Random- ness...

Today I decided to be random... random meaning writing a blog post on a whole bunch of ... you guessed it, random stuff!

What am I doing right now?
                Sitting at the kitchen table writing this, oh so boring post.
                Making supper (chicken boiling in a pot and while its cooking I'm doing this!)
                Sipping occasionally my orange juice out of a cup that says " PORK, be inspired"
                     (Obviously I am so inspired by this that I'm cooking CHICKEN! HA!)

What are the aromas in the house right now?
                Candle lit to try to cover the smell of cow, pig, horse, dog, motor oil, etc... your normal
                 farm-y smells.
                Chicken (cooking)

What sounds are surrounding me at this moment?
                Buddy ( the dog ) crunching on his dog food.
                Alan mumbling about random things and talking to Rhya.
              
What is Rhya doing right now?
                She is contently watching "Spirit - Stallion... something..." Not sure what the whole title is. Its
                about a stallion from the west...
                Riding her wooden horse her great grandpa made for her!


So thats what I'm up to right now... There are some many many things that I would much rather rant about but it is not the right thing to do.

 So I am left with a much less "juicy" blog post.
Hopefully I'll get some current photos up from our fall/ thanksgiving adventures but for now have a wonderful and blessed evening!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

As you may see I have been neglecting my blogging over the last 4 weeks...
We have been really busy around the farm and I have had many family photoshoots to squeeze in and edit before the holiday season begins! So with that said here's a short preview of what we've been up to!

• Rhya likes to run around like a wild child most days. Its rare if she stays in one place more than 5 minutes!
• Rhya has NO sleeping schedule... It works well in our family because we're so busy. There are some days when I do wish she had a regular nap time but in our family it would NOT work to well! 
• Rhya eats ANYTHING. When I say anything, I mean anything! Horse feed, silage, dog food... etc! We have moved the dog food to our LOCKED laundry room to keep her out of it and she is not left alone in the silage or horse feed so don't worry its not her supper!
• Rhya truly enjoys helping Alan walk through the hog barn in the mornings (not every morning) and helping me at the dairy with the cows! She is a true FARM GIRL! (Much to our delight)
• Alan is finally wrapping up combining. He has a few acres yet but over all the majority is finished!  
• I had a lot of family portraits to shot this fall (more than last year but not as many as the pros!) I enjoyed meeting and spending time getting to know these families. That's the best part of the job!
• Oh the JOYS of potty training! We've started and so far so good-ish! 
• Rhya had a serious cold the other week and is finally getting over it. After some really good antibiotics she is feeling so much better!

Today (and throughout the last week) I have been thinking of all the things and people I am thankful for! 

My relationship with Christ, my husband and daughter, good health, warm house, parents, full freezers and to be able to enjoy the God's creation up close on the farm! 

I am truly grateful for the life I have been given and no its not perfect but its still wonderful!

I am hoping to start posting photos again soon when life settles down!

            

What goes around, comes around? Or does it?

Do you believe in this statement?

 I don't think I do anymore. I have been struggling with this "statement" for the last week or so. Its a hard pill to swallow and some days I feel like I may just "throw it back up", if you know what I mean. 

There's no such thing as perfect people or a perfect life.

 I know this and yet why have I been wondering why people who are trying to live a life for Christ are always being pushed around because another is greedy or self centered. It angers me and I know I must, MUST let it go. 

Our family has been "pushed" around quite a lot within the last few years. I don't just mean Alan and I but his family as well as mine. Through our jobs, friends and even family members. Its hard to deal with this lack of support. I know I sound all depressed or negative but I don't think people really understand where our family has been and what we are still dealing with. 

After Alan's eye accident we were left with a pile of bills and since our health insurance deductible is high we have to shell out a lot just to pay those bills. Some days we don't know how we're going to make it the next month and when someone makes the comment like " Well at least you have health insurance..." Yes we have health insurance and yes we are grateful for it but you don't say that to someone who is already struggling with the bills they already have let alone add the doctor bills. It's like rubbing salt in a wound. That person also could have "helped" and it felt as though they thought we didn't need it because we had health insurance.  

I get tired of people telling me that we're rich because we have a combine, hog barn and family farm. The income from all of these things go straight to bills. 

