Goodbye 2012 -- Hello 2013

In these final hours of 2012 I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I can't wait to see where 2013 will take me. 

sneak preview | Claire + Chris | weddings

I was going to wait a little bit before posting a teaser from Claire and Chris' winter wedding, but I simply cannot keep this one to myself. (I showed it to half the guests on the back of my camera.)

When everything is right, magic happens. 

Sneak Preview | Claire + Chris | Pre-Wedding Henna Party

I have a confession to make.  I just haven't been able to get into the holidays this year.  I'm not sure why.

Now I'll admit I've been known to grumble about the shopping part.  I can't stand all the traffic and crowds, but I usually enjoy all the other stuff, baking cookies, decorating the tree, building gingerbread houses, Christmas cards, wrapping presents. wearing my jingle bell Converse (Yes, I really own a pair) etc etc.   This year...no tree, no cookies, not even a wreath on the door.   For whatever reason the holiday spirit has taken an extra long time to reach me this year, but here it is Christmas Eve and I want to share with you some holiday cheer.

Enter Ashleigh, George, and Pierce.   They are familiar faces here on my little blog.  It just so happens that Ashleigh is my BFF and I refer to Little Pierce as my BBF (Baby Boyfriend.)   If any family embodies the spirit of season, it's these guys. Ashleigh will be the first one to tell you that Christmas is almost her favorite time of the year. It's second only to Fall, because Fall means Christmas is right around the corner.  She starts listening to Christmas music sometime around July or August.  She excitedly texts me at the sighting of the first snowflake. Missing out on the annual viewing of The Nutcracker, is a deal breaker.  I believe she could give Mrs. Clause a run for her money in terms of holiday spirit.

So when Ashleigh told me she didn't have any pictures for her Christmas cards years,  how could I not help out?  For a moment, I became Bubbles Peppermint, my elf name, and got my Christmas Spirit vicariously through this wonderful family.  :)

We took these earlier this month at a local Christmas tree farm.  Little Pierce had a great time running around decorating the pint-sized trees with peppermint sticks.

Peek-A-Boo

Ashleigh, put together a video of the photos from our session.  Every time I watch it, I get tears in my eyes.  Thankfully, she's given me permission to share it here.

The holidays are meant to be a special time shared with those you love. May you and yours be truly...

Blessed

Best wishes to you this Holiday Season.

obey the rules

You've heard that old adage "Never wake a  sleeping baby."


Well in case you forgot,  Mattie is here to remind you.

Love this little sequence of new dad Chris with his darling daughter Zoey.  

Making pie crusts with my mom

You know, we all have things that we're a little persnickety about. Mine is pie crusts. In my little world, store bought pie crusts just aren't an option. I probably picked up this bias because my mom prides herself on her pie crusts, and I have countless memories of her rolling out dough on the kitchen counter. (Apple pie is her specialty.)

My own last few attempts at rolling out pie dough have not turned out well, so while I was home for Thanksgiving I asked Mom to give me a few lessons.

happy fall

Oh gosh! It's been a while since I've posted here on the blog.  I hope everyone has been out having fun and enjoying this lovely fall.  I promise to be a better blogger ( I suppose I couldn't get much worse :D )

Happy Fall

photographer caught in front of the lens

The day following Brian and Alicia's wedding I treated my assistant Johnny to lunch at  Young's Golden Jersey Inn, which just happens to be down the road from the Tecumseh Land Trust sunflower field. So I was able to talk him into shooting a few quick photos of me with my sweetie, Ken. Despite the rain, the fact that sunflowers were a bit past their prime, and  that I was SOOOOO tired from the day before, I think it turned out pretty well.

Thank you so much Johnny!

Blue Moon in Kentucky

It's not supposed to occur again for a few years, and I was afraid I'd miss it with all of the cloud cover.  Thankfully, the moon peeked out for me just long enough to grab a quick photo.  A lucky moment indeed.

feeling a little sentimental

I've been feeling particularly sentimental today. Perhaps because summer seems to be winding down, although you'd never know it by the 90 degree temps.  Anyway, I'm finding myself being a little nostalgic for the times at the beginning of the season. 

Still dragonflies....

