About a month ago I got an email...
I almost deleted it.

It was an invitation to an Adobe Girls Photography Getaway in San Francisco in February.

Patrick and I did a little background googling to see if this was for real.

It seemed for real.

I wrote back the next day and asked for more details.
They wrote back.

Everything was free.
Gorgeous accommodations.
Teaching by a real Adobe pro. (Julieanne Kost is the Senior Digital Imaging Evangelist for Adobe)

How could it be?

How could I say no?

We will shoot all day Thursday and have a workshop on Friday morning.
Lightroom mostly. I have Lightroom but barely use it...so this will be so fun...and then I can pass along with I learn.
So many people I know love using Lightroom.

So I am heading back to San Francisco. Isn't that a kick?

The schedule is extremely tight so I asked if I could stay an extra night (my own expense) to visit with Patrick Jr.
(And anyone else who wants to come and visit. We can have coffee....or chai on Friday afternoon. There is a spectacular coffee shop in the Ferry building right across the street from the hotel we are staying at.)



Last time I did not get a sweet shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.



Sometimes there is just no stopping the car.




Hi girls.




Hi Di.

Remember this hill?

Yikes!


I'm shocked that I was invited. I suppose someone noticed I wrote tutorials for Ree and invited me due to that connection.
From the names I have seen of the other attendees....we are women bloggers who love to take pictures.

I am excited to learn new things and meet new people.

Wonder of Wonders.

San Francisco. Twice in one year.

Super fun!


Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. Has anyone taken a class or read one of Julieanne Kost's books?
I hear she's fun!

Thank you for passing this along to me, Rosa.





Perhaps I could do a blog that is the opposite of the Satrorialist.

You can purchase this sweatshirt right here in our town.
In fact, it is the only place to buy clothing at all. No. Forget I said that. I remember now.
We have a Farm and Fleet too.
They actually have some kinda cute things there.

If you come to Wisconsin, I will take you there.


And after we go clothes shopping, we will take you out to eat at the Village Bar.





You would love the Village Bar.

They have the best hamburgers with grilled onions.
Their french fries are just right and they make a mean kiddie cocktail.


Fashion we may not know...but food...We know food.



Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. happy 1.11.11

Emma shared this quote with me a while ago....

Just yesterday Cindy and I were talking about the anger we see in the world around us, in school, in the public, in the general population.

I asked her if she had heard this quote from Fight Club.

I am not writing the whole quote here because of two big swears, yet here is a portion of the quote from the movie Fight Club.

We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

No purpose.
No value.

It's a desperate way to live.
I can see why people feel angry if that is what their life is hinged on; things, power, self.


It's almost hard for me to imagine that people don't feel the way I do. But all I have to do is watch the news.
I am thankful for parents who took me to church.
I am thankful for a God who values me so much He sent His Son to die for me.

Remarkably I have value and purpose because of Him.

It breaks my heart how far off track the world has gone.

So broke. So darn broke.

What can I do?

All I can ever do.

Learn God's truth and pass it on.


You have value because of Him.








*****



I stumbled across this article a month ago and thought many of you would love to read it;
Professional Photographer-UK lists the most influential photographers of all time.


100 Most Influential



Encourage one another,
Donna



p.s. for the rest of the quote...go here


Fight Club quotes

The Christmas card is here!


Because I am incapable of making decisions on certain days...

Katie picked out the card this year.








And when it arrived she noticed that her hair was messy.


I said, with little to no sympathy.

You picked it out.


My husband looked at it and asked where the picture of the whole group was?

I said, Katie liked this one better. And he wondered, Since when does Katie pick out the cards?
And I said, You can help me next year.

See....when someone else picks out the card...you are off the hook, baby.


And that picture with the creepers....well....I was turned off by that picture after hearing so many negative comments about the creepers and not really any positive comments about the faces....

So when Katie picked the montage card....

I was happy to bow to the child.

The card is done for this year. I will address and mail them on Monday.


There is even a picture of Patrick and me on the back.

Patrick says, As long as you look good.

And I say.

Darn right.



Encourage one another,
Donna

My mother in law called me a gadabout.

It wasn't a compliment but it wasn't the worst sort of insult.

But a gadabout is someone who has to get out and do something, someone who is busy and on the go.

That's what happens when you have three small children I guess.

I am so far from being a gadabout now, it's crazy.
I am a homebody now aka homegirl (for the young readers).

(And by the way, I would still rather be called a girl than a woman. Do you remember all the stink about that?
But I guess that is not too had to fathom since I would rather be called YaYa than Grandma. *cringe)

Another expression my mother in law used was ne'er do well.

Have you every heard that? You don't want to be a ne'er do well nor do you want to date one or heaven forbid, marry one.

So there you go.


Encourage one another,
Donna

Okay I've got a hodgepodge of things to share today...

First, my friend, Melissa, from Mental Multivitamin wrote a perfect piece on healthy living on her blog the other day...

You must read it....and then go read her other entries. She really is a splendid thinker and brilliant writer.

"but if you don't have fun doing this"


*****

I'll call this section...

With a thousand sweet kisses.



In order to get a few pictures with da baby...
I hopped in front of the computer and played around with Photo Booth.

It's addictive.








Katie showed me how to do this....
the 'camera' clicks four times in a row.

Super Fun!




Oh dear.




The real me.


***

And lastly.

The other night Patrick tweeted something interesting.

His tweet said, "to injure a mockingbird" #lessambitiousmovies


And I wondered what he was talking about so I followed the hash tag link and saw a quickly moving thread where people from all over were making up titles of #less ambitious movie titles.

They were so funny.
I jumped in with my title.



