Sunday

Sorry this weekend's posts are so short on words, it was truly a whirlwind weekend. Saturday morning we set off at 9:45 to visit friends in North Vancouver for a scrumptious brunch (homemade cinnamon buns and fruit salad, yum!), took the dogs to Ambleside park, where we struggled to get our dog out of the water once she was in. The shore was lined with people throwing sticks in the water for their dogs. Seriously, the sticks never stopped flying. Our dog loves to swim out to fetch sticks, but doesn't actually return them. Because she's older, I started to get worried that she'd tire herself out quickly. She just swam back and forth fetching sticks, not a care in the world that we were losing our sh*$ calling her repeatedly from the shore. At one point I felt like shouting to all of the dog owners, "Can everyone please, for the love of god, stop throwing sticks for 5 minutes!!" My hubs eventually had to walk in the water in his sneakers to retrieve her. I am pretty sure he wasn't thrilled with my, "hey, let's let her off her leash for a bit" comment 45 minutes earlier. We drove home and after a half hour at home,  dashed off for a bbq with friends that didn't see us getting home until 11. I wish I had brought my camera because it was such a gorgeous night. The patio was lit up with lanterns  - it was such a pretty setting. This morning I had yoga from 9-11, in which a girl asked if I was having twins. "Just big," I smiled. Sigh. After yoga, we drove out to Aldergrove for my nephew's birthday bash . It was pretty funny, his cake had a tyrannosaurus rex on it and every kid at the party, all 15 of them, wanted a piece of cake with the T-rex head on it. Note to parents, buy plainly iced cakes. One the way home we visited the in-laws. In spite of it being a whirlwind weekend, one thing is for sure, I definitely felt so lucky to see so many faces I just love. I read a very moving post on a woman's blog this week that I think will make you think about how precious time is. I know since reading it I try to live presently with those I love and make sure I'm soaking in our time together and giving them my full attention. In Jennie's Kitchen, a blog filled with delicious recipes, suddenly took a terribly sad turn when her husband unexpectedly died of a heart attack a few weeks ago leaving her suddenly alone to raise their young daughters. Her simple words of "Looking for you, I was" brings me to tears. read this watch this

Saturday

the 25 week mark - a private moment

I felt like writing a few things down about what life is like at this stage of pregnancy. I definitely do not feel attractive, I feel like an apple waddling around on a pair of toothpicks. But that being said, I feel like my body is beautiful. Not in the sense that construction workers are going to be whistling as I waddle by, not that kind of beautiful. I just feel such awe in the transformations of the body. I can't believe the roundness of my belly and am fascinated to watch it as the little baby kicks inside. You can actually see sudden jumps in the skin. This has definitely been my favourite part of the pregnancy so far. There is something so comforting about feeling them move around. I feel like it's these private moments that are so bonding. I have felt a bit overwhelmed lately thinking that someone carried me around for nine months and went through all the trials and tribulations of pregnancy. Someone loaned out their body to me when I was kicking inside and probably making them nauseous. I feel so thankful that this person very selflessly decided that I was better off in the hands of another family. For whatever personal reason, they couldn't raise me and instead of subjecting me to a life that they weren't prepared for, decided to let me end up in the arms of an amazing family who were excited and able to care for me. I will probably go my whole life never knowing them - I've tried to search, but have come up empty handed. After experiencing pregnancy first hand, with all of its ups and downs, I am more grateful than ever to such a selfless woman for giving me a healthy start in life.

showing love

 

When I have the time, I love to bake. There is something so hands on and relaxing about it. The best part is sharing it when it's done. Sometimes my favourite way to show love is to feed others.

seeing things through a new lens

This is my first shot with my new lens. As you can see, she was super excited to have her photo taken.

at the Templeton Diner

Tonight the hubs met me downtown for an early dinner at the funky Templeton Diner. I had a vegetarian BLT, organic greens and then split a chocolate shake with my love to wash that healthy line-up down. Seriously, a girl needs to live a little.  I was meeting up with a fellow after dinner to buy a camera lens via Craigslist and was nervous to meet up with a stranger with a wad of cash, so I brought the big guy. Let's face it, I wouldn't be able to run quickly after someone if they had nabbed the cash, I'd be in a full speed waddle. (Speedwalkers would laugh at my stride style. Yes, speedwalkers.) We met up and I pretended I knew what I was doing while I inspected the lens and took some test shots. A lot of eyebrow raising and umm hmmms as I looked it over. (It was a seriously awful performance on my part, but sometimes I like to pretend I know something about cameras.) I asked him what he shoots with and nodded politely at his response. (For all I know he could have randomly slapped together some numbers and letters - I had no idea what he was talking about. I'm really not a techy gal.) I'm so excited to have my first official camera lens. (In the past I've always shot with the standard lens that comes with the camera). I wanted a decent lens for taking portraits for when our have our little bambino home. I feel for this baby already. I just know they are going to think their momma's face is a camera lens.   

take me out to the ball game....

