A Citadel Graduate

Meet Caleb, recent graduate of the Civil Engineering program at The Citadel.




I was thrilled when Caleb's mom, a dear friend, asked me if  I would be willing to shoot his senior pictures.  We made plans to meet in downtown Fort Mill on a beautiful Friday morning in May

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Quick side note- my 2-year old,Calvin, was with me for this shoot and he was so excited he could barely stand it!  Before Caleb and Connie arrived I told him Mommy would be photographing "a soldier"- a dream come true for a little boy!  Once he saw Caleb in full uniform he became MUTE- a rare occurrence for that one! 

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I'll have to admit, even I was a little intimidated by this young man in uniform!  Usually I like to be silly during shoots to try to make people smile, try to catch them off guard in natural poses... but I sort of felt that wasn't allowed!  This shoot felt like serious business people! 

Luckily Caleb has a wonderful disposition and he smiled for the camera- even without my normal antics.  So anyways, here are my favorites from the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connie wasn't really planning to be photographed- but I couldn't help it!  The pride she was beaming needed to be captured.

 

 

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Congratulations Caleb!  We are praying the Lord continues to guide your steps as you begin your next adventure. And thank you guys for your support of our fundraising efforts!

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To close, I want to say a most heartfelt thank you to the men and women that have given their lives serving in our great country's armed forces.

And for the families of the fallen
I pray from Psalm 46, that they would believe
  
God is [your] refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
[That you] will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

Ruthie Band Sighting

It is always a sweet encouragement to us to see you all wearing your bands. To us the bands are a visible reminder of your partnership in prayer with us.

When we have a “Ruthie band sighting” we are also reminded of God’s faithful provision for us- providing us both the essential funds as well as the community we desperately need as we wait!  So thank you for wearing them and sending us your pictures!

The picture below was taken during a recent Serving MealsMinistry event that our church participates in.  The photo is not only a sweet reminder of God’s provision for us but also for those in need of some of the most basic necessities. 

This photo reminded me in many ways of a couple verses in Matthew 6:

 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

May we all find comfort in believing that all our needs are known.

Mrs. Danielle Russo- Bridal Portraits!

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine
Song of Solomon

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It was my absolute JOY to spend last week and weekend celebrating one of my dearest friends as she married the man God made just for her. You might remember my friend Danielle and her now HUSBAND Darren from their engagement session back in October. I was inspired that day by their obvious love for the Lord and one another... but to watch them on their wedding day was something almost magical. The weather was gorgeous, the flowers were amazing, the food (especially the cake!) was delicious- but above all the worship was sweet. My sister described the day best by saying it felt as though we were in a wonderful movie- where everything goes just right and the witnesses are almost as excited as the bride and groom! Where else has anyone ever seen a wedding where the groom walks to meet the bride half-way down the isle and the crowd bursts into spontaneous applause?

Before their big day I had the distinct privilege of photographing Danielle for her bridal portraits. And Oh! how I have wanted to share these photos with the world for WEEKS! My sister and I along with a small entourage shot these photos at gorgeous historic home in McConnells, SC. As is often the case the Lord shone his face upon this beautiful bride to be giving us a PERFECT evening to shoot with the yummiest of light and the most beautiful of locations. When I narrowed down my photos to edit I still had 99 that I loved! My favorite of my favorites is below- enjoy!

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. (Isaiah 60)

This was Danielle's official bridal portrait

LOVE!

I'm pretty sure this is one of my all time favorites. Just a few minutes before sunset.

She looks like a princess!

Danielle's bridal party all wore these beautiful crochet TOMS-
so we decided to show them off in this fun shot.

I couldn't decide which I liked most!  So lovely!

The direction I gave was "show me sass!"- success!

I love you, Mrs. Russo!


Danielle and Darren, what a JOY it was to watch you two make your covenant before the Lord. I pray that God continues to shine his face upon you both and you grow more deeply in love with him and each other with each passing year. Thank you for allowing us to share in your day!

And a HUGE thank you to the Russo's for the continued support of our adoption! This is now their 2nd shoot, they purchased a shoot as gift for a friend AND they have sent me a TON of referrals!

THANK YOU! You guys are Ruthie Fundraising SUPERSTARS!

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If you know anyone interested in working with me- please pass along my information!  Thank you all!

Homeschool Picture Day

I had the pleasure of photographing a local homeschool co-ops PICTURE DAY.  Despite a cloudy sky and some last minute location changes we had a great time and came up with some really beautiful "school pictures."  Below are some of my favorites from the day- enjoy!

 

 

I think my absolute favorites from the day were the Kindergartners!  So sweet! 

 

 

In addition to the school portraits we did a few sibling/group shots as well. 

