It has been a tough week. Most certainly one of the hardest weeks I've ever had to go through. Ten days ago my sweet little love was attacked by our neighbor's dog. She ended up with 8 stitches in her scalp, one in her face and many more boo boos to boot. Our hearts were broken last week, and we've been slowly trying to put the pieces back together and mend said boo boos, both physical and emotional.

On top of that I was informed two days after the incident that my photography name was in violation of someone else's trademark. It was 100% my fault (oops) but I have had to scramble over this past week to fix months and months of work on my Facebook page and this blog. I was also busy trying to pull together the Birthday Party of the year. In the midst of all of this, I barely picked up my camera. I knew I needed to. I know, as silly as it sounds, that narrowing down my world to only that which could be framed in my lens would heal my heart in some way. But there wasn't time, and I was awfully overwhelmed by all of the work that needed to be done with the websites and here at home. So I didn't touch it until two days before the party.

Saturday was the day of the party. The day I'd been looking forward to for weeks, if for no other reason than because I could finally be done for a while. It was a great party. We were surrounded by people we loved, little love seemed happy and content (well as happy and content as a 3 year old can be when she hasn't had a nap) and I got to take about a million pictures of all our hard work.

We have a long way to go to heal from this past week, to erase the sights and sounds, the sense of trauma and hurt. I have no doubt we will push through as we have always done, sometimes looking a little ragged but with our chins high and our pride intact. At least I'll be taking pictures again.

May all of her wishes come true, this year and always. 

I Heart Faces Challenge: Oh So Silly!

I have a very silly daughter. She is silly far more often than serious, so she was a natural choice for this challenge. Deciding WHICH silly picture to use was a little more challenging. This photo makes my heart sing. It captures her darling little personality perfectly. May she stay silly forever and ever.

To see other silly photos or enter one yourself, head over to I Heart Faces! 

{day twenty}

{day nineteen}

My brain is ALL over the place. I think I'm having camera withdraws. Even typing that sounds silly and pretentious, but there it is. If you know me at all you know that I'm nothing if not obsessive. Once something gets into my brain I can't get it out for anything. My love of all things picturey (just go with it) has seeped into my veins. I don't want to stop, and am often times afraid to pick up my camera to "snap a few pictures" because I know a few pictures will quickly turn into an hour. Oops.

Things have to get done, and I'm the only one to do them. This party must be planned, hot glued, baked, fretted over and stressed upon. My house fairies have up and quit, which means my household is in desperate need of some Am time. My daughter and husband still like me to be, you know, involved and stuff. These aren't things I mind doing. I take pride in my home, I love pouring myself into a party that will make my little love happy. I obviously cherish every second I'm involved in this family and all that entails.

And yet. I miss my camera. So I took it on a walk yesterday (well we walked the dog and the kiddo, not the camera so much.) My wonderful friend (who also loves and rocks at this little obsessive hobby) was patient enough to let me stop whenever I got a hunkering to snap, taking charge of both the 2 year old and the Great Dane while I traipsed around our undeveloped neighborhood.

I got a few pictures. I quickly realized that we are in desperate need of landscaping in our neighborhood.

But also I realized there is beauty everywhere. In every thing, big or small, it all depends on the eye that beholds it. It depends on a heart that is willing to see the good, the pure, the awesome in something as simple as a brick wall or sun streaming through the pines. Nothing is unimportant. No one thing we do as individuals is insignificant. Everything has a purpose, it is our job to surround ourselves with those people and things that see the beauty in our own flawed selves.

It becomes our responsibility to take a second from the hectic whirlwind that is life and breathe. Do something that ignites your heart and spirit. Listen to that still small voice that has already told you your purpose. Love hard and know this, we are each beautiful in our own, still way.

