halloween past

So... obviously I had a thing for pink.


My brother Kyle, cousins Danny, Katie, and Robby, me and my mom. I guess I was a rabbit.


Princess? And Kyle is, again, a cowboy. Original.


I loved that tutu beyond recognition. I wore it as often as I could. And Kyle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Sweet!

I guess I was hoping to get some Halloween costume inspiration from these old photos. I still haven't decided what to be... we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!

I

do
not
want
to
be
awake
right
now
.

Being awake before the sun is my idea of torture.
Thank you field trip.
Thank you.

Thank you for ruining my slumbering bliss under those four delightfully cozy blankets.

You suck.

I feel like

tomorrow I should not go anywhere and attempt to conquer the growing heap of who knows what that has viciously taken over what used to be known as my desk.

And the three baskets full of unfolded laundry blocking my closet doors.

And missing MIA flat? I know you're down there. Somewhere. I'll be coming for you soon. Help is on the way.

Hmm... maybe there's a reason the brand name is MIA.

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
-William Cullen Bryant

photo shoot with brother

I'll post more later, but I'm sure you can guess how it went.

fog willow pumpkin patch

My friend's husband, Brian, and their son, Eli




surrounded!


the awesome award goes to this three year old



I know, he's annoyingly cute.

wednesday institution

For the past several months, my friend Taylor and I have made sure that we have lunch together every week.

Before we would maybe see each other once a month. Our lives just don't run on the same clock. She works weekdays during the daytime, I work during the night and on weekends. She is newly married and busy with her new life. I'm perpetually single and stuck in a bit of a rut.

We finally realized that we really didn't see each other enough, that we were rapidly growing apart, and running out of things in common to talk about.

So we changed that.

One Wednesday lunch turned into a second Wednesday lunch. Then it became a month of Wednesday lunches.

Our friendship has grown so much. We tell each other our stories from the week while they're still fresh in our mind. She makes me see the obvious, I help her to lighten up. And we laugh. A lot. Mostly at each other.

Designating a time, knowing that your friend will always have that hour carved out, just for you, has been so great.

So I just want to encourage everyone to carve out time just for your friends. Make them feel special and give them your undivided attention. It really is a wonderful feeling.


at her bachelorette party. We laughed every time the waiter said "mahi mahi." Let's just say we were slightly tipsy.

what feels like a long, long time ago at her graduation party.

a day in the life

Last Friday I participated in a photography event called "a day in the life."

Basically, a whole bunch of schools and photographers descended into Oak Park, a neighborhood in the Sacramento area that has a reputation for being less than pleasant.

And for some reason I decided to separate myself from the other participants to walk around alone and off the beaten path in the sketchy-ness that is Oak Park.

Smart, right?












It was a great experience. I had conversations with some fellows that I probably should've kept a safe distance from (thank goodness for the old guy who came to my rescue at one point), stumbled upon an area deemed "cell block" because, as I was informed, everyone who lived there has either been in jail or is going, and got whistled at a few times.

Good day indeed.

You know that person who will wait to do their laundry until they've run out of underwear? Or maybe they'll buy more underwear just to put it off even longer?

Yep. I'm that person.

By this point in my life, I have enough underwear and clothes to go a very very long time without doing laundry.

And although this method usually works for me, I'm beginning to think I should break this habit.

Because I haven't been able to close my closet doors for the past week thanks to the dirty laundry spilling out of it's basket.

I don't think Martha Stewart or my mother would approve.

excuses excuses

So I have had a crazy hectic weekend but I promise I'll get back to blogging this week!

In the meantime, feast your eyes (and ears) on this...



You know, when I was a little girl I dreamed of living in a tree, Swiss Family Robinson style. And I was going to marry Ernst.

let's go for a walk

okay, let's give honesty a shot

Soooo... I have been tagged by the awesome Jayne of The Little Passenger to share 10 random honest things about me. Here goes-

ten.
I don't like to wash my hair in the shower. I prefer to wash it in a huge sink in our laundry room. I didn't know this was weird, but my friend Taylor informed me last week that it was. I just hate getting water in my eyes. I don't even like to open my eyes underwater in the swimming pool.

nine.
I love finding air bubbles in my tositos tortilla chips. My family makes fun of me because of this.

eight.
I know this sounds cliche, but I totally don't care. I want to get married and raise a family more than anything. Not anytime soon, I've still got a lot I want to see and do before I have to drag a whole bunch of kids around, but someday. I want a humble, funny, and compassionate husband and four kids. I've always loved large family dynamics. I think four kids is just right. Think about it- when you go to an amusement park, no one has to ride alone. You've either got two seaters or three seaters. Now if you've got a five seater ride, we're in trouble. But someone probably has to hold the backpacks anyways.

