Baby Feet

I thought I would post of few of Patrick and Samantha's photos that I have been having fun with :) The quote on the first image is something that Samantha reads to Dorian. It is so beautiful.

Dorian Robert

A week and a half ago Samantha & Patrick invited me over to their home to photograph their gorgeous family! Dorian is their first child and is he ever a darling! These photographs do not lie, he really is that adorable and sweet...just working on them makes me want to drive over there and hold him (which I am going to do one day Samantha!). Mom and Dad did pretty amazing at just staying relaxed and being themselves. As a result there are some beautiful photos! Here are a few that I have been playing with - I am not done yet!

That Little Silver Box

Well. It finally happened. My hard drive crashed. Why? Why not. Maybe I should have been doing those dandy little diagnostics that my photography instructor taught us about. But don't you worry Dennis....my work is all backed up! Yes it is true. However the major time suck is going to be my website. Although it is backed up on my external HD, I am not quite sure how putting it back into the newly installed applications actually looks. The re-installing process is a gem ain't it?

I have heard of MacBook HD's doing this, and for the last 5 months I have just been waiting for it, hoping that I was still covered under my Apple Care, and lo and behold, I still have like 9 months left on it! I highly recommend purchasing those little treats for your computer. Seriously, who hasn't had computer problems? That is one add-on I won't go without.

So bear with me this next month as I re-work my site! Hopefully I have no major obstacles, but we shall see :) One bridge at a time....

For the book lovers out there!

Last night a few of us girls had our Wine and Cheese get together to talk about the book "The Shack" that I have posted a couple of times about. It was fun, and I think we all benefited from being able to discuss and process a few ideas...because the book is full of them and it is easy to just read it and move on without really considering the heart - and truth in our own lives - behind it.

All in all, we all really liked it. We thought it was a great depiction of the character and the nature of who God is. I don't want to give the whole book away, but I will say that we all thought it was pretty cool that way that God chose to reveal Himself to Mack (as this great black woman who is full of love and delights over all her children). It reminded us of Gen 1: 27 "So God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them..." God is outside of gender, He is both true masculinity and true femininity! So why do we always say "He", or why does He so often present Himself to us as a Father? Here is a quote to think about from the book "Well" responded Papa turning away from him and bustling around the kitchen, "there are many reasons for that, and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed - but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence."(emphasis mine pg 94).

The book is FULL of applicable truths for our lives! Someone commented that in an interview Young said this is a fiction, a metaphor of the love of God...however I think that it is a metaphor of truth. In the Acknowledgments : "[Wayne] and Brad bore the lion's share of work in the three major rewrites that brought this story to its final form, adding their insights into the ways in which God works and keeping the story true to Mack's pain and his healing." (emphasis mine).

If you read it, apply it to your own life, because it is a beautiful picture of what God wants to do for each of His children..."The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" John 10:10

Yesterday I picked up a new book from the library "Home: A memoir of my early years" by Julie Andrews. For this next month, we might try a new thing...if you are here and want to get together with us sometime late November, early December, read any biography you are interested in (it could also be this one if you'd like!), and we'll have another ladies night to share about the person we chose :) Contact me to let me know you are in!

Have a great weekend!

Pumpkins & Maple Leaf's

Taylor you would be proud! I baked a batch of homemade Ginger Snap Cookies from scratch....and in the form of that beautiful Maple Leaf in celebration of our Canadian Thanksgiving (yes, Canada does celebrate Thanksgiving....however in October). Although I am a couple of days after the fact, I took my sister's advice to make some kind of Thanksgiving-ish food even if I am in North Carolina (Don't worry, we are excited - no wait...ecstatic - to celebrate American Thanksgiving in a few weeks!).

My inspiration came from Elijah & Jackie's wedding-favours....Thanks Grandma Parker, these cookies are delicious!

Homemade Pumpkin Soup (from that little pumpkin you see in the photograph) and maybe some pumpkin pie will be my next 2 Autumn projects ;)

SHiNE Baby Shine

Alrighty, here are a few from the SHiNE Christian Magazine (in print 2009!) Cumberland County Fair shoot.

Amusez-vous!

Curly Girl Designs

So I was sitting in the Minneapolis airport after Elijah & Jackie's wedding, and if you have ever been to this airport you will know that, like all great airports, it has some GREAT little shops in it. I had my eye on one particularly cute looking shop, and sat on a bench outside of it enjoying my Caribou Chai & bagel while contemplating whether I should go inside or not (knowing of course that I was bound to find some cute gift that would be perfect for someone I knew and that I would just have to buy for them! Yep, it was one of those looking shops!)

Well I had some time to kill, and found the greatest line of cards! In fact there was another lady there buying a stack of them too, because they are just that cute!!!

REVEALED : Curly Girl Designs ( I have to say I love the name). Check them out, they are irresistable.

So I bought a few. Hence the post.

Elijah & Jackie : Part 2

I feel like I am a bit behind on sharing some great images, so this evening I took advantage of some quiet time I had and decided to work on a couple more .... my goal for this weekend is to have a few more of this incredible couple up here (they are probably still enjoying their Caribbean honeymoon!) as well as some from the Cumberland County Fair SHiNE fashion shoot that I did before I left for the wedding (sorry those are taking awhile SHiNE).

Enjoy these colourful wedding photos!

Pee Ess - I'm sending a word out to Ms Chantel : are you out there? Did you get the 8x10 i made for you? Never mind, I'll post it!

Elijah & Jackie

Last weekend I had the honor of photographing a beautiful wedding in Rochester, Minnesota. Not only was it a beautiful wedding, but the couple is just radiant. Elijah is a very talented photographer and person that I admire and respect. He has unlimited patience in helping others - including me when I am having technical difficulties with my computer, software, and camera....he is the first person I call! I was so thrilled to meet his beautiful bride, Jackie, as well as both of their families.

Elijah and Jackie you both radiate grace, love, talent, & mercy. God is going to use you two together in mighty ways to touch so many lives with His love! Thank you so much for trusting me with the photography of your big day. It was breathtaking.

The cherry-on-top was working with one of my close friends - Chantel - in capturing this special wedding! We had a great time didn't we?!

There are many more great shots to come...this is just the beginning!