Archives: March 2013


FREE PRINTABLE BUNNY ILLUSTRATION

Happy Easter!!  I illustrated this little rabbit the other day and decided to make it available as a free download for you all before Easter sunday rolled around.  Print it out, give it to a friend, hang it on the wall….whatever your heart desires!  My hope is to offer more of these freebies for you as time goes on, just as a thank you for following along and always making me feel so loved.  There are two download options, both sized at 5X7 with a 1/8″ border.  The only difference between the two is that one says “Happy Easter” and the other does not!  I figured you might want to make it relevant for more than a day!

**Free for personal use only

Obviously, for me, Easter is about a whole lot more than cute bunnies and flowers (it’s just what I like to draw!).  Easter is a reminder of the incredible sacrifice God made for us on the cross.  It’s a story of ultimate love and redemption.  Him dying, so that we might live. It’s humbling and overwhelming and sometimes hard to even comprehend.  And all I can say is that I am ever thankful.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones.  If you live in SD, I will be selling some of my art at ‘The Night Before‘ event on Saturday where Jon Foreman will be playing a free (yes, free!) concert.  Anyone is welcome, and I’d love to meet / see you!  Rylee girl will be there and so will the hubs.  I’m looking forward to it.  And i’m also looking forward to the family easter egg hunt that will ensue on Sunday afternoon.  (For the kiddos, that is).  And the thanksgiving style dinner my mom is preparing.   I can’t believe it’s been one whole year since these photos were taken!  I need to try to dig up those ears again!

What are your easter plans!!?


MY GIRL

So, I went a little overboard…I know.  I just had the hardest time choosing what photos to feature here of this shoot I did with Nicole Daniels.  When she asked to photograph me and my girl a few weeks back, I couldn’t say yes quick enough.  Ry and I have never taken photos together, just the two of us.  Well, other than the spur of the moment day to day one’s, usually in the form of an instagram (you know the kind!)  So you can imagine how excited I was to get these back.  They are photos i’ll cherish forever.  I’m always thinking about how fleeting life is.  I know it sounds depressing, but it’s true, right?  The special thing about photography to me is that it allows you freeze a moment in time….a moment you will never get back, but that you’ll forever remember because you can hold it in your hands and  look at it tomorrow, and every day after that.  It’s a memory that can be put in a book, and looked back upon when your kids are all big and grown.

When I look back at these photos, I’ll remember you at one and a half.  I’ll remember picking out our outfits and attempting to coordinate.  I’ll remember putting a bow in your hair and wishing you had a bit more of it by now!  But still kind of loving that fuzzy blonde head I’ve grown so used to.  I’ll remember your fascination with nature walks, and finding everything along the way a new brilliant discovery.  The way you gasp when you hear an airplane and the way to squeeze my leg when something frightens you.  I’ll remember your cute little strut and your goofy crooked smile. Your chunky legs and your petite little feet. I’ll remember the way you laugh (I live for your laugh), sometimes so hard it isn’t even audible.    And I’ll remember the way your sweet voice sounds when you tell me “i love you”.  Incomprehensible to most, but clear as day to me.  Oh one and a half, sometimes I wish you’d stick around forever.

Thank you for this gift Nicole!

 


12/52 OCEANSIDE PIER

 The 52 Project – a portrait series of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013 

Rylee’s wearing:  Happily Ever After Tee by Peek / Knotted Turban – The Pink Ruffle / Leggings from Target, hand stamped

It was the most beautiful day on Saturday.  The perfect excuse to go down to the Oceanside Pier and enjoy the sun with the fam.  We are starting to really feel the coming of summer here and it makes my heart happy!  Just imaging all the beach days with Rylee, trips to the ice cream shop, evening bike ride’s….weekends at grandma’s pool.  *sigh.  Summer is my season.

Have I mentioned how much I am loving this age Rylee’s at?  (i’m kidding, i know i’ve said it about a thousand times).  I don’t know what it is about 18 months, but all of a sudden her speed of learning has been put on a fast track.  It seems that everyday she is shocking me with a new word.  Yesterday it was blender….and this morning I caught her saying “oh shoot” as she dropped her apple on the floor. ha! WHAT!!?  It’s crazy what a little copy cat she is turning into.  It really makes you think twice about what you are saying and doing as a parent!

Sorry I have been a little absent lately.  I have been working like craaaazy.  But so glad I have weekends like this one to unwind with the ones I love!  Happy weekend friends.


FLORAL DOCS

Fringe Sweater – c/o Sheinside  //  Tights – UO  //  Boots – Dr. Martens  //  Sunglasses – c/o Epokhe

So it’s 2 AM as I am writing this post.  Do you ever feel like you are running a million miles an hour and can’t catch a breath?  That’s about me right now.  It’s good things…promising opportunities, new exciting projects, website re-designs (ahem, mine!)….but boy is it taking a toll on my shut eye.  I want nothing more than to press pause, but I won’t let myself.  I can’t stand to see opportunities slip by.  So here I am.  2 AM and finally getting to my blog.  Husband sawing logs in bed and baby sleeping for what has been 6 hours now.  Let me tell you.  The girl is averaging 13-14 hours a night.  If I could insert an emoticon it’d be that one with the two hands lifted to heaven (hallelujah, praise the Lord, dream baby, my hero).

Truth be told, I have been having the baby-sitter debate often as of late.  Should I….or shouldn’t I?  For now, I haven’t committed to the idea, but it’s been on my mind….a lot.  I have the best mom in the world who lives 20 minutes away and will watch Rylee at the drop of a hat….but I can’t expect her to live her life around my schedule.  As wonderful as that sounds.  Sometimes I just feel like I need ONE MORE DAY.  One more day in the week devoted solely to “catching up”.  To answer all my emails, to tie up loose ends, to clean the house!  Common ideal world, where are you hiding?  Anyway, I’ll keep you posted as I wrestle with the idea of a sitter and chime in if you have any thoughts or experience or “there, there’s”.

All this busy talk is reminding me of this post Anna of In Honor of Design wrote a bit ago about how she has committed to going to bed at the same time as her husband, every night.  For some reason, it keeps popping in my head and convicting me of my own unhealthy sleep habits.  I can’t remember the last time Sam and I went to bed at the same time.  Shamefully, it was probably pre-baby.  I am realizing I am opening myself up to some judgement here….but it’s the honest truth.  We still love each other, we just don’t fall asleep at the same time.  But I wish that wasn’t the case.  My “work time” is the 5 hours after Rylee goes to sleep for the night.  It’s when I feel most creative, and really, the only time I have to focus, distraction free.  Sam wakes up at an ungodly hour so he’s always in bed by 9:30…..so you can see the dilemma here.  But it can’t be this way forever, can it?  Well, it shouldn’t.  I do think having a sitter for a few hours a couple days a week would help in this regard, but I’m also challenged to just “let it go” sometimes.  To leave my to-do list for the next day (however scary that might be) and snuggle in with my hubby more often.  I also loved Jodi’s post on the topic of time efficiency as well.  I guess a lot of us are dealing with the same struggles!

Photos by Erica