My in-laws recently returned from a trip to Africa to see family (my husband’s side of the family is African), and while they were there, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (who was local) had a dress made for me. They took some pictures of me, showed them to a seamstress my sister-in-law knows, and she made a dress to suit.

Now this dress fits me perfectly, and I absolutely love it! (Thank you, Mom and Mimi!) I can’t imagine the skill it takes to look at a picture of a woman and then make a dress to fit her.

Anyway, I wanted to show you all a picture of this dress, and my husband took picture after picture of me in it, and I just couldn’t look right… I mean, I look in the mirror, and it’s beautiful! I get in front of a camera and I turn into a doofus.

This was the best picture I could get, just me standing there like a lug. Out of fifteen photos. Each more awkward than the last. (But the dress is really cute, right?)

So I pointed out to my husband that I just don’t know how to pose! I don’t know what to do with my hands. I mean, my husband’s older sister knows how to pose for photos so that she looks amazing. It’s a skill! I can hide behind a book and have it turn out okay, but to have another person snap a picture of me? I end up looking like… well… this.  And I like my figure, I like my weight, my size, my features. I’m not complaining about the bricks and mortar here… but I just can’t seem to pose so that I use what the good Lord gave me to any kind of advantage.

I tried a couple of different poses in the mirror, and came up with two. One did not work at all, and this one was half-decent.

I still look like a bit of a doofus, but it’s better. And I just love the dress! It’s comfortable, and flattering, and I’m going to wear it constantly once summer hits.

However, there are family members in Africa who have never met me in real life, and the only mental image they have of me is from awkward photos. You can only imagine what that talented seamstress had to work with, photo-wise! But I really do think I improve upon personal meeting.

And for everyone else who is related to me by marriage… Sorry! I try, okay? I do! Please just believe me that when you add personality to this tall glass of awkward, the overall impression improves. 😉

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Coming in April 2020!

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For a proper young Amish widow struggling to begin again, encountering her reckless first love will test her forgiveness, resolve—and heart . . .

Overwhelmed by grief and tending twin baby daughters, Rosmanda Lapp is without options. She still blames her brother-in-law, Levi, for her husband’s accidental death—but she and her aging in-laws need him to keep their farm going. Yet as Levi takes on his responsibilities with a new determination and steadiness, she can’t help but regret that she chose his serious-minded brother over him. For Levi is still very much the passionate man she loved—and Rosmanda now has even more reasons to keep him at arm’s length . . .

Levi can’t blame Rosmanda for staying clear of him. He has mistakes to make up for and must finally do right by his parents. Still, he never got over his brother stealing Rosmanda away. And he can’t  deny the feelings that even now tempt them back to each other. And when a mistake from her past threatens her reputation, Levi will do whatever it takes to help her—and trust that faith and courage will at last help them claim a future together . . .