living out loud

Reminisce with me...

2009-10-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I know it has been forever since I posted on this sad little blog that misses me! I wanted to let anyone know who hasn't been privy to my new information that I have been posting on our new blog. My friend Geri and I started a business called Reminisce and I post on that blog now instead of here. I am contemplating some personal and professional moves and this site just might be in those plans but for now I am putting all of my efforts into Reminisce and shooting weddings, events, families and children with Geri!

Check out our website and blog sometime soon!!!

www.reminiscewithus.com
www.reminiscewithus.com/blog

a beautiful day!

2009-06-22T00:50:00.001-07:00

knew without a doubt Angie and Tom would have a memorable, amazing wedding. What I didn't know is that they would show me that two people can create such a happy, loving environment for their children as well! Thank you guys for letting me be a part of such a beautiful day!

Wes and Andi are getting married!

2009-05-09T22:21:00.001-07:00

I love being a photographer and when I get the chance to spend time with people in love, it restores my faith in people! Andi and Wes were a blast and their wedding day is going to be awesome!

SDSU Pridefest

2009-05-04T23:40:00.001-07:00

I photographed this event (Pridefest) on Friday night for SDSU. I had a blast doing so. When I walked on campus I was amazed how many changes had been made to my alumni...I hope to go back and do many future events with them!!

Rodeo Queens

2009-04-10T02:57:00.001-07:00

Geri and I had a blast with these two!!!

Yes...it has been a long time....

2009-01-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

I have been the worst blogger ever! I have no clue where 2008 but I am really glad it is gone. I have many portraits and things I want to share and I suddenly have found myself with the time to do so.

Visual Photography decided to move in different directions this holiday season and let the entire staff go. It is hard to accept the fact that a studio I helped build needed to go down a different path but I respect their decision. I wish them the best of luck for their future.

That being said, Cassi and I find ourselves without full time work right now. And as scary as that should sound...I am totally excited to see what this year is going to bring. My friend Geri and I have dabbled in actually having our own company and with great big baby steps...we are forging ahead.

We have already been given some exciting opportunities and I think we just might be moving in the right direction!

Here are a few of the pictures we took of the Hayes family this last Saturday. Without going into too much detail...these boys have been like my brothers for most of their lives. They have grown up into gorgeous sweet men and have found significant others that seem to be perfect complements to their personalities.

Look forward to more frequent blogging and think about calling me if you find yourself or one of your friends needing a photographer sometime!!!

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2008-11-27T23:46:00.000-08:00

Yes...I am posting. I am sure there are a few people wondering if I am alive and I apologize. I don't know where the days, weeks and months have gone but they have flown by. I want to take this opportunity to let my family and friends know exactly how blessed I feel to be a part of your lives.

Cassi and I are very lucky people.

Once again I promise...I will start posting again soon.

Many hugs and kisses...me.

ok...I will agree...

2008-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

It has been too long...

I have been asked four times this week when am I going to update my blog...I did not realize I had so many fans...

So here I am...5 months since my last post. Do not ask me where the time has gone. I have met some great new friends...been to Vegas...broke my arm...had family stuff go on and am finally taking some "me" time just for me. All of that has been during the slow months of work. We are about one month into shooting 3200 high school seniors at the studio and are gearing up for a crazy busy next 3 months.

Thank you everyone for your patience with me...I hope to resume my erratic blog posting again and do it more frequently...although no promises!

I am on my laptop right now so you will all have to wait for pictures until tomorrow. I want to share the wedding Geri and I photographed in April. I have to say it is one of the more memorable weddings I will ever shoot. Geri has images posted from the wedding and a brief synopsis of her clumsy second shooter. Go check out her blog for a sneak peek at my story... casabellavida.blogspot.com

Until then...

Enjoy!

Engagement in Balboa park

2008-03-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

I helped Geri photograph Dawn and John at Balboa Park this morning and they were so much fun! They will be getting married in August at the Point Loma Nazerene college and it sounds like it is going to be a great time!

Here's some of my favorites from today!

Enjoy!!!

Recent session....and my nephew

2008-03-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

As always, too many days have passed since I last posted and I am sorry! If they could only give me about three more hours in the evening to get all the things that need to be done finished! I would be able to have an immaculate house, the laundry done, the bills paid, yadda yadda....

Last weekend my nephew Darrin had his Winterball and he and his girlfriend look like Hollywood royalty...love you guys!

This weekend, besides spending the weekend at the softball field, I was able to photograph my friend Anna's engagement pictures. She is getting married in August at the Bernardo Winery and so I met Anna, her fiance Prentiss, her sister Tina and three of their children for a delicious meal, wine and the BEST mimosas I have ever tasted. I also took some pics for their "Save the Date" cards and the label they are going to use on their wine bottles.

I love how these turned out!

While we were there...I borrowed her niece and spent a couple of minutes taking pictures of her because she was so stinking cute!!!

I see a modeling contract in her future!!

I just recently purchased a new camera so while at the Winery I played around with the settings and I have to say...once I learn all the bells and whistles...I am going to love playing/working with this camera! I love new toys!!

Here's some of the images I took...

Enjoy!

Mickey's world...

2008-02-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

My sister and I decided (as Charger fans who could not decide who we wanted to lose more) that if the Charger's did not make it to the Super Bowl we would head to Disneyland for the weekend. My job required me to stay home on Saturday to photograph a winter formal so she took Cassi, Mac and Brendon up to Disneyland on Saturday and my niece Amanda and I would follow on Sunday morning.

Early Sunday morning (Super Bowl Sunday) we woke up to pouring rain...it was raining harder than I can remember in along time and we questioned whether we were making a mistake driving to LA and getting dumped on all day.

We decided to take a chance and made the drive (100 miles almost exactly from my doorstep) in the pouring rain. I loaded my backpack with 5 umbrellas, the trunk with tons of winter coats and brought along all the gloves, scarves and hats I had. While we were driving up there she told me a story of her friends who had the same thing happen to them but when they got to Disneyland...the clouds cleared and they had sun...only over Disneyland. We joked that we were going to have the same thing happen to us. And it did...

This is what it looked like in Los Angeles for most of the afternoon. (It poured ALL DAY long in San Diego that day!!!)

Amanda's dad had told her there was no way we were going to Los Angeles because of the rain so this is her proof to him that we had sun.

This is the only time we had out the umbrellas and I think everyone just pitied me carrying them so they each grabbed one for about two seconds and within half an hour they were put in a locker with all the jackets, gloves, scarves, etc...)

Cassi and Mac have been to Disneyland with me many many times and they know that there are a couple areas of Disneyland I always photograph to document the trip and I did not even have to ask them to stop for this shot! I think I probably have 20 trips with them in this spot and I love to see how much they change!

Tom Sawyer's Island got a makeover...

My absolute favorite ride at Disneyland is Splash Mountain because it is such a great mix of all things I love about a ride...water, big hills, Disney characters and that "Zip-A Dee Doo feeling" you get after the big drop and the music starts and you are soaking wet...if you have been there...you know what I am talking about!!!

We have a few traditions at Disneyland besides taking pictures at certain spots...we ALWAYS have the popcorn at least twice, we stop in Pooh Corner for chocolate covered marshmallow sticks, we always buy rock candy and cherry sours, (YES...we eat our way through Disneyland!), we most times buy hats and they usually end up being a theme of some sort (See below!) and almost all the time we stop at In N Out on the way home.

The pictures above are the hats that each of the girls got throughout the day at Disneyland...all the same style and they all pulled their hair in to two pony tails too!

This last picture below is what I LOVE about Disneyland...you can be anyone you want to be there...

These were all taken with my point and shoot camera because the "Big One" usually is not allowed to go with me...I am lucky I get to take the pics I do while I am there!!!

On a side note...(If you are still with me!) I love all the comments I have received
from David Baxter's fans...you guys are awesome! He really has surrounded his self with a great group of people and I can not wait to meet some of you! I went and visited your blogs and found myself getting so excited about what the future holds!! Thanks again David! You're the best!

Enjoy!

I am still alive!

2008-02-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all!!!

I am sure it seems like we are missing in action but we aren't! Cassi and I have been taking turns being sick and if I haven't been the one moaning and groaning about everything wrong with me these last few weeks...it's because I have not had the time to think about my ailments while taking care of Cassi. She is just now recuperating from strep throat and the nasty effects of antibiotics (DO NOT ASK!!!). I have just finished my second round of antibiotics also so between her and I, there has not been much time for anything other than sleep and making up homework!!!

I do have many things to share with you and I will as soon as I get the chance...I have been working on some cool things lately and I can not wait to share them with you!!!

On a side note...I really love it when you guys make comments on my blog (It makes me feel special!) and the awesome Baxter's {their blog is www.sdohana.blogspot.com and I would give you the link but for some reason this post isn't allowing me to link! Sorry! Copy and paste it up top!!!} seem to be the only one who comments and I love that they do...THANK YOU Thank you guys!!! I swear at least two other people are reading, right???

I have never met the Baxter's but they have inspired me more than any other photographers out there right now. They are funny, fantastic photographers and have hearts of gold. I highly suggest you check out their blog and see all the awesome images they take! They also tell a darn good story too! They recently posted images their 9 year old daughter Rain photographed and they are incredible!

While looking at the images that Rain captured, I had an Oprah-like "aha moment". The light bulb went off for me...like the Baxter's daughter Rain...Cassi loves to use a camera. Her images from Hawaii were awesome!!

I need to embrace this passion she has and teach her everything I know. If she can learn a trade and be passionate about photography...maybe she won't have to work at McDonald's while in high school but can spend her time photographing senior portraits of her friends or assisting/second shooting for other photographers...

I have this skill that I can pass on to her and also be able to enjoy more precious time with her while doing so. She is as excited as I am about this and I can not wait to start sharing her progress with you guys!

So thank you Baxter's for your insight and willingness to share!!!

Friends in Low Places...

2008-01-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

The ABOVE picture is from where our seats were and how close to the stage we were. Taken before the concert started.

Garth Brooks and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, singing "In Another's Eyes"

I had the incredible pleasure of seeing Garth Brooks in concert this weekend and it was mind blowing...

The seats all cost the same price and we got incredibly lucky and had first row seats directly to the left of the stage so we were able to see everything. At one point his wife, Trisha Yearwood, was standing directly underneath us (picture included) and turned and waved to us. The pictures attached are from my sister's point and shoot. My point and shoot does not do well in low light and I SHOULD have brought out the big gun with all the lenses because still photography was encouraged and, of course, I did not know that!

I went to Los Angeles with my sister Diane, her friends Erin and Bobbi, my nephew Steven and all three of Erin's kids (Thanks Josh for the late night Denny's meal...you DID NOT have to do that but it was really appreciated!) to the concert.

We had a wonderful Chinese meal downtown LA (even WONG TONG soup Diane!)before the concert and the whole night was amazing!

I have been sick for the last couple of weeks (feeling like I was 60,000 feet in the air with all kinds of pressure in my head) and was told by the doctor the day of the concert that my eustacion (sp?)tubes were blocked...needless to say this concerned me knowing that I was going to be sitting close to the stage at the Staples Center.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Garth Brooks at the Naval Base here in San Diego and I remember standing next to a gi-normous speaker watching it vibrate and I remember that it was so loud I could barely hear for days afterward.

When we walked out of his concert this last friday, the girls I was with were saying that the concert was like a religious experience...and then I realized that it actually was for me...you see...my ears (for the first time in over two weeks) were clear and I could hear again. I was healed!!!

Now...I can only surmise that maybe me singing at the top of my lungs for two hours straight (thank you Bobbi for NOT saying anything about how horrid my singing truly is!) might have helped to get rid of the blockage in my ears...but I would rather believe that Garth Brooks is capable of some incredible things...

Garth Brooks came out of semi-retirement and put on 5 concerts in two days and sang at least 2 hours at each concert-and he did it all for charity. Staples Center donated the venue. He was helping the southern CA fire victims fund and also donating the money to help firefighting efforts for the future. He was hoping that at least 10 million was raised.

Can you imagine how powerful that is??? That he can stay out of the limelight for almost ten years...and then sell out five complete shows (over 100,000 people) and give all the money for a good cause-just think if he did this all over the country...maybe a concert or ten in New York for the homeless-

I can not say enough about his generosity to the people of southern CA.

And to boot (no pun intended)...it was...hands down the BEST concert I have ever been to. EVERY person in the place knew the words to all of his songs and it was a great big sing along. His wife, Trisha Yearwood came on stage and sang two songs with him and you could tell the tremendous connection between the two of them...

If you EVER have the chance to see Garth in concert...go for it...he is such a refreshing change from the artists of today-and remember to get an extra ticket just for me because I would go again and again!!!

Youtube video of his most popular song ever!!!

This is the last 6-7 minutes of the concert and what he says at the end is so cool and you can hear his voice crack! (I am posting this mostly for my memories but please enjoy it!!) I did not take these but borrowed them from youtube!

Enjoy!

What we did over Christmas break

2008-01-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

This is a little late posting but I was playing with my blog trying to get larger images so I thought I would share these with you. One of Cassi's presents was orchestra level tickets to the musical "High School Musical" and so her and I went to dinner at Horton Plaza, got Starbucks and walked over to the Civic Center to see the musical. It was a great show and I totally recommend it if you have a girl 2-20 years old! This is the stage that I WAS NOT ALLOWED to take pictures of.

