The last one....

I know, I know.....more tulips. These are the last ones I promise. I have actually been taking these for a personal project. There are going to be a set of 5 or 7 or maybe just 3 in my sitting room upstairs. They will all be 16x20's. Today, the tulip project has thus endth. (pretend you hear the trumpets playing)

Collections

Some people collect stamps.

Some people collect coins.

Some people collect those overly realistic dolls that Marie Osmond sells on QVC.

Some people collect shoes.....and sometimes become obsessed.


and some people collect fire hydrants.

It's an interesting collection to have. Don't you think?

Time is flying....

I hadn't intended to photograph my kiddo today. I just happened to snap one of him while we were one of our adventures. When I saw him in the viewfinder I was blown away by how much older he looked to me. Maybe it was the hair (which is fashioned that way because of the horrendous haircut and gel covers it up) maybe it was his clothes. He just looked like a little boy and not a baby. I'll be honest though, I like the older stages. He can talk to me. Have a full conversation. We can play. We can dance. We can explore.






Park could sense what I was feeling and he started belting out "I Will Always Love You" and made me cry.....just kidding, it was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and I sang right along with him. And probably made that same face. Since he's a little boy....we can sing together too.

Fruity Salsa

One of my very best girlfriends has been on best rest for nearly a month now. She has two to three more weeks to go and I've been trying to spend at least a couple hours laying in bed with her a week. I secretly really love it, as I never get to just lay in bed or sit around, so it's like a vacation to me. To her, it's misery.

Today I brought her fruit salsa....a recipe which she gave me when we were in college. There is a lot of chopping involved, which if you don't like chopping, it's no fun. If you do, then you'll love it. Using a good knife for chopping makes it go faster too, but if you're like me you like to keep the knives a little dull......had a bad experience with a brand new sharp knife a while back......

Fruit salsa is honestly one of my favorite things to have in the spring/ summer. It's sooo pretty and colorful to look at and it's de-li-cious!!! Plus it always surprises people if they don't know what expect because it's sweet.

Fruit Salsa
1 crate strawberries
4 medium apples
2 kiwi
1 orange
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoon jelly/ jam of your choice. (I almost always use rhubarb)

Chop strawberries, apples and kiwi into tiny little pieces and put in medium sized bowl. Squeeze orange and all the pulp you can get into the chopped fruit. Add the brown sugar and jelly and mix. Viola! Fruit Salsa!

To make the chips, just cut tortillas (homemade or store-bought) into triangles. Sprinkle with water (it's easiest to use a little hand sprayer) and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 250 for about 10 minutes. I like mine to be a little soft, so if you like them harder, bake them longer.

Hot Lips

I woke up to two inches of snow and I wasn't even irritated. Maybe mildly irritated, but it didn't really stop me from the mission I was on today....to make my lips luscious.

My son and I go through an obscene amount of chapstick. My favorite chapstick has now been discontinued and I can't find one that I like. I've tried close to a million kinds now. So..... I decided to try to come up with my own new favorite kind. The homemade kind. Which is orange-cinnamon-vanilla-clove. With a little research, I came up with a little recipe that goes as follows:

1 oz beeswax
1 oz sheabutter
1 oz cocoa butter
1/2 oz almond oil
1/2 oz vitamin E oil
4 or five drops orange flavoring
2 drops cinnamon essential oil (don't use much more as it is a skin irritant and can really hurt if you use too much...this is based on a 6th grade experience of my own)
5 or 6 drops pure vanilla
a pinch of ground clove (clove is also a skin irritant and natural number....I also learned that through an experience of my own in college)

Melt all ingredients in saucepan on low heat and then transfer to glass measuring cup. Fill containers of choice. I found these awesome inspirational labels to put on the front.... like "bloom where you're planted" or "delight in the little things." Makes me feel happy while applying my lip balm.

Just Because.

Because I was suppose to see her this month and now she can't come and I haven't seen her since her wedding day, and I'm kinda bummed.

Because she now has three kids and I have one....all boys. I'd venture to guess mine is the orniest of them all.

Because we were 13 years old in this picture and it's still my favorite.

