Gr8ful for the Original Hipsters

I was brought up in a certain lifestyle. and there's nothing about it I wouldn't change...
You could say that I'm extremely grateful for it. Extremely.
My parents did it right. I'm proud to be raised by a couple of crazy kids. They were the original hipsters.
They've taught me so much. I, of course, would not be the person I am today without their guidance.
My skill of quoting b&w movies on a daily basis goes to them. I grew up watching a classic every evening.
Kansas, Chicago, The Carpenters, and America are the best bands in history. Hands down.
They taught me that you don't have to constantly have an electronic in your face... because the art of a good conversation is rapidly dying in this generation. Our Sundays consisted of the whole family in one room sitting and talking about whatever. And those memories are the best.
When it comes to work... my parents told me that you won't get anywhere in life if you don't know how to work. Truest advice. You work and you work your butt off.
And greatest of all, they taught me to love God with all my heart. To trust Him in every situation. I can't ever thank them enough for guiding me and being such amazing examples.
They're my role models.
They got married young, just like Jonathan and I. They learned to be strong and depend on each other. They told me that there is times when it's not the easiest, but you have to just keep going. Work through your problems together. Work, laugh, love, and keep Jesus at the center.
To me... that's just WOW. Just a huge inspiration.
I hope/pray that my marriage and lifestyle can be everything that I've seen in theirs. They're the strongest punks I know.

Thanks for everything you did/are doing for me. I love you all more than anything... you made me who I am today. 

NM

NM today, NM tomorrow, NM forever. 

- The Holloman Games

Its November.  Time to be grateful, aye? 

I'm sitting here by myself on a Friday night... one can get in a very negative mood. 

Why don't we gots any friends? We've been here for more than a year. Are we freaks? Do we legit stink? I know Obie stinks but he's a dog and rolls in poop. Which that reminds me, he needs a bath and I should probably buy shampoo--"

And then I totally get carried away in my thoughts. But to reel it back. There could be a thousand things I could choose to be ungrateful for. Like case in point- We have ZERO friends and have been stuck on this base for more than a year. Or that we have the ugliest backyard probably on the planet; we have a creature that digs land mines in it, its that bad people (no its not Obie but he creates havoc back there too).

But instead of wallowing in self pity about how crappy our situation looks/feels...I really want to try to be thankful for where we are at this point in our life. Cause who knows, in the future we may turn around and be like "Yo, that was a real learning point in our life. Look how that place made us grow". 

And I've also realized, if you tell yourself that you are /your atmosphere is cruddy, then the majority of the time... its gonna be REAL CRUDDY. 

Again, why waste your precious life tearing it down?  Why not use the same energy and make something of it? 

Sorry, so much babbling. I can go on and on when I get rambling. 

I really want to be more appreciative and grateful. I'm truly blessed where God has placed me in this crazy world. It may not be the quote unquote life dream... but it's God's dream for me. He's brought us on this adventure... now it's our turn to make the very most of it. As my dad has told me 'Wring it out like an old rag"... I love Jeff Ralston knowledge. 

So yes, we are on a very desolate base, but on a plus side- we have the world at our finger tips. We just have to look. When push comes to shove, you have to LOOK for the good. Don't wait for it to come, cause you'll be miserable. Don't wait for happiness to sit on you. Create it, work for it, live for it. 

Heck, we have no friends.... YET. We cool kids... we'll achieve friends at some point. 

Jk.. there's got to be weirdos like us on this base. Just gotta find them. Obie must find other poop rolling buds. 

And about that backyard.... dang, I've been working with landscapes since I was a youngling. I should  be able to concoct something right? Just have to get rid of that stupid monster.... again, NOT Obie y'all. 

But this place does have some awesome sunsets... and those wide open skies. They're perfect for a star lover, like myself. He's given me the beautiful gift of His stars. Like seriously.. You can't miss them. He's practically throwing them at my face. Most every night is clear... you just have to look up and your breath is taken away. 

God likes to see you smile. 

I'm grateful for NM, stop #1 in the big Cherry family adventure. 

This is where we began... in this vast desert. It's home. 

Untitled

You were designed on purpose, with intention, love, and care.

You are broken- tragically broken- but the One who made you can also bind you up and make you whole.

You have hope- real hope for the next moment and season, for a lifetime and forever. 

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God" 

1 John 3:1

Go Outcast

good Tuesday morning.
I'm sitting down on the couch with my yummy Starbucks that my amazing husband brought me. My "chill" playlist softly in the background... and my Obie beside me ( staying out of trouble for once. Lol jk he's a good boy. Ish.)
OK... lets begin.
I thought I'd share something that I've been dealing with lately. Maybe it'll spark your thoughts or change your outlook on something... I don't know. I just feel like talking.
Which is something I don't usually do. So appreciate it while it lasts!

Social network systems really suck. I'll start with that.
They down right just suck. Eh, it's nice to keep in touch with family and old friends (especially since I live a world away from all my people). But once it starts consuming you.... then it gets to be no fun.

