Christmas Memories

So there is this contest on another blog that I entered. She's giving away a cute little apron and chef's hat. Wouldn't LaneyBug just look adorable in that!?

In order to enter the contest, you're asked to leave a comment with your favorite Christmas Memory.  I have a lot of wonderful memories of Christmas. Really, I don't have any {bad} Christmas memories... ok so there was one Christmas I was sick, but still, it wasn't THAT bad.. I mean, by dinner time, I {was} able to eat mashed potatoes.

After reading some of the comments I am reminded of other great Christmas memories.

Going to the Christmas Eve candlelight service. The whole dynamic of Church changes on Christmas Eve. The kids are quiet, yet excited because they know Santa will be there soon. The chatter is minimum as everyone takes in the wonder of what it must have been like that night so long ago in Bethlehem. But I think the best part of the night is the very end of the service, when the lights go down, candles are lit and we all sing silent night. There is something about the quietness, the stillness as everyone quietly sings those verses that I just love.

After church, we'd all come home, quickly change into comfy clothes, jump in the car and run down to the gas station to get hot chocolate (or as we got older, cappuccino... or if you're like me.. hot chocolate {mixed with} cappuccino) to take on our Christmas Lights ride. We'd all (Dad, Mom, my sister and I.. and even LaneyBug the year SHE was born) ride around town, looking at all the light displays. And even though every year they were all the same, and we knew all the people who lived in the beautifully lit up houses, it was still magical.

When we got home, we'd all come in and just sit in the quiet.  There's just something about Christmas Eve.. the TV can be on, the Scanner (in our house the scanners and pagers are ALWAYS on) and still there is quietness in the air.

Every year, mom would buy my sister and I pajamas for Christmas (this year, she even let us pick them out on our Black Friday excursion!). Finally, one year we were able to convince Mom one year that we needed to be able to open the package with our PJ's in them on Christmas Eve, so we could wear them on Christmas morning. So that became a tradition.

When it was finally time to go to bed, it was just too much to sleep.. yet at some point we must have, because I would always wake up in the morning to a brand new stuffed Christmas animal in my bed (ok... so usually by the time I woke up, the poor thing was on the floor because I am a wild sleeper!) To this day, I have a hard time going to sleep on Christmas Eve.. the magic is still there.  I always blame not being able to sleep on the fact that we always left the Christmas lights on, both on the tree and outside. Don't tell anyone, but that's not true ;) Even though I do sleep much better in the dark, those lights always remind me of the magic of the night and I can't help but NOT fall asleep.

Our Christmas morning tradition was always to open our stockings first. After that, mom would go out and put the Cinnamon rolls in the oven.  They were always done just as we finished opening our gifts. After we ate, we'd call friends and family or wait for them to call us, then the rest of the day was full of playing with all the new things until it was time to have our steak dinner. Because our large family always had our Christmas about a week before, when everyone could get together, Christmas Day was just a day to lounge in our new PJ's and enjoy the day together.

Over the years, things have changed but some of our traditions still remain.  Now, Christmas Eve is spent chatting over homemade pizza with the kids running through the house. We exchange gifts then, and head over to eat dinner with Grandma at the care facility.

But no matter what traditions we hold, the heart of the day is still always present. And there are a whole new set of traditions to form, and memories to be made.

What are some of your favorite memories? Post them in the comments, and also be sure to head over to the Indy Photography blog to enter her giveaway!

Friday Fourteen - Just because I can!

1. How old are you: 27


2. What is your favorite color: Pink (if you didn't get that from looking at my background, you must be color blind) and purple!


3. Who was your first crush and when was it: My First crush was David Lascher from the Nickelodeon show Hey Dude... He also was the only reason I ever watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch and I have to admit, I got a little excited yesterday when a movie was coming on Lifetime and it said he was in it... I never did get to see him though, I ended up having something to do! Bummer!