Happy Friday!

Happy weekend lovely people! I hope you have a beautiful fun filled weekend ahead of you. I just hit the 6 month mark of pregnancy and am feeling larger than life, you know, we're not talking venti-large, we're talking sumo large. Each phase of pregnancy has new "amazing" moments and new "no one warned me about this" kind of moments. It's an interesting balance. At this stage of development the baby is approximately 12 inches long and is well proportioned. I am loving all of the movement and kicking I feel at this point. At night my hubby will lean in, put his hands on my belly and talk to the baby. The baby reacts with some good swift kicks. It's pretty amazing. And to offset these little magical moments are night time charlie horses, projectile vomiting and a little bout of pregnancy hemorrhoids. All make for some sexy night time moments.  But they are all temporary phases that aren't experienced by everyone, just some examples of "surprises" I've come across. One of the best things about being pregnant is the community of women to lean on. I am so fortunate to work with so many young moms and expectant moms who have given me tips and shared in their experiences which help me get through those "what the $&#* is happening to my body" kind of moments. I wouldn't trade any of it in. It was a long and emotional road trying to get pregnant and I feel incredibly lucky to experience it all, the good and the bad, because there is nothing like it. The feeling that this little being is growing within you is beyond definition. I love the quiet moments when I am walking or sitting at work and can feel the baby change position or give a few kicks to remind me that we're in this together. Time to refill my sparkling ice water! :) Have a great night! 

jetstream

Mexican feather grass

I have this Mexican feather grass planted throughout my garden. I love how it catches the sun.

yesterday's 365 photo

I dyed my hair a new shade of red. I needed a change, and since clothes shopping isn't desirable with a rapidly increasing waistline, I wanted some kind of boost. Of course, when you tackle a new shade of red, there's always the fear of waking up looking like Ronald McDonald! 

overcoming fear

Do you know that expression "feel the fear and do it anyway?" Today I did a family photo shoot for a friend of a friend. I was a nervous wreck. There were eight of them and I wasn't used to posing larger groups of people. Before meeting up, I sat in my car in the parking lot, anxiously wondering if I was going to let them down. I definitely was questioning my abilities. But isn't that typical of fear? Once it settles in, we doubt ourselves and come up with a lot of reasons as to why we shouldn't do what we're about to do. It's way easier to stay in our little safe zone. But if there's one thing my husband and I always say, it's so much better to push yourself and be afraid then to never step up to the plate. It really is the only way to grow. I snapped the photo above while we were waiting for the others to show up. They were such a lovely family, I was so appreciative that they patiently let me move them to five different places around the park. Once the photo shoot was done and I saw that there were enough photos on the camera that I could deliver to them with confidence, I felt my whole demeanour change. Fear gave away to a new burst of energy, a new spring in my step and I felt proud that I had tackled my fear of letting them down. What's the last thing you did that scared you? 

traditions

This afternoon, after yoga class, my hubby created a batch of his delicious crepes. It's a little tradition in our house on Sundays that I absolutely love. Today was another amazing sunny afternoon so we got to dine al fresco which made the brunch even more delicious. Tomorrow I am shooting photos for a friend's friend. I'm a titch nervous, ok extremely nervous, because photography has always just been a hobby of mine and coming up with compositions for a family of eight feels a bit daunting. (I will know that things are out of control if I stack them in a family pyramid, like the beginning to Eight is Enough).  I scoped out the site with my husband today to get some photo ideas. While we were at the park, everywhere we turned there were families having picnics. They were playing soccer, bocce, laughing around barbecues, some were dancing - the park was packed with families from every kind of background. I can't wait to start up family traditions like that when our little baby is born. I love seeing families having so much fun together and setting aside time to simply enjoy with one another. Growing up, I remember amazing picnics in Stanley Park, spending weekends at our cabin at Mt. Baker or camping in the great outdoors. These little family traditions offer so much nostalgia and comfort when I look back at my childhood. Do you try to incorporate traditions into your family? I hope you had a great weekend! 

