Style and Substance


I know very little about fashion.
You know I love the pretty dresses and I certainly have my opinions....
but I don't spend very much time in stores. It saves money.

Really. If you want to save money. Stop going to stores.

That is my budgeting tip for the day.

But if you are a jogger or know a runner and you want to see the cutest new thing around....




The jogging skirt!

Have you heard of these? I hadn't until Emma showed me this one.

Yesterday she walked into the room with this darling outfit on and I said how cute she looked...
and then I realized she was going run-ning.







The running skirt.

The skun.
The skog.

Oh. Nevermind.

All I do know is that it's very cute and must be comfy.


******


I started a new book. It is called The Year of LIving Biblically by A.J. Jacobs.
It's amusing and interesting.


I like his humorous observations:

"I still read the Bible itself, taking it with me wherever I go. That Bible salesman was right-
I should have gotten the version of the Scriptures that's camouflaged as a teen magazine. When I read my Bible on the subway,
I can feel the hostility emanating from the secular commuters. They look at me with their lips taut and faces tense, like they expect me to tackle them at any moment and forcibly baptize them."

Jacobs visited an Amish family and shared this;

"Amos talks slowly and carefully, like he only has a few dozen sentences allotted for the weekend, and
he doesn't want to waste them at the start. I read later in the Amish book Rules of a Godly Life that you should
"let your words be thoughtful, few, and true." By adopting minimalism, Amos has mastered those speech laws I'm struggling with."

"Let your words be thoughtful, few, and true."

I must work on that.
The few part especially.


Andy, one of Jacob's spiritual advisers suggests that he read the Prophets.

"Try to make everything you do measure up to the moral standard of the prophets,"Andy told me. "Remember
what Micah said. He said that the animal sacrifices weren't important. The important thing is to 'Do justice. And to love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God.'"

I love that verse.
Micah's words are thoughtful, few and true.


And they are good ones to take to heart.


We are home, without company and Katie is still sleeping.

I write in the quiet and I feel good to be able to pass along something
of substance today.

Good and true words.

With a little jogging skirt thrown in.

Cause I'm just nutty like that.


Encourage one another,
Donna

Sneak Peek







I like to say, beauty actually is all around...

cause it reminds me of the ending to love actually and that makes me happy.





On Wednesday when I shot this session, I fell in love with the sweetness of these two children.






You can tell by the pictures that they really like one another and get along so nicely.






And their new puppy...he was so mellow and such a good boy!!!





I want one just like him.





Really!


What a delightful family! Thank you for choosing me.


******




Yesterday I received a little package from Maryland.
It was from Angie and Jessie, two darling girls who came to my last workshop. While they were here they learned, along with other more important things, that I need help in the marketing dept.


(A woman approached us while down at the capital and asked for a business card and I did not have one with me.)




They spotted this at the store...





Now I have the cutest card holder to hold my darling biz cards.

I am all set.

Thanks Jessica and Angie! I love it!

I may even change my whole color scheme to match this fabric. It's gorgeous!!!
I love those bluebirds.

Bluebirds of happiness.


***


Better get going.


It is the end of the week again. Where did it go???
Five weeks until Asher is due.

Oh my gosh.

Did this week go just as fast for you, Melinda, as it did for me?



Is anyone else watching Bethanny Getting Married?

I think it is the funniest, sweetest reality show on television.



Okay.
Really gotta go.


Love ya like a friend,
Donna

Mad World

billy 62 @ Yahoo! Video

This was my favorite dance last night and really it is up there for the best of the season.
Billy and Ade danced perfectly together with the music and with the gorgeous choreography.

I find it so beautiful.



******

The girls of summer.










Notice where the ball is! :o)



*****

Worth reading.
Again and again.

Casey at the Bat
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer ©

Published: The Examiner (06-03-1888)

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

Encourage one another,
Donna

Doing




Emma is happiest when she is doing something.
She loves the hot summer days and always seems up for a game of volleyball or rollerblading or running
or even playing four square.

