Kathryn Hastings Photography Is In the Business Spotlight!

Hey bloggers, haven't been on the page for months! Just wanted to update that the business i started almost 2 years ago (slowly) has taken flight in the last year. This week i was featured in the Sun Times, Northbrook Star with Kathryn Hastings Photography being the business spotlight! Pretty exciting stuff. If you get a chance check out my website Kathryn Hastings Photography and like my Facebook page! So so so appreciate it. I will post the link to the article for y'all to read when it's up!  If your in the Chicagoland area give me a call, would love to capture your beautiful faces. 

3 Years Ago

I delivered the most amazing gift i could have ever imagined! Olivia turns 3 this week! Unbelievable. How has three years gone by already. I have this little mini me that is my exact twin and she is 3. She has a huge personality and is so smart. I look at her and can't believe how fast time has gone by.

For her birthday we had a cupcake making party with some of her friends on Monday morning. It was a huge mess and SO much fun. Olivia had a blast and so did her friends. I loved helping the kids decorate their cup cakes. I made the cupcakes and icing the night before and let them choose the color they wanted for their cupcake. I had 6 different colors. I had tons of jelly beans, m&ms, sprinkles and even gummy worms. It was a blast! The whole thing was a DIY, from the take out boxes with stickers that had her name on it, to Olivia and Whitney's long sleeved white tee with the cupcake rinestones. It was inexpensive and adorable. Great idea for anyone with a lot of patience:)

For her actual birthday we are heading to the Choo Choo Restaurant for breakfast. Brad and i both grew up going to this adorable restaurant and Olivia & Whitney Love it. That afternoon we are going to our local YMCA for some family swim. Saturday night we are having a big Party at out new house with all our family to celebrate my baby girl. I am so excited. 

                     

                        

                        

End of the Beginning

am really excited about my journey with God this year. He has been so faithful to me. Good or bad he has always shown his face in our lives. 

I was listening to  K Love yesterday (the Christina radio station here in Chicago) and it said that being a Christian doesn't mean bad things won't happen to you, it doesn't mean you will have everything you have ever wanted, it simply means you have the knowledge from the word to be able to get through situations and hopefully they won't be as difficult. That really resinated in my soul. For me having a real relationship with God, one where i am continually thanking him for the day, and our health and everything else we could easily take for granted has changed my relationship with him. I feel like i'm giving back and not just always asking for things. I think it's a good lesson for any relationship:)

I am so excited for our next bible study at TVPC it's Beth Moore's newest bible study. I can't wait to be filled up:) James:Mercy Triumphs is the new study and focuses on joy, hardship, faith, reversal of fortunes for rich and poor, wisdom, gifts from above, single-mindedness, the dangers of the tongue, humility, and prayer. All the things that i need to continually work on:) 

I was on Facebook today and someone posted this video. I wanted to share it with all of you out there! What an amazing song. End Of The Beginning 

What do you think??? Amazing huh! Great way to tell the story!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in

him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the HolySpirit." Romans 15:13

Happy New Year!

2011 was a blessed year for our family! It's been fun watching the web that God has weaved for our family take shape. We have had a great time watching our girls grow and learn so many new things. Brad and I have grown is more ways then i can imagine, together and individually. There has been so much happiness and a few bumps in the road, but all in all we are very thankful for where we are in life and are blessed with the love we have for each other. A ton has happened this year and we are so excited to see what 2012 has in store for us.

We hope that 2012 is a prosperous and blessed year for everyone! God is great!

Here are some of my favorites from the holidays.

Our New House. We just remodeled all of it and moved in 2 days
before Christmas! What a blessing. Lots of before
and after pictures to come.

Lil Pea

This is the frame i bought from Lil Pea to go over Whitney's Bed:) 

Hey ladies! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and getting all their shopping in. I wanted to tell you all about this awesome online store that a friend of mine started about a year ago.

I was over at her house doing a photo shoot of her beautiful newborn and was noticing all the unique fantastic decorations and baby gifts she had all over her house. I asked her where she got everything and found out that she was selling it all at her website!

