tiff

To Hang Out With a Fella Like This...Oh Lucky Day!

 

   

Little Boys Always Make A Day More Interesting!

 

 

These Beauties are Sugar and Spice!

 

 

   

 

I was truly delighted to have the chance to chase these fairies through the forest.  When you bring kids to Mercer they are enchanted with the surroundings.  They forget that they are having their picture taken and they just breathe in the fresh spring air and frolic in grass and skip down pathways that lead to charming little spots to rest and take in the beauty of our world.  It was so fun seeing how different these sisters were and how playful they are with each other.  Makes me want to hold hands with a sister and then chase her through a labyrinth and probably pinch her when I catch her...softly of course!

I'm Certain There Are Angels Among Us...I Saw One Today!

Here's the deal, I think when you decide you want to take photographs of people you better not just think you are going to point and click like the Sears Portrait Studio.  No you have to go deeper than that so I'd like to say I am a "soul catcher" not a photographer.  The most wonderful pictures I have taken have been pictures that resulted from me engaging and laughing and connecting with the people in the pictures.  We spend an hour together and we get to know each other.  We always have something in common and I get to tell all the goofy humiliating things about myself.  It is in this way that they let me in.  That I get to see not only their smile, but see their soul.  I love drama in photos and the only way to get that is to become part of their world for that hour.  Yes, it may just be a "single-serving" friendship, but I always have the photographs to remember the person and know I made them smile and to delight in the fact that they let me get that close.

 

 

  

 

Plain old every day beauty...

 

   

  

To a T is up and running!

http://mulberrydreams.typepad.com/toat

 

or look for this icon in the sidebar!

Upside up or upside down...you decide!

As Mothers, we spend much of our time yearning for things to be perfectly in place and "just so",  but what if you sat back and let the winds howl and didn't take shelter from the every day madness that is your life?  You just laugh in the face of the storm and toss your umbrella...how alive that might make you feel!  So here's to keeping your upside up, even when your umbrella is upside down!

 

Bought this vintage umbrella for $5 at the flea market.  It makes me dream of, and wish for, rain.

Pretty is as Pretty does!

  

  

 

This brown eyed girl came over last night about 8:30 needing a quick headshot for a pageant she is entering.  Now as a photographer, this is a dilemma.  It was dark so I would have to use overhead lights (yuck) and my external flash (which helped).  But as you can see, it doesn't matter what the conditions are this beauty can't take a bad picture!  The real kicker is she's got a pretty heart to match those pretty eyes! 

I Fell Hard For This One!

I have said before that the reason I love photography is the connection to people who make me see the beauty in their life!  It's a gift they give me without even trying!  I got a major  "crush" on this family.  I just wanted them to put me in the van at the end of the shoot and call me "Auntie Tiff".  The dear senile Aunt that likes her feet massaged, talks alot, and needs Starbucks and wine in massive quantities. 

These guys are just easy, and it is that ease with one another that makes an outsider feel she's known them all her life.    Looking at their pictures kind of pulls hard on my heart strings.  Dad is now in California and these were the last pictures they took before he left.  The Daddy in our house was called out West about 3 years ago and ended up in California for about six months, so I know this feeling all too well.  The spring days will come and go and before you know it there he'll be...home.  So until then, you will miss him, and laugh when you talk about him so you don't lose it, and write him letters, and it'll almost be enough.  So you'll hold on and before you know it, it's spring again!

 

 

 

 

Graceful Bend on the market!

 

 

 

 

These are pictures of our home that is for sale.  I adore my house and can honestly say I am so happy for whomever ends up living in it because I know it will bring them many happy memories.  I am certain the right family is going to be as crazy about it as we are!

What's in your box of attachments?

My adorably sentimental friend Crystal spotted this box at the flea market and bought it to put her special somethins in.  It's actually on old sewing attachments box, but how perfect to have something like this sitting on your shelf to remind you of what you hold dear in your world.  As we are selling our house, attachments are definitely on my mind.  I am happy to report that as much as I cherish my home, I'm not having a hard time letting it go.  I'm just old enough to know what to hold tight to and it's not material things.  Do I like my BMW, Tiffany jewelry, and my one little Louis Vitton purse?  you better know it!  But I have grown enough to know that my heart is not rooted in a building or a car or a job, etc ....  My roots are my family, friends, and God and those are things that would never let me go even if I tried!

 

A Change Is Coming...

This month,

worries fall like dominoes

palms stretch to the sun

and days slowly come undone

 

My Life Rests in the Hands of Mickey Rourke and Dr. Phil...

"You can't eat it, you can't ***** it, and it won't get you into heaven."  Mickey Rourke said this to Barbara Walters when she asked what it would mean to him to win the oscar for best actor.  His response was so profound!  In fact it rang so true in my heart that I decided to make it my new mantra for life.  I am using this quote as my measuring stick for what should be important in my life.  I am making one small change... the ***** will become "it can't love you back" or something like that!  You might be thinking that Mickey Rourke is an odd fellow to take advice from but to the contrary I think he is the perfect man to hand out wisdom.  Sometimes we perch ourselves high on our pedestal and look down at all the mess others are making of their lives and we forget to look at our own heart for the messes we are inflicing upon ourselves and others.  Mr. Rourke is a man who has looked inward and admitted mistakes and it is that type of reflection that gives a person the wisdom the rest of ous need!  Now on to the second man that has been working on my mind this week (and Lord knows my mind needs the work) Dr. Phil said "you won't always make the right decisions but you should always try to make the decision right".  The more second nature it becomes to feel remorse and say sorry and try to make things right, the better you will sleep at night.  I have learned that if I take the steps to fix the things I mess up, even to no avail, I can forgive myself and move forward.  However, if I cause a problem and just high tail it out of the situation and leave it for someone else to worry about it lingers in my soul and punishes me in small ways forever!  So be at peace today with these two thoughts.  It really does simplify some of the harder choices in life if you put them to the Mickey/Phil litmus test!