Second, I want to thank all of my readers who came by to have a peek, to get inspired, and who left love for each blogger.  I know, from comments on the blog as well as emails to me, that this project has been a jumping off point for many people to get their photos printed out this year.  That makes my heart sing.

Third, I was also inspired by all the wonderful ideas from the project.  I shared a few of them on Tatertots and Jello yesterday, where I will be a monthly contributor this year!  TT&J is a mecca of fabulous DIY, craft, home, and life ideas.  If you haven’t ever been, stop over and roam around.    I shared a sneak peek at one of my wall projects I’ve been working on.  And I wanted to share the rest of them today.  As is the case with many of you, my walls are still a work in progress.  I have a few more ideas I didn’t get to this past month but have every intention of finishing soon.

I am definitely creating a memory book for 2011… eventually… but for now, I found this free template from Paislee Press and created a 12×12 print full of images from the year.  I framed it in a 20×20 with a simple white matte from Aaron Brothers.

In the same room I framed several pictures of my kids and our family in black frames, some with mats, some without and included a star and a couple of signs.

In the same room above the fireplace I printed a 20×20 canvas through Black River Imaging of one of our Project12 photos from last year.  I love it because it’s totally us, with no pretenses.   (BTW, does anyone know what kind of paint to use to paint out the brass on my fireplaces???)

I loved the clipboard idea so I bought several, painted them with chalkboard paint, and hung them in the kitchen.  I love the fact that you can change out the photos so often and easily.

Up the staircase I decided to do a wall gallery of black frames with white mats.  I’m planning on adding to it little by little and including some of the kids’ artwork as well.

In the living room I have two ledges from my last house that I’ve propped a few larger mounted prints on.  I love that I can change those out often as well.  (Printed through MPixPro, except for the flag picture which is a metal printed through BRI)

And finally, in the same room I have cathedral ceilings and I knew whatever I hung had to be big!  And indeed that is just what I did.  I had four 30×40 canvases printed (Black River Imaging) of my kids and hung them right above my entry table.  It’s the first thing people see when they walk in our home.  I love them!  I’ve posted them on the blog before and have had several people comment that they are bigger in person than they look in pictures.

I wish I could incorporate all of the ideas that were shared into my home, but I don’t have that many walls!  I’m still hoping to create some sort of ancestor wall like Sara Tegman shared, a beautiful photo box like Gretchen Davis has, a beautiful bulletin board for snaps like Rachel Chaney’s, and an inspiration board like so many of you all have.  And that should cover all my remaining walls at the moment.

This has been such a fun project!  I’m considering doing something similar in the future so get those walls ready!

AND FINALLY…

The winner of the 16×24 standout is…

Staci Bailey!!!

Congratulations and everyone who entered the giveaway will be emailed a promo code for your next print order from MPix!

Happy Wednesday!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful this month, nothing like January at all.  Today was no exception so after church we decided to go exploring to find a new place to hike.  One of the things I adore about where we live is the diversity in the landscape.  Our house backs to “open space” with golden hills and scrub oak trees.   We can drive less than an hour west and hit the Pacific Ocean.  And just up Highway 24 we can enjoy redwood forests and lush vegetation.  Today we headed to the trees.  It felt like a different world once we entered the trail.  The redwoods towered above us letting pockets of light in here and there.  The scent of Eucalyptus hung in the air. It was cool and moist and everything was incredibly quiet, it was almost eerie.  The kids said they felt like they were in Jurrasic Park.  I would have to agree.  It was magical.  A stream and a bridge and all was well with the world.  We’re going back again soon!

Don’t stop here.  Continue around the circle and take a peek at what everyone’s been up to this month starting with Jennifer Nguyen | Snails and Pigtails Photography | Temecula, CA Photographer.  Keep clicking through the circle and you’ll end up right where you started.

These are my two girls.  They both have the best. hair. ever.  I’d like to say bribery was not involved in this little session, but that would be a lie.  We did have to whip out the peanut butter jar for a few of these shots.  I love how they turned out.

