where Life becomes Art

beginnings....

i love new beginnings. i love a new year, a new month even a new week. i like to have a fresh start!

So i am using this new month for a fresh blogging start (i know, it would be more impressive if i started on the FIRST day of the month but.... i was busy busy yesterday   :-)    )

Okay, so in honor of this lovely new month of september i am making a blogging resolution that i need help on. i would like to blog at least twice a week for the month of september. (i'm trying to be realistic. i originally typed the rest of the year and then my wise little pinky did a few backspaces and got rid of that sillyness) (it's better to start slow!!) The help that i need can come from you (our blog people). 

i am making a pledge that if i don't blog twice a week then the first person to leave me a 'gentle' reminder in the comment section of the blog will get a itunes gift card. sound like fun???!!!!

i also think it's a good idea to make our blog more interactive so i'm going to ask for more input from you blog people.....

for example:

in july Tony and i drove route 66 to it's end in california. what an awesome time we had. it was absolutely amazing!! 

here's an image from the trip. (we got our camera out a couple of times.....  ;-)   )

i can't decide on the treatment on this abandoned gas station....

do you like the vintage look....

or the dramatic black and white.....

i can't wait to hear what you all think.

look what she found....

isn't it cute!!!! she actually found 3 in the yard that dad was mowing. 2 of them let her pick them up and move them to a safer place. 1 was too fast for her...... he moved himself.  :-)

needless to say she kept a close eye on them all weekend!!!

spring get away part II

so.... anyway..... :-)

this shot is part 2 to the previous image of Jade at Ash Cave (of course this is Tony's work still)

she came home with a pocket full of rocks!

We went to some amazing little places (we always try and eat local when we travel.... no chains!! if we can help it) 

 The Lunch Box Cafe was a cool little place we read about in a travel brochure. Wow... talk about yummy!

I had a spam sandwhich on white bread with chips. Blast from the past for sure. (i can't remember what tony and jade had.... something really yummy tho!)

The owner and his wife have an collection of lunch boxes that span 100 years. Tim (the owner) gave us a tour and was so cool he talked to us the whole time we were there. He can tell how old you are by the lunch box from your childhood.

Here's Tony sporting his always hip "Dukes of Hazzard" lunchbox.....

and mine.....

sharing the love outside the cafe.....

one of our trips was to  Columbus Washboard Factory the only washboard factory left in the US.

( yes, i said washboard, we're dorky like that) Of course jade had to get a tshirt.

on our last day we went horseback riding.

what an adventure. It was Jade's first time ever riding and she did so great. Her horse wandered off now and then but other than that she had fun. look how cute she looks....

Tony did great. his horse didn't like anybody behind it so that was interesting for him a couple times. This was only my second time riding and i have to tell you i was a little freaked out for about the first 1/2 hour. we were riding on trails in some serious hills.... there was mud and streams and did i mention the hills? my horse was so good to me since i had no idea what i was doing.  Here she is looking extremely tired at the end of the ride. poor thing.... :-)

needless to say we went home tired and happy.

what a great long weekend!

spring get away

i have not posted to the family blog for almost a month. we are just crazy with seniors right now!!! announcements and even last minute shoots. i do have some catching up to do. i thought i would start with our spring break trip. 

We went to Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. of course we didn't plan far enough ahead to actually get a cabin (they were all rented out it seemed) but we did stay in a nice hotel. we did lots of hiking and a little eating out and took in some arts. just a nice mellow trip. i actually read a book...... (haven't had time to do that in ages!)

so.... most of the images are taken by Tony....

except for this one..... this is a major scare for me i'm not good with heights. i'm also one of those people who is scared for everyone they're with. (you know the kind that always nags... 'you're too close to the edge....'

of course Tony said....'great...'

it was such a beautiful park and it was so cool that it was early in the season and during the week so there wasn't many people.

we actually saw someone get down on their knees and propose at Cedar Falls. that was kind of cool!

I think this is my favorite shot of the trip. jade doing what she does.

this beautiful stairway leads all the way up a huge cliff to Rock House (which is really just a cave)

imagine me flattened against the rock freaking out the whole way (i'm so much fun on a trip.... you should have seen me at the grand canyon)

 

i'm going to split this post in half. i have to end with this picture of what jade's life is like on a daily basis...

look who turned One...

yes, our baby turns one today.  of course she had a one year photo session.

we went with a jungle background. if you've met Sophie you understand.

do you have any idea how hard it is to hold a dog treat and a camera at the same time?

