Throw Back Thursday…Sort of

Most of the photography I do is for family and friends and people connected to my community of church and the kids school. Every now and then though I get contacted by a friend of a friend kind of thing and that’s how I came to meet this sweet  couple. Tim’s mother is a long time friend of my sister’s neighbor and family friend so when they mentioned wanting to do engagement pictures a few months ago my name popped up and I’m so glad it did.

We actually did the pictures back in April (hence the blog post title)  during spring break when his parents were visiting so it was a family event. Both Tim and Abbey are students at a local Christian college and the wedding will be back in her home state but they wanted their engagement pictures done here.

Because I hadn’t met them before I was a little nervous but they were all so laid back and happy it was easy for us to settle into good rhythm and we got some really sweet pictures.

Congratulations to you both, Tim and Abbey! I know you are counting down the days until the BIG day and I pray that you continue to find love in each other and in the details of all the planning.

Being in love is not merely a feeling.

It is a deep unity maintained by the will

and deliberately strengthened by habit;

reinforced by the grace which both partners

ask and receive from God.
~ CS Lewis

Advertisement

Test Kitchen #95 ~ Keep It Simple

I like pretty food.

I like pretty food that taste good.

I especially like pretty food that taste good and is simple to whip up.

When we were in Lakeland Rob and I had dinner with the pastor’s family and a few church members. The company was entertaining and conversation flowed easily. The food was really yummy but this simple little appetizer she served us was so delicious I knew I would be making it and sharing the goodness on here.

The flavors are so good together and it could not be any easier to put together and it’s also very pleasing to the eye. 

What you’ll need:

goat cheese

walnuts

fresh rosemary, chopped

honey

wheat thins

What you’ll do:

Place the goat cheese on your serving plate. 

With a spoon soften and basically mess the shape up a little.

Sprinkle with walnuts and rosemary.

Drizzle with honey.

Set it beside a bunch of those wheat thins and step back out of the way because people are going to want to eat it up!

Repeating The Good Stuff

In the past ten years or so I have had Alice in front of my camera in family pictures multiple times (including the first time when she and her siblings agreed to sneak off with me to do pictures as a surprise Mother’s Day present.) She was also in the first class of senior pictures I ever did  and most notably as a bride when I photographed her wedding about a year and a half ago.

A couple of months ago I not only got to meet her sweet little baby boy while she was down visiting from Idaho but I also got to take his pictures. I love taking anybody’s pictures but there is something extra sweet about getting to record some of the biggest milestones in a person’s life.

Especially when they are as adorable as this little guy.

I mean just look at that face…is it cute or what? Even when he wasn’t real sure he liked the Florida heat, our humidity, the gnats, or my camera.

His expressions were all adorable but for some reason it’s his toes that I just love in this picture.

Sweet mama.

Beautiful mama.

I don’t know how often she’ll make the trip down here but over the next ten years I hope I can get her and hers in front of my camera again.

A Sam Funny

Sam is a planner. He likes to get a plan in place and then not deviate from it at all. (Routine is a big deal to people on the spectrum.) We keep that in mind but we also push him a little on that front because he doesn’t live in a bubble. He lives in a community with other people whose thoughts and preferences have to be considered as well. Last night was one such instance.

I had an engagement shoot and all the kids were home. Sam and I had talked earlier in the day about watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, his latest obsessions favorite past time. I had told him it would be fine but what I didn’t realize was that a movie marathon of some sort was starting at the same time and the girls wanted to watch it.

During a phone conversation I reminded him that we were working on being considerate of other people and no that just because he let his sisters watch something instead of the game shows did not make him a lifetime loser. (Please note that whenever he mention the phrase lifetime loser he does indeed hold his fingers into the shape of an “L” on his forehead.) I tried to talk him through understanding that his shows could be watched another time and they came on every day but the movies didn’t. He was pretty convinced I had been brainwashed by his sisters.

“But, Mooooom! We were agreed on this. You are spoiling them!”

Without missing a beat,

“Wait, is this some kind of feminist march?”