Of Course...I tried to take one or two pictures without a flash and hidden from all the ushers and this next picture is the only one that turned out...it is the curtain going down after the encore. I think it turned out great!

On our way to the show we stopped at the Sweet Factory at Horton Plaza and picked up some candy for the show and I snapped a few more pictures of all the colors...I love the M&M's!!!

Here's Cassi rocking her peace sign, High School Musical tshirt and Starbucks!

The next day we drove with our friends Christi and Alyssa to Los Angeles to go to The American Girl store. Cassi received her doll Nikki for Christmas and needed to buy her all of the essentials (jacket, dress, shoes, hairbrush, etc). There was a photo studio at the store and they took pictures of the girls and put them on the cover of the magazine. While Cassi and I were waiting in the waiting room...we took this picture of her...and of course...it was WAY better than the one they took...but then...she never takes a bad picture!!!

Does this picture remind you of the Prospector in Toy Story??? Me too!!! It's like they are waiting to be bought and loved!!!

The next three pictures were taken at the tea we went to at the store. The food was cute and theme related.

Nikki enjoying her tea...

And this is how cute the room was. I would love a ceiling light fixture like this one!!! It is so fun!

The store sells "Itty Bitty Twins" and this set totally reminded me of my twin sister Diane and I. We totally looked like this, our Mom did our hair this way, and we looked nothing like twins!

The mall was still decorated for Christmas and amazing!

I thought this bra was totally cool with the cat eyes and got this one picture before I got informed I could not take pictures in Victoria Secret!

This tree is larger than the tree at Rockefeller Plaza.

Cassiandme and my new "grandchild" Nikki

Cassi and her friend Alysa and their dolls...Nikki and Molly.

So there's some of what we did on our Christmas break. I have been sick with a sore throat and now a crazy head cold that makes me feel like I am 60,000 feet in the air with enormous pressure in my head and I am dreadfully tired all the time so I apologize for not posting more often!

and...

GO CHARGERS!!!!!

Enjoy!!

Lean like a "Charger" Go Bolts!!!

2008-01-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

Because you just can not go anywhere in San Diego without the blue and gold representing right now and in honor of the mayor declaring today San Diego Chargers day...my niece Amanda sent this to me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx03Fj22Iq8

Enjoy!!!

Go Chargers!!!!

2008-01-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

Was that not a great game?????

On to New England...

teddy bears and moustaches...

2008-01-08T22:50:00.001-08:00

I was looking back at old images of Cassi wondering if I had the retouching knowledge "back then" that I do now...would there be images I would have retouched and cropped differently.

So I came across this adorable shot of her from preschool (2003-When I had just bought my first digital camera) and didn't know a thing about photoshop. As much as this is a memory of the day she got to take her bear to school for the "teddy bear parade". The first thing I would do now had I taken this picture today is to bring this image into photoshop and retouch any imperfections....

had I done this....

I would have erased away something that reminds me far more about her childhood than the parade...

her chocolate milk moustache!

She LOVED her chocolate milk and her face was always a mess when she drank it...

so...

even though I thank god on a daily basis for photoshop and the double chins it can remove off my face...

I think I will think twice before using some of the tools I learned in photoshop and leave those imperfections to remind me of the reality of her childhood-not some fixed gaussian blurred representation of it...

God I love that face!!!!!
Enjoy!

after midnight...

2008-01-08T00:04:00.001-08:00

Sooo...it's after midnight again and I can't think of anything better to be doing than going through random folders of pictures playing with images. This was taken in June right after I received a new lens. These poor pathetic guinea pigs are the best live subjects ever for me!!!

This is taken right outside my front door on the ground. Cassi came outside while I was taking these and wanted to know why her mother would embarrass her by laying on the cold concrete taking pictures of her pets...I explained to her that her lack of enthusiasm to have her picture taken causes her Mom to do weird things...

Does this picture TOTALLY belong on the cover of one of those calendars you find at the 99 cent store and you wonder what freak spent the time and energy to photograph 12 different guinea pigs???

yup...it does me too!!!!

(ok Geri...your turn to post on your blog!!!!)

Enjoy!!

WARNING...you'll die laughing!

2007-12-30T00:53:00.000-08:00

I came across a website two hours ago and it is so funny it is now almost 1:00 in the morning and I hurt from laughing so darn hard!

The site is

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/

My post below links you directly there...

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST video I have seen in a long time-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPxIibhcKY

God bless the man and his lawnmower...

I need to go bed but I know I am going back for more!

Enjoy!

Hilarious! And the comments have me laughing out loud

2007-12-30T00:14:00.000-08:00

I have lots to share and will in the next few days but I just found this post and died laughing...the commentary is gut-busting...and we all can relate to those Olan Mills photos!

I though they had such glamorous jobs...those Olan Mills photographers that kept you waiting FOREVER (I know we were on the "three times a year-one free 8x10 plan" the whole time I was growing up!) to take you into their dark room and created magical portraits of my family and I.

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html

I love these!!!

Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2007-12-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone!! As I write this..."Jingle All the Way" is on the tv, (It is Cassi's all time favorite Christmas movie and I get a kick out of our governor in red tights!) the cookies are baked, all the presents are wrapped and I am ready for the partying to start!

I am posting a ton of pictures from around the house. Cassi and I have many special ornaments on our tree and to us it is the most beautiful tree ever. It is artificial and has two different areas that don't light up so we had to wrap lights around it this year and it's a skinny little thing but it's ours!

Rudolph in his teens...

Santa sure looks tired!

I am especially partial to homemade ornaments. Cassi made this a few years ago and when I brought it out this year...the clay is still wet. This is probably my favorite ornament on the whole tree!

Another homemade ornament from Cassi's preschool days.

I had to explain to Cassi that this is an ornament from when I used film...and then had to explain what film was...go figure!

Since we are huge Disney fans...Disney is represented in a large way!

I took the next two images while we were decorating the tree. Unfortunately, quite a few of our ornaments were broken because of poor packing last year so I need to be a lot more careful this year. There is something pretty about all that broken glass to me.

I love the snow and so we have many snowmen on display.

I love shallow DOF and spent some time playing with the lights from the tree and decorations hanging from the chandelier.

I was afraid the princesses would fall off our flimsy tree so they are above my computer desk for now. They might just have a permanent home there.

Angela buys me the annual ornament from the Hotel del Coronado every year and each year they get prettier and prettier. This year's hasn't arrived but I can't wait to add it to the tree!

I always joke that we have a "boy" tree because it is predominately covered in balls...so I decided to make her a little more feminine by adding Cassi's bright pink Santa hat to the tree as a tree topper. I think it is the perfect touch!
Each year we buy ornaments from the "St. Judes Foundation." I can not even imagine how the parent's of sick children deal on a day to day basis and so I try and donate when I can to St. Judes. I am truly blessed to have a healthy child and thank God everyday for it.

Another Cassi handmade ornament made with her hand print in first grade.

Last year's Hotel Del Coronado ornament.
Our stockings are hung...

We have been blessed to have the real Santa come to the studio every year to visit and Cassi has the same pose with Santa since she was 2 (7th year this year!). I am amazed at how much she changes...and how little he changes. He really is timeless and I love these pictures each year!

I had to share my guinea pigs with all of you. This is Daisy Rose and we have had her for 2 and a half years. She is such a blessing to have around. I did not want a pet at all but Cassi really wanted one. I told her she had to be good for one month in class (She is a real talker!!!) and I would consider it. And she actually accomplished it. AND I think I love this pig more than her!
This is Sugar Baby. Cassi and I stopped at the pet store and absolutely fell in love with it. I couldn't resist but did not want another pet because I couldn't afford to buy the stuff required to bring another pet home so we went home without her. I could not get her cute face out of my mind and I asked God to give me some sign that we should go get her.

That day...I was cleaning my car and found $200 in a pocket behind the passenger seat. I know it sounds crazy but we were doing proms week after week and I must have taken my earnings and stuck it back there. And there was my sign.

I called the store and we went and brought her home with us that day. She is a complete stinker and has such a great personality. Sugar has cowlicks all over her body and her crazy hair goes with her disposition.

I probably will not post again before Christmas so I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and Santa brings you everything on your list!!!!

Enjoy!

It's my Party...

2007-12-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

We celebrated my twin sister Diane's and my birthday this weekend at my youngest sister Darci's home. Her husband Don and her were gracious enough to throw a Western themed party for us and I think everyone had a super time. The image above is of my sisters and I before the party began.

This is my sister Darci in purple and her husband Don on her right. The sheriff (we were in Lakeside!) showed up and threatened a citizen's arrest if they had to come back but luckily we didn't have to bail anyone out.
This is Debbie and Anna who we frequently go to country concerts with. Anna is getting married in August and I can't wait to photograph her wedding!
My nephew and his delightful girlfriend Aisha.
My twin sister Diane and her husband Johnny Cash (Brian)

I have no clue what song they are dancing to...

That would be my niece Amanda in the middle. I love this picture!
My nephew Steven and his friend (my coworker too!) Sam...
Anna on the mic...

We all had such a great time and anyone who is reading this who was there...thank you for sharing this night with us...we are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. Many of the people there we have known since high school and beyond and we have shared our lives together. Thank you for being the amazing people you are!!

Thank you also Darci, Don, Diane, and Brian for making this birthday special for me. You are the best!!!

On to something else...

I shared this website (Paperbackswap.com) a while back (June 11th) because I had just found the site and thought it might be something I would use. I have continually used this site over and over again. You post books you have in your home and when someone would like that book...you package it up and mail to them. Once they receive the book, you receive a credit to order another book from any other member.

This site is amazing and I have ordered books for myself, Cassi, my family and not once has the book been sent to me in bad condition. They track every thing and I found the statistics regarding how much I use this site amazing...

Here is my account as of tonight...

There are

1,749,986 books posted that you can swap

I have

sent

54 books

received

37 books

have 22 credits to order books

The books I have sent have:

gone to 27 different states

the shortest distance 12 miles

the longest distance 2,714 miles

the average distance has been 1,753 miles

for a total distance of 150,761 miles

How is that for statistics??

If you are interested in the site...Paperbackswap.com they have a referral program and you can put my name in...Cassiandme...and I think I get credit...I think you also get three credits once you post a few books of your own, at least that is what it was when I started.

They even tell you how much shipping to put on each book and you print the labels right form their site.

Cassi and I put up our tree tonight and inspired by the Baxter's blog ( http://sdohana.blogspot.com/ check out their site...they are local photographers that inspire me with the work they do and I find their blog hilarious to read!!!) I photographed some of my favorite ornaments to share with you. I haven't downloaded them yet but will soon.

So for now...

Enjoy!

Things that make you go hmmm...

2007-12-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

One of Cassi's chores is to empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away.

She yelled from the kitchen..."the dishes won't fit...Can you put them away?"
I didn't investigate and let her go to her friend Ashleigh's house.

This is what I found...

I CANNOT undertand why these didn't fit in the cupboard.

Any ideas?????

just one...the last one

2007-12-11T23:31:00.000-08:00

This is not the last Hawaii picture I am sharing but the LAST image I took in Hawaii of the LAST time we saw daylight in Hawaii. This was taken from Waikiki beach while we enjoyed one LAST Hawaiian shaved ice before we had to go to the airport.

This is actually my background on my computer totally unretouched or fixed in Photoshop. I still have so many images to share from Hawaii but I think this one speaks to me.

There were many people on the beach because it was a Saturday and EVERYONE stopped and watched this...even the surfers all sat on their boards facing the sunset and enjoying a spectacular moment...almost a spiritual one... I think it is one of those moments you had to experience to believe...a peaceful moment that connected so many.

I understood ohana...

Enjoy!

A few of my favorite things...

2007-12-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

These were taken during a recent shopping trip to Fashion Valley.

Somehow this mall just doesn't scream...It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." Oh well...So Cal for you!
Cassi's feet were killing! Beauty before comfort!
I love this shopping shot of her!!

I love the Christmas lights!

Christmas is my absolute favoritist time of year. Since I was a kid I have always loved this holiday more than any other. Now when I was younger it was because it also coincided with my birthday but seeing how we choose not to dwell on that anymore...December is still my favorite month!

Christmas is a favorite of mine...

I love everything about the holiday. The music...the shopping...the hustle and bustle..the lights...the crowds...the tree...the shopping...the decorations...the weather...I could go on and on!!!!

I love traditions...

I have tried to instill traditions into my daughters head because the traditions we had growing up still mean so much to me. Every year...

Mom overshops (yes...a tradition I totally uphold!)
We end up at the local WalMart or Target (used to be ToysRUS) at least once at midnight
My parents cut down a tree and Mom loves the tinsel!
We watch all the classic cartoons (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, etc...)
When Cassi was younger she LOVED Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Jingle All the Way" and it cracks me up to know he is our Governor now. So we watch that at least 5 times each year!
We take pictures with Santa and I take the SAME pose each year.
I take Cassi to Disneyland for all of the Christmas decorations. This year we had plans to go with Geri and family and I was surprising Cassi. She surprised me that day by ending up with a pretty bad flu and we didn't get to go! I haven't planned a makeup day yet but will have to see when our passes allow us to go!
We go to Christmas mass
My Dad bakes batches and batches of fudge
We go to my parents house Christmas morning and they have mounds and mounds of presents for everyone to open
We drive around looking for lights and on Christmas eve...looking for Rudolph

These are some of the things we do each year and I love it!

Another favorite of mine is the snow.

