Goodbye old year!

I went out with my sister this afternoon and we stopped for lunch at Ruby Tuesday. I don't go out for dinner often, and even less often do I get to go out with her. It was cold and grey outside so it was a nice treat to go out with her. She brightens my life. :) She ordered this crazy-good drink! A strawberry lemonade. I'm sure we're the last on the planet to discover this drink, but that may be a good thing. I'm already trying to figure out how we can replicate it and make them whenever we want to! It tastes like lemonade, seltzer water with strawberry pieces floating inside. But perhaps there is also a strawberry syrup in there too...I'm definitely going to have to try to make this. Maybe it can be one of my New Years resolutions. ;)

I am proud to say that my younger sister has picked up the habit (or new tradition perhaps?) of photographing things even when it's a bit unconventional to do so. I think our server probably thought we were weird for taking pictures of Holly's drink. But anything for the blogs, right? I know Becca used to tease me for taking pictures of my tea or of the signs on the shops that we went to, but I'm so glad that I can look back and read about and see what happened this past year or so.

Holly took a photography course this past year so I think she has been enjoying photography a lot lately! She took these last couple of pictures.

Well, it's not quite 8 pm and I'm already in bed. Teeth brushed (and flossed...if I learned one thing as a dental assistant it is that it is better to spend 30 extra seconds flossing your teeth than it is to spend 30 minutes in the chair all numbed up for a filling!), face washed, electric blanket on and I'm all tucked in for the night with yarn, my sketchbook, books and the world wide web. I think I'll be busy for the next few hours. :)

I may post about the old year on the other blog but since I have plans for tomorrow, I'll end here and say Happy New Year, blog!

Baby girl

Here are new pictures of my niece. She was getting ready for her nap. She gets swaddled before she goes to sleep so my sister was changing her and getting her ready to be swaddled and I insisted on taking her pictures.


I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this girl. She makes life so much more interesting and beautiful. Oh, and I made her laugh like 4 times! It's one of the few times her parents have ever heard her laugh and the very first time I ever heard it. I love being her aunt.

Happy 4th of July!

From the mountains....

To the prairies...
To the oceans white with foam...
(photo taken by my sister, Jacqueline)

God bless America. My home sweet home.

The most beautiful baby in the whole wide world!

For your viewing pleasure: Olive!She's looking at her butterfly toy that Erin and Cheyenne gave her. She loves it!
This was from a photo shoot Jacqueline and I did of her. They didn't quite come out the way we wanted them to. The angle and lighting weren't so great. But she's cute anyway!
Ha ha! I wonder what she's thinking.
The closest we got to a smile...

Pretty girl! We love you!

Family time

I love this kid. Isn't she cute? I bought the outfit she is wearing. Just thought I should mention that.Yes, I love her. And I love the swing we are sitting in (it belongs to my sister and Matt). I think it is funny that she is so grumpy in this picture when I am cheesing like a goon.

An unconventional family photo.

Hammocks/hammock swings are probably one of my favorite inventions. I would love to have one in my room.

A hint of a smile? She was pretty grumpy this weekend! It seems like when she is grumpy the way to make her happy is to walk her around. If that doesn't work give her her binky. If that doesn't work give her to Jacqueline. She can fix it.
The mother-daughter bond is an interesting thing. Since my sister has had Olive I have noticed that sometimes we all just need our mommies. They help to make things better.

Beautiful Baby Girl

Meet my beautiful niece, Olive Evangeline.


She is a love...I think we'll keep her.

Loverly Spring

The weather this weekend was absolutely glorious! These are the flowers that were blooming at my sister's house. They moved into their home last weekend, only a week and a half after having Olive. It is a cute house with a lot of potential. And pretty flowers outside.Holly and I went to the park this evening. It was too nice to stay indoors. We just caught the end of the spring blooms. Most of the trees are turning green now. Even so it looks much better than it did during the winter.

I love how velvety the grass looks during this time of year. And I like the shadows from the other trees behind us in this picture too.

After walking around a bit we ended up swinging on the swings for awhile. Until Holly got motion sickness and needed to stop. She ended up laying down on a picnic table under one of the pavillions until she felt a little bit better.

You have to get these moments of enjoyment in before the allergies really strike and keep you housebound. The way my sinuses are acting right now I think that time is just around the corner!

This will have to do until I can upload a better picture.

Isn't she a cutie?

Walk'n'Roll

It's been pretty cold lately. I am not a winter person. I like warmer weather and I usually complain all winter long about how cold it is and how snowy it is. But the nice thing about our winters is that we get these little breaks from the cold every now and then. We will have a weekend where the weather is in the 50's or something like that and then everyone ends up outside. I mean, how could you stay indoors on a beautiful day when you know it's going to get cold again?Holly got a new pair of rollerblades and she and I went down to the park to try them out. I walked, she rolled. Here she is rolling away from me.

I am so grateful for these little breaks from the cold. They make winter go by much quicker and they make me more tolerable towards the cold. Still, I'm waiting eagerly for spring!

I just love our library...

And it's many staircases. I am finding that I love architecture. Maybe I should do that instead of dental hygiene...or maybe not. :(


I had some other pictures that I took here. Pictures of things other than staircases. Unfortunately, my jumpdrive has been acting really wonky, so I couldn't find them to load them on here. Maybe I'll update this post in the future. :)

Happy Halloween~

The baristas at our local coffee shop. They're a fun group...as I'm sure you can see!

More Scenes from Autumn 2008~

Scenes from Autumn 2008

Most of the leaves have changed their colors already and a lot of the leaves have fallen. There are still some gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellow to be seen, but I think our peak season is over.


On Wednesday I saw snow flurries! It's only October! I am not ready for snow and really cold weather yet. Actually, there is never really a time where I am ready for snow and really cold weather. :) Just being honest here.

There are just some days

When I want to be here instead of at work or school, or even home occasionally. I want to be in some other place sitting quietly reading a book or knitting or writing something. Or just daydreaming or napping. Actually, it doesn't have to be in this picture, it could be any quiet and calm place. Sometimes, it's just nice to escape from the hustle and bustle of life and be quiet for a little while. I think it's good for us actually.

This is a picture that I took at Shaharazades...one of my favorite restaurants...and one of the things I like about it so much is that sometimes when I'm there, I feel like I'm in another place altogether. Maybe another country even. I love my home and my family, but it is always fun to feel like you're someplace new. Or at least I think so.

I went for a walk in downtown Winchester.

I have to say, I love my camera. It's not very fancy, it's not a Nikon or a Cannon, but it's mine and it's served me well. I love going places where there is a lot to photograph too. Winchester's walking mall is a fun place to go. We went there last Sunday afternoon and it was pretty dead, but when we passed it today on our way to the library it was a lot busier. However, we didn't stop and I didn't have my camera anyway. I wish I had brought it so I could take pictures of the library. Libraries don't sound particularly exciting, but I think our library is beautiful. When we first moved here it was being restored. It is a big old building and it's beautiful inside. I have to go back in 3 weeks to return my books so maybe I'll take some pictures then.An old church.

Autumn leaves!

There are lots of little restaurants and shops you can stop at.

I just love the old-timey feel of places like this. It makes me wonder what it would have been like to live in these towns when they were first founded. Does that make me really weird? :)

I just love autumn. It's definitely my favorite season!