October 31, 2010

you were expecting a pumpkin photo perhaps.....

or
something scary
or
me in a costume
~
sorry
~
all i have is this
adorable squirrel
that i felt so sorry for as i watched him try to remove a burr stuck in his tail
but
then he gave up
and
smiled for me instead
~seriously, do you see that smile~
~
anyhow
i would like to think
though
that if i was going to go all out and wear a costume this year
that i'd be as cute as this little guy
*
BOO
happy halloween
and
remember
don't eat the funny looking candy



October 30, 2010

and i'm fine with haunted....

last weekend
after shopping in a vintage furniture store downtown and then driving through an area we weren't familiar with
we found this
perfectly amazing old
house
~
it was hiding quietly behind some very overgrown shrubs and trees and in order to get this photo i had to get out of the car and walk up the driveway.
personally i think it's a bit haunted. probably only one ghost. maybe two at the most.
~
and
seriously
if there had a "for sale" sign in the front yard
we'd be signing a contract with a realtor today
*

October 29, 2010

maybe you wondered....

when i changed my blog to "moredoors" it was due to the fact that i wanted to embrace all the doors in my life that had opened for me. mostly those doors had been attached to new houses, in new neighborhoods, in new states, after 13 moves in 21 years.
~
but often, doors aren't real doors with doorknobs and welcome mats and pretty flowers growing in a planter under the doorbell. instead, sometimes doors are new experiences that lead you down a path towards a dream you weren't expecting. or sometimes you've worked for years to open "that door" and finally you find yourself on the other side.
~
you're heard the saying "you've had so many doors open for you" or "i hope this job opens the door for you to go onto bigger and better things"
~
so today, thinking about doors and some new things i'm working on, i hope that all of you find a door that opens for you in a surprising way or that a beautiful~ornate~vintage~glass knobbed door with years of love, swings wide open and welcomes you with open arms after you've been through blood, sweat and tears to get there.
~
happy weekend

October 28, 2010

a compliment that made my heart smile...

i was playing at the camera shop yesterday. printing pictures in the back of the store. talking to all the men that work there. it's one of those places i feel so comfortable in. they know me since i visit often. sometimes all i have are questions but they don't mind that all. and if i have some dust that needs to be blown out of my camera. well they love doing that for me. anyhow. after i was done printing my photos i showed this one to keith and he said he didn't realize i was scanning old photos onto cd's and printing them. i said i wasn't. i told him this was from a shoot a few weeks ago.
he said the old~soft~dreamy look of the photo was fantastic.
just beautiful and had obviously fooled him.
and
honestly
that's the only compliment i need this week
*
now granted
if anyone tells me that my hair {that i hate} looks nice
or
comments on my new skinny legged jeans which i'm not 100% sure a 46 year old mom should even be wearing in the first place
i'll take those
too
but
the photo compliment
from a photographer
at the camera store
who has seen millions of photos and has never said anything before to me about my photos
~we usually talk cameras~
kind of put me over the moon
~
i'll come back down to earth tomorrow
probably
*

October 26, 2010

hold it in your heart....

i've been playing in my studio
{while listening to really loud music and occasionally dancing}
and
honestly
loving it
~
i used to spend hours in that sweet little room
and
then my passion for art and paint dwindled
while my passion for photography soared
~
now i'm combining the two and working on some new projects and ideas
and
today with the help of my hubby
i even worked on some dreams
as he took my big and wild and not even close to perfected thoughts
and
juggled them brilliantly for me
~
he's so great that way
anyhow
today i just wanted to remind you
that what you love
might look slightly or even hugely different from what someone else loves
but
no worries
~
remember
it's all in the eye of the beholder
and
more importantly
it's all in that beholder's heart
and
if it's in your heart
well
then
now we're talking
*
picture above...cropped and original

October 25, 2010

photos forgotten.....

when we were in seattle
back in august
we saw our first elk
and
since around here i think deer are amazing
you can only imagine what i felt seeing a field full of elk at dusk
this tractor was in the same field as the elk
and
i didn't want it to feel left out with all my picture taking
and
honestly, as far as tractors go, it's quite fabulous
and
at the wedding rehearsal
when i asked the groom and all "his guys" to jump
well, all i can say is WOW
~
i feel terrible that they were all blinded by the late afternoon sun
but
i had to get that mountain in the background
*

October 24, 2010

and i play....