Someday I want to know what it is like to be snowed in somewhere with nothing to do but light a fire, turn on music and read a book. I told the girls today that when I am old and gray (no...not next week!) I want to live in a mountain cabin, work in some tourist trap like dressing people up and taking old time photos and talk about the weather with all of the locals!

San Diego had snow in the local mountains this weekend and chains were required and the crowds were crazy up there so we decided to go today instead. After Cassi and MacKenzie got out of school we drove about 40 minutes east of our house to the Laguna Mountains and played in the snow for a couple of hours. It was enough time for the girls to get soaking wet, freezing cold, and have a blast!!

After the snow we went to another favorite place of mine...Viejas.

I love that place. I can't help it but I love the sounds of the machines, the thrill of winning (when I win!), the little old ladies banging on the machines, the Quick hits...

but I didn't go there for that.

We went to the Outlets and did a little bit of shopping and watched the "Ice Princess" show they have going on each night. It was really really cold but the music was fabulous and it got us in a Christmasy mood.

Then we went to a neighborhood in Santee that we have been going to for years that has all of the homes decorated. Most of them have a cartoon theme and they get better each year! One family sells Kettle corn and another hot chocolate.

In true San Diego style, I take the top down on the convertible and we drive through enjoying the lights.

I think I have written a novel tonight and I hope you enjoy this time of year too!!

Had to share!!!

2007-12-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

As most of you know...Saturday is my 40th birthday and I am heading into it kicking and screaming! I just found this little article and being one of the "older ones"...it brings tears to my eyes to say when I read this...I totally concur!!!

Enjoy!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways.yadda, yadda, yadda!

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ's usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!>

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids' and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually h ad to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE.

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel;

and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire..... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about!

You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!> You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980! Oh yeah, and a seat belt was Mom throwing her arm across your chest every time she hit the brakes.

Regards, The over 30 Crowd

I hope you got a chuckle out of that...

Now...if you can think of any other way kids are spoiled today...add it to the comment section below!!

Tickets books at Disneyland with only one E ticket ride is one I can think of!

Now go add yours!!!

The magic of Christmas

2007-12-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

Here is my all time favorite Santa picture of Cassi. This is a scan so excuse the quality. After Cassi was terrified and this picture was taken, it was time for Santa to eat lunch ...(milk and cookies of course) and while he was eating Cassi had the opportunity to spend some time with him. And she slowly started to warm up to him.

I knew he was the real Santa when I left them alone for a little bit and came back into the room and he was holding Cassi's hands and dancing around the room with her. Of course I had Mommy tears (WAY different than "man tears" Cindy!!!) and I knew I would ALWAYS believe in Santa forever and ever. I saw the magic of Christmas that day. When I tell Cassi that Santa is real...I believe it with my whole heart.

This is a scan so excuse the quality but I LOVE THIS OF HER!!! We used this for out Christmas card when she was two.
THE REAL SANTA!
Geri took this one of Cassi for me.
This is when Cassi was 7. I don't have the last few years on my hard drive and will have to find my discs to share them.

Since we have the real Santa, he is the BEST Santa out there and I love that he takes the time to visit us personally every year.

ON ANOTHER SANTA NOTE...

I was given a link to this news site and laughed my butt off (yes...I wish!!!). But it wasn't the kids that made me laugh but all of the Santa Clauses...check them out!!!

Some of them are hysterical!!!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/holiday/sfl-scaredofsanta-ugc,0,7181908.ugcphotogallery

Enjoy these!

In memory of those who died at Pearl Harbor

2007-12-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

The names on this box are servicemen who survived Pearl Harbor but wanted to be buried after their death along with their shipmates at the Memorial.

In honor of "The day that will live in infamy" I am posting some images from our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial on Oahu. It was truly a moving experience being aboard the memorial and I am glad we had the chance to spend some time at Pearl Harbor.

It is such a tribute to all those who gave their lives that day for our Country.

RIP.

White elves CAN dance...

2007-11-29T22:46:00.000-08:00

Geri sent me this link and I love it!!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1114693102

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!

Where I was when the sun went down today...

2007-11-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

La Jolla Shores

I love how golden the sand appeared as the sun set tonight. The texture was amazing!!!

All it takes is a sunset like tonight to remind me how lucky I am. Lucky to live here in San Diego...lucky to do a job I love...Lucky to have all the good things in my life. Thought I'd share how beautfiul it was tonight in La Jolla.

Enjoy!

More Hawaii for you!!!

2007-11-24T23:40:00.000-08:00

I lag getting these images posted but still want to share them with you! There are a ton more to share so please be patient with me! This is an image of Wailua Falls. The recent rains made the flow of the water really strong. We viewed this waterfall twice and the second time there was not as much water flowing over the cliff. It is a beautiful sight. One of the last episodes of one of Amazing Race was filmed here in this location.
I find cemeteries to be especially beautiful. I love the history behind each grave marker. There is something so beautiful and peaceful to me about graves and their headstones. You can ask anyone who travels with me, cemeteries are a favorite of mine. When we visited Hawaii, the Day of the Dead had just occurred and it was very obvious that Hawaiians cherish their loved ones and visit often.

This is a lookout point on our way to go to Waimea Canyon. I was amazed at how brilliant the colors were here.

On our way to Waimea Canyon, I read on the map about a beach that supposedly had sand that barked like a dog when you walked on it. The map said 6 miles to this beach (Polihale State Park). What the map did not say was there was 5 miles of dirt road you needed to take to actually get to the beach. Grandma was freaking out about the dirt road and we had no clue that we would be traveling so long on the road...we just thought the beach was "just around the next bend". The girls were having a blast over the bumps and divots in the back of the minivan (yes...we drove a rental minivan on the road you see above which is why rental cars in Hawaii are shipped to the mainland for sale. NO ONE will buy a rental car in Hawaii!!!). I know we were all wondering if we should turn around but are soooo glad we didn't.
The end of the road brought us to the most amazing beach I have ever been on in my entire life. There was only two other people (honeymooners) on this beach for miles...either way you looked. It was incredible to stand on such a large expanse of beach and enjoy it just for us. It would NEVER happen here in San Diego.
One direction of beach...
The water straight ahead...
The beach in the opposite direction! Amazing!!!

Along the dirt road...we came across Steven's next car. He decided to take it for a test drive while we were there. Depending on how big your computer screen is...Steven's tshirt even says "Rusty" on it...hmmmmm

Waimea Canyon...the Grand Canyon of the Islands was really cold and windy while we were there. It started pouring rain so we didn't get to spend much time there although a local vendor sold the best pineapple I have ever tasted while we were there.

I hope this shows the scale of how enormous this canyon is.

Local flora.
That night we attended a luau at the Kilohana Estates. The luau is put on mainly for the cruise ships that travel around the islands so it was an older crowd for the kids. We had many Mai Tai's and blue Hawaiians while we tasted the local food. They also put on an amazing show about the local history and even had fire dancers. We had a blast!
All of us decked out in our Hawaiian leis and outfits.
More of the beautiful colors you find throughout Hawaii.

Steven had his picture taken with some of the locals. Notice the blue Hawaiian in his hand, but it wasn't the drink making him smile in the second picture!

They have a ceremony when roasting the pig and also said blessings for their good fortune.
Steven and one of his many Blue Hawaiians.
This guy was incredible with fire. If you look closely you can see netting that they put around him so he doesn't throw the fire out into the crowd. The speed and skill he used to work with the fire was unbelievable. The luau was such a great experience and a neat way to learn more about the islands.

I still have many, many pictures to share with you and will, in the next coming weeks.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and is getting into the swing of Christmas. This is my absolute most favorite time of the year (even if I do turn 40 in the middle of it!) and I hope everyone enjoys the preparation as much as the celebration! I love the hustle and bustle the next month brings and have made a promise to Cassi that we will experience different things around the city this year that we haven't experienced before. Maybe start some new traditions even!

Enjoy!

Chargers...baby?!!

2007-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to bed (after midnight of course!!!) and went to check on Cassi and thought the site was hysterical so I had to photograph it, download it, change it to websize and here I am to share it with you all.

Cassi has obviously given up worrying about what happened to the Chargers today (although she fell asleep still in her Charger jersey!). Her baby, on the other hand, is wide awake...downing her 'bottle' wondering what the hell happened. I bet she is not the only one sucking down bottles of liquid wondering about today's loss.

Thought I'd share!!!

Enjoy

Lyon Family Portraits

2007-11-18T23:28:00.000-08:00

Isn't this a gorgeous setting? I photograph at this park all the time and haven never used this area before. I think the clouds allowed me to use this area that day.
Isn't Meghan adorable?
I guess we tired Nicole out!!!

Before we left for Hawaii, a family friend asked me to photograph her beautiful family. We photographed her right before we left and I realized I should share them with you. We had cancelled the first date because of rain and then the day turned out gorgeous. When we finally got together for the session...it actually rained for the first time in months. We took cover under a building awning and when the rain stopped, we continued. It really felt like fall for the first time this year!

Thanks Jen and Derek for the great time! I can't wait to see the purse you had made!

Enjoy!

Day One Hawaii

2007-11-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy catching up with home life and drama at work that I am now just getting around to my Hawaii images. These are from the first day we were in Kauai and just a fraction of the many images we took in Hawaii. Cassi was given one of my point and shoot cameras and I will post some of hers in a later post...She has an amazing eye for composition and it's fun to see her interpretation of the same pictures I am taking. Some of these are from my point and shoot camera and some from my Canon 20D. The picture above is somewhere over the pacific ocean before we landed in Honolulu.

This group of arrows was in front of an arts and craft fair in Kapa'a that had many vendors from Kauai who were selling their handmade goods. I love supporting local artists instead of the mainstream stores and so we spent some time and money here!!!

The three pictures above are some of the art pieces sold at the fair. The picture of all of the homemade postcards caught my eye because there was such harmony from the display and the walls. I wanted to purchase some and then decided that my own personal photos would be more meaningful to me. The next two images are actually pieces of silk material one of the locals was selling and they were all hanging throughout the fair and really gave us an amazing feel for all of the local color you find in Hawaii.
Many of the walls throughout Hawaii are painted bright, fun, happy pictures and I love that!

This picture is taken in Northern Kauai at the Kilauea Lighthouse. It had been raining most of the day and at this lookout it was cloudy and rainy to our left and sunny, bright and blue to the left.
This is a small island at Kilauea Pointe.
The lighthouse at Kilauea Pointe.
This is a viewpoint right outside of Princeville. The lines and patterns of this area were beautiful and because of the rain...there were rainbows here too!
Cassi being my second shooter!

At Kee beach (which is the northernmost point you can drive to before the NaPali coast starts) the waves were incredible. I don't think you can truly capture how powerfully beautiful these waves were crashing on the beach. Cassi and MacKenzie tried to with their cameras though!

MacKenzie is totally cracking up because a huge wave crashed near the shore and Diane (her Mom) was videotaping when the wave scared her and as she rushed up the shore away form the wave she fell. It was hysterical and Diane actually caught the whole thing on videotape and I think I would have pee'd my pants laughing if I would have replayed the video. I don't think I have experienced such a gut-wrenching funny moment in a long time.
At Kaepa Beach there is a cave you can walk into and this was what it looked like when you exited.

These two pictures were also taken at Kaepa Beach. If you look towards the top of the stream you will see that the stream goes over the road you need to drive over to go into this beach area.
Back in Kapa'a, this wall was painted by the famous wildlife/sealife artist Wyland. He painted this one in particular in 1991 and there are 34 others all over the world that draw attention to the plight of animals in the sea. There is one other painted by him in Kauai and when we found it, the only camera I had on me was my camera phone and I have not downloaded it yet.

This is taken from the lookout point towards Opeakaa Falls.

The three sunsets above are taken right outside the complex we stayed at. It was so cool to see this area every day because it changed each day. The color of the water, the clouds and everything about it. We had a great first day and I will post more in the coming days.

Enjoy!

Hawaii

2007-11-12T23:32:00.000-08:00

Aloha!

Cassi and I have been in Hawaii for the last week or so and I have so many images I want to share but I need to get them all organized first- We were able to do so many things on Kauai and Oahu that I never thought possible. Hawaii is a beautiful place with such a rich history and so many traditions. Everyone made us feel welcome and I feel blessed to have met so many people and seen some of the most beautiful places in the world. I plan to share them with you in the future and let you experience some of the beauty we found there!

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween mateys!!

2007-10-29T23:25:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year! Last year...Cassi's Dad was in a motorcycle accident on the 28th of October and we were still in a daze on Halloween night so I don't have any pics of Cassi being a belly dancer. Every other year I have these amazing Halloween pictures of her in costume.

This year, our studio had a pirate themed homecoming and we had this killer backdrop that I planned on using. And then the fires came...and I never got a round to taking the pictures so we decided on the next best thing...

A real pirate ship. This pirate ship is docked down at the Embarcadero here in San Diego. It is the ship that was used in the movie Master and Commander that Russell Crowe starred in. We also spent some time touring some of the other ships in the bay...The Berkeley, the Star of India and a Russian submarine that was used by the Russians in the Cold War.

Cassi had toured these recently with her father so she played tour guide for me...all the while looking like a genuine wench...errr....pirate!!!

I was playing around with actions in photoshop so you can see there are many different effects on the images.

I love getting feedback so tell me your favorite!!!

Cassi and I are headed to Hawaii for a much needed vacation on Saturday and I haven't decided if I am bringing the laptop along but I am sure I will have a lot to share at some point!

