Vote

image via google images

I hope everyone is planning on voting on Tuesday. I sure am. I believe in it so much. We need to be more active in our communities and in who we elect to run our local and national governments. We, as a people have no right to sit and complain about what is happening, when we are not proactive in helping to change the things that we don't agree with, or like. I have many dear friends who are extremely active in their local political campaigns and I think it is wonderful.

I don't claim to know everything, but I try to educate myself as well as I can, then go out and vote for those people who represent my values and the things I hope for my own children and families. So please, go vote.

This week in my local elections I am voting in favor of this bond. **full disclosure: I have not been asked to, or paid to write the following opinion, I did, however receive the opportunity to enjoy a 'hard hat' tour of the new Natural History Museum under construction, and folks, it is going to be amazing.** I am so excited for something to amazing to be brought to Salt Lake City. I remember going to the museum as a kid and being fascinated by all of the things there, especially dinosaurs. Being mother to one very science loving and minded kid, I am thankful and excited to share this new museum with my children.

Anyway, just putting in my two cents. If you live in Salt Lake County, I encourage you to read the article and consider voting in favor of proposition 1.

As for me, I am off to finish studying the candidates and making a fully educated decision.

Happy Haunting and Happy Voting.

Winner! Winner!

The winner of the giveaway can be found HERE!

Healthy Home Giveaway!

A fun and exciting giveaway can be found on my review blog HERE.

Tiny Steps

***Originally posted to Shredding With Simply Me***

That is where I am at. Just tiny, itty bitty steps. I have a goal of when I want this weight gone. I am completely serious about it, and I am having to remind myself every day when the cravings hit.

It has been a little over a week of this daily reminder, and daily knee hitting, asking for strength.

Today it paid off. 1/2 pound. In a week. Still it is there, and going down in the right direction.

My goal for right now is to hit 190. Wow, to actually weight 190 seems so daunting, but I am only a few pounds away. I think literally biting off this huge number of weight into little bits is going to be the only way I can get through this. Down 5 lbs at a time, slowly chipping away at it. I think it was Becca who suggested doing little goals. (I can't remember who said it, but IT HELPS!)

SO, after 190, it will be 185, etc, etc.

Like Nakia, I am having a hard time deciding what my 'treat' should be when I hit 190. I keep hoping that it will be that I can try on a pair of pants I have hidden in a tote and they will magically fit, so that I can add to my wardrobe. I just need to psych myself up that they may not fit, and that is okay.

We'll see. For now, still on the journey to 190. 193...192...191...190...

Savoring Summer

Loving these last moments of summer.

Going outside on Sunday evenings and letting the kids play.

Grabbing my camera and just shooting them, over and over and over.

Fall is on it's way.

I feel it in the crisp mornings and the chilly evenings.

Soon the frost will come, and with it the short days and long nights of winter.

For now, relishing in these last moments of summer, soaking in as much sun and warmth as I can...

...and loving in this little one whose days are passing just as quickly as the summer has, and listening to her constant (and new) "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Hitting a wall.

Photo completely unrelated to post, and old, and digital. This is what you get when I post from my husband's new laptop, er uh, my new laptop, which I wish was mine, but isn't really.

I am going to use the term 'hitting -a- wall' instead of 'hitting -the- wall'. It has nothing to do with running either.

This week was rough. I have had myself together for the past month. I have been on top of my motherly and wifely duties for so long, and then WHAM this week hit me like a ton of bricks.

It started last week when that effer Aunt F was in town, she forced all sorts of brownies down my throat and convinced me that if I went running and worked out I would feel even worse than I already did, so I stayed put, working around the house, working on sessions etc.

This week found us a one car family. Well, sort of, first we were a no car family, (long story) we were using a borrowed car that started SMOKING on us Wednesday. We got our car back in time for the busiest weeks of my life to hit. So, between no cars, trading cars, entertaining out of town guests, boutiques, sessions, editing, laundry, dishes, (or not being home to do laundry, dishes, sweeping, mopping etc.), a surprise party for my brother who is leaving for the army and has me in tears, and generally being OFF my schedule, I hit a wall tonight.

I got a migraine through the roof. I am so tired from averaging 4 hours of sleep this entire week, and yet, here I am, scheduled to wake in 6 hours and I am not sleeping. I needed writing therapy, for, even my blog has suffered damages from this week.

Deep. Breaths.

This week will not control me. This week will not tear me down, I will overcome and get back on my routine.

