i've moved!

edit: please note that i've made the move to typepad. you can view my new blog here. please bear with me as i'm learning and be sure to change your bloglines feeds + bookmarks so you don't miss anything! xo, joleen

after two years of blogging with blogger, i've decided to move on over to typepad. don't have the first clue what i am doing over there which feels so new and weird! can someone please help me? i can't even find a back-end to custom design my layout using html. any help would be much appreciated! thanks! xo, joleen

things that make me happy today

♥ snapping this polaroid mid-yawn (which scanned a little pink. not sure why)

♥ alex wearing a sticker label he made this morning that says, "I LOVE JOLEEN"

♥ having friends (and family) like you who send virtual hugs + kind words just when i need them

♥ drinking hot tea

♥ snuggly babies (even if they are sniffly)

♥ quiet, alone time during synchronized naptimes

♥ browsing flickr and adding to my huge collection of favorites

♥ getting ideas and absolutely loving these maternity shots

woe is me

since i don't have a really pathetic photo of myself to share, you get pretty but dying roses. don't read this post unless you're ready to watch me play my tiny violin while i cry to myself. i am not doing well. not. at. all. some days you just feel so bad you have to tell someone. anyone that'll listen. i am tense. i am tired. i am sick. again! i'm grumpy. i'm annoyed. i have no. more. patience. i want to bury myself into a foot of covers and die for the day. i have two sick, whiny babies that i can't seem to help because they just keep crying. my head feels like it's going to split right in two... one half for each of them. my shoulders are so tense i imagine they could hold just about anything. and they probably are. i have pressure in my chest, a sore throat, and an icky cough. i'm torturing myself by thinking about a photography job i can't take. i'm all around feeling sorry for myself about now.

end of rant.

whatever

i tried to blog yesterday but then i didn't know what to write about. my break on friday was much needed and appreciated. it was so nice to hang out with someone my same age (we're both 23), talking about young marriage, eating yummy salad + breadsticks from olive garden, making plans (i get to do a maternity + newborn shoot with her! (she's due in june.)), buying books, and strolling the mall. me time. girl time. i need it more often! we talked about getting together regularly (other than our daily morning walks) for pampering ourselves and i really hope we follow through. it's restorative.

the wee ones came over last night just before 7 and we have them until thursday. they're acting as though their parent's gave them candy, soda, and crack before coming over and we're already a little bug-eyed. ha! yay for naptimes, huh? that and airborne as i'm trying desperately to fight off something...

i've been trying to take out my camera(s) everyday and shoot- random things really, that you can view here. i want to practice and just take tons of shots. i want to develop a personal style and because i like such a variety of things, i am struggling with this. or maybe i'm not at all and am just over-thinking as usual.. lol.. i think my set of personal favorites flows nicely + is a good representation of my work.

um ok end of awkward blog post.

our lazy morning

{here it is larger}

thank you so much for your feedback in the previous post. i have to say it proved something to me; and that is "your clients are going to like different things, for different reasons". it's not as though i didn't think this would be the case. it's just so interesting to me when it becomes blatantly obvious. i really do love both versions of that photograph and imagine i'll end up printing them both for myself. the black and white feels classic, strong, and masculine to me, which i love. the color just pops- it's so vibrant and powerful, and that's very me. something about the background on that one isn't quite right even though the tones are the very same in the other. i don't know just what it is.

here are a couple shots from mine and spencer's lazy morning. i just love, love, love how this top one came out. it's probably my favorite photograph of him so far. this just screams his personality. i love when you look at the results of a "session" and see magic. it's astonishing to me that i can sometimes take a photo and see the subject's soul. it makes me just sit, stare, and think. :) ok, i have to run. i'm supposed to meet my walking friend in 10 min. for lunch and shopping at barnes & noble and i need to get dressed. yikes!

my boys

which version do you prefer?

My Hubby, the Newbie

I've kind of been MIA this week, haven't I? It has been a rough transition getting back into the swing of things. The week is going well but I'm just incredibly tired. Tomorrow morning I start walking again, which on the one hand I am really looking forward to (for the extra energy especially!). It'll be interesting getting used to waking up at 5:30 again- ouch. Slowly, but surely, I am adding photos from our trip to Kansas, which you can see here. I'll be adding more as time allows. I am really excited to share the above photographs (diptych) with you that Alex took. I just love his attention to detail, don't you? It's the first that he has uploaded to his flickr account. He is always taking photos but says I am hording them on my computer. I'm nudging him to add more soon so please be sure to welcome him! :D

Goals, Not Resolutions

{click on image to see full size}

Last year I created this goal list for 2006 and in 2005 I wrote this list of 50 things to do before age 30. I'm a list maker. These are not resolutions. These are goals I've set for myself today for the upcoming year. As time passes and experiences allow, I love to accomplish things on these lists but I know that nothing is for certain. By the middle of the year I may not have the same goals for myself or they may be altered for one reason or another. They may even be ignored completely. I don't hold this against myself because that is part of growing up and is the beauty of evolving goals and dreams. It's such a pleasure looking back on past lists to see what has been accomplished and what I should keep on my new list for the new year. It is an exciting time for reflection and dreaming. I'm wishing you big dreams and much success in this new year!

happy new year!!

i just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy new year! we are home from our whirlwind weekend in kansas, visiting with alex's family. here he is with his mom on friday night - i think it's such a happy photo! it was a fun, busy trip and we're ready for vacation sleep. (ha!) ;) really, so great to see everyone we missed so much! we can't wait to see them again later this year!