Blogstalking Allowed Here

So it occurred to me...I only have 1 follower....but I know I have more viewers...What can I do to get more people to subscribe to my blog?  Hmmm...better to ask YOU.  What would you like to see?  A contest?  Drawing?  Freebies???  Leave a comment and let me know. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the first time I'm using a 'scheduled post.'  Ha!  Do you really think I'd take time away from my family to type up a blog?  I love my followers, but I have to be on vacation when hubby is on vacation!  :) 

I hope this post finds you drooling over the tantalizing smells of an herbcovered bird or honey glazed ham roasting away to perfection.  Or whatever Thanksgiving meal is a tradition in your home, may it be deeeelish!!

So earlier there's a post about my slight addiction to pumpkin.  My husband is seriously rolling his eyes now...so hard they may permanently stay up in the 'whites showing' position.  This week I've had three pumpkin indulgences. 

1.  a FREE pumpkin pie from Donut Days Bakery.  Yes, FREE because we had a coupon mailing from our real estate agent when we sold hubby's condo.  :)  And I will go off on a tangent here...as a small business owner, I have a heart for other small and local business in our hometown.  As I whisked into Donut Days (ok, probably not 'whisking' like you think, I was lugging an 18lb infant IN his car seat carrier) I was overcome with the sugary essence of a bakery.  Cookies, donuts, pies, cakes, rolls.  ...rolls...  Rolls?!  Yeah, like dinner rolls.  And the lady ahead of me was buying a big bag.  Well jeeze, rolls seemed too simple.  I figured I always picked up a package or Rainbow or Sara Lee rolls from Kroger.  But dinner rolls...so simple and keeping it real for the local business(wo)man.  So in my endeavor to support the local businesses...dinner rolls it is (and a pumpkin pie for myself)!!

2.  And my second pumpkin indulgence...PUMPKIN BARS.  To top if off...made from scratch with REAL pumpkin I baked, scraped, and pureed.  :)  The recipe came from my aunt.  I'm not sure where she got it...so please...no slapping me on the hand for copyright violations!!

Pumpkin Bars with Crumb Topping

1 1/2 c. oats
1 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. nuts
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
3/4 c. butter

Mix until crumbly.  Save 1 1/2 cups for the top.  Press the rest into greased 9 x 13 pan.  Bake 375, 10 minutes.

15-16 oz. canned pumpkin
2/3 c. milk
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 T. pumpkin pie spice

Beat until smooth.  Pour over crust.  Top with remaining crumb mixture.  Bake 25 minutes more.

3.  Pumpkin pancakes.  Oooooh yes, my mouth has been watering as I watch the IHOP commercials with their pumpkin pancakes with whipped topping.  I decided to make a few of my own.  Errr...not as 'daring' with the fresh pumpkin as I was with the pumpkin bars.  I went easy and bought a boxed mix from Aldi.  What's Aldi...I better not get off on another tangent...but Aldi is the BEST grocery store EVER!    Any hoo...I present to you...PUMPKIN PANCAKES!!  And yes, I'm a dork for 'staging' the background...including the artificial flowers.  :)

And I thought I'd toss in a pic of my fav kitchen accessory...my apron.  Yes, it was a guilty pleasure, splurge purchase this summer.  I figured since I'm working from home and cooking has taken more of an interest to me (now because I actually have time to look for and try new recipes) I deserved an apron.  And a cute at that!  I bought it at Pier 1 imports.  Tiered, ruffled, girlie...LOVE IT!!  And since I was on this small business kick...I wish I would've met Megan earlier... Megan from itty smitty make such adorable aprons and accessories!  I met her this summer at the farmer's market selling her wares.  I purchased a wrist cuff, complete with vintage ribbon.  I even made a special shopping trip to find more tops to match, just so I can wear it more!!  Keep Megan and itty smitty in mind as you start  your holiday shopping.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wee Bit Wednesday

Wow...I realized I FORGOT last week...perhaps I should put it on my yahoo calendar with a reminder.  :)  Baby brain!