I've been struggling with living up to standards. Standards that society makes me set for myself.
Standards can be a good thing don't get me wrong! They can help you achieve goals and make you pursue dreams.
But once again, they can consume you. Once you start realizing that you're not living up to those standards... you begin to not believe in yourself. You're not doing a good enough job.
You look at people in society... those people showing you the "better" part of life.
They're so.... there.
You're not even close. You're not who you want to be. You're not happy with who you are.
You put yourself in a mode of trying to be like other people... the cooler people. The people who have it right. That saying "The grass is greener on the other side". It will never get old.
You want. You want. You want. You want what other people have... the beautiful house filled top to bottom with the latest/greatest things. The trendy clothes that categorizes you into the "I feel great about myself" group.  Doing all the things that society says is acceptable to be cool. You're literally giving up your true self to be someone else. Just to fit in.
I know for me, photography is where I partially struggle. I'm constantly looking at other photographers and wonder how they achieve the "cool element" in their photographs almost without trying. I'm continually comparing myself to them. Their style. Trying to match them. Trying to be exactly like them. And when I fail at it... I suck.
I repeatedly tell myself I'm not good enough as myself... without myself evening knowing. (Lots of my selves going on there. Sorry about dat).

Its just not good. It's not what we're supposed to be doing. We're not supposed to long to be someone else. Everyone has issues. Just cause someone else's life may look great from the outside... they could be dealing with a world of darkness. You don't know. You only see what they want you to see.

The plain and simple truth = You're better at being you than being someone else. You're going to fail if you're trying to be someone you're not. Be you. Excel yourself... don't excel to be someone else.
Like yourself. Because you are amazing.
Set standards only to grow. Not to tear yourself apart. There is a fine line that we all have to discover.
For photography for myself... I have my own style. I shouldn't want it to look like another photographer. It want it to express me as human. Me showing people the world through my eyes. It's my style.
Yes... I steadily need to work on it. Achieve goals to perfect MY OWN ART. To become a better photographer in general.
I don't want to be the IN crowd. The trendy and hipster crowd. I want to be an outcast. They are truly unique. I don't want to fit in. I want to stand out.
I'm not going to be a society eating robot. I am myself.. a human with dreams and goals of HER OWN.
I have a beautiful family. A cozy and comfortable home. A skill that God gave me to use to show glory to Him. I have been blessed upon blessings. Why should I not be happy with my life?

I am very happy to be myself.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Green

Happy Earth Day errrrbody.

Its finally getting green here.
.... well as green as this place can get. I mean come on... we live in the desert.

Our back yard consists of mainly dirt, but its still nice to be outside.

Obie is a comedy show. I can take pictures of him all day. He's learning how to catch flies; its amusing. We've been thinking about starting his own Instagram account. I think he'd be the next World's Most Awkward Dog.

Anyways.  Go outside. Enjoy EARTH. its full of art... no but literally... eARTh.
Look for it. its beautiful.

Like all you lovely people. Thank you for reading my posts and commenting. It means the world to me! No pun intended. but really thank you for all your support; it keeps me striving to become a better photographer.
Thanks for having my back ya'll.

'

 The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

Psalms 33:5

Windshield Wipers and Strawberry Cookies

Salve.
^^ my 11th grade Latin kicking in. (it means hello if you missed that)

How is everyone?
I BAKED COOKIES.
sorry... but yes I did. Strawberry White Chocolate.

Delicious white chocolate....

...mixed with the sweetness of strawberries....

The Obie definitely APPROVES! 

Not healthy at all. But heck... live a little. Just a little.

But I don't even like white chocolate..... ohwell.

Thus begins the weekend. WHOOP. 

This has been a weird week... well pretty much just yesterday was weird/crappy.

Lemme further explain:
We got locked out of our house. Yup. We went into town for lunch, realizing on the way that neither of us remembered the house keys. And we, being the slightly stupid people that we are, didn't have any spares in our car. We still had the slightest hope that maybe.. just maybe the back door might be unlocked.. or a window.

Nope and nope. Our house was like Fort Knox. No window nor door was to be opened.
Then my clever hubby thought he'd slice the lock of the door with a knife....Mmm.
Yeah he about sliced his finger off.
Like not joking. It was gross.
Anyways, after freaking out then applying a bandaid, we just called maintenance. And 45 minutes later we we're in our house again.

Then it came to supper. Lemme say it was one of those flops where you get fed up half way through, angrily throw the rest together, slam it into the oven, and walk away in a heated rage.
I don't even understand why or how I got that hot tempered at food.. but it happened. Stupid little "Chicken Roll Ups" wouldn't ROLL UP.
My apologies Food, but seriously... next time don't be that idiotic.

