Life Right Now

Last Thursday, Lizzy finished her last day of preschool. Next year, she'll be in pre-K and going three days a week, and she already CAN NOT WAIT. Actually, she cannot wait for kindergarten, and doesn't quite understand why other kids who will be five will be in kindergarten next year and she won't (she's a January birthday, so she's past the cut-off). But, she'll survive :)



After her last day of school, as we were driving home, she was looking at the yearbook that her school does. She told me, "I'm just looking at the pre-K kids, to make sure I know what I'm supposed to look like next year!" She is so funny sometimes.

This past week, I also took the girls around the corner from our house to do an annual sister picture. And because you KNOW I'm a sucker for comparison pictures, here's the batch from last year, June 2013:

And then this year, June 2014:

Becca, at 18 months, is actually wearing the same dress that Lizzy wore in the 2013 pictures, when she was 3. It is crazy to me sometimes how different Lizzy and Becca are, both in terms of personalities, and also in terms of size. Lizzy was a lot more verbal at this age than Becca is, and I think sometimes we treated her a lot older than she really was (we still forget sometimes that she's only 4!). Becca knows plenty of words, and is totally on track for her age, but because she isn't nearly as verbal as Lizzy, it's easier to treat her like the age she really is. I'm sure part of it is a second child thing too--with the first kiddo, I feel like I was more excited for all those milestones and "firsts", and with Becca, I am 100% fine to hold off on some of those things, ha!

On the other hand, there's also a set of things that I think Becca will do more quickly than Lizzy, because she has someone to keep up with!  For example, Lizzy was practicing her scooter on Saturday, and Becca was royally ticked that she didn't have one of her own to ride--she kept yelling "Beppa! Turn!" (her version of "Becca's turn!"). Justin would help her stand and roll a bit, and she could not have been more proud of herself.

Lizzy has been asking over and over if she and Becca can share a room. She talks about bunk beds NON STOP, and I secretly think she's trying to teach Becca to climb out of her crib so that we'll be more likely to want to transition Becca to a different type of bed. On one hand, it would be really nice to have them share a bedroom and maybe have our third bedroom be a toy/playroom. On the other hand, Becca still naps and Lizzy does not, but she usually still goes into her room and reads for quiet time. I feel like going to a shared room is going to eliminate Becca's nap since she'll want to be just like Lizzy, and I am definitely not ready for that! I feel like why rush it unless we have to. We'll see.

This weekend.

This weekend....

-We ate a lot of really GOOD food. The highlights were an *amazing* meal at a local brewery, complete with some hibiscus ginger beer. As a general rule, I'm not a big beer drinker, but Caldera has some really unique and interesting beers, and I can't wait to go back sometime and do some tasting. I mean, toasted coconut porter? Yeah, I'll try that!

-We had a lot of sweet, silly, and fun moments with our little family. It felt so low stress, which was a welcome blessing.

-We spent a good amount of time working out, and also a good amount of time outdoors, both of which were so welcome!


-I spent some time evaluating. One of the things that I love about photography is that there is *always* so much to learn. This past year, I've spent a lot of time trying to learn more about Photoshop, both in terms of photography and graphic design (which is why you occasionally see Monday printables around here). There's so much to learn, and THEN there's also the trick of learning and discovering what I actually like and want to implement for myself. HDR? Not so much. Different blanket fade techniques? Yes, please.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to re-open a photo that I took of my niece Lyla back in 2012, and edit it the way that I would if I had taken it today. It's fun to look at the differences, what I've learned, what I'd do differently, now. There's a subtle difference, but I'm happy with it. I'm sure that in two more years, I'd have a few more tweaks to make, and that's what I love about photography. Learning, growing, stretching, always.

-I applied for a job. It would be working from home, doing something that I absolutely love. Basically, my dream job. There were around 100 applicants, so it feels like a long shot, but one that I had to take :)

How was your weekend?

The Story of a Sister Picture

Yesterday, Lizzy turned FOUR, which seems absolutely crazy. I know that many of you have been reading this blog since I was pregnant with her or before, and I don't know about you guys, but for me, this is the first year that I've really thought 'holy cow, she really is a KID now.'

It's crazy. Hold me while I go cry for a minute.

Anyway, for her birthday, Lizzy wanted to go to a McDonald's nearby that has a huge indoor play area, and so we went. And for some reason, while we were there I got it into my head that it was CRUCIAL for me to get a good sister picture.

Even though the lighting was so bad that I had to shoot far more open than I wanted to.

Even though they were both wearing white, which is the most work of any color to photograph.

Even though they both had zero interest in this particular project.

And...well...it didn't quite go as I'd hoped. {Duh}.








