greetings from palm springs

We are really enjoying our weekend getaway! Poolside food and drinks, live DJs, an amazing room, but most importantly, being together and away from work. This trip has been such a blessing! What did you do this Memorial Day weekend? BBQs? Enjoy the beach or a bike ride?

I'm truly grateful for what Memorial Day really means: celebrating men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Someone in our life specifically is our brother-in-law, Danny. Danny, we love you and are so proud of everything you do; not only for Kaleigh and Mary Jane, but for us and our country. You are in amazing man and we are proud to have you apart of our family.


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....As a last note, here are some randoms from around the web:

Jesse and Becky took some photos of the lovely Jessica Packard (and her cute little Bella). They also interviewed her. See it all here.

You definitely want to keep up with what Doug and Beca are doing. There's always something awesome happening in their home/ studio.

Rachel made a super cute outdoor mobile (I'm all about outdoor furniture and decor right now).

Speaking of outdoor furniture, how great is this handcrafted rocking chair?

finally

You may have noticed that things look a little different around here (neater, I hope). I have been wanting to give the blog a little face lift for a while. My html and photoshop skills are very very new and I'm still getting the hang of it all. I haven't taken any classes or anything. Basically, I call my husband at work anytime I don't know how to do something. I'm learning different hot keys and photoshop tricks over the phone on a daily basis. Therefor, my learning process has been slow, but one that I am eager to conquer.

I used different elements from three different sites for the design. Everything I used was free and came with multiple options (colors, patterns, textures, etc). Pugly Pixel has a lot of freebies on her site! That's where I found Fuzzimo and Mellow Mint as well. (Check out the links at the bottom of this post to get the same design elements)

I have been practicing with our camera too. I definitely have no desire to be a photographer (editing photos is one of my least favorite things to do) but I enjoy taking somewhat quality photos at family gatherings. These pictures are from Mother's Day weekend. There were so many to choose from, but here's just a few.

These two seem to be getting cuter and cuter every time I see them. Kaleigh and Mary Jane are leaving this next Wednesday for Germany. I can't believe it! We're all trying to see each other as much as we can before that happens. A long with that, I'm throwing a baby shower this Saturday. This is why it's been a little quiet around here lately. I'll share pictures of the shower once it's done. I'm making lots of little decorations that I'm' excited to share.

On a random note: I'm having a much needed girls night tonight. We got tickets to Eisley tonight! I can't wait! Hope you are enjoying your day. Tomorrow's Friday :)

[Banner pictures by Chelsea Hansen, Ocean's Ink Photogrpahy, and Limelife Photography]

[Background//colored tape (on banner)//polaroid frames.]

Photo Shoot

A while ago, Becky from Limelife Photography contacted me about shooting product photos for me. I was thrilled when I read her e-mail and we immediately were sending messages back and fourth with tons of ideas. We decided to do something more simple. It's already gorgeous among the trees and the green, so we took my creations, the models, a few props and headed out to the "woods" behind our neighborhood. We had our lovely friends Emily and Joey be our models (aren't they a gorgeous couple?).

It was such a fun day! We couldn't have asked for better weather and everyone was so great to work with.

You can see more beautiful photos from the shoot on their blog.

Our Sweet Little Mary Jane.

Limelife did it again. Jesse and Becky take gorgeous baby photos! They took some pictures of my niece, Mary Jane, and my sister, Kaleigh. These were Danny's birthday present. Such a great idea! They turned out beautiful. I can't believe how beautiful both my sister and niece are!

They took many more that you can see on their blog. While you're there, you should enter to win their giveaway! They're giving away a free photo shoot! You can have pretty pictures of your babies too...Or your sister's babies ;)

Limelife Photo Shoot Giveaway!

Limelife Photography is giving away a free photo shoot! How stinkin' rad is that? If you live in San Diego or are willing to travel to San Diego for your family/engagement/ pregnancy photos, then make sure to enter this one! This is a $350 value for free!

I know I've said this before, but Jesse and Becky are sooo much fun! I can't wait for our collaboration next month (yay!!!!). You can find all of the details and enter this giveaway on their blog.

my nephew is cuter than yours.

[more adorable pictures on the limelife blog]

Look at that munchkin! Jack turned 6 months yesterday. I can't believe he's been in our lives for that long. He is the happiest little guy you've ever seen [and, let's be honest, the most handsome].

Whenever I get to spend time with him or my nieces, I wish that we lived much closer to our family. I know we don't have it that bad, they're only 45 minutes away. If we did live closer, we would just get to see everyone more often [Every aunties dream].

Our amazing friends at Limelife Photography took these pictures. They are super talented [obviously] and one of the funnest couples to be around! I am so excited because they're taking photos for The Dainty Woods soon. I can't wait!

I think you should check out their portfolio. Also, you should really get some family photos taken soon- those kiddos grow fast. Come on, when's the last time you had professional pictures taken of them? Thank about it.