My bad mood carried on through the night. I even got annoyed with Obie.... and hid his new toy.
Don't judge me! You would've done it too. The thing is legit as big as him and makes a noise that would rouse the dead. And like Mark Lowry quotes.... "Momma HAD ENOUGH!!" ( Only my family will get that)
So yeah, I hid it. Sue me.

I ended the night by cooling off and playing guitar for a couple hours.
It soothed my anger and made my fingers feel like they were on fire.
But it was lovely.
And I caved in and gave Obie his toy back.

And so ends the rotten no good for nothing day. Let's hope the next one doesn't happen anytime soon.
It was lousy.
And this is a really long post. Hopefully ya'll liked the story though.
OH. Yeah, I have another quick story for you.

So get this. Driving in the rain, Jonathan is complaining about the wiper on his side. He had just bought it not long ago and it sucked BAD. It barely did anything, although it was supposably one of the best at the store.
He decided we would switch them around; put the poopy one on my side. Go figure.
We pulled into Walmart and began the switch. I took the crappy one as he was trying to pull off the other. I then looked it over....... only to realize the plastic covering "REMOVE BEFORE USE".
......... I just started laughing. And could not stop.
Oh my husband... You make life so interesting. He had it like that for months; thinking he just bought a faulty wiper.


Life is a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. But it is a fantastic adventure.

Alright this post is big enough. And I feel like it's messily written. Just thought I'd update ya'll with what's happening at the Cherry household.

ENJOY YO WEEKEND.

Vale. (and that's goodbye... if you missed that).

Top of the Morning to You

As I sit for my devotions... I realize just how good God is.
Or atleast I catch a little glimpse of realization because our minds can't fathom how great He really is.

Sitting on my comfy couch, I look around me. To my left lays a journal that my sweet sister, Tiffany got for me for Christmas. Beside it, my sturdy Bible; it should be more flimsy that sturdy ( meaning I should really read more of it).

A sizzling cup of hot chocolate is alongside my Bible. Usually it would be a mug of steaming black coffee... but today I wanted something sweet.

In front of me, Obie is laying down at my feet, all snuggled up. He's getting to be so big and smart. 

He's lovable but yet so rotten.  He loves to suck on blankets like a little baby... and socks. I'm missing so many pairs of socks. I was laying in bed this morning trying to wake myself, and up jumped Obie into bed with me; sock hanging out of his mouth. He then dropped it on my face. "Time to wake up Momma. I must go outside and sniff some air, possibly dig a little hole. Then I must come inside and play with all the socks I can find, casually leaving my dog farts that always cause you to make that weird gagging sound. Then of course you must feed me my breakfast. Let's go Momma". 

This boy never ceases to make me laugh. 

Anyways, to my right is the sunrise...amazing like it is everyday. It's almost like God decided to play with water colors this morning. Painting across the skies; from mountain tip to mountain tip. 

Speaking of the mountains, they are so beautiful. Last week we got some snow... and the mountains looked like something from Lord of the Rings. Gorgeous. 

I need to start taking my camera out with me and capturing some of this beauty. But instead I forget and then regret it. Dang it. 

Looking around my house, I realize I'm truly blessed. We have a wonderful home. Although we still have Christmas lights wrapped around our pillars- I still enjoy it. 

The smell of one of my candles is lofting into the room; mixing with the smell of the cheese cake cookies I baked yesterday for my amazing husband. 

Mmm. It's so peaceful. I love these moments. 

Philippians 4:6-7 

 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So true. I'm realizing I get all worked up about the future and it mind boggles me. I start getting anxious and try to set things my way. But only God knows what's going to happen and I have to trust Him to guide us. 

He know's what to do. 

Proverbs 16:9 

 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

Haha... this one just made me smile. It's like God saying... "Yep you go ahead and plan your heart away; But I'm the one that gives the OK. You may think that's gonna happen... but you see, I have another plan for you".

Just like the past two years of my life. I would never have dreamed I'd be in New Mexico, married and taking care of my very own household. Nope, not even in my head. 

I didn't really have plans... I knew I was going to work at the most amazing golf course and possibly go to a boring college. Maybe win the lottery, and perhaps try my hand at archeology or marine biology. 

Then that day came, when God said "Ok enough of these silly ideas, it's time to begin your adventure with Jonathan Cherry"

Of course I didn't know then, but I thank God every day for this unbelievable shift of plans. 

I truly love my life, and all who are in it. 

So now, I'm going to continue my day. Of course most of the day will consist of playing with the Obez.. or beating my husband at foosball ( which I did last night and victory danced all the way down the hallway). 
I even have plans to go on an adventure to a thrift store or two- seeing if I can find any hidden treasures. 
I hope you all have a wonderful day and live it to the fullest. You're halfway through the week; keep on going! Even in your busy schedules, take time to make and grasp on to moments. 
You only live your life once, don't live for the days- live for the moments in those days. 
Like that guy said.... "Smell the roses!"
And don't forget to save the penguins while you're at it. 

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth."

Roberto Clemente