with some new projects in the works
the studio
once again
is
my friend
::
so
with another rainy day
softening my view
i play
i order prints
i cut
i glue
i frame
i tie ribbons
i write
*
happy sunday everyone

October 23, 2010

i want to know....

it's raining here today
and
the color of grey is everywhere
~
it's the kind of day that makes staying in your pajamas justified
~
i mean really, if the only thing you're going to do is sit and watch the football game and eat sandwiches with too much mustard, does it really matter what you're wearing. i think not.
~
do you want to read my favorite poem
~
i hope you do. it's quite perfect for a rainy grey day.
well
any day really, but especially today.
*
happy weekend

October 22, 2010

i would....

if you asked me to walk with you. i would. we could talk about how life is so interesting and no matter how much we plan, things happen. and some things we plan on happening, don't.
~
we could skip down the leaf covered path together. hand in hand. and jump over the little spot where the pond water always visits. even though it's not welcomed there.
~
i know the sun will be shinning. perfectly. and the warmth of it will make us tired. eventually we'll sit with our shoes off and ask each other what we believe love really is. and even when our opinions and ideas teeter on the brink of different, we'll nod our heads in sweet understanding and approval of each other.
~
when the cool breeze makes us raise our shoulders up while we wrap our arms around ourselves, we'll walk briskly back to where we started. and you'll ask "what time do you have" and i'll smile sheepishly knowing you don't really want the answer.
~
and
when the moon disappears
and
tomorrow is here again and then again and then again
i'll remember that walk
forever
and
if you asked me to walk with you
anywhere
i would
*

October 21, 2010

what we remember.....

photo taken about 14 years ago

i feel terrible that i don't remember more
~
i don't really remember what my babies smelled like when i cradled them in my neck, unless i smell a new baby today and then those memories come back and knock me over. i don't remember all the funny things they said. or all the questions they asked me day in and day out except for
"why"
~
i don't remember what the tooth fairy left under their pillows, but i know she visited them. i remember letting a scared child or two stay in the safety of our bed for awhile, but i don't remember what scared them.
~
but
because of photos
i know my daughter was a crayola crayon for halloween when she was 4. and i know i was a witch. i remember rock climbing and loving it. i remember the day my son flew over the handle bars on his bike and went face first into a wet puddle of mud. i remember homecomings and proms and all the dresses we spent days shopping for. and hairstyles. oh the hair. i remember my son playing dress up with all the items i used for little girl tea parties. the hats. the boas. the earrings. and i remember not telling him those were just for girls. i remember the head- gear my daughter had to wear at night with her braces. i remember all the clothes i used to wear that now hang on the racks in the vintage aisle at good-will. and back to the hair.
i remember all my bad perms.
~
but
only
because of photos
~
photos help open my memory bank and the flooding begins
~
the
"oh remember this and the oh remember thats"
are loud
when my unorganized boxes of too many years swimming together are seen again
and
the laughter
well
there's always laughter when the old family photo albums are opened
~
real.from the heart.deep.special.unreplacable.laughter
and
the memories
oh
the warm memories
that belong only to me and my loved ones
fill my heart to bursting
and
are heavy and beautiful
like my most favorite old quilt that i never want to sleep without
~
thank you god for photos
~



October 20, 2010

i walk. i see. i breathe.

i imagine.
i hope.
i dream.
i wish.
i ask.
i listen.
i touch.
i dance.
but
most of all
i love
*

October 19, 2010

he said he'd pull me out if i fell in....

as we were walking in the woods this weekend
like a beacon of light
this mushroom called my name





enough said
~
oh
and
no
i didn't fall in or even get my feet wet
~
it was a good day
*

October 18, 2010

i know, i know....here she is again....

BUT
with an invitation this time to come over here
and
see the entire family photo shoot
~
a local apple orchard let us use their land for this shoot and i loved every minute of being there
~
this family is so easy and funny and loving
and
after 330 photos
i selected about a tenth of them to share with you
~
i hope you have time to bop over and see them
~
i think they'll make you smile
*

October 16, 2010

i'll take it....

it's been unseasonably warm here this month and we're not complaining
~
in fact
we'll take another month of it
or two
~
i took this photo last weekend while we hiking at devil's head lake
~
so this weekend
i hope you all have the chance to let your hair shine in the warmth of the sun
and
if your straps fall gracefully while your bottoms ride up your bum a bit
and
you have to brush chunks of sand off your legs
well
i consider that the most perfect outcome of these warm yellow and orange hued days
*