 

 

I desire to wait well

My love found this little nugget of encouragement and shared it with me.
Now I share it with you.

Enjoy.



The ABC's of Waiting from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.

Mud"love" Contest WINNER

And the WINNER of our Mud"love" band  (plus Psalm 91:4 band!) is

Comment #8, Ms. Jennifer Gail!  Congratulations!

Jennifer is a quilter and GIVEAWAY extraordinaire!  I'd encourage you to stop by her fun and informative blog, Hoodies and Flip Flops.  Leave her a fun Congratulations comment from the Cinco Mariposas family!

Thank you to all that helped us get the word out about our little giveaway and for all of you that participated. 

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On another note, we'd like to share that the Lord has been really showing off lately- especially in the fundraising department!

• We have received a TON of donations for our Psalm 91:4 bands- in fact we're almost out!
• The Lord has provided us now 2 insane anonymous donations!
• He has prompted donations from friends praying for us miles and miles away from SC.
• People have started contacting ME with ideas for more fundraisers!

I know we have said this many times before, but
we genuinely want to thank all of YOU that have been moved to give to our adoption fund. 

Your obedient and generous gifts help us remember that the Lord is at work to bring us the daughter he has specifically chosen to be a part of our family.  Your donations remind us when a warm trails goes cold, when the phone doesn't ring or when obstacles seem overwhelming that our GOD is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). 


So thank you- beautiful Cinco Mariposas family.  This journey wouldn't be possible without you.

A thank you GIVEAWAY!

 

What could be more fun than supporting our adoption with a Psalm 91:4 Mudlove band?  Getting one of our Psalm 91:4 bands PLUS winning a FREE “love” Band!

When we ordered our fundraiser bands in March the beautiful people at Mudlove were running a promotion which included a free “love.” band with order. 
The “catch” was that we had to agree to give the band away. 

So now YOU can have a chance to win it!

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To enter for a chance to win:

-Leave a comment on this blog post telling me how excited you would be if you won!

And that’s it! Once you have left a comment, you are officially in the running to win!

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***But wait! Because you guys are such AWESOME supporters, I’m giving you a chance to submit 4 BONUS ENTRIES! They are completely optional but give you a better chance at winning. Here’s how:

1. Donate and receive a Psalm 91:4 band!! Donate $15 anytime today through Sunday (see deadline below) to "order" your band.  Once you do that, come back to this post and leave me a comment saying “I want one!”  You can either donate on the blog, send a check in the mail OR in give it to me in person.  This will serve as your bonus #1 entry!

2. Show me your Band!   Email or text me a photo of yourself wearing your Psalm 91:4 band.  Once you do that, come back to this post and leave me a comment letting me know you sent it! If you have already sent me a picture, that’s great! Just leave me a comment telling me that you have and that will serve as your bonus entry #2!

3. Thank my sweet friend at DesignsbySessa  Our friend Vanessa at Designs bySessa has graciously highlighted our Psalm 91:4 bands on her blog today!  I would love for her blog to be flooded with “thank yous!” from the Cinco Mariposas family!  So please go to her post here and leave her a “thank you for your support" comment.  Once you’ve done that leave me another comment on this post letting me know you’ve done it.  This is your 3^rd bonus entry! 

4. Become a Follower of CincoMariposas blog. Then come back to this post and leave me a comment letting me know you follow! If you already follow, that’s great! Just leave me a comment telling me that you do and that will serve as your bonus entry #4!

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Once the giveaway ends, I will randomly select a WINNER using random.org and their true random number generator.

If your comment is the number that is randomly selected, I will announce you as the winner of the MudLOVE band giveaway and contact you with further details! 

ln fact, if you win, I'll even throw in an ADDITIONAL Psalm 91:4 Band for YOU to giveaway!

Okay, so this makes a total of 5 (five) entries per person. This giveaway will end on Sunday, May 5th at 11:00 pm EST and the winner will be announced on Monday, May 7^th.

Buena Suerte, everyone!

Let the giveaway begin!

Bands, Bands and more Bands!

Hello! I have to say a HUGE THANK YOUto all of you that have donated to our adoption fund to receive a
Psalm 91:4

Mudlove band. 

And to those of you that have spread the word on your blogs, on your facebook pages and by word of mouth we are
ever so grateful!

We still have several bands available and we want to give them away!  If you know of anyone interested in one of our bands please share our blog with them or my email address.

And once you receive your band WE WANT TO SEE THEM.
Send me a picture text or email wearing your band and we will post it here on our blog
- like this!

Again, we can't adequately express what your prayers and financial support mean to us.  Our God is GOOD and His People are beautiful!

Keep those PRAYERS coming!