{one} what time do you normally wake up?7 or 7:30, when my son wakes up...but now that he's no napping as much anymore, I wake up with hubby so about 6am.
{two} do you have a go-to song for karaoke?I don't ever sing karaoke. Ever. but 'Undone' by FFH gets me jazzed!
 {three} if you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see?Blues. Have you seen the sky and babies' eyes?
 {four} what color best matches your personality?Green..
{five} if you could choose one meal to cook better than anyone else, what would it be?Mmmm... steak.
{six} how many keys do you have on your key ring?4. Used to be 5 when I had a classroom.
{seven} do you give your pets birthday/Christmas gifts?No more pets...but yes, I used to.
{eight} when your plate has different foods on it, do you mix or not?NO WAY!  Except for mashed potatoes and peas.
{nine} if you could hire someone to do one thing for you all the time, what would it be?Scrub tubs.  What is it about men and soap scum?
{ten} when flying, do you prefer the window or aisle seat?Aisle.  I read or sleep, so I'll save the window for someone who will enjoy it. 

Baby R: 6 months

Baby R is near and dear to my heart; he's very close in age to my son!  Not only that, his family is starting to keep my in business! :)  Way back when, our family went to church with his mommy's family.  A new church was being built, so my family decided to be part of the pioneers and engage on this new journey, so we left.  Years....and I'm talking years...later I was reunited with the youngest sister when I started house hunting.  She was the new home consultant for the builder I chose.  A few years later, out of the blue she asked me to photograph her wedding reception!  This is how I got my start with photography. Baby R is her nephew. 

I'd like to give a shout out to Mommy K and Daddy A!  Thanks for attempting this session at such an early time in the morning!  And you two made such a cute kid!  Enjoy! (and yes, his lion costume is HOMEMADE).

Bryana: Senior Portraits

Animated.  Outgoing.  Spunky.  That sums up Bryana.  She's the granddaughter of a family friend.  I was uber-excited and looking forward to her session when her grandmother asked if I would do the honors.  :)  She's involved in theater; so of course her session would be full of mega-watt smiles combined with some sass.  :)   We did our session at Waveland...it was a bit chilly, high of mid 40's -if my memory serves me right.  Ehhh...she's young and spry, she could handle the chill in her mini skirt!  What was unique?  She wore her grandmother's class ring, plays the ukulele, and a friend paid us a visit (look for him!)  We ended our session on the train tracks.  This was an experiment to an upcoming family session who wanted pics on the tracks.  Who better to try the tracks than with Bryana!  Good luck with the rest of your senior year! 

Now here's the hard part...which images to toss up here???  Maybe I should just give you the link to her on-line gallery.  ;)

New 'Do

Like my new 'do?!  Well, it took about 2 hours to figure everything out!  Ya see, I got my inspiration to change my look from her.  And she uses Shabby Blogs (aka: SB).  So once again, I have to give credit where it is due.  Go ahead, take a look around. 

And I'll go back to my 'it took me about 2 hours to figure it out.'  Good thing they make blogging easy...all this html and code isn't for me.  Changing the background was a piece of cake...getting everything to line up was a little scary.  How do I do it?  Where do I go?  SB takes good care of ya...follow their easy directions AND visit their blog for even more detailed pointers.  I actually had to go the 'advanced' settings....ACK!  Advanced?!  Like I said, I don't even know html.  Ahhhh rested assured 'advanced' isn't as advanced as I thought it meant.  You just change your font, colors, etc.  Piece of cake.  Speaking of cake...I wish I would've made those brownies earlier...  Even making my 'header' was easy; it takes just basic photoshop skills.  Errr....that is to add text...not to create the image.  Yeah...THAT needed to be clarified.  I wish I were THAT creative.  Anyway, let me know what you think.  And I'll forewarn you...I will probably change my blog look as much as I WISH I could change the decor in my home.  :)  And Laura...if you need help I'll be more than happy to help you...and spare you the 2 hours it took me (I know you don't have 2 hours to spare).

