Being a Part of a Special Event...

Isn't she sweet....!!!  She was the reluctant flower girl at the wedding I photographed on Saturday (remember, I asked you all to wish me luck?).  The wedding was celebrated in the lobby of a restaurant/banquet facility where the lighting was poor and the area was a little tight but even tho the conditions were not ideal for a photographer, the ceremony was a lovely event.  The couple had been together for 15 years, each married before, each had grown children, each very committed to each other but had not taken that last step....marriage.  Saturday was that last step and a beautiful step it was.  So today, I am grateful for this opportunity that has been given to me, to be a part of a special event, to be a welcomed addition to the celebration and to be able to capture these special moments for the "newly weds".

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."  ~  John Petit-Senn

Joining with Kim at

Until next time....

Look What I Found At Barnes & Noble

Yesterday was B&N day with my gal-pals and just as we sat down, in walks a young Mom with her 2 children.  When I spotted this little girl my little ole photographer heart began palpatating and it was only about a minute before I bravely asked...".can I take her picture?"  Her mother was most gracious and agreed, so snap away I did.  Her eyes, her hair, her smile....a photographer's dream.  Her brother was a little less animated, but still a quite handsome young man.  Thanks, Mom, for making my day. 

After B&N it was off for our last bookclub gathering until Fall.  Today was "recommend a good book day", so thought I would list some of the books that were recommended by other readers.  I have not read these, (except for one) so cannot give an opinion, but my thoughts are if recommended by a reader it must have great merit.

  WONDER by R. J. Palacio
  THE WEIRD SISTERS by Elinor Brown
  OUT OF WARRANTY by Haywood Smith
  THE SHOEMAKERS WIFE by Adriana Trigiani
  THE FALLS by Joyce Carol Oats
  MRS. LINCOLN'S DRESSMAKER by Jennifer Chiaverini
  THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M.L. Stedman
  NOTHING DAUNTED by Dorothy Wickenden
  THE ENGAGEMENT by J. Courtney Sullivan
  AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED by Khaled Hosseini
  BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter (I am almost finished reading this one....it is a delightful read that has  
  a cast of great characters and wonderfully written.)

If you are looking for a stash for your summertime reading you might want to check on these.

Linking to Kim's  Little Things Thursdays

Until next time....

A Lovely Encounter

Still quite a bit of snow on the ground so headed out this morning with camera in hand.  Drove around the neighborhood looking for snowmen....pitiful, somebody needs to teach the kids of today how to build a snowman to be proud of.  Hmm, maybe I should build one, oh just looked at the clock and it is getting close to 4:30 and within an hour it will be dark....too bad, not enough time to build one.  Now if it were Sunday, we would have an hour extra of light due to the beginning of daylight savings time.  Whoopee!!  More light, now I won't feel like crawling into bed at 7:30 PM because it's been dark for so long.  In December & early January it gets dark by 4:30 PM, leaving us with an awfully short day.  And if it's cloudy, the lights come on about 3:30 PM.

Anyhoo I diverse....after finding no camera worthy snowman, I decided to travel to the horse farm a short distance from here.  And I wasn't disappointed.  Not only were all the horses out, but I met some really delightful people.  First I met grandparents with their 2 grand-daughters who were having so much fun petting the horses.  Grandpa and I had a friendly conversation about the area and how it had grown etc etc...seems like we both had lived here for about the same amount of time and had watched the burbs grow from small towns to large cities.  My city has grown from 35,000 from when we first moved here to it's present 147,000.  Certainly no longer a small town.  Thank goodness the counties and towns have left lots of wide-open spaces with parks & forest preserves or no telling what our population would be.

After chatting for awhile to both grandparents, I asked if I could take their grand-daughter's pictures.  They were both so cute, and such beautiful blue eyes.

They loved looking at the horses....

Some of the horses were sleeping, standing up....I suppose they are done with this cold and snow and now waiting for some springtime weather.

This pony was a favorite of the girls...Tucker was more their size.

And while we were there, here came the sleigh, pulling a wagon filled with people enjoying the ride.

Before leaving, I ran into a group of "photography" students.  A couple of them had cameras and were taking photos so naturally I stopped to talk to them.  They convinced me to take some photo classes at our local community college.  The only "classes" I have taken are those that have been offered on the internet. And thank God for those, because when I first began this photography journey my husband had reached the point in his dementia that I could no longer leave him alone.  Now I think live classroom instruction would be beneficial.

How about you....have you taken classroom photography classes or on-line or self-taught?  If you have taken on-line classes, any that you would recommend?

Linking to Kim's Little Things Thursdays.

"Express joy in your daily life whenever you can, so that joy becomes a habit.  Cultivate the habit of living joyously so that your very first response to life's experiences is one of joy."

Until next time....

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - The 9-9 Edition

Good morning to you and you and you.  Another Sunday another Scavenger Hunt.  This week the challenges are:

• Monochromatic
• Starts with the letter....
• Upside down
• Hair
• Soft

I decided to make my own monochromatic image since I forget to jot down the list until yesterday...