Enjoy!

San Diego Fires

2007-10-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is the sunset tonight from Del Cerro. If you look close, directly under the sun...Qualcomm stadium is there. If I lightened this image you would see it...the sight of the evacuation center for over 10,ooo evacuees. I didn't enhance this image at all because I wanted to show how true red the sunset was tonight.

When we were at Qualcomm on Monday night, this was one of the people evacuated. I don't know how he got the bed down there but he sure looks comfortable. I believe his wife is asleep in the front seat of the car.
I shot this picture out of the window on the way out of the parking lot. Behind the fence is set up for a radio station's event for this Sunday's Charger game. As of right now...it isn't known where the Charger's will play this Sunday.

The view from my house on Monday morning. This faces North. The fires were to the North and South of us.
The stadium where the evacuation center is.
The Charger's evacuation field being used for all animals. I have heard it referred to as Noah's Ark.
They brought in the National Guard to protect everything all throughout the city at the evacuation centers and where the fires are. I love that this particular National Guard is protecting a huge stack of Huggie diapers...go figure!

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that all my family and friends have made it through this fire storm mostly in tact. My workplace is in Poway and we have many Poway and Rancho Bernardo clients who have been directly effected by these fires. My heart goes out to them.

We took many donations down to Qualcomm stadium the first day of the fires and I realized my photographic calling is definitely not of a journalistic nature. I felt completely guilty trying to take pictures of someone else's misfortune and I know there is a place for that type of portrait but I feel intrusive. So I took the few pictures I took out of the car window with no flash. The people working at Qualcomm were very warm and friendly and I am glad I was able to contribute in a small way by bringing the donations.

Today one of the news stations was talking about how he watched some still photographers sifting through the personal things of fire victims so they could "set up" the perfect shot (like a baby doll amongst all the destruction) and he thought it was wrong.

I agree with him.

Enough said.

President Bush comes tomorrow to Qualcomm stadium tomorrow. Arnold Shwarzenegger (our governor) has been here since Monday. Brian Williams and Katie Couric are doing there national news from here. Geraldo Rivera and Matt Lauer are here. It all seems surreal in a way, a spectacle in a way, yet...they are doing a job to bring this disaster to everyone in the country.

San Diego has really banded together and taken care of our own. I suspect then next few weeks we will receive many phone calls at the studio from our clients who have lost pictures. I know that every time I hear people talk about what they took with them when they evacuated...the first thing they say is their pictures...their memories. I am honored to be a photographer who daily captures these memories for them. Memories of moments in time that can't be replaced.

Enough of my ramblings!

Enjoy!

Kikki and Patrick's Wedding video

2007-10-15T19:32:00.001-07:00

Kikki just emailed me this video montage of her wedding and I wanted to share it with you. Her pictures are posted earlier on my blog and it was a storytale wedding. If you watch the video you can tell Kikki was meant to be a bride...it's too bad she will only be one this one time!!!

Saturday was her one year anniversary. Congratulations again to the both of you!!!
Enjoy!~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40741_eBRPU

Rachel and Lathen's fabulous wedding!

2007-10-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

All of the details at Lathen and Rachels' wedding were highly detailed. This signing album was handmade and beautifully personal!

Her garter...
The amazing dress she wore
Something old...
Something new...(actually her something new were a gorgeous strand of pearls from Lathen. This little flower girl ran down the aisle once she got going. It was a funny moment.

After the ceremony some fun shots of the bridal party.

Rachel looking stunning after the ceremony on the golf course.
Flower girl number two rocking her basket. I don't think she could have posed any sweeter!
The M&M's say Rachel and Lathen and I have always loved solving word problems and so I thought my "Lathen heart Rachel" was a cute way to show the rings.

I have so many more images I want to share! Grandpa brought tears to my eyes more than once, the father of the bride did a strip tease, there are cool cigar shots of the groomsmen, the wedding was emotional and beautiful, each detail was so cool, and of course the bride looked radiant and the groom happy to start this part of their lives together.

I have had an extremely busy weekend and I want to try and get in bed before some ridiculous hour tonight (it's already 10:40!!) so I thought I'd quickly post and show some of the images from their wedding on Friday.

It was a perfect SoCal fall day weather wise and every detail of this wedding was well thought out. The people were amazing and Rachel and Lathen were the calmest wedding couple ever! I loved the pink and orange color scheme and they had a candy bar filled with about everyone of my favoritist candies! I will post some of those delectable images at a later date once I have gone through the daunting task of editing all the pictures from that day.

So for now...

Enjoy!

Do you think it was something I said??

2007-10-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

Isn't Fantasia a hoot???

My daughter turned nine today. I can not believe there was a time in my life that my daughter didn't exist in my life. I know it sounds silly but I even classify my life as "B.C." Before Cassi!
She has changed me in ways I never thought possible. She has made me a better person (yes...a few more gray hairs too!!!) and makes me laugh more than I ever thought possible.

A nine year old girls world is filled with Webkinz, Hannah Montana, girlish fights, High School Musical, and Zach Ephron. These are a part of my world right now too.

She recently told her class that Zach Ephron was her cousin...too bad she also told them he was her boyfriend which took away all credibility on the first fib!!!

We celebrated her birthday on Sunday at my Mom's house. Cassi's Dad surprised her with two ponies for her and her friends to ride at the party. Cassi loved it!

The pics above are of one the horses. I can't believe how animated (no pun intended!!!) Fantasia is in these! These make me laugh!

I was going to post in vivid color but the teeth were looking a little nasty and the "chocolate syrup 2 action" from Kevin Kubota's actions was a quick fix.

I have plans to share more images from:

Darrin's awesome games (check out his "star of the game" interview on KUSI prep pigskin last Friday...it's hysterical!!!!)
Cassi's birthday party
More wedding images
Halloween images
and the wedding Geri and I are photographing this Friday...

and I will do so soon!

I am in the middle of photographing high school homecomings here in San Diego all of this month. One of my jobs at the studio is organizing, staffing, setting up, and photographing 8-9 local high school homecomings and proms each year. They overlap with more than one on the same night on some weekends and so it takes some strategizing on my part to keep it all organized. Most of my brain power goes to these events (along with many other events and jobs!) and I get behind on personal things. So I apologize in advance if I don't post as often as I
would like this month! October is my favorite month for pictures so I promise many more posts soon!

sooo...Happy Birthday Cassi and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the future!!!

Enjoy!

Lathen and Rachel Engagement

2007-10-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

Geri and I photographed Lathen and Rachel this last Sunday afternoon. The Padres had just lost their game and were off to Colorado for the Wild Card Playoffs the next day and the Chargers were in the lead. Someone other than Lathen and I chose the date and time for this session and he was such a great sport letting us photograph him when he could have been home watching the Chargers...ummmm...give it up before the end of the game...

We started at Summer's Past Farm and walked through the grounds stopping at areas around the farm photographing the two of them. They were so much fun and up for anything! After an ice tea to cool us down we headed to their old stomping grounds.

They met when she was a freshman in high school and he was a sophomore at El Capitan High School in Lakeside. They brought his letterman jacket covered with his patches from playing baseball in high school. We walked the grounds of the high school (Geri is an alumni from there also...graduated 1999 I think!!!=} Did I score any brownie points there Geri????) while the 3 of them reminisced and talked about their memories of the school and the changes that had been made to the school since they graduated.

It was a neat experience being with them where they first met and realizing how far they have come up to this point. They are going to get married on Friday October 12th and the wedding sounds like it is going to be a blast!!

Thank you guys for the great experience and I can't wait to see you guys on your special day!!!

Enjoy!!

Joe and Liz's wedding

2007-10-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

I love how radiant she looks with her father!

You could tell how much Joe liked kids and will be an incredible Dad some day!

I helped a friend, Christi Ransom photograph a wedding this past Saturday. It took place at the Temecula Creek Inn in this super cool area tucked away at the back of the golf course. The venue is romantic, intimate and a picturesque place to have a wedding.

Everyone in the wedding was absolutely gorgeous and super friendly. Liz and Joe were such a great couple to photograph and I feel truly honored to be a part of their special day.

Thanks to Christi who trusted me to help her shoot this wedding. We had a great time working together and I can't wait to see all the images she took at this wedding. She has such an incredible eye and makes a great wedding photographer. Thanks again!!!

Enjoy!!!

OK magazine...star struck!

2007-09-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Above is a picture of the magazine image and I reposted my picture so you wouldn't have to go searching!

I was just reading OK magazine (yes...I love to read those gossip magazines!) and came across their pictures of Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart from the day I saw them at Disneyland. I thought I would share it with you!!!

Friday night I photographed Darrin's awesome high school football game (they won 23-20).

Saturday I shot an amazing wedding at the Temecula Creek Inn with Christi Ransom for most of the day.

Today Geri and I photographed an engagement session for a couple who are getting married on October 12th and we get the pleasure of photographing their wedding. They have dated since high school so he donned his letterman jacket and we photographed them at their alma mater, El Capitan High School in Lakeside.

Tomorrow morning Angela and I will be photographing 250 kids at the exclusive Bayshore Prep Academy in Rancho Santa Fe for Visual Photography.

SO...I have been a wee bit busy!

I plan to share football pics, wedding pics, and images from today's engagement shoot sometime this week so check back!!!

Enjoy!

Disneyland for Cassi's Birthday

2007-09-27T00:36:00.000-07:00

I take Cassi to Disneyland around her birthday every year. It has become a tradition for us. Disneyland decorates the entire place for Halloween and it gets us in the mood for fall! I took my Canon point and shoot and these are some of the pictures from the day. We had an amazingly beautiful fall day at Disneyland. There weren't many crowds and we were in great company with Cassi's friend Ashleigh and MacKenzie, Diane and Brendon along for the day.
Mickey's ears are actually a lot of mini pumpkins stacked together. I love that every time we come to Disneyland all of the landscaping is different. The colors and details are always great.

This is Cassi, Ashleigh and MacKenzie in front of the castle. I love the clouds in the sky!

If you look close...Mickey Mouse is leading the band coming out of the castle. This was Ashleigh's first time at Disneyland and it was neat for her to start the day seeing Mickey and all his friends entertaining in front of the castle.

Front gate of Disneyland.
The Pirates ride is always a must stop and I can really remember being scared on this ride as a kid growing up.
I had to share this picture that I took of the tv screen of us riding Space Mountain. This is the picture they take while you are on the ride and they try to sell it to you for lots of money. I am sure taking a picture of this is probably not the right thing to do but Ashleigh's expression was priceless. What I love about this picture is that she has never ridden the ride and had no clue what part of the ride this was taken. This was her true expression!!!

After a few rides at Disneyland, we went over to California Adventure for a few hours. The sky in the pic below is actually a facade but the actual sky looked a lot like this one!

I took the picture below because the Disney Cast member told me this attraction (seeing all of the princesses at one place for pictures and autographs.) was being closed down and renovated. There are so many areas of the Disneyland resort that get changed and closed that these posters become memorabilia.

Above the Hollywood sign is the real sky and below it is the fake facade.
California Adventure is actually decorated with a "Candy Corn Acres" theme. And as always tastefully decorated and colorful.

Another set of signs that are covering an area of the park being revamped.

My sister and the kids went on the Monsters Inc. ride and I was going to go to the bathroom and wait. Imagine my surprise when Harrison Ford (the real Indiana Jones) and Calista Flockheart (Ally McBeal fame) walked off the ride right where I was standing. I could never ever be a paparazzi because I felt guilty even taking this one picture of them!!!! It does look like one of those People magazine shots though!!!
How beautiful is this entrance to the Monster's Inc ride???? I love how colorful it is!!!

While we were still at CA adventure we came across Cruella De Ville. In all the years of going to Disneyland I have never seen a character who was so animated, funny, hysterical and entertaining. I could have watched her all day long! Ashleigh has very limited knowledge of Disneyland and innocently she asked....Who are you? And Cruella immediately replied...well Cinderella my dear and if you find my slipper...BRING IT TO ME!!! we spent about fifteen minutes enjoying her!

I have pictures of me and my sisters right here in front of the park and this spot has become absolute tradition for us!

Here is one of the amazing murals at CA adventure. If you look close you can see all kinds of objects. (Look for a spoon!!!)
Are these bats cool? They are in front of The Tower of Terror and I love how this turned out.
I had to share this one because I love how the lighting turned out on this shot. The girls went on the ride and Diane, Brendon and I watched all of the people getting soaked at this part of the ride.

We had an absolutely memorable time for Cassi's ninth birthday and I already cannot wait to go again! We ate our way through the park and came home (as always!) exhausted but with more memories of the Happiest Place on Earth.

On another subject...Darrin won his game last week and I will post more pictures after tomorrow nights game against Madison. I am also photographing a wedding at the Temecula Creek Inn with Christi and the setting is a 120 year old stone house that used to be used as a safe house for masons back in the day. I haven't met the bride and groom but can not wait to meet them and share in their special day! I will share those sometime next week!!!

Enjoy!!!

More images from Sunday

2007-09-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add these to yesterday's post but only got a chance to edit them tonight. Here's some more from my shoot with Cassi at the park.

Enjoy!

Cassi is turning 9!

2007-09-16T10:35:00.001-07:00

I truly do not know where the time flies and I know it's very cliche but it seems like yesterday she was in diapers! I took Cassi to Old Poway Park in Poway to take her nine year pictures early this year because last year I got into October and her birthday passed with no pictures.

