live and learn

critters....

i love critters. pretty much anything with fur, except possums, rats and mice. they creep me out. wednesday when i went to kevin's to do his shoot, i stepped outside and was greeted by 3 english bulldogs, sugar, bailey and carter....

and i'm still working my way through our photos from washington and i have to share a couple of diesel. he is such a cutie!

last night, tom and i went downtown for a mini-shoot.

my man on his hog.

i love him so much. and i think he kinda likes me too. we had a great time doing these shots. he gets me. and i so wanted to capture his passion. i have a lot more shots to edit. it's about time i update the harley album. he gives me a hard time about that.

this weekend the weather looks like it will be perfect, so tom plans to go on a poker run (benefitting a camp for kids with cancer) and then we may go for dinner on the bikes with our new pastor mike and his wife terri. i'm going to the venice flea market early in the morning....can NOT wait! i did get out yesterday and planted all of my flowers. i even planted a tomato plant, basil, rosemary and dill. my dill plant wasn't looking too healthy, so i may have to go out and get another. since we lived at the lake, i haven't had a garden...so it will be a thrill just to have a few things. i've started back at gardening slowly....i used to have a pretty good sized garden back in the day. in recent years, i've gone to the farmer's market at least once a week to get good fresh produce. i'll continue to do that  since i only have a few things planted this year. love the farmer's market.  looking almost as forward to that as the flea markets and tag sales. it's been a long winter.

today i have harper quinn. we just had fresh strawberries and toast for breakfast, and now we're watching sesame street (i didn't know that luis was still on!). later, i hope to get outside and show her the flowers and take a walk. i may even take a photo or two ; )

hey, it's friday, have a good one! God bless!

sometimes...

i have even more fun than i had anticipated. that's what happened when i met and photographed kevin. so easy to photograph and i think we were on the same page creatively.

we went to the studio where he dances, but there was a class going on, so we opted to use the lot behind the studio. the rusted out trailer was the perfect backdrop for a sorta street look.

kevin's friend troy popped by and joined in on a few shots. seriously fun shots for me.

i'm booking lots of senior shoots for 09....my head is bursting with ideas for creative and unique shots! photography could so easily take over my life. hours go by and i'm not even aware. must be careful : )

i need to get outside today and enjoy the sunshine. i have flowers to plant and i'd like to take a nice long walk. so many things that i want to do, not enough time in the day to do it all! it comes down to choices, once again.

there will always be work to do, right? i have no problem disciplining myself to work, so i have to consciously think about taking time to play. work that feels like play, can be consuming. at least for me. so today i will make sure and take a break. i have to say again, that i am so thankful to be doing what i love. it's just that i am becoming more aware of the rub. and how passionate people can become not only workaholics, but hermits! i never would have thought i would have this problem. and it's not that people aren't important to me. i can just get caught up in the excitement and joy of my work and then realize that a full day has passed.

i hope that you take the time to enjoy this spring day and give yourself a break from the routine. call a friend and share a picnic, or take a walk and windowshop, or plant some flowers....that's what i'm gonna do. God bless you and yours!

we did, did you?

it's a good feeling. i still remember voting for the first time when i was 18. i went to town hall with my parents and cast my vote for jimmy carter for president. i knew nothing about politics at that time. nothing. i thought he was nice. it's no secret that i vote more on the conservative side now. i do have to say that when my kids were young, i was much more informed politically. i listened to talk radio a lot. now tom listens and i get my info from him. sometimes at dinner, i'll ask him about issues. i really need to make more of an effort myself.

this week, i've continued to edit photos from our trip and mother's day.

i love the shelving in er's kitchen! they found the unit in their garage when they moved into this house. i love the kitchsy, retro stuff she has displayed. as we were sitting at the other retro chrome and vinyl table, i looked over and thought we needed a photo of the girls with the shelving behind them.

this one melts me.

i found this baby scale at a local antique mall. i had visions of doing her one year shoot, with her sitting on it. but not this girl! she is way too busy to sit on it....she just wanted to drag it around!

speaking of antiques, i think there's a flea market this weekend! i need to call and find out. i used to drive by all the time, but since we moved, i don't and i almost forgot to check out when the spring market is. calling today!

have a great day and God bless!

i'll never stop...

