Movin' On Up Revisited

7.30.10

So remember a while ago about the “Movin’ on Up” blog? You know about how I’m so important now that I have my own P.O. Box…well I mentioned something on there about if you wanted to send me something and I might do something crazy…..

Well guess what…I did do something crazy! This lucky person sent me a beautiful card and because it brighten up my day, she received a gift certificate for a free portrait session. I know, I know….I’m so giving. But I really wanted to give something back.

Here’s the beautiful card that came in the mail. Thank you so much for cheering me and making my trip to the post office a pleasurable and memorable one.

Have a great weekend!

White Knuckles

7.29.10

The day was so busy I don’t think I even had time to breathe. I was running as fast as I could to get all of my paperwork done so I can leave early and arrive to the airport on time. I was in a constant state of stress and I was white knuckling it the entire way. THE ENTIRE WAY.

I don’t like to drive on the freeways. I’m quite content backroading my way to my destination. However this one instance I felt there was nothing I could do. So I did it. I went against my better judgment and took the freeway!

Throughout all the construction, the heavy traffic, and morons cutting me off, I made it. My mom and brother landed safely and our home is full with love. So I’m leaving you with a sample of yesterday's stress….

June: {Five Things I Love}

7.28.10

Technically speaking… I can’t get in trouble. I will admit that I am a little late than normal, but it’s still July so I cannot get grounded. I will accept a small slap on my hands but that’s all the punishment I deserve. Heck… with the luck I’ve been having lately, a simple slap on the hands may cause me to head to the emergency room and be forced to eat out of feeding tubes :)

So on to June’s 5 things I love; first up Sky Mall.

Okay, this may sound weird, but I seems how I have a huge fetish for infomercials, my love for Sky Mall only makes sense. I went on a vacation last month and yes I was so excited to see my friends, yes I was excited to take a much needed break, but I really was looking forward to memorizing front to back the latest and greatest Sky Mall Catalog. My deepest confession is… (let’s just keep this between you and me) I took it. I have it in my possession and I’m not going to give it up! Sorry.

Water Aerobics

I cannot tell you enough how much I love water aerobics! I started taking it when I attended college because it was free for students and I was going to take advantage of all the free stuff I could get my hands on. I love the fact that it’s low impact and I never sweat. If I get a little warm, I just dunk my head under water and all is well. Now if I can just control the amount of sweets I eat I would be in tip-top shape.

Yard Sales

Todd and I go often. It’s so much fun looking at what people sell. You know the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” That is so true my friends, so true. My problem is I try to help everyone out and I always buy at least one thing. It’s way special way of giving back. Now I realize that I’m starting to run out of space and one of these days I may be forced into having one of my own. Here’s a little froggie that I knew I just had to have. I don’t like to do the dishes, but when I see him, I at least smile.

Relaxing

After water aerobics I need to relax. However that is not always the case. Instead of taking my own time and relaxing, I noticed my outside cat Jackson was doing it for the both of us. Talk about having the time of his life. I guess for some, bricks are more comfortable than what many people think :)

And last but definitely not least…Friends who look out for me.

I don’t want to remind myself when I was in my “funk” stage but I had a dear friend of mine take notice of my lack of blogging and asked me if I forgot something. I didn’t forget it, I just didn’t do it. She was referring to this exact post. I normally post the 5 Things I love during the first week of the following month and I didn’t. She informed me that I have readers out there who enjoy my crazy ramblings and I need to uphold to the standards. Because of her and a few other emails and phone calls, I am back to business and happy to be sharing my blog full of personal info, business info, and some random info. I might even throw in some pictures every now and then…but I’m here and thank you. You know who you are ;)

Audrey's Portrait Session

7.27.10

The second I checked my inbox and discovered an email from Melissa, I knew I was in for a treat. There are just some people who you just hit it off with instantly and Melissa is one of those clients. She was inquiring about Audrey’s birthday session and wanted to do something a little less traditional and something that would be what Audrey loved to do.

So the day of the session came and low and behold, Melissa and Audrey did not disappoint. Her bag of goodies consisted of edible finger paints, adorable outfits, and the cutest set of wooden blocks. I was half tempted to see if she would be willing to leave them behind ;)

Audrey not only displayed an incredible work of art that will be worth millions some day, she got her belly full with all the yummy finger paints and got to enjoy playing with some bubbles! Talk about one awesome birthday session. Don’t forget to take a look at the mini-movie. It has some awesome footage of Audrey’s session.

Enjoy!

~Leilani

Here's Audrey getting down and dirty. Gotta love a girl who's so into her work.

Yummy!

So much concentration...

The finished product.

Spring Chicken Realization

7.26.10

I don’t know if it’s a warning sign for when I turn 30. I don’t know if it’s because my body is getting older while I’m still young at heart. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m no Spring Chicken.

I dumped it hard on Sunday while tubing. And I mean hard. As I’m sitting here waiting for the clock to turn so I can see what the Doctor has to say about my shoulder, I turn to a dear friend...Chocolate.

We have what seems like an unlimited supply of Dove Chocolates in the office. Something I make sure never to pass up. They are the perfect size when you need a little fix and the sayings are fun to read.