I think he is feeling slightly out numbered with his father out of town.

Poor kid.

When Did We Get Here

The other day I had the most surreal experience or rather moment of realization. The stage had already been set I guess by the fact that Rob and I had recently gone away for the weekend and the kids stayed home. Alone. Without even a grandmother to oversee things. We didn’t actually do the same happy dance that we did say, when the last diaper was used or when we told everybody to go get in the van and no one needed help, but there was a quiet celebration when we got back home and everyone had survived without us for a few days. (Apparently we do need to establish some contact protocol in case we do it again though. The kids wrote up a rather hilarious desperately-seeking-parents facebook post when we didn’t communicate with them as much as they felt we needed too.)

Anyway, last week I was doing a quick mini session for a friend and Emily was sending me text of things she was designing on the computer. She is seriously considering a graphic design college path and it was fun to see her creating and working on something. When I got home Abby wanted to talk pictures with me and we went through some of her recent photographs and talked shop so to speak. She is showing a lot of interest in photography and some talent and skill. Sarah is happy and content with her life and working so hard towards her nursing degree. Sam is working hard as the church janitor and learning to be responsible for a job and tithing and other grown up stuff not centered around LEGOS or the latest episode of America’s Got Talent (although both things are still very important to him.) Claire is busy and active and into everything…playing with friends, volleyball camp, reading and puzzles, and painting sun catchers.

We’ve spent summer so far in and out of the kitchen baking and cooking and trying new things. We’re doing new things like leaving them alone and nobody is dying and they are all growing and thriving and suddenly it came to me that we are so much further down the road than I realized. So much closer to where we wanted to go when they were all tiny and we were really hoping and wondering if any of us would survive.

If you had asked us way back then where we were headed and what we wanted for our kids and our family I don’t think we could have told you. I’m not sure I can articulate even now but I know they are growing up and maturing in a way that pleases me because I think it pleases Him and it’s in part because of the hard work we put into them and all because of the work He has done and is doing in spite of us.

Not that we have arrived or anything. There is the occasional dust up over whose turn it is to clean out the litter box and there may or may not have been a smallish kerfuffle over a chair the other night. But we’re seeing landmarks that show we’ve been going in the right direction. They’re living and creating and loving and being and it’s wonderful.

As for where we’re headed? No idea. But I know it’s in front of us and we keep pressing forward trusting that He is making the path straight and leading us right where He wants us.

Things We Saw In Lakeland

A couple of weeks ago Rob and I went to Lakeland to visit a sister CREC church. It is a beautiful city with plenty of charm and my goodness, the locations for great photos were abounding! (Anybody want to go on a road trip for a destination session?)

On Saturday morning we visited the historic landmark campus of Florida Southern College. It is the only campus designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and it was gorgeous. The man led quite the life but his designs have always fascinated me. His idea that the building should be a part of it’s surroundings birthed what is called organic architecture. I love the lines and his use of glass in his designs.

It really is a beautiful campus and since I didn’t have my real camera with me the pictures just don’t do it justice.

After our morning spent at the college Rob needed to get some work done so I wandered around on my own. Our hotel, which was just lovely, was located near one of the city’s many lakes. Again, the pictures don’t really show off the beauty of the place. The grass is so lush and green and there are so many charming details.

Mirror Lake looks like something out of a fairy tale with it’s broad sweeping stairs that go right to the water, the lovely arches of the old train station, and it’s beautiful old fashioned light posts. The lake itself is huge and there are also restaurants and a really fun children’s area.

I must have seen about a dozen different types of water bird around various parts of the lake but the swan seems to be the symbol of the city in the way that pelicans are for Pensacola. Apparently swans were pretty visible in the early 1920’s but by the time the 50’s rolled around the swans were practically extinct due to predators. The story goes that one Lakeland resident was so sad at the loss of the swans that they contacted the Queen Elizabeth who sent two royal swans in answer. So while Lake Mirror may not be an actual fairy tale land the swans are of royal descent.