charlie and duffy

charlie asked duffy to marry him at several romantic places around colorado including the top of pike's peak and here--at the denver botanic gardens. there is no doubt that these two share a strong connection and love. they were kind enough to be my 'victims' for the night to grow my photography skills. i enjoyed every moment watching their intimate moments of excitement and thrill for the new life they created. i left the evening feeling as if i had witnessed something magical. here are some of the aforementioned moments:












Seeing these photos and experiencing my role as the photographer prove to me that this is indeed my passion and what I want to be doing for a long time.

randomness of life...

aaron is showing a strong interest in music and art--i am thrilled!



i did something just for me and bought myself a new, more practical wedding band (in order to preserve my platinum set which is getting pretty beat up.)



aaron and addison hanging out at tamara's 'resort' in broomfield



where else can i go and get photography-related gifts? she bought me a very cool reflector set for my birthday! what a friend eh?

i have been feeling so scattered--so overwhelmed with ideas and thoughts about photography, editing, post-production and documenting passionate moments. today i am going to post about random things going on in our lives.

our friends tam and her girls were out of town for several weeks--we missed them so! we went up to their place yesterday and the kids connected again (i love to see my sons playing with barbies and toy horses) and tam and i gorged on yummy snacks and fun conversation. perfect.

i am feeling energized and excited about starting a photography business! wish me luck!

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Art Therapy...

i signed up for a photoshop class. it was very cool: in a cool space, cool group and cool instructor. but my head starting spinning regarding all the things cs3 and lightroom can do. and...one week later...after seeking out more information, it spins still.

do i need lightroom, can i afford to buy both lightroom and cs3? what are actions? what's the difference between plug ins and actions? how does an action differ from texture layers? yada yada yada.

but i must admit that i was blown away with what you can do in cs3 and how much it can save your a#@ if the image is just not right or if you just want to add a creative edge to it. amazing stuff but also confusing: layer masks, layers, HDR...

i feel lost in the world of what i'd like to have and learn to use, what i can afford and what i acutally have the time to learn. my head spins and spins.

today, for our special time together the boys and i lept into the comfort of abstraction in the form of abstract art therapy. it was so cathartic.

here are our masterpieces for your enjoyment and mine as i look back on how much fun we had being backyard artists for the day.

soccer mom...huh?

today i took my son to his first soccer game.

cliff note version: he resisted.

his fight to 'not play' lasted a few minutes longer than i thought (and if you know aaron at all--you KNOW he can put on some LONG fits!) and i must admit that the high temps and the sun blaring did add to his frustration and fear of this strange game i was forcing him to play.

he did a great job blending in with the kids and jumping into the action. i was proud of him. and then i found myself falling into the pattern of becoming 'one of those moms' yelling spiritedly (and loudly-we are not a quiet family) for my son to "follow the ball" lugging my huge DSLR, snapping photos when i know that the light is terrible. at times i looked around to see if anyone was repulsed by my obnoxiousness. i did get a few glares but nothing too significant. all in all--it was a lesson in culture shock. but it was a fun lesson.

we are now official 'soccer parents' and, now I know to tone it down... just a little bit.

What Ever Happened to...

...the lost art of 'writing'?. am i the only one who misses getting mail: cards, letters, heck--anything hand-written and or creative? over the years i seemed to have collected cards from a variety of cool bookstores i've visited. most of the time i don't have anyone in mind, at the time of purchase, to send them to--i just like the design or the message. and i guess i like the thought of sending out something to someone to brighten their day. (secretly i guess i am hoping someone will do the same for me.)

i make cards out of the photos i take and get excited glueing them to the cardstock, pulling out my favorite black ink marker, stamps, address book and labels. it gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing someone is going to get something other than bills and junk mail to open.

recently my best buddy from high school (we graduated 25 years ago) came to colorado for a visit with her daughter. we had a lot of fun. i hadn't seen her in 7 years (since my wedding in 2001) although we talk regularly and have a strong relationship. i convinced her to extend her trip and i think she didn't regret it. this friend of mine is one of the best writers i have ever known (pretty significant considering i was exposed to some pretty amazing ones while working on my bachelor's degree in english writing and literature at penn state university). she has NEVER written me a note or a letter over this past 7 years so i TREASURE the thank you note she recently posted to us after her visit. although it's not "deep" (nor should it have been) it was hand-written and lovely. getting something like that means so much.

i send notes to my husband's grandmother and parents as well as my parents and try to include prints of the grandkiddos (especially for those who don't have high speed internet access nor the technical skills and patience to navigate the world-wide-web.)

each week my mom mails me coupons from the sunday paper. believe it or not, i save every envelope that she mails because i get to see her handwriting (beautiful i must note) and because she takes the time to think of me.)

don't get me wrong, i am as addicted to email and the internet as the next stay-at-home-mom in search of connecting with others. i guess the only difference with this gal is that i love and miss getting and sending out actual mail.

deep down i do wonder if anyone actually reads this blog--so here's a challenge: if you do read this--email me--reach out electronically and let me know you were here and took the time to stop by.

Which Come First: Words or Pictures?

A wonderfully talented writer and friend of mine, Lori (http://weebleswobblog.blogspot.com/) once asked in a post: do you write the blog first and then the title or do you draft the title and create the blog from it? It was a tough question as I was so new to the art of blogging. But now, a few months into this, I can honestly say that neither applies to me. Photos jar me to be inspired to write and the words flow from the images. I "think" in photos more so than words (a total betrayal for a gal with two degrees in English Writing/Literature.) I see a picture, capture it and then spend time editing it and discovering the story within the image. I scrape through the layers of the photo to find the real story.

Lately I have been thinking about time. Simply put, the older I get, the quicker it passes. And factor in being a parent--watching your kids grow--it just seems to pass twice as quick. I look at the photos of what--at the time--seem like regular, normal days in our lives and start thinking about just how archival these days will be in a very short time...which will inevitably pass by...well, quickly. This weekend my oldest son wanted to 'mow the grass with daddy'. I watched in delight as he pushed his toy bubble mower (sans the bubbles) right behind his father step by step, copying his father's every move, until the lawn was finished. It was a peaceful and graceful thing to watch on a regular early summer night in Colorado. Our younger son, being true to himself, wandered off on his own, discovering a bucket of water and a neighboring toy. I shot some images, hoping to capture this 'slice-of-life' evening of ours. While editing the pictures--I scratched deeper and searched for images that were memory-like...archival, if you will. So I added texture to the photos to create the fuzzy-like images I felt were lurking deep within them. And then this story came to mind and urged me to post it!


I want to remember each detail and relish in the simple days of our lives--ones just like these photos remind me of-- watching our sons grow tall and strong in the Colorado sun, in the month of June, in the summer of 2008.