I would have help with all of the supplies I needed to bring over. Well long story short, we knew that Dave had a chance he might be in the minors so he couldn’t go. I was SO EXCITED to go, but so nervous that I wasn’t going to figure out how I was going to transport the luggage. What little faith.

Stay tuned for post on the remainder of my trip!

Part 2: The suitcase miracle and the six hour cab ride from the airport with the guy who wore no deodorant

Part 3: The women who gave us all of her beans

Part 4: Nail Polish Evangelism

Part 5: I rode a camel and found a bear in my car.

I need your help!

Now that I’m starting to gather more pictures and am building my portfolio for my photography, I’m at the point where I guess I need a name! I am REALLY indecisive on what I should name it. I decided that you guys would be great to ask because you are removed from the situation. Please please please comment and tell me which name you like best, or any other names you can think of! Be honest!

What I would like: Something classy, yet I a little on the playful side. I want it to be professional, but not too straight forward where my personally can’t show through.

Here is a pretty brand with pretty colors to get your creative juices flowing.

{via}

 And now for the names! Drum roll please!

Susan Lines Photography

To be honest, this is just blahhh to me. But my good friend Carly mentioned that people are FIRST seeing my work, then my name. So while it might seem like an older name, they would see what I look like first and put together that I’m “young and hip.” <—Her words, not mine. 

Dee-Da-Lee Photography

Has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Go ahead, say it out loud. When I was little my parents would always find me staring out of the window in the back of the car day dreaming. I would say these words over and over, sometimes for 30 or 40 minutes at a time. “Doo-da-loo-da-loo, Dee-Da-Lee-Da-Lee” in a really soft voice. I don’t know why I would say that, but it always made my parents smile. I’m actually surprised my brother never punched me in the face for saying this over and over. However, he did convince me to stick a raisin up my nose, which followed with a hospital visit to extract the raisin. Maybe that was his payback. 

Between The Lines Photography

Haha, get it- because my last name is Lines. And because photos are about taking pictures of not only the big moments, like when you walk down the aisle. But the moments in between, like that moment where you and your dad look at each other while you’re walking down the aisle. Thank you to my roommate who is clever and thought of this. She also thought of Suzels Says.

Seeing God’s Glory Through Photography

One of the main reasons that I have really fallen in love with photography is that I have been able to see this Earth the Lord has given us behind a whole new lens (literally…). I have always thought the Earth was cool, but really would only be in awe over a ginormous mountain or the really really blue water over a Caribbean island. But since I don’t have those landscapes every day, I have been forced to find God’s beautiful workings in “normal” things. I have learned so far is that the best pictures don’t always look like they will be the best pictures before you take them. Does that make sense? Probably not :) Let me explain…


Photography Tip #1: JUST SHOOT (of many tips to come in future blog posts)

Before I REALLY got into photography I had a point and shoot camera. I would look for the most beautiful things, the best poses, or the best sunset to take pictures of. My pictures were always so-so. But if you stop looking and just appreciate everything around you, you will find a road that might seem boring is actually stunning when the light shines on it a certain way. Or a cute cat sitting in a beat up window would actually make for a really awesome picture (see below!). So stop trying to compose the perfect picture and JUST SHOOT. 

I just upgraded to the Canon 5D Mark II. Yes- you heard me right! SO EXCITED. Once I get a new lens for that bad boy, I’m going to start a 365 project and take at least one picture every day. I’m really excited to start the project…and am going to drag all of you along with me.
Hope you are all having a great week so far!