Friends, Food, Fotos

Last week, Cassandra, Alexander, Kaydence, and I took a little road trip to visit some friends of ours, Tricia and Audrey of {every}somethingwonderful.  It was a wonderful day.  If you follow Tricia's blog, you know that you can expect to be fed very well whenever you visit, which is precisely what happened.  We were greeted at the door not only by the lovely Tricia, but also by the intoxicating aroma of a freshly baked homemade pizza.  She sure knows how to win a girl's heart.  My love for pizza can only be more intensified by one word...homemade!  Mmmm...it was truly divine.  And I'd be lying if I said I was satisfied with just one piece.  I apologize, Tricia, but truthfully and honestly, even though I said I was fine with just one piece, I could have eaten the entire pizza.  Again, if you follow Tricia's blog, you know that "homemade" pizza means, homemade crust, homemade sauce, and I wouldn't be shocked if she even made her own cheese. :-)  It was truly divine.  Little Audrey took a nice long nap while the other two made themselves at home and got well acquainted with Audrey's toys.  Later, we explored their lovely neighborhood, complete with a gazebo, a prairie, a playground, and a beach, which were all breathtaking to say the least. 

I didn't get many photos of Kaydence and Alexander because I was having so much fun watching Audrey as she explored a berry tree (which I was careful to make sure no berries were ingested).  What a fun day and I know we all look forward to doing it again.

IMG_0445_wm

IMG_0426_wm2

IMG_0369_wm2

IMG_0368_wm2

IMG_0428_wm

IMG_0503_wm

IMG_0359_wm

IMG_0347_wm

IMG_0374_wm

IMG_0338_wmIMG_0336_wm

IMG_0349_wm

IMG_0326_wmIMG_0328_wm

IMG_0364_wm
IMG_0302

{because i love her}

I've been really slacking lately.  On what, you ask?  Everything.  My house is a disaster, my 365 is neglected, I'm behind on editing the rest of the photos I took for my friend's daughter, Alexa, Kaydence has watched far too much television the last week, and my husband keeps asking when I'm going to make the chicken taco salad that I was supposed to make 5 days ago before the avocados go bad.  I have to say, I'm not proud.  All for what, you ask?  Calibrating my computer screen.

I have to admit, I'm not proud.  But my borderline OCDness kicked in bigtime with this project.  I just couldn't get my laptop to calibrate properly and so I finally broke down and resorted to the fact that I'm going to have to hook up our desktop monitor to my laptop and edit on there.  I've been having troubles lately with my photos not matching my screen when I get them printed.  I don't print much, so it has never been an issue, but now that I'm starting to do some shoots for other people, it really was time for me to calibrate my screen.  I'm a little frustrated though because I do a lot of my editing at night on the couch with my hubby watching tv beside me.  If I have to edit on our desktop from now on, that means I'm not going to be able to be near him since the tv and the desktop are in two different rooms.  I determined to get my laptop to a point where it's at least close.

Sorry to bore you with all those details.  All that to say, I'm feeling some guilt and regret that I lost those moments that I'll never get back.  And not just this past week, but all those moments that I've neglected a relationship in order to complete a task.  I always considered myself a "Mary" (in the story in the Bible of Mary and Martha), putting relationships over and above a task, which I'm embarrassed to say I took pride in.  But I was having a conversation with my husband about it the other day, just casually mentioning that I thought I was a "Mary" -- I don't remember the context of the conversation exactly -- and he exclaimed flat out, "you are totally a Martha."  And I quickly defended myself and said, "What?  I much rather sit on the floor playing with Kaydence than doing the dishes."  And he said something interesting that I never considered before.  He said, "no, honey, that's called laziness."  Laziness in that, I would choose playing with Kaydence over doing the dishes only because I was too lazy to do the dishes.  But if it came to a task that I enjoyed, I would probably choose the task over the relationship.  I kind of let the conversation drop there because I was feeling a little wounded, but only because deep down I knew it was true.  And it's probably not fair to generalize someone and say they are a "Mary" or a "Martha", because we have probably all been both at one time or another.  But this was an eye opener for me and I decided I have a problem.  I am lazy!  Ok, I won't generalize, but when it comes to some things, I am lazy.

