A first for me

I’m so happy to show you my first ever baby shoot. I got the official OK from the momma to show the pictures when she came over a couple weeks ago to get the pictures and with the holidays and G-man being here, I just haven’t had a chance to show them…until now.

Even though she’s my friend and she was gracious enough to let me practice on her kids, it was still intimidating to do. I have a lot to learn but I can’t wait to keep learning and improve.

We started out outside where she had beautiful leaves covering the ground.


A little shy at first but he slowly began to come around.




One thing she said she wanted was a close up black and white. I’m hoping I obliged her.

He’s a serious little baby. Only garnering a few smiles from time to time but he was a cutie putting up with me and momma as we did our best to get him to smile.


I can’t go without mentioning his sister. She is a beautiful, equally serious little girl who loved taking part of picture taking running over to my camera to see it after it was taken.

We moved inside to get some pictures with the Christmas tree and I just love her expression. I think it epitomizes all older kids reactions to their little brothers or sisters.




There’s that smile!

But with all good things…they must come to an end. This solidified him being done.


I loved doing these and though I’m not sure I’m meant to be a baby photographer, I enjoyed getting to experience this opportunity.

I did get to do my very first family photo shoot with my sister and her beautiful family over Christmas. Those will be up some time next week since I haven’t had a chance to sit down and edit them, not to mention let me sister see them. I’m such a mean sister but they’ll be coming soon enough, promise!

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Hooray for English speakers

Since I’ve been reminiscing about last Christmas and New Years in Europe, I figure I should finish off our trip, which ended in England.

The moment we boarded the train to take from Paris to London, we cheered. And the moment we stepped off onto English soil, aka the train station platform, we cheered some more declaring how happy we were to be in an English speaking country.
this truly conveys our happiness to be in London.


In Paris’s {small} defense…thanks to Tabitha, who happened to be in Paris the exact same time we were!! (that’s just crazy!), she filled me in that they had a terrorist threat New Years Eve night so they canceled the scheduled fireworks.

OK, I forgive them then…

We had 1 full day in London before going up into the New Castle area to stay with friends, but the night before, a certain someone got really bad food poisoning and we never left the room that whole next day.

This isn’t to say I wasn’t pushed, encouraged and darn near yelled at to go and explore on my own, but I did not want to go by myself. To this day, he gives me a hard time about it but I just didn’t want to go see everything by myself or be alone…or truly…get lost.

Ladies, would you please tell me this is ok?! Would you do the same? Opt to go out on your own, seeing all the sights while your man is laid up feeling the worst of the worst? Or would you want to stay in the room and hangout with him even though it meant missing out on the only day in London???

Thankfully, before dinner that night, we bought an international battery charger for my camera ($85 *choke) and I was back up and running using my sweet camera.

Since we both were still feeling sick, me from Paris and he from the food, once we got to our friends’ house we didn’t want to do anything but sit around. Eventually, they took us into New Castle and though it was freezing (to us), it was nothing short of beautiful.








You may remember {those who’ve been with me from the start} this used to be my blog banner.

Our friends, were nothing short of perfect as hosts, taking great care of us the entire time. Driving us around, showing us Alnwick Castle. The original Harry Potter movie castle, to be exact.


Taking us to an amazing amazing restaurant that is in a tree. A tree house restaurant. It. was. beautiful. The food was delicious too.

Toward the end of our stay, they took us into Seahouses to see the Bamburgh Castle. It was breathtaking.

…and positively freezing. I’m pretty sure I was shivering the entire time I was in England. The entire time!

We got back to London for one last day before making our flight back home, but at that point we were done with the whole trip and never left the hotel. We’re lame, its ok, you can say it.

We splurged on 1st class for our flight back to San Francisco and boy oh boy it was luxury at its finest having our seats fold down into a bed. Where the flight attendants make our ‘beds’ for us. Unlimited everything. Treated like celebrities and actually, “Carrie” from Days of Our Lives was in 1st class with her family. Yup, we felt cool.

The whole trip, I never used my flat iron. My beloved flat iron since I didn’t have an adapter. I attempted it in Rome..it failed. I attempted it in Paris…I made the outlet spark in the wall. I didn’t even bother in England, but once I got in the hotel room in San Francisco I ran into the bathroom and plugged it in.

I was nervous not sure what it would do, so I grabbed a towel, wrapped my hand in it and flicked the switch.

It burst into flames.

It was such a sad day as I laid my beloved flat iron to rest. But a wonderful trip that I would do again and again, even if I couldn’t use my flat iron again.