(actually the treats are small so it's not that hard.... she just doesn't get to hang out in the studio much so she was a little wound up)

look at that face..... who could resist??? we always say she has way too much personality for one golden retriever!!!

same shot with a little more information...

holiday rewind.....

okay, so family catch up .....

in December i turned 45..........OMG!!!! actually i had a great time. jade and tony took me to a restaurant in Dayton called The Melting Pot which is a fun fondue place where we had melted cheese and melted chocolate (not at the same time) which was yummy!!! i'm going to honor that special occasion with an image of me (which you should know i'm not good at posting)

great shot of my ring huh! it came from the grand canyon on my 40th birthday. my how time flies. :-)

 this next series is from our christmas tree adventure. every year we go to an awesome christmas tree farm in new lebanon ohio - Country Pines and kill our very own tree.

we'll start with videographer vs photographer.

the photographer always wins this war because she is in charge of the blog posts.....

love you baby!!!!

jade was in charge of killing cutting down the tree. this year she decided to lay down to get the best angle on the trunk. sophie decided this was a great idea and stayed close in case she needed her assistance.

demonstrating her sawing technique

i actually missed the best shot of the day. after jade got the tree cut as if on cue sophie grabbed a branch and started dragging the tree away. it was hilarious!!!

this is a typical jade position. since she was 3 (and probably before) when you walk in the woods with her she notices every small little thing. it's awesome. this time i think she found a 'crystal rock'

so we had lots of fun with family and got lots of work done. now we're ready for the new year!!

belated halloween post....

i'm trying to catch up. :-) 

Sophie was the star of our trick or treat adventure. She got 3 or 4 dog biscuits and almost everyone said something about her costume.

Of course she was a devil dog...... Jade calls her a 'demon' so it really seemed to fit.

the strap across her nose is her 'gentle leader' which has completely changed our walking experience. She does not pull on her leash at all.

Here is our special little elf. She has that lovely expression that children of photographers often have....

I had to get an image from our trip to the Renaissance to give you a good look at her costume and those awesome ears!!

finally, something about us

okay, i'm a bad blogging parent. I haven't blogged about us since before Jade's birthday in September.

Geez, hold on, i'm going to catch you up. :-).

She turned DOUBLE DIGITS in Sept. and has been acting crazy ever since....

of course it runs in the family.....

She got to choose dinner and the child has yummy (and expensive) taste. If you haven't tried it you must!!! it's south american food some of the best in Dayton!

the craziness continued at the restaurant with the 10 year old toast....

then came the present

believe me there were lots more this was the biggest. the girl is not spoiled. say that 10 times and you'll start believing it.

She chose to go camping for 'her weekend' (we have a 'birthday week' at our house, why limit the fun to one day!!!) we went to grandma's pond and there was lots of fishing. well lots of time spent fishing. no fish were caught on this weekend.

lots of hangin' out with friends ...

lots of eatin' and lot's of giving jill dirty looks when she takes your picture while you're eating.

to be continued.........

guess where we went last weekend

fyi: this is the face i get when i say to jade..... 'act happy'. oh, the joy's of having 2 photographers in the family. (yes, those are beads around her neck, no, we ate at an amazing cajun restaurant and those came as part of her meal.) More interesting faces in crazy images coming soon!!

christmas in july or when the iphone comes to town

well it's finally here. the 3G. we drove to Kenwood Mall in Cincinnati last night. Tony stood in line for 2 hours. (jade and i shopped (tons of cool stores by the way) and then stood by him for the last 10 minutes. Here's Tony and Jade getting ready to walk thru the pearly doors :-) ..... they would say next customer and everyone would cheer.....
Once we went in we had a personal shopper that walked us thru the whole thing. Apple is such a great example for good customer service and their packaging always blows us away! Opening up one of their products is like an adventure. :)
Here's how Tony looked pretty much all weekend. Sometimes the smile is bigger. Sometimes there's a puzzled expression to go along with the smile.

It was after 10pm when we left the mall. Jade was a trooper

Signature shot.......
happy belated christmas baby!!!!!