Author: alison@tinyblueorange.com

…and all through our house a calm and quiet evening, just me and my spouse.

Many thoughts flood my mind on this night before Christmas. Of what I thought this year would be and what it has become. Dreams fulfilled, broken, and now re-emerging.  I’ll be speaking more of those dreams in the next few days as I count down the days left in 2009.  Tonight and tomorrow I will be enjoying time with my rock, my Calmer.  Being thankful for what we have. Our loving families. Our home and fur kids.  And most of all, each other.

I wish you all a  holiday that is merry and bright.

And may we all look ahead to a wonderful new year just around the corner.

From my little family to yours, Merry Christmas! Me, my Calmer, Vincent, and Ebony (who is a little camera shy today), had a wonderfully quiet holiday spent at home and with family.  I received some wonderfully useful photography tools today that will come in handy over the course of the next year, including some books I am excited to begin diving in to. They look to be not only full of useful information but bursting with beautiful photos as well.

How did you spend your Christmas? I want to hear all about it!

Santa (aka – My Calmer) has been very good to me this year, especially in helping me make a few of my photography dreams come true.  A big part of his generosity has been a partial redesign of my itty bitty workspace in our family room.  One major thing getting an upgrade? My desk chair!  I need a better space for editing. Sitting on the sofa every night with the laptop in my lap is no longer working. Why do I edit on the sofa?

THIS is the reason I currently edit on the sofa

The chair may look nice in the space, but it’s just awful to sit in. AWFUL! It’s short, the curve in the seat is awkward, and the chair is hard. Not the best working conditions, AT ALL.

So Santa decided to do something about it this year (thanks Santa!).  And today we went to the store and bought what is soon to become my new best friend.

This is the Lauren dining room chair from World Market. She is absolutely perfect in every way. The right size. The right height. The right cushion. And she was even on SALE! It was meant to be if it was on sale.

The redesign isn’t over, but it has sure gotten off to a great start! I can’t wait to make some more changes in the coming weeks and share them with you. Exciting things are underway, but you’ll just have to wait a bit longer to hear what they are.

Where do you typically use your computer when photo editing, chatting, or doing your daily business online? Is there anything in your working space that you can’t live without?  Something I must have in my redesign? Tell me here!

Today The Calmer and I played aunt, uncle, and babysitter to Alexander. It was a gorgeous seasonably warm November day which made it the perfect opportunity to get outside.  And of course my camera came along for the excursion.

Today I have a lot to be grateful for.

The beauty of nature.

The childhood imagination.

And laughter.

We laughed a lot today. ♥

I hope you have as much to be grateful for today as we do. Don’t forget to share your gratitude and you could win your own memolio mini album of photos next week.

How are you doing checking all those gifts off the holiday list? Have you started yet?  I am proud to report I’ve started for this year but am no where near being done! Hopefully I can make your gift giving a bit easier this season with my weekly suggestions from now until the holidays.

Last week you might remember I featured mini albums from Memolio.  And if you’re quick you still have some time to enter to win a free one!

This week I want to introduce you to one my favorite places on the web!  Have you ever stopped by to see The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond?  If you have not you really need to get over there right away!! (but not until you’re done reading this post of course…) I originally stumbled upon her website because of her simple to understand photography tutorials.  And her photography editing actions for Photoshop.  And her photography, period.

She is definitely a photography inspiration!

But, that is not all she has on her website.

She also cooks!

And Ree recently published the most amazing cookbook I have ever purchased.

Just like her photography tutorials, her cooking tutorials are easy to understand. Easy to prepare. Step by step. With vibrant pictures!

For someone like me who hates to cook (and hates to bake even more), this definitely gives me inspiration and hope.

Today I am thinking about whipping up some homemade salsa.

And maybe some guacamole too.

And definitely some Migas! Yum!

Is your mouth watering yet? This would be the perfect gift for any at home chef. The experienced cook will love Ree’s easy recipes and beautiful photographs. The novice cook will enjoy having the step by step illustrated directions.

Another perk of this book? The insights and musings into Ree’s life moving from single city girl to wife of a rancher in the country. All with beautiful full color photos.

If you have not checked out the Pioneer Woman website I HIGHLY reccommend you head on over there. And you if think this book would be the perfect gift for someone in your life you can easily pick one up at Amazon.com (today it’s only $14.55!)

Happy shopping!

Sometimes something sweet is the only thing to cure a severe case of the Monday blues.

I had to have not one, but 2 of these sweet treats to get my through this day.

So today I am grateful for the coffee mecca Starbucks and their little red cup of joy.

What are you grateful for today?

It’s been exactly two months today since we said goodbye to Bella.

Even when things feel so dark I can still see a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

Tonight I am grateful for:

peace

solitude

time to remember.

First of all I have to say thank you to those readers that entered the “Share Your Gratitude” Memolio giveaway. The contest is now closed and tomorrow is the big day where I will be randomly picking and announcing the winners right here so stay tuned!

In today’s news…

I am taking a big step in my photography journey and I am so excited to tell you about it.  This is a step that makes me overflow with excited butterflies and makes me want to puke all at the same time. It’s the next step in me growing a real professional level photography business and I couldn’t be more terrified thrilled at the prospect.

Right now I am dreaming big.

I seriously might just be going crazy. Utterly mad. The Calmer thinks so. But he still supports me.  Let me give you the details. Then you can tell me what you think.  And you can let me know that I am completely insane brilliant!

