Claire and Cecelia turn 1

It's hard to believe a year can pass so quickly, isn't it? My hubby and I just marked our first anniversary, and not long after these twin cuties turned one. You might remember this photo from their newborn pics last year:




These girls continue to each become more and more her own little person - it's so fun to see their growth in a year! Such cuties they are...

Love... and hiking.

I have incredible friends, and these two are certainly no exception.

After praying and dreaming and planning, J & N quit their jobs, packed up all their belongings, and set out to conquer the Appalachian Trail for three months. They've been hiking for a little over a week now, carrying on their backs only day-to-day needs. Listening to them talk and plan for this adventure, and now getting to read their blog updates, has been more than inspiring.

I am so, so proud to know them and support them... via blog comments and random Skype calls. They encounter obstacles with light hearts, humor and, most importantly, trust that God has their best in mind.














And here I raise my cup of (Dunn Bros) coffee to you, sweet friends: May you continue to see and hear all that He speaks to you - whether through rocky paths, perpetual rain, or sweet warm sun. Can't wait to celebrate your journey when you return!

I left my sock in Lake Superior.

I recently ventured to Grand Marais, MN (if you've never been there, really - you must go). My soul was soothed, as usual, by listening to the Lake Superior waves crash relentlessly into the shore. Much to my delight, the afternoon I arrived it was beautiful (do not reference above image - that was from Sunday, when it was the craziest waves I'd ever seen).

I trekked out to Artist's Point and found the perfect spot to sit and relish in the shining sun. It was so warm that I decided to take off my Toms and socks (if you know me, this isn't surprising for me to enjoy my barefooted-ness) and placed them beside me on the ledge. All was right in the world.

So... I sat. Pondered. Soaked up that sunshine. Then my feet got cold (I attribute that to the clouds starting to cover up the sun... but it could have just as well been that 40-degree lake I was sitting next to...). So I reached for my socks. As my hand grabbed for my rolled up sock, the sock actually started to tumble away from me slowly. My better judgment kept me from lunging after the rogue sock (as the thought of dashing my head upon those beautiful rocks didn't appeal to me in that moment, cold feet or not). I watched it roll, slowly, off the edge of the rock face. I paused to listen for the faint splash below... yep, it had made it into the water.

And did you know that socks don't float? Yep. Not at all.

My work on another blog...

So I was beyond thrilled to find out that one of my August 2010 weddings had been published on another blog. This couple was simply adorable. I will also note that I bonded with the groom over the smell of freshly-cut alfalfa (and you think I'm joking...).

Thanks to the Magnet Street blog for featuring my work! Check out my work on their blog here, or head over to my portfolio site for a partial review of Kara and Abel's August wedding.

Recent work: Infant portraits

The images above are of two little boys - not brothers, but cousins - and photographed at the best place in the world: their grandma's house. With few weddings in MN in the spring, I turn my attention to the wee ones. These images were from a session several weeks ago. I enjoy keeping things simple and classic with baby portraits - and who can go wrong capturing these tiny hands and feet?

Ruby

Who can resist blond hair and blue eyes? Sweet little Ruby turned three in March, and this was my third time photographing her. Favorite moment with Ruby: When her mom put some "make-up" (i.e., lip gloss) on her lips, she licked it all off. 

Spring inspiration: DIY curtains

Hang on for a day, folks - I'm venturing away from plain ol' photographs to interior design for today's post! (That's a joke, really - I would not call this interior designing. Anyway.) 

I don't know about you, but once the temperature outside is at least 40 degrees, my windows are open. Now I live in an apartment with standard (read: UGLY) mini blinds. These particular ones are slightly broken, super heavy, get dusty (my least favorite chore - trying to dust mini blinds. Maybe that's why I don't do it...), and have fallen down more than a few times. And did I mention these blinds are ugly?

To remedy the problem, I wanted to hang curtains. However, I just didn't have the inspiration for patterns/colors/kinds/etc. Finally last night my hubby and I bought some curtain rods in faith that we could work something out with our living room curtains. This morning, after a cup (or two) of coffee, I vowed to get those darn curtain rods (and curtains!) up myself after seeing a curtain compilation on Design*Sponge. 

The materials:

• 2 vintage curtain panels (I got these free from a friend's mom's garage sale... in 2002. Yes, I have been carrying them around for that long. Sometimes it pays to hoard.)
• 2 curtain rods (from Target)
• 1 paper punch
• 1 spool of jute/twine/whatever it's called

The process:

1. Hung the curtain rods; in doing so learned I am semi-ambidextrous when using a screwdriver.

 2. Since the curtains had no pocket to slip the curtain rod into, I came up with an alternate plan: create curtain hooks with the twine!

3. Use the sewn-in "pleats" in the curtain to determine where curtain would fold.

4. Used a hole puncher to make holes in curtain (this only worked because the fabric is a kind of vinyl material - not sure what kind of material it is, but it's great), punching 8 holes total in each panel. 

5. Cut strips of twine to loop through newly punched holes.

6. Once knotted, I slipped the twine loops around so the knot was hidden behind the curtain.

 7. Hung my curtains.

8. Realized I should have used white curtain rods instead of brown. *sigh*

Better late than never: Favorites from 2010 (Part 2)

 

Better late than never: Favorites from 2010 (Part 1)

To my blog

Why hello, little blog.
Where have you been?

Hmm... I guess I've been absent for awhile.

Absent? More like rocketed out of the earth's atmosphere by a gigantic marshmallow shooter.

Well, let me explain. Here's a bit of what I've been up since we last dialogued:

• Been loving my new hubby
• Adjusting to life as an official businesswoman
• Taking pictures of lovely couples and super-sweet babies
• Oh yeah - and giving in to that bad habit called procrastination. Especially with you, blog. (Duh.)

So there you have it. I've been reminded by a kind friend that if I'm updating my pics on Facebook, the least I can do is add the same ones here. True indeed! Here I go...

And blog? It's kind of nice to see you again.

new wedding post coming soon...

I'm so anxious to post some of the photos from Danielle and Nathan's wedding that I had to do a little sneak peek here!

newborn twins

Just a few shots I took several weeks ago for my friend's twin girls. (Their tiny feet were a bit difficult to photograph, as both girls were awake for awhile and kicking wildly!) More to come soon...