Here is our final Project 12 image for 2011 taken on December 31st.  It’s not perfect, but it’s us.

One of my favorite things about “after Christmas” is taking down and putting away Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m just as enthusiastic to put it up the first of December.  But I just relish the feeling of “clean” and “orderly” and “clutter-free” when Christmas is packed away again for another year.  It helps me prepare for the new year and new goals and a fresh start.  And I find that when everything is packed away back into the garage, I get the itch to rearrange furniture and redecorate a little.  For me January is a month of new beginnings.

This past year, my goal has been to print and display more of my own art/images in my home.  I found that I spend the majority of my “work time” shooting, editing, and printing  clients’ work and , while I do spent lots of time shooting for myself, my own personal images are often left on my hard drive hoping to one day see the light of day. I wanted to print and display the pictures of my own kids so that they could enjoy them in our home.  I also wanted to offer ideas for clients who may be struggling with how to use the images from their own sessions in their homes.  Once I made that my goal, I was perplexed as to where and how to display them.  I scoured the internet and Pinterest looking for inspiration.  And while I found many ideas, it sparked a curiosity of how my friends have used and displayed photographs in their own homes.  And how many, like me, haven’t.

So, I’ve invited 32 of my fellow photographer friends to guest blog here every day during the month of January and share how they use and display their own photographs in their homes.  I hope you’ll come by and get ideas and inspiration from these talented women to use in your own homes!

Tomorrow I will kick off the project and the new year with Joyce Smith of Joyce Smith Photography!

Happy New Year!

Film:  Portra 400

Rated: 200

Lab: Walgreens local

And just because I couldn’t resist converting this one to black and white:

So I delved into the art of photography with both feet, as well as both my arms, my neck, my entire body.  I took workshops, I spent hours poring over books at Barnes and Noble, I read online forums wee into the night.  I pointed that camera at my kids until all I could get from them was a big fat hand telling me they had had enough.

And then I started my business.  And it took off.  And I was busy.  So busy.  Taking pictures of families, and seniors, and babies, and kids. Other peoples’ kids.  Lots of pictures of other peoples’ kids.  My clients’ walls are filled with beautiful pictures of their families and their kids.

And my walls are still empty.

That vision that jump started my journey into photography is still a vision.  It has yet to be fulfilled.  Like so many of my fellow photographers, my vision is still there, waiting for me to take the time to make it a reality.  .  Too often we are so busy working for clients that we miss capturing our own families as life passes by.

So I’ve decided that now is that time.

I’ve been lucky to have met so many incredibly talented and wonderful photographers during this journey who share the same desire to capture their own families in a real and beautiful way.  I’m teaming up with eleven of these women on a very personal and meaningful project called, “What ________ Looks Like.”

Our goal is to capture our own families in a real and beautiful way.  Some people call it “lifestyle”, some call it “real life”, some call it “unposed”.  No matter what you call it, our desire is to snatch the moments that represent the relationships, the dynamics, the reality, the beauty, the truth, and the life of our families and record them here on our blogs as well as in print at the end of the project.

Each month we will each choose to fill in the blank with our word of choice.  Some of us may choose to use the same word all year and some may choose to change it up each month.  We will each link to the next photographer until our circle is complete.

We hope this project inspires you to take more pictures of your own families so that those  moments that make your family unique will never be lost or forgotten.

This month I decided to do my best to capture the morning of the first day of school 2011.  A typical, run-of-the-mill, ordinary school morning is hectic as can be.  Add to that,  first day of a new school year complete with school jitters, the anxiety of a new elementary school for my two littlest, and me hauling my camera all over the house, and I’m shocked that I was able to capture what I did of our morning craziness.  But it’s all real and honest and us.  Four kids, a mom, a dad, and a camera.

Enjoy.

Now head on over to see what Jennifer Nguyen | Snails and Pigtails Photography | Temecula, CA Photographer posted this month!

At the top of the list is being close to the OCEAN.  Nothing compares.

There are a few things I miss about Idaho.  At the top of the list is the FOOTE family.