There are only scrim-pits left to live on and that's ok. 

We as a family appreciate the wonderful gifts that God has given us! Land to grow our own food, a combine to serve others, and hogs that do pay the bills so we can eat. 

We are healthy, happy and content where we are. 

We are not perfect and and there is no such thing as a perfect life. A life lived in Christ is as perfect as its going to get. There are ups and downs, we are constantly tested but its what we learn and how we grow from these trials that truly brings us closer to the only one that matters! 

I am learning and I am growing as is my husband. 

  

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

BUSY BUSY BUSY! That's what its been like at the Harnish house these past two weeks and it's only going to get crazier! About a week and a half ago my best friend got married! How exciting and I had the awesome privledge of being a bridesmaid! It was an absolutely beautiful wedding, physically and spiritually! The way they centered Christ throughout the whole day was breathtaking! I have NEVER been to a wedding that had that much emotion (other than my own)! The girls wore dark blue dresses with a silver sash, knee length and strapless. (All made by the grooms mother!) The bride's dress was also made by the groom's mother and it was BEAUTIFUL! It was a perfect fit for the beautiful bride!
The ceremony was held outside on the bride's family farm and the reception as well! The weather men were calling for rain ALL DAY LONG but thankfully the night before the forecast started to change! No rain and the sun even peeked through the clouds for some fabulous sunset photos! It was one of the best weddings I have ever attended,  let alone been in!


Lampeter Fair was this past week as well! Most of you who know my family, we practically live down there for the duration! My sister and I showed steers and pigs while we were in FFA and now we are fair directors! My job for the fair was to catch photos of the FFA and 4-H champions and then the sale.... Now i have my work cut out editing!






I had one fabulous question from my last post that I thought would fit right in with this post!
The question was: 
What is one of you go to meals when in a pinch for time?
Well I'm not going to include fast food or hot dogs, but one of my favorite foods to make when I have a little bit of time is rice, chicken and green beans. Yeah I know, its not that creative but wait till you hear how to make it!


Take some garlic and sautee' the pieces in a frying pan until their nice and soft. The add you fresh or frozen green beans and cook till their nice and crisp. Add pieces of chicken and then your done! (You want to be cooking your rice while cooking everything else... Rice takes about 10 minutes) 


Plate your rice, then add you green beans and chicken mixture and top with a little bit of cheese :) Alan LOVES this and it was something I just threw together to try one evening! 

Questions Anyone?

I decided I'd take a whack at this type of post again since I have a few more readers than I did the last time! 

I have decided to do an upcoming post on questions that you (my faithful readers) always wanted to know. 

Here's how I would like this to go... First ask me a question by commenting on the blog post or messaging me through facebook. Then in an upcoming post, I will answer your question! Simple enough? I thought so! 

Please only appropriate questions and if I feel that your question is inappropriate I will NOT answer it. 

Thanks everybody! I hope to get some good questions!!! 

It's been a while...

We've had two birthdays, an anniversary, an earthquake, an eye operation, a hurricane, and a tropical storm. ALL IN THE LAST MONTH!

Where, Oh where to I begin?

I'll start with Miss Rhya. She's TWO can you believe it! TWO!!! Her hair is growing, she has quite the sense of humor, she is in LOVE with animals. She's also 3 ft tall! Yep, she's gonna be a 6 footer! She really doesn't get that from me! She talks non-stop... typical girl right? Here are some Rhya-isms you might find funny!

Kick-it = Cricket

I wub you = I love you (that one was easy)

Daddy Boo Boo = Daddy has a boo boo and it's his eye

I comin' 

Train comin'

Butt= Belly button (we're working on that one!)

peez= please

tank roo= thank you

tigger = tigger

mooii = movie

unch = lunch

aamen = amen (she adds an extra "a" in the beginning)

chicken

herse = horse

There so many many more and she is starting to put them together! It is so much fun to see her soak new things!

Alan and I celebrated our 3 rd anniversary on Tuesday by using some gift cards to apple bees. We were going to see a movie but decided at the last minute it would be better to spend our time talking then staring at a screen.

