xoxo | my valentines

Mine own... (as J would say)

I adore these images. I went out a week ago on a beautiful Sunday -- with my beautiful "wittle" ones (another Jo-word)and my beautiful man (the guy I've been in love with since I was fourteen.) Peter didn't make it into any of these shots, but he was there in the background cracking the kids up and protecting the treasured red balloons from flying off before their time. :-) We celebrated seven years of marriage last Monday. Between our anniversary and Vday, everywhere I turn lately I'm reminded of the beauty of loving and being loved.

Love is a such a potent word... and even though we probably use it too lightly at times -- most likely we aren't saying it nearly as often as we should. I am making it a point to tell my family more often that I love them. Adore them. Want to wrap them up and squeeze them silly!!! And I'm making it a point to show them that I love them, too.

Joanna Faith, Henry Isaiah, and Peter Ryan: you guys make my world spin. I can't imagine my life without your giggles and hugs and ridiculous jokes and kisses.

::thank you::































And an old one in honor of our anniversary... taken in Portland last fall. (*Photo credit JAZ Photography Thanks, Jamie!)

Happy Vday!

bright eyes | newborn session

Oh, I love babies! And I really enjoyed this newborn session -- Graden was such a precious, amiable little chap! He made his debut almost a month before he was expected, so his mom and I had to juggle our schedules to make this session work, but I'm so glad it did. I loved meeting his family -- and his really cool neighbors. We ended up shooting this session at the neighbor's house because of their great big windows and phenomenal natural light inside. It's a beautiful home and the sun just flooded in.









It's always a little tricky getting a basket shot set up, but I'm happy to try and love it when it works!



There's nothing quite as angelic as a sleeping newborn face...







Greg and Sandra (and gracious neighbors!) thank you for such a beautiful afternoon... it was a pleasure meeting you and a privilege getting to take these images of your sweet son.

more crafting | lampshade love

I wanted to share another crafting project that I did recently. At the beginning of winter I caught the "spring" bug early, and started painting various pieces of our furniture in bright, happy colors -- yellows and apple greens. My house went from mostly neutrals/dark woods to *shingy* bright colors and whites. I'm LOVING it! Paint is just marvelous... I love how it can instantly change the look of a room.

Along with the paint, I was inspired to switch out some of the other decor in my living room and wanted to find a special vintage lamp that would be a central piece. I walked into one of my favorite second-hand stores hoping to find "it" and walked out with this (and a huge smile on my face!) Peter was waiting for me at the truck just rolling his eyes (granted, it DID have a really, really ugly lampshade to begin with.)



I found several lampshades that I adored at Anthropologie (of course!) but they were out of my budget. So I decided to make an out-of-the-ordinary lampshade myself. I found a basic off-white fabric shade at Target... it was the perfect size, shape and material for what I had in mind.

I bought a variety of fat quarters from the fabric store for the next part. I drew petal and bird designs on cardboard and cut out my own stencils which I then used to cut pieces from the fabric.





Then I glued the birds and petals onto the shade in random patterns using fabric glue.





I was really happy with the way it turned out, but it still needed a little something more...



...enter embroidery thread and a fat ol' needle! The material on the lampshade made it possible to stitch stems and leaves around the flowers, and feet and beaks on the birds.







So there you go. A fun, easy project for personalizing a lampshade.

sun. swing. smile.

Just the right amount of snow! | Lauren & Caleb

My best friend's little sister is great friends with my little sis... We all grew up together and have a plethora of fun, crazy, embarrassing, happy memories of the years we spent growing up in the country. It was all very "Anne of Green Gables." Lauren now lives on the east coast with her husband. Lauren and Caleb were able to make it out for Christmas and asked if I had any spots open for a session. I was a wee bit worried about the inevitable snow/cold combination that we were sure to face in late December, but I agreed -- and we ended up with the PERFECT day! The light was diffused beautifully by the cloud cover and there was the lightest skiff of snow to transform downtown Spokane into a fairy tale world.

Lauren and Caleb were up for anything, and we had a fabulous time. Sarah (Lauren's sister, not to be confused with MY sister who is also a Sarah... yes, that was confusing growing up!) came along with Baby Jack, and we laughed and chatted like old times. Lauren and Caleb are very passionate about their causes, including many that are close to my heart like orphan awareness, justice issues and compassionate giving -- and I always love talking with them!

It's very rare that the first photo of a session winds up as my favorite, but it is in this case. I love it.



This little alley by Mizuna is sooo much fun to shoot in -- I love the richness of the brick and all of the lines... I'm a line girl.



Have I mentioned that Lauren is drop-dead gorgeous?





We stopped by the carousel for a minute on our way to Riverfront Park to warm up -- and the light through the window was awesome.



By the time we headed back outside, it was snowing -- but just wee flakes that made it possible to continue shooting, and they added such a fun, wintry element to the pictures.









By the time we were done on the bridge we were ready to go inside again to warm up, so we headed over to Starbucks. I couldn't resist a couple of goofy pics inside! :-)









Every time we drive past the Davenport I have this next image in my head. It was so fulfilling to finally get to shoot it!












We wrapped up at the downtown Cathedral. Sooooo amazing. This series of photos with their classy outfits and the majestic building in the background reminds me of Florence.







Lauren and Caleb rocked these steps!







And then Lauren rocked her sleeveless dress despite the cold. She's amazing. :-)







Lauren and Caleb, thanks for such a memorable afternoon! I feel privileged to have had the chance to capture your love in this season of your lives. I wish you all the best this year!!