A few honeymoon pix

I'll start this post with what I believe is hands down, the best photo taken in Jamaica. And guess who took the pic?

ERIK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a little sore that he took a better picture than me, but I stroke my ego by telling myself he learned from the best. ;-)

The photos haven't really been edited yet, but I just grabbed a few favorites here.


The view from the stairs ... I like it.


Happy honeymooners. :-)

On a side note, I love, love, love my new "purse camera"!!!!!!!! I achieved this photo by setting it to the sunset setting, then forcing the flash to fire when a photo is taken. Don't have control over the fill flash, but I think it looks pretty good.


This is Erik with four, that's right FOUR, of our new favorite drink: Jamacian Smile.


Thought I'd close with this one ... it's comical. We were right next door to a nekkid resort. I'm sure Erik will have some colorful post later. ;-)

Advent adventure?

So it's the season of Advent yet again. We decorated for Christmas by setting up our nativity sets and Advent wreath.



All was well until Erik and I left on our honeymoon. In all, we were gone about 10 days. Well, when we returned, there was a little shower of wax on the dining room table, around the wreath. Hmm ... in addition to that, there were TEETH MARKS on the top of the candles. UGH! ESSE!!!!!!!!!!!

The heck of it is that I've had plenty of candles around before, but she's never gnawed on it before ... and those other candles even smelled yummie! The Advent wreath candles don't smell yummie, so I'm not sure why she needed to chew on them.

But doesn't she look angelic??????

Don't be deceived.


Our kitty sitter also said when he was washing his hands in the front bathroom, she jumped onto the sink, then CRAWLED up his chest and settled herself around his neck. Think: scarf.

Strange.

I guess she was just really starving for a) human contact and b) body heat/warmth.

She's certainly glad to see us ... especially our bodies so she can curl up on them and warm up. :-)

Crossover — Braggin'

Ok, so cruise on over to the Heartland blog to check out my photos published in Kansas! Magazine.

This is my first magazine publication, and I have to admit it was rather thrilling. Coop was bummed they didn't put my name on there because about half of them are mine, but I know when you deal with people there is information lost, etc ... and you can't control what they'll do/say/publish. So it's just a glorified crap shoot. Both of us know whose photos are whose .... and Jeff is a big enough photographer to give credit where credit is due.

Chicago — Bill Peet

My favorite author EVER is Bill Peet. Seriously. I *heart* Bill Peet.

He's probably one of the first authors I remember, so I was THRILLED to see an exhibit in Chicago when I was there.


Getting to see the sketches and book pages with the editing marks totally ROCKED!


And the exhibit was so informative ... I never knew he was a Disney artist!

Chicago — for Mike

When Mike learned I'd be in Chicago shortly after Obama was elected President (thus making him president-elect), he said "bring me back something Obama!" ... but with limited suitcase space, this picture will have to do, Shep. Sorry. :-(

It was interesting to just prowl the streets of Chicago. I don't know the "mood' of it normally, but I did see a LOT of Obama pins on lapels ... of people old, young, black, white ... it didn't matter. Seems people are proud.


And THIS was truly a treat! I stayed with Erik's buddy (and best man), Matt, who is a producer at one of the TV stations in Chicago. I watched a few shows from the control room (which is a loud, crazy place, even if only 3 people are in there!).

Chicago — the bean

Check this out. Isn't it fun??!??!?!??!?! I've seen it on several photo friends' blogs, and when I knew I had a day to kill in Chicago, the bean was on my LIST! (The day before Lori and Derek's KILLER engagement session!)


And here I am in it! (the blob in the light blue).


And closer yet .... yeah, it was COLD. My nose was bright red and my toosh was icy cold.


I totally dug this image. I wonder how it would look w/ no people ... just buildings. Sort of surreal. The buildings look all funky and out of whack on the left, but ... oh, they're normal on the right. Phew! ;-)


The above photo is probably my favorite, favorite, favorite photo from the bean. It's 100% reflections. Just cool, moody and imaginative.

Cook Top & Floor Cleaning

I *never* thought I'd be one of those girls who would try a variety of cleaning products to find magic ... but I have become that.

My research was done while watching HGTV. Nothing formal, just watching commercials that looked promising.

I started with the Scotch Brite Cook Top Cleaner.


There was LOTS of promise, but for all of the scrubbing, I went through 2-3 scrubbing pads, but the stains held fast. :-(

Yet another commercial made promises, and after a failed Scotch Brite, I was not convinced.

But boy, did Mr. Clean EVER deliver!!!!!!!!!

I inherited Erik's kitchen ... fairly new appliances, but with about 4 years worth of boiled over chili on the cook top .... and now it's (mostly) gone! THANK YOU MR. CLEAN!!!!!!!

AND last week, Erik attacked the dirty grout on the kitchen floor ... and it looks UH-MAAAAZING! No matter how much scrubbing I'd done on the floor before, it just never looked clean. But now .... it's fantastic!

Christmas Cookie Time!

My most favorite part of making Christmas cookies is .... eating the dough the night before. :-)

This ritual was done annually while growing up ... and I'm excited to show Erik the art of sneaking cookie dough in the middle of the night. Robin and Chris will be around to do the baking. And good for them. We'll leave the baking to them and the cookie dough eating to US!

(notice the Christmas tree cookie cutter? Mom always said cookies shaped as Christmas trees taste the best).

A nutty mess.....

On NPR the other evening, I was listening to this story about how squirrels might be in trouble b/c there is a shortage of acorns. It certainly seems silly. Ok, I totally laughed out loud when I heard it. But .... if you need a good laugh, CLICK HERE


Our family has a silly obsession with squirrels, so the photo below absolutely cracked me up.

Crossover — Hindu/Christian Wedding

Ooooooooooook. I've been waiting a LONG time to post this. But I wouldn't dream of doing it w/o the heads up from the primary shooter of the day.

Aren't these eyes hot, hot, hot?!!?!?!???!


In early September, I went back to California to help my buddy, Jessica, shoot a 3-day Hindu/Christian wedding. Wow. It was so incredibly awesome! I LOVE experiencing other cultures and learning about their religious customs/traditions. I seriously EAT IT UP.

Speaking of eating, I couldn't get enough of the freakin' awesome Indian food!


And I'll close with a few dancing images.

Being at an Indian dance was incredible! IT was so cool! EVERYONE danced, no matter how young, old, male or female they were. Even the older guys were out on the floor busting a move! It was freakin' awesome!


My favorite photo of the day:


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