seven.
I'm a little lost in life. But who isn't?

six.
I will not drink the milk at the bottom of the cereal bowl. I'll keep adding more multi-grain cheerios until the milk is gone, but I refuse to slurp that milk. It's been tainted.

five.
I don't think I've ever watched a full episode of the simpsons. Some might consider that un-american. I consider it brain-cell saving.

four.
I'm not one for having favorites. If I have a favorite, you can bet it will change the next time you ask me. There's just so many good things out there, how can you choose just one? I can't pick a favorite movie, color, song, anything. Because as soon as I think somethings my favorite, I remember something else that is equally as awesome. Some might call that indecisive. I call it considerate.

three.
Eleven years ago, at Heather Clay's house on new years eve, I peed my pants from laughing so hard.

two.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people don't return their shopping carts and just leave them hanging out in the parking lot. Lazy! I don't know why it bothers me so much, but it just puts in me in a total rage! Also, I hate it when people are glued to their cell phones. When you're hanging out with someone, ignore your phone people! Give the person you're with your full attention and make them feel valuable.

one.
I gotta be honest, this was hard.

Okay, that's cheating, I'll come up with another honest thing.

When Center Stage first came out, my friend and I would pop in the vhs, push back all the furniture, and (attempt) to do all the dances along with the video. I LOVED that movie. But that whole "dance routine" thing resulted in many injuries and some broken furniture. And in fourth grade I knew most all the lines from Grease. Don't test me now though. I've tried to put those days behind me.


Okay so, I'm not going to tag anyone, I'm putting that responsibility on you guys. Good luck!

so I've been doing some daydreaming.

Surprise, surprise.

I feel like all I ever do is daydream. In fact, it's probably my most favorite past time.

Lately, though, I've been dreaming about escaping somewhere. I'm getting pretty stir crazy here at home.


So this is my recent daydream trip:
Hitting up Spain
Hiking along the Amalfi Coast in Italy
Island hopping in Greece
Then flying to Paris, my most favorite city in the entire world, to enjoy some nutella crepes, fresh baguettes, pain au chocolat and Amorino's gelato.

Confession: Last night as I ate my toast and nutella, I grabbed the nutella jar and quoted Jerry Maguire.

"Nutella- You. Complete. Me."

Okay, let's get back on track.

I would love to make this daydream a reality, but there's this little thing called money and another little thing called no traveling buddy. I could make it happen, money-wise, but then that would be a big goodbye to most all of my savings. And the no traveling buddy, it's not that I'm afraid to travel alone, I just know myself. I'd get lonely.

I love alone time. It's great. It's wonderful. I can blast whatever music I want and dance around in my underwear and it doesn't matter. But traveling alone? That would get old pretty fast.

I hate those moments when you see something awesome, and you turn to say "wow, did you see that craziness?!" but there's no one there. You try and tell a friend about it later, but it's just not the same. Words fail.

I need someone to be there when I have that wow moment. Someone to share experiences with and to laugh with.

I can be on a plane by myself. I actually prefer it. I love watching people at the airport interacting with each other. Honestly, I could sit in an airport terminal for hours and be entertained. But it's the beyond the airport where I find myself wishing someone was with me.

So that's my problem. I need a friend with some money to travel and a sense of adventure who's up for some awesomeness. Hopefully that friend comes along soon because I don't see a better time to go than now coming up in my future!

Here's to all daydreams coming true!

Dancing in Versailles with my friend Sophie. Or as I like to call her, Quasimoto (long story). Not gonna lie, Versailles would've sucked without a travel buddy.

nature walk

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.
-John Muir



Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
Henry David Thoreau

Dear Mr. Kelly

Do you remember how I was absolutely in love with you when I was a little girl?

Well, I don't think I'll ever stop loving you.

I still think you're marvelous and all kinds of charming.

Sincerely,
Courtney from the wrong century

I want you.

So much that I am willing to make a 45 minute trek so I can try you on and take you home.

voluptuous tree silhouette

Lately I've been obsessed with this tree in our front field. It just makes such a lovely silhouette.

And now I think I'm obsessed with the word voluptuous. Who came up with that one? It's a pretty awesome word if you ask me. It doesn't really have anything to do with the tree, I just wanted to use it!

self portrait challenge

I'm not sure I'm happy with my results, but it's good enough for me! It was way more difficult than I thought it would be. I guess it's just easy to be so critical of a photograph when you're the subject.

I mean, I can't deny it, this just isn't my most intelligent look.


my potentials:




And, of course, I had to include this one. I call it- Mad Dash Before the Timer Goes Off.