living and learning. when i decided to start a blog and titled it *live and learn*, i knew it was apropos. i am still learning EVERY day....about life, about relationships, about creativity, about everything. yesterday, i had a few different *revelation* moments. i love monday mornings. i feel like i'm ready to take on the world- i have these grand ideas about what i want to accomplish....but usually around 3 in the afternoon, i crash. i think the realization that i'm not going to accomplish everything i had intended to, hits me and i turn into freaked out crankypants. i love that i have this creative side, but at the same time, i think a creative brain works differently than most. i start a project and get really into it and before i know it, it's 3 hours later and time to move on to something that really needs to be done. case in point: i have this beautiful bowl full of fresh strawberries in the frig. rather than just continue to eat them as they are, fresh and delish....i feel this need to dip them in chocolate and make a pretty plate of them. do i have time for this? NO! there are much more pressing tasks at hand, but i can't live without frivolity! so i will probably stop working at some point during the day and dip strawberries. (and then be whiny later, when i don't accomplish something that needs to be done!) at least i recognize it now : ) i remember my dad saying to me facetiously once, "you have an hour, why don't you just run in to omaha and go to target and get that". just driving there and back would take more than an hour, but that's how i roll. i think i have more time than i do and therefore, i am a poor planner. today, i am turning over a new leaf! yea, right.

i have had the pleasure of photographing some really cool people. when rhonda emailed and said she was interested in having me do a shoot of her family, i was so excited! i am a huge fan of her work ....plus, she has a beautiful family. i was bummed when i woke up to rain the morning of the shoot, but we worked around the rain and drizzle-

i love how this shot came about. all i did was to ask rhonda to snuggle up to her hubby from behind and all the kids just joined in!

one thing i learned while we were in washington....you can't let rain stop you from doing what you want to do. thanks rhonda!

another really cool person i've g0tten to know is lizzy. lizzy will graduate on sunday and i just know that she has the brightest future! so exciting to hear her talk about her plans of persuing a career as a vet. with her brain and determination, she will do it!

she asked me to design her graduation invites. i had a lot of fun doing this. her and her mom trust me (that's scary!) and let me go with this. i think they turned out pretty good.

I've obviously blurred her full name.

they're 5x7 and i think either side would look good framed. yay lizzy!

last night, i had the bachelor on while i worked in my studio. i will NOT be sarcastic. i'm sure they will be very happy together :) i had dancing on too....since i was *working*, i couldn't really watch and so once again, i don't really have a strong opinion about who wins. i'll have idol on tonight....much easier to listen and form an opinion without watching closely. pulling for david cook. i've thought he would win from early on.

have a great day and God bless!

back to it...

i feel like i'm finally getting back to normal today. i need to find some creativity somewhere and get some projects done today. i think if i get up in my studio, i'll be fine. i was definitely not in my normal routine last week. for one thing, i forgot amber's birthday. ack. happy belated birthday amber! i hate when i forget birthdays and anniversaries. i try so hard, but i guess i need some type of system to remember everything. i have this really sweet little tag book with birthdays and anniversaries written in it, but i forget to look at it often enough. i think i just need to start writing important dates on my daily calendar. my little black book has everything else in it : ) today, i just feel like i need grounding. everything feels disorganized. our cooking club planned to have a spring tea....and now i don't know if we can pull it off. i was so looking forward to it, but i am just so overwhelmed. we shall see. maybe after a day of grounding i'll feel better. i took the weekend off and maybe i shouldn't have?

tom and i went in to omaha on saturday to pick up a few things and had a nice lunch at the farmhouse. when we got back to town, we had 3 graduations parties. it was raining like crazy, which brought back memories of the day of jared's party (we rented this huge tent and had it up on our beach at the lake and it rained all day....pretty much ruining the whole idea of the party). we felt for everyone who had the same kind of day we had. when we got home, i started in on food for mother's day. i have this aversion to eating out on mother's day. i hate the crowds and waiting. i would much rather stay at home and enjoy my family. even if it means going to the work of making the food. it worked out well though-i just made potato salad and pasta salad on saturday night; we picked up a tray of sandwiches from jimmy johns after church and pulled the salads out. brooke made a huge fruit salad and strawberry shortcake, my sister brought chips and brownies and amber brought sugar cookies. we devoured everything! there wasn't anything left by the end of the day! we sat outside, soaking up the sunshine most of the afternoon. i loved it. everyone left about the time the survivor finale started, so we vegged the rest of the night. i didn't love the way survivor ended, but we did cheer when natalie got voted off. she was bizarre.

on saturday, between going to omaha and the parties, we stopped by a local junk store and i picked up some great finds. a painted aqua metal box, a box full of paint by number pieces and a beautiful old painted canvas. all for a mere $16! i have been so drawn to paint by number art lately. memories of my grams, i guess. i was surprised when i saw a wall decorated in paint-by-numbers in the most recent  country home or country living. i think they're fun! and so kitchy! i've had this idea in my head for sometime, on using them in our guest room (whenever i get around to re-doing it) i have paintings hanging in there already that the kids did when they were in 8th grade, so i think the paint-by-numbers will work well with them, along with the empty rickety frames i've collected over the years. i want to be really bold in that room with the wall color too.

