The First Commandment With a Promise...

Nope, its not father's day or mother's day but these verses need to be remembered EVERYDAY!! :)

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
That it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth."
Ephesians 6:1-3

"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
Deuteronomy 5:15

"Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."
Colossians 3:20


My older brothers, sister, and myself 19 years ago :)

"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life "

Proverbs 6:20-23

Happy Monday

Just stopping in to wish you all a Happy Monday! :)

"But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.:

Psalm 13:5

Remember: Live Every Day...

Live everyday to it's fullest for the glory of God!

It is Saturday!! Hope y'all had a blessed week :)

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created"

Revelations 4:11

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31

Random pictures from my week :)

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

1 week down 1 to go :) | Randomness

For those of  you who have no idea what I am talking about go here! :)

1 week of our Spring shoot down and 1 more to go. So far 3,000 pictures have been taken, over 18 hours of photographing, and yes we still have more pictures to take! 

Just to add a little humor to your afternoon/evening depending on location :)

"Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..."

Ecclesiastes 9:10bus

Happy Happy Birthday | Sweet 16 :)

Looks down at the clock, sees it is now 12am and the 25th of January.  Yep, it is officially one of my 18 favorite days of the year. You may wonder what are my favorite days of the year? My brother's and sister's birthdays, my mom's and dad's birthdays, the first day of Summer, the first day of fall, and national icecream day! ;)

Seeing that is it is not the first day of fall or national icecream day it must be.......... LYDIA'S birthday!

Happiest of birthdays to you, Lydia!

Lover of all things Purple

creator of absolute gorgeousness

Consumer of Coffee Lattes

Blessed to have you as my sister!

15 passenger vans. Really just can't live without one.... the mirror came in handy for a quick hair check ;)

"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened"
Acts 16:14

Remember | Happy Monday

Have a wonderful Day!

Note: photos found Here and Here :)

"Be joyful always"

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Saturday Night = Editing Photos

 Spending the evening importing and editing pictures! What are you up to? :)

Ruth spent the afternoon keeping me company while I shot product photos! 1,500 photo taken in the last 3 days  :)

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

Wet Paint | A few Favorite Things

 " And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth"

Luke 12:15

Tomorrow I begin shooting for GraciousMay and Snugar's Spring 2012 line. I am praying that Lord fills me full of inspiration and gives me the ability to successfully shoot my 6ths season. It is by His strength alone I will be able to accomplish it! The next 2 weeks will be BUSY and EXCITING and CRAZY! So, up goes a fresh coat of blue paint in our photo studio. With each season a different shade :)

..........................................................................................................

And for a few more "favorite things"... I had started a tumblr account as an outlet to display my favorite things in order to keep this blog purely photography but.... not sure if I will get the hang of tumbling. Plus, old blogging habits are hard to break! ;)

Patagonia, Chile. God's creation is so beautiful and leaves me in awe. I  found this photo and couldn't stop looking at it!  I may never make it out of the states(many beautiful places right in the USA to visit) but I don't think there is any harm in day dreaming?! :)

Now, those are some spiffy tents and their location is breathtaking!

Nothing worse than a caffeinated squirrel! ;) Sorry, just couldn't help myself on this one!

 

And last but not least, my favorite picture of myself. Or actually one of my favorites... I have two and both are drawn by my very talented little sister! THANK YOU Ruth for the drawings :) Sisters(brothers, mothers, fathers,  friends) are a blessing! Never forget to thank the Lord for them :)

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,  redeeming the time, because the days are evil." 
Ephesiands 5:15-16

"Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all."

