friends are the family we choose for ourselves.
- edna buchanan
friends who become family.
that's the J family--momma carmen, daddy jim and melissa.
momma carmen (as kiele referred to her) was the daycare provider to kiele, from age six weeks until 3 1/2 years old, at which time i was transferred from AZ to FL. i was active duty in the air force at the time. our relationship started out as a business relationship, me being the parent who hired carmen as kiele's daycare provider. the relationship evolved into so much more. today, they are family.
carmen and jim are two of the kindest people i have ever met. we've shared so many laughs and plenty of tears. they were there for me during two of the toughest times in my life--kiele's diagnosis as being hearing impaired and my divorce. i truly don't know what i would have done without them.
we now try and visit carmen and jim every year. and this year, i got to photograph their daughter's baby. it's kind of surreal as i still remember melissa as a wonderful 13 year old child, graciously helping momma carmen take care of kiele. now melissa is a beautiful woman and mother to a precious little boy.
i will always consider the J family as my family. i will always have a special place in my heart for them. as i edited the photographs, i couldn't help but get teary, thinking of how truly special these people are to me.
carmen, jim and melissa...
i love you.
thank you for everything.
a great aunt made this bonnet. i couldn't help but do some shots of baby P in it. i just adored it.
- edna buchanan
friends who become family.
that's the J family--momma carmen, daddy jim and melissa.
momma carmen (as kiele referred to her) was the daycare provider to kiele, from age six weeks until 3 1/2 years old, at which time i was transferred from AZ to FL. i was active duty in the air force at the time. our relationship started out as a business relationship, me being the parent who hired carmen as kiele's daycare provider. the relationship evolved into so much more. today, they are family.
carmen and jim are two of the kindest people i have ever met. we've shared so many laughs and plenty of tears. they were there for me during two of the toughest times in my life--kiele's diagnosis as being hearing impaired and my divorce. i truly don't know what i would have done without them.
we now try and visit carmen and jim every year. and this year, i got to photograph their daughter's baby. it's kind of surreal as i still remember melissa as a wonderful 13 year old child, graciously helping momma carmen take care of kiele. now melissa is a beautiful woman and mother to a precious little boy.
i will always consider the J family as my family. i will always have a special place in my heart for them. as i edited the photographs, i couldn't help but get teary, thinking of how truly special these people are to me.
carmen, jim and melissa...
i love you.
thank you for everything.
a great aunt made this bonnet. i couldn't help but do some shots of baby P in it. i just adored it.
imagination is the highest kite one can fly.
- lauren bacall
i'm now almost completely healthy, just an occasional cough here and there, which i imagine will linger for quite a while. so good to be feeling good. and great to be shooting again too. but also huge amounts of catching up to do. back to work ;-)
- lauren bacall
i'm now almost completely healthy, just an occasional cough here and there, which i imagine will linger for quite a while. so good to be feeling good. and great to be shooting again too. but also huge amounts of catching up to do. back to work ;-)
sick.
for 3 weeks.
sick computer.
for 1 week.
feeling better.
finally.
to tucson.
for a newborn shoot.
now back.
it's late.
two shoot tomorrow.
better blog post...
coming soon.
from a recent session...
and he's a photographer in the making...
for 3 weeks.
sick computer.
for 1 week.
feeling better.
finally.
to tucson.
for a newborn shoot.
now back.
it's late.
two shoot tomorrow.
better blog post...
coming soon.
from a recent session...
and he's a photographer in the making...
happiness is a warm puppy.
[charles m. schulz]
[charles m. schulz]
people need trouble--
a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it.
artists do;
i don't mean you need to live in a rat hole or gutter,
but you have to learn fortitude, endurance.
[william faulkner]
okay, so i don't think william faulkner would think my cough and computer issues/frustrations as true "trouble" but grrrrr...they're making me want to bang my head repetitively on my desk.
my computer continued to lock up so i took it in to the apple store again today, with the little ones in tow. after 1 1/2 hours in an overly crowded, hot apple store, it was determined that i have a failing hard drive. my new hard drive is on order and should arrive on friday. so, my mission is to get all my stuff from my main drive onto my second drive and my external drive.
oh...and...my darn dog gets car sick sometimes and when driving home from the vet today, he puked all over my gps, the center console and down the sides of the seats. so i spent 30 minutes coughing and hugely gagging while i cleaned up his throw-up. yuck, yuck, yuck! i'm not sure how i ever was a nurse. everything makes me gag these days.
the good news: i'm finally starting to cough less. and the little ones were amazingly patient in the apple store. hmmmm...will i always refer to them as the little ones? at 3 and 4 years old, they're not really that little anymore, are they?
and the photo...i shot 20 first graders the other day, for their school auction. believe it or not, i had an awesome time doing it (although i couldn't stop coughing). i enjoyed each and every minute with them and can't wait for the parents to see all the photographs. so, this guy...i fell in love with his long hair and asked him to shake his hair around. well, he started head banging, like he was at the best rock concert ever. i couldn't help but enjoy the moment with him and snap away.
a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it.
artists do;
i don't mean you need to live in a rat hole or gutter,
but you have to learn fortitude, endurance.
