Remembering...{My Life}

Remembering.

It brings tears, & sadness, but also allows us to rejoice in the good & happy.

It's hard to believe how quickly 5 years has gone by, and how so much can change in such a relativly short amount of time.

5 years ago today, we lost our Granny. She was more than Granny, she was incredible, & thinking about her tonight, makes my heart swell with love & happiness.

Remembering all the good that we shared in the 20 years that I shared with her on earth. All the laughs, and smiles...and even the tears. Many nights staying up late playing Rummy, eating a bowl of Corn Flakes (extra sugar), watching & listening to TV. Hearing her sing, songs by her favorite artists & attempting to teach me the guitar (not very well, cause I still can not play). I could write pages upon pages of memories of my Granny.

I will just share a photo, one of my favorite photos.

Granny helping me adjust my gloves for my Aunt's wedding. This framed image was given to me as a wedding gift & sat in the front alter at my wedding. It is definately very, very special to me.

(niether of these were taken by me, the original photo is one from my aunts wedding, & the photo of the photo, was taken by Rare Images at my wedding.)

There are a couple more images of Granny on this post:

I still miss & love her so much. Until we meet again up where the angels fly...

Rainy, windy days...{My Life}

The weather has been some of my least favorite. Super windy, drizzly cold rain & days with neverending grey clouds... It makes for going out of the house, especially packing the kiddos up, miserable & very discouraging.

An occasional break in the clouds to let the sunlight through, is very welcome.

...Week 2 : Weather: 2 ....Saturday mornings sunburst...

I've been spending lots of time organizing cupboards and paperwork, getting all those lovely end-of-year tax things in order & getting ready for Baby B to join our world.
I really have been enjoying my days & evenings with my family, doing...a whole lot of nothing important. We had our first real movie night on Friday. For the first time, ever in our relationship (almost 5 years) we actually rented movies to watch at home. We don't watch movies very often, so it was a real treat. Anna picked out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs something she saw on a commercial & wanted to see. We had a "Pizza Place" and enjoyed our evening in.

...Posing with her newest love...baby dolls....

It's hard to believe that in less than 1 month, my girlies are having a birthday! 3 years has passed so quickly, but not nearly as quickly as the past year. Add party planning to the to-do list, along with birthday portraits (hoping for some decent weather this weekend)...

...A 'horsey' party is on the horizon....

Grace is so full of personality, I love watching her change & learn new things. Her big sister definately teaches her a lot... a lot of what she shouldn't do....

...at 11 months, she gets her first ponytails, and something was incredibly funny...

In a few (hopefully) short weeks we'll be welcoming our 3rd & final (yes for reals this time) child into our world. Baby B should be arriving mid-March. I can say that my body is fully ready for pregnancy to be over. It's offically difficult to do most simple things (like breathing & sleeping). I, however, am not ready for more sleepless nights & starting the routine over again. It will all be a blessing & I'm sure at this time next year as I reflect on the wee-ones, it will be a happy time.

...taking advantage of getting dressed up for date night, I employeed my hubby to get a few belly pics for Brody's book.... 31w1d (or something like that)

Now off to finish up a couple of cupboards & work on the Christmas, turned birthday quilt...

Check back by the end of the week for some new portraits of a super cute 6 month old baby boy!

Weather {Project 52}

One of my goals this year is to take at least one photograph per week. So I've adapted a challenge to suit my style & schedule, and instead of taking a photo a day, I've assigned a 'theme' to each week of the year, 52 of them, hence the name Project 52.

The first week, theme was Affection, I posted a couple 'affectionate' photos from last week.

This week the theme I assigned was "Weather".

...We have a GORGEOUS view of Mt Shasta from our home, and lately, we've been awaking to fog, yucky, wet, gray, depressing, fog. However, somedays it's amazing...amazing that it doesn't settle into every little place, or even reach into the highest places (those would be clouds right?!). Sunday, the fog was having one of it's better days, and graced us with this beautiful framing of the Mountain. About 30 minutes later, it was completely socked in & we couldn't see any of this...what a way to start the day....

I may get a couple more 'weather' shots up this week. The winds here have been crazy, at one point we were having 42mph winds with gusts up to 49mph. The fence line surrounding our house & the property, is currently disguised with Tumble weeds, so many in fact, that the County road crew was out this morning, with a plow, front end loader & dump truck, clearing the roadway...it's quite a sight.

