may days

i am so lucky to have this beautiful woman in my life...
for there are many a' days that her smile brightens my own.

and did i mention the love between my grandmother and husband?
joel has been helping to care for my grandmother in the mornings...
every time i see him with her, i love him all the more.
and fixing his bike gloves is such a perfect example of the
thoughtful relationship they share!

blooming cherries...

there is a total of 4 cherry trees in this glorious backyard of my mother's!

the addition to my mother's house that you can see in this picture was a
consideration for joel and i...
the thought was we would rent out our house for 6 months to a year and be able to
put some money away.

it was a nice thought, but we decided to be selfish with
our time and space and stay present in our darling house.

our sweet girl sure does loves the space to run around in though...
and chase squirrels, of course!

this is my new business partner wendy and her now husband jason on their wedding day!

two of my classmates at ocom are "roller girls"...
so i was determined to check out what this roller derby gig
was all about. allyson kept me company and was much
more tempted than i to give it a try.

this is my incredibly talented cousin julie's self portrait.
she is just completing yet another fine art degree at the oregon college of art and craft.
joel and i were honored to witness and celebrate her incredible work!


mom and julie with another of her 'faces'

julie. jim. mom. barbara.

the 'after the exhibit' dinner celebration...
i try not to always have my camera out and on the scene,
but how can one resist an opportunity like this?

i truly believe it had been at least 20 years since i had seen jim and barbara...
so we had to take advantage. julie hosted a family brunch.

i wanted to discretely give some perspective of julie's
amazing work. i'm totally inspired!

melanie's blessingway.
on very special occasion my personal life
meets my professional life...
melanie was first my friend, then my client
and continues to be both!

i threw her a delightful blessingway for
her journey into motherhood of two!

tryon creek

i can honestly think of few better ways to spend a beautiful day then walking through the woods...
karin and i were on a mission to pick nettle and take some needed time to appreciate the glory of spring!

new life

stinging nettle... you can see the stinging hairs here.

flowering oregon grape

a friend in the woods

how blessed i am to have such beautiful women, like this one, in my life!
here is karin, with her sweet, gentle spirit sharing a wealth of botanic knowledge.
we gracefully harvested two big bags of nettle, its wonderful medicinal
properties saturating my soul as i write.

unfurl

one of my favorite qualities of living in the northwest.

how perfect nature truly is

opening to the world.

running into some of my favorite people... kaya and raf

those eyes say it all... gosh i love this girl!

...and this is just waking from an almost-nap!

salmon berry bloom

a taste of mom's glorious yard

mount fuji cherry

tulips soaking up the afternoon sun

don't know yet...

lovely smelling hyacinth

bluebell

my new screen saver!

a night with the cirque

joel's surprise evening evoked an anticipation i could hardly contain...
tickets to corteo - cirque de soleil [this video gives you but a taste].

i sat in awe, feet away from the phenomenal performers, with sweaty palms from the anxious excitement of human beauty and capability, so thankful for the opportunity and for this man i get to call my husband.

recycled tub water

i have my first morning in who knows how long that i linger in bed
and then take a long hot bath while joel makes blueberry pancakes;
that afternoon he gets back sweaty from a ride and the by now cold water
actually sounds good to him; and later there's kianna

...though of course, she doesn't enjoy it as much as we do!

my creative husband

avid cyclists of the world may not be impressed...

but i am!

[lara bar wrapper fix on the flat that got him home]

kids and ice cream

...two of our very favorite things!!

merin

nathan

these two beautiful kids belong to friends matt and rachel!

she has the keys!

despite the packed car, mom didn't want to have the first
family supper in her new digs without kianna...
who was lucky enough to get a first class seat on the way over to the new place!

joel made one of his homemade pizzas... mmm.

i confess, i was incredibly impressed that the ladies moved with but
four suitcases of clothes, pillows, and spices!

kianna especially likes the eco-friendly and durable cork flooring!

a move to portland

mom being between jobs offered a perfect segway to the proposal
that joel and i made over the holidays...
that mom and mamaw make a move to portland!

mom was going to "get an idea of the market"
and instead bought a fantastic house!!!

smiles at the portland international airport!

kianna with her welcoming licks and hugs!