The food was AMAZING, I would go back! I had a slight problem though... I ate WAY TO MUCH! I either ate to much or got some sort of stomach bug that landed me on the couch from 4 am - milking time (2pm) Yuck!

Thanks to "Irene" Alan was able to continue to rest his eye. It has been bugging him here and there... the doctor instructed us to get artificial tears that should help the irritation and discomfort. Overall hes doing well! 

A hard lesson learned: Part 2 - Surgery and week after

Monday night waiting at CVS for antibiotics.

Tuesday morning rolled around and we found ourselves a nervous mess (more Alan than I). What we struggled with most was the question "Why?" Most would. 

On our way to the hospital - Ruth was driving 

We had to push our fears, anger and guilt aside so we could keep our minds on what truly mattered. We needed to focus on God and pray for his healing grace. He had already shown us his protection and now we needed him to guide the surgeon's hand. 

Nerves were high as we entered the hospital... We waited maybe 5 minutes before the nurses came to get Alan. 

This was about 1:15 ish.

You know where we were when the earth quake happened? Alan was hooked up to IVs, eye dilated as far as possible and laying in his hospital bed. As for me... I was sitting under the huge, outdated tv in his room! At first it felt like someone was just walking down the hall and then my chair shook! Alan looked at me and we both determined it had to be an earthquake! Thankfully he wasn't in surgery at that point! I am glad it didn't get any worse or we would have started to panic!

You might be able to see how dilated his right eye is... look close!

Alan was wheeled back to the surgical room around 3:15 pm and I was ushered back to the waiting room where Ruth (Alan's mom) and I waited patiently. After knitting, reading, and working on Sudoku, we began to get anxious. We were told Alan's surgery would last about an hour and ten minutes.... It was now about 5:15pm and   the screen (lets patient's family members know where they are in the surgical process) said Alan was still in surgery. 

My worst fears started to creep up ... is he going to loose his eye?... will he wake up from anesthesia?... Will I loose him?... 

It was terrible! I started to feel slightly sick to my stomach and then Ruth said "He's in recovery!" WHEW! I felt relief! I promptly began thanking God for getting us this far but I knew we were not out of the woods yet.

The first thing the doctor said when he came to brief us of how things went was "He is one VERY lucky man!" 

Evidently the piece of metal was shaped like an arrow and had shot through his eye from 10 o'clock down to 4 or 5 o'clock. being an arrow it made a clean slice in through the white of Alan's eye and was able to travel through the "jelly" the whole way back to the optical nerve. He explained the the 1.5mm shard was very close to the optical nerve and could have blinded Alan. They had to pull Alan's eye out of the socket (a little bit to get behind the eye) drain the eye of its "jelly", use a a magnet to pull the metal piece out and then fill the eye back up with a "jelly like" substance. 

Sounds gross! I am so glad he didn't have to be awake for that! 

We were able to see Alan around 6:15 pm and you have no idea how good it felt to see him... He looked miserable but I was glad to be back by his side. God guided the surgeon's hand and I am so thankful! (Alan is to!) 

We left the hospital around 7-8 ish and made it home by 9pm just in time to see Rhya off to bed. 

*************** Wednesday Follow up appointment******************

In the waiting room of the doctors office

We got to the doctors office bight and early with high hopes that he would say "All's well and go ahead back to your daily routine, with some moderation." 

Boy were we ever wrong!

You know somethings wrong when the doctor kept looking, poking, looking, prodding and more looking... then says "dang"! 

My heart sunk to my stomach and I though "Oh no..." 

Alan waiting for the laser surgery

Turns out Alan's retina was "folding under" best describing it as a tissue paper and the underside was folded under but the top layer was still intact. The doctor said he had never seen this before! He decided his best bet would be to laser behind the fold to help it to heal better and keep it from folding more. For Alan this was more painful than the surgery. I had to sit and not do a thing... the hardest part for me!

Alan was then given strict instructions to lay low for a while. At least till his appointment the following week. 

That was a hard pill to swallow... Alan... Do nothing... that really bugged him. There was so much to do around the farm, income lost and bills piling up. 

Wearing his cool new sun/safety glasses that my dad gave him

*************Through out the week of resting*************

The first few days were easy... Alan felt tired and worn out so he didn't feel bad for resting. As he started to feel better he started driving me crazy! 

