finn

Not sure when you stop thinking dandelions are beautiful,
but figures it's somewhere around the time you get a job & can afford lawn chemicals
brian andreas

that was my daily quote from storypeople.com. finn & i went for a walk today because it's beautiful & because if we're inside i feel obligated to do some work & he was too fussy for that at the moment. our walk lasted 5 minutes before i turned around to get the camera. we walked straight back to this yard & i plopped him down. it was too appropriate. i've seen some neighbors painstakingly spraying to avoid having these wildflowers grow in their yard. i think they're nuts- this is such a beautiful thing to wake up to everyday. (now- i don't know if they're native or not & that could change my argument completely.) but for now. let's just giggle together at how adorable my son is.

favorite.






& now i'm done mom. take me home & put me to bed.


happy st.patrick's day!

worthy causes...

~one of my lovely brides, kate, is doing the pf chang marathon in january. if you'd like to help her reach her goal you can donate to her page here.

~my sister is walking light the night walk. their friends five year old nephew, has leukemia and is about to start a pretty intensive part of his treatment. if you can donate, please do. to donate to him go to this site or to donate to the cause.

~sadly, a friend of mine just miscarried not too long ago. october is pregnancy & infant loss awareness month, and october 15th specifically is pregnancy & infant loss remembrance day. please think of her & the many other families out there having to cope with this loss. i am a volunteer photographer for now i lay me down to sleep. (on a small hiatus because i didn't want to show up with a pregnant belly & now i'd be too emotional during the sessions, but i do hope to find the strength to participate again) you can always donate to them as well.

on saturday, october 17th: Walk to Remember, 9am at the Outdoor Amphitheater at St. Timothy's Catholic Community, 1730 W. Guadalupe Rd, Mesa, AZ; 1 mile walk with ceremony following; more info here

~walk for autism is november 1st at tempe town lake. you can donate to my friend melissa jill's page here.

so many things to be a part of & support. i know it's hard to donate, especially in times like these but it always makes me feel good to put $25 towards something like this instead of an impulse buy of something i don't really need!

hope you have a great weekend! we are joining our ultimate friends on saturday at the tour de fat parade & party at tempe town lake. it starts at 9 am- bring your bikes & wear something outerageous!!! it's going to be a blast.

silver bay.

i'm a little nuts. i realize this. i took my 14 day old son on a plane across the country but, & this is a huge BUT... it was to my camp in upstate new york. i've talked about how special this place is on the blog several times... it's my favorite place in the world. so i had several reasons motivating me to make the trip:

:i had an amazing couple hoping i'd be there to document their day, they booked me pre-pregnancy. (and the wedding was fabulous! anna & rob were so awesome.)

:i wanted finn to be able to experience sba: breath that fresh air, sleep with windows open, hang out outside (instead of being stuck inside because it's 113 in phoenix!)

:i wanted this time as a family to chill out.

:& it was my birthday...

so bryan & i packed our bags for our 5 day adventure with our very new born child. we were in an airport or on a plane for 11 hours. (nice lil layover) my sister met us at the airport & we drove the 2 hours north to silver bay.

we had thursday & friday to chill out before the big wedding day. so that's just what we did.

my sister & finn snuggling.


finn loved being outside & feeling the breeze.


cool critter.




steph was kind enough to take some family photos for us.












finn & i will be making this long trip back for two more weddings this year. erin & tim & then chris & jessica :) & we can't wait!!!!

ethan finn paris.

sorry i've been a little mia lately... i'm in the middle of a life changing experience over here.

i'd like to introduce my son, ethan finn paris. we're calling him finn. he was born on june 11th at 3:04 am. i was in labor for 4.5 hours. we opted for a home birth & it was an amazing experience. our two midwives & doula were so proficient & helped to create our perfect environment to welcome our little boy into this world. i've started to write my birth story & will be sharing it soon.

our good friend jill came over to document the birth. the house was pretty dark, so unfortunately we gave jill a really difficult job, but she got some amazing pictures of it all. she later told me she was holding her breath with me since she was having to use such long exposures. this is possibly my favorite one she took... it's maybe 15 minutes after he was born.
the three of us were laying in our bed- while everyone else cleaned up around us.


he has this peach fuzz all over his body... it's so soft & he smells so good.


i looooooooove baby yawns.


he came out with his left hand on his face... it's there almost constantly.


my sweet, sweet little boy.


and his cute lil cloth diaper!


so please forgive me if i'm not very good at posting for awhile... i'm too busy lovin on my baby :)

megan & ryle

on april 25th, my oldest, dearest friend megan o became megan r (this could get a lil confusing ;) when she married the very handsome, sweet, caring & all around great guy -ryle. i was honored to be a bridesmaid & stand alongside her as she said i do. it was an awesome day! but, i of course had to have my camera. it really is almost like torture :) not being the photographer. i took a few photos that i'm super proud of. the day went by so quickly i can't believe it's already over.

& now for the pictures.

megan's dress was so elegant.


