daddy's girl...

number 1. jaden. she is absolutely, utterly, and totally a daddy's girl. he loves her beyond belief. playing with her. teasing her. teaching her right from wrong. encouraging her to do her best in school. practicing her spelling words and multiplication facts whenever he has a spare minute. grabbing her up and hugging and kissing her every time she walks by. pretending to cry when she tries to go to bed without a goodnight kiss. talking her through bad days at school, arguments with friends, and temper tantrums. staying calm when she's not. lighting up when she walks off the school bus. making it known to her how special she is to him.

new lens...

i finally got my new lens. yay!! i've been dying to get a 50mm prime lens. that's the first thing i did when we got our tax return. (shooting joe & tara's engagement shots were a nice argument to my cause.) and although they'd probably rather jump in front of a semi, the girls obliged me in an impromptu photo shoot.

spring...

is teasing us. a couple nice days. a couple crappy days. some sun. then some snow. i'm over it. let's go spring!! we took advantage of one of the nice days and ran the girls out to the park.

extreme makeover...

the not-so-real-edition. we did a little redo of the girls room. cleaned things up. purged. organized. painted (a little). created a "nook" with a padded toy box/bench. new curtains. new bedspreads. new beanbag chairs. new rug.

joe & tara sue...

and here's the reason we spent the weekend in pittsburgh. to take pics of these two fantastic people. my cousin and his fiance... joe & tara sue. i love, love, love these two. did i say that already? i think so. but i can't say it enough. joe means so much to me...and by association, so does tara. :0) they've been together for over 10 years and they are a HOOT! here are some of my favorite pics from their engagement shoot:

pitt...

a couple weekends ago, the hubby and i got to travel to pittsburgh to take some engagement shots of my cousin and his fiance. i was soooo excited to do this for a few reasons... 1. i don't get out of ohio much. hardly ever. 2. i LOVE these two....love, love, love them! i mean this guy gave me away at my own wedding. i was dying to spend time with them. 3. i got to play photographer for the weekend. here' s a little taste of pittsburgh:

jen's college.
university of pittsburgh.

stunning.

let me tell you about pamela's. it's this amazingly cute retro diner that is ridiculously popluar. i mean...gobs of people lined up inside and out waiting for a table. once you get inside and try out their amazing crepe-style pancakes, you realize it's totally worth the wait. and a note on pittsburgh food in general...it's BIG. LARGE. ENORMOUS. i mean the portions are ridiculous! our first night in, we ordered in some calzones. they came in PIZZA BOXES because they were so huge. crazy

market district.

the incline. two trolley cars that travel up and down the side of the hill. very cool spot for pictures and the touristy thing to do.

resolution #1...

my first resolution was to quit being inspired and be inspiring.

well, here are some fun valentine pretties i made. it's been a while since i've made anything just for me or just for fun. (scrapping aside, of course.)

these were super simple.

some vintage crepe paper, glass gitter, paper scraps (punched in circles), and velvet hearts & letter stickers to embellish.

i haven't exactly decided what to do with these yet.

maybe string them together for a garland?

what do you think?

ice ice baby

it is day 3 of our major winter storm.
it started rolling in monday night.
woke up tuesday to about 1/4 inch of ice.
on EVERYTHING.
had a decent "break" tuesday morning/afternoon.
it started back up again tuesday night.
went to bed with close to an inch of ice.
last night was INSANE! couldn't sleep at all.
sounded like we were under attack...every time a branch swayed,
the ice shattered into a bajillion pieces and rained down on the roof.
the girls even woke up because they thought it was thundering.
now it's just snow and crazy wind...
and a waiting game on whether the power stays on or not.

my sidewalk? unpassable.
my driveway? an ice rink.
my street? don't even get me started.

thinking of taking up curling. or shooting the girls over to the neighbors in a garbage can lid.

anyway....it's given me a couple days off. MUCH-NEEDED days off.

here are some of my favorite shots of our "natural disICEster".