You could tell he was feeling better but we didn't want to get our hopes up... We had some help from friends and family getting the hog barn ready for little pigs, getting ready for strawberries and other odd jobs around the farm. 

    ***********Yesterday: Follow up one week appointment"************

"Looks great! You can go back to normal activity's just no high impact stuff!" (No wake boarding) 

"Eye sight's 20/25 and I would expect it to be back to 20/20!" What a relief!!!!! Alan about bounced out of his chair with joy! He was smiling ear to ear! 

Most people with an injury like Alan's would have lost their eye sight or even eye! Alan has truly been touched by Gods gracious healing! He is still not out of the woods yet, there's still a chance for scarred tissue to form and could hinder his sight but our hopes for complete healing are high! 

God is good! Alan is now back to doing what he loves and I am so glad to see him out of the depressed, caged animal mood he was in! 

Hooking up the water for the strawberries

***Lesson Learned : WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!!!!!!***

A hard lesson learned! Part 1

Many of you have been keeping up with the buzz around our home recently, but for those who have no clue, I'll fill you in. 

Alan is one of those guys who cannot say no when someone asks for help (which is what makes him an amazing man and I support his willingness to help those in need). He received a call from a neighbor who needed help with a piece of machinery and Alan willingly agreed to help as soon as he could. (This is Monday, before lunch)

When he arrived home after the machine was repaired, he explained how he was hammering a piece of metal and he felt something hit his eye. He could also see a "floater" or black spot and was slightly worried. We decided it would be in his best interested to see a doctor just in case there would be any damage to his eye. 

(Did I mention he felt no pain and his eye wasn't irritated.)

Alan and his mother headed to "Med-Express" (around 1:30pm). After seeing a doctor, he was told to go home there wasn't anything to worry about. Alan insisted there was something wrong and finally the doctor made an appointment to see a specialist at the health campus. I talked with Alan's mother as they were waiting to see the specialist and she promised to keep me updated throughout the process. (Why didn't I go along? ... If the cows could milk themselves I would have gone! I was fretting, worried and wishing I could have been there with Alan.)

Then my phone rang... 

"Go home and get a shower" Alan's mother said to me over the phone. 

My heart literally felt like it stopped and time stood still for a moment...... 

"Alan needs surgery ASAP, you need to get home as fast as you can and get a shower NOW, we're coming to pick you up!" 

I cannot tell you how sick I felt in that first few minutes... It was almost unbearable! I thought I might have even passed out! 

I literally took the fastest 2 minute shower I had ever taken ( I don't think I had all the soap washed out of my hair either!)

We headed to Hershey Medical Center around 4pm only to be told that all the retina specialist were away for training. We were directed to Holy Spirit Hospital (About 1 hour from home) where there was a specialist waiting for us. Once the doctor examined Alan's eye they decided they would schedule surgery for the following day (Tuesday around 2:30pm). We headed home, got antibiotics and tried to rest our nerves for the following day.

To be Continued.........

A Beautiful Evening on the Beach!

I had the awesome privilege of shooting an engagement session at Rehoboth Beach this past Friday evening! What a cool and relaxing few hours! Alan and I headed south around 1:00pm and traffic was TERRIBLE! it didn't help that we drove through two heavy rain storms which a swear were following us. We arrived around 4:30 and had just enough time to check in and scout around for scenic shooting spots. As we waited for the couple to arrive, we watched an approaching storm that looked magnificent (if we didn't need to be taking pictures!) The lightning was absolutely breathtaking! Once Joe and Megan arrived, we hurried down to the water to catch some ocean shots before it started to rain. We were lucky! I was able to snap a few before we had to take cover on the board walk! 

We had tons of fun with this awesome couple and I am so excited for their wedding!  

Here are a few fun shots from this awesome shoot!  

Enjoy!

Cake, fishy scoopin' and a track-hoe!

I decided for my sisters birthday I was going to master this new decorating technique on her cake. Decorating cake is not my strong suite but its a fun challenge as long as it tastes good!

So without further ado... here's the cake!

Top and bottom layers were confetti cake mix, the middle layer was a dark chocolate cake mix and in between the layers I used a milk chocolate icing to "glue" them together!