October 15, 2010

left of center....




there aren't many days where i feel completely centered. usually i'm a bit off.
i blame it on sleepless nights. or my digestion issues. or the medication i'm on.
or
even
the change in the weather
~
today
i'm not blaming anything
~
instead
i'm embracing it
by sharing photos with you from my walk around the pond
where
on purpose
i put the focal point of my camera on the left
and
shot away
~
maybe
it's just my way of saying
"change your perspective"
or
maybe
it's just my way of saying
"being off center isn't always an awful way to be"
::






October 14, 2010

i don't know how i do it.....

i really don't know how i get through my photo shoots
when
i'm swimming in all the puddles of deliciousness that only kids provide
"hi you. what you doing. we want peeza"
"wis peproni. k"
::
i have over 300 photos to look at from this family shoot. then i have to narrow them down to a reasonable number and do some editing. but how do you eliminate any when the cuteness factor is overwhelming ?
so for now, i thought these might make you smile.
~
and
a few more of baby c
on a new day
are over at here
*


October 13, 2010

oh, i hope you are...

i hope
you're taking a great big bite out of october
~
this month has been truly spectacular so far
and
i have no reason to believe that the slow
and
very orange and yellow days ahead
won't be equally as wonderful
~
i also hope you're taking a bite of life
~
as i watch the miners
fathers~sons~brothers~uncles~nephews~grandfathers
being slowly lifted one by one
to the world they haven't seen in 69 days
where waiting families let tears
heavy with love and relief
fall
~
well
it just makes being alive feel that much better
*

October 12, 2010

are you enough....

wrote a beautiful post a few weeks back that included these words
~
"life is just overwhelming at times
and
we are all standing on a corner
with a sign in our hands needing something"
~
and
then she asked us what our sign might look like if we had one
~
"i am enough"
is the sign i made in my studio this afternoon
~
easily said
but oh so hard to believe
~
as women
we tend to think
we're not thin enough
we're not smart enough
we're not nice enough
we're not patient enough
we're not strong enough
we're not brave enough
we're not gracious enough
we're not quick enough
and
the list could go on and on
~
but
guess what
~
we are enough
~
you are enough
~
i am enough
~
so use my sign today
and
pretend you're wearing it proudly on your body like a sandwich board
~
if you want to see the other signs
would love to have you stop by
*



October 11, 2010

all about O.....

how lucky am i to have a niece who lives just thirty minutes away
~
who completely indulges me when i ask for a few photos
she turns 9 today
~
nine years old
already
how did that happen so fast
~
that thing they call time that seems to fly
it kind of makes your head spin
lucky her
~
at nine
spinning her head doesn't cause her weeks of a "tweaked neck"
oh
to be young again
*
happy birthday sweet girl

October 10, 2010

ten-ten-ten

we spent yesterday hiking at devil's head lake
~
let me just say
wow
this is just part of it
and
we hiked/walked around the entire lake.
~
i have so many photos to share with you. everything from kids swimming to rock skipping to two weddings to just pure fabulousness. all from an 85 degree day which broke a record set back in 1879.
oh october 2010. i will remember you.
~
and
who knew that lady asian beetles bite. like really bite. one of them had a field day on my upper chest when he got caught under my shirt and i didn't know it.
oh well
~
it was still a perfect day
and
that was only
10-9-10
~
i wonder what
10-10-10
will bring
~
kind of exciting
isn't it
*

October 8, 2010

my friday gift to you....

when i showed my "polaroid" like photos to my apple instructor
~who is also nuts about photography and is amazingly patient with me~
he said
"oh lord, you are totally degrading your photos"
and
since i'm old enough to be his mother
and
the fact that we have a fantastic relationship
i bonked him on the head with the back of my hand
since i couldn't grab my laptop case fast enough
and
then
in trying to sound hip and cool
said
"whatever"
and
then stuck out my tongue at him

here's the thing. these soft photos make me happy. and if you've ever tried to get your hands on actual polaroid film, that you might find on ebay in the middle of the night, for some ridiculous amount of money. well, who needs that headache.
~
so here's my gift to you
if you don't already know about it
~
~
it's that easy
~
pick your look. upload a photo.
wha-la
"polaroid effecto"
~
otherwise known
~in my world~
as
sweet soft happiness
*