I blog hop a lot now. Mostly photography blogs, but really a mish mash of everything from photography, to daily musings, to gluten free living, to creative inspiration.  Back in October, somewhere along my blog hopping journey I found this. The LAUNCH Workshop. Led by Tampa based professional photographers Stacy Larsen and Kristie Serra. It’s geared toward beginner level natural light photographers wanting to take their amateur photography to the next level.

JACKPOT!

Read the “Is This For Me” section. I read it and I went,

“Woah that’s totally me!”

Then I looked at the “Registration” page and went,

“Woah, that’s a lot of money!”

I tried to forget about the site. Put in on the back burner. But, during the past month I have not been able to get LAUNCH out of my head. I want to be there. I need to be there.  I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching. Asking myself  the important questions. Is this what I really want? Do I want to make this investment? Is photography really a passion for me? Is my photography up to par? Can I build a real business? Will I find customers? Will they actually pay?

Then, yesterday, in my blog hopping endeavors I read this blog by Danielle LaPorte. And the level of clarity I felt after reading it was so strong. I have to do this. I can’t let fear take hold. I have to try. I NEED to be at LAUNCH.

So I registered. I will be at the LAUNCH 2 day weekend February 20-21!!

( I am still pondering adding in the limited enrollment 3rd day and still trying to convince The Calmer we have the money to part with so I can be there for it all…)

Don’t worry I’m not quitting my day job. yet. But I do know that this is a great opportunity. To learn. To grow. To network. To vacation. To launch this side business working my passion. With the big dream of turning it into a full time career one day. Will I get there? I don’t know. But I have hope. And I do know I have to take this leap of faith and try.

I will not let the fear of failure keep me from trying.

So ready or not LAUNCH, here I come!

Thank you again to everyone who entered the Share Your Gratitude contest sponsored by memolio. November is the perfect month to reflect on those people in our life we are most grateful for.

Today I am simply grateful to be me!

unique. creative. type a. me.

But you aren’t reading today to learn more about me…

Let’s get onto the winners!

You all had so many great ideas and reasons to give a memolio brag books and I wish I could give away a free book to each and every one of you. Unfortunately I only have 5 to giveaway so below are the lucky winners (randomly chosen) and their answer to the contest question: Who you would make a memolio album for with your winnings and why? If you are one of the winners be sure to check your email later this weekend for directions on how to redeem your memolio certificate.

And the winners are…

belle: My good friend Cole has a super adorable little house with great lighting and she always lets me whip out my camera and wander around whenever I visit. So, I’d love to make her a little book that contains all of the photos I’ve taken of her and her living space.

sharon: I would make memolio albums for my family full of pictures of our little Danny.  I think that it would make a great gift – especially for my FIL. He lives out of his pockets, and this would be a nice sturdy thing for him to keep in his pockets for when the time comes for bragging.

kelly: I would love to win a litte brag book like this to share with my best friend. She celebrated her 40th birthday this past summer and her mom bought me a ticket to fly there to surprise her. After that, we all spent a week in Canada making new memories. My brag book would include memories from that trip, of course!!!

teachercarrie: I think I would definitely make a Memolio for either my mom to have as a brag book or for my husband to keep at work. He is always talking about me and our cats with his coworkers and he needs some new photographs to put on his desk…they’re a bit outdated I’d say.

N.Z.G. With my winnings, I would like to make a memolio album for my “mixed” family. Though things are not, for lack of a better word, “cool” with us, I love each and everyone of them some kind of fiercely. I don’t have pictures of my biological dad & I, my biological mom & I, my little sister & I, and my little step Bothers & I. As a matter of fact, my families know little to nothing of each other. And I want to remedy that. They don’t have to like to each other but I want them to understand that their love for me ties them all together. So I want to create a memlio album that has pictures of me and with each one of them. I want them to see each other but most importantly, I them to see me happy with them and the “others” in my life.

Thanks again to memolio for sponsoring this contest and I hope all of the winners will come back to this blog soon and share the link to their digital memolio once it’s complete!

Whew it was a busy weekend! I had not one but two very fun and successful photo sessions on Sunday and I can’t wait to share both sets of previews with you all. It was an absolutely lovely (and seasonally warm) November day. The perfect day to hang with friends and get behind the lens to capture some fun memories.

Sunday morning I met up with long time friend Rachel (we’ve known each other since the 6th grade!) and her boyfriend Austin for some belated anniversary pictures. The two starting dating in September of 2008 and have been inseparable ever since.  The best part about their budding relationship is that Austin and my Calmer get along swimmingly, so we are often able to hang out an have a great time!

Rachel and Austin were the perfect subjects. We took a morning stroll around their neighborhood capturing pictures around the scenic paths, fields, and even at the playground!  Rachel came prepared with wardrobe changes appropriate for the setting and I was so happy that they were willing to put up with my camera experimentation and variety of poses.

One my favorite parts of the shoot was getting them showing off their favorite pastime of watching Sunday football. These guys have a regimented ritual every Sunday and nothing better come between them and their television from 11am – 11pm during football time! It’s amazing to me that a die hard Redskins fan and a die hard Cowboys fan can be together but somehow they make it work!

Thanks guys for hanging out with my on your Sunday morining. I hope we got all the pictures out of the way before the big games and I really hope you like your preview.  The rest of the photos from our day will be on the way soon!