Happy V. Day

Found on a sidewalk in East Oakland.  Happy Valentine's Day.

end of the season

Strolling through Mt. View Cemetery last week, I spied a number of graves decorated with Christmas trees.  I was both surprised and touched by the gesture.  Families continue to miss those who have died and want to share, as best they can, this season with their loved ones.

Christmas spirit

Someone was in the mood for Christmas.  And apparently Thanksgiving too.

Happy Holidays

Sending best wishes to all of you.

holiday reflection

This is part of the annual holiday lights display at Mt. View Cemetery.  Linked to Weekend Reflections.

behind the gauzy curtain

Spotted in Montclair Village.  The tree seems to reach to the clouds.  Linked to Weekend Reflections.

celebrating the 4th

Due to difficult economic times, most cities in the East Bay, including Oakland, did not celebrate Independence Day with fireworks.  But a sunny afternoon in Lakeside Park, with the Municipal Band playing their first concert of the season, was a charming and relaxing way to honor the day.

Monday Mural: MLKing Jr. Day

Today is the federal holiday honoring the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr.  Many images of him can be found around Oakland.  This one happens to be on a wall that faces the street named after him.

Several bloggers have been posting their own murals on Monday and linking back to each other.  They have encouraged me to start a Linky where we can all gather to post our murals.  You get to decide what constitutes a mural.  Just follow the Linky directions below and post away.  Be sure and visit fellow mural posters and please link back to this blog.  Since this is my first attempt at a Linky, there may be glitches.  I'll do what I can to "unglitch" them.

Happy Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving

Although the Thanksgiving holiday is not celebrated everywhere, I'm sure the practice of counting your blessings is pretty universal.  The pilgrims celebrated their survival.  I try to practice gratitude for the primary things in life.  Like a snug home, good health, companionship, food enough, and an occasional pretty thing to put on the table.  What are you thankful for?

ABC Wednesday: X is for Xmas ornaments

X is the hardest letter in the ABC Wednesday alphabet.  So following the lead of others, I'm going with Xmas.  I love Santa ornaments but waited for the post holiday sales.  Hah!  By the time I got to the store they were already packed away for next season.  Let that be a lesson to me.  Please note the new URL for ABC Wednesday when you visit the meme.

Weekend Reflections: holiday reflections

Merry Christmas.  Sending best wishes to all of you. Enjoy the photos posted on Weekend Reflections.

holiday decorations at the water

More scenes from Jack London Square.

Birthday Dinner...

Ok, so I stayed up super late last night getting a bunch of things marked off of my work list in order to feel ok about taking a few minutes to gather some photos from our 4th of July/My 30th Birthday Dinner with family. I knew that if I didn't look at them soon they'd get buried in a hard drive, not to be seen for a long, long time. :)

My mom & Wayne always host 4th of July every year and it's one of my all time favorite holidays! I just love the relaxing, family & friend atmosphere with great food and I've always loved fireworks since I was a little girl. As a child our family would take our Jeep downtown Corvallis and park along the river (with the rest of Corvallis) and open the back end of the suv. We'd roll out sleeping bags, eat red ropes (my dad's favorite candy and for sure one of mine too) and listen to the music while we watched the fireworks in the sky. I just LOVED it!! (Thank you Dad and Mom for always making that tradition so much fun! Because of those memories it's a favorite holiday today.)

Since it's always tricky to get all family together in the summertime I figured the 4th would be a good time to celebrate my 30th with them since most of us would already be gathering anyway. Mom and Wayne offered to host a birthday dinner and let me pick the menu and I got to pick out the table settings, dishes, napkins, flowers, etc. too and put it all together (thank you for that gift Mom & Wayne). It was a lot of fun!! I loved it! I wish I had some photos of us actually enjoying dinner, of all my sweet family, and of all the fabulous food Wayne cooked (all gluten free!). It was sooo delicious! But once we sat down to eat, my camera was put away. :(

One of the greatest treasures in my life is my family. I couldn't love or adore them all more. I love every minute I get to spend with them and always wish I lived closer to them (they're only an hour or so south, but still). :)

That night we watched Wayne's firework show there on the ranch too, cuddled up in our blankets and chairs. It was a great time.

Thank you family and friends for making it such a fun holiday celebration!! :) I love you all to pieces!















I'm 16 weeks on Monday... I've got a little baby bump goin' on. :)

Thank you Mom for making it all happen!