Here she has just wildly slammed the ball at Matthew or Katie.

Wild thang.











What she is doing here....is anybody's guess.










That's one fine shot, don't you think?

Sometimes the camera takes pictures by itself.
It forgets to focus.

Bummer.




What are you doing today?


I have a photoshoot this afternoon.
Hope the rain goes away.




Encourage one another,
Donna

Not shooting on vivid for a change.






This is my favorite expression.










This exudes contentment.







This one freaks me out a little bit.

It's like a face mask that is floating in space.....

with killer eyelashes.

It belongs in the contemporary art section.





****





He had a face like a blessing.
~Miguel De Cervantes


She had a face like a blessing
~Katie's mom





Enjoy those beautiful faces you get to gaze into today!


Love,
Donna

The tie-dyed onesies.

If you watched the talkie blog you know that we tie-died onesies at Melinda's shower on
Saturday. My sister-in-laws were the hostesses. I know one of my sister's in law doesn't want
to be pictured on the blog...so I will respect her wishes...but then I forgot to ask the other's if they mind...

thus this will be a post without the lovely hostesses pictures.

I can tell you they they have big wonderful hearts and love family very much!
They are generous and thoughtful and fun!

I love this about them.

They are all so cute, too. You should see em! :o)




Melinda's parents came all the way from Omaha for the shower too!

So much fun to have them here at our house for a little bit. They have never been here.
I took them down to Paoli for some cheese curds real quick before the shower. They liked it very much and I know
Carol wished she could have gone into the other little shops. But we were on a tight schedule.

Matthew, Patrick and Steve bummed around Madison while we showered away.
They even got to go on the field at camp Randall. Pretty cool.



The onesies turned out really cute.

Except for mine. Tie-dye Fail.

I'm not kidding.


****

Other things we did with Matthew and Melinda.

Went to the union and watched the sun set.
(Ice cream and Spotted Cow were consumed by some)
Went to Greek Fest.
(Where we ate gyros, chicken and Greek salad)



*****

Then I took this picture of Katie.





We call it:


LITTLE MISS POSSESSED



Happy Monday dear friends!

Encourage one another,
Donna

Talkie Blog with Melinda.






I find it's best to just go with one take.

This probably should be called the out take reel....

I am slightly.....animated.

Only slightly.



Happy Sunday from our house to yours :o)

Donna

My hair is growing out....





and just yesterday....










it decided to flip.








Stay tuned for a Miz Boo and Melinda Talky Blog!!!


Later today.



Encourage one another,
Donna

Rabbit Trails....


Oh Joy!

I do not visit this blog every day, but every time I do,
I go off on a rabbit trail.

This morning I spotted this article:


Enjoy Cupcakes feature

Wait till you see the Shasta trailer that is used for catering.
The pictures taken by Jose Villa are perfection.
The colors and feeling make me want to live in those pictures....

Enjoy Cupcakes Website



And then there is Apartment Therapy.
It overflows with articles on interesting, varied, beautifully designed and decorated spaces.

Apartment Therapy

which lead me to this....

Wisconsin Cottage

surely we could afford a cottage that measured 10 x 10 :o)


And just this week....

I hit the MOTHER LODE....


Realsestalker

Yup. It's a blog dedicated to showing houses of the famous that are on the market or just sold.

Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic sold her place to the gal from Fraiser.

Go see. It is perfection.

Shabby Chic pad for Peri Glipin


So there you go....

Pretty, pretties for your eyes.
Hope you liked seeing the rabbit trails I travel down.

Please feel free to share the places you go that bring you some extra joy and fun during the day.




I hate the look of a post without a picture.

So there ya go.



Encourage one another,
Donna

I was reading out loud to Emma yesterday while she sun tanned.
I sat directly under our striped umbrella. I am a delicate flower and do
not sit in the sun. Too hot.

Anyway. She finished The Help and liked it very much.
I gave her my copy of Eat, Pray and Love with the warning that she might as well just read the
Eat part. So she was reading it outside and I wanted to read the Italy part with her.

