this is our happily ever after

FREE photo sessions---The Details

WHO:  Me (the novice photographer) and my Canon 7D

WHAT: I will spend 30-45 minutes with each family taking photos that YOU want. Just the kids, husband and wife, the whole fam, and you can even bring your well behaved, 4 legged family member if you choose.  My goal is to take a good collection of photos in several locations around my neighborhood.   All photos will be taken outdoors.  There will be some "staged" and some candid.

example of staged:

example of candid:

 If it happens to be a rainy day we will reschedule...somehow, someway.  I'm doing this in November so you will have them for Christmas cards.  I will slightly edit the best photos and put those on a disk for you to keep.  My goal is to give every family about 15-25 photos on a disk and to have them to you the first week of December. 

WHERE:  My neighborhood, Southern Trails, in West Pearland.  The neighborhood is full of walking trails, ponds, benches, fountains, and a playground.  I will likely have you meet at my house and we'll walk to the different locations (so, Moms...don't wear shoes that are too sassy!) 

WHEN:  November 19th beginning at 9:30 and filling spots in one hour increments.  I will probably stop shooting at 5 because it will begin getting dark. 

WHY:  Because I believe in capturing life, getting photos of all the family members at one time, at least once a year.  Depending on how this photo session goes I hope to do this every year. 

HOW: Come dressed however you want.  Personally, I suggest wearing clothes that fit your personality, and are somewhat casual since you'll be outdoors.  You could do the matchy matchy thing---white shirts and jeans, black and gray (like I chose to do), but honestly the trend now is to choose a few different colors (one being a bold accent color) and coordinating, but not matching.  Here's a great article on a professional photographers website about this topic. 

NOTE---her photos are AMAZING....and although I'd love to be that good, I'm not....if you want super high quality professional photos then please hire a professional.  I'm just trying to be honest!

HOW to SIGN UP---I know I have a lot of readers link from Facebook....please don't sign up on Facebook.  Either email me at [email protected] or leave a comment here.  The times will be first come first serve beginning at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30...if there's an overwhelming response I may open slots on Sunday afternoon, but these spots must fill first. 

 

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday to everyone...I'm saying "happy", but we're not real happy here.  Karsten has a nasty cold and just doesn't understand why he feels bad, why he can't suck on his pacifier and breath at the same time, why Mommy and Daddy can't fix it.  Right now he's in his swing watching Baby Neptune.  At this point my motto is whatever makes him happy and comfortable is what we'll do. 

Onto meal planning Monday---before we sold our house, adopted Karsten, and moved I was sharing my weekly Meal Plan every Monday.  I typically plan my meals on Sunday afternoons and consider what I have in the fridge, freezer, and pantry.  This past Saturday we made a trip to Costco and I stocked up on chicken, fish, and meat for the month.  I buy meat in larger quantities and then break it up into small packages and freeze it.  This past trip we bought organic chicken breast, beef stew meat, round steak, frozen wild caught cod, proscuitto, and 2 whole organic chickens.  I also still have some sockeye salmon and a pork loin in the freezer.  Hopefully I shouldn't have to buy meat until late November (right before Thanksgiving)  Keep in mind we always have at least 2 vegetarian nights...sometimes 3-4. 

So here's our meal plan for this week:

Monday---Butternut Squash Soup (I'm going to adapt this recipe and then post it here later this week)---Croistini---and an Autumn Salad (which I'll also post here later this week or next week)

Tuesday--Caprese Ravioli (I got these at Costco) with Italian salad

Wednesday--Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup and Autumn Salad

Thursday--Proscuitto Wrapped Chicken Breasts (I'll post this super easy "recipe" next week) --Couscous with Pine Nuts---Roasted Tomatoes

Friday---Egg Salad BLT's with veggies and dip

Many more soups and stews will be filling my weekly meal plan because of the cooler temps and cozier evenings. 

photo taken in Colorado (we don't get beautiful fall color like this in Houston)

Winner of the Cookbook + Paying it Forward

The winner of the soup cookbook is Michele Pasbrig----Michele shoot me an email at [email protected] and send me your address.  Yay for you...I love this cookbook and know you will too!!!!

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Onto something that's been brewing in my mind for awhile...

While in Colorado last weekend one of my college friends took family photos of the three of us.  This was such a special treat for several reasons, but the #1 reason was that I got to be in the photos...our little family of 3 was captured.  So often I am the one behind the lens (which I certainly enjoy) but when I look back at photos of events, trips, everyday life I often wish I handed the camera over to someone else more often. 

So after some prayer I've decided to take free family photos for friends/family living in Houston.  I will be doing this on November 19th in my neighborhood.  I will have more details here on the blog tomorrow.

I DO NOT want any money...I just want to pay it forward.  I have a wonderful camera, but I am by no means professional...someday, maybe....but I have a lot to learn about photography before I would consider charging people for something I enjoy doing.  Plus, by not charging I don't feel as pressured to get the perfect shot(s)!!!!

Here are a couple favorite shots taken by Carrie Jewett at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  Carrie....thank you again for making the time to do this for my family!!!   I will treasure these photos for a lifetime!!!  I will share MANY more from the rest of this photo shoot and our Colorado trip in the coming days...