We went to Poway Park with Lori Bevan so she could photograph her daughters also. Cassi has been friends with her daughter Lexi since birth so we were able to capture a couple of pictures of the two of them all dolled up together!

October is a super crazy month for me professionally and I fit in a trip to Disneyland and a birthday party for family each year for Cassi.

So here is my beautiful daughter growing up way too fast and lookin gorgeous doing so!

Enjoy!

Darrin's (and the rest of the PH Patriots) highlights

2007-09-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the highlights from Darrin's game-The very first play is Darrin. If you have never checked out the Prep Pigskin Report-It's a great way to see all the San Diego High school sports highlights every week. I am not sure how this works so if you need to...chose 8/31/07 PAtrick Henry V Santana Sultans.

I promise to figure this out by next week!!!

Enjoy!!!

KUSI - News, Weather and Sports - San Diego, CA Highlight Zone

Patrick Henry 32-Santana 27

2007-09-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this pic from my nephews awesome home opener on Friday...He was amazing! The Santana Sultans scored a touchdown with less than a minute in the game (55 seconds to be exact!) to go ahead and Darrin was able to accomplish a drive all the way down field in 49 seconds and the Patriots scored a game winning touchdown with only 6.4 seconds to go on the clock!

He had 59 yards rushing, 187 yards passing as quarterback and 7 Tackles on defense as safety.

I think I got those stats correct...I am sure I will be corrected if I didn't but if you want to see highlights (he's number 32)...check out the above post for highlights!!!!

Cassi started school this week, I helped Geri shoot a wedding on Saturday and I spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon with my Mom and sisters (Diane and Debbie). We went to one of the local casinos and had a blast! (We all won which helps!!!!)

I have more images to show but they'll have to wait til next post!!!!

Enjoy!!!

Missing my baby...

2007-08-31T00:57:00.000-07:00

I know this sounds crazy but I can not sleep because Cassi is not in the house tonight. She spent the night at a friend's house and you would think I would be elated but NOOOO...

It's almost 1:00am and I am missing her!

She is growing up to be such a little lady and although she can be a beast at times...mostly she's a beauty!

I took these pics of her last week.

Enjoy!

Are you ready for some football???

2007-08-26T23:02:00.001-07:00

Here's Cassi sporting her LT jersey while supporting her cousin Darrin. I love this picture as the team comes on the field for the first time this season. Their team name is the Patriots and I like how this Patriot seems to be watching over them as they come down the hill.

I didn't realize I captured this image until I was editing these but from all of the news reports...Number 28 Dillon Baxter for the Mission Bay Buccaneers is supposed to be some kind of phenomenon. He scored millions of touchdowns as a freshman for their Varsity last year and was named second team All CIF last year...as a freshman. There was a news article about him on Thursday calling him "the Next Reggie Bush" so I figure I'll hang onto this image and maybe someday it'll be worth something. And..of course I thought it was a really cool shot!
I love this image of my nephew Darrin carrying the ball. I take pictures at his games and it gives him a chance to see the game and see parts of the game he didn't get a chance to see.

I am so excited for football season to start!! There are so many names and teams I will be watching this year and it'll be fun to see how they all do!

Of course we love our San Diego Chargers and after the crushing loss that ended last season I think all of San Diego can not wait for this season to get under way!

My favorite team to watch is my nephew Darrin and his high school team. Darrin has played organized football since he was 5. When my sister chose his name I recall her saying to me, "Don't you think his name is a good name for a football player?" Little did I know how prophetic those words would be.

Darrin has already been on a football team (American Youth Football) that won the National Championship in Florida (as their quarterback), has been named to the 2004 American Youth All-American Football team, was MVP offensive and overall for his freshman high school team, and is on his second year Varsity (as a junior) playing both offense and defense.

The last two years Darrin has been a running back but the team needed his expertise and leadership at quarterback so he is filling that need on the team this year.

Last night was their first scrimmage and I have to say they looked petty good. They were playing Mission Bay High School which is a really good team and I think they held their own. The score doesn't tell you much because they played 1st, 2nd and third string so everyone could get some time on the field.

I will be keeping you up to date on his team and their progress this year so I will apologize in advance for my ramblings.

Enjoy!!!

My excuses why...

2007-08-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

Where the turf meets the surf....

We spent an amazing day at the Del Mar Racetrack where my sister and her husband have season box seats that are amazing. My brother in laws best friend is a very successful horse trainer here in California and he had two horses running last Sunday including a stakes race so we got to be a part of a very special day.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful, more eventful... fun day than we had.

These are taken down in the paddock. Because Eric had two horses that ran (AND WON!!!) this day we were able to go down to the paddock in the owners area while the horses were prepared for their races. We even got to be in the winner's circle and picture after the horses won. The first horse...Scat Thief was a long shot that came in and paid pretty well and the second horse Salute the Sarge was the favorite in the stakes race and won it. This horse is unbeaten in three races and they have huge plans for it.

Cassia and Mackenzie got tattooed (okay...their faces painted!) while in the infield of the racetrack where they have family entertainment.
Cassi throwing the peace sign...
My gorgeous nephew Brendon!
MacKenzie, Cassi and Steven in their season box at Del Mar.

Michael Baze is the jockey who rode both horses and is having a phenomenal run here at Del Mar.
Mac posing in the paddock!
Steven, My Mom, Brendon, Cassi, Diane, Mac, Kathy and I down in the paddock before Scat Thief ran.

This is Eric Guillot (My brother in law Brian's friend) being interviewed after the stakes race. He is a big deal now in the horse racing business. My sister tells all kinds of stories from when he was just starting out years ago and I have to say this man is hysterical!!!!

(By the way...all of the above images are taken with my Casio Point and shoot!)

I feel like all I do is make excuses why I don't post more often on this blog and then I realize that although my life moves at 100 miles an hour I wouldn't change it for the world...so you are getting a random post of everything I have been up to since last post...along with some pics to prove it.

My wonderful Aunt Kathy was out from Ohio and when she is in town we just have a blast!

A simple rundown of our week:
Harrah's
Del Mar Race Track
Anthony's on the Harbor (seafood)
Wind and Sea Beach
Viejas
Coronado Ferry across the bay
Barbeque at my Mom's
and that isn't all the wonderful meals we had...and the great conversations on my Mom's backyard patio...

My aunt is a joy to be around and we just have loads of fun when she comes to town! In between all of the entertainment...I worked and had a staff fiesta to go to so I have had very little time for anything else...(evidenced by the loads of laundry waiting to be done!!!!)

Enjoy!!!

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

2007-08-13T00:54:00.001-07:00

My sister and friend Erin had front row seats to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill perform. Here is their proof of how close they were to the stage.
Tim and Faith opened the concert with a duet.

Faith Hill performed first and was amazing although there were times she didn't seem all there. At the end of the show Tim McGraw said she had fallen ill backstage and wouldn't be coning out for the encore so I think that's why she seemed a little out of it...

I love this picture because you can see how close my sister was to the stage. At times she had to shoot UP to take his picture. My seats were awesome but no where close to the stage!
I love this mans arms...MY WEAKNESS!
I am not sure which song he is singing here but it looks like he is singing "Live Like You were Dying" which was the most awesome thing to sing along to. It must be amazing to have thousands of people sing along to one of your songs and know ALL of the words!
My sister had the privilege of sitting super close to two of the San Diego Padres Star pitchers...Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman (definite Hall of Famer!) They were enjoying the show just as much as we were. Diane texted me that they were sitting by her and I have to admit I spent a lot of time watching them!!!

So...I was hoping to update everyone since the last time I posted. I...as always have been incredibly busy these last few weeks. It's 1:00am again and I have so much to share I know that if I don't start posting soon I am just going to get overwhelmed and never do it! These pictures are courtesy of my sister Diane and her great seats at the concert last week in San Diego. Her friend Erin was given these tickets at the last minute by a friend and so Diane passed her seats on to Angela and me.

I have to admit to not really being fans of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill but after this concert I went home and did some damage to the checking account on ITUNES. They put on an amazing show and every seat in the arena was a great view.

Tim McGraw has a new single called "If You Are Reading This...." and it is the most amazing song out there right now. I don't think you can get through the song without choking up. It's a letter home to a military man's family after he has passed away. San Diego being such a military town this song was especially sentimental.

One of the radio stations the next morning talked about the fact that Tim McGraw gave 100 floor seats to a military family here in San Diego that lost their son in Iraq and he dedicated the song to them when he sang it. It was really an amazing thing for him to do!

So...I have an aunt in town from Ohio and we have been on the go all weekend. Today we went to the Del Mar racetrack and had the most amazing time...I will post pics tomorrow...

Enjoy!!!!

a new baby girl!

2007-08-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine had her third little girl last Monday and me being one never to miss an opportunity to photograph sweet little babies I went to visit her (of course with a camera in tow...I had a new lens I needed to break in!). I have been photographing her two oldest daughters for about 7 years and this new little one is just as photogenic as they are.

I am really loving bright bright colors and baby Addison's room is painted in neon pink and green and I fell in love with it. They really did a great job making her nursery a happy place for her to grow up.

I thought I would share some of the images we captured that morning. Her middle child loves the camera and the camera loves her back so I added some of hers on here too. Her bedroom has exquisite paintings on her walls and the wall behind her says..."It's good to be Queen" and it totally sums her up!

Congrats again Cindy!

Enjoy!

My achy breaky heart!!!

2007-07-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

Cassi and her friend in front of the Billy Ray Cyrus display at WalMart.

Fan who waited all Night shared this signed glossy of Billy Ray looking prettier than his daughter Miley.

That's as close as we got to Billy Ray because of the big balding guy in the white shirt...Walmart body guards if you will!!!

So...today...I think I jumped head first into the preteen years with my 8 year old. My phone rang this morning and it was my sister calling to inform me that Billy Ray Cyrus was signing autographs at the local Santee Walmart (yes...gotta love the venue!!!). My daughter told her I was still asleep so she asked her to pass on this delicious piece on information to me...unbeknownst to my sister that he is the father of Disney's teen sensation Hannah Montana. I think my sister thought I would get a kick out of the fact he had fans.

Well...my daughter and her friend were ecstatic. There was no doubt in their minds that we were going to brave the crowds and the heat to meet Miley Cyrus's hunk of a father. Me...I'd already seen him sing in the pouring rain after a Padres game years ago when Achy Breaky Heart was huge. Even then we had absolute front row seats to see this mullett wearing country singer.

Off we went to the local WalMart because I was sure no one would be standing in line waiting to see this "Dancing with the Stars" loser. Boy was I wrong! In the 90+ degree heat the line was all the way around the WalMart and getting longer by the second. There were fans of all ages everywhere! I was told that from the spot we had in line it would be at least a four hour wait. Guess we should have got there at midnight like the rest of them!

I talked the two girls into seeing if we could catch a glimpse of him in the store and then buying the new Hannah Montana CD...

So that's the pics you have up top. Our glimpse of Billy Ray Cyrus signing autographs for all of those adoring fans who braved the WalMart parking lot in the super hot heat...TRUE fans if you ask me! We asked one of those fans if we could take a picture of their signed photos...after all Billy Ray had touched it!!! Sooo...here goes the next few years of my life chasing down the stars for Cassi...wonder who'll be next???

Oh...yes..I did buy his newest cd...there's always a chance it's good right?????

Enjoy!!!

Christmas in July

2007-07-26T00:17:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a quick post for a couple of reasons:

1. Cassi would not get off the computer tonight because she had important Barbie business to take care of.

2. It's 12:20am

3. I had a busy day at the park photographing and I am tired tonight...

With that being said....

The above photo is my Christmas Card from last year. I figured since it has been 7 months today since Christmas it was time to share it with my friends. Last year was a really hard year for me around Christmas and I guess I wasn't up to my jolly old self because the Christmas card you see I created on December 24th (actually Christmas day if you get technical about it). It was 1:30 in the morning and I usually at least have a card for my family. So I quickly created this card...printed it on my home printer and made enough copies for my family. I never got around to sending it to my friends because I never made any more copies.

However, I brought one to work after the New Year and Renee has it posted on a wall by her desk with all kinds of staff pictures from throughout the years. It has been hanging there for 6 months at least.

This week, (coincidence????) three of my best friends have commented to me that they never received a Christmas Card from me. And now I feel bad. All three of them sent out their cards like they do every year with gorgeous family/children's pictures on it and I didn't send them one. And now I realize they see the one hung in the studio so they know that 1. I did take the time to make a Christmas card 2. I gave one to the studio and 3. I didn't send them one.

I feel bad. I know all of them are teasing but what if they secretly have a Christmas Card stash of all the Christmas cards I have sent them since Cassi was born? Now there stash is missing the year 2006. Shame on me!!!

So...my three friends (and you know who you are...) look for one in the mail soon and I promise never ever ever to skip the annual card again. Promise!!

On another note:

My oldest sister Debbie celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary today. WOW!!! If you know my family history you realize what a big WOW!!! that actually is. I want to congratulate them on those twenty years and let them know that I think they are wonderful people and great parents and wish them another 20 years of happiness. That's a long time nowadays to stick with my sister...bless you Art!!!!! My brother in law has officially lived with my sister longer than she did with us growing up. He's a saint!!! Seriously Debbie...Congratulations and I love ya both!!!!

Anyways...Merry Christmas to everyone else I missed!!! Only 5 months before the next one!!

Enjoy!

I love these two!!!