In other news and completely unrelated, but not:

Did you know I need to lose almost an entire person's worth of weight from my body? More than my almost 7 year old weighs?

Did you know my -biological- father told me that I was perhaps a wee bit fat tonight? Did you know that that made me cry in my migraine ridden state?

Then I somehow had to drive an hour home in with my migraine, fighting back the choking sobs that I am still fighting back. *frowny face*.

SO over today. As in over.

Gonna jump over this effing wall and move on...

Join me.

Did you know?

That I have a beautiful life?

As in, grade-a amazing?

I have grown so much in the past two months, it is astounding. I attribute that to my faith. I also attribute it to myself and getting to know myself and loving myself more. Trusting in who I am inside, who I was born to be, and letting her shine through.

It is not an easy thing to do by any means. It is hard. Some days I cry. Some days I still don't want to get out of bed. Some days I am not the perfect mother (okay most days). Still, I am trying. Trying to be better, and reach farther, and I am making huge strides.

Huge. Strides.

I hope that you are too.

Have a happy weekend.

xo

~Kim

I know...

...I am a cracker jack blogger.

For that I apologize. It is THE busiest time of year for me. Fall = family photos for EVERYONE. It also is the beginning of the holiday season, which for the r house couture, means crazy orders and boutiques. (Which we love.) Did I mention we just celebrated our first birthday, the r house couture I mean? I didn't...well we did, and it is incredible.

But this post is not about that, it is about how I left you for an entire week with no new posts. Nothing new is really going on besides said busy-ness. I have been incredibly happy, incredibly busy, and trying with all of my might to keep these people from growing.

But alas, they don't listen to me. Just like my cravings for brownies COMPLETELY ignored me the past weekend. (I was doing SO good with my diet and exercise.) I feel so icky for eating them, but they tasted SO good. (I blame Aunt Flow, damn her.)

Anyway, enough of this MEZCLA of a cracker jack post for this cracker jack blogger. Come see me next Thursday in Draper mmmmmkkkk? The ladies and I will be having a boutique with our new lovlies. Designs only available at our boutiques this year.

(pssst. click to enlarge.)

Okay. Done. Next time you come it will be a lot better and I promise to not blog at 1 a.m. and to make sure I am well rested the night before I blog. Love you all. Really, I do. xoxo

Run Karsen Run

Four-year-old Karsen Mery lost his left foot in a lawn mower accident last September. This tough little boy has gone through many surgeries and now has a prosthetic leg.
Just last week, Karsen was involved in a playground accident where he broke the femur in that same leg. This still hasn't stopped Karsen!

What: 5k Run/Walk/Bike Fundraiser and Silent Auction
Where: Pavilion at 7982 South Grizzly Way, West Jordan, UT 84081
When: Race at 8am, Silent Auction at 8:30

Register at www.runkarsenrun.com

How you can help:
** Pre-order a shirt for $20 that guarantees your spot in the race
**Go to http://www.karsenmery.blogspot.com/ and click on the link on the right side where you can donate online
**Donate your time or new products/gift certificates for the silent auction

This is a great opportunity to raise money for Mery family to assist with all the medical bills they’ve incurred.

One-third of all donations will be given to Shriner’s Hospital to help more amazing kids like Karsen.

Crazy Busy

In a good way.

It is fall, and with it comes the mass of family portrait sessions (which I love and greatly missed last year while I was out on maternity leave).

I have missed shooting, the crazy business of it all. The shooting, and now developing and scanning and editing and packaging (oh I have the cutest packaging now).

I am in the midst of a rebrand with my photography business. I am very excited about the changes and the custom site I am saving up my pennies for. It will be everything I have ever dreamed about times a bajillion. I think I will feel like a big girl and a true professional once all of those things are squared away. I can't wait to show you the big unveil as it gets closer. (In four months.)

For now, stay tuned to the photography blog for some beautiful new sessions going up, and for a giveaway in another week for a print of your choosing. It will be great fun.

For now, enjoy some Polaroid beauty. (I promise I have photos of the other kids, but these are just melting me today.)

Loves,

Me

I leave you for the weekend with this:

...may it be merry and bright.

xoxo

Winner, winner!