4. How many blogs do you have: 2


5. Do you have a Facebook: Yep 2, one personal and a fan page for my photography


6. Do you have a Twitter: Yep


7. What's your BFF's name: Laura & Amber


8. What are your favorite clothing brands: I don't have any really.. but I'm kind of into my Rider's dark denim stretch jeans.. I bought them for "good" but have a hard time resisting them for every day jeans!


9. Do you put mascara on in the mornings: I don't wear any makeup at all, except for the occasional lip gloss.. but that's usually just when I'm going out or shooting a wedding.


10. What size shoe do you wear: It used to be exclusively 9. But either my feet are shrinking (which wouldn't bother me) or they changed the sizes, because I can wear a lot more 8 1/2 now.


11. If you had to pick one singer or band to meet who would it be: Reba McEntire!


12. Who is your crush currently: The canon 50D! ;D


13. When do you post on your blog: Whenever I post on it!


14. Tell us something random about yourself: Some BIG things are happening in my Photography world. Check back here often!

Yup! That's all I'm sayin'

I tag:

I just tag whoever wants to do it! :-)

Merry Christmas... well, almost.

There was a great tutorial over on iHeartFaces today for making a Christmas card. I thought I'd show y'all my finished product. this was a photo I took a couple years ago for a Christmas card... the card didn't turn out nearly as nice as this! Head on over there to see the tutorial and make your own card!!

It's Official

It's official. 3 days after our last 50 degree day and 10 inches of snow later, winter is finally here. For those of you, especially those of you who have kids, who live in "the south" or "out west" and long for snow even though you don't get to experience REAL winter...

Here's how winter really works!!

You've been sitting in the house all day with your kids. They have cabin fever, you know.. the whining crying, hitting, jumping on the couch, bouncing off the walls that happens this time of year. So you decide that since it FINALLY GOT TO 15 degrees today, to take them all outside.

Let's just say for the sake of fun (and the fact that this post was originally written as a comment to one of my favorite mommy bloggers who happens to live where it doesn't snow... Sorry Michele, no matter how much broccoli I can harvest in December, you couldn't pay me enough to live in the desert!) that you have 4 kids.. ages 5, 5, 5, and 4.

So you get them dressed. Two pair of pants, two pair of socks, an undeshirt and sweatshirt on your kids. Then put snowpants, boots coats, hats, mittens and scarves on EACH child...

IF you are lucky it will only take a half an hour or so, and they'll still be able to move... barely.

AND THEN someone will have to pee!

Guaranteed.

SO! Said child will get undressed while the others wait fairly patiently. He will then go in to go potty, taking his sweet old time while the others begin to squirm because they are getting hot, tired, and plain old sick of waiting. You'll tell them they can take off their hats so they stay cool.

They will all take of their gloves... the same gloves that took you 20 minutes to get on because nobody knows how to spread their fingers apart and PUSH!

Potty child will come back out. As your rushing him to get dressed, he'll get one foot half in a boot, forget to zip his snow-pants and his hat will be on crooked.

But you don't care!!

Because at this point you yourself have been dressed for 30 minutes. You are hot, tired, sweating (which will NOT be good when you get outside), and cranky.

FInally, you're all ready to go outside!!!

You get out there, get the sleds out, start a snowman...then 5 minutes later, it happens again.

One (or if you're LUCKY more than one) will have to pee.

EVERYONE BACK INSIDE!

Undress, wait your turn, hurry up, don't forget to flush, quit whining, wash your hands, dry them good so they don't get chapped, zip you pants, hurry and get your snow clothes back on, zip your pants, put your goves on, don't forget your hat, got everything? Good.

Finally you make it back outside. ONLY to discover someone left a hat or glove inside on the last potty break. SO back inside you all go to Retrieve the lonely piece of clothing. By the way... EVERYONE has taken their gloves off again.