The first step to recovery is admitting it though, right?  So I'm going to try my best, for the sake of my family and loved ones, to be better at not allowing a task to overshadow those moments.  Those moments that can so easily be dismissed, those moments when you say, "ok, honey, I'll read you a book in a minute...mommy just needs to finish this."  But when that minute passes, you don't follow through and before you know it you're on to another task, forgetting all about the promise to read a book.  So I'm striving for balance.  A balance of enjoying the things I love, without neglecting the people I love.  I'm brought to tears right now, just thinking of my sweet little family and how heart breaking that a treasured moment with them ever be neglected.

If you're still reading this, you must be a dear friend.  This got a little more deep than I had at first intended, but this is what has been on my mind lately, so how could I not share?  I received an email from a dear friend the other day, believe it or not, in the midst of all this inner reflection, and she said something very humbling.  She said, "...I'm a mom and a pastor's wife and I always say that I make no apologies...photography is not my whole life."   That really hit me because of what I had been dealing with this past week -- trying to get my computer calibrated and neglected more important things -- and I realized that I need to re-evaluate some things.  So here's to striving to live a more balanced lifand not missing out on those "moments" we'll never get back.

So I leave you with a moment I was so blessed to share in.  Before Kaydence goes to bed every night, we read her books on our bed.  It's our special uninterrupted family time and I treasure that time with my two loves.  After we read books, Kaydence usually crawls/jumps around on the bed.  Well, the other night, I had my camera out while her daddy was giving her a tickle session after books...and this is what I saw through my lens.  I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this moment. :-)

IMG_9870_wm

Big Back Yard

We had a playdate the other week at The Big Back Yard with some other mamas and Kaydence's little friends. The weather had just turned cool, so we were trying to find something fun for the kids to do indoors.  Of course, everyone else had the same idea that day, so it was a bit chaotic, but the kids could have cared less...they loved it!  There were just a few tears shed at various times, but all in all I think they enjoyed themselves.  And other than the sporadic heart attacks us mamas had whenever our children appeared to be in danger of being trampled or falling off a jungle gym, we enjoy ourselves too.  

As I was going through some of the photos, I was really noticing how much Kaydence is starting to look like a little girl.  ::sniff, sniff::  Even within the last week I've noticed her hair has grown and she is understanding so much more and acting altogether older (read naughty) by the day.  Here are some photos from our playdate and you can see for yourself what I mean. Also, please note the lighting was awful in there, so my photos aren't the greatest.

IMG_9323_2_wm

IMG_9324_2_wm

IMG_9338_2_wm IMG_9317_2_wm

IMG_9424_2_bw_wm

IMG_9361_2_wm IMG_9432_2_wm

IMG_9392_2_wm

IMG_9366_2_wm

IMG_9314_2_wm

IMG_9506_2_wm IMG_9408_2_wm

IMG_9515_2_wm

IMG_9316_2_wm

IMG_9321_2_wm

"Young" Love

I realized today that I never posted these photos that I took of my baby sister and her fiance' to my blog yet.  The were taken the weekend before their wedding.  They are officially husband and wife now.  I'm pretty sure most of my readers have seen these on Facebook already, but in case there are others who follow me that I'm not Facebook friends with, I present you with, "Young" love!

IMG_7415_wm

IMG_7441_wm IMG_7445_wm

IMG_7239_wm

IMG_7238_wm IMG_7315_wm

IMG_7428_wm

IMG_7449_wm IMG_7454_wm

IMG_7313_wm

IMG_7258_wm

IMG_7264_wm

IMG_7338_wm IMG_7345_wm

IMG_7292_wm IMG_7279_wm

I Got to Be a Guest Blogger Today!!!

Last week, a friend of mine, Tricia over at {every}nothing wonderful asked if I would be a guest blogger for her today. I felt so honored she would ask me. Her theme this week is weddings, so she gave me a chance to blather away about all the wedding showers I've put on recently, specifically my sisters. Please go check out her lovely blog here and please leave her a nice comment (since we all love comments, right?). ;-)

You can check out my guest blog post for her here. All I have to say is she made me blush for sure...she is far too kind! I <3 you, Tricia! Thank you!  xoxo