So can you imagine my excitement when my two favorite things came together last weekend?  The FOOTES at the OCEAN!

They came with their 4 boys as well as our other friends, the Bennetts, who brought their 3 boys.  So, with our 3 boys and Maddy,  we had 10 boys under the age of 18 and 1 lucky (or unlucky depending on who you ask) girl.

First stop was Bryan’s family home, complete with a reservoir filled with fish.

Then we headed to Rio Del Mar Beach for a sunset bonfire.

It was so fun to see you all! ! ! Can’t wait  until next time ….

Emotion

We had quite an emotional week this past week.  My 12 year old son’s Little League baseball team won the 2011 Tournament of Champions.  Now that may seem like no big deal to those of you who don’t have kids who play baseball.  Then again it might seem like a pretty big accomplishment to those of you who do.

For our family, it was HUGE!

And here’s why.

Jack was born with a complex heart defect called HLHS.   When he was diagnosed at 18 hours old, we had three options;  do nothing and take him home to pass away peacefully within his first two weeks, put him on the heart transplant list and hope for an infant heart to become available, or allow him to undergo a series of three “experimental” open-heart surgeries, the first of which would be done within his first 3 days of life.     After much gut-wrenching thought and lots of prayer, we decided to allow him to undergo the surgeries.

Jack's second surgery at 3 months old.

His first and most complex surgery took place when he was 3 days old.  I won’t go into details about what takes place during that day long procedure, only that his heart was intentionally stopped for part of the procedure.  During his month-long recovery at the hospital, I remember speaking with his cardiologist about what we could expect his prognosis to be.  I remember him telling me that because of the deprivation of oxygen with this type of heart defect, his limitations could range anywhere from brain damage to difficulty grasping a raisin with his finger and thumb.  But no matter what, we shouldn’t expect Jack to participate in competitive sports.   As much as I craved him giving me solid hope, the cardiologist said only time would tell.  I did wear him down enough that one day he came into the room with a picture of a dark-haired boy about 6 years-old who looked healthy and who, he said, was leading a pretty normal life. But that he couldn’t promise that Jack would follow the same path.

Well that was  the glimmer of hope I needed.  I grasped onto that image during the next several years as Jack underwent his final two surgeries.  As he finally didn’t need a feeding tube anymore.  As the oxygen tank, that had taken up residence in our family room corner and whose tube snaked throughout our little house, was wheeled away.  As  we no longer woke to the piercing cries of the apnea monitor at night.  As we no longer had to get up in the middle of the night to give the half dozen needed medications.  As Jack began to crawl.  As he began to walk and talk and laugh and smile and run.  As that glimmer of hope turned into our reality.

When Jack was a newborn we were told not to expect a lot.  Academically.  Physically.

When Jack was four he had read and memorized every fact and figure in his animal encyclopedia.

When Jack was six he could ride his bike.

When Jack was nine he had written a 30-page play with parts for each of his friends.

And when Jack was twelve he decided he wanted to try baseball.  For the very first time.  So we said, “Sure”.

He was put on the Dodgers team.  The team who had won the championship two years in a row.  Who went undefeated one of those years. With kids who many had played together for years.  We said, “Yikes!”

But with the very best coaches in the league, and as far as I’m concerned, in the world.  Coaches who accepted him ‘as is’ and took him under their wing and taught him patiently week in and week out.  Who taught him all the things that he needed to know to be an asset to the 2011 Dodgers.

And together they practiced and played week in and week out during rain and shine, cold and heat.  Working hard and winning week in and week out.  Eventually winning the League Championship.  And finally winning the Tournament of Champions this past Tuesday evening.

There were tears of joy, slaps on the back, high fives, and fist bumps.

For the players and coaches it was a Little League victory they had wanted from day one.

But for our family, it was more than just a Little League victory.

It represented all that is possible.

And it all began with a glimmer of hope.

Now go check out what my friend and fellow photographer, Aubry Startin of Startin Photo|Arizona Photographer has in store for this week’s theme of EMOTION.