But this time... the gloves are soaked! Their hands are soaked, swollen and red and it takes TWICE AS LONG to get them all back on! And really... they're not even all the way on.. the little heels of their hands are sticking out, but you tell them "just keep your coat sleeves pulled down and you'll be ok."

You make it back outside again... 20 minutes later...

"Mommy I'm cold"

"Ok everyone, who's cold!?" you shout across the yard. 3 kids look at you or come running, one wouldn't come inside if his hand was black and falling off!!

"5 more minutes and then we'll all go in. It'll be dark by then anyway!" Sounds like a good compromise right?

NOPE!

EVERYONE throws a fit. The 3 that are cold want to go in NOW, the one who's not ready is going to spend his 5 minutes sulking because he doesn't want to go in, rather than making the most of his time.

So you all go back inside. Kids get undressed while you're saying over and over and over "hang up your coat, put your mittens away, keep your boots over here so you don't get snow all over (because there is NOTHING worse than stepping on a pile of cold, wet snow in your socks!! just sayin')...

One child can't find his socks because they got stuck in his boots, one can't find her mitten because another picked it up, someone whacked someone else in the eye pulling off their snow-pants, so now we're all crying righting AND trying to undress. Then it happens...

One gets hit in the back of the head by a boot rocket because NONE of them can take off their boots without flailing a foot to shake it off. And he's about to go on the attack.

After breaking up the fights and making sure all their clothes are off, you are done right?

HA!

They go running off into the house... leaving you standing in the middle of a sea of winter clothes...

The ONLY benefit to taking kids outside in the winter:

Something about the winter air makes them SLEEP LIKE A FREAKING ROCK!

I blew it!

NaBloPoMo was a rockin'... failure here at Faith, Hope, Love & Photography. Although I did do better than I thought I would. I only missed 5 days, and they were pretty much random days. Not like I just disappeared for a whole week!

Still...

I blew it!

Oh well... maybe next year.

Or not!

iHeartFaces Challenge - "WeHeartTooshies!"

This week at iHeartFaces, they're taking a break from beautiful eyes and pearly whites and focusing on...well... the buttock! The bottom! The TOOSHIE!!

Here's a small version of my entry. To view the larger photo click Here.

Tis The Seaason

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Brian Fairrington - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

This Year I did it. I went to bed early, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the After Thanksgiving Sales. I went with my mom and sister and we all got some pretty good deals. Although I think there will be some other good sales this year, it was fun to spend time with them like that. We went out to breakfast after, then we all came home and took a well deserved nap...

Shopping is hard work!!

You Capture - Food

It has been AGES since I participated in You Capture. But how can I resist this week's theme... food?

It just so happens that I was in the kitchen today... and of course I photographed it. So this week's You capture is a combination entry/recipe.

Enjoy!

Turkey Cake Balls

Many of you have probably seen or heard of the Cake Ball, a concoction made famous by bakerella. This week I decided to try my hand at the yummy looking treats. They're quite easy, however they are very time consuming.

What you'll need:
1 cake mix, your choice of flavor
1 container of frosting, again your choice*
Almond bark or chocolate, melted (if you aren't making the turkey's, feel free to try the vanilla flavor or white chocolate melted)
candy corn
Peanuts, halved
Chocolate covered peanuts
A bit of icing (you can save a little from your container, you'll only need about a tablespoon) or white chocolate, divided and colored red and black


First make a cake... it can be any flavor, choose your favorite. I did a red velvet cake mainly because I'd never had it before and when I started I was planning something different than what I actually did... for what I did (and will show you.. just sit tight) I would have rather had either a Chocolate or Vanilla cake.

Let the cake cool completely. Since I spent most of the day yesterday baking, I just snuck my cake in then. Then I let it sit over night.

After your cake has cooled, crumble it in a large bowl. Add an entire container of frosting.. *I used cream cheese, and honestly, I will never use it again. It is WAY too rich once you dip the cake balls in the chocolate. Next time I'll just use vanilla.

