So far behind....

I am officially and completely behind and swamped with pictures that I have taken in the last few months. Finding the time to sit down at my computer these days and edit has proved almost impossible!! Since August 1st, I have become pregnant, watched Lee start grad-school and study sometimes 8 hours a day, got a new car, went on 2 vacations, started the initial process of 2 new businesses, and am moving on Dec. 1, all while working a 40+ hour/week day job!! Needless to say, my "to-do" list does not have too many checks on it ;) When I do find a free moment to sit down on the couch and watch a little political news, I end up falling asleep 5 minutes later and sometimes sleeping through the night. So, a good friend of mine recently (just on Tuesday) told me that I need to schedule even more - be militant about it and treat even my free time like a job. Starting this weekend...that's what I'm doing. All of my editing time will be scheduled as will laundry, cleaning, and even watching "Countdown" w/ Keith Olberman. To all of my clients that I owe pics too...you will get them soon, I PROMISE!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Maybe I'll have the chance to take some pics of Lee & I dressed up tomorrow night.

It's Monday...I mean Tuesday!

Wow today for some reason really feels like Monday to me, but I was happy to realize just a few minutes ago that it's actually Tuesday! Whew, I guess Monday passed me by pretty fast! Maybe because Lee & I were away over the weekend in beautiful central coast wine country; Atascadero to be exact. We stayed at our favorite hotel called The Carlton and actually attended a murder mystery dinner that they offered on Saturday night. We thought it would be something fun and different to do and that's just what it was....something different :) I have to say that as much as I love The Carlton, the food at the dinner was not what we expected and neither was the "show". We were a tiny bit bored, but managed to salvage the night by hitting the bar for a nightcap (hot tea for me) and a piece of heath bar crunch cake!! Nothing really makes me happier than heath bar in my dessert.

We also made a stop at Lee's favorite winery (Turley) where he got to taste a few zinfandels and buy a bottle of delicious wine that he promised to hold until I can share with him...whata guy! I watched as he drank and I bought a coaster. I guess if you can't drink - SHOP!

So I've been working away on a ton of pictures and will continue to do so for probably the next month after which I hope to launch my new website (keep your fingers crossed for me!). I thought I would post a picture today of the kite event for the Beverly Fund. You will see more of these soon!

What are you doing with your dash?

I went to an amazing marketing seminar last night that I HIGHLY recommend to any photographers out there. It was incredibly informative and will definitely define the way I run my business. Mitche Graf was amazing and I can't wait to implement everything that I learned from him. For anyone who's interested, he's going to be at WPPI in February also and holds seminars around the country.

So at the end of the seminar last night, Mitche put a series of numbers on the projector screen for us to look at. Numbers like 1915-1989, 1825-1916, 1957-2008. He asked what they represent and someone correctly replied "birth and death years". He then asked what the dash is in the middle and explained that it's everything in between - LIFE. There was a question on the projector that asked "what are you doing with your dash"???? That question rocked me to the core and really hit home because life really is a dash - a series of events that pass us by SOOO fast. When was the last time that you looked back on the last year and said "wow, that year went by really slowly". We move through this life like a blot of lightening (fast and fierce), so we mine as well enjoy EVERY second no matter how happy, painful, difficult, simple, or challenging and do something that is MEANINGFUL and keeps us in the moment. That is what I'm doing with my dash right now - giving it some meaning. So food for thought this week: "what are you doing with your dash"????

A refreshing Monday....

It's Monday and lately I've been so tired on Mondays that I can barely keep my eyes open at my desk, but today is different. I had such a relaxing weekend at home - sleeping in, watching movies, napping on the couch, editing pictures, baking apple pie, going to the pumpkin patch, and actually spending some time with Lee...it was great! So needless to say, even though I am extremely tired still, I feel rested and content. I even ate apple pie this morning for breakfast...talk about starting the day off right!

Tonight I'm attending Mitche Graf's marketing bootcamp because I think I'm finally ready to get myself out there and launch a "marketing campaign" for myself. I should learn a ton, so I can't wait.

http://www.powermarketing101.com/

Here is a picture that I worked on last night. Meet Kia:

Another blog??

Yep, you heard it! My new blog is called "my little bun" because, well....I've got a little bun in my oven :) I have started a blog for my pregnancy mainly for my family to get daily and weekly updates on my pregnancy, but also for me - so I can enjoy every moment of this amazing experience. I hope you'll join me :)

http://mylittlebun.blogspot.com

Of course, this blog will still remain intact with photographs and other details of my life and business.

Graham turns 1!!

Julie & Andrew's baby (my sweet little love), Graham turned 1 on October 9th and to commemorate his birthday, Julie & I did a photo shoot with him, a diaper, and a cake. We had a great time letting him go to town on the cake until he got icing in his nose and had a hard time breathing...that's when we stopped :) Over the weekend, Andrew & Julie threw a great party in the park for G's birthday which I think he'll always remember, with a little help from my pictures and the hundreds that his grandparents took as well. Some day in the future those pictures will make it on this blog. Until then, here is one from the photo shoot.

One more of Rocky...

Why? well, because I just couldn't help myself :)

My first baby!

It's been a while since I posted a picture of Rocky so I thought it was about time. Rocky will be the old age on 9 on December 15th. Lucky for me (and Lee), chihuahuas tend to live much longer than most breeds - some up to 17/18 years old! We have many good years ahead of us with the little Rock Rock.

When you love your pictures so much

I really planned to wait and not post anymore of Sarah & Ryan's photo shoot until I had everything edited, but as I was working last night, I decided that I just couldn't wait to post this one because I'm in love. It's another shot of their backs with the dog, but it's just so gorgeous. I sware I have many of them looking at the camera :)

I'm off tomorrow morning traveling to San Fran for the night while Lee is in Sacramento at class (yes, he has to travel to the Big Sac for one of his classes...Crazy!). The Beverly Fund is holding their 2nd annual Kites for Cancer event where I will be taking pictures and of course, flying a kite - YAY! For any of you in the bay area, please come out and join us to raise awareness and have some fun! It's at the Marina Green from 12-4. I'll be the one with the big camera around my neck :) http://www.beverlyfund.org/kites.html

Next week I'll be announcing something new that I've been working on, so stay tuned for that!

Happy Friday!!