Favorite of the month: November

My last post this month...It was a good month. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but I'm okay with that. Who really gets everything done anyway?!

I thought the light was really pretty this month. (You think it's funny of me to notice? That's okay.) I don't know why I never noticed it before. It just struck me as particularly pretty most days. Even though everything has been bare and brown, the light has brought it all to life, glowing or sparkling or shining prettily. I noticed that this month.

I came across this picture just today as I was searching for the picture I thought I would be using. I saw this one and just fell in love. I couldn't help myself! Look at the expression on his face! He looks so happy, so carefree. It makes me want to jump in there with him. (Plus, it shows off that beautiful light I was talking about.)

Just Because: Jason and Debra + girls

These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving (just to clarify for my American readers - Canadian Thanksgiving). It was a little chilly, but the lighting was great! We used their backyard which was perfect - wouldn't you like a forest in your backyard? I would!

In addition to family pictures, they wanted some pictures that would be suitable as replacements for the girls' school pictures. So one at a time, each of the girls ran out into the yard with me - no jacket - and I quickly snapped a few pictures before their smiles froze. Then they had to do it all over again for the family pictures. They were troopers. All of them:) Fun and easy to work with... what more can I ask for? Thanks, guys!

Here's a few of my favorites.

This one was taken especially for the one making the rabbit ears - love it:

Aren't they sweet?

smiling in the dark

I like to be on time and I like things to be "just right". I'm not crazy about it or anything, but it bugs me when these things don't work out.

The other night I was bugged.

Long story short - I was missing a vital piece for a project I'd wanted to finish. I had picked up a substitute that I thought I could live with, but as it turned out I couldn't. It wasn't "right". I was stressing over how I could now fit this setback into my schedule when I looked over at Jonny and an idea formed.

"Will you be downtown tomorrow?" I asked.

Without turning his gaze from the television he said, "I wasn't planning on it."

I kind of tested the waters with him a little more, but he wasn't biting. So I told myself I would just have to finish this later than I'd planned and deal with it.

Later, as we were lying in bed, he said "I can get those for you tomorrow." I turned and looked at him in the dark and smiled.

He knows I like to be on time. He knows I like things to be "just right". I felt so loved by that offer. I laid in the dark, thinking about how good I've got it while he rolled over and went to sleep.

Tim & Nicole: part 2

I had hoped to post this last week, but the cold/flu season is here and making its rounds throughout my house. Last week was my turn and while I am still dragging myself around, I am feeling a whole lot better than I did.

Anyway, here's some more on Tim and Nicole's wedding. (If you missed part 1, just scroll down a little.)

We started the day at Nicole's sister's house while the girls got ready. From there, we went to Whiskey Dix to meet the guys and wandered the Exchange District a little (you can find a small sampling of these in part 1). On our way out of the city, we stopped by some railroad tracks, paid a visit to A Maze in Corn and then family pictures and a few minutes of down time at Tim's parents' place before heading out to Niverville for the ceremony. Busy, yes. But oh so much fun!

I couldn't resist this:

music + art = good time

I'm headed to the winnipeg art gallery tomorrow afternoon for a winnipeg jazz orchestra concert featuring my sister! She's singing with a trio as part of the wjo's big band series. It's going to be fabulous! I love big band music and I love my sister - total win/win. There is a show in the evening too, so if you can't get tickets for one, maybe you can for the other. And you totally should get tickets, because, like I already said, it's going to be fabulous!

I took these head shots of her for this express purpose. It was rather impromptu. She was over for a birthday party and we left the group for a few minutes to quickly shoot these off. The pictures are a little unlike me - a little more formal than I usually am, but I figured that's what the wjo would want, so that's what I went for. (Sometimes you gotta go with the flow.)

Tim & Nicole: part 1

There was love in his look. Every time he looked at his bride his face shone with love. I loved it. I loved seeing her excitement as she waited to get ready. I loved it that she was so preoccupied with seeing him that she forgot all of our pre-laid plans. I loved it! I could've photographed their love all day... of course, I very nearly did.

At our first meeting, Nicole told me she wanted a focus on the pictures. She had already planned on using most of the day for picture taking with 4 different locations in mind, not including the ceremony and reception. LOVED it! LOVED her! Tim even threw in a suggestion for a location - which could be my favorite of the day. LOVED him!

I've broken this post into two parts because I had so many picture to share. So without any further "love"-ing, here's part 1:

Happy November!

Ahhh... November. I woke up Sunday morning feeling like I had a clean slate. Like this was the month for me to start again. October felt like some kind of crazy. Seriously. Towards the end, I thought I was going to go nuts. This is the month to fix that. This month I'm going to be organized and calm and not get all crazy when things are out of my control. I'm going to catch up on all the things October made me fall behind in. I'm going to get a head start on all the things that will need to be done next month. That was the attitude that I awoke to Sunday morning and it's Tuesday now and I'm still feeling pretty good.

So, to get started on my "catching up", I'm going to share this post with you that I wanted to do last week.

It was my son's class halloween party last week. Now, my son is a little bit reserved in large groups. He's quiet and keeps to himself and he's comfortable that way. And yet, he went dressed to this party as Elvis.

That's right - "the king". Uh hunh.

White and gold jumpsuit, cool shades, silk scarf - he was the best looking little Elvis I've ever seen. But I think he felt a little conspicuous on the playground. I mean, a white and gold bell bottomed jumpsuit kinda jumps out at you, y'know? He didn't quite know what to do when a couple of older girls came over the check out the little Elvis. And I saw him look around for an escape route when they came back with some more friends. But he survived. More than that - I think he enjoyed it. He got to spend the morning in the spotlight.

Most of us can appreciate that when it comes our way - even the quiet ones.