 

Today's Winner and Friday's Giveaway

Believe it or not #2 won again....that would be Kristina Bowers!!!  I put 1-13 in random.org and then hit generate 23 times (23 for David Freese's number) Fun Stuff---Kristina if you send me your address I'll get it in the mail to you next week!

I thought of today's giveaway when I asked about favorite soups.  This cookbook is my favorite soup cookbook and the illustrations are beautiful too. My favorite recipe in here is the Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Soup----UH--MAZING!

I will order the book for you and have it sent to you if you win. 

To enter write your name and tell me what your favorite hobby is---mine would be taking photos.  The reason I ask these random questions is that I like to get to know my blog readers (even if I don't really know you :))

 

Today's Winner and Thursday's Giveaway

The winner of the kitchen gloves and scrub brush is my cousin KATE!!!  Random.org chose the number 2 and she was the second person to comment!!  Congrats!

Today's giveaway has been one of my favorite things since I was quite young.  I would go into the Yankee Candle store at Union Station and dream of buying my own Yankee Candles one day for my home.  One of the first purchases I made when I began teaching (and had a paycheck) was a Yankee Candle. You know the big jar that lasts a long time. 

In the Fall/Winter I prefer spicy, food scents.  In the Spring/Summer I prefer fruity, citrus, and fresh scents.  I'm very picky about the scent of candles.  I can't stand real floral smells or ones that smell like soap.  I'll get a headache almost immediately.  When I taught a few years ago I always had a candle burning in my classroom (my kids LOVED it).  One of my favorite Fall scents from Yankee is Spiced Pumpkin. 

So today's giveaway is a Spiced Pumpkin Yankee Candle

To enter: leave your name and what your favorite candle scent is. 

Tuesday's Winner and Wednesday's Giveaway

The winner of the Vera Bradley makeup bag is Chelsea O!!!!  I'm using random.org to come up with the winner, so it's completely out of my control.  (In case anyone was wondering). Yay...Chelsea!!!  I'll stick the bag in the mail tomorrow :)  and I miss seeing you :)

Today's Giveaway is something practical, but cute.  I must wear rubber gloves while washing dishes.  I use hot, hot water and the water and soap wreak havoc on my hands and nails, so I've used gloves for years....boring yellow gloves...until about a year ago when I found cute, sassy rubber gloves.  I've been using them ever since.  I think it makes washing dishes a bit more delightful. 

So today I'm giving away cute rubber gloves AND a fun scrub brush!  For those who don't win this you can find similar gloves at Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning, etc. 

To enter: Leave your name and tell me what your favorite soup is.  I love homemade soup so much, in fact I have some in the crock pot right now (and hope to post the recipe next week), but if I had to choose a favorite it would have to be thick and creamy baked potato soup...or  maybe my gumbo...or maybe taco soup....ok, so maybe just tell me what soup you're now in the mood for ;)

Tuesday's Giveaway

Since I'm so late in getting this giveaway posted I will keep the comments open until 6 pm tomorrow night and then post tomorrow's giveaway afterwards.  Karsten is under the weather and getting the photo taken for tonight's giveaway just didn't happen until he went to bed and we ate dinner.  Such is life of a Mommy!!! 

Today's giveaway is one of my favorite things---a small Vera Bradley make up bag in the Suzani pattern.  I LOVE this pattern so much that I have the scarf, which can be seen in the adoption photos.

To enter: Leave your name in the comments section of THIS post and tell me what your favorite Halloween costume was as a child.  My costumes were always "homemade" and I always loved being Laura Ingalls! 

Monday's Winner

Congrats to my college friend Tonya Gigous for winning the Halloween cupcake kit.  I will get that in the mail to you tomorrow!  I know you're boys will love helping you make them! 

I found it very interesting how many of us love candy corn!!!  Who knew!  I like it, in small quantities...it's really the smell that I LOVE! 

In celebration of Candy Corn I thought I'd share a few really adorable uses for it that I've found on Pinterest. 

**all photos from specific websites**

candy corn twigs

you are my sunshine cupcake

snowmen donuts

turkeys

more turkeys

hurricane with candles

Tuesday's Giveaway coming this afternoon

Something Sweet

So I am a teensy bit obsessed with cute cupcake liners.  I found these at Home Goods awhile back and knew they would be perfect for the first giveaway.  Complete with a cake mix, frosting, and sprinkles these will make a perfect Halloween treat for your family.  I will get them to you either by mail or drop them of by Wednesday, so that you have them for the weekend! 

To enter:

Leave your name in the comments section and tell me what your favorite Halloween candy was as a child.  I loved Candy Corn and Candy Pumpkins!!!!  Just the smell of them makes me go back to the days of being a kid. 

WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS---beginning Monday

In celebration of finalizing the adoption of Karsten and my 4th heart birthday a WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS will begin on Monday and go through Sunday.

Until then, just the three of us are off to the gorgeous Denver, CO for a few days of celebrating our little family of three.  Brian booked this trip about a month ago and then surprised me!!!  How lucky am I, a perfect son and an almost perfect husband :)