Because she will probably be mad that I put this picture up for all the world to see. She will ask that I take it down. I'll tell her no.

Because she had braces for 10 years and I had big hair for about the same amount of time.

Because on the ride home after this photo was taken we were threatened to be kicked out of the car for making fun of and fighting with her younger brother who is now MUCH bigger than us.

Because we are polar opposites yet somehow manage to stay friends.

Because somedays I miss her.

Cracker Chicken

Ones of my co-workers came to work one day bragging about the delightful chicken recipe she made up. She went on and on and on about how scrumptious it was and how I really needed to try it. She brought me a piece later and I took a timid little bite (I get nervous about taking little bites of things sometimes.....okay most of the time) and I LOVED it. It really was scrumptious and delightful. So....I got the recipe and here it is, for all the rest of the world.

Cracker Chicken
(this one is really specific....)

About half of a box of Chive and Onion Wheat Thins
A big spoonful of brown sugar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
some sprinkles of chili powder
some sprinkles of tastefully simple season salt or regular season salt
Whatever other spices you enjoy in your food.....

Put all of the above in big plastic bag. And roll with a rolling pin or baseball bat, whatever you have around to crush the crackers. I used a rolling pin, because it was the safest tool in the kitchen to trust my 2 year old with as it was his job to crush them. He's an awesome cracker crusher. (he likes to cook sans pants...he's crazy like that somedays)



Beat one egg and some salt and pepper in a dipping bowl. Soak chicken breasts in eggs and then toss into plastic bag. Coat completely with crackers and then bake at 350 degrees for about a half hour.





To complete the meal have some strawberries covered in homemade whipped cream. It's like a fluffy cloud in your mouth and the perfect way to end the meal.

Virtues of Dandelions

Yesterday my son and I gathered aproximately 5,853 dandelions from our 10 mile hike. Okay it wasn't ten miles but with the stroller, the kiddo, the dog, and the camera gear it feels like that. It was probably only three miles. Okay, okay maybe just a mile and half. Regardless...we discovered dandelions on this trip. He wouldn't let them out of his grasp once they were in his hands. Like they were an exciting lost treasure. He called them little sunshines and he was so very proud of each and every one of them. They were pretty. They were lello. They were perfect to him.

And then it was time to go inside. There was ice cream waiting for us and a back porch seat whispering our names to come and join it....so the the sunshine colored treasure was discarded. I'm sure we'll find more soon though.

Earth Day

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything gets accomplished" is what I had printed on the first piece of recycled paper I made. This was the way we decided to celebrate the day. We made paper. It made a HUGE mess. Park went through 3 pairs of pants because he couldn't resist sitting in the water. We had pulp everywhere. We had a fantastic time and we helped save the planet....a little itty bit. I made it out of old Christmas cards and tulips. I think it would make wonderful presents. Or you can save it for a rainy day and write a love letter (which in my opinion is such a dying art), or you could doodle on it (which is exactly what I did.)

I haven't always been environmentally aware. I would spray on my gallon of aerosol hairspray everyday and not have a second thought. Or throw away every single cream soda can I drank every day (which used to be about a six pack on my worst days.......I love cream soda.) Well, now I look at my little boy and think......"What is it going to be like for him? Will he have enough water to survive. Will he know what fresh air really is?" These are things I now worry about. I can't help it. So......today I wear earrings made of scrap metal instead of plastic. I use environmentally safe make-up...I've changed just a little. I can't preach and teach that I'm perfectly green, but I do my best.

Here is a link to learn how to make you're own paper

http://www.wipapercouncil.org/makepaper.htm

Week 16: This or that?

Is this a (an)

A) apple
B) potato
C) turnip


This is also the beginning of a new project that one of my friends has asked me to work on. It will be a combination of 16 different round fruits and veggies in one frame. It's going to be so colorful and fantastic! I can't wait to get it done! Here's a preview of three others.

It's about that time...

Since I got my invitation yesterday, I thought I would share these. She is gradating from Valdez Alaska in about a month and I got the absolute pleasure to photograph her last year.
She's one of the most amazing girls I have ever met. She is bold and funky and happy all the time. It is impossible not to smile around her and she's out of this world beautiful to boot. She's optimistic and laid back. She's athletic and graceful as well. I also got the pleasure to photograph her with her sister and mom....talk about a gorgeous gene pool.