She was at the most perfect part,
when Elizabeth arrives in Rome.

Besides the food, I love when Elizabeth talks about the Italian Language and how it was chosen.

She says that the Italians chose the most beautiful language that was being spoken anywhere in Italy.
It was the language written in Dante's Divine Comedy.


From the book:

The last line of The Divine Comedy, in which Dante is faced with the vision of God Himself, is a sentiment that is still easily understandable by anyone familiar with so-called modern Italian, Dante writes that God is not merely a blinding vision of glorious light, but that He is most of all,

l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle...


The love that moves the sun and the other stars."

And then I started to cry at the beautiful words and meaning
and I agreed with Gilbert;
Italian is a very beautiful language.




From Wikipedia:

The Divine Comedy finishes with Dante seeing the Triune God. In a flash of understanding, which he cannot express, Dante finally understands the mystery of Christ's divinity and humanity, and his soul becomes aligned with God's love;


"But already my desire and my will
were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed,
by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars."

Dante capitalized the 'L' in love.

To me, that is important.









Don't you love that about a book.
When one line touches your heart and your soul.

I love that about books.



Encourage one another,
Donna

Last week Carrie and Katie went to horse camp.
They do lots of other things....but the horses are the main event.

I went to pick the girls up out at camp last Friday afternoon.
It was so nice to see Hoofbeat Ridge in person.
It really quite nice. Much nicer than I expected.

That sounds bad, right?
Well. You know camps. They can be dirty and run down, but still be fun places.
I imaged dust and mud.
I found rolling hills and green grass and nice pole buildings.



Each group of girls put on a short performance that taught about the
horse they had adopted during the week.

(Can you tell what kind of horse the girls had this week??)

Carrie was the choreographer and you may spot Katie up front being a dancer with
other tall girl with the cute outfit.

It was funny.



******



A bit of Queens Anne's lace has sprouted in our front garden area.
I am an accidental gardener.

Kind Words
by Henry W. Longfellow

Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits.

Take care of the gardens, And keep them from weeds.
Fill, fill them with flowers, Kind words and kind deeds.

Encourage one another,
Donna

Saturday, Melinda's Aunt hosted a baby shower at her beautiful home.
There was a nice assortment of Melinda's friends, relatives!
And lots of babies.

It seems fitting that there would be many little ones at the baby shower. :o)



Twins!



Future model.

(If this baby lived near by she would definitely be working my workshops :o) )



All little girls.

Girls make good playmates.



Go Pack Go!



This is Holly. She was in charge of the games. She did a great job! We laughed so hard and learned that we know
nothing about Melinda.
(Isn't she a beauty?)

Or that Melinda gave all the wrong answers.

That's it.

Patrick and Holly's husband were college room mates.
Holly's husband Steve is Melinda's cousin.

Melinda met Patrick and Matthew because of her cousin's Steve and Matt.

The End.




This is Lizzy. She is a sweetie and has been Melinda's friend for a very long time. She drove all the way from Denver.
The weather was so hot and humid. Her curls were in fine form!!!




Meet Melinda's mom, Carol!

She is just as lovely and joyful as this picture shows.
She is a wonderful mom and mother in law.

She can't wait to be a grandma.
She calls Asher, 'my baby'. hehe
I love that :o)





It makes me very happy to know that there are so many people who
love Matthew and Melinda and are there for them.

I am very thankful.

I wish we all lived on the same street in the same town.
But other than that....

I am very thankful.




*******

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY CINDY!!!




For 50 years you have brought so much joy and love to our family and everyone's life that you have touched.
You are loyal and true.
Loving and Hilarious.

I luff you!!!





Encourage one another,
Donna

Patent's to be.

Our son, Matthew and his wonderful wife, Melinda.

It was really a great visit!
Matthew and Melinda were great hosts. We felt very welcome crashing
at their really cute home.

Seven weeks until baby Asher enters our world.
How I wish every baby would meet with so much love on arrival.