 

here are a few shots from yesterday-

 

these two found a worm, while they were outside digging around all afternoon. they were so dirty by the end of the day! dirty outside boys = spring!

checking to see how dirty the water is after a long, hard winter. we're hoping the blossoms from the trees fall soon, so that we can open the pool. tom said if jim(the pool guy) calls, we'll just go ahead with opening it. none of us can wait! even though griffin is only 4, he was joining in on the conversation about swimming.

no pics of jared from yesterday. he had all 4 wisdom teeth extracted on friday and he's pretty swollen. but, it went well and he's relieved to have it over. as soon as the swelling and brusing are gone, we're going to do the photo shoot we've been talking about.

i hope all of you who are moms had a nice mother's day. i think that moms do deserve a day of honor. as much as i love celebrating moms, i always have a soft heart for those who long to be moms and aren't yet. i always hope that the people in their lives are sensitive to them.

God bless your day!

in honor of mamas...

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." ~Washington Irving

"all that i am or ever hope to be, i owe to my angel Mother" abraham lincoln

"youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all". oliver wendell holmes

"if you bungle raising your children, i don't think whatever else you do well matter very much". jacqueline kennedy onassis

there is no way to be a perfect mom, but a million ways to be a good one. " jill churchill

"a mother's love for a child is like nothing else in the world. it knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in it's path." agatha christy

Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of life.

"A mother is the one who is still there when everyone else has deserted you."

"her children arise and call her blessed" prov 31:28a

i can't do a post about mothers,without honoring my dear, sweet mama. i adore her. she showed me how to love. over the years, she has done countless acts of unselfish loving things for me...but this is the one that stands out as the epitome of unselfishness. when i was in 9th grade, she took me to my 6 am basketball practice in a blizzard. we were in my dad's pickup and got stuck. she got out to look and forgot to put the truck in park. it rolled right over her foot. i remember freaking and continuing to ask if she was okay. she very calmly told me she was fine. she dropped me off a few blocks later at school and assured me she was fine. i found out later that day, that she drove herself to the ER. fortunately her foot wasn't broken, just horribly bruised and swollen....but still-she RAN OVER her own foot and wouldn't even acknowledge it until i was safely delivered to my practice! i admire how she raised us with such love, but never let her own identity go. she had passion for her interests and balanced loving us at the same time. that seems to be rare. love you mom!

perfect day to share images from a mom/daughter shoot i did while in washington. alissa and i met through scrapbooking probably about 6 years ago. we have chatted and emailed over the years and finally got to meet last weekend! her and her sweet mom were so fun! love their connection too-

   

happy mother's day! God bless!

hope...

without it, life is empty, pointless. where there is hope, there is energy and life. looking into someone's eyes who has no hope, is a scary thing. the life is gone....they are blank and empty. even a glimmer of hope can make all the difference. as many of you who have read my blog for the past couple of years know, my sister has battled depression for the past few years. she has improved in the past year, but has struggled to get her life back. while i was in washington, i talked with my family there about the situation and they really inspired me to get more involved in her recovery. on the flight home, i thought and prayed, and feel a renewed sense of hope for poo (my goofy nickname for my sister, which i gave her when she was a newborn...it really stuck) i got together with her yesterday and told her about my idea of being accountablity partners. as we talked, both of us got pretty excited about it. she was totally receptive and i saw hope in her eyes again. that is the best feeling i've had in a long time. i have missed my sister and her sweet, joyful spirit. i want her back...and i want her to have her life back in full. i know many of you have prayed for her recovery...please don't stop praying. she needs it more than ever right now. i feel as if the tide has turned and i pray that this breakthrough is real and that it lasts. i hadn't planned to blog about this, but felt compelled to as i started to type. i know that depression is almost epidemic and my heart just goes out to every family affected by it. i'll let you know how the next days and weeks go with our new plan of attack against it.