I feel like we all just ran a marathon and are at the finish line jumping and yelling for joy! YAY Corey and JoJo. Can't wait to meet you and have a lovely photoshoot. Best wishes on your adoption journey.

congratulations to cory and jojo.


after 1,890 total votes, they are the winners of the kim orlandini photography and the r house photo shoot!

i hope all the couples are feeling loved.
after all, there was quite a bit of voting going on! you can learn more about their hope to adopt by clicking on their names below:

brian and chriss
ron and darcee
jared and devin
spencer and jessica

and a HUGE, HUGE thank you to my sensei, kim orlandini and her generosity and this amazing giveaway. you are fantastic! i love learning from you.


i asked cory and jojo to share a little bit about themselves with us so that we could get to know them better.

We are so excited that we won! We are also very thankful to so many people who posted the photo shoot on their facebook and on missionary moms and we think that's how we won.

We started dating in 2007 and were married almost a year later, on May 24th, 2008. We have been married a little over 2 years and have enjoyed every minute of it.

We love being around each other and really enjoy going to sporting events together. We both have a love for the Medical Field and Anatomy.

Cory and I both work and go to school. Cory will graduate in April with his bachelors degree in exercise science and will continue on for his doctorate degree in Physical Therapy. He is a supervisor for a care giving center and takes care of mentally disabled adults. JoJo has two semesters left in her nursing program and works at a little college in American Fork, UT as a Campus Coordinator. She works closely with the teenagers and loves to be around them.

We are both are very excited to adopt and our profile will be posted on
itsaboutlove.org at the beginning of October. We cannot wait to be chosen by birth parents and to start our family by the miracle of adoption!

Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Never ending summer.

Aren't you loving this never ending summer? (At least here in Utah it is staying blissfully warm.) I like it like that. Where there is just the teensiest bit of chill in the morning and in the evening that is letting you know fall is on its way. But, it can take it's time.

Some photos from the past few weeks.

All taken on a Yashica Mat24G the SUPER close up ones were with the CRAPPIEST close up filters I have ever seen. I swear they are made of plastic or something. The film? Some OLD Kodak Portra 400NC I got from THE Ryan Muirhead. His work is bomb...you should check it out. Anyway, the older film gets the more whack the color is. Hence why these look so...well, whack. But all is well, I love them all, for their plastic-lensy feel and for the subjects. I think they turned out beautifully and truly express how I am feeling these days. Like the summer, I never want these days to end.

Hope you all have a BLISSFUL weekend. I have an amazing session in the morning and then I am free to spend it with the ones I love. Hope you can too.

Enjoy.

xoxo

kim orlandini & the r house photoshoot giveaway: time to vote

mrs. r and I sat at her kitchen table this morning.

We looked at everyone's entries and finally let random.org decide who the finalists would be.

Now it is time to vote!
Thank you to all those that entered their friends, family and friends of friends!

You are voting for a couple to be the models of a photo shoot conducted by me that gives me a teaching opportunity with mrs. r (one of my students) that focuses on posing. the winning couple will get a free photo shoot and CD of images to use however they would like--hopefully in promoting their adoption!


Here is what to do:

1) Read the nominations below and select the person you want to vote for. However, if you can't decide, I have set it up so you can vote for more than one person. I know some of you will have an impossible time choosing. you can vote for more than one person, but you can only cast your vote once. You can also cast your vote on mrs. r's blog. in the end, we will add the results together to determine the winner.

2) Instead of leaving a comment, look at the top left of my blog. You will see a poll box there entitled "Kim Orlandini Photo Shoot Contest." Vote for the couple(s) you are cheering for there. Entries in this poll and on mrs. r's blog are the only ones that count. (That means no Twitter, Facebook, text, email, or blog comment entries.)

3) Tell people about this contest and get them to vote for their/your favorites! feel free to use THIS post to explain what is going on and what you want your favorite couple to win.

In fact, here is a little something you can copy and paste and pass on:

hello! i wanted to let you know about a contest going on for one of my friends who is hoping to adopt. they are eligible to win a free photo shoot and CD of images to help with their adoption profile. please help __________ win by casting your vote on the top left corner of the r house and simply me. no need to sign in, no email required, just a quick press of a button. thanks so much!

*You can only cast your vote once at the r house and once on kim's blog, simply me.

The finalists are:
(In random order.)

Ron and Darcee

A little bit about them from the person that nominated them:

I am nominating the couple linked below. I have not met them personally but know of their story through some mutual friends. They recently experienced a failed adoption where they actually had the baby boy home with them for a few days and then the birth mom chose to parent. It has been crushing for them as you can well imagine and I pray that good things come their way. I think a photo shoot would be a great new start for them. They are a beautiful couple and I have heard such great things about them.