& her shoes were so awesome- very megan.


megan doing her make-up as her adorable niece, morgan, watches. one of my favs.


another make-up shot.


megan's mom, marsha, getting some help from the lovely jennifer & susan. (friends from highschool)


ryle's sister, lene & morgan doing their hair!


morgan & i making kissee faces for megan o.


megan's beautiful bouquet.


the one & only portrait i took... but i think it's pretty fantastic, if i do say so myself.


this is megan's mom, dad & younger brother watching as they gently feed each other cake. another fave. i adore her family.


& possibly the favorite. megan & ryle's first dance.


ryle's mom watching her baby boy...


megan & her dad, michael. so sweet.


bryan & i.


& i'm so glad we got this shot at the end of the night once my feet finally gave out.


megan & ryle, you know that i love you both & am so, so, so happy for you.

ps. i danced so much that peanut was incredibly active all night long & i didn't sleep more than 30 minutes... i was sure i was going to go into early labor. i didn't, luckily & was able to enjoy the miller shower the next morning! the shower pics are coming soon!

our president.

whataman, eh?

i think all the nay sayers that said he didn't have time to do this interview with leno or that he shouldn't take the time to do it because of the condition our world is in... are asses. or is it ass' ?

he is well rounded. he understands balance. that's one of the reason's i love this man.

okay, now i can go to bed happy.

71 degrees

ain't bad. ain't bad at all. i don't mean to brag- but we already reached 86 this past week & us desert folk are a little concerned about what that means for the summer -so we're trying to eat up this perfect weather now while we got it.

this morning as i was enjoying my cereal on our patio i noticed how fantastic my potted garden looked. so i thought i'd share.

here's to a beautiful friday... :)

baby bump update.

i've gotten some angry emails & comments that i haven't posted any belly pics lately. so, while we were in colorado bryan did a lil shoot on our last day -it was so warm that i could strip down to my tank top & show it off :)


the babe is quite the kicker- moving constantly.

(gotta love the sexy maternity pants!)

things are going well. i feel great- the baby is healthy. we're about 5 months along. which is CRAZY!!!!!! only 4 months to go... and i can't wait to start getting the nursery ready! i have big ideas for the theme.

& then here is a 3-d pic of peanut from our last ultrasound! isn't he a cutie :)

slowing down.

when i have some free time i love listening to ted talks... they're amazing & inspiring & fabulous ways to spend lil chunks of time.

today i listened to carl honore talk about our world & the need for speed. it's something i've thought about often... especially when i find myself losing patience with slow drivers or even with bryan. i'm not as patient as i'd like to be. we all most definitely need to slow down & carl speaks of this beautifully. especially when he talks of what made him want to start researching this topic.

please take the time to watch this 20 minute video. you'll be glad you did.



hope you take the time to celebrate something in an unusually slow manner today!

shoot out!

i meet with this wonderful little group of photographers (all of whom have pj backgrounds) and we meet randomly to talk photo & take some... we usually have a theme & it's great to go out & shoot for ourselves everyonce in awhile. it's awesome, actually. this group keeps me inspired. i'm posting our second shoot out- our first one was on slide film, so i have to scan the slides first. i may get around to that one day!

so, we met awhile ago at my house & went to tempe town lake & walked around. here are a few of my favorites:

*these were taken with my new 50d... i love it!!!!!*







i love this one... that little girl made me smile, dancing in the sunset.




the new 50d really came in handy as the sun set & i could shoot at a higher iso's.






michael & jill being models for us.




i don't think i realized how pretty tempe town lake was... it has lots of possibilities.

thanks guys, had fun!!! can't wait for our next outing.

my mother's birthday

was sept 1st. her 3 favorite children in the whole wide world, their partners & her sister Barb pulled together to get her the birthday present of a lifetime. she worships the ground tina turner walks on. i'm not exaggerating. worhips. i was raised with a few particular songs always playing in the house & my mom shakin it while cleaning, cooking or just dancing in the living room.

what's love got to do, got to do with it & private dancer -were her top 2 songs.

last night we got to see tina live & even though that woman is a surprisingly 68 years old she is amazing. and looks amazing. you can tell she's an older woman but she still knocked the concert out of the park. it was incredible. she sang all of the songs we'd hoped for & even a famous beatles tune.

we had so much fun last night. we got all dressed up, mom wore her leather pants & spiked her hair all crazy like tina's & i wore my copper jacket that formerly has only seen life as a costume accessory but seemed appropriate for the evening!

here's the card i made her:


and us before we started the loooong drive to glendale!


happy birthday mom! & tina you rock.

canyon lake

we finally have two kayaks!! now -we can go kayaking together instead of taking turns :)
our new boat is bright yellow & very swanky with two dry storage spaces & knee rests! so this past wednesday we took our boats out to canyon lake. i'd not yet ventured there & it was beautiful. we spent about 3 hours exploring caves, seeing the baby water falls & swimming. the water felt amazing. here are some of my favorite images ( from my point & shoot).





you had to be super skinny to get into this cave.






bryan took this one of me during the sunset- isn't it cool?




check out that sunset. it was so spectacular!

if you have never kayaked in a solo boat before you don't know what you're missing. it is the most relaxing, wonderful thing you can imagine- i love it.