[william faulkner]
okay, so i don't think william faulkner would think my cough and computer issues/frustrations as true "trouble" but grrrrr...they're making me want to bang my head repetitively on my desk.
my computer continued to lock up so i took it in to the apple store again today, with the little ones in tow. after 1 1/2 hours in an overly crowded, hot apple store, it was determined that i have a failing hard drive. my new hard drive is on order and should arrive on friday. so, my mission is to get all my stuff from my main drive onto my second drive and my external drive.
oh...and...my darn dog gets car sick sometimes and when driving home from the vet today, he puked all over my gps, the center console and down the sides of the seats. so i spent 30 minutes coughing and hugely gagging while i cleaned up his throw-up. yuck, yuck, yuck! i'm not sure how i ever was a nurse. everything makes me gag these days.
the good news: i'm finally starting to cough less. and the little ones were amazingly patient in the apple store. hmmmm...will i always refer to them as the little ones? at 3 and 4 years old, they're not really that little anymore, are they?
and the photo...i shot 20 first graders the other day, for their school auction. believe it or not, i had an awesome time doing it (although i couldn't stop coughing). i enjoyed each and every minute with them and can't wait for the parents to see all the photographs. so, this guy...i fell in love with his long hair and asked him to shake his hair around. well, he started head banging, like he was at the best rock concert ever. i couldn't help but enjoy the moment with him and snap away.
if you can dream it, you can do it.
[walt disney]
my friend and fellow photographer, erin vey, from seattle, came to visit us last october. while here, she talked about wanting artwork for her house. she has the most amazing photographs of her great dane, gracie, all over her house but she wanted something different, something non-photography. kiele graciously volunteered to paint erin a dog canvas (okay, maybe i volunteered her, but she *was* excited about it). it took about a month for kiele to paint and then about two months for me to ship (had to wait for the right box ;-). but it's finally safe and sound in erin's house and she loves it. and i'm so glad she does. it was definitely made with lots of love.
here's a shot of kiele painting and then a shot of the completed canvas that erin took.
you can read more about it here, the feb 11th post, on erin's blog.
[walt disney]
my friend and fellow photographer, erin vey, from seattle, came to visit us last october. while here, she talked about wanting artwork for her house. she has the most amazing photographs of her great dane, gracie, all over her house but she wanted something different, something non-photography. kiele graciously volunteered to paint erin a dog canvas (okay, maybe i volunteered her, but she *was* excited about it). it took about a month for kiele to paint and then about two months for me to ship (had to wait for the right box ;-). but it's finally safe and sound in erin's house and she loves it. and i'm so glad she does. it was definitely made with lots of love.
here's a shot of kiele painting and then a shot of the completed canvas that erin took.
you can read more about it here, the feb 11th post, on erin's blog.
we are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. when the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
[buddha]
i'm still sick, coughing every minute or two (it sucks). all in all, it's just been really draining. then something happened today that set me over the edge. tears of frustration and exhaustion began to fall. only a few minutes had gone by and i received a package at the door, which turned out to be the sweetest gift from my dear friend, steph beaty. the tears continued to flow...but suddenly they were tears of joy and i began thinking about all the wonderful things that happened today, instead of dwelling on the one negative thing that took place.
the lesson to myself...when things are tough, they can only help me grow stronger and be better. i can't dwell on the negative; i need to celebrate the joys in my life and how truly blessed i am. and don't ever forget how powerful my thoughts truly are.
p.s. i'm finally on prescription medicine and hoping to be better soon. enough of this coughing and driving everyone crazy. now if i could only give my computer some prescription medicine and make it all better. grrrr!
[buddha]
i'm still sick, coughing every minute or two (it sucks). all in all, it's just been really draining. then something happened today that set me over the edge. tears of frustration and exhaustion began to fall. only a few minutes had gone by and i received a package at the door, which turned out to be the sweetest gift from my dear friend, steph beaty. the tears continued to flow...but suddenly they were tears of joy and i began thinking about all the wonderful things that happened today, instead of dwelling on the one negative thing that took place.
the lesson to myself...when things are tough, they can only help me grow stronger and be better. i can't dwell on the negative; i need to celebrate the joys in my life and how truly blessed i am. and don't ever forget how powerful my thoughts truly are.
p.s. i'm finally on prescription medicine and hoping to be better soon. enough of this coughing and driving everyone crazy. now if i could only give my computer some prescription medicine and make it all better. grrrr!
life is full of ups and downs. the trick is to enjoy the ups and have courage during the downs.
[author unknown]
my ups--
the little ones are better.
i'm finally starting to feel better.
besides this cold/flu bug, we're all healthy.
it's the weekend.
i have a back-up laptop.
i love my family.
i have the most amazing friends.
my downs--
deployment work-ups are approaching, which means days/weeks each month that my husband will be gone.
found out yesterday that my husband can't go on our family cruise b/c of deployment work-up during the same week.
kiele now has this darn cough.
still haven't my gotten mac pro back yet and no info.
i've maxed out my external hard drive and the laptop.
i can't shake this cough.
really, i just can't wait to feel back to myself. being sick and not having my computer have been rather frustrating...but manageable. i'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend...some time with family and a couple great sessions.
hope you're all staying healthy!