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New year of thanks

Happy 2012 to everyone. I’m wondering if me writing 2012 will come easier than 2011. I caught myself still writing 2010 in October. I apparently hadn’t come to terms with it yet. Anyone else have that problem?

I did the coolest thing Saturday night right before the clock struck 12. We didn’t have the tv on any countdown shows but instead watched the clock on my phone at 11:59, and after awhile of watching it, I started counting down from 10 and right after I said 1, it changed to 12!

We were so excited. I realize that might be a boring story but we thought it was the coolest that I was spot on.

We spent the first day of the year watching football. All. Day. Long. Were you aware it was on all day long??? It was… I’m just happy the Raiders lost.

That is all.

This new year, new week, I’m thankful for:

- all this time with my love. I can’t get enough of this guy. Its been so so so nice having his company this past week. I’m loving every minute of him being here.
- a wonderful Christmas and New Year season.
- time with almost all my family. We had everyone but my other brother together. I finally got to see my new niece who’s 6 months old and she is so precious. So so precious.
just woke up from a nap on Oma


- my other niece who I haven’t seen in a long long time being excited to see me. There’s nothing like being nervous they’ll forget their Auntie. When I walked in the room, her face lit up and she ran over to hug me. That seriously made me so happy.


- a Terminator-athon with G-man. Every night for the past 4 nights, we’ve watched a Terminator movie. I highly recommend doing this. Everything all makes sense when you watch them in a row. It answered so many questions we had about them.

- knowing I have 1 more week with G-man.

- seeing a crazy dangerous teenage driver speeding and weaving in and out of traffic on the freeway. Then seeing him 1 1/2 hours later pulled over by a cop in town. Seriously, what are the odds of seeing him again in town…and pulled over??! We were happy to see him pulled over.

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful weekend. We went out to eat super early to avoid all the crazies and couldn’t believe how erratic everyone was driving on our way home, at 6:30. I was so relieved when we got home without issues. What is it with New Years Eve that makes people think they can drive like maniacs? Don’t they know cops are all over the place??

I digress.

Happy start to the New Year to you!

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Paris is love…or so they say

What girl doesn’t want to go to Paris? Especially on New Years?! Because I’m a girl, because it was New Years and because its Paris, I convinced G-man to stay a total of 4 days The 2nd longest stay of our 4 stops.



This would prove to be a horrible decision.

The moment I sat on the plane in Italy, I began to sneeze. and sneeze. and sneeze. Within minutes, my sinuses were so clogged I couldn’t breathe through my nose. My head began to pound and I felt terrible.

It helped {heavy sarcasm} that the plane had no running water in the lavatory…or no sink for that matter. So there was no way I could wash my hands before or after using the {what they thought was probably clean enough} lavatory.

It was a middle eastern plane… ‘nuff said.

I’m probably going to get ostracized for saying I didn’t like Paris. But I just can’t lie. I didn’t like it but a tiiiiiiiiiny bit.

It didn’t help that I was really sick the whole time. And I’m sure it didn’t help that it was frickin’ freezing either. And I’m sure it didn’t help the fact that our maid…our maid was the rudest person I’d ever come across ever, treating us like scum. Or that it was so cold, my camera battery died on the first day there and I didn’t have a charger or replacement. Or the fact that all the food was horrible. {there were a lot of factors..}
me at breakfast…after a horrible “American” breakfast

But, we saw the sights. Though not a lot. I slept… a lot. Like, a lot! One day, I fell asleep at 2pm, G-man woke me up at 8 to give me food, then I slept again until morning. It was bad.




We took all the stairs to the rooftop where it was bitterly freezing and me sick without my hat…


Midway point on the Eiffel Tower. It was so cold on the top they issued a frost bite warning and closed it off.


By the last full day, we were seriously debating eating the hotel bill and leaving a day early to spend New Years Eve in London. I was pushing hard for this. Eating all my words for having us stay in Paris so long, but G-man did his research and said Paris was supposed to have one of the best New Years fireworks in the world. So we stayed…
…and this is all we got.


It sparkled at 12am. …just like it did at 11pm. ..just like it did at 10pm… just like it did every hour on the hour leading up to the New Year and all the days after New Year.

There were no fireworks. There was no countdown. There was no announcement. It sparkled and then it stopped.

worst. new years. ever.

At that point, we looked at each other and laughed. It solidified our entire Paris trip, ending in the biggest let down possible. When we found out London had some of the best fireworks that night, we could only laugh more.

I’m not sure we’ll ever see Paris again.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful and SAFE New Years. Let’s all make it home safely if you’re going out.

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Roma Roma Roma

I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying this little trip down memory lane. Going through pictures of what I was doing this time exactly a year ago, its fun. Its weird thinking I was there.