C Family

So I found this blog entry that I never published!!  YIKES!!!  The C family; part of a larger family 'Creek Dawgs' as we used to call ourselves.  That's right, Tates Creek High School alumni!  We reunited on facebook and next thing you know they're signing up for one of my fall mini-sessions.  :)  And then that led to this family session.  As a Christmas gift to her grandmother she was looking to get pictures of the grandkids with her grandfather's truck.  Such a sweet idea! 

I'd never done a shoot (let's face it; there are lots of shoots I haven't done...I've been in business for two years) like this before.  It was so much!  We shot out at my grandmother's home; which sits on 10 acres in rural Lexington (yes, parts of Lexington are still rural).  I could've snapped away all evening; the lady cousins were especially photogenic.  :)

I also have to give her some credit...she is my one blog follower!!  Yay!!  Thanks so much!! :)

wee bit wednesday!

So I'm trying something new...something I pulled from another blog I follow.  And she pulled it from another blog Have to give credit where it is due.  :)  Perhaps my followers (yes, I know I have one...she's listed as a follower!!) can email me questions for my own wee-bit wednesdays!! 

PS  I know it isn't Wednesday...but almost...cut me some slack! 

{one}
do you collect anything? if so, what and how long have you been collecting?
hmm. my husband is quite the opposite of a pack-rat.  as of now, i only collect christmas tree ornaments from our vacation spots.

{two}
what is one cleaning tip that you swear by?
 vinegar, amonia, and a spray bottle.  that's all you need!  well, except for mixing vinegar and amonia...you wouldn't believe what you can clean with these diluted ingredients! 

{three}
 who would you call for bail money?
 i'd say laura, but we'd probably end up in jail together...so hubby it is!  i'd never live it down and it would also be incorporated into his jokes.

{four}
what is one thing you miss about being a kid?
 christmas.  not that we don't celebrate christmas; but it was definately something special magical!

{five}
name a few of your guilty pleasures.
chocolate, coupons, anything with pumpkin as an ingredient, aldi grocery store, cashing in credit card points for gift cards, bargain shopping

{six}
 how early do you start your holiday shopping?
 ha!  i holiday shop year 'round! 

{seven}
what is a family tradition that you would like to pass on to your significant other/children?
a family vacation once a year.  and some others i'd like to start:

1.  pizza on fridays and steak-n-mashed taters on sundays (hubby's fam tradition)

2.  new pajamas on christmas eve

{eight}
 what do you consider your greatest achievement?
starting my own business

{nine}
what do you do to pamper yourself?
a hot bath and pedicure

{ten}

if you were to start your own restaurant, what would it be called?

wow, this one caught me off guard!  how about 'd'lish' since everything served would delisious!!

Austin: Senior Portraits

So, I'm building up quite a clientele in Frankfort!  Austin's senior session was taken at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, along with public park areas along the river.  Austin really started to open up when he ditched the dress duds for jeans and a casual button down or thermal.  Just between you and me; I think his fav was the tracks...you'll see what I mean. 

Austin, best of luck to you for the remainder of your senior year at Western Hills HS and the college application process. 

Marlena & Brian: Versailles Wedding

Marlena's mother and my mother work together.  Talk about even more pressure (remember my last wedding was for a friend)!  Ahhhhh....all things went well for her wedding.  Back when I did Marlena and Brian's engagement session I learned REALLY quickly that Brian is a big jokster.  Serious or emotional photo ops...forget about it; unless side splitting belly laughs falls under emotional.  :)  You'll see what I mean as you scroll through and see a picture of the groom.  Typical Brian...AND I LOVE IT! 

They were married at South Elkhorn Baptist Church and partied hard at Castle Hill Winery.  The reception was charming; large billowing curtains gently swayed in the fall sunset breeze; overlooking the castle and vineyard with trees twinkling with lights.  Oh so romantic! Not only were Marlena and Brian just absolutely fun to be around; their entire bridal party had an awesome slap-stick sense of humor!  One trait that ALWAYS makes for AWESOME snapshots!  I'll quit blabbing so you can take a peek!