The Princess Bridesmaid #lessambitiousmovies


I just read one that made me chuckle.

The google search for Red October # less ambitiousmovies



Now it is your turn.


What will win for least ambitious movie of the year?


Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Donna

Scenes from a holiday...




Maggie and I spotted sprites or angels on Christmas morning before anyone was up...








***



We were enthralled by this little fellow.




Emma always finds time for her quiet time with the Word.




What can I say?






These two.. Oh! My! They make me laugh...or is it I make them laugh....



When I look back on our family time together, I think of messes and lots of food,
lots of kisses and lots of laughter.


My heart feels merry and bright.


Encourage one another,
Donna

I don't believe in luck,
but for some reason I fell for some Black Eyed Peas for New Years Day....





I like traditions.
I like to try new things.
These looked rather healthy to me.
Except for the salt pork.

But homemade is good.
Always good.

So I gave it a whirl.

I soaked beans for perhaps the second time in my life.

Then on New Years day I chopped and cooked and ate some black eyed peas.





Look at that fancy bowl!


I followed the recipe and added chopped red onion and red vinegar to my bowl. It was weird. But I was game.

And I really did like the flavor better with the vinegar and onion.

Weird. Relatively healthy. Pretty good.

Will I make them next year on New Years Day?

Perhaps I will wait and see how this year goes.




*****

I wanted to share a something I read the other night.

It is written by Peter Kreeft from a book called Catholic Christianity.

The Spirit and the saints

Saints are wild. Saints risk everything on God. Saints are lovers; in love with God (and therefore with God's children), on fire with God's fire. That fire is the Holy Spirit.

The meaning of life is to be a saint. "There is only one tragedy, in the end: not to have been a saint." (Leon Bloy)


Sainthood is the culmination of God's work in us, the final end of our lives. And this end-sanctification, saint-making-is especially the work of the Holy Spirit. The Father made this end possible by creating us, and the Son made it possible by redeeming us, and now the Spirit makes actual what the other two Persons made possible.

"There is only one tragedy, in the end: not to have been a saint."



Encourage one another,
Donna

For Christmas, Patrick's girlfriend, Shelby, gave Katie a gorgeous tutu.

The colors are gorgeous and the skirt is full and fabulous!

So Fantastic

Shelby is happy to make beautiful tutus in all colors and sizes.


I wanted to take some pictures of Katie in the tutu so I could send them to Shelby. I have never wished I had studio space more than when taking these pictures. But the awkward space for this kind of shoot forced me to be creative instead.



(I am aware that Katie's head is enormous. 17-55 lens on D700...up close....that's what ya get.)



I asked her to spin....





In which I pay homage to Black Swan.




When we sat down to watch tv....I had to pick my camera up again...

I shot this on manual focus. I was careful to make sure the right parts were out of focus.




The two things I like best; I love the light on the pink and orange. I used to hate orange...but now I like it a lot and I love it with pink.
And the curve of her back.




With a little help from Eye Candy Actions...more pink....



*****

You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul's own doing.
~Marie Stopes



Encourage one another,
Donna

July



July started with a memorial for our lovely Aunt Sunnie. Cindy and I attended to offer support to our dear cousins who have lost three siblings and their mom in four years.

We went for a walk around our childhood neighborhood.




Melinda had a baby shower in Omaha and one in Madison.




Katie's freckles came out to play.



August was a quiet month....



With a visit to Minocqua....







And even a surprise haircut for Emma!



The arrival of Asher Max on August 31, 2010 was spectacular! He was alert and gorgeous from the first moment we saw him.



September was a hard month.




So much joy in my life made me very sad that Sue wasn't going to experience all of this joy in her own life.
I struggled very much.

I needed wisdom and clarity and I needed to hear the truth. I needed to re-accept the belief that our time on earth is not the end. I will never forget what my friend Linda shared with me.

She said, "Heaven is as prosperous as a soul gets."

My heart sighed an amen.



It's all there in the heart-felt comments.

My Sept 15 post




Matthew was finally willing to be in a picture...with his little baby. This is perhaps my favorite image of the year.




I started my life of living healthfully in Sept. too.
This may account for the depression.



And switched from four Diet Dr. Peppers a day to one blessed Iced Grande Nonfat Chai.




Life marched on....
I practiced with my 85mm lens a lot in the fall....and I finally got the hang of it and liked it very much.




We visited the farmers market with Cindy. She visited a lot this year. It made me very happy.



I cooked a lot of new, nummy things and tried to keep my spirits up.

A happy spoon helps.




My relationship with Emma grew in a beautiful way this fall. She has a beautiful heart for God and a willingness to serve and put others first.




Going to Omaha again and visiting a pumpkin patch.
While hot and overpriced....I got lots of pretty pictures....


November was stinky. As I look back at my flickr stream of November I can't find much to share.
Until Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was great fun and so was the 5K. (Well. Walking in the 5K was not fun. The idea of the 5K is fun. Finishing the 5K is fun. But the walking in the 5K. Ugh.



We used up all of Cindy's toilet paper and then came home.





Winter and December arrived simutaneously.




Christmas came and so did all of our children....




and grandchildren....




But the love, the love, the love
It was not the cheapest kind
It was rich as, rich as, rich as ,rich as, rich as
Any you could ever find.

~Greg Brown






So long 2010. You made my head spin.

How can we possibly live in world with so much pain and delight?

I suppose we do it because it is what we are called to do.
It is our trek on this earth. This beautiful, exciting, lovable, temporary earth.

We are called to learn God's truth and pass it on.

We do it with gentle and generous spirits.
We do it with forgiveness and compassion.
We do it with love.






Encourage one another,
Donna