Him

I passed him this evening and went back later to see him again. I couldn't resist. He had a style. I immediately liked him. And look how suave he looks in a photograph......

Trains

When I was in third grade, my teacher Mrs. Benson, read our class "The Boxcar Children." For a few years following I was infatuated with trains and boxcars and worried that I would end up living in one because I would somehow become abandoned. Though I knew if I did somehow become abandoned I would be able to rough it just like the children in the story and my adventures would be just as thrilling and captivating.

Later on in my younger years I learned at the ripe old age of 13 my grandfather hopped on a freight train with his brother and rode out east to pick fruit to help provide for his family. I always imagined his young life to be adventurous and full of wonderful stories, though I know in reality it must have been very difficult. The only worries I had a 13 was whether or not I had a date for the spring dance or whether my toe nail polish matches my clothes (that is still a major concern for me......) Puts things into perspective I guess.

Anyway, I've loved trains or the thought of them most of my life. I took a different route home today as I normally do, always looking for fun things and this is what I came upon. I loved it. I could imagine my granddad sitting in the boxcar as a little boy and it made me smile.





**edited to say: I got a phone call from my dad this morning, telling me the story was a little off, as my grandpa was only 11 and his older brother was 13 when he hopped the train. And they went west, not east. They picked apples and cherries up and down the coast.

Mystery Rolls

These are the most amazing, tastebud thrilling bites you'll ever eat...and blue cheesy for sure!!! This recipe is from some new clients of mine, and thanks to them as well, I have new dishes to show off.....I feel so blessed to have the best clients in the world!!!!
I made these for dinner this weekend to go with a wild turkey breast covered in veggies and spices. They were seriously a hit. I think the best description of them was "intense." Plus they were SOOO easy!!!!

Mystery Rolls
1 stick butter
2 to 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1 can flaky biscuits

Combine butter and cheese on baking pan. Place into 350 oven for a couple of minutes, or until butter is melted. Remove from oven and stir. Cut biscuits into fourths, then toss in butter mixture. (I also put one little piece on top to make them pretty) bake on same pan for to 10 minutes, or until golden. Eat warm.
YUM!!!

Thanks SS&M for everything!!!!

Today I........

Drove with the window down and the breeze in my hair.
Wore sunglasses.
Slid down a yellow curly slide and laughed the entire way.
Collected sticks.
Studied ants with much more curiosity and intensity than I ever did calculus.
Shared a popcorn ball.
Splashed in a puddle.
Watched about a million airplanes in the sky.
Sunburnt my shoulders without caring.

Today I had sunshine in my soul.

Cold Bison

On my way home from the ARC benefit dinner at the Terry Bison Ranch I decided to stop and admire the view.....and of course take a couple pictures. I trotted down the muddy embankment with my slacks rolled up in my high heels on and stood face to face with this beast. I've never really thought as bison as being very menacing before, but I've never really put myself within 5 feet of one with nothing but a couple thin wires before either. I felt like such a rebel. I made friends with him quickly though as I whistled at him to make him feel like a movie star....and he in return gave me some great poses.

Week 15: Natural Light

Natural light. My one and only medium. It's simple. It's beautiful. It's truthful. Don't get me wrong, studio work is amazing and sometimes I wish I knew more about it, but there's just something about natural light that makes me giddy!!!

This is one of the places I use in my house. Looks horrible and boring doesn't it? I can't tell you how many times I've had people give me "the I don't think this is going to work" kind of look.....but seriously, anywhere there's sunlight and windows, there's an opportunity.



So, since everyone at my house was busy watching Peter Pan (all the animals were as well) and the tic-tocking crocodile (which is the noise my son thinks crocodiles make) I threw my sassy self in front of the camera for the demonstration. I am sassy, just so you know. The large door is lighting me from the left but also bouncing off the floor and onto my face and against the light door I'm standing in front of. All of that combined makes great conditions for natural light portraiture.