of course, i've continued to edit photos and wanted to share more.

us in the mountains.

at the market.

on the ferry to whidbey.

tom's sister kathy's husband steve with leah and matthew(their grandchildren)

kathy(tom's sister) with leah. love her wellies :)

our nephew chris and his wife patti. aren't they cute together? and doesn't chris resemble uncle tom?

great nephew colton.

and cameron.

and the newest, baby nicholas. lottsa nephews and great nephews :)

tom and i spent time on whidbey with steve and kathy and then on sunday we met at mike and becky's(nicholas' parents) and hung out with more of the nephews and their kiddos. they bought a really cool craftsman style house a few years ago and have done a fabulous job of decorating. i should have taken photos.

so, today jared is having his wisdom teeth extracted. he's having it done at the oral surgeon's and will be put under, so prayers would be appreciated. hopefully it will go smoothly and he will recover quickly.

take care and God bless!

more vacation talk...

i hope this doesn't get old! i have so much more to share! we did some shopping of course, while we were there. it's so hard to shop when you are flying! my favorite shop by far, was one in sumner-

see that blue sprinkling can? it's now mine! if i had more time and money, i could do some real damage here! amazing store! because er and i have such similiar taste, she knew i would love it!

i love this shot, even though i look like a dork!

erika makes amazing jewelry! this is a display of her stuff at one of the local stores. and i now own one of her beautiful button rings (made with vintage buttons from her grandma's button collection)! she needs an etsy shop, don't you think?

this is the shop owner...can't remember her name, but doesn't she have a great look?

emma took this shot of er and i. emma is a budding photog. she has a great eye!

miss ellie

another fave of emma.

this is the farm that my uncle gene and aunt greta owned for many years. james and erika were married in the back, by the pasture, with a gorgeous view of mt rainier. i can't even think of washington without thinking of this place. the new owners came out to see what we *needed*, and once we told them we were gene and greta's nieces, they were very accomodating...even invited us in!

all of these shots are from the 1st and 2nd day! eeks. we havent' even been to the mountains or whidbey island yet!

i just went to the fiskars website and see that one of my projects is up. as i've mentioned many times, i adore the cloud9 board books. they have the perfect number of pages to do a one year project by the month. the project featured is harper's first year. check it out here. and here's a peak-

yesterday, while i folded the million loads of laundry, i caught up on some of my tivo'd shows. i was of course sad when brooke left idol, loved amanda's move on survivor, laughed at the bachelor girls tell all, and don't really care about dancing. so tonight is a new survivor and i'm really pulling for amanda now.

i need a quote to think on today. this is a verse i love and aspire to.

"be humble and gentle. be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." eph 4:2

i hope you have a wonderful spring day, full of sunshine and hope! God bless!

back-and with a new perspective~

every time i'm away from home it happens- and yet it always seems to come as a surprise. this trip was beyond any other i've taken recently. probably because it wasn't work related, AND because tom was with me. i feel as if even my brain had a rest! i didn't think about deadlines or work at all. i lived in the moment and truly took a break. at one point, i thought about getting creative and i felt empty...which was scary, but now that i'm home, i see that i needed that emptying out. things were too jumbled. and now i'm home and although there are a million things to do and catch up on(including this mountain of laundry all over the family room), i'm ready to take it on. i feel energetic and almost content, amongst the messes.

i have so many thoughts, as well as photos i want to share, but i know i can't do it in a day. bottom line of this trip....relationships. the time tom and i spent together was much needed. even though we are dedicated to spending quality time together every day, there are interuptions and distractions(for which we are grateful...because those interuptions and distractions represent a life with people who we love and who love us) but this trip was a time away for us. almost no tv or computer time....just time to talk and be together. we spent time with family and friends who are dear to us, and that was the highlight, even more than the beautiful sights and scenery. i thought i would photograph lots of scenery...but i really didn't. i photographed the people.

i don't know if i can adequately express my thoughts on time with my family. i'm thinking the bond we share isn't typical for extended family. they are like best friends/sisters all wrapped up together. i adore them. they are super important to me....and have been most of my life. i can be real and transparent and totally relaxed with them. good stuff. the time we spent with tom's family was awesome too-they are good people! and add seeing/meeting two of my favorite scrapbooking friends and getting to photograph them, to it and it was perfection! okay, that's the summary, i'll do a more detailed post on everything as i get through the photos!