Next week there won't be the lengthy explanation, just the photo, theme {5 senses} & a little about the image(s).

Newsletter {Client Connection}

Here is the 1st edition of the new monthly newsletter, Client Connection.

Newsletter

I am putting the 1st edition up for everyone to view, but future editions will only be sent by email. Each month there will be a special that is only offered in the newsletter. There will also be a session highlight or two, and a little about whats going on in our house, some product spotlights & lots more!

My goal is to have this delivered to inboxes the first week of every month.

You can subscribe by sending a quick message to me here: SUBSCRIBE

New...{My Life}

Beginnings....a new Year...new dreams, ideas & plans...new projects...a new baby.....lots & lots of new.

Happy 1st week in the New Year.

I've been busy getting end of year paperwork & new year paperwork completed, along with starting to plan a birthday party for 2 very special girls, and beginning to get things in order for a new baby to come into our house.

If you are interested in having your portraits made by me prior to May 1st, you need to make your appoinment before March 10th, which is the last day I will be working until May 1st so that I can have my little boy & recover from the surgery.

New Years Eve/Day was pretty uneventful for our family. I woke up on NYE with the worst migrane I've ever had, thankfully it subsided somewhat so that I could take a few photos at my sister & brother-in-laws vow renewal.

We were in bed by 10 & up on NY day by 7:30, to tackle my least favorite mom-job, cleaning house. Lately I've been into getting things more organized, maybe it's getting ready for the baby, maybe it's just for a little sanity....

I have been working on getting lots of new stuff ready for the business, starting with the 1st edition of the Client Connection, a monthly newsletter that will go out (tentativly) the first week of every month. Adding a few new services & products, along with changing the pricing structure around a bit. Hoping that 2010 is the best year for business so far.

Thank you to my wonderful clients from 2009 for helping me grow & learn. You've all been wonderful & I am looking forward to capturing many moments for you in the coming months.

At home, we're still planning meals 2 weeks at a time, but I've been trying to pick a few recipes each time from a new magazine or different cookbook, something we haven't had before or a new twist on old flavors. One of the things I did this week was make a cake (I don't bake on a regular basis, but enjoy it the same).

I chose the White Chocolate Raspberry Torte (Taste of Home Dec/Jan 2010). The cake is yummy, not really heavy & the filling is yummy, really raspberry-ish. But the frosting that tops this thing... is Oh.My.Goodness. YUMMY! Light, fluffy, yummy. I now know what kind of frosting will be topping my girls' birthday cake.

FROSTING:

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 cup vanilla chips, melted & cooled

1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Beat up the cream cheese until fluffy, beat in the melted chips, fold in the whipped topping.

A Very Merry Christmas...{My LIfe}

...was had by all.

The last week is pretty much a blur. We spent about 12 hours in one day baking & making all different kinds of little candies. I ♥ all the kitchen time, especailly when my girls are able to help & Fum-Fum (my girls' affectionate name for Grandma) gets to come hang out with us.

...the girls were very good taste testers, here they are sampling the Peppermint Marshmellows...

...finally getting around to getting frosting on the cookies, we had 2 different kinds of frosting, because my nephew is allergic to milk. We did a buttercreame for some & a glaze for the others...

We did things a little different on Christmas Eve, and took a little driving tour to deliver gifts to my husbands family. Making a couple of stops, then looking at a few light displays. Our plans of driving around looking at lots of lights had to change slightly, the little town we were visiting didn't have any power.

It was the worst Christmas eve dinner I can remember having, the past 3 years we've held some sort of event at our home, where I made a huge dinner (thanks to Granny for teaching me how to cook for an army). The first year, my father-in-laws pump house caught fire in the middle of dinner (OPPS), the following year my mashed potatoes ran over in the oven & those caught fire. Glad we're past that, but BLT's for dinner on Christmas Eve, just seems wrong!

We definately made up for it on Christmas day though. We along with most of my family joined together at my sister's mother-in-laws home. It was a great day. LOTS of food. Turkey, Ham & lots of fixins...desserts.

It was little Grace's first Christmas, and I think she enjoyed herself. Although she didn't want anything to do with unwrapping gifts, she really liked playing with her sisters new gifts. It was a different experience than Anna's first Christmas for sure...she was still just sitting/crawling. Grace was pretty much into everything!

...The girls enjoying their quiet Christmas morning, gift opening was followed by homemade fresh blueberry pancakes, with sausage & eggs....

