Are you kidding me with all these big brown eyes?!

This next one I think is so sweet!

You know how I love those detail shots!

It was such a beautiful day in so many was as you can tell!  Thank you all for allowing me to record this time in your life!!

I got to be in the audience last week of a live marketing workshop at creativeLIVE hosted by Joy and Jules Bianchi.  I’ve long admired Jules’ photography and she is someone I’ve blogged stalked and learned from early on in my photography journey.  Her twin sister has teamed up with Jules to help her in her business.  The two of them were so full of great ideas!  Not only for Marketing but running photography business well!  My head is now buzzing with lots of ideas for my own business!

The workshop was a ton of work for them and they put so much of themselves in it.  Thank you Jules and Joy and all the brilliant people at creativeLIVE!!

While in LA we went to Amoeba Records – a MUST for those visiting!  I went first to the U2 section of course.  (Side note on that – I bought a book on photography and two U2 CDs.  You can’t put me in a box! Oh no! )  I had foolishly gotten rid of all my U2 CDs while trying to purge at some point in my life since I had them all on iTunes – I regret it.  I am old enough also to have had U2 records which are also long gone!  It was fun to see the familiar record covers of old.  Since I don’t have a turn table like the really hip, I bought a couple of CDs.  I was just looking through the photos in the insert of the U218 Singles I bought and was thrilled to see a photo of the band on the Canal – one of my favorite spots in Dublin.

Whenever I had a chance, I would walk along the canal and cross over the little bridges at the many locks along the canal.  I loved to stand in the middle and look up or down the canal.  I loved imagining several hundred years before when it was used for travel or moving goods through the city.  Even though it was right in the city, it felt peacefully removed almost as if you stepped though the wardrobe.

Here’s a photo of my friends Jessica and Kalle on one of those bridges similar to the photo above -

This photo I’ve shared before because I love it.  I took  it while standing on one of these locks looking back at a bridge.  You can see why it was a favorite spot!

Sigh.

My latest HG dinner theme was Color!  There is so much color in foods that I wanted to play with that.  I had to stop often and take photos of all that color.  I want you to know that I did not adjust these photos for color!

Rhubarb Cordial – I made some of this for my sister’s wedding and fell in love with the color!  I had to make more.  Add it to a bit of sparkling wine – YUM!

Curried Carrot Soup – this was a favorite for many.  I love it when people think they aren’t going to like something and then love it!  Favorite!

I had to have beets!

I used to hate beets.  Now, I daydream about them.  I know, weird.  But I’m serious.  You need to try this recipe – Beet and Caramelized Onions with Feta.

Purple cauliflower!  Had to try it!

I love the variation of color in leeks from top to bottom but also within the rings.

Lora set the table for me!  Thanks Lora!  We wanted it to be mostly white to make the color pop!  And I love the place cards -

Too much fun!

I wasn’t smart enough to take before photos but found some of our kitchen from years ago when we first remodeled.  Just try and picture lots of wear and tear on everything but particularly the floors which looked awful before the leak even happened because most of the finish wore off so they always looked dirty no matter what!  In the photos below I was reminded that they did look nice once.

Here’s the before-

And after -

Before -

And after -

I love this little detail of the bar drawer using a wine box end -

Ben made it.  Isn’t he clever?!

And we painted the garage door with black board paint which has been fun -

I love the tile especially the subway tile back splash and the sink is so lovely but my favorite thing about the kitchen is my big worktable…which Ben also made!!  I’m serious, the boy needs a clone for all that he does around here!

Love, love, love my new kitchen!  I have so much storage and space to cook!  A HUGE blessing in disguise.

On top of the fears, there were heaps of loose ends like finding someone to rent our house, getting rid of household things, deciding what to take, what to keep but not take and what to take but not keep – it was like a rubrics cube of details.  Make one change here, how does that affect us?   In other words, it weren’t no picnic… For about 6 months!

Was it all worth it?!!  One huge emphatic ABSOLUTELY!

I can’t even count the many ways I personally benefited from living in Ireland let alone the changes for my husband and girls.  This one adventure has now changed the course of our lives forever.  One of the biggest ways this has played out is this willingness to really live our lives and try new things.  Ben has left the security of his steady job to pursue a bigger dream as well as help me grow my business.     This business, we hope, will be a way for us to travel more and explore this great big world with camera in hand!

I feel like blogging about this today because I’m passed the excited beginning of the adventure stage to the doubt stage where I longingly look at people working at say Pottery Barn and admire the simplicity of their life and being not self-employed.   It’s good to put this down so I can remind myself that I’m following my dream and that I’m following what I love and through that, it will make my life richer.  I have a feeling I’ll need to remind myself of this along the way from time to time.

This photo is a of my daughter running in Northern Ireland.  This is the image that comes to mind when I focus on pursuing my dreams.  To me she looks like she is chasing something with joy.  But she also has Ben’s sweater on which reminds me that as I chase, it’s good to have a piece of home, family with me.

This next one is my favorite.  As you know, I love it when kids seem to forget when I’m there and I catch them at play.

Time for airplane!

I think it’s important to get a shot of Mom and Dad without kids if possible because once kids come, the focus shifts to kids but I like the reminder of where it all started -

Thanks so much you guys!  I had a great time with you and your beautiful girls!!

Here’s some shots that some of the ladies took while learning why  aperture, shutter speed and ISO matter -

How’s that for using shutter speed!!  Frozen rain drop!  And I love the pattern of this next shot -

Hello Favorite Things…

Me in ACTION!

Here’s my favorite action shot!

Ah!  Too much FUN!!!

Many thanks to Jen Daane my awesome assistant.  She was great as usual and I wish I had a great shot of her but she was always behind the camera such as the above shot!  Thank you Jen!!!

I can’t stop kissing her!  I’m totally in love!!!  We are so blessed by this little life!

Ahh! Could you not die?!

My girls have been so sweet about her as well.  It’s fun that they have a new cousin that they can actually remember as a baby.

Today is a beautiful day in so many ways.  I took this shot after our visit to the hospital this morning.  It seemed right and fitting that she be born on a beautiful day following lots of cold and gray.  Absolutely PERFECT.