What I love...

1. This smile. I just can't get enough of it. Fortunately, now that she has mastered all the skills needed, the smiles are available in abundance for an occasion such as: mom laughing, dad singing, feeding time, me walking by, life itself. Yeah, her smile is freely given. She never runs out of them. And I love her for that. (And worry not Grandmas, she is not walking yet. She just loves standing on her toes).


2. Cooking. One of my daily pleasures is creating tasty treats in the kitchen. I have made a few foods lately that are worth noting. First of all, this soup recipe is fantastic. It is a rustic, Tuscan bean soup that has a delicious smoky flavor because of the bacon used at the beginning. I found this recipe incredible, but I knew it was a keeper when Matt (a vocal antagonist of soups) made many comments about its deliciousity and even ate it for leftovers! My, oh, my! What a feat.

A second recipe I have stumbled upon is a little less fancy and not quite my style but oh so fun to make. It is called breath mint pie. I needed a dish to make for youth group girls coming over. It is basically an ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream (I used Breyers), Oreo cookies, and Junior Mints. It was a snap to make, and it delivered major flavor rewards! I was thinking this would actually be a great model for making other fun desserts. Basically you layer some crushed cookie on the bottom of a pan (I omitted the butter included in the recipe), follow up with ice cream, repeat those two layers, finish with some crushed cookies on top for decoration and finish with a coordinating candy. I can imagine ginger snap cookies with pumpkin or butter pecan ice cream and candy of choice, oreo cookies with coffee ice cream and candy, etc. Could be fun to experiment with.

3. Photography: My job as a school counselor is fulfilling for me. It also brings with it an enormous amount of grief and responsibility. Sometimes I wonder how I can keep doing it, and yet I know God has given me this responsibility, as long as I am able (i.e. time and mothering constraints). I have found photography is a really good balance to counseling. When I am behind a camera lens, I feel freedom and not responsibility. So this much I know is true: I must make time to be creative and indulge in photography. I also must continue my work as a counselor. Interestingly enough they need each other. The responsibility and freedom go hand-in-hand, and when I neglect either one I feel it.

I love the combination of food and photography. I follow this website where Jen photographs her breakfasts every morning and shares it with the web. I and thousands of others are hooked! Such a fun and simple concept.

Here are a few results of my recent moments of freedom. These first two are from some senior pictures I took of a friend.

Here are some of my favorite shots taken over that last 2 years here on the West Coast. I love the silhouettes and bright colors, bold contrasts. Enjoy all, and have a great week!