hair clips, wild flowers & adorable little girls!

So i am constantly being reminded that i don't share enough of my portrait work here on my blog so figured i'd share a few from yesterdays shoot. I was doing a little product work for a fellow military circle of friends member, Hold It!. The adorable heart clips & bands you see in these images are all hers! Anyways i borrowed a couple of my favourite clients, turns out today is Rylie's 4th birthday so it was perfect timing. Well we headed up to my most favourite location ever (times infinity plus one) for some pictures. The weather was perfect, gorgeous sun & a slight breeze that sent Rylie's hair all over the place.  & had so much fun amongst the wild flowers! I can't believe i only started using this location for my portraits this past month, i am positively kicking myself on this one because (& you probably don't realize) so much of my fine art is shot up here. Anyways hope you love them as much as i do & have a fabulous friday!

it's the simple thing's in life that make me happy ...

chocolate brownies (even if they come from a box) ...

my new favourite tee ... & tote ... 

a blog i am loving ... 

gorgeous picture frames ...

cuddles with jacob!

capturing nature in 2011 ...

as summer becomes fall ...

I was asked by the fabulous Heather of Gathering Spriggs to write a guest post for her this week ... it was an honor & i'm super excited about this ... head over to her blog for a look. Have a wonderful wonderful day everyone! 

mosaic monday ... lazy hazy summer days

I put together this weeks "mosaic monday" on the fPOE blog, going with the theme "lazy hazy summer days" (my current love in well everything ...)!

1. summer memory, 2. freshness, 3. Enchantment, 4. melt away love, 5. Happy Bank Holiday!, 6. golden no. 1, 7. Seashore Collection ~3~, 8. flyer, 9. Picnic

saying goodbye ...

There are many many things i hate about the military, but it's the life i chose & i accept that. My husband is in the AF & will be so for a while longer so I live with those things. But there will always be one thing i hate more than the others, the thing that i will never get used to & sucks every single time ... saying goodbye.

I sometimes feel like all i ever do is say goodbye ... goodbye to a country, goodbye to my husband as he goes TDY or deploys & goodbye to my military family. Those people who help me through everything, the friends who have been there & get those random tiny & frustrating things that can ruin a perfectly good day.

These are the military wives ... the girls i turn to at a moment's notice ... the women who hug me when i cry & cry with laughter alongside me. They've been there, seen it, done it & got the t-shirt.

& then down the line they're gone. Not gone forever, not gone from your life but gone from your everyday. The military up & moves them somewhere new & here you are left behind waving goodbye to the people you love ... & then the circle starts over again.

Well in my short time as a military wife i've gotten used to many things but this is not one of them. I have people i love now living literally all over the world ... & whilst you hope that you will see each other one day the world is a really big place, & whilst the military can be a small world at times more often than not, when you want it to be it isn't!

So PCS season has come around & this time i get to say goodbye to some of my favourite people. A family i have grown to love & to put into words how much i will miss them isn't possible. They're part of my military family & i love them.

I think Hannah knows more about me than anyone ... she's been there for me no strings attached, she's listened, she pulled me through some tough times & i know no matter what she's not going anywhere. The bond between military wives is something else. & then there are her girls ... the girls i want to have myself who can always put a smile on my face.

To list some of my favourite memories would take forever ... but running round the flight line in the middle of winter as a wind that feels like it could be gale force pushes you backwards with every step has to be one. It might sound weird but i think that's my best run ever because it hurt, because it sucked & because we didn't stop.

& Hannah is the kind of person who will keep you going through it all ... she's tough ... & smart (way smarter than me in every sense) ... & strong ... & well you just have to see the kids she's raised to know what a great person she is. She's that person who listens to what you don't say as much as what you do.

& she's going to hate that said all that because well that's the kind of person she is but anyone who knows her can tell you it's true.

& her girls make me laugh & smile & when am sad they'll wipe the tears & make me giggle & for at least a moment none of it matters because that's what family does.

Minot will be their new home ... 4487.7 miles, 7222.2 km & 3899.7 nautical miles from me. That's a really long way. No more dinners or early morning runs. We'll have to share books & dvds through the mail & eatting dessert on your own really isn't as much fun as sharing.

& yes i know we have telephones but i don't like telephones & i know we have email but well it really isn't the same but i plan to make the most of snail mail. Old fashioned letters. I right a mean letter ... my hand writing kinda sucks & my spelling & grammar is pretty bad at times but it's personal. You can tell what someone's feeling as they write that letter, & there's something special about waking up to one.

& so i will write ... i will tell her about the goings on over here, how the weather hasn't changed & the cats are as cute as ever. I will find pretty paper on etsy, & search through stationary stores & start a whole new collection to drive my husband nuts. & when i read a wonderful book, or found some chocolate i think she has to have i will put it in the post & whilst it's not the same it's something because i will miss my friend.

So on Monday we had lunch & then we walked up the hills behind my house to take these photos. Photos i've been wanting to take for so long (& there will be more to come) & i'm sorry there are so many but i couldn't choose because there is no favourite. & then we iced cupcakes & laughed at Madagascar 2 & then they went home & i sat & looked at these photos & it made me happy & sad all in one.

& i'm making the most of the time we have left to laugh & smile & take as many photos as possible of these wonderful people because all too soon it will be over.

an afternoon well spent ...

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

waking up to sunlight streaming in my window ...

bbq'ing ... everything ...

short sleeves & more short sleeves ...

my linen pants (from H&M, i need another pair) ...

all things summer!

The Inspiration Avenue weekly challenge

I belong to a group of artists on Etsy known as Inspiration Avenue. As a group we work within different mediums, selling a variety of products but act together as advisers, colleagues & friends. Recently we decided to start a weekly challenge, a way for us to push ourselves & each other within our various mediums in a little friendly challenge. We each get to choose a "topic" it could be a color or a word or just something to get those "creative juices" flowing, & i get to choose the first topic of (drum roll please) ... Summer.

Now i know summer is all most at an end, & possible for the past couple of months it has been our inspiration already but now the seasons are in theory starting to change & we are experiencing a new side to it. In choosing it as my topic i want the artist to be able to take this ending into account, as well as all the things they have experienced the past few months. & i am assuming all those taking part in the challenge are in a part of the world where june, july & august are considered to be the "summer" months.

Summer as defined by the dictionary ...

sum·mer ¹

n.

1. The usually warmest season of the year, occurring between spring and autumn and constituting June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere, or, as calculated astronomically, extending from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox.

2. A period of fruition, fulfillment, happiness, or beauty.

3. A year: a girl of 13 summers.

v. sum·mered, sum·mer·ing, sum·mers

v.tr.

To lodge or keep during the summer: summered the herd in the south meadow.

v.intr.

To pass the summer: They summered at a beach resort.

adj.

1. Of, having to do with, occurring in, or appropriate to the season of summer:summer heat; summer attire.

2. Grown during the season of summer: summer crops.

So what's summer to me ... it's about bold colors ... yellow, green & red. It's being outdoors, long lazy days spent with friends & family, vacations, sun, sea, sand & ...! BBQ's, picnics, camping & traveling, big blue skies & glorious sunshine. It's about happiness & smiling, being silly & having fun. When i imagine summer i see sandcastles & children playing, lying by the pool & margaritas in the shade. No school & no work (for some), flowers, dresses & skimpy clothing.

So now i turn it over to you guys ... & anybody else out there who wants to take part in the challenge. You have 7 days to create something that falls under this theme, interpret as you will & i can't wait to see what we all come up with.