Spencer and Jessica

A little bit about them from the person that nominated them:

I'd like to nominate Spencer and Jessica. Jessica is a dear friend of mine. I have long, LONG looked up to her.

She sings so beautifully and is a stellar pianist. I can honestly say I NEVER saw Jessica upset, sad, or without her beautiful smile. She was always so kind to me. It seems she is one of those people you just thirst for their company, so they're surrounded by many.

Since she is just the epitome of greatness to me, I'd love to nominate her and kind of give her a little gift (through you guys) to show how wonderful she has been to me.... and help her on her adoption journey. :) I know all too well how painful and hard just waiting and waiting is, perhaps this will help her feel like she's doing something wonderful to bring baby home. :)

Chriss and Brian

A little bit about them from the person that nominated them:

Hi there! I'd like to nominate Chriss and Brian. They are wonderful sweet people. Chriss has had a hard time staying pregnant. She has had one miscarriage after another trying because she wants so much to be a mom. She has always doted on children. Brian is a favorite with my children. If my kids don't get to see them for a while, one of my children will say, "I want to see the Chriss and Brian." Chriss and Brian have been through the wringer. They have just submitted their paperwork for adoption and are holding fund-raisers for the future fees. Hope you pick them!

Devin and Jared

A little bit about them from the person that nominated them:

I want to nominate my friend Devin and her husband Jared. Devin and I
met over 7 years ago on a church history tour. We became instant
friends and later because roommates just before I got married. Devin
is just an amazing person, she has one of those warm, bubbly
personalities and love everyone. She has been an awesome love and
support to me when I needed it! She is currently in nursing school
while they patently wait to adopt. They are such a cute couple and
deserve this!

Cory and Jojo

A little bit about them from the person that nominated them:

I am so excited to nominate a couple that I think is TOTALLY deserving of the photo giveaway. And it also feels awesome to "pay it forward" after we won the last contest like this!

Anyway....I want to nominate Cory and JoJo.

They are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Cory is my husband's cousin and he also served his mission in my hometown. My family, especially my little brother got to know Cory well and just think the world of him. I had a special love for Cory even before I really got to know him just because of the influence and friendship he provided my brother. Cory and JoJo anxiously awaited their second anniversary so that they could apply for adoption through LDS Family Services and just finished their home study in the last week and will finish all of their training and be approved next month. I have enjoyed sharing thoughts and feelings about the process with JoJo and she has become a great friend! I know that they will be incredibly loving and amazing parents (anyone who is around them can tell that right away!)

I personally know how stressful and overwhelming the whole adoption application process is and I can tell you that when we won a photo session it made the process so much more fun and less overwhelming. I want the same for Cory and JoJo!



GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Now, go get your vote on!


Full Disclosure: mrs. r (Lindsey Redfern) is a dear friend of mine. I am her photography teacher. I was not compensated for this post, but, as explained, I will be the sensei on the shoot. She is also co-owner with Leisha Kelsey and me of the r house couture.

contest for adoptive couples to win a free photo shoot

Photo of the R Family in the last photo shoot I did for them and Wasatch Woman Magazine.

Recently, one of my all-time favorite photography students, mrs. r, asked me for some help with posing couples. She was really struggling. All of her photos were starting to look forced and odd. I believe her exact words were "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." How could I turn down such a plead for help?

Because I am an incredible teacher (or sensei as my beloved student calls me), I told her that we should find ourselves some models and go out for a practice shoot. Soon we came up with a great idea to benefit a family and our common passion: adoption.

{r great idea}

We are looking for a couple who is hoping to adopt that is in need of a photo makeover for their adoption blog, pass along cards, adoption profile and/or self-esteem boost that are willing to be our models. We are looking for a couple that does not have any children yet and this person would need to be willing to travel to the Salt Lake area on their own to have their photos taken by both mrs. r and myself.

The winner of this little contest will receive a CD of the images taken at the shoot to use however they would like.

{do you know someone that would be perfect for this?}

Here's what to do.

Think of a family that you know that is hoping to adopt. (Sorry, but this time around, no nominating yourselves.) If you don't know any, check out the extensive list I have on the left sidebar. Email me (kimsueellen at gmail dot com) a picture of them (if you don't know them personally, right click is your friend!) and tell me why you think they should win, why you love/admire/adore them and/or why they are fantastic. Just tell me of their general awesomeness and deservingness. This family needs to be able to come to the Salt Lake area for the photoshoot ...but the person who nominates them can be from anywhere.

