365 project

At the beginning of 2009 I was pumped, anticipating doing this scrapbooking/photojournaling idea called 365 Project: you take a picture every day to help you remember what you did each month and all the little details about your daily life, and to help improve photography skills. I did great in January (hitting and missing once in a while, but then I'd make up for it by taking 8-10 photos in one day). Now it's already the second week of Feb and I think I've maybe taken 3 pictures. All that excitement just went FLOP! Honestly though, I run out of interesting things to document. My life feels so mundane and rote sometimes. I love it; it's mine; but maybe not interesting enough to take 29-31 pictures every month.

Railroad Hat

I found this great "railroad" hat at Target and it worked out perfectly for Morgan's Urban shoot. We went to the railroad station and an abandoned building. I'm so taken by how handsome he is- the twinkle in his eye and his reckless smile.

LOVE the tongue sticking out - so HIM

Gourmet Food

So tonight we had gourmet rice (anything different than plain white rice) and this is how the dinner conversation went:
kids: "What are we eating? EW, what's this? This looks yucky!"
dad: "it's bettle butts and magget heads, eat it."
kids: "Yuck, we can't eat that."
dad: " look, here's some caterpillar eyebrows, yum"
Magnuson: "can't eat it, yuck"
Girls: "dad what is it really?"
Mom: "it's rice and legumes, it's fine"
Morgan: "goons!!!, what's goons, I can't eat goons dad"
Yah, so much for a gourmet, interesting conversation filled, NICE dinner!

Christmas Vacation

We had such a wonderful time in Florida with my family over Christmas break. My older sister and her family were unable to make it and we missed them, but everyone else was there. There were lots of fun times together, good memories and laughs. This is just a sampling of things we did.

Disney, of courseMorgan worked up enough courage to face Captain Hook in person.
Marina was enthralled with live Princesses. She wanted to touch their hair and dress and...

New Year's Eve party and traditional scrabble game, washed down with Starbucks.

Playing with all A. Jane's fun toys

Florida beaches are warm, the sand is white and soft, and the water is clear blue. They are my favorite. We HAVE to go everytime we're in Florida.

Sanford Zoo - a great zoo for kids (and parents) cause you can do it in 2 hours.

and LOTS of loves for Grandma!

Maternity/Paternity Photos

I had so much fun with my brother and sis-in-law at their pregnancy shoot in January. They are both gorgeous people with friendly, lovable personalities. I can't wait to meet my new nephew, James, in March! Thanks guys for letting me be a part of this.

My darling daughter

Last Saturday we went down to Pasadena to visit my brother and his family. Everytime we've been down there I've noticed this little alley with the gorgeous red brick walls. So, last weekend when we went for the day we stopped here on our way home and I did a quick photo shoot with Marina. She did so well cooperating with my antics. There are so many good ones, these are just a few of my favorites. I love this urban look!

How perfect it was that we happened to have fresh flowers with us!

My all time favorite!

Urban Legends

One of my goals for this year was to take my photography to a unique and more creative level. In 2008 I had been seeing a trend in portraits shot at Urban locations. As soon as I got back from vacation I found some great spots and did a shoot with my friend's son. I love the results. I titled this new 2009 gallery "Urban Legends".