Beyond Honored

I've posted two pictures in the I Heart Faces challenges, the latest one earlier this week. I never entered with any real expectation of being chosen as a winner. Out of hundreds of amazing entries by amazing, professional photographers, I was just happy being able to put my humble pictures next to theirs. I was happy to see more hits than normal on my blog, happy to see a few extra comments. To know that even one of my pictures gave even one person pause was all I could ever want or expect.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I opened up the winners of the Family Fun challenge and saw my own picture listed in the top ten! To say I was shocked and maybe thought I was a little delirious is a vast understatement. But mostly I am honored that my little humble picture meant something to a photographer (the guest judge) who's own work amazes and inspires me.

I take pictures for the love of the moment, the love of the camera and the desire to nurture this little spark of talent I maybe have. Thank you I Heart Faces for offering such an amazing community to share something I love so much. Thank you  Shalonda Chaddock from Chubby Cheek Photography for giving me a giant pat on the back by choosing my picture. And thank you to my few readers and friends for pushing me to do this. You know who you are! You can find the post here if you're interested, and also please go check out I Heart Faces and maybe enter a picture of your own next week!

Happy Friday my beautiful friends!

Project 365 Week Recap

I have been nothing if not overwhelmed this past week, a state that I fear won't be leaving me until February when my little love's birthday will finally be over. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to throwing her these little extravaganzas every year, but rarely do I really appreciate them until after the fact. At this point in time, the time where I'm running around like a crazy person with to-do lists of to-do lists, covered in small scraps of paper and sticky from glue trying to pull everything together; it is at this time that I wonder why I must torture myself so.

Needless to say I haven't had near as much time behind the camera, something in and of itself that makes me a bit crabby and restless feeling. I have fallen behind. I may or may not have missed a day or two of picture taking which just adds to my stress level. It's a silly thing to stress about, but I have promised myself to follow through on this little project of mine this year. Wouldn't do to fail at it before I'm even out of the first month.

So here's the recap. A few pictures that I did manage to take over these past 6 days. The few moments I was able to grab all to myself to indulge in my little love affair. I can't promise that I won't miss a day over the next week and a half, but I will do my best. I know I won't regret the time away from the camera on the day of the party when I watch her little face light up with joy.  At the end of the day isn't that really all we can do?

Wordless Wednesday

To see what other bloggers are up to this Wordless Wednesday click on the buttons below and link up yourself! 

I Heart Faces {Family}

I can't say that this was a stretch for me at all. There are all types of families in the world, but one that is near and dear to my heart is that of military families, being of one myself. The sacrifices that we as wives, mothers, husbands and fathers have to make is one that we don't take lightly, but we do so with honor and pride.

I was honored when one of my best friends asked me to photograph her husband's homecoming from a 7 month tour in Iraq. When he left his daughter was still a newborn. The joy they experienced being reunited as a family is a memory I won't soon forget. THIS is why I heart faces.

To see the other amazing entries head over to I Heart Faces and check them out!

{day twelve}

She has awfully big shoes to fill. I have little doubt she'll thrill us every step of the way.

{day 11}

Just Because

This makes me happy.

Wordless Wednesday

To see what some other amazing bloggers are up to, click the buttons below!

{day ten}

First of all, I'm super excited that I've made it 10 days into this challenge. I know I still have a LONG way to go to completing this project, but hey, you have to take the small victories as they come. I'm also proud of myself that I managed to a) take a picture before 8pm and b) that it's not of my little love.

With these lovely temperate days we've been having I find myself seriously earning for Spring. We haven't even had any snow this winter (something I usually look forward to all year) and already I am done. Like, Capital D done. I miss my flowers, I miss the abundant sunshine, I miss having my hands in the dirt. I miss the long, lazy evenings after Miss G has gone to bed spent watering my glorious roses, or peeking to see if something I've planted has bothered to grow. I take great joy from the things I plant. I miss my pretty little friends.

I did force myself to dig a little deeper and look at the beauty of nature that winter has to offer though. There is a certain beauty in the graceful lines of a faded and withered bloom. There's something vital and alive about evergreens, giving us a splash of color in a mostly gray wintery world. I had to look no further than my own flower bed to discover this myself. I guess I can wait a little while longer until my dear Spring returns.