Get thinking quickly, you only have until Sunday night (September 19th) at Midnight MST to nominate the ones you love. Also, check out mrs. r's blog, the r house for more chances to nominate. She is running this contest as well!

mrs. r and I will read all the nominations then proceed to be utterly overwhelmed and hand it over to random.org to select the finalists. The finalists will be posted on Monday morning (September 20th) of next week.

From Monday until Friday (September 24rd) at Midnight MST, voting will be open for you to vote for one of the 5 couples that you think should win. Or all of them, if you'd like.

The winner will be announced on Saturday and will need to schedule the shoot before October 29th.

{here's a little BONUS to this awesomeness}

The person who nominates the winning couple will also win a little goodie from the r house couture. It's a win-win-win. So get those nominations in and help pay it forward!

{GOOD LUCK}


disclaimer: this post was written for kim by mrs. r. kim's computer is sick today. please keep it in your prayers or hope that is passes and is put out of its misery so that she can get a MAC--that's what i am praying for. ;)


full disclosure: mrs. r (Lindsey Redfern) is a dear friend of mine. I am her photography teacher. I was not compensated for this post, but, as explained, I will be the sensei on the shoot. She is also co-owner with leisha kelsey and me of the r house couture.

The big D and I don't mean Dallas...(or divorce).

Photo by Joth, taken on his Little Tykes digital camera.

My computer is bunk...so you get what you can off of Hubbs lappy.

Two and a half years ago, I couldn't tell you what it felt like to feel desperate, or in a dark place. I am almost certain I knew the grips of depression, but I was somehow able to find my way through, continue each day and live. Then when all hell broke loose , and then again, and again and again, I lost bits of me to that hell. Parts I wish I could get back, but hard as I try, I can't seem to find them.

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to
break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward
many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It
kills the very good, and the very gentle, and the very brave impartially. If you
are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too, but there will be no
special hurry.” --Ernest Hemingway

This quote almost perfectly describes how I have been feeling. Especially if you subsititue 'world' with 'depression'. I feel like depression has been trying to break me. I hate it.

The other night I was SO tired, and the insomnia hit, everything hit and I cried myself to sleep. I wrote on my facebook wall, how much I would love to know how it feels to navigate this world without having to carry depression on my shoulders. It is a heavy weight and the good days and bad days are so interspersed that I don't know who is friend and who is foe anymore. It is heavy stuff. What does that feel like friends? What does it feel like to be free, to be able to wake up and make breakfast for your kids, walk them to school, without coming home and wanting nothing but to go back to bed? What is that like to feel otherwise?

I talked with Casey a few weeks back. She suffers from depression as well, and one thing we both have in common and which we discussed, and which she put on her blog a few days ago, is the lack of the ability to take full breaths. Really. Think about it. The anxiety and depression are so terrible some days that most days I don't take full breaths. Even as I sit here, I am not. No wonder I am depressed, my brain is lacking sufficient oxygen. ;)

I am courageous, I am brave, I am good, and I am gentle, I am trying to be strong in my broken places regardless of this depression.

Regardless if I must row the boat through the misty darkness for the rest of my life, I still see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see the happiness around me, I hear the laughter of my sweet children, the love of my husband, and they keep me rowing. I love myself regardless of you depression. I may have to get out and wade through the churning waters at times, but I will never stop because of you. I will never allow you to hurt me so much that I let you overpower me, and I may find bits of me in this murky water, and I will salvage the pieces of me that I can from you, and arrive safely 0n the other side, and when I do depression, I am going to punch you in the throat and kick you in the nads.

Instant Gratification

All shot on the Polaroid 600SE camera, on Fuji 100c Instant Film. These are the instant film negatives, that have been bleached and washed, then scanned, adjusted for color and density and voila. Fun.

The more time passes, the less and less I feel inclined to indulge in instant gratification. We live in a world full of 'get it now' with internet on every device we have, and with noise all around us. The more time passes, the less I want to be a part of that. Which is why my switch to film last December has had such a lasting impact on me, on my heart.

Except, well except for the small part of me that loves this type of instant gratification.

Fuji 100c. What is that you ask? Instant film. Think Polaroid...but made by Fuji. You are probably thinking, "Like that stuff we had when we were kids, that developed almost immediately? The camera that spit it out of the bottom after hitting 'click'?"

Yes, like that.