"Aaaannnnd I'm done," she said.
So honestly, I was a little irritate at first. Because SERIOUSLY you guys. Sometimes, there is nothing more obnoxious than kiddos who are intentionally sabotaging a photo, which is exactly what was going on here by the birthday girl.

But, it's been more than 24 hours now, and I've had some space and time, and now...I kinda love this series. It is just so them. And I love them. And I love it.

Catching Up

How in the world did it happen that I'm *ALREADY* so far behind in the monthly letters to Becca? I don't know...but here's the problem--I really want to write her another letter because there are just so many new things that she's doing, but inexplicably, I feel like I can't write her a new letter until I get caught up on all the old letters, but then that never happens and I just get further and further behind.

I'm calling it: slate clean. New letters can commence any time. And just for good measure, here's a little catch up into what's been going on around here for the past month or so:

Um, Becca turned ONE YEAR OLD. We had family over after church for cupcakes and taco soup. Nothing Pinterest-inspired, nothing stressful, and I'm really glad we went that route!





You know how kids never want their pictures taken unless someone else is trying to take a family picture, and then suddenly your kids MUST join?! That happened, and we could not have been more thrilled. Justin and I were cracking up. I know Justin was probably also thinking 'See, we could have four kids!'. Sorry babe, not sold.  
 Also, don't mind my dirty feet above...yuck.

Then, we had some serious SNOW! The mountains here in Oregon get snow every year, but the valley floor hasn't really had much significant snow since 2007 or 2008. But this year, a HUGE storm was projected...so much so that they cancelled school without even a flurry on the ground. I have to admit that I was a little suspect, but the snow did eventually come, and we were basically house-bound, even with a four wheel drive vehicle. And I know that some of you mid-westerners are probably thinking that we're pretty lame when it comes to snow, and I get it that you all deal with much, much more on the daily. But the thing that makes it such a pain here is that (a) there are no plows, and nobody sands or salts the roads (b) the snow melts half-way through the day, but doesn't melt all the way by night, which just means it freezes and we have black ice everywhere. For real, our street was a *sheet* of ice, up until even last week, long after the snow was gone. This was apparently record-setting snow levels for our area, and it was kind of fun to get to play in it a bit with the girls.





Unfortunately, with the snow came a TON of frozen pipes, which means that Justin has been home even *less* than before, which I wasn't sure was possible. I will say that miraculously, we have *nothing* on the agenda for this Saturday, and I cannot wait for a day at home with all of us. We have equal parts snuggling and house cleaning to catch up on!

Then, I just had to include this last set of photos from cookie decorating because they are just *so* Lizzy right now. Her expressions kill me, for real.

Beauty in the Landscape.

I grew up in a small town in Southern Oregon. 

Southern Oregon, and especially the town that I grew up in, can feel like another planet. It's kind of hard to explain unless you've been there, but everything is different. I mean, not only do you deal with all the issues of any small town in the world (everybody knows everybody else and all their business), but in this case, you also have a town that is widely considered one of the best hippie towns in the U.S., while paradoxically also being extremely rich, extremely non-diverse, and a place where it is common for the "hippies" to wear $100 gaucho pants, and grab their longboard that they ride around town out of the back of their Escalade. It is so weird, because this is a dynamic that exists only in my home-town, and not at all even 12 miles down the road. It is b-to-the-iz-are (I couldn't resist). Anyway, from the time that I was about a freshman in high school, there was an almost universal rumbling across all kids my age that basically went 'I cant wait to get out of here.' 

So, I moved to Tacoma for college, well Parkland, but close enough. I thought that I would love the city. I thought that I was made for the city. And this is probably going to sound super naieve, but the number one thing I remember about my first week in college (other than my fabulous roommate & next door neighbor), was the fact that in the city, you couldn't see the stars at night. Not like you do in Southern Oregon, anyway. I hated it. So, due to a mix of my family, in-state tuition, and Justin all being located in Southern Oregon, I moved back. I'm not in hippie-ville USA anymore, but back nonetheless. 

Since coming back, I could more easily see what so many people love about Southern Oregon--we really are fortunate here to be within a few hours drive of the ocean, ski resorts, amazing natural lakes, breath-taking mountains, and the high desert. But it's so easy to get busy. It's so easy to forget that we have things right in our backyard that people travel here to see.

I was blessed to recently be asked by a dentist's office to take some landscape photos for display. It was truly *so nice* to get out and do something a little different. To get in the car and enjoy these places with our little family. I wish now that we would've bitten the bullet and gone to Crater Lake because it has been YEARS, but now it's closed and that's a story for another day. I had a blast. And I think (I hope!) that I delivered.

So anyway... here's a small taste of Southern Oregon: