Lifestyle: The Baldners

We love the Baldners! You know when you meet someone and feel an instant friendship begin? It's cool, huh? We met this happy couple this past July, upon moving into our first home. Our whole street is new, and primarily, pretty young. I knew we were all destined to meet, but I just didn't know I'd look like such a dork upon doing so. My sister and I had just gotten to my house, and we wanted Matt to take a picture of us out on the porch. Innocent enough, right? We hadn't quite gotten used to the double locks on our doors yet (darn you Energy Star safe house!) and I locked us out. At 10pm. Without Shoes. Or cell phones. And we'd only been in the house three days, so naturally, we hadn't given backup keys to anyone yet. After convincing my husband not to break a window, I spotted Kurt outside, a few doors down, watering his plants. I trotted down the street to beg to use his phone, and introduce myself, Hello! I'm your new ditzy neighbor! Please help us! The second he laughed at my misfortune, we became instant friends.

Needless to say, a couple hours and two-hundred-stinkin-dollars-to-a-locksmith later, we had gotten back inside our house, and made new friends! See? Things do happen for a reason, and there's a silver lining in every situation.


We headed down the street to Homestead Park last weekend to capture the here-and-now of Kurt and Christy. Don't you just want to hug them? They're a beautiful mix of fun and ease, with a whole lot of infectious laughter. After I paparazzi-ed the heck out of them, we fired up the grill, and the backyard games. Ah, the good life!

Little Blue Eyes

I love sweet, easygoing people. I love seeing sweet, easygoing people with sweet, easygoing children. Connection? You betcha!

This little sweet pea belongs to an equally sweet mommy. Liz and Ava are friends of our neighbors who joined us this past weekend to grill out, and just hang. We all had a great time! Little Ava has the cutest little voice and demeaner. And talk about piercing blue eyes! She let us take turns helping her hunt for kitty, rotating among all of the babyless hips in attendance. I'll admit, it was really nice to have little bare feet pitter-pattering about. Dear Matt, hint, hint, wink, wink.

Bubbles

An older couple came into the office a couple of days ago, holding hands. Wait, that just doesn't say it. An absolutely adorrrrrable older couple came into the office a couple days ago. Holding hands. The sight was so sweet, my teeth started to ache. He held the door for her, and smiled, proudly, as he checked both of them in. They spoke sweetly to one another, as they sat, quietly, in the waiting room, magazines open on each of their laps, but much more invested in their conversation than reading material. They are what you hope you'll be like at age eighty. In love, happy, and presumably, the sweetest grandparents in the whole world. She wore her hair pulled back, a flower tucked on the side. He wore polished dress shoes. In their day, my guess is, they were real head-turners. When she spied a chain to attach to her glasses, for sale, at the counter, she dug into her purse and came up a few dollars short. My co-worker joked to him, She's always costing you money, isn't she? He thrust his hand into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and with a wink and a smile, repiled, It's what I signed up for. My honey's worth it.

Sometimes your heart warms in such a way, that it bubbles over, and causes you to smile ear to ear. This happens in order to let some of the bubbles out. (Scientific, I know.) I wish I could have had snapped a photo of this storybook couple as they left our office, the same way they entered- he held the door for her, and took her hand once they were both outside. Since I was at work, and taking photos of patients may be considered a wee bit inappropriate, I, instead, chose a few photos that radiated beauty, just as they did.

My supportive husband dragged himself out of bed at 8am on Saturday morning to accompany me to Goodale Park to capture some morning light. Great way to start a weekend, if you ask me! My heart was full and bubbling with gratefulness for the little things. A sweet example of lifelong love. A tired, but smiling better half. A gorgeous morning. A feeling of joy that comes only from discovering what it is you were made to do.

Be glad of life; it gives you the chance to love, and to work, and to play, and to look at the stars. - Henry Van Dyke

Laughter

Something that makes you feel good. Something spontaneous. Something you can do anywhere. Something that costs nothing. Something you never have to think about. Something that can't be taken away. Something considered beautiful in any corner of the world. And by any person's standards. Something understood by all cultures. Something that breaks tension, awkward moments, and language barriers. Something you never have to learn. Something that can turn a sour mood around within seconds. Something that can put anyone at ease. Something familiar. Something everyone can appreciate. Something that causes shortness of breath, and a stomach ache. But in a good way. Something shared among friends. And family. And strangers. Something all photographers love to shoot..

A Teeny Bit of Tiny

I love little people. They are hilarious. And cute even when they're not acting like it. Before declaring our majors in college, professors used to group the education department into two oh-so-very-different categories: those who liked to deal with teenagers, (notice my word choice. I could have said work with, but deal with seems more appropriate.) complete with drama, broken hearts, bruised egos, and attitude, and those better suited to teach children. I'm in the latter group, equipped to remedy skinned knees, grimy hands, untied shoes, messy faces and broken crayons. I have quite a few little nuggets in my life. They make my life richer. And really, really funny.

Two of our best friends had their baby this past October. And as the newest member of our crew, her job is to melt all of our hearts on a regular basis (big, strong, I-don't-cry-or-watch-Desperate-Housewives husbands included). She does her job extremely well. She's the absolute best of her mommy and daddy, and I secretly hope she's as ornery as they are. It's a beautiful thing to see your friends SO happy. And to see this new little life begin and grow. As one of her many honorary aunts, it was love at first sight for me!

This is Camille, and as you can see, she's every bit as beautiful as her name. Now a smiling, bouncing, adorably snuggly six-month-old, we had an impromptu photoshoot to capture some of the joy Cami exudes. It's not surprising this little beauty is a happy girl, her mommy and daddy have smiles on their faces, humor in their voices, and laughter in their hearts. Take a look at these photos. You might just die. Or want to have a baby. Or two. Or a whole soccer team.

Hey, don't say I didn't warn you!

Go!

I'm happy Easter came early this year. After our long winter, we need spring in the worst way. And Easter, even in Ohio, means spring. Chirping birds, bright, hopeful bursts of sunshine streaming through the blinds, having daylight left after work to cook salmon on the grill, and roam around the bike trails until the sun finally sets. Spring. A time of new beginnings. Fresh starts. Anticipation of the year's finest hour- SUMMER! I am especially thankful for this year's new beginning. This marks 'Go' for me. Since Christmas, I've been up to my ears in books and classes, ideas and attempts at decent photographs. With spring in the air, and summer on the horizon, I can finally hit the ground running. Well, maybe not running. I've been known to trip once or twice, and with a camera in hand, yikes!

I have a few upcoming shoots with little people, a handful of family shoots, two engagement sessions, a vacation, where Matt may have to pry the camera out of my white knuckle grip just to hang with me, and... wait for it... TWO weddings! I've sprinkled in a handful of other ideas in between these events, and have cleared space on my computer. I feel focused and ready and optomistic. Bring. It. On.

My completely adorable sister, Lauren was home from law school this past weekend. We had a cookout on Friday to mark her arrival, kick off the season, and throw back a couple cold ones, which may have seemed like a slap in the face to both my sisters- I got them GOOD with the totally cliche "I'm pregnant!" April Fools joke just a day earlier. Both were more than salty when I told them the truth. Or as Lauren put it, Thanks for ruining what was turning into the best day of my life! Sheesh. These future aunts take their future title very seriously.

Here are some photos from our day at the zoo, complete with (drum roll please) EDITING! My Photoshop class is working its magic and while I'm still in the early stages, I can finally start sleeping again at night. Enjoy!