Day 31

Day 30: Happy 60th Anniversary!

Day 29

I am so blessed with wonderful co-workers!!

Day 28

Day 27

Day 26

Day 25

It's hard to believe that it has been three years since my kidney surgery. The floods of emotion surrounding my cancer ordeal are still easy to remember, but so much has happened since then that it feels like ages ago. I like to take this day to reflect on the good things I have in my life ~ which at the top of the list, of course is my family. I remind myself to appreciate all the little things. It's hard when we're in the trenches of parenthood, but we need to remember that every day is a gift and to treat it as such. For me, that means I probably shouldn't sweat the small stuff quite as much! Hug your babies! ~L

Day 24

I have never been a big fan of sweating. I was never an athlete; I was always at the end of the pack in school running assignments; I was always one of the last to be picked for team sports (and for good reason). However, I am a fan of good food, and when putting the two circumstances together, the outcome is not good. My weight has always been a struggle for me. I've been up and down the scales more times than I can count. The last time I fit into size 10 jeans was 3.5 years ago when I was nursing Clara and being held accountable by my best friend to eat healthily. Now, however, I weight almost as much as I did at the peak of my third pregnancy... NOT GOOD. So, I've decided it's time again for me to focus & use some self-control. During the past year, I have found that I really enjoy walking/low-impact jogging. Who knew? The ipod makes a world of difference! However, as my busy season came & the time change happened... it was dark by the time I was able to go for a walk, and I just didn't feel comfortable with that. So, we recently invested in a treadmill, which eliminates that excuse. I'm hoping that by putting it out there to the world that I'm trying to make good changes, it will help hold me accountable... wish me luck!

Day 23

Day 22

Edited to add some commentary....

Mallory's birthday is two days after Christmas. Needless to say, timely birthday parties for her have always been a challenge. This year, she decided instead to celebrate a little late by having a small group of friends over for a sleepover. Her two younger sisters were sent to Lita's house, and she and her gal-pals had the house all to themselves. I cannot tell you how proud I was of this group of girls. They played, giggled, shared, encouraged one another, were extremely polite and just so fun to be with! There was NO drama (except for the good kind - where they were creating a "play"). So proud of my baby girl and her friend choices!

Day 21

Twins from a client session today:

Day 20: Life Juice

Day 19

Day 18: Leftover Washers

Day 17: Happy 40th

In a day where divorce is so prevalent and so many of our friends have multiple step-families, Kevin and I have been blessed to have such good examples of stick-to-it-ness in our parents. Today is my In-Law's 4oth wedding anniversary. Congratulations, Don & Lucia!

Day 16: Locks of Love

Clara got her hair cut today so she could donate it to Locks of Love! I'm so proud of her and how unselfish she was ~ especially since she is pretty proud of those red curls! Lila has been growing hers to do the same, so she'll follow as soon as she can ~ Clara's was just longer to start with. I must admit I had a few heart palpitations... we've never cut Clara's hair before other than a trim to even it out when she was 3!

Day 15

My day got off to a rough start. I woke up with issues pressing on my mind and mornings before school getting three girls ready and out the door is never calm. It was one of those days where when I took time to reflect on my life all I could see was how I'm doing everything wrong... I called my best friend to vent and she helped me calm down. I then vented to my coworker, and she helped further. Then we had three precious newborns in the studio today. There's just something about those fresh babies that makes your troubles melt ~ if only for a little while! Of course, it does take a lot of work to get precious newborn pictures ~ especially with twins. And while it's totally worth it... my brain is too tired to come home and come up with another image tonight, so for my photo of the day I'm going to use a client image. This precious baby girl is the daughter of a sweet couple whose wedding I photographed last January. Isn't she yummy?

Day 14

Lila the Eagle

Lila is the Eagle Heights school mascot. She went with the cheerleaders to all of the volleyball games and cheered on the Eagles! It's such a good fit for her, because she is definitely bursting with personality!

After we took Eagle pictures today, Lila found this police uniform at the studio and begged to put it on and take some pictures in it. Too funny.

Day 13

I had a hard time picking just one picture today. In fact, I had about 5 top favorites, but I narrowed down to these two. We actually went to the studio to take pictures of Lila in her Eagle costume for school. (She's the mascot). We ended up doing an impromptu session for both Lila and Clara in various costumes using various props. These were a couple of my favorites of my little angel:

Day 12: Lila's New Shoes

Day 11

Mmm... the goodness that is roasted garlic.

Cooking is another hobby of mine. Of course, I rarely have time to cook anything elaborate, so quick and easy is my mantra. Kevin's aunt gave me a garlic roaster one of the first years we were married, and it's something I love to use. Roasted garlic is so yummy to use to season things, or just to eat straight-up... although you have to watch your consumption, or you'll end up smelling like vampire-repellant the next day!

Day 10: Simple Pleasures

Having three girls (one of these above is not mine, but a playmate) makes for a life frequently filled with drama. It's nice to know, however, that simple pleasures are still possible at this age. A race in the back yard can be just as much fun as dolls, playing school, computer time or video games. Also note the lovely fashion of my 4 year old, who is sporting a reindeer shirt and "fancy" skirt with flip flops.

Day 9: Mallory's Profile

My 9 year old is growing way too fast...

Day 8 - Cake Balls

Day 7

Day 6: New Beanbags

Day 5: Lila

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2: AMY

This is my beautiful friend Amy. I love the way she laughs. As I took this picture this evening, she was washing my dishes. You know it's a true friend who will wash your dishes. :) She's a fellow mom of three... a "real" mom... although her house is (sickingly) much cleaner than mine can ever profess to be. Amy is my encourager. Even when I don't feel like it, from walking around the block, to making sure I'm where I need to be on Wednesday night... we help keep each other accountable, and for that I greatly appreciate her!

365 Project

Have you heard of the 365 Project? It's been going around the internet for several years, but I decided yesterday that this is my year to complete it. Basically, you take and post a photo daily. To take a photo every day doesn't sound like it would be a big deal for a photographer, and in a way, I'm guessing I do have an advantage over some since my camera is a piece of equipment I pretty much use daily on the job, but I think it's going to be a challenge for me as well. As I stated in my last post, I have gotten out of the habit for taking pictures for ME, for FUN. Don't get me wrong, I do have fun doing what I do, but it is different. At first, I even thought I might say that it will always be a personal picture, and things from the studio wouldn't count, but I think that's unrealistic, because the studio is such a part of who I am, and I do get excited about creating portraits at work. But in general, I am going to try to not rely too heavily on studio work for this project.

That said, the picture I chose for 1-1-10 (yesterday) was taken for clients. One of my favorite things to do at weddings is to "play" with the rings, and I think this shot makes a good "first of the year" picture:

Happy New Year!

I have been neglect in blogging once again. One of my hopes for this year is that I will take more time in enjoying photography for myself and not just for business. Here's to the promise of new beginnings!