a postcard from Vancouver

Hi sweet readers. I definitely fell behind with blog posts this week. It's been one of those weeks where time has for photos and writing has been displaced by more important matters. My grandma and father were both in the hospital this week (both home and doing well now). There were also days tossed in where I'd come home from work, have dinner and fall asleep for 1-2 hours before bed due to nausea. So, photo-taking definitely took a backseat this week. Thank you for your patience! The photo above was taken from the seawall facing downtown Vancouver. I love this city but in the summer? Fuggedaboutit.  It is simply beyond spectacular. We had a free afternoon so we had lunch on the patio of Cardero's, overlooking the marina, walked around the seawall and enjoyed a delicious ice cream (ie. pregnancy staple) on our stroll back. At the end of the month I have two weeks off and am looking forward to spending it just exploring the lower mainland. I hate to use the word "stay-cation" because it is such a cheeseball term, but I find it hard to travel away from this beautiful city when it is lit up with sunshine.  Have you ever spent your vacation just being a tourist in your own town? I can't wait. Too often my time spent in Vancouver is simply for work and not enough just enjoying all of it's offerings. I'll be sure to post a lot of photos so you can see all of the lovely offerings this city has. xo

camera shy

I sure noticed this weekend how camera shy I truly am. I had a great dinner out with friends Friday night and had a house full of friends last night for my hubby's birthday and on both occasions, I was too shy to pull out the camera. I definitely feel more comfortable shooting animals and nature. I think that this is not only due to the fact that I am shy by nature, but also due to the fact that I don't want to be a nuisance and know how rarely people enjoy having their photo taken. But I really want to conquer this camera shy quality of mine because I think portrait photography is what people emotionally connect with the most. Do you gravitate towards photos of people the most? 

my latest crush

Friends of ours adopted this little sweet cat from the SPCA. I am head over heels in love with little Amelia.

my love's birthday

I rejoice the day he was born. He is my life's greatest treasure. He is an incredible husband and this year, I can't wait to see him shine in his new role as a father. He makes me swoon.

after the riots

Back in June, our beautiful city was catapulted into spotlight for all the wrong reasons thanks to a group of drunken hooligans who used our amazing Vancouver Canucks run for the Stanley cup as an excuse to destroy everything in their paths. We were in Hawaii the next morning and were in a state of shock and sadness seeing the bombardment of articles from Vancouver with endless photos of vandalism, looting, cars lit on fire - it didn't look like home at all. It looked like a war torn nation. I couldn't believe that something that had been so positive for the city - the Canucks pulling through round after exciting round to make it all the way to the final match up, cars decorated proudly with Canucks flags, friends planning events together to celebrate the journey - all to be destroyed on the final night by those who used the "mob mentality" as an excuse to just vandalize the city. Store owners terrified and passionately trying to defend their merchandise as hoards of people smashed their way in, ransacking their establishments and running proudly back into the streets to show off their stolen merchandise. The images were endless and completely disgusting. I also whole heartedly believe that the police should have been better prepared seeing as though we had been through this the last time the Canucks made it to the finals. We know history repeats itself and should have learned from last time. During that night, the whole city seemed wildly out of control. But today, seven weeks after the riot,  when I was walking around the sunny streets and saw this boarded up window at Chapters, filled with positive messages about our beautiful city - I was so moved. These are the real Vancouverites. This is what this city is all about. 

my furry daughters

I figure on days where I take a few photos, I'll divide them up between my 365 and the August Break, to keep things a little fresh. 

the newly re-vamped Hotel Georgia

August Break 2011

Last year kicked off the first August Break. It was the first time I attempted taking photos daily for a month. And now, looking back at the collection, it was much stronger than this year's project365. I think it was easier to push my creativity when it resided in a much shorter time frame. The year long 365 is daunting and often an afterthought with the daily busyness of life. I'm excited to jump into this year's August Break. Here's a link to the details: August Break 2011. If you feel like trying daily photos for the month, join up! It's free and full of beautiful photography. I'm on a 12 day work stretch, so we broke it up by having a lovely Monday date night - patio dining and seeing Crazy Stupid Love. I wouldn't classify it as a comedy, it's definitely a drama with some funny moments, but it's a wonderful showcase for Steve Carell and Julianne Moore as actors. It won't be for everyone because the pacing is a little slower, but I really enjoyed the chemistry and the heart found in this little film.