Palm trees make me happy. I mean, how can they not! It usually means I’m on vacation somewhere warm which is true for this photo but the tree it’s self makes me laugh with it’s tall pole of a trunk and then an Animal (from the Muppets) looking do on the top.
Good news for all you Northwesterners – the sun still exists and it is lovely. That was the word for my weekend with friends in Palm Springs, btw - lovely.
Brittany is a beautiful girl from Montana. She had Cystic Fibrosis. This weekend she lost her battle with the disease. My heart is heavy for her family especially her Mom Michelle who I got to meet and enjoyed spending time with a couple of months ago.
The back story is – I was asked by my neighbor, Tom, to be the “paparazzi” for his latest “Wish”. Tom has worked with “Make A Wish” Foundation for 18 years and Brittany had asked to be a Princess for a Day. It was so fun to be a part of the whole thing and to hear the updates from Tom as we got closer to Wish day; “We got Nordstroms to donate…”, “They are going to have a police motorcade…”, “Suite at the Hyatt..” , Tiffany’s, spa treatments, make-up, restaurants and on and on. Part of me was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears but the whole experience was so upbeat and positive and I feel blessed to have been a part of it.
Here’s my favorite shot of the day –
A link to the TV news spot – http://www.komonews.com/home/video/37848389.html?video=pop&t=a
A link to my album of the day – http://www.flickr.com/photos/11880601@N03/sets/72157612812515784/
And the families blog – www.brittanybreathes.blogspot.com
It was an honor to have known you, Brittany
G got this great butterfly kit from her birthday last year and we finally got around to ordering the caterpillars (or calepitters as G still calls them and I can’t bring myself to correct her) that go with the kits. Just a side note, if you are local, you NEED to check out the toystore in Kenmore off 522 called Snapdoodle Toys. It is a random place for a toy store, especially thee best toy I’ve ever been too. I’m not kidding. I’m not even a toy store kind of person (whatever that means!) but I love this store! www.snapdoodletoys.com So, anyway, G got a kit for her birthday and we watched the caterpillars grow and grow while munching on the food they send with them, then turn into chrysalises and then emerge as butterflies! It was really fun to watch. You all probably did this in school but I grew up in Yakima, we didn’t have butterflies in Yakima. We barely had school. Just kidding! I just loved watching the whole process. Here are our release photos. Hopefully they didn’t freeze to death upon release! Sun, sun, wherefore art thou?! (We are getting a sneak peak of Spring today but I’m not holding my breath as it was freezing rain again on Monday!). 
In the wee hours of the morn on March 3rd, Ben couldn’t sleep so got up to do some work. This was the morning that U2’s new album was released so when I got up, he had bought it, loaded it on my iPod (my U2 iPod – yes, i’m a nerd) and was playing it when I stumbled into the kitchen to make coffee. He loves me. The sad thing is, is that I haven’t really had a chance to listen to it, really listen to it until this morning. I wasn’t such a fan, to be honest, of what I had heard of it if the background of the Childers’ chaos. It didn’t grab me like that last couple albums had. That all changed today! I finally put it in my ears while I was tidying up. There are so many good lines in there! Like “stop trying trying to help God across the street like a little old lady” or “my first cry, it was a joyful noise” and pretty much all of “white as snow” is full of beautiful imagery. I recommend it!
Here’s me back in July giving him some suggestions for the upcoming new album. (Actually, this post is really just an excuse to brag…again…that I got to meet Bono! Still can’t believe it)
Last Wednesday we woke up to yucky rainy weather which then turned to snow. I felt a little like crying. I had scheduled a photo shoot with some girls in our neighborhood for their Senior portraits and I really didn’t want to cancel so, after freezing in an attempt to pretend the weather wasn’t awful, we went to a local nursery and ended up getting some great shots! 
Girls eggs from this year
Tools of the trade
I miss you Lisa!
What is it about the sillouette of birds on a wire that is so appealing? The girls and I went down to Mom’s last week when we were on Spring Break and happened to look out the window when there seemed to be a block meeting of the birds going on in the alley. They were probably all complaining about the cold just as we were inside.
We have some friends who moved for work, by work, to Paris (including a paid for flat in the St. Michel area!). I know, right? Whatever! But, let us set aside our jealousy for a moment because;
1. It couldn’t happen to better, more deserving people.
2. This blog entry isn’t about overcoming jealousy, remember? Oh right! On to our project…
So I hosted a party to send them off in style! I had just been to Paris a couple of months before so I printed out on plain ol’ paper two photos that said “Paris” to me, took some random glasses and bottles that I had, and put them together for the display you see in these photos.
I just slid the photo in between the inside jar with the flowers and the outside glass/jar.
My favorite thing is making decorations out of nothing (i.e. FREE) and this really was. The velum was the only thing I bought. I bought four different sheets of printed velum and turned the right side in so that you just saw the outline of each design coming through. I cut each velum into strips the height of whatever glass or jar I was covering and then taped it into a cylinder. I then wrote French words or phrases (found on the internet – sadly I don’t speak French) on strips of paper and taped that over the velum. Dropped a votive it and, well, voila!
Another quick note: I didn’t have enough fruit to fill the bowl so I took a smaller bowl and turned it upside down in the big bowl and piled the fruit onto so it looked like it was full. See, I’m really cheap!
Adieu!
The older I get the more I realize how much my mother has rubbed off on me. This weekend I was eating a grapefruit and the sun was coming in just so that it looked like my grapefruit was lit from within! The color was so interesting. I had to take a picture. It reminded me of once when Mom was giving thanks over our meal of baked potatoes with toppings and said “Thank you Lord for greens and reds and yellow and orange and off white…” at this point we are all looking around at each other like “What the..” She was looking at all the colors on her plate and thanking God for them. We, as teenagers, thought it was weird but of course now I appreciate that she notices things like that which has taught me to do the same. So thank you Lord for grapefruit color which is neither orange or pink but some where in-between and calling it salmon doesn’t seem right…