Seriously, happy winter. :)

{day nine}

Yet again, I left my picture taking until the last moment, but yet again I'm absolutely in love with the one picture I got. We were post bath, a time in our household I either love or hate on a day to day basis. Sometimes we get lots of snuggles and tickles in, and have a mostly sweet and congenial toddler on our hands. Other times, not so much. Either she's exhausted or I'm having one of those days when I long for her bedtime, either way those days are not usually loads of fun.

Last night was one of those nights. I was grumpy and feeling rushed to get her in bed, as it was already a few minutes past eight when she got out of the bath. She, in true almost 3 year old fashion, picked up on my impatience and tested it in every way she could think of. It's safe to say I wasn't trying to capture these little divine moments to tuck away forever, I just really, really needed to get a picture for the day.

I told her to stay on the floor wrapped in her towel to stay warm while I went to grab the camera, and of course she's running down the hall with her towel trailing behind her like a superman cape. And then she stopped, just outside her bedroom door and I snapped.

Her little sly smile as she realizes if she takes it just far enough, she may crack me and get me to laugh at her. Or fall in love with her all over again, which isn't such a hard thing at all.

I Heart Faces: Best Face Photo of 2011

This is kind of an intimidating first picture into the foray of the IHF photo challenge. The BEST face of 2011? That is quite a daunting task, I've taken pictures of some seriously stunning faces. I've posted so many pictures of my own cute munchkin, so I thought I'd try something different. The sweetness of this picture is over the top. It is a testament to the strength of a momma who's husband was deployed but finding the joy of motherhood anyways. These are some seriously beautiful faces.

To see other amazing entries or to enter one of your own, hop on over to I Heart Faces.

{days seven and eight}

I was going to cheat, and pretend that these were taken Saturday and Sunday, respectively. But I'm not good at being dishonest and I figure since I took so many pictures Saturday, I can still call them by different days. And to be fair, a few of the fire pictures were technically taken on Sunday early morning. We're calling this picture day seven.

I love the simple joy this captures as she swings. Raw, unadulterated happiness. The kind of happiness that only comes in fleeting spurts as adults, but that children seem to live in perpetually. The joy of innocence. That is certainly something to celebrate. 

Later that night (and early into the next day) I discovered my own brand of joy. Of course it involved my camera, as so much of my joy seems to. But this happiness involved photographing something I've never played with before. A way to stretch myself with different lighting, a good opportunity to practice shooting manually. A little "session" that ended with me getting some of my favorite pictures to date (an impressive statement considering my daughter wasn't in any of them.)

Fire is fun. There is a strange sort of beauty in something that can be so destructive if allowed to get out of hand. A sort of magic in the play of lights, the melting of glass bottles, the warping of wood. I was mystified by the colors of the trees as the fire reflected off of them, and the shadows playing across the faces of the people I love. 

At the end of the day, there's nothing more important than that. 

{day six}
I love my bathroom. I love the light streaming through the glass in the afternoons, I love the way the light reflects on the gray walls. I love that it's bright and sunny (though often times entirely too hot.) I half joked with hubs that I'm considering taking our family portraits in there next year, I'm that in love with the light. Like I said, I'm only half joking.

Today was the second little impromptu "photo shoot" I've done in there. There was no bathing involved like last time, just a cute almost three year old playing with lip gloss in an empty bathtub while I got ready for the day.

Yeah, totally doing family pictures in the bathtub next year. Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday...on a Thursday

I know I'm a day late, but to be fair I just found it today and wanted to be a part! So with no more words and without further ado...

{day five}

I think I already both loathe and love this project. I love that it forces me to not only take pictures every day, but to see the little mundane things in my life in a new way. Things that I often times barely glance at become something of beauty. I learn to appreciate the beautiful and meaningful things we've accumulated through our years as something more than just simple objects.