This though? This is a step further. These are the 'instant' negatives.

Crazy right?

No actions, just a straight scan and messed with color balance for color.

I heart film. All types. All. My love letter to film is coming up soon. So stay tuned.

Just wanted to share.

Hope you are all having a blissful weekend. May your week be as wonderful.

xo

A break from the old family slide show...

I am sure I am not the norm here, but I would probably utterly dig watching someone's old family slide show circa 1959.

But, since I am certain I am not the norm, it is time to take a break from our family vacation photos to blog about this girl:

She is hilarious and funny. She can be loud, and tantrum throwing, or she can be quiet and observant and cuddly. I love her, and I love her cheeks. Her plump, squishy, kissable cheeks.

The past two weeks I have noticed something about her. She has very discerning taste buds. I wouldn't call her 'picky' per se, (even though she is...) but her palette is 'delicate'. Let me explain.

I gave her breakfast one morning and with it her usual cup of chocolate milk. To which she replies, "This tastes funny." I couldn't think why it did, until I realized that I gave her Millzies whole milk and not the usual 1%.

Then there was the Mac & Cheese incident. She LOVES Mac & Cheese. Again with the, "This tastes funny." (I used soy milk in it instead of regular milk...and used margarine instead of butter.) Geez.

She is this way about lots of things, some dairy related, but some not. For example she prefers: Rock salt on her grilled meat over kosher salt. Regular lemonade over 'light' (a given...I am with her on that.) She won't eat 'American' cheese (that's my girl). And it spills over into cereal, crackers, granola bars, lite mayo, different mustartds and hot dogs, etc. Substituting whole flour into a cookie recipe? Think again! (Not even the entire calling of flour, even one cup she tastes.)

Not only can you see I am a GREAT and AWESOME mom at what I feed my kids, but that she has some mutant taste buds. Love her, but sometimes...

What have you changed in your kids food rituals that they notice right off?

New York: Part 5 Statue of Liberty

Advice and things we did while waiting to visit Miss Liberty. (In no particular order.)

Get there EARLY. As in, 6:00 a.m. to stand in line early. (Or so is the word on the street.) Or else stand in a REALLY long line for 4 hours, and MAYBE get a chance to see her.

Be super disappointed when finding out they only give out 3,000 tickets daily to go any farther than the height of the island. We got to stay on said island while we watched hundreds of people enjoy her feet. (Sorry Sam, I couldn't get your shot because we were shunned to the ground.)

If you want to hang with the cool kids, get your tickets here, so you can go to the crown and see the statue as she was meant to be seen.

The wisest man I have ever met in my life was selling water to the hot and huddled masses standing in said line of death. He must be a millionaire.

Sit on the benches if someone can hold your place in line. Make sure to sit by someone wearing a beautiful Sari.

Try to divert the attention of your children from the 90 degree weather and 70% humidity by letting them get super dirty and pick up rocks, sticks, and pull the seeds out of the tree pods. Then take photos of all of those things so they can remember them.

Look down at the ground. There is a lot of spit out gum on the sidewalks of New York City, and really pretty sewer covers. Wait, can sewer covers be pretty?

Get teary when seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time, up close from the ferry.

Take a rare family photo with the New York City skyline behind you. And thank film because you can actually see the skyline.

Edit photos of New York on a gray background in photoshop, because if you use black, you will see the negative on your scans. Oops.

Lastly, take a photo of your kids in front of Miss Liberty. You may have to lay on the ground on all of that gum we discussed (because of the lack of a wider angle lens) but it will be worth it. See their smiles and be thankful you came. Five hour trip and all.

I sure am.

New York: Part 4 Central Park

The evening of our first day, when we were all beat and tired and hot, we ended up in beautiful Central Park.

I cannot tell you the feelings it brings to my heart to have given my children this experience of traveling. Since our trip, whenever they see the park, or a show set in New York, they remember.

This trip was to celebrate our ten-year wedding anniversary that is coming up in December. Of course it would have been much cheaper, simpler, faster, to have gone by ourselves. But that is the thing, it was so much better taking our kids with us.

I love sharing my dreams:

Hot dogs and pretzels in Central Park.
(really stale hot dogs and pretzels.)







(She was the only smart one, she is only pretending to eat here. She spit is out immediately.)





Kids were enthralled with the rocks.











And the bridges.



It was a short stay that day in the park, I wanted to go back, the kids wanted to go back.

Hopefully one day we will.