That would be a perfect world, wouldn't it?



I snapped a few shots as we were getting int he car to leave yesterday afternoon.



They were not expecting a photoshoot...
but I think they look totally adorable!!!





We think Asher is going to be super cute!

(Melinda send me a baby picture asap so I can put it up! Please)
(Matthew's baby picture taken by Audrey Perkins. Minocqua Wi.)

Happy Monday!!!

Encourage one another,
Donna

My friend.
Carol.
Invisible bonds.
Common bonds.

Is there a cloth somewhere with big patches missing?
I am meeting pieces of that precious cloth.
We are fluttering thru the earth and landing next to one another for a time.
It's the most joyous and wonderful feeling.

Thank you for the joy and friendship you share with me, sweet, sweet Carol.

"The bird a nest,
the spider a web,
man friendship."
- William Blake

"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."
- Ludwig van Beethoven


"The only thing to do is to hug one's friends tight and do one's job."
- Edith Wharton


"Friendship? Yes Please."
-Charles Dickens -




****



Thursday was tie dying day at Hoofbeat Ridge.
We have had some real ugly tie die jobs in the past.

This one was a TOTAL SUCCESS!!!

I adore it! What great colors!

Good job Katie!



Dear Hostas,
Thank you for making the most gorgeous bokeh in the world.
Love
Donna



Is it Friday?
Really!

Oh my gosh!

We are going to Melinda's baby shower this weekend!!!

I can't wait to see Matthew and Melinda and the baby Asher baby bump!!!

Melinda and Matthew have been working hard around the house and I can't wait to see that too!!!

My friend, Carol wears Grandmahood beautifully....she inspires me.
You are only as old as your drivers license says you are :o)


Happy Weekending!
~mfs


Encourage one another,
Donna

Katie and Carrie are attending Hoofbeat Ridge this week.

When we got home yesterday afternoon they had a
bomb pop, cooled off in the house for ten minutes and then went outside to run thru the sprinkler.

Run thru, stand in, wiggle around and dance about is more like it.

They had hot dogs for dinner and Oreo's with milk for dessert.

After dinner there was art on the driveway and dress up in Emma's brides maid dresses.

It was the perfect day for a ten year old girl.

And a ten year old's mom.


******

Photography editing:my style.

The straight forward editing I do (like the picture above) is what comes naturally to me.

I admire the beautiful dreamy look that one can achieve...
but lots of times my subjects are not acting dreamy and I don't think it fits.

Did you ever think about that?

Unless the photo has a certain quality, dreamy editing doesn't fit.




Here is Carrie again.

Straight forward editing. If any.




Do you like this one better?
The colors are pretty and festive.

I like it.

Which do you prefer? I won't be offended.

Original or Colorful edit?

(I used Totally Rad POS and Eye Candy something)



****

I wanted to share the before and after of this picture too.



(sooc)


I was asked what I did to make this one so colorful.

Actually, it was the opposite.

I needed to tone down the pink face so I desaturated the red in her face
and sharpened.



The sun, her green shirt and red hair supplied the color.
And the fact that my camera is always set on vivid.
That definitely adds some umph.


******

Today I am meeting a long time friend from The Well Trained Mind boards again!
(Carol B. is a beautiful person and writer. She leaves fantastic comments in the QLCS. I'm sure you recognize her name.)

You may call me delighted and blessed.

We have never met in person and we spoke on the phone for the first time yesterday.
We recalled the moment in Julie and Julia when Julia and her pen pal, Avis, met for the first time.

We can perfectly relate to that scene.
Today we will live it.
In Rockford.
Not quite, Paris.

But who will even notice???



Carol @ Magistramater

If you love reading and music, family and a taste of a lovely, graceful life....visit Carol!


***


So you think you can dance was great last night.

Here was my favorite dance.

lauren billy 7 @ Yahoo! Video

That just makes me so Hap-pppy!!!


Have a GREAT Thursday!

I want to put on my Boogie Shoes!

Love
Donna