Tiny road trip Saturday

This building is so brightly colored you would imagine to find it Yellow Springs, but no.  This building lives in Nicholasville, Kentucky. My friends have a jewelry store there.

Wednesday

puppy play time

prophets

Apparently prophets are a popular theme in graffiti these days.

Future Wildcat

Today is Friday, which means I have lunch with my BBF (Baby Boyfriend) and his mom.    One day soon he might be joining the ranks of the hundreds of students that are moving in across UK's campus. Well maybe not THAT soon. Happy Friday!

I love it when my chocolate pays me compliments.

Focus

Happy summer days

Aug 13

my homecoming

Every year my artist's cooperative puts on a one day art show, called Art On the Lawn. For me it's like homecoming weekend, and I usually come home with a pretty thing or two. This year I bought a one of these necklaces by Courtney Yoakum. Mine is the colorful, crooked one near the bottom right. :-)

Aug 11 a little late

Yesterday I was up early, by my standards, but I did get to witness this amazing sky. Seems like I only see sunrises when I'm at my parents' house.

Here Comes Trouble

Aug 9

The titles of both these books make me laugh.

August Breaking Point --Saying No

First off I'd like to say thank you to all the bloggers participating in  the August Break that have stopped by and said "Hi" here on my little piece of the internet.  My hope is that some day I'll have some free time to stop by and check out your web homes too.

As I predicted in a previous post, my last three weeks are have been non-stop, and in reality I don't see much changing for a little while. I've been trying to roll with things, but I can tell stress has gotten to me to a certain degree. Sometimes you just reach a point where you have to say "no," even to the things you enjoy...really enjoy.

Last night normally is a yoga night for me, but instead I said no. Instead I opted to stay home and spend some of the time in the garden, ridding it of some of the weeds that are cluttering the space and stealing the soil nutrients from my veggie plants.  I've always found weeding cathartic.  ;)  It felt ten times more benefiical to my well being to take care of this little plot of ground and harvest some of its' goodness than doing a few asanas.

I will nourish the garden which nourishes me.... figuratively and literally.

Aug 7

One week into the month and I'm what I call Aug-xhusted. Sometimes I think I'm just barely keeping it together.   This could've been me.

trees

There's a lot of talk going on about the fate of these trees.  The Village wants to replace them as a part of a streetscape renovation. I've seen some of the discussion on-line but all I can think is the that the Lorax would disapprove.

Yellow Springs

My life the last few weeks has been extremely busy, and yes, for some reason I choose these crazy weeks to participate in the August Break.  For most participating in this, August is a break from words, and a time to just do simple posts. For me, I'm using it as motivation to just do the posts, without the pressure of putting words with them.   So I guess its less of a break and more of a kickstart. We'll see how it goes. (I've been trying this for a couple years now eventually, it'll stick right?)


Many of the photos I've posted recently were taken a couple of weeks ago when I found a couple of free hours to wander the streets of Yellow Springs, my favorite small town.  I visit here at least once a month to work in my artist's co-op, but rarely do I take the time to just be a visitor.  It was a great time to recharge my batteries a bit. I have a hard time describing what makes this town special.  Here's a great post by another blogger.   You can read her description and I'll just post the pictures. :)

Zucchini chowder

I posted this photo to Facebook earlier in the week and was surprised by how quickly it was shared and how many people wanted the recipe. Here is the recipe.(FYI it freezes well too.)

Zucchini Garden Chowder
Yield: serves 6-8
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 medium zucchini (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh basil (chopped)
1/3 cup flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups tomatoes (chopped)
1 ½ cups evaporated milk
2 cups corn
2 cups cheddar cheese (shredded)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)

Melt butter or margarine in soup pot over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion, parsley and basil and sauté until tender. Stir flour, salt and pepper into vegetables. Gradually stir in water to make a smooth stock. Add chicken broth and lemon juice and mix well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, evaporated milk and corn and return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes until corn is tender. Just before serving add cheeses and stir until melted. Add a pick of sugar to taste and garnish with more fresh parsley.

Alicia + Brian

Another image from Alicia and Brian's engagement session in Yellow Springs. 

Aug 2

Today's harvest