I find I catch myself saying (to myself) that I don’t really travel or get out much. And then I quickly remember this trip and all the trips to HI and though it sounds conceited, I don’t mean it that way. Its just easy to forget all the places I’ve seen and dwell on the ‘never leave the house’ days, sometimes.

We went to view the Sistine Chapel..and did you know you can’t take pictures inside? Nor can you speak. They’re very hush hush in there. I’m not quite sure why, but they constantly ‘shush’ you and yell out no pictures. So everyone walks around whispering to each other and when the whispering gets louder and everyone starts talking to be heard over the whispering, they shush us all again.

Another thing everyone was doing was take pictures. Did you know you can take just as good a picture from your waist as you would from your face?


How can I be in the Sistine Chapel and not take pictures?! I’m sorry Rome, this is just one rule I can’t abide by.




We loved it there. Absolutely loved it.

On our very last day there, I was able to persuade the owner of our hotel to watch our bags as we jetted out to see the last of the city, before our driver arrived.

In a flurry we walked through the Bocca Della Verita, where Audrey Hepburn went for ‘Roman Holiday.’ Can you tell, I love that movie? …and where we were yelled at {in Italian} by the person in charge of the church for being in an “off limits” area {that we weren’t aware of.}


We took a quick trip to the top of a museum to see all of Rome. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous view.




Finally resting back in front of the Coliseum before heading back to our hotel where the owner was none to pleased with us for being gone so long.


Within minutes of us returning, the crazy Italian driver arrived, packed our bags in the back and whisked us to the airport bound for Paris.

What I didn’t know the moment I stepped onto the plane was it was going to be the worst leg of our trip…

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When in Rome

It goes without saying that you always get the best weather on the last day of your trip. And that’s what happened when we were in Rome. We were prepared for cold, but going when Europe had the worst winter they’d seen in over 100 years, might not have been the best choice.

But the last day was ‘warm’ and it was beautiful.

Our goal while there was to be gone from the hotel as long as humanly possible. We succeeded. Out by 8:30-9am and wouldn’t return until 9pm that night, every day. We were exhausted, but were loving every single minute of being out and about Rome.

We set out for Vatican City our first day, spending hours walking around St. Peter’s Basilica.

Moving onto the Spanish Steps where Audrey Hepburn got a gelato in one of my favorite movies, ‘Roman Holiday’ and finished our hours of walking at the Trevi Fountain.

We stayed in a little tiny hotel that was one block from The Coliseum and the next day it was on our to do list. That day made it the coldest day in Rome while there, and we were outside the entire time. To say we both were freezing is an understatement.

It was an amazing site to see. I’m dying to go during the Spring so I can actually walk below, through all the tunnels. Its closed off during the Winter due to all the moisture. I was so disappointed when I found this out, as it was one of the main things I wanted to do.

Has anyone had the chance to walk below through the tunnels?

Can we acknowledge the fact that the very very top of the Coliseum is where all the women had to sit? Talk about the true meaning of nose bleed seats.

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I’m thankful for 45

Oh my goodness, its over!! But why?! Don’t you hate that it lasts just the one day? I know there’s a lot of people who are relieved its over. All the stress of planning, cooking, wrapping, decorating. I’m sure many are saying good riddance, but I love it all.

Even though I stressed a bit over the gifts, I still loved every minute of this Christmas season. L-O-V-E-D

So this day after Christmas, I’m thankful for:
- G-man arriving safely into San Francisco and me not having to pick him up when he landed. I’m sorry, he arrived very early. It would have been painful.
- the hotel shuttle getting him at the ungodly hour. {I was awake, for the record}
- a more than fantastic time with G-man in San Francisco. It was truly beautiful weather. Warm even. …to a point.


- all the wonderful Christmas cards and love from friends, family and blog family. You all are the best.
- a wonderful weekend with my family.
- spending Christmas with my parents. I love them dearly. So so dearly.
- getting the honor of photographing my sister’s family. Can’t wait to show you those when things are all said and done.
- God. God, God, God. He has blessed me more than I deserve. I whine and stress and He delivers. I give him 2 options and He leads me toward 1. He is my Savior and He will never leave me.
- God giving me G-man. I’m so in love with this man its ridiculous.

Let me ask you. How long do you keep your decorations up? I’m in love with mine and hate the idea of taking it all down and having everything look blank once its all put away. I’ve been known to keep it up till mid January.

So, when do you take yours down? How was your Christmas, too!?

I’ll be a little absent around blog world since I’m still with the fam, so you’ll have to tell me how it went.

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