Heavy on Photos, Light on Words: Part II

Location: Bradley Fair

Characters: Good Friends

Props: Picnic Dinner and Ducks

Hart Family Sneak Peek

Our dear friends!

"Society is Afraid of Alonedom"

 Did I forget to share this with you until now?!
I'm so sorry. 

Tanya Davis is the performer/poet in this video... 

I relish her vulnerability, there is strength in it. 

I have posted another video of hers previously, I love it also.

I wish she would perform somewhere nearer to here than Canada, sigh.

I was out with a friend the other night and the topic of going to a movie alone came up in our conversation. Mentally and verbally I applauded her for doing so herself, and I was reminded of this video. These lines are especially nice.

"Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. but lonely is a freedom that breaths easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it."

Tanya Davis

We shouldn't be afraid of being alone.

There is a lot to be said for the comfort of our own company.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is a bright and cheery day for several reasons... 

would you like to know those reasons? 

(This might require a bullet list, there are quite a few! I'm a wordy girl, I know.)

• First of all, it is gorgeous outside. 

•  Even though the wind is blowing 30mph, Philip rode his bike to work today. I'm happy he got to ride!

• This Spring, Spring, Spring weather is perfect for the park! And we didn't only get to go to a very cool park, but we met up with some of our favorite people! 

• Then we had lunch at Freddy's, oh my! It was there that I realized our group was slightly extraordinary (because several people were noticing us and tallying momma's and kiddos...), 4 mommas and 7 babes under the age of four.

• I must hurry away from the computer to make Apple Brownies to bring for a corned beef dinner at my folk's house tonight. (Which is why I'm only posting this one photo, more to come later.) Maybe I will take pictures of the brownie making and share the recipe later as well. They are unreal! So, add Apple Brownies to the list and a special dinner with my parents!

• Then from dinner we all are going to see my cousin Molly dance, she's an Irish Dancer! Evie is so into Angelina Ballerina and dancing, so I cannot wait for her to see another type of dance. And I cannot wait to see Molly either, I know she's good.

 

There is one more reason that I'm excited for today. 

In a nutshell, it's sort of a personal anniversary... twelve years ago on St. Patrick's Day I was going through one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I left Denver and moved back home. But that breaking point, as traumatic and anguishing as it was, was what it took for me to look back to God and truly see His faithfulness to me. He took me from devastation, freed me from hopelessness, made me new and gave me pure joy. Those phrases seem trite, but I write them with earnestness. I'm sorry if that is vague to share such a big part of my life in a few, short sentences. Most of the people close to me know my story, but if you want to know more I'd be happy to share. Just send me an email, or leave a comment if you'd like to hear more.

Cousins

Well, hello handsome! 

Cruz is our newest little cousin... 

he's growing all too quickly, but he makes up for that with his sweetness. 

Look at that face!

 Speaking of growing too quickly... Evie looks entirely too grown-up in this picture.

I love that Evie and Eliana were able to share the giant doggy! 

He might have met his end today with all their rough-housing... 

we kept finding piles of stuffing that had come out.

The kiddos had a very toddler-friendly lunch, but I think Bethany and I had the treat. Homemade bierocks, YUM.

Evie and Eliana couldn't have been more opposite in their painting style! 

Evie wasn't too into it today, but typically doesn't like to get messy. 

In fact, a couple drops of ice cream on her dress brought her to tears. 

Eliana on the other hand...

painted her tongue, wrist,

                                         and tummy (oh yes, and the paper!)

She had Bethany and I dying with laughter.

I wish we could have stayed all afternoon, but the kiddos were getting tired. 

I made a quick exit to try and avoid the teary departure we had from the zoo last week. 

I hope to post pictures from that visit too!

Still Wedding

I've made the leap back into wedding photography!

Not one that I took lightly... it requires me to be more of a planner (organized), and a bit of a gear-head. Neither of these things come naturally for me, but if I don't venture out of my areas of comfort, then I'll never grow, right?

So... thank you Lisa for having faith in me and for encouraging me to stretch myself!

You and Jamin are truly, lovely people and I felt blessed to try and capture that.

You were such a trooper, Lisa! It was quite cold and rainy, but you weren't phased by that... in fact, Jamin and I were more worried about you and your dress than you were.

Jamin's expression... hilarious.

I had so much fun seeing you two together, I can't imagine a better match of personalities.

The invitations and programs were made from Jamin's artwork! That. is. beautiful.

Lisa you are a beauty!

Pure joy on their faces!

Stunning.

Awesome.

Work it guys!

Beautiful girls.

So, I'm pretty convinced that this wedding party was about as fun as they get.

The sisters do their "mom-face".

I can't remember what started this fight, but it got pretty ugly!

I thought a baby was a pretty generous gift!

And whoever wrapped this has got skills.

THE prettiest flower-girls!

Calvin was ready to wallop them with this huge pile of leaves!

The leaf-toss was one of my favorite parts of the day, so colorful!

Ha-ha!

Careful...

I love it that the Father of the Bride and his brothers were playing cards at the reception!

Thank you Jamin and Lisa!

It really was a gift for me to be a part of your lovely day!

I am so excited for this new chapter in your lives, God is so good.