Butter cream icing! Yummy! It took me three tries to get the icing just right!

The purple icing (which I made :) and the flowers! ( My sister in law Anita is VERY talented with flower arranging and she was oh so kind to assist me with the "bundling" and placing!)

Yes this is my sister sneaking a taste of the icing...

                                                                               And then trying to take a BIG bite!

Now to the JOYS of cleaning out a large fish pond! 

I helped my parents clean out their very large HUGE pond about a weeks or so ago.... You should have seen the four of us (Both my parents, Rhya and I)! We were COVERED in pond... scum....mud... fishy poo... whatever is in that stuff we were scooping out! YUCK! Rhya wasn't sure about this whole thing when we first started but once we had her catching bull frog tad polls, she was HOOKED! In and out, up and down, slip and slide, scoop and scrub. Finally after 2 hours of scooping we were ready to scrub and rinse (the fun part!) 

All of this is thick pond scum! Yuck! Imagine scooping all this out by hand! Oh wait, I don't have to imagine... I already did! Its not all that bad or even hard work! Its much better though when you have help and thats why I was helping my parents! Not that I needed anything to do... I had plenty at home to accomplish... I just felt the need to help! What a fun morning we had! Catching tad polls and fish, trying not to splatter each other (though it happened many times) and keep ourselves on our two feet and not flat in the muck! (Which both my mother and I were not successful in achieving!)

Rhya was quite the little champ, I must say! I don't mean to brag but I have a pretty AWESOME, tough, brave and all around good kid! She is hardly afraid of anything and doesn't mind getting dirty! Check her out in the picture below! You'll see what I mean!

All squeaky CLEAN! Whoop! Whoop!

We finally got the waterway done along our driveway (Thanks Dad) so we can keep the field water from running though our front yard, barn and flowerbeds. 

Rhya was their supervisor and kept both "Pap Pap" (my dad) and Alan busy!

"Dad you missed a spot!"

Hope you enjoyed a little sneak peek of what we've been up to lately! Maybe someday I'll figure out how to get a video on here so you can see Rhya in all her cuteness!

Happy Birthday to My Most Awesome Hubby!

Alan turns 30 today! What a big milestone for him! He is such an amazing man I could probably go on forever about him. Yes, he has some faults, don't we all? He's only human but he has a heart of gold! He will help anyone, friend or foe, if they needed him. He is also the Mister-Fix-Anything around our house... For example: My steam mop wasn't working right so he took it apart and fixed it right there on the spot. Tractors, cars, combines, track-hoes, 4-wheeler, air conditioners, you name it he's fixed it! That doesn't include remodeling the house, building the fence (cattle and pond) gardening, caring for the animals and the man can even make AMAZING HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI SAUCE! I am so blessed to have a man I can call on for help and know that he won't scratch his head, confused! 

That my friends is not the best part! He is a wonderful family man. He takes time out of his busy schedule to see us (Rhya and I ) and I am so thankful he does! Rhya LOVES to see her daddy and it is a dreary day at the Harnish house is she doesn't! He reads her books before bed and will even sit with her to watch "Tinkerbell" during Rhya's "rest time"! I admire his patience and LOVE to watch him teach Rhya new things throughout this wonderful world! 

Happy Birthday Alan!  

We're All growin' up way to fast!

I remember way back when... When we had not a worry in the world... Ok, well maybe a few! Ha! My good friend Jen (who is a year older than I) my sister and I were in-separate-able for quite a few years. So much so that my parents called Jen their third daughter and still do! We were quite the trio! Playing tag on horseback, swimming in the creek, training steers, rigging up wagons to pull behind the horses (very stupid dangerous idea!) and much, much more!

It amazes me at how fast time fly's by!


(Alan and I, September 6th 2008)

(My sister Kate, January 22nd 2011)

Lee finally proposed to Jen not to long ago and we are so excited for our "sister"!!!!!!!! I was such a joy to see how happy Lee and Jen are! We laughed and joked through the entire photo shoot! I give Lee an A++ for putting up with me as well as being creative himself! (Photo shoots are not always a mans favorite way to spend their Sunday afternoon!) 

Here are a few of my favorites from their E-session! Enjoy!