[author unknown]
my ups--
the little ones are better.
i'm finally starting to feel better.
besides this cold/flu bug, we're all healthy.
it's the weekend.
i have a back-up laptop.
i love my family.
i have the most amazing friends.
my downs--
deployment work-ups are approaching, which means days/weeks each month that my husband will be gone.
found out yesterday that my husband can't go on our family cruise b/c of deployment work-up during the same week.
kiele now has this darn cough.
still haven't my gotten mac pro back yet and no info.
i've maxed out my external hard drive and the laptop.
i can't shake this cough.
really, i just can't wait to feel back to myself. being sick and not having my computer have been rather frustrating...but manageable. i'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend...some time with family and a couple great sessions.
hope you're all staying healthy!
smiling is infectious,
you can catch it like the flu.
someone smiled at me today,
and i started smiling too.
- author unknown
hope you're catching smiles and not the flu. we happened to catch the flu and apparently it really likes it here. i was sick in bed all weekend, now feeling better but not back to myself yet. ryder is still on antibiotics--fever free and getting better. and now, skyler is on day three of 102-104 fevers. all three of us are coughing like crazy and i'm not sure how steve gets any sleep with our coughing through the night. kiele...well...she's deaf through the night (without her cochlear implant).
and yes, my computer is sick too. seems that my computer might be going through a system USB failure. the apple genius thought that my front USB was probably going bad and apparently one of the back USBs failed (the one my monitor was plugged into, which is why i thought my monitor's USBs had failed). my adobe bridge also became corrupt and the genius said, where one is corrupt, usually more are corrupt. UGH. they gave me a 7-10 day timeline for diagnostics and if parts need to be ordered, it will be longer.
soooo...i'm feeling a bit lost right now...working on steve's laptop but it's just not the same. i'm missing a ton of stuff that's on my system. sure am thankful that i have *something* to work on though. i really can't complain; just have to adapt and yes, be thankful b/c at least i and my computer didn't die ;-) (refer to previous blog quote, if you think i'm crazy for talking like that)
hoping the flu has had it's fill at the schwedhelm house and is ready to pack it's bags and leave. and hoping my computer is healthy again real soon too ;-)
you can catch it like the flu.
someone smiled at me today,
and i started smiling too.
- author unknown
hope you're catching smiles and not the flu. we happened to catch the flu and apparently it really likes it here. i was sick in bed all weekend, now feeling better but not back to myself yet. ryder is still on antibiotics--fever free and getting better. and now, skyler is on day three of 102-104 fevers. all three of us are coughing like crazy and i'm not sure how steve gets any sleep with our coughing through the night. kiele...well...she's deaf through the night (without her cochlear implant).
and yes, my computer is sick too. seems that my computer might be going through a system USB failure. the apple genius thought that my front USB was probably going bad and apparently one of the back USBs failed (the one my monitor was plugged into, which is why i thought my monitor's USBs had failed). my adobe bridge also became corrupt and the genius said, where one is corrupt, usually more are corrupt. UGH. they gave me a 7-10 day timeline for diagnostics and if parts need to be ordered, it will be longer.
soooo...i'm feeling a bit lost right now...working on steve's laptop but it's just not the same. i'm missing a ton of stuff that's on my system. sure am thankful that i have *something* to work on though. i really can't complain; just have to adapt and yes, be thankful b/c at least i and my computer didn't die ;-) (refer to previous blog quote, if you think i'm crazy for talking like that)
hoping the flu has had it's fill at the schwedhelm house and is ready to pack it's bags and leave. and hoping my computer is healthy again real soon too ;-)
i saw this video today and thought it was simply amazing. serious chills!
got four minutes?
turn on your volume.
watch.
and listen.
yes, we can.
we can change.
yes, we can.
got four minutes?
turn on your volume.
watch.
and listen.
yes, we can.
we can change.
yes, we can.
let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
[buddha]
okay, so this quote cracks me up. yep, at least i didn't die and i sure am thankful for that. i was laid up in bed for the past two days, sick with a sore throat, headache, and body aches--general flu, i guess. feeling a bit better today but not nearly myself yet. it's the bug that has been passed to each one of us over the past two weeks. ryder got it the worst with a sinus and ear infection and is on antibiotics for the next two weeks.
and to top it off, my apple mac pro is giving me problems; i must have maxed it out. i think they (the computer making folks) somehow have this worked out that in two years, your computer begins to give you problems so you'll go get a new one. they must, right? it blows my mind that you spend thousands of dollars on the latest and greatest computer system and two years later, you're dishing the cash out to get a new one. ugh. and while i was talking to apple today about my tower problems, my USB ports on my cinema display fail (both of them). murphy's law i guess. so, the appointment is made and we'll be seeing apple tonight at 7:20 pm...hopefully returning with a fixed cinema display and maybe with a new tower.
hoping this finds you all healthy! off to continue backing up my entire computer.
not all those who wander are lost.
[jrr tolkien]
[jrr tolkien]