Roll cake mixture into balls. If you are just doing balls, I'd make the quarter sized. I made mine golf ball sized and they were perfect for decorating.

Chill for several hours. You may put them in the freezer to speed up the process.

Melt your chocolate and dip the balls in once they've become stiff. Lay on wax paper to harden.

Dip chocolate covered peanuts in melted chocolate just enough to generously coat the back and attach to cake balls. Do the same with the candy corn and attach as feathers to the back of the ball. Dip just the ends of the peanut halves in the chocolate and attach to the underside of the ball. After the balls have set up, there should be a little indent that the peanut halves will slide right into.

Mix some reed food coloring into half of your frosting. Mix the other half to look black. Use a toothpick (or very small hole in a pastry bag) to dot on eyes and a gizzard.

Let the chocolate harden and enjoy!

Honestly I'll probably never make turkeys again. They are A LOT of work... I'll stick to something simpler next time!

What I Like About You - The LaneyBug Edition

LaneyBug,

You are a beautiful spirit. A funny, inquisitive, intense little bit of a 4 1/2 year old. Your mind blows me away. The way you will ask a question about absolutely anything and then rationalize the answers in your own way.

I have always been honest with you. You have given me no choice. You will not take simple answers. You will not accept lies, or skating around the truth. When you ask why we have to wear our seatbelts, I don't tell you stories about how the police will take you away like some grown ups would. No, I tell you that we wear our seatbelts so that we are safe if we happen to have an accident; and that if we do not, the police would not be happy with us. When you asked me a million other questions I had a million other real life, honest to God answers. And you accept them so much better than lies, baby girl. I like to think that someday you will thank me for that.

Though you did not come from MY womb, you remind me so much of myself. Your determination to make something work, your passion for what you are doing can only last so long until you finally lose all sense of patients and blow your top. But you know what? You always try again, and to see the pure joy on your face when you get it... that is something I will never get over; something I could never, in a million years teach you if I didn't make you try (remember the day I asked you which way we should turn? You said right, but you meant left. You got so nervous that we were going the wrong way. The pure joy in your voice when you discovered that we'd made it to our destination is something I will never forget. You learned that day to trust... and I'll bet next time you say "left" too!).

I was there for every moment of your birth. I was scared when I thought I might miss it the first weekend you tried to appear. I laughed with mommy as you hiccuped inside her tummy at the hospital the second time you tried to come. And I cried as a watch your hair appear, and as I cut the cord, giving you a life of your own for the first time ever...all 5 lbs. 14 oz. of you! And I was worried and sad when you had to be under the billi light for a while, even though I knew it was the best thing for you.

I was there to see you sit for the first time, crawl for the first time... I was sitting right next to you when you pulled yourself up in my laundry basket for the first time. I took a picture when you knocked grandma's plant over, scaring the living daylights out of your poor little body!

I was even there when your mommy rushed you through the door after you'd knocked your teeth out sledding. I stayed strong while you cried, laughed when you said "I was sleddin' and I went under da snonodeel twailow an' I fordot to duck!" and I cried when you left. When you came back from the doctor, you were your normal self... until you saw a picture of yourself. I laughed trying to explain your missing teeth, but really I was trying not to cry over the fact that you were so upset about it... your first moment of vanity happened that night. It was the first time you realized that something about you was different and it was the first time you didn't like it. But you bounced right back, my girl. Just like you always do. We looked in the mirror, talked about how it was ok, they would come back and even that the tooth fairy would come, and you were fine.

I love coloring with you, playing babies with you, watching movies (your favorites have always been Shrek, Curious George and Monsters, Inc. (aka the monster movie) and reading with you... oh how I LOVE that you love books! I'll never forget the time I took your books away... you were about 18 months old and devastated that your beloved books were beyond your reach. But you know what? You never threw, stepped on or chewed on another book after that. You have a great respect for the things around you, and I love that about you.