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Do Not Lose Heart

10:40pm, about the time of night things start quieting down at my house. I still hear a few brother bouncing around in their room and a little sister reading out loud to her "room-mate" but for the most part "quiet":)
So I sat down with my bible, searching out verses that say "don't lose heart" or in the KJV "faint not".... All day I have had 2 Cor 4:16 going through my mind. I am not sure how that verse found it's way into my brain but glad it did. Whenever a verse goes through my mind I find myself searching out/thinking over complimentary verses.  One thing has led to another and I now have a bundle of verses that have filled me with excitement and hope. So, I thought I would share a few with you all! I hope they encourage you as much as they did me this evening :)

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day"

 2 Corinthians 4:16

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;"

2 Corinthians 4:1

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Isaiah 40-28-31

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 15:58

"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

Psalm 27:13-14

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" 
Hebrews 12:1-4

Happy Friday | CAUTION: Cell Phone Picture

If you are reading this post you have made it to yet another Friday... I hope y'all had a very blessed week! 

Sit back and rest a little while... Oh, and GIVE THANKS to the Lord for HE is GOOD :)

"Truly my soul finds rest in God;  my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."

Psalm 62:1-2

"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Exodus 33:14

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 

Matthew 11:28-30

By Request Vanilla Cupcake Recipe + a Random Fact

Here is the recipe Emily! Really simple and delicious. I also posted a picture of the cupcakes I made in a mason jar at the bottom of the post as I remember you liked the idea of baking in a mason jar(from a long ago post you commented on :)!

A little fact about cooking oils... really random but thought I would share (:
My family does not use shortening/crisco, canola or vegetable oil for consumption but vegetable oil does works great for oiling bicycle chains and canola is a wonderful pesticide ;) . We either use olive oil, E.V. olive oil, or butter .
Why? Both shortening and vegetable oil contain soybean. Something many people don't know is soy products are actually hazardous to your health. It is the same with Canola oil which is derived from the rapeseed. The rapeseed was never meant for human consumption. In fact during WWII, rapeseed was the main source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas. Also rapeseed has been linked to madcow disease and shown to cause emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, blindness in animals—and humans, and more. You can go here & here to watch and read 2 great article on the hazards of soybean and here & here  for articles/video on canola (disclaimer: I do not indorse the sites that posted these articles). Really interesting articles :)
God has blessed you with one amazingly and diligently constructed body. Do what you can in order to keep it healthy via the food you  put in and the exercise you put out and be informed as to what you are putting in :)

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20


OK HERE IS THE RECIPE!!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Yeilds 18-20 cupcakes or 9 4oz mason jars
Cake:

• 3/4 cup BUTTER softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup sifted flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk 
• 5 stiffly beaten egg whites (beat until stiff peaks form)

Frosting:

• 3/4 cup butter softened 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (milk can be substituted)
• 1TBS vanilla 
• 1/2tsp almond extract
• 5-6 cups powder sugar

1. 
   
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 18 muffin Cups with liners. Or if your using mason jars butter and flour 9 mason jars.
3. Cream butter and sugar tull light. Add vanilla and mix well; set aside.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating after each addition. Gently fold in egg white. Divide between muffin cups. I find 1 mounded ice cream scoop per cup is the perfect amount. For the 4oz mason jars 2 ice cream scoops are perfect!
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until done and slightly golden. Cool thoroughly.
6. Icing instructions:
7. Cream together butter, cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Add powder sugar 1 cup at a time until icing reaches the right consistency.
8. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."

Psalm 34:8

Happy Happy Blog Birthday {3 years}

 Its my blog BIRTHDAY!! On January 12th, 2009 www.shilohphotography.com began. 385 posts, somewhere around 1,200 photos uploaded, and 3 Years later... wow, how time flies! 

Big THANKS for stopping by my blog! Y'all have been such a blessing and encouragement :)
  "Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established."
Proverbs 16:3

As I am always looking for a good reason to make and {more importantly} EAT cupcakes(my favorite dessert), I thought this was a very appropriate occasion ;)

^"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."-- Colossians 3:17

I ❥ The Little People | Sisters

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24

New York Cheesecake | Recipe

I did some baking today :) Recipe can be found on my cooking blog!

www.granolagirlbakes.com

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph."

Amos 5:14-15