...Grace showing off her new boots...

I hope that you all had a great Christmas as well. Shared with family, friends & lots of love. ♥

My last official session of the year...{Family Session}

was this past Saturday (and this post is a bit late, I've been incredibly busy with Christmas preparations).

I got the opportunity to photograph our Pastor & his beautiful family, while their boys are home from college for the Christmas holiday.

Thank you for a great session the rest of your images have been posted.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

It's beginning...{My Life}

...to look a lot like Christmas.

Things have been incredibly busy, but I've managed to take a few photos, just of my kids being kids. I did have a session today, I will post their sneak peak later, after we have a little family time today.

...first snow at our favorite home ever...

Although we hardly ever have a White Christmas, it did snow last week, of course, not much & it didn't last long. It was snow none the less though, and Anna was excited to get out and make a snowman, except it was so cold & dry, the snow wouldn't stick together.

...the little snow monster (before Mom-o-the-Year realized the hat was on backwards haha)...

Anna really likes to go visit Grace in her crib when she wakes up, usually from her nap, because Grace gets up first. I think the real reason for the visit is to teach her all the things she shouldn't really do, but are so much fun. Like jumping on the bed...

...the little monkeys jumping...

...taking a break to give mom a sweet, innocent look...

She doesn't spend all her time being onrey & teaching her sister the things she shouldn't do...sometimes she's even nice to her little sis.

...Oh how time flies, they are getting so big...

Speaking of time flying...in about 3 months Baby Brody will be making his debut! I can't believe how quickly it is going, better start shopping for the little guy.

...the countdown is on, only about 13 weeks left...

We've spent lots of time the past couple of weeks packing my husbands grammas belongings & getting her ready to move. We've spent the last couple of years helping care for her, she lives on her own, but her eyesight is declining & needs more assistance than we can give. So this morning, he drove her down to meet his aunt where she will be living. Not everyone made it to her last night up here, but we took a photo anyways.

...Me, Grace, The Hubs, Mother in Law, Anna, Gramma, Sister in Law, Nephew...

♥♥Sending lots of Christmas love & wishes for hope, joy & peace to all of your families. ♥♥

Trees, projects and cupcakes, oh my! {My Life}

It can only mean one thing.....the Christmas season is here & in full swing!

Beyond getting photo orders in & cards designed for my wonderful clients, I've been busy at home as well.

We attended the Holiday Parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving to officially kick off our Christmas season. The following day we picked out our tree, although we didn't get to put it up for a couple of days because our stand was too small for the large crooked tree (which didn't look so crooked when we got it).

...our big beautiful, crooked, tree...

The girls helped decorate & Grace attempted to eat all the shiny or sparkley balls (shatterproof, bought on sale last year at 75% off, who could resisit). Anna, the girl who only wants a big horsey for Christmas, got to put the first ornament on, & she chose none-other than her green Lil' Pony.

...the little PeeWee enjoying getting into lots & lots of stuff, the Bug putting on her ornament...

...the trees first ornament, 1 of Anna's favorite things...

We started a family tradition last year to give homemade gifts. This year we've expanded on it & have several projects in order, complete with an organizational binder full with instructions & recipes that we will be using to help us on our "Homemade Famliy Christmas". Anna is very helpful when it comes to projects, also a bit bossy...but what 2 1/2 year old isn't!?!

...working on a project with Momma, of course, still must pose....

We've been watching Christmas movies & reading Christmas stories. The movie we must watch at least once per day, according to Anna, is Annabelle's Wish if you haven't seen it before, I highly reccommend it. It's a cartoon, full of the Christmas spirit & the gift of giving.

...all ready to head to the Chirstmas Parade, first time wearing barrettes...

We made some Gingerbread Cupcakes (in the recent Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine) , the recipe just calls for some low-fat whipped topping to frost them, but I had some extra cream cheese & ♥ cream cheese frosting, so I whipped up a small batch & topped them with that instead. They turned out really yummy, despite only having 2/3 the required amount of molasses. Of course Anna only wants to lick the frosting off & eat the cute little snowmen (which she either calls: snowwhites or frosty's).

...the yummy Gingerbread Cupcakes...

Alliance Properties {Professional Business Session}

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of photographing, Jasmine, from Alliance Properties. She is getting her business up and running & needed some professional headshots to use on her webpage and other advertising.

Thank you for another great session. Your images will be ready soon.