So while I’m clinching teeth typing, praying I don’t end up in a sling, and asking myself if it was worth it to go that fast I unwrap a chocolate and this was the message.

Then realized that even though I am in pain, there’s always room for a smile.

~Leilani

My Perfect Morning

7.23.10

I woke up to the sound of nothing. That’s right Nothing. No alarm, no dog ringing bells, no tv on in the background…nothing. I stretch for a moment and bounce out of bed. I head into the kitchen where all my tasty fruit await and I start to juice. I head out to the herb garden and pick myself a perfect mint leaf for a garnish and all is good on a perfect morning.

Now if I was describing this morning, I would be in heaven…again. On the contrary, I’m not and everything this morning was opposite. Phone was ringing, alarm was buzzing, and Dozer was barking and the worst part is it’s my day off work!

The nice thing is I have the picture of that perfect morning. The morning where everything was zen and nothing could go wrong. The morning where juice had never tasted so good and time stood still. I look at this image and I instantly go back and it gives me the strength to tackle my day because I know I’ll get my perfect morning soon enough.

Have a great Friday everyone!

~Leilani

Patriotism in the midst of Exhaustion

7.22.10

There I was minding my own business and very diligently sticking to my grocery list. I was attempting for what seemed like the first time in my life to only buy exactly what was on the list. It felt like I was a contestant on the grocery game show Supermarket Sweep as I was sprinting down the aisles to grab all the groceries during my lunch hour.

At that precise moment, my eyes strayed to an end cap where the workers strategically place their random items for sale for impulse buyers (like myself) and all the rules were out the door. I was locked in and no one was getting in my way. I stood there and just stared with a huge grin on my face. I knew what I was looking at and it was placed there for one reason only. Dozer.

I grabbed the headband and windmill and danced around in a circle with joy. Yes! Dozer would be so thrilled to show his patriotism. He would wear is headband loud and proud. Well almost….he is a bulldog after all and only has short bursts of energy throughout the day. I guess he exerted all his energy beforehand. Regardless, he still never ceases to amaze me and no matter what, he always makes me smile.

~Leilani

Seniors: Only 10 Days Left!!

7.21.10

I realize that time is flying by, but boy oh boy, this is one heck of a special that only comes once in a lifetime. Okay...I wouldn't go to that extremes, but I think you get my point. Here's a sneak peek of one of my fabulous seniors who took advantage of the special. Click on the image below to find out more info or click here.

Face Smack = I'm baaaccckk!!

7.20.10

On Saturday I turned 29. It was such a relaxing day at home. There were no plans which was one of the things I requested. Family showed up, friends showed up and Todd got me a shiny new kneeboard for my birthday. Life was good. The only problem however was the water was so choppy and the wind blew something fierce that I didn’t get to do a lot of knee boarding :(

Fast forward to Sunday. I’m counting down the minutes until wake starts. Todd warms up the jet ski and I’m getting my gear around. Life jacket…check, rope…check, knee board….CHECK!! I jump in the water. It’s warm, inviting, and calm. I give Todd the thumbs up and away we go.

We circled around twice, both looking at each other with huge smiles on our faces. I give Todd the signal to bring me in and then it happens. A boat comes by causing huge wakes and instead of letting go I decided to hang on. The only thing I remember was I was skidding across the water like I was a skipping stone and all of the sudden I felt this huge pain in my face. I look at my blood-soaked hands and I start to panic.

Todd rushes over to see what’s wrong and as soon as I look at him he knew what happened. My kneeboard apparently thought that we should be formally introduced face to face, literally! I nursed the cut across my nose and attempted to bandage up my ego. After the peroxide, Neosporin, band-aids, and several ice packs later, Todd and I were laughing so hard about the experience.

Let’s just say that the kneeboard finally knocked something loose and I’m ready to get back into the blogging world. So it begins again. Not necessarily a new start or a fresh start but perhaps a recharged start. I don’t really have any other reason for my absence other than I just lost my balance. Juggling between a full-time job, part-time photography business, life, friendship, and love….things got heavy. A lot of stuff happened over the course of the month and I’ve got plenty of blogs lined up.

Thanks for hanging in there! I’m leaving you with a picture of my new gift. Shiny and new accompanied with blood and tears—a great way to remember the last year of my 20's :)

~Leilani

I'm Sorry

7.12.10

It was so hard to publish this post. Seriously, the hardest thing I've done in a while. I don't want to admit it but I’m in a funk. Things seem a little different even though I know they aren’t. I haven’t blogged in what feels like forever and I’m trying to pull myself out of it but for some reason I’m having a difficult time.

I feel like I have an obligation to not only myself but to my readers as well. I blog to help myself remember my journey and to see how much I’ve grown as a photographer. Even though I love to blog and to share my randomness with you, I've put it off and try to justify the reason for doing so. There is no reason and no justification. I don't even have some witty statement that probably I only think is funny (I tend to laugh at my own jokes and Todd always makes fun of me for it).

For all your blog readers out there, I’m sorry. It’s one thing to let myself down and it’s another thing to let my readers down. I think finally getting this out in the open will help me find the motivation I need to get things in motion again.

I will be back….hopefully soon. My apologies once again.

~Leilani