I can see a lot of me in you baby girl. Your quiet nature, your willingness to step aside when your brother needs to be the center of attention...which happens quite a lot, I know! You are shy, you are sweet, but goofy and stubborn at the same time. Don't ever lose that, but stay strong, LaneyBug. Never let anyone push you aside or walk all over you.

You may not have had the greatest entrance into this world, and you will always have hurdles to overcome, but I wouldn't have it any other way, baby girl. You are my joy. You are the strong, sweet, GOOFY little thing that I always hoped you would be. I only hope that with each day that passes you will stay strong, sweet and goofy. You will have a long road ahead of you. Life will not be easy, but I have every faith in the world that you will succeed.

I may just be your Auntie, but I love you as if you were my own. I can't wait to see what the next years bring. We have so much left to discover, so much left to learn. You are my girl, LaneyBug and I love you SOOOOOO MUCH!

Love,

Rach

If you want to hear God laugh...

I've been dreaming about owning my own photography studio for well over a year now. I've been imagining how vacant spaces in my town would be "the perfect place for a studio." I've been picturing in my mind one particular building with backdrops hanging from the walls, tripods with cameras mounted, a viewing and ordering desk in the front of the building, the GORGEOUS newborn portraits I would create by the HUGE window with awesome natural light.

The only problem? My dreams and visions don't produce any of the funds required to make them come true.

I have no money.

Then when I lost my job in May, I thought... maybe this is it. Maybe this is finally my chance to a) find the perfect space at the perfect price for a studio or b) find a great job that pays more than I was making at the day care center, allowing me to save more, much more quickly and open my studio sooner.

So for 6 months I've perused the classifieds, typed more resume's than I can count and made phone inquires on dozens of potential employment opportunities.

And you know what I have?

Nothing.

Still no money. Still no job. Still no studio.

And if that weren't enough, yesterday while I was scrubbing the floors my mom calls from work (she happens to own the building next door to prime photography studio location numero uno) and says "guess what?"

Me: uumm???

Mom: The building next to me is rented.

She didn't even have to tell me any more. I already knew. The building... my perfect photography studio had been rented...to another photographer. Now at this point you must understand that I live in a small tourist town. A small town with one street... less than a block long that houses 75% of the businesses in it. There is NO way two photography studios can survive here.

Our dream was to open the studio. Place some of our gallery prints in it for the summer tourists to purchase, but to shoot portraits to make a living. To shoot portraits at affordable prices. To not totally rob our neighbors, our fellow business people, our friends who cannot afford to have their portraits taken by the "big name" photographers.

At that moment I swear I heard God laugh. A deep, roar of a laugh.. taunting and teasing saying "see what happens when YOU think you know what you want? Your plans are nothing compared to mine."

"But God, I never asked you for that specifically. I talked about it with my mom, my business partner. I shared the dream with my friends, family. I poured out my desire to people at church and in online Photography Message boards... I asked you to help me find whee I am supposed to be in life; what I am supposed to be doing, but never once did I ask You to 'please give me a studio.'"

All I have ever asked is to show me what His plan is for me. And I guess my thoughts that maybe I lost my job for a reason... Maybe those buildings have been vacant for so long... Maybe I haven't found another job yet... were all because he was still working it out. Still showing me the way to figure it all out. Giving me the help I needed to make the jump. To open my studio.

Now I can only all but wonder if this is all part of His plan... or did I screw up? Did I wait too long? Did I miss something? Did God get tired of waiting on me, so he moved on to someone else? I mean a building can't stay vacant forever can it?

I'm working through my pity party. I have faith that God knows what is best for me; that He has it all planned out, and everything will happen in His time. I believe he has my best interests in mind, and even though it is hard to be patient, what more can I do? So for now, I'll continue to concentrate on finding a job while doing shoots and drooling over potential studio space. And at the same time I'll hope and pray that my day finally comes...

The day when God finally says "Ok. Here it is. Seriously. No jokes."