Starts with the letter   A is for Aaron who is absolutely adorable....There are 2 because he is just so darn cute.

Upside down....

Hair...nothing spectacular but I liked the way the sun made her hair shine (no clue who this woman is...a face in the crowds)

And finally soft...well maybe his wool isn't that soft right now, but it will be.

That's it for another week.  Hop on over to Ashley's blog to find many more fun images....

Until next time.....

Brunch on the Porch

My good buddy Marti, had a brilliant idea a few weeks ago.  She thought it would be a great idea if we ended the summer with a brunch on the porch...my porch.  The good news was...she would do all the cooking, all I had to do was provide the spot.  OK...I can do that.  As it turned out, she had help with the food, many stepped forward and volunteered to bring food, but I don't remember anyone stepping forward and volunteering to come over and clean my house prior to the brunch....just kidding.  I love having people over and I would have cooked all the food too, but it sure was nice just providing the dishes, coffee and tea.  I hope she comes up with a good idea like this again.

I decided that since the ladies were to be on the porch I would make that banner for the porch that I have been thinking about all summer.  I have fallen in love with banners...on pinterest I have a board specifically for "banner love".  Last summer I was in love with pinwheels, this summer it's banners.  So ta da...here is the back porch banner.

It is made out of double sided scrapbook paper, the letters are chipboard (painted), the line is baker's twine and each banner is attached with those little tiny clothespins.  I added a button on a couple of the letters along with the green trim at the top of each banner.

When I knew that I would be having 10-12 women over for brunch I decided to order those cute little milk bottles and paper straws that I have seen on other blogs.  Too cute. Now do I need 12 cute little milk bottles and paper straws??  Well, you know the answer to that one, but oh the juice tasted so much better in these little bottles.

The girls arrived and the fun began....

Two ladies came late and another one does not like her picture taken...but these are the ladies I was able to snap a pics of.  Dear, dear women they are...loving and kind, each and everyone.  I have been blessed with my friends.  I don't know how I could have gone through my life without my friends.

There was wonderful food, fruits and muffins and crescent roll-ups, and quiche (2 kinds) and a  potato casserole, coffee and tea, and ofcourse orange juice in the milk bottles.  And you see those cute little signs...another "thing" I bought for the occasion...tiny blackboard signs with clothespins on the back to label the food.  I found a "fine-point" chalkboard pen at "Paper Source" that washes right off just like a black-board, so these can be used over and over!!  Cute huh?

And finally, Marcia, who came just a tad late brought me a bouquet of flowers (uhh I guess I should have given 1/2 to Marti...sorry, Marti).  In the bouquet were these tiny roses.  I removed them from the big bouquet and added them to their own mason jar vase.  So pretty with the blue and pink.  Thanks, Marcia.

Before she left, I gave Marti a disc with pictures of her granddaughter that I took last Friday....she was thrilled...and here is a couple of my favorites of the group.

So that was my day....just about next to perfect, including the weather.  How was your day?... grand, I hope.

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."  ~  J. Churton Collins

Until next time.....

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - The August 26, 2012 Edition

Good morning, lovelies.  Are we ready to begin our challenge for the week?  It has been a good week here, lots of things to do and more to come.  But first let's get busy with this week's hunt.  The list for this week is:

• School  (a Mother's relief)
• Rule of Thirds  (does this have anything to do with math?  I was terrible at math!!)
• Side Profile  (got it)
• Small  (how small?)
• Motion  (you're not talking motion sickness, I hope)

I gotta admit I pulled this from my archives.  This grade school is one of the oldest schools in our fair city,   Naper School, named after the founder of our city, Joe Naper.

Rule of Thirds....this shortly became the rule of nothing because I ate it!!

Side Profile....the sweetie that I did a photo shoot with on Friday.

Small...one of the smallest birds that visits the birdfeeder.

This little cutie patootie just stood and watched the "motion" of the water.  I loved the fact that her shirt and the color of the pool matched.

So that's it for another fun week.  Hope you found joy this week.  Hop on over to Ashley's blog and find more treasures.
Until next time......

Day 5 - Pieces of Me

Ok, I know I am late in posting this...but I really do have a good excuse.  Yesterday I was busy all day, from morn til night.  I'll tell you about my day later but first let me finish my week of "Pieces of Me - Scavenger Hunt" for Beyond Layers.  Today or I should say, yesterday, our prompts were View from our Window and Favorite Drink.

I love this view...this is my living room that looks out over the front yard and across the street to a wide-open field.  It's always a pleasant sight until the boys across the street park their trucks right in front of my pretty view.  There are 4 drivers in their house and 5 trucks.  They are one truck lovin' family.

And the 2nd prompt is favorite drink....well this was way too hard for me to pick just one.  And it all depends on the time of day.

And I have to add this sweet, sweet image.  I did another photo shoot yesterday for a good friend's granddaughter....here is a little preview of Dad and Daughter in a sweet (very quick kiss) .....

Oh we had a good time...hope you ended your week on a high note.

"I'm a big believer in just saying yes if someone asks you if you can do something."  ~  Piper Perabo

Until next time....