I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | Hearts

Shea and I have a goofy tradition of grabbing a photo of the two of us together when we see our reflection. Last Valentine's Day we went on a little bike ride, photo outing and found this mirror in a window. I love how the fence blocking us from getting closer is also reflected in the shot!

Do you have any goofy photo traditions?

Pop on over to IHeartFaces to see some amazing heart images! And if you clicked over from IHF, thanks for stopping by!

Let Summer Begin

Today is the last day of school for this guy. Now he can put away his mean teacher face!

Which means we're thinking about a little bit of this.

And more time tending these.

And perhaps a nap or two.

I'm ready for summer. How about you?

15 Years Ago Today

15 years ago today was my very first date with Mr. Kennedy. Valentine's Day happened to be on a Saturday. We'd run into each other at the gym the week before. He remembered me from high school. I didn't recognize him at first.

He was the boy I always thought about when other boys treated me badly. I'd known him since we were 13 years old. We'd spent one week "going together," which at 13 doesn't mean much. I tired of him and his smelly 13 year old ways.

I always thought about him. With friends we'd joke, "should have stuck with Shea" every time I was jilted. Later I would discover he was checking up with my friends to see how I was.

I had no idea.

I love how life sometimes leads you to the decisions you need to make.

We met again at a gym. I was on the stair-master. We were both a little bored having moved back to our home town after college. Later, I called him. It felt too strange not to. He showed up at my house with a pink carnation. My least favorite flower. I made a gross dessert. He ate it anyway.

And after those 13  or so years of making the wrong decisions about boys. I made the right one.

Happy Valentine's Day Mr. Kennedy.

Don't Forget The Snapshots

Remember your childhood photos? The ones with all of the stuff in the background, the toys you loved, bikes you rode, pots and pans your family used? Maybe heads were cut off. Maybe things weren't in focus. You love them though. And if you've suffered the misfortune of losing those treasured childhood photos, you know exactly how valuable they are.

So as I continue to focus on what I love, I've decided to capture some snapshots as well. Just the everyday. Not amazing photographically, but amazing in the details of our lives.

50mm | ISO 800 | f/2.0 | ss 1/50

This is such a familiar scene. In my office in the late evening, right before the bedtime routine begins. Ian and Shea watching a Netflix movie on the laptop. Perched in the chair that was rejected from the living room last year. In the background the boxes of  unused craft supplies. Somehow I can't get rid of them. The bookcase overflowing with training and development books from my day job. Books I'm slowly purging. Shea with a beer in his hand, one he carefully crafted in our hall closet. Ian holding his new cork gun (a completely different story behind that).

Look even closer, you'll see my gardening basket given to me by my mom. The window covering? Still the paper ones used to cover our living room windows after our newly installed shades had to be returned. I just couldn't bear to see them throw perfectly good paper out, so they were a makeshift temporary solution in my office. And yes, temporary can be two years!

This is our life. This is what drew me to photography in the first place. This is why I continue.

What snapshots do you need to capture? What is it that you love in yours?

Should This Be My Photo Of The Day?

50mm | ISO 1000 | f/2.8 | ss 1/1000

I could number the flaws in this photo -- focus,  ISO too high, and on and on. I selected it for a very simple reason. THIS is our life. This is the crazy running, monster games played when preschoolers are released to the playground, precisely the moment we arrive for Ian. This is what happens when the girls see Shea, KNOWING he'll run with them, play with them, and talk to them. This is MY SON with his blanket in hand running to keep up with dad, matching his stride. You can feel the smiles on their faces, even if you can't see them. 

So many reasons not to be a photo of the day, but so many more important reasons to treasure this photo for a very long time.

Do you have photos that shouldn't be your photos of the day, but you can't refuse? Link us up!

Don't Be Fooled By Bad Light!

50mm | ISO 800 | f/2.2 | ss 1/60

The chopped veggies ready to go in the oven for roasting, looked too good to pass up. My husband set the pan down on the stove, turned the overhead light on and said, shoot.

I said, no, bad idea. Sure, the light bulb provides light we can see by. But it is ugly light. Not natural. Funky color cast. No good.

I pointed to the laundry room. He got a nervous, "are you telling me to do the wash" look.

Set it on the washing machine, I said.

I was eyeing the side light from the window. Natural light even on a grey day. Enough to get my shutter speed fast enough without bumping my ISO too high.

Captured. The laundry? Still left for him to do tomorrow. For the record, he knows better than using bad light, silly boy.

Do you have an unusual spot where you find the best light?

Week 1: An "I Heart Faces" Photo Challenge

I love the i heart faces photo challenges! Always great to challenge my creative limits! I had a lot of fun with this week's challenge celebrating their one year birthday!

And the fine print:

I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of this website.