2007-07-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this photo booth strip that Cassi and MacKenzie did at the San Diego fair a couple of weeks ago. (Thanks Brittany for scanning it for me...these aren't copyright protected are they??? ) we went to the San Diego Fair with Diane and family and had a blast. I think we ended up buying $100.00 worth of tickets so they could ride the rides and then her and I shopped.

We bought homemade soups, homemade hairclips, watched a few salesmen try to rope us into all the things they talked us into last year (yes...we learned our lesson...the stuff NEVER works as good at home as it does at the fair!!!), and Diane saw a psychic for a tarot card reading that left her speechless. She couldn't tell me what the psychic saw in the cards because then somehow I would change the course of her fate and destiny. I know she definitely seemed to have been dead on with her reading for Diane. Maybe next time I'll try.

The last tarot card reader I saw said I would meet the man of my dreams within three months (this was last December so he must have come for me when I wasn't at home!!!!) but she did impress me with her reading!

Back to the fair...I posted this photo strip because I see these girls everyday together and although they fight...and bicker...and bitch...and moan and groan...and rant about each other...They truly seem to love each other. I have seen them throw punches at each other and the moment seemed like the end of the world...and yet...10 minutes alter it's like nothing happened.

I love these pictures because someday the memories are going to be reminisced about (LOOK Geri!!!) and what they are going to see is two cousins who grew up loving each other so much they fought and teased and pulled hair just like sisters do. I believe that Cassi loves her cousins as she would siblings and we are lucky to have a family that is part of our everyday life!

Now...off to bed for me...I seem to be staying up later and later these nights trying to get things done!

Enjoy!!

Melissa and Linfords album

2007-07-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

HI!

I know I have been remiss in writing in my blog but for good reason. My computer decided that it needed to be replaced with a newer model. Of course...she was in the computer hospital for two weeks prior to making this decision. So...here I am today making my first post from my new computer. It has Vista Windows so I am spending a lot of time searching for things but I am sure with time it'll all make sense.

I wanted to share the completed album we had created for Melissa and Linford. I think it truly shows their happiness!
Here's the link for you...

www.redbootdesign.com/galeria/RBD-163-377-V1.pdf

Enjoy!

2007-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I wanted to post tonight and was too lazy to go into Photoshop and find something to share...yes...I am lazy!!! I promise to post pics soon...PROMISE!!!!! So I thought I would share some random thoughts for with you...

1. I recently photographed a wedding (previous post Melissa and Linford engagement pics and wedding day) Geri and I received a thank you magnet from her that was so sweet, thoughtful and artistically done. I promise to post it this week. She has been sooo gracious and thankful that she gives me confirmation why I have the career I do. I love that she entrusted the most important, special day in her life with Geri and I. THAT IS SOOO HUGE!!! And she has been genuinely the sweetest thing ever! If you happen to be reading this Melissa...Thank you from the bottom of my heart for trusting me to capture your memories for you. I was truly honored!!!

2. Most of you know me well enough to know how much I personally love books. Poor Cassi is subjected to me wandering the book aisles on a weekly basis, going to the library book sales and me ignoring her until I am done getting to the good part. I came across this website www.paperbackswap.com and love it! You post your old books online for others to swap and when someone decides to swap one of yours...you ship it to them and then get credit for a book for yourself. They advertise that they have over a million books. I kept coming up with names of books I wanted and they had most of them.

Once you post 9 books (really easy...type in the ISBN number and everything shows up!) you get a credit for three books. I have already had someone take one of my books and I have used two of my credits for books that would have cost me 12.95 and 16.95. You just pay media mail shipping.

To those interested...I promise you I wouldn't have wasted my time writing about this if I didn't think you would love it!!! For every person you refer to the site who signs up...you also receive a book credit towards a book. I think you type in my name or email address. Cassandme@hotmail.com

And if you love this...I have a online savings account I signed up for that there is no fee for...has a great interest return, really easy to use and if you open one soon...They will give you 25.00 in your account for joining and I get 10.00 in mine as a referral fee. Just thought I'd throw that one in.

Totally dorky and I hate when people email me stuff like this but since you are reading my blog...maybe just maybe...you are a little interested in a referral for free books like I was!!!

3. We adopted two dwarf hamsters tonight from my sister. We originally gave them to my niece as a gift for her birthday two years ago. The three hamsters we have had have died and so it's kind of scary crazy that I have these ones. The joke is I spoil them to death! They get apples, cheese, spinach and almost anything else I feed my guinea pigs. I think mine have died from sheer Ecstasy living with us!

Anyways...their life expectancy is two years and one of them has a nasty cyst growing on it's belly. It doesn't seem to effect him at all but I need to find out if it's causing him any pain. Anyone out there a hamster expert??? I thought about putting an antibiotic ointment on it but if it eats any of it...I'll be burying it under the palm tree in my Mom's backyard along with Mommas, Angel and Josh!!! God bless their all-night-wheel-running souls!!!

MacKenzie named them all sorts of things throughout the years (I think Beavis and Butthead most often!) so we decided to give them proper names tonight. After one of them nipped Cassi tonight...he got named Jaws...the second one...Nemo. So welcome to our family Jaws and Nemo!!!

I totally promise pictures soon!!!! And I have a website of personal work I am working on and should have up soon! The domain name is Cassiandme.com if you want to bookmark it!!!

Enjoy!!!

2007-06-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

I am so embarrassed that I haven't taken the time to update my blog! Time seems to get away from me and I don't know where it goes. I am in the middle of prom season, drama at work, All-star tournaments for my niece, preparing for our busy season at work, and endless other tasks and projects that keep me going until late at night.

I spent last week at my sister's house so she could go to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean with her husband. I went from a single Mom of one to a single Mom of 5. Thank God for my Mom helping me out! I thanked God for many things that week but amidst it all...the first few days home were empty. Kind of sad...I know but I just have to go visit and be amongst the chaos again!!!

Anyways...Since it is three minutes to midnight...I am making this short but I promise within one week to update this blog of mine so my three readers will be once again caught up with Cassiandme.

Enjoy your day!!!

Stagecoach Festival

2007-05-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

I can not believe I have not blogged in this long! I guess I have been a busy girl! The days are not long enough anymore!

I didn't win the photo contest...came in third place but thanks to everyone who helped me out by voting!!!

I had the opportunity to go to the Stagecoach Festival in Indio California (right outside of Palm Springs) this weekend. It was a woodstock-like festival with an incredible line-up of country stars...young and old.

Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Alan Jackson, and George Strait were part of the lineup that I didn't get to see.

I got to see Kenney Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Sugarland, Gary Allen, Jason Aldean, Pat Green and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Each one of them played for about an hour and was a once in a lifetime event!

There was an eclectic group of people who attended and I think the people watching was the best!

There was:
- a girl who looked like a Nicole Richie wanna be with a fake orange tan that was applied really badly who wore knee high UGG boots in the 90 degree heat
-plenty of skin with a multitude of tattoos and messages written all over their body.
-hysterical tshirts such as, "Hi...you'll do" or "The trailer park called...they want their trash back" or "My Give a Damn's busted" and many many more...
-Grandpas and Grandmas with young grandchildren
-Hot cowboys
-Not so Hot cowboys
-My sister thinks that a woman who sat behind us was a star on HBO's show about a bordello in Las Vegas (I am not sure of the name of the show!)...Anyone know of All American Amy?????
-People for as far as you can see enjoying country music in the desert.

It was so cool!!! I have posted a few pics to show you how cool the venue was and how many people attended...the pictures don't even begin to show how many people were truly there.

I believe the estimate was 50,000 people and there were never any lines for the mixed drinks/ beer or the bathrooms (and yes...we visited both plenty of times throughout the day!!!) and the shows went off on time and everything was perfect!!!

This was the first festival of it's kind in SoCal and hopefully not the last!!!

Enjoy!!
-

Vote for ME!!!!

2007-04-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is a shameless request but I was hoping anyone reading this blog will check out this blog...

RoxyandKaiphotography.blogspot.com (You can click on link just to the right of this post!!!)

You can comment on the blog by clicking on the word "COMMENTS" at the very bottom of the post and choosing number 3!!!

I entered in a photography contest and want you to vote for my picture! I did not photograph it (the pic is of my grandparents) but love this image of their wedding day. This is my Mom's parents. They had a tough life. My Mom was only 8 when her Mom became super ill and since they did not know what was wrong with her...they made her stay in a hospital and her three young girls were not allowed to visit and she died soon afterward. My Mom has very few memories of her Mom and I just could not imagine growing up without my Mom.

Anyone who knows my Mom knows how awesome she is. She puts everyone ahead of her needs. She is the most generous giving person you will ever know and if I can be half the Mom to Cassi that she has been to me and my 3 sisters...well...that will exceed every expectation I can have to be the best Mom ever!

So...back to the contest...I am hoping you will all go check out picture number three and vote for me!!! And while you are there...check out her blog. It's good reading and her pictures are cool too!

Thanks in advance!!!

Enjoy!

Cassi's Five Year old Portraits

2007-04-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

This was our Christmas Card that year.

This was a small area of purple wall and I love how it turned out!
Cassi has aspirations of being a photographer. Amanda did Cassi's hair for me and helped me with this shoot!
This was photographed in a narrow hallway and the light was beautiful coming down it!

At the lily pond right at sunset.
I wish they made this jacket in adult sizes! She never really was able to wear it except for these pictures.

In my last post I said I would post images of Cassi from Balboa Park. These were taken for her fifth birthday at Spanish Village in Balboa Park. They are one of my very favorite sessions of her. A lot of times, I will take a ton of images and like 3 or 4 of them but this entire day just clicked...for her as a gorgeous model and for me as a photographer. Each image brought out a little part of her personality and each part makes Cassi the unique person she is!

Enjoy!

another random post!

2007-04-22T00:22:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love lots of bright colors? They make me happy!!

It's 12:30 Saturday night and I can't sleep. Cassi is out of town with her best friend and they are going to Magic Mountain in the morning. I hope she has a blast. She is going with Joy and her Mom for Joy's birthday. They have been best friends since first grade (they are in third grade)...a very long time in their books!

I know how important best friends can be.

Today, one of my best friends, Nicole, from high school (20 years and counting) called to tell me she is moving to Colorado Springs, CO next weekend. She lived there about 9 years ago and then moved back to San Diego when she divorced her husband.

She has three children and being single and living in San Diego with very little family support around her is just too hard. Everything is so expensive in San Diego and she just can't seem to get ahead.

We don't see each other everyday but when we do it's like no time has passed. We have been through so many things together in our lives and even when we hit rough patches...we know we will be there for each other.

I hung up the phone with her and cried. Maybe because we are going to be so far apart again...but maybe...in a way...I am envious. I wish I could pick up and move to a state that is a little less expensive, a little less crowded, a little friendlier, has less traffic, and more opportunity to get ahead.

At times, I absolutely long to move out of state to somewhere like Colorado or Oregon. But, I have a career here, close friends here, and a fabulous family that truly supports me in all that I do. No physical place can replace those things. We are at home here in San Diego. Our life is here with those who love us. Maybe some day things will change...but right now, Cassi and I are where we belong.

I know I am going to miss her dearly. I immediately called Verizon and had them change my plan to Unlimited Long distance. I checked the airlines to see what airfare will cost.

I know I will get to go visit her and it'll be like no time has passed. 20 years has gone by so quick and I hope she realizes what a constant source of amusement, laughter and fun (and ooohhh...the good stories I could tell!!!) she has been in my life. Thanks Nicole!

After my cry, I had to go to Balboa Park for a photo shoot for Visual Photography. I can't share the images I take for VP because they are the property of the studio. But let me tell you...this family of 7 was gorgeous!!! They were so easy on the eyes and I know they are going to love their session and I can't wait for them to see them.

While we were there, Angela and I played around with my 50mm 1.4 Canon lens that I have absolutely fallen in love with! It is so amazing in low light situations and the shallow depth of field just rocks! The pics on this post were taken while we were wandering around Spanish Village on our way to the car.

If you have never been to Balboa Park, there is an area where some of the local artists have galleries and studios. Each of the doors are painted bright colors and the ground is individually painted pieces of cement all throughout the village. It's a great place to photograph and on a future post I will post Cassi's five year old session from there. They are my favorite session ever!

If you ever get a chance to come to San Diego, find a way to Balboa Park. It is an amazing place with museums, gorgeous architecture and a lot of local color!

I know I have rambled tonight but if you want to rent a good movie, rent Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. It is very moving and inspirational. For everyone that knows me...yes...I cried about 4 times in the movie...I swear I have become a sap since becoming a Mom!

Enjoy!

My beautiful niece!

2007-04-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

If you are viewing this post because of TWO PEAS..

Here's my beautiful niece who I wrote about and if she isn't interested or has to work or her beau won't let her-She has gorgeous friends!!!

If you just happen to be checking my blog...I am posting this pic for some friends...but as long as I have Amanda's pic up here...

Isn't she stinkin' adorable? She wanted to know why she didn't have her own post and I told her she had to wait for her birthday just like my other nieces and nephews. But lucky her...I was feeling nice!! She is all dolled up in this image for a wedding she attended that I photographed (HI KIKKI!!!!). I told her someday I want to photograph her in a classic 1920's Hollywood type portrait-Can you just picture it???

