true boy tales: February 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

photography

Hi! Is this thing on? (tap, tap, tap) Easing my way back into blogging after a holiday/moving/no internet/broken computer sabbatical with a quick photography post. Here's my latest work.

An impromptu session with my sister and her girls on Thanksgiving. Cutest little outfits and gorgeous snowy backdrop made for adorable pictures.

A few favorites from a family session I did right before Christmas. (Don't worry, it was unseasonably warm outside. Baby didn't freeze ;)

I went out on a morning shoot with a group of local photographers. They get together often for sunrise shoots to practice and for those with less experience to ask lots of questions. It was a really fun time of low-pressure shooting.

The next few are from a girls' weekend getaway my friends and I had in Galena, IL. Megan and Katie are professional photographers and Ally's just the best sport so we spent one incredible afternoon taking photos at this amazing frozen waterfall.

A little blurry but this one sums this girl up. Pure joy. I leave happier whenever we're together.

This beauty just moved to Florida this week. Our little tribe isn't going to be the same without her. She has such an incredible heart and is always pointing us back to Jesus. I hope we can all reconvene on a beach in her neck of the woods very soon.

One of my nearest and dearest here in my town. This girl's got my back and I love her for it.

See a few more photos from our trip here.

New house post coming soon(ish)!

for the book lovers {my recent favorites}:

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan: An incredibly haunting medical memoir. There's a lot of medical info to read through but I didn't find those parts boring and difficult to wade through. I thought she shared just enough. But if you like a book that's easy to read, this isn't it. I couldn't get this one out of my mind for a very long time. An unforgettable true story.
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes and What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty: I'm just going to lump these two together because they're in the same category. I'm calling them deep chick lit. A perfect summer book to get lost in. Read them. Both. I promise you from the bottom of my heart that you will LOVE them. (I liked them both way better than Where'd You Go, Bernadette.)
These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner: Most of my favorite books have a main character with a whole lotta grit. I wasn't quite sure about this one when I first started it but, oh, did it sweep me in and not let me go til the last page. I also love a book that makes me "emote out loud" as I like to think of it. This one had me smiling all the way through and crying my eyes out at the end. It follows a young girl through her life in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800's. A must read for anyone who likes Historical Fiction.
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I LOVED this book. Its a very well researched historical fiction novel about a young girl kidnapped from her village in Africa and sold into slavery. It follows her through her whole life and the unbelievable heartache and trauma she lives through. I've been telling people I liked it as much as Unbroken but the main character is so much more endearing and has so much spunk.
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. I have a thing for modern day memoirs of utterly heartbreaking stories (Like Breaking Night and Blackbird). This is a Foster mother's first-hand account of the children she took in over the years and the unbelievable trauma they went through before they came to her.
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I loved this lighthearted yet emotional story of a strong woman making the best of a hard life in the Southwest, beginning in the 1930's. I love her writing style--just cuts to the point of every story without too much "fluff" and yet tells it in a way that you can picture everything in vivid detail. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, is one of my all-time favorites, and this true-life novel about her grandmother didn't disappoint.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Modern day fiction about a girl raised in Foster homes and her struggles throughout life. She learns about the Victorian Era language of flowers and that becomes a huge part of her life. I finished it in two days. An easy read but very emotional and moving.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. The true story of a man's experience after Hurricane Katrina when he decided not to evacuate in order to look after several properties he owned. Quite an unbelievable story and so hard to believe this happened in the US only a few years ago.