This photo of Jude & Selah cracks me up...

Getting cozy watching fireworks...

Fun night! :)

Happy Holidays

Best regards to all.

Santa's on his way

It looks like Santa was taking a break while making his rounds.  Here he's just taking off again.  This holiday display is in Mt. View Cemetary at the top of Piedmont Avenue.  Hope he brings you what you wished for.

Christmas lights on Picardy Drive

For 30 years homes on two blocks of Picardy Drive have decorated profusely for the holiday season.  This residential street often has traffic jams due to those driving by to see the display.  There's added charm because most of the houses are designed in the "storybook" style which enhances the fairyland feel.  Picardy Dr. is in east Oakland near Mills College.

Our 4th...

This week just flew by! I feel so behind in everything. I have more from Greg & Shana's engagement session to share with you this weekend. Speaking of this weekend, I'm calling it the calm before the storm... wedding season is about to hit and then it will be h.s. senior season, and I have a lot of family sessions sprinkled in the in between moments. It will be crazy & it will be fun! :)


Here are some snap shots from our 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays. It's laid back, it's warm and it's spent with family and friends. When I was growing up in Corvallis my family would go downtown to watch the fireworks show. We'd always back in our Jeep and open the back hatch, roll out sleeping bags, snack on red licorice ropes and watch the fireworks show. I loved it! Those are some of my favorite memories. :)

We had a great time this year. We went to my mom's for a bbq, hanging out and watching fireworks. My sister-in-law Gina took this photo of us...

and this one...

Our friends joined us and their daughter Macy is SO cute!

The moon was beautiful over the barn.


Jude waded in the pool earlier and got his shorts all wet, so excuse his boxers. :)


Beautiful!
As you can see by this next photo Josh and I made our own fireworks... wow, I did just make a joke that lame. Sorry. :)

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many wonderful Thanksgiving memories spent at my Grandparents home, eating dinner at the "kids table" with all my cousins. :) My Grandma Gayle would make these AMAZING rolls each year that dripped with butter - so good! I made 3 dozen of them today to enjoy with family tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving Chelsi, Ian, Sasha and Demri! We miss you guys and we're so thankful for your friendships! God has given me so, so much to be thankful for! I love that worship song that says, "If I don't praise your name, even the rocks will cry out. If I don't praise your name, even the mountains will shout."

Josh and I are so thankful for our little toddler and his joyful heart and our sweet, sweet girl. These following photos are for all of you families out there with toddlers. :) I hope this will come to your mind and make you feel better when you wonder why you can't get a nice easy shot of your two year old (especially right before nap time). Ha! My brother Matt was nice enough to try to get a family shot for us when were together for his 30th birthday, while my mom danced by the camera trying to get Jude to smile. Hilarious. We had a good laugh and Matt suggested we use these for our Christmas card! We love our Jude bug!

. Order Your Christmas Cards! .

Because of my crazy schedule this fall I didn't get to follow through on mini-Christmas card sessions like I'd wanted to, as some of you know. But I'd love to offer something so fun for all of my clients this year! If you'd like to use your photos (taken from a session this year) for your Christmas card:
. just choose a card from below
. email me and let me know what photo(s) you'd like placed on it
. and let me know what text you'd like on it (text location will remain the same, so keep in mind space)
I'll complete your order and email you the JPEG (that is then digitally yours to keep) so you can take it to any place you'd like to have printed! These are 5x7 & 5x5 single sided photo cards.
And the cost is only $35!! 12 different card designs to choose from.
Payment options are Paypal (use button on right side of blog), check or cash. Once payment is received I'll email your card to you. Merry Christmas!

(card #1, above)

Josh and I usually mail out about 75 cards each year and you know what's so fun about that? We get about 75 cards back from friends and family! Then we tape them to the inside of our front door so that every day, as we come and go, we get to see your smiling faces! It's something Josh's parents do too, and I love the tradition!


(card #2, above)

It's sort of therapeutic for me to sit at the kitchen table, with a cup of tea, stuff envelopes and work my little addressing system. It's fun to make a get-together out of it too and invite friends to bring their cards to stuff and address, while listening to your favorite Christmas CD. It gets me excited for the holidays! :)


(card #3, above)


(card #4, above)


(card #5, above)


(card #6, above)


(card #7, above)


(card #8, above)

And the square 5x5 ones:

(card #9, above)


(card #10, above)


(card #11, above)


(card #12, above)