2012

in a few hours we're going to be spending our evening with some close friends and their kids, having a low-key night in. husband's getting ready and i'm trying to get some last-minute work done. :) i don't know how you feel about new year's, but there's something so refreshing about it on my end, every time.

the main theme that i can't get out of my head going into the new year is gratitude. we are so blessed. i'm thankful for my husband who loves and cares for me in a different way than i ever knew before. i love the conversations we have and also how much time we spend laughing together. he is an amazing partner. i never saw him coming but i'm certainly glad that he did. :)

i'm thankful for my baby nieces who were born yesterday. they're so itty bitty and definitely premature BUT amazing things are happening and they are doing much better than even the doctors expected. i haven't seen them in person yet but i'm absolutely in love with them already.

i'm thankful for the things that have happened this past year that have been hard. the challenges have grown me in profound ways.

i'm thankful for this job that has continued to be what i need.

i'm thankful for breath and life and future and hope.

happy new year. :) blessings.

happy almost new year merry christmas late.

yes, what the subject line said.

;)

we had a lovely, lovely christmas and from those days i'll be sure and post a few pictures here, soon. it was quiet and loud, simple and complicated, so what we needed and also absolutely what we wanted. all of the above. in this week between christmas and new year's i am still eating like it's going out of style because we have so many killer leftovers overflowing our fridge, which i love. i just won't love it when i can no longer button my jeans. hah. needless to say, we are definitely enjoying this time of year. hope you and yours had a wonderful christmas celebration, too.

a few weeks prior to christmas, a wonderful and regular client of mine called and wondered if we could do a family shoot at the local christmas tree farm. i said YES, absolutely, sounds like a fabulous idea. we got a beautiful sunny morning and a happy little lady, all in all it was a great shoot. take a peek at some of the results:

















nick, nicole, and addison- as always, it's a joy and my pleasure to spend time with you guys! thanks for another great family shoot. :)

all is calm, all is bright.

... just kidding. you might've thought little ellis would've been in the holiday spirit but he wasn't quite in the mood to chill by the fireside while i snapped away... oh no, he made us work for it. :) exhibit a:



perhaps it was this particular chair and he knew yellow was not his color?! REGARDLESS. he is darling and precious and his parents and i had a great time setting him up for these shots in and around their home. take a look and see-














melt my heart! thank you so much for the opportunity to get to know you all and capture your sweet little boy. :) he's just adorable.

runaway!

candid moments like these are the most fun to capture during a photoshoot! check out that little escape artist. :)

home is wherever i'm with you.

literally, i am so glad to be back in our house.

this past season has been a whirling dervish of change and transition and WORK. i promise you, i'm not complaining, just explaining... chaos has been the name of the game. whether it's a busier-than-normal fall work season (thanks everyone!) or unexpected real-world stressors where we as a couple (who are definitely not "spring chickens", ha) have had to grow up in new and interesting ways, or extended family pieces we've needed to attend to... there's barely been time for us to learn how to now be a we not to mention us to make this former bachelor pad something home-y. i look around and it definitely reminds me of many moons ago when i first stepped in to j's world and it feels almost foreign to call it "mine"- it definitely doesn't match up with the "mine" i have in my mind. :)

this week promises another work trip (one last one for 2011!) and then i'm firmly rooted... at least for 3 weeks. :) that will be the longest stretch we've had of uninterrupted anything since saying "i do" and WE CAN'T WAIT. first order of business: going to pick out paint colors and find things that are still packed in boxes (do i even remember what i've been missing?!) next, catch up with folks we love and decorate our second christmas tree (first, married). we will just rest (mentally/emotionally) and it will be grand.

today's batch of photos are shots that speak home and this christmas season to me. a contented rest, a peaceful place to land. enjoy.





















happiest monday!
with love,
n