Her business is called Lil Pea and her website is www.lil-pea.com . Some of the items she has are things i have seen before and other are so unique. It's a perfect place to buy shower gift!

I love supporting other moms so i thought i would spread the word! Also check out her facebook page and "like" it so you are always up to date with the latest items and sales.

Merry Christmas???

This is what i found in my daughters backpack this afternoon when she got home from pre school. I love it. It made me start thinking should Merry Christmas be insulting???

This time of year is such an important one for Christians. It signifies the birth of our savor Jesus Christ. All you mamas out there can imagine how Miss Mary was feeling right about now. Very fat, hot and very ready to get this baby out. What a job she had, not only was she giving birth (and for those ladies who have done it naturally you know the pain she was in), but she was birthing the son of God. What an honor and privilege. I couldn't imagine..... As a Christina it's one of the most important days in our religion.

So why is saying Merry Christmas, politically incorrect? I honestly have no problem with any other religion. I have friends of every race and color and on holidays that are important to their faith I find it respectful to honor them. Not with everyone, but with a lot of people Christmas or any Christian holiday for that matter does not get shown the same respect. It makes me sad.

I feel like there is this movement in the United States. The thought seems to be that if they take away all the things that have to do with God or Jesus then maybe it will go away??? Fortunately for us, that will never happen. It bothers me a lot that they can't talk about it in school and that companies like Lowes call Christmas Trees, Holiday Trees.

I do know that no matter what the government, school or people take away, whether it be the lights, songs, the word God, the phrase Merry Christmas, it will never really dissapear. It's just makes me sad that the world can't let everyone enjoy their own faith and traditions. It makes me sad the my girls have to grow up in a world that is so overly consumed with what others are doing and celebrating that they can't even see the beauty in the religion.

Have you ever studied the Jewish religion? If you haven't i recommend you do! Their traditions are old and so beautiful! In the Orthodox sector of the religion the only thing that matters is religion itself. Their center is GOD. They work hard in school and honor their parents. It's so fascinating. It's amazing.

Every religion has something to offer. People shouldn't be offended by the joys of other religons. Other holidays aren't the negatives in this world. There are so many other things to worry about (the hungry, the homeless, the unemployment rate, the uneducated or undereducated children, the injustices done to people everyday) in this world. Passing someone by on the street that happens to say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah should make you smile (its a happy gesture).

I Am Thankful For My Road

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. I love getting together with my family. I love feeling thankful! I never need a holiday to be thankful. I feel thankful every day of my life. I am abundantly thankful for God, my children, family, health, jobs, love and everything else i have been given.

When i was thinking about it this year i decided that what i'm most thankful for is the doors that have been slammed in my face and the other doors that have been opened wide. I am thankful that i can let go and be happy with who I am. I am so thankful for this road that i have traveled down and so look forward to the road already out there in front of me.

Brad and i were talking about it the other day and came to the conclusion that our relationship has gone through more in 5 years of marriage then most have in 70. I am so thankful that our marriage is a solid one! I am thankful for all the good and bad that has happened and i am even more happy to have all that awful badness is out of our lives forever! Our family is so much better without it.

This thanksgiving was a special one on the Gierke side. The newest member of the family, Jordan Richard (our nephew) was introduced to one of his great grandmothers. It is actually her first great grandson. I won't go into all the detail, but God certainly played a  huge role in his birth and all the puzzle pieces that connected his precious life and his mommy's life to ours. The Gierke family is overjoyed to have such a wonderful women join the family. This family is so filled with love and is such a rock in our lives. We just adore all of them!

We ended Thanksgiving at my parents house. It was beautiful as always and the food and company was even better. Our girls just adore Mimi & Papa, we do too:) After dinner we took the whole crew over to our new house to show them all the construction and to try to piece together what our house is going to look like in a few weeks. Everyone loved it and were excited to see if finished. So are we:)

So this year i continue to be thankful for all the positive loving people that surround our lives. I have learned so much this year about everything. The road we are traveling down isn't always easy, but with some great travel partners it sure makes it exciting and totally worth the ride. I am thankful for my road!