It can be stressful though, this little project of mine. Trying to always come up with a new idea, the pressure to not take a picture of, you know, toast, just because it's there. I know I'm only five days in, but I'm pretty tickled by the small outcome thus far. I'm not 100% convinced I can keep this up for another 360 days, but I will do my best. Maybe I should make one of my New Year's Resolutions a promise to myself to stick to projects?

So this picture makes me a little happy. It's silly, it has no bearing on my day to day life. It is, indeed, just a snapshot. Yet it is special to me for a few reasons, one being that as sad as I always am to take down all of my Christmas decorations, it's always kind of exciting to pull out old things and make them new in my house again.

The candle stick (I'm thinking that's not the right word, but it's all I can come up with right now so we'll go with it) and the teapot were my Grandmothers and have always had both a special place on my mantle and in my heart. I know it's corny, but it's true.

The glass bottle was one my love and I picked up on some shopping expedition or other. I love the color and the almost sea glass quality of it. That it kind of shimmers when the light hits it just right. That it says Cabernet on it, because as my daughter can tell you, wine is my favorite color.

The books are old but new to us. My husband and I found them recently at a neat antique mall we found a few days ago, on the first date we'd been on in six months (thanks Mom and Dad!) Kipling has been my husband's favorite author for years now, so you can imagine his delight upon stumbling upon this first edition copy for a super sweet steal. It's a neat little gem, and every time I look at it I remember that day, just me and my man. My man who has loved me for nigh on 13 years now, who has supported me in all of my endeavors. It reminds me that nothing is sweeter than this life we've built, these little treasures we've picked up along the way.

In the bottom right picture you can see a little hook. I almost cropped it out since it's a bit visually distracting. It's my stocking hook that we left up for next Christmas, a permanent reminder that the joy I felt this Christmas will come again, and in the meantime I have 11 months of awesome to soak up.

 Life is good.

{day four}

I used to think I used my camera almost every day. I really did. Turns out I can't possibly have been using it as often as I thought or I wouldn't have such a hard time remembering to take pictures all day, every day. As it were, the past two days I've not had a single second to even touch the camera until the late afternoon. As I stared around my house looking for inspiration while my little love was sleeping, I decided my best subject was my sleeping child after all. She usually is.
I woke her up today with the camera in her face. Yeah, I'm that mom, and I'm not particularly proud of that. I'm still trying to balance this whole wife, mother, friend, me thing. I think I drive most of the people around me pretty crazy with my camera attachment, but I'm fairly new to this obsession and enthralled by how much I can learn every day.
So as I was saying, I woke her up with camera in hand. She was less than thrilled. I'm not sure if she was more grumpy with the manner I woke her, or just the fact that I woke her in general. But there she was in all of her grumpy, sleepy splendor. Curled up in her bed with her beloved "night-night" looking all sorts of cute.
I love that I'm never sure what I'll go in to every afternoon. She's sometimes playful as she was yesterday, and sometimes she's slow to wake, slightly out of sorts but always scrumptious. Most importantly, even at her grumpiest she's all ours.

{day three}

Every morning when my little love first wakes up the first thing she does is go to the window. She throws the blinds aside and hides out behind her little pink curtain, watching the world wake up. Sometimes she tells me the curtain is her princess dress. Today it was her veil and she was getting married. Tomorrow perhaps she won't stand in front of it, but behind it, watching the world through pink tinted child's eyes.

{day two}

I know I've already posted one today, but I swear it really was a picture from the 1st. I'm thinking it may take me some time to get used to actually using my camera every day. I use it most days, but I seem to have this compulsion to start shooting without cease for hours.

I did not remember to take a picture today until about 8 tonight. To be fair I spent the vast majority of the day on the computer editing and blogging and didn't remember until right before my daughter was about to go to bed that I hadn't turned on the camera all day. Ooops.

So here it is. Miracle upon miracles I really did only take one picture. It's not the best picture I've ever taken, but something about this made me really happy. There's just something about a kid being hung by her jacket and pants by her Dad. A million moms around the world have probably taken similar pictures. Here is my contribution. One million and one, and counting.