amy’s christmas dress

I managed to coerce my little sister into posing for my new 50mm f/1.8 lens. She gets to wear her Christmas dress, I get to use my Christmas lens. Win-win. Even if she is a ham.


Silly girl. :)

give me some music

“If music be the food of love, play on.”
                                                     ~ Shakespeare (Twelfth Night)

mrs. santa’s cookies

Christmas in its truest sense cannot exist at my house in the absence of these cookies.


I spent five hours the other day artistically frosting eight dozen of these cookies. It’s a maddening task, really, but the results are worth it—especially when one has a new 50mm f/1.8 lens to play with. :)



Mmm. As if that isn’t gorgeous enough… Mom’s been making these amazing almond cherry Christmas wreaths. Every year, we have one of these for Christmas breakfast. :)


My mouth is watering.

Merry Christmas to all!

i’ve fallen in love

Like most girls, I have often wondered what it would be like to fall in love. You see it depicted in movies all the time… the guy doing some heroic deed and winning the girl’s heart and then the couple living happily ever after. But you never really see the process… what exactly occurs when someone “falls in love”? I’ve always wondered.

I think I’ve found out.

The winning act of heroics by Prince Charming is followed by a five-minute state of shock where your emotions sort of churn inside you, but something keeps them from exploding…for now. You stare in dumbfounded awe, mind racing to check for any loopholes or loose ends—did he really do that for you? Is it absolutely certain that he had no ulterior motive?

Once this phase of shock has passed, your emotions do nothing but explode. Squeals, bursts of laughter, tears, and fits of jumping up and down follow. The brain moves from its analytical mode to its completely-frozen mode, and absolutely no mental inhibitions hold back your emotions.

How do I know this?

Well—this week, I fell in love.

My Prince Charming is a quiet, unassuming gentleman. He has amazing artistic talents… they make me drool! I’m getting lightheaded just thinking about it. My brain keeps switching back and forth between the “OH MY GOSH, IS THIS REAL?” stage and the “OH MY GOSH, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL!” stage.

Do you want to meet him?

I thought so.


Can you see him?


No? How about now?


Do I need to tell you?


His name is 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor Lens.

Yes, I just said that. I. Can’t. Believe. It.

My best friend in the whole wide world, Amanda, introduced me to him today. Love at first sight is SO real. We spent our honeymoon in Fred Meyer taking pictures of every Christmas product we could get in range… and then some. :)





Did I mention that I love him?


Not meaning any infidelity to my Prince Charming or anything, but I have to include a few of the ducks that I took using my old 55-200mm telephoto. Just because. :)


One more from Prince Charming…

We are most certainly going to have a blissful happily ever after. I’m seeing the world at an f-stop of 1.8… and it’s so beautiful.