On another note...my computer crashed this weekend and I lost absolutely EVERYTHING on my hard drive...all programs, all photos, all IPOD songs, all Favorites links on the internet...ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

WHY am I NOT freaking out? Because I back everything up to an external hard drive. If you don't have one...RUN...don't walk and invest in a back up system...I CAN NOT STRESS this enough!!!

I had over 190 gb of information lost...and I would have been devastated! Do yourself a favor because I am one of those people who think "it will never happen to me"...and it did!!!

You'll thank me someday!!!!!

Random thoughts

2007-04-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

The top two images are "Hurley" which is Amanda's dog. The two below this are Shane which is MacKenzie's puppy!

This is going to be a discombobulated post with just some random musings...bear with me!

1. Are these the cutest puppies ever? My sister Diane and her family recently added on these two (Yes...there are two different puppies shown) absolutely stinking adorable Brown Labrador Retrievers to their family. Their names are Shane and Hurley and these two puppies have already found their place in the Cain family household and hearts! Can't wait to see how big their gonna get!! My sister brought them to my Mom's for Easter and since my whole family is tired of the camera being pointed toward them (although they love to see them afterward!), these poor dogs were harassed all day long! I have oodles of pictures of these willing subjects but barely any of the family-Go figure!

2. Easter was fabulous at my Mom's this year. As always, my Mom cooked a delicious meal, the guys hung out downstairs watching sports (Go Padres!!!!), the kids played baseball with wiffle balls in the backyard, and my sisters and I had some good conversations. We also celebrated Debbie and MacKenzie's birthday with a homemade cake Cassi and MacKenzie baked. It was delicious too! Thank you Mom for making our holidays so memorable!

3. If you haven't watched "The Holiday"-Go rent it. It's a good chick flick and Jude Law is eye candy in it.

4. I got a wonderful thank you email from the couple Geri and I photographed a couple of weeks ago (You can see some of their images on an earlier post). She was super gracious, thankful and excited to view her images. I love positive feedback and it validates what I do. I need to pass this on and send a random thank you note to someone thanking them for the extra effort they make on my behalf! If you can think of someone off the top of your head that deserves that"extra" pat on the back...Go for it! It'll make not just them...but you...feel great and want to "pay it forward!"

5. Tonight I was reading "InStyle" Magazine and came across the new Coach perfume. After trying the sample I mentioned to Cassi that I'd love to get this perfume. She told me that she was going to buy it for me with her savings account...(and by the way she asks...How much does that cost?")

Next thing I know...she has taken the ad, gone online, found the website, found the product, signed up to be on their mailing list (password and all!), put the product in the shopping cart and it's too darn bad she doesn't have a debit card in her name linked to her savings account or my perfume would be on it's way here Federal Express. I don't know whether to be touched, horrified, honored, impressed or just plain scared of how much this child of eight years old can do!!!

Is this post random enough yet?

Instead of continuing to babble...I am going to end this post, go to bed and finish reading the absolutely trashy, hilarious novel I'm reading right now. It has kept me up until at least 1:30 the last couple of nights. I love when I can get into a good book like that! It's called "Breathing Room" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and the first person to respond that they want to read it...I'll ship it to you for free when I'm done. (Probably tomorrow night.)

Enjoy!!

The Sound of Music

2007-04-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

There is no other movie that moves me like "The Sound of Music". I can't put my finger on why this movie has been my all time favorite since I was a young child. There is no other movie that you can get me to sit through time and time again.

Cassi pointed it out on a tv commercial that it was going to be on television tonight. She knows it is my favorite. I have the dvd and can watch it anytime I want but there is something about it being on the television that makes me change all my plans for a movie night at home.

I recall the first time I saw this movie. My parents took us with family friends to the movie and it's the first movie I remember going to. I remember it was magic! I did not understand what was going on or who Hitler was but I loved the songs and it has been my favorite for over 30 years.

My sisters and I sang the songs constantly. My sisters and I put on plays in the backyard. (Darci always got to be Gretl!!!) We sang the song "So Long Farewell" to the guests at my Moms parties when we were put to bed. As we got older the movie made more sense to me. I fell in love with Captian von Trapp and thought he was the most handsome man ever and still have a crush on him today! The movie, the songs and it's message takes on a different meaning to me
during different stages of my life. It touches different parts of me each time I watch it.
I remember coming across the movie on tv while I was pregnant with Cassi and bawling from start to finish through the beginning credits to the ending.

I still worry when they are hidden behind the tombstones in the cemetery at the abbey, hiding from the Nazi's. Every time, I hope he (Rolf) doesn't find them, and I cheer when the nuns disable the car and they get away. I still cheer every time they escape across the mountain to freedom.

As I write this Cassi is sitting on the couch watching the movie asking all the same questions I asked as a child. She has grown to love it too. Someday I will take her to Salzburg Austria and see for myself where the hills are alive and edelweiss grows.

So Long...Farewell

Happy Easter!

More digital scrapbook pages

2007-04-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Thought I would add a few more of the digital scrapbook pages I created a while ago. I need to start doing them more often!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!!!

2007-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

My crazy niece MacKenzie!
Notice Cassi in back. Someone teach her to eat ice cream!!!
Pray for us when they are teenagers!
My "evil twin" Diane and her daughter MacKenzie

Her best side...just kidding Mac!

Are you cracking up yet?????

I love this girl!!!!!!!

Whe I think of Mackenzie the word "Character" comes to mind.

Definition of character-
- distinctive qualities: the set of qualities that make somebody or something distinctive, especially somebody's qualities of mind and feeling- positive qualities: qualities that make somebody or something interesting or attractive- reputation: somebody's public reputation

My niece MacKenzie turned 11 on Friday. She is a total crack up to be around and as shown by the pics of her above...there is never a dull moment around her.

She is the youngest of my twin sisters 4 children. I think everyone in my family would agree that she is my sister Diane reincarnated to make Diane pay for all of the awful things she did to my sisters and I when growing up. I call her my evil twin (in jest of course!) and those who know her can only laugh and agree.

I tell the tale of her evilness when she would somehow get us to the ground, sit on top of you so you can't move and then proceed to drop spit out of her mouth until it almost landed on you, and then she would suck it back in her mouth. It was the grossest thing but I remember almost peeing my pants (maybe I did a few times....ssshhhhhh...) laughing while trying to get her off of me. This happened on more than one occasion!!!

She was the name caller. I was called french fry legs (much to my obvious trauma) by her for years and I was truly devastated. Of course, I can laugh today!

The story Diane shares of her torturous nature is when we were growing up we shared a room. After we were sent to bed for the night, on occasion, we would screw around and sometimes end up jumping on the bed. After our parents had come in a few times, we were given the final warning...one more time....we would be spanked.

Of course, I was terrified of getting in trouble but not Diane. She jumped on the bed again but also padded her bottom with a stuffed animal so when she received her spanking...it didn't hurt her. She laughs when she tells the part that I did NOT STUFF my butt and took my spanking on my bottom. She still today thinks it's funny her spanking didn't hurt and I ended up crying that night.

I could go on and on about the ways Diane made my childhood torture but this post is about her child...MacKenzie.

MacKenzie is so much like Diane it is scary. They look alike, act alike and have the same silly streak in them that can have you doubled over with laughter for hours! MacKenzie is an awesome softball player and is always willing to help coach Cassi to become a better player.

Cassi adores her...looks up to her and basically wants to be MacKenzie. They are just like sisters and fight like cats and dogs at times but most times, get along great.

I know Diane and I are destined to have quite a time raising these two when they get into high school but hopefully they continue to share the closeness they have right now and continue to be there for each other in the future .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG MAC...we love you!

Melissa and Linford

2007-04-04T00:06:00.001-07:00

I love this picture of the Mom of the bride. She radiates happiness for her daughter!

This was their Andy Warhol inspired invitation...too cute!

The decorations were black, red and white with polka dots. Totally original and fun!

Geri Goodale asked me to help her and I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph Linford and Melissa on their wedding day. We had photographed their engagement session at UCSD and had a blast doing so! You can see their engagement session on a previous post. Their wedding took place last Saturday in Marina Village. I am only posting a few of their pictures because I want them to enjoy them together first and then I will post more!

I have never seen a bride smile more. I don't think her big beautiful smile left her face once during the whole wedding and reception. You could tell they were really in love and glad to be spending the rest of their lives together.

Enjoy!

Cassi's Spring Break

2007-04-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

I love this mural painted by kids!

Cassi wants to be a photographer when she grows up!!

My favorite of all the images!

I love the look on her face! Photographers...don't even look at the technical part!!!

I have been so busy and have wanted to post quite a few things on here but haven't had a chance! I have been going nonstop since last Saturday (a week and a half ago) and only now have edited all the pics I took these last few weeks.

Cassi is on Spring break this week (of course she sits next to me as I am typing this working on a huge homework packet her teacher gave her for spring break while her teacher is in Panama!) so she and I have been practicing softball nonstop and today we visited the Birch Aquarium. I can not believe I have lived here all of my life and have never been there. It is an amazing place to see some of the wild life that live in the ocean off of the coast of La Jolla, CA.

I took my 50mm 1.4 lens to the aquarium to shoot all available light and I got some cool images. As much as the picture of Cassi looking in the aquarium is not technically correct at all, the Mommy in me loves the wonder in her eyes. She is growing up way too fast and I am sure the days of "This is sooo boring Mom" are right on the horizon!

Cassi wanted to take her own pictures and I brought my point and shoot for her to use. Of course, being the organized professional photographer but unorganized Mom, I gave her my point and shoot camera with a dead battery so we had to buy a disposable camera for her. Poor thing was only allowed 27 images which lasted about 1.7 seconds! And now I have to figure out what to do with the film! It's been over 5 years since I developed a roll of film. Anyone know of a good film lab????

This week look forward to me posting images from Vegas, images from the wedding we photographed last week and also pictures of my niece MacKenzie who turned 11 on Friday.

Enjoy!

Paris this weekend...actually Vegas baby!

2007-03-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

I am posting real quick in between getting ready to help Geri Goodale photograph a wedding tomorrow (see our engagement shoot a few posts back of Melissa and Linford) and packing to go to Las Vegas for a photography convention with the owners of Visual Photography and Angela Rhodes on Sunday. I am excited to go and see all of the print competition prints, take some classes and (if you know me!) make friends with a few slot machines while I'm there.

The pictures I have posted were from a trip I took with my Mom last summer to Las Vegas (these were all taken with my point and shoot camera). My sister Diane surprised my Mom and flew over for one night. We stayed in a fabulous suite at the Luxor and had a great time playing tourist...and yes...lots of gambling. It was a great time with my Mom and sister and I think we visited every major hotel on the Strip within two days. My favorite hotel ( and one I hope to stay at some time) was the Wynn hotel. The hotel was gorgeous, the people friendly, the slots loose, and the buffet to die for!

Rosanne Barr was on Jay Leno the other night and was talking about a show she is doing in Las Vegas at New York New York but the thing she kept talking about was the buffet at the Wynn. I think for the first time in my life, I agreed with Rosanne Barr.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Steven!

2007-03-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

I did not take either of the pictures on this post but wanted to share about a wonderful nephew of mine.

My nephew turned 20 yesterday. He has always been a special person in my life. His mother is my twin sister, Diane. She got pregnant with Steven when we were right out of high school. He was a true joy from the day he was born. He never cried, had these brilliant blue eyes and the sweetest disposition ever. Diane, Steven and I lived at my parent's home while Diane and I went to college. I spent many weekends taking Steven to all the fun places in San Diego like the Zoo, Wild Animal Park (scary dinosaurs!), the beach and Sea World. It has been great seeing him grow into the man he is today.

He was the first person I ever photographed in a studio setting. I had just started working for the JCPenney portrait studio and he was three months old. He was my first ever practice session. Over the years the poor boy has gone through multitudes of sessions with every type of pose and prop imaginable. One Halloween, I think he was three, we covered him with black cloth up to his neck, posed pumpkins all around him on the black material and made him make faces pretending he was one of the carved pumpkins. The images are hysterical.

He had an enormous passion for baseball from the time he was able to walk and you could always find him in my Mom's backyard playing baseball games...usually against himself. My dad had season passes to the Padres and he would dress in his little Padre uniform, go to the game and cheer on Tony Gwynn in right field. He knew all the players at a young age and today still has the same passion for the game.

Steven plays baseball for a college team today and has turned into a gorgeous young man. He will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope he knows how special he is.

Happy 20th Birthday Steven-We love you!

Renee and my surfing Buddha tshirt!!

2007-03-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I find messages that inspire me in the most obscure places...on buildings, in books, bumper stickers, message boards, etc...today I found one right on an old tshirt I have worn over and over and never really paid attention to.

It is a god-awful bright orange tshirt that I picked up for $3.00. When we do beach photo sessions during the summer for Visual Photography, we wear orange shirts to stand out from all the other people on the beach so our clients can find us. I am in desperate need of doing laundry so, in need of a short sleeve shirt because of our summer-like temperatures in San Diego, I threw this tshirt on. Until today I never paid attention to what it said.

The message on my tshirt says..."You are safer moving forward than standing still..." Surfing Buddha

I realize as scary as stepping outside my "safe" box is...I am inspired again. Inspired enough that I photographed Renee at 8:00 this morning...

For anyone that knows me...I never willingly wake up early. Even on school days when Cassi has to get up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 to go to school, I usually wake up long enough to get her to school (unbrushed hair, no make-up, clothes probably inside out-ME not her!) and then go straight back to bed and sleep until I absolutely have to wake up for work. I even have my morning routine down to the last second unless something distracts me and then I'm late for work!

