It’s always fun to photograph friends…

Beautiful Natalie.

Her pretty mother is Coleen from Capture This Photography.

Had to include Isaac’s grin…

The rambling part…

Help-Portrait is defined as “A movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment, and expertise to give back to those that are less fortunate.” Basically it involved four steps: find somebody in need, take their portrait, print their portrait, and deliver it to them. On December 12th this happened at locations all over the world.

When invited last minute by Carrie from Cairtree Photography to take part in Help-Portrait at Water Street Mission, I couldn’t get it off my mind. Details fell in place and I was able to jump in.

Yeah, it made me appreciate how blessed I really am. I take for granted that my basic needs are always there. But even more so, I realized again how quickly my world becomes centered on my world.

I mean, my computer seems to think I enjoy watching the little beach ball spinning as it processes…grrrrr.  The traffic was awful….made us late for our nice dinner out. Hmmm, flats or boot…flats or boots….I can never decide. The lines at the mall were out of this World…they really should do something different. Why does my four year old always spill his cereal right after the kitchen floor is cleaned? And that four dollar latte was waaaay to sweet.

Yeah, it made me realize how quickly my tiny world can consume me…there is so much more.

I love Carrie’s thought…a camera should never be used for taking, only giving.

As I had the opportunity to work with those less fortunate, I walked away blessed.

The photographer’s working at Water Street Mission:

It is Friday and snow is in the forecast and we are going to start wrapping gifts today. Smile! Happy weekend.

I am thankful.

No fancy words. Just thankful.

Okay, I am thankful for peppermint gum, little boys kisses, newly sharpened pencils, rainy afternoons, homemade macaroni and cheese, and red scarves.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Her name is Kate.

She knew that red shoes were perfect for her wedding day!

More to come of this awesome bride.

Happy weekend!

Mischievous little squirt…

He is all mine and I love him so!

Happy Monday!

I was not planning on posting anything…

But as I take a minute to remember, the words are tumbling so I will write.

I remember the day like yesterday…

The gentle breeze and warm sunshine seemed to mock reality. I spent the afternoon by her bedside. I was weary, but felt peaceful. And scared. A few months prior life was so very normal. How did this happen? Looking back, I can’t believe I was so naive and so unaware that afternoon. We were praying and we were believing. Yeah, we knew it happened. To others, that is. There was absolute no way under heaven our mother would leave us. You see… our mother loved life, was full of life, and was all about life. Her eyes were warm and held a sparkle. Her skin was always tan from hours spent in her flowerbeds and garden. Tiny, but lots of spunk.  I was the oldest of eight kids…my little brother only eight at the time. She was are best friend. For real. Somehow she saw straight to our souls. She was the wind beneath our wings. In a way, she was our world’s foundation. She lived life with her whole heart. With vibrance.

But the unspeakable happened. The impossible became reality. It sent us reeling, spinning backwards, grabbing for some kind of something to stop the tumbling. Something, anything to make us feel like life was going to be okay again. I suppose there is a right and wrong way to grieve, but we were lost. So lost. I was angry at God…so angry. Yeah, sure He may be a God of love, but really?!! Is this what sovereign meant? The anger settled into a controlled tumbling. This is after all, part of life. The unspeakable happened to us…deal with it.

Today? Well, I am allowing God to take my hand and show me how to stand still again. Just still. I am ready.  Ready to understand. Ready to live with my heart open. Ready to walk in the sunshine.

So today it is four years that my mother is dancing in heaven. Dancing for sure!

Today I will love my boys, edit some photos (smile), and appreciate the bright yellow leaves in my backyard.

In honor of my mother….today I am hopeful. Today I anticipate.

It is one of those weekends in this town…

Rain boots and mug of tea kind of weekend.

Initially I was a bit irritated. Because you see, there was big plans for the weekend. But Mr. Weather Man forgot to check my schedule. Again.

But it is still true….I absolutely love rainy days. The puddles. The umbrellas. The excuse to stay in. A reason to bake cookies, sip on tea, and read a book.

Happy weekend to you…

Several Family Days are coming up in the next few weeks. All were full…until a family needed to cancel yesterday.

You wanna jump in?!!

Details: This Saturday, October 3rd in Berks County at a sweet urban location.

Go here for more information. Email here if interested.

And because a post is just a little boring without a photo, here is a photo of a fine couple taken at last evening’s engagement session.

More to come. Happy Wednesday!

I do. Therefore, I learn.

Computer language was never and still is not a language I am fluent in. In fact, it was not that long ago I was driving myself to a local library’s free computer class. I was going to learn how to cut and paste! Yes, yes I was.

Eventually the computer turned into a friend and not a machine that made me want to pound the keyboard. And now my MacBook is one of my bestest friends. Although, the amount of time we spend together cannot be healthy. And there are times Mac still makes me glare and growl, but we usually can work it out. And somehow I got to the place that I can’t imagine life without Mac. I find friends from grade school on FaceBook, take care of most all client interaction via email,  have business relationships with people I stumbled upon online, follow your blog and your next door neighbor’s blog, can talk to my sister’s pretty face in New Zealand by  Skype, check the weather, find a cookie recipe, shop for shoes, and find fashion inspiration,  all with Mr. Mac. And God knows, I even went to the fabulous Google University for much of my photography training.

Computers have changed much of the way we do life.

It’s truly astounding how many people have joined social networking in such a short amount of time.

Take a look at this video. Some of the statistics are astounding.

And because no post is complete with out something sugary sweet and so very pretty….

Meet Megan!

A HUGE heart and a gentle smile with a sparkle in her eyes!

It is Friday! Yaaaay…have a wonderful weekend!

New stuff…just something about shiny newness.

I try to resist unless I really think I need it.  I had my eye on a macro lens for quite awhile and this week it arrived quite shiny and neatly packaged on my doorstep.

Meet Mr. Macro 100mm 2.8. He is super sleek and we have been really enjoying getting to know each other!

Perfect for details of a wedding dress or super-duper close ups such as this…

Adler has eye’s that talk. I see a mischief, carefree, and happy. Just had a bath and ready to run!

And Riley…suddenly kindergarten and big, yellow school buses are part of our life. This was just minutes before he jumped on the school bus for the first time.

And one more handsome fellow I had the pleasure of meeting…

Dedicated, strong, confident, hard working, kind…Dylan seems to know who he is, where he is going, and how he is getting there.

A few thing he enjoys? Fishing, hunting, and volleyball.

Meet Dylan…

We all have things. Things that make our hearts sing. Maybe it’s because someone special gave it or it has a splendid memory attached or for no other reason than it makes our heart sing.

So just because I love details, a few things that make me happy from my kitchen…

Teapot. Given as a gift. The whistle of a teapot is a good sound and love the vibrant blueness.

Basil. Fragrance at it finest. And better yet, it makes me feel all “chef like” when I use fresh basil for dinner.

Blueberries. Summer produce always makes me happy. We love these little berries.

Mugs. Wedding gift from my mother. I can remember so well searching for the perfect dinnerware with her. If it was important to me, it was a priority to her also. So we searched a myriad of stores. Always used with affection.

Dish towels. Colorful. Gotta do those dishes…

Cake stand. Found on the clearance shelf without a price tag. Perfect, right? Got it for three bucks. Martha Stewart would even have to agree that’s a good buy.

Happy summer, Friday!