for now, i'll post a few photos from the first day-

this is emma. i don't even have words strong enough for how i feel about her! she is a bright, beautiful, fun to be around, sweet spirit. total joy. we want her to come and stay with us for a month! seriously! i hope it works out!

this is ellie. she is obviously adorable, but she's also bright and sweet spirited. i found myself just wanting to squeeze her!

here's dane. this was the first time tom and i had met dane. he was the driving force for us making this trip. it occurred to me how ridiculous it was that we hadn't met him yet. meeting him was worth the trip in gold! he is such a little personality! when we would drive up to their house, he would be at the window, or standing outside with this HUGE grin, waving at us! so happy to see us. tom and dane were pretty much instant buddies. they adore each other. and i think dane liked me okay too...even though he would forget my name :) by the end of our stay, dane was calling tom, *honey tom*. so cute! so tom and i love these 3 to pieces!

i don't think any cousins could have a closer bond than erika and i. if we were sisters, we couldn't be closer. i can't even type words that will do our relationship justice. love her.

   

auntie jayne. again, words seem inadequate. and she's my aunt by marriage....hard to believe we're not *blood*. i already have a tribute layout in mind about her, and her influence on my life through the years. now, i know i didn't post a photo of james and uncle dave...i will...i have only begun to look through the photos i took.

as happy as i am to be home, the realization that it will be some time before we get to spend time together again, makes it bittersweet. i wish they lived closer. but i'm so thankful they are in my life and that we have what we have.

i did miss blogging and the connection with my online friends. and of course we missed our family and local friends :) hopefully we'll catch up with everyone in the next weeks. and summer is almost here, so we'll be entertaining lots! we hope to open the pool in the next couple of weeks.

take care and God bless you!

good monday mornin'!

i hope you all had a great weekend! we did! i felt like my weekend started on friday at 1. vic came over with lunch....and she actually brought me a poop sandwich, handcrafted with paper clay! i took photos, but in an effort not to gross everyone out, so early on a monday morning, i won't post! to hear her tell the story of the 3 hour effort she put into my poop sandwich, made my whole weekend! the chick can tell a funny story! it was so good to just hang out and chat. we sat on the floor of my VERY messy studio chatting for a long time. saturday morning, i spent 3 hours cleaning, purging and updating the mess. this morning i snapped a couple of photos.

i bought this sweet little vintage medicine cabinet at a tag sale for $10. i had intentions of hanging it in the typical manner, but didn't really have the ideal space. i need all the storage space i can find in my studio, so i decided to use it this way for now. it's perfect for small stamps, paints, glitter, adhesive...i'm really not done setting it up.

this shot of the floor is for vicki : ) notice the paper scraps aren't vacuumed yet.

i spend hours and hours in this little room. it's my refuge....my sanctuary. we will be flying to seattle later today and i have to admit i'm already a little homesick for my space...and we haven't even left yet! since i love my work so much, it makes me a little nervous to be looking at being away for a week! i'lll have limited access to email while we're away too. i think it will definitely be a time to recharge, and i  think i'll come home excited to be creative and working. over the weekend, i worked on a super simple project, that i am more excited about than anything i've done in a while. i did it for the fiskars website, and i'll be able to post it in the next couple of weeks. i made one for vicki and she liked it so much she almost shed a tear : ) it's simple, but full of impact! can't wait to share it with all of you!

after spending most of the day working on my studio and the project for fiskars, i went over to my friend suzy's, and took a few photos of her son keith and his date and friends before prom. let me just tell you that keith is such a great kid. and i'm not just saying that. he has stepped up to the plate and is suzy's right arm. he helps with his younger siblings, like no other teenager i've ever met. i have utmost respect for suzy....and keith. words aren't enough. oh and it was raining out and totally freezing, so our photo ops were limited!

 

isn't she adorable?

my favorite shot. completely worth getting soaked and having the kids think i was a dork. suzy had her knee reconstructed a few weeks ago and that's her on the front porch watching them take off.

we had dinner at *the office* with donna and jamie after the pics. had a GREAT time...laughing, talking about everything from absurd to heavy, deep spiritual. i love friends who you can talk about everything with. laugh hysterically one minute, serious life issues the next. we are blessed to have good friends.

i did whip out a layout that's been in my head for a while. i didn't want to let this slide...i wanted it documented. from the time she performed at our wedding and ryan and jennifer's-we knew. she has a very bright future.

 

i hate goodbyes :) God bless your week!