So the surfing Buddha on my bright orange shirt speaks to me-I have even invited almost ten different people to view this blog. (welcome by the way!) As scary as that seems...as unsafe as moving forward seems to me...I can't keep staying in the same place anymore.

Anyways...enjoy the pics of Renee and the other fun things I found to photograph down at the beach. She was my willing subject at Mission Beach this morning. We normally walk in the morning (Yes, when I get my butt up!) at Lake Murray but the weather was too beautiful on our days off so we went to the beach.

Yesterday, while we were walking, I kept finding areas I wanted to photograph in and Renee offered to be my guinea pig this morning. Thanks Renee!

Enjoy!

Engagement Images

2007-03-09T22:41:00.000-08:00

Can you tell how much in love they are? We had a wonderful time with this couple and they were a complete blast to work with. These images were taken a year ago at WindandSea beach in La Jolla, Ca for their engagement.

Their wedding was held in Greece (I know...romantic!) and then we photographed their reception here in San Diego at a Greek restaurant downtown San Diego (images to follow at a later date!). Recently I received a sonogram image from Stephanie and today found out that the baby is a boy and is due in July. I can't wait to see how beautiful their baby will be with parents that look this good! (Congratulations Stephanie!!!)

Enjoy!

Kikki and Patrick McCullough

2007-03-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some images from a wedding Angela Rhodes http://rhodesphotography.com and I photographed last October. Friday October 13th to be exact. Kikki is an employee of mine at Visual Photography and she was the most radiant bride I have ever seen. She truly was meant to be a bride. It's just too bad it only happens once. She was one of those brides devouring any magazine, website or bazaar she could find wedding related.

The weather forecast was rain, rain and more rain. Considering she chose a friday the 13th to get married, you would have expected it to pour. The weather was absolutely breathtaking for the wedding at the Grand Tradition in Fallbrook, California. It did pour buckets about 8:00pm during the reception once everyone was safely inside.

Kikki has a website devouted to her wedding pics, http://web.mac.com/pinkink1/iweb/Site/Welcome.html her MySpace page has multiple slideshows and in each and every picture you can just see that she was walking into this marriage 100% committed to upholding her vows.

When her Dad saw her for the first time...I am totally not kidding you...she stole his breathe away. He could not speak and actually gasped. If you know me personally, you know I am generally not a mushy person but...

The moment was magical.

That one moment defined why I love what I do. There is a quote that says (and I am going to butcher it here) but "Life isn't about the breathes you take, but the moments that take your breathe away. "

I believe this and am honored to be able to have photographed a wedding that defined this quote.

Enjoy!

Katelyn and Michael's wedding

2007-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I photographed a wedding with Angela Rhodes of Rhodes Photography http://rhodesphotography.com and as always, we had a blast. The couple was adorable and super easy to work with. Here's a few of their images from the wedding-Enjoy!

Disneyland

2007-03-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

We (Diane, Amanda, Mike, Mackenzie, Brendon and my dear daughter Cassi) spent the day at Disneyland today. It was an amazingly clear, beautiful southern California day at Disneyland. The park was super super crowded but for some silly reason...we never really had to wait in long lines...the Disney gods must have been with us!

Mike, Amanda's boyfriend was forewarned before going to the park that Aunt Donna would make them take a bunch of pictures. I controlled myself...I really did...even sneaking off under the guise of getting Space Mountain Fast Passes so I could take pics without holding up everyone. I only shot 200 images and I have to say that more I use my Canon SD630, the more I love it.

I thought I'd share a few pics that I was able to take today. Enjoy! The images are straight out of the camera! Enjoy!

My list of 100 things I want to do in this life

2007-03-01T00:03:00.000-08:00

I started this blog to be a visual reminder of things I want to do in my life. Last March I posted about wanting to post the 100 things I want to do in this lifetime. I read another photographer's blog (Jessica Claire) and she posted the 101 things she wants to do in the next 1,000 days. She must be a type A personality to want to achieve all of these things in the next 1,000 days but I'm a realist. I haven't even updated this blog to average once a month so I guess I'm a slacker.

I have been compiling my list of 100 things I want to do and am going to add them to this blog and as I come up with more goals will revise this. Hopefully, this will serve as my kick in the ass and I'll put my money where my mouth is and actually accomplish some of these things!

1. Blog at least once a week for a year

2.Take a web design/blog class

3. Go see the Padres play spring training

4. Take a random (wherever we end up) road trip with Cassi

5. Cruise to Alaska

6. Visit a chocolatier in Switzerland

7. Photograph on another continent

8. Start my own business

9. Take a healthy cooking class

10. Actually buy good utensils and pans for cooking

11. Go on a blind date

12. Make an album showcasing my favorite work

13. Create a website of my work

14. Start a real exercise program

15. Go back to my natural haircolor and add chunky highlights

16. Do the Three Day breast Cancer walk

17. Take Cassi to viist and volunteer at a rest home

18. Take Pilates

19. Run in a 5K

20. Do something charitable anonymously

21. Go to a playoff game (Go Chargers and Padres!)

22. Start a 401K

23. Drive to Vegas with the top down

24. Reconnect with at least three long lost friends

25. Cruise to the Bahamas

26. Go to New York and see World Trade Center Memorial

27. Take my Mom to Sun Valley Idaho

28. Read three classic masterpieces

29. Hang all the frames sitting on the floor

30. See fall foliage back east

31. Visit Great Great Aunt Carrie Chapman Catt's birthplace in Iowa

32. Organize my mounds of pictures

33. See a psychic/Tarot card reader

34. Live where it snows for one season

35. Host a foreign exchange student

36. Write an article to be published

37. Invent something

38. Go to Disney World again

39. Go to Disneyland without a camera

40. Watch the season of "Dirt" with Courtney Cox

41. Buy myself something frivolous from Tiffany's

42 Have a makeover done at a Mac counter and replace everything!

43. Watch all the podcasts on my iPod

44. See Joe Buissink speak DONE!!!

45. Second shoot a wedding for a photographer I idolize

46. Put all Cassi's class/team pics into one organized place

47. Become good enough friends with someone via computer (not for dating reasons) and travel to their hometown and have them visit me!

48. Purchase a laptop computer

49. Do laundry once a week for a whole month

50. Go o Salzburg Austria and take the "Sound of Music" Tour

51. Get my passport

52.

So far so good...definitely a trend of travel throughout this!

I will add more as they surface in my brain!

my new scrapbook

2007-02-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

I used to be super passionate about scrapbooking. It was an obsession. I shopped the local scrapbook stores daily, purchased the best and newest stuff, and attend seminars and universities devoted to this art. I had boxes and boxes of "must-haves" that were going to help me archive Cassi's life...one day at a time. I stalked the message boards and devoted endless hours reading everyone's newest layouts. But then blogs started to appear. And I realized that what I loved about scrapbooking was being able to read about other people's lives. I have always been an inquisitive (yes...call it nosy if you will!)voyeuristic person and love to know other people's business. Now I have a new way to do it and the blogs just scream...come read me-

So most of the scrapbooking stuff went on ebay. I learned to use the computer to digitally scrapbook and devoted my freetime to reading about others through their blogs. Now I am sharing some of my favorite digital scrapbook pages on here so you can get a glimpse of my life. My blog is now my scrapbook.

Enjoy!

Melissa and Linford

2007-02-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

Geri Goodale and I had the opportunity to work with a fabulous couple who are getting married in March. They both attended UCSD and wanted to be photographed at the college. What an amazing place to be photographed at! Everywhere we turned there were unique, cool places to shoot. Melissa and Linford were an absolute delight and they indulged the artists in both of us. (Thanks guys!!)

On a different topic, I started this blog because it seemed everyone else I know is doing one. I haven't really invited anyone to view it because I think I would sensor what I put in here. So if I have finally invited you to view it...welcome to my life. If you happened here by chance...welcome also!!!

Mr.P...you'll be missed...

2007-01-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

This is a sad day in San Diego today. A man who made a difference in so many lives passed away this morning. Mr P. (as he was called by everyone who knew him) was an amazing man. My family met him when my sisters and I were very young and played softball. He was a softball coach that we came to know very well over the years. My mom and Mr. P and his wife were great friends over the last 30 or so years. I recall growing up and spendiing time at his home. There was always a glass candy jar on the counter and you were always greeted by Mr. P with a big hug and sloppy wet kiss on your cheek. He always had a way of sing songing your name that made you laugh uncontrollably. Whether it was Donna bo Bonna or some other silly rhyme...he made you feel special.

Over the years we could still count on Mr. P to come down to the local fields to see my nephews, nieces and daughter play ball. He would come down to the field on his bike and everyone would know him and he would stop 100 times on the field to hug, kiss and catch up with all the people at the lake. He was larger than life.

He was a Blue Angel in his younger years and flew fighter planes. Recently, I came across him on a local street and he was standing next to his car looking lost. I stopped and asked what was wrong. He said his car needed a jump start and he needed some help. I got out of my car and jump started his car for him. He was very gracious and I remember saying it was the least I could do for him. After we got his car started, I got a big old hug and kiss and I remember thinking that he did so much for so many people, I was glad I finally could do something for him.

In September of last year, I was at my nephew's football game and Mr. P showed up to see the high school football game. He greeted all of us and sat down with us to watch the game. I was photographing my nephews game and for som reason turned my camera towards Mr. P and took the photo enclosed in today's post. I remember feeling a little apprehensive about taking his pic but for some reason but took it anyway. I'm glad I did...

A friend asked me today who Nello Pierozzi was and it occurred to me then...He was the greatest man I have ever personally known and I will miss him.

God Speed Mr. P.

guess this is the 6 month update!

2007-01-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

I promised to share some pics that I have taken. I photographed a friend's three year old son right before Christmas. He is three years old and named Derek. I have always wanted to offer a session called, "A Day in the life" and spend a day candidly photographing a child's normal everyday events. I was able to do so with Derek and love what we captured. he is an amazing child who is wise beyond his years!

I told myself I would keep this current and I haven't. I know that life getting in the way is a flimsy excuse but sometimes...it just does. I just reread my last post and realized that the 6 months flew by!

Cassi's dad was in a motorcycle accident in late October and we visited daily until he was released (well demanded his release) from the hospital in mid-December. It was truly an eye-opening experience for both Cassi and I.

We saw and heard things that I just never imagined existed on a day to day basis. I have tremendous new respect for anyone who works in the medical field on a day to day basis. They are truly inspiring people. From the doctors, the nurses, the food servers, the elevator operators, the physical therapists and all the other people who work together to give quality care to those who need it...I am thankful.

The day after Scot was released from the hospital, he asked me to go back to pick up the charger for his cell phone. As I waited for the elevator to take me up to the eighth floor I realized how fortunate we were that he was walking and still alive to be there for Cassi. I realized there were many people in this hospital visiting relatives that weren't coming home. There were new patients being brought in that were just beginning their hospital stay. The workers at the hospital would still go about their routine giving care for others long after Scot's stay was a distant memory. We are fortunate and for that I am grateful. Hug your loved ones tonight because every day is a new day that we are blessed to be able to hug them.

Off my emotional tangent!!

2006-07-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd update this blog in the hopes someday I will actually have someone reading this! It seems like the time flies by and my plans seem to need to be adjusted all the time! Cassi and I are moving into a smaller place next week and as I sit here amongst all the boxes with our two guinea pigs on my chest (fabulous photo cassi took of our new one, "sugar baby") I have to admit, I never saw my life this way!

I am hoping to expand my photography horizons beyond the 20 years of in-studio portraiture I have. I want to shoot outside the box, on different continents and see things and have adventures I never thought possible.

I have the knowledge, the passion and need to stop making the excuses! Once Cassi and I move, I am going to post pics from previous sessions to give you a chance to see some of the portraits I have taken and give people a sense of what I have accomplished and what I hope to accomplish in the future!

If you happen to read this, thanks and keep coming back!

Why I love what I do!

2006-03-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

I love reading blogs. It has taken hours of my time. I find myself drawn into other people's lives. It helps me see that the craziness in my world isn't so abnormal. My everyday issues are everyone elses everyday issues. I find that when I think my world is at it's craziest...reading someone elses blog soothes me!

I love my life. I love my family. I love my daughter more than I ever thought I could love someone. I love what I do for a living. I love capturing those moments in a person's life that are never EVER going to happen again. Think about it. I have taken one single moment in time and frozen it. I made that one moment stop. I captured it so that it can take on a significance in someone's life.

I don't know at what age my memories started. Are they my memories or a polaroid shot of a time and place in my life that someone captured so I could look back and know a little more about myself. My mom has pictures of my three sisters and I lined up at the entrance of Disneyland when we were kids. All dressed exactly the same. White tennis shoes, white shorts and blue and white stiped shirts. Do I remember this exact moment? No.

But I do remember my parents only being able to afford the ticket packages with only a few E tickets for us to use on the rides. I do remember walking down Main street and believing that my parents had brought me to the happiest place on earth. I still feel the same as I walk down that Main Street with my daughter in tow.

My mom captured that memory for me in that picture of my sisters and I. That image brings back memories that would have been stored somewhere in the back recesses of my mind. Thanks Mom for caring enough to share those moments with me.

I hope this blog will share a part of me with others. I hope to share my love of photography here and show those moments I have captured for someone else. Moments they can look back on and retain a piece of who they were at that one moment in time. Thanks for wanting to share a part of your life with me.