ten on 10, September

I really don't have the time to be doing this, but tomorrow is the last day of September.
Whoa dude!
Here's what the tenth looked like for me this month...

1.  I got to take a two day class on levy rates for work, yay!  Farting around with hand-held slow shutter and the fountain in front of the building during a break.

2.  Usually I come home for lunch and let the doggie out, but since I was on the other side of town I treated myself to a sandwich & soup at San Francisco Sourdough before the lunch rush hit.

3.  Mailed a pile of packages to clients, love getting stuff sent out.

 4.  Kicked off my shoes, and when I walked back by I noticed the light they were in.  Photo session on the floor with my shoes, yes!


5.  Loved on this guy....loving on one of my teddy bears on the guest his bed.


6.  Things are starting to die back in the yard, these blooms are still hanging on!


7.  This is my favorite favorite corner of our yard, at my favorite time of day.


8. Cory is home! Tucker is the greeting crew! We recycle!


9.  The beets!  Borscht is on the menu :)


10.  More farting around with the light at sunset.  It's amazing how much the position of the sun changes during this season.

11.  aaaand an extra, just since he's so dang handsome! (and that bokeh is yummy!)

currently...

watching the computer screen, and my eyesight go from f/11 to f/1.8

drinking water, lots of water.

signing up for more and more business; feeling of awesomeness and "holy-crap!" at the same time.

teaching ourselves how to be efficient at running this photography business thing...

wearing tank tops in mid-September, it's been hot around here, kind of ready for some more fall-like weather.

eating whatever we can pull together for dinner, meals haven't been too thought-out lately.

enjoying saying good morning to the dog, who has recently claimed the guest bed (and all the bedding) as his own.

thrilled to see our images printed and in the hands of happy clients.

washing lots of bowls from the batch of tomatoes from the garden Cory canned earlier today.

excited to shoot the wedding we've got coming up next weekend. Pumped!

reading thumbing through my magazine subscriptions that pile up since I don't have time to read them.

laughing with clients during sessions is the best.

feeling so grateful that my biggest "problems" are good problems to have.

believing in ourselves.

loving what life is throwing at us right now!

ten on 10, August

Oh, Hello September!  You are shaping up to be one of the busiest months, ever!
I suppose I should catch up on August before I get so far behind there's no looking back.
I kind of forgot about the whole ten picture thing on the tenth this month, but the 10th/11th fell on a weekend and since I've always got a camera handy, I was able to find ten images between the two days to make it work.

1. Lightning storms and fires seemed to be the main event for several days.  When a storm comes, we chase it down with our tripods.

2. This was one of the loudest storms I think I've ever seen, er heard.

3. Good morning from the garden.  The morning after all that rain is the best time to pull weeds.  These two were still working on waking up.

4. The morning light is great for taking pictures too!  Our veggies were just starting to set on.

5. Tomatoes  & cucumbers starting to grow out of control.

6. We dug up half of our taters.  I can't even describe how much better a home-grown potato is than store bought...mind blown the first time we grew them three years ago!

7. no caption necessary, love him ♥

8. Lunchtime...grilled chicken wraps with tzatziki made from our cukes, yum!  That orange cream soda hit the spot too.

9. My crazy little rose bush going for it's second bloom of the season.


10. Cory harvested some veggies...and grilled the squash to have with dinner.


Aaaand that's it!  So un-exciting, it was totally one of those "dog days of summer" weekends, and looking back it was kind of perfect.  Onto the craziness of September!

Walking Miles & Miles for Boobies

My Mom is at it again…training for her fourth annual Susan G Komen walk.  60 miles in 3 days as an effort to fight breast cancer.  Last year her little crew traveled to Washington DC to participate, this year they’ll be hitting the streets of Seattle on September 20-21-22 with pretty pink glittery tutus! (this was totally her idea, and she’s just a little bit excited about it!)

No donation is too small and if you’d like to show a little ”support”, head on over to her fundraising page.  Proceeds go to fund national research and public health outreach programs.  This is a great way to support or remember a friend or family member that has been affected by cancer.

Thank you, thank you! 
My mom thanks you! 
Your mom/grandmother/sister/daughter/wife/aunts/nieces/all the women in your life thank you!

currently...

watching the sun sink behind the hills earlier and earlier, summer is getting shorter.

drinking cucumber basil lemonade, sometimes spiked.

signing up for another booth in our local wedding show this winter.

teaching my other half how important it is for me to get a good night of sleep.

wearing cotton dresses after work, everyday.

eating simple & delicious food off our new Weber grill.

enjoying what we can of our busy summer.

thrilled that we might get some of type of harvest from our pathetic garden this season.

washing laundry only on the weekends.

excited to be talking to 2014 brides.

reading feedly.

laughing at our silly little doggie and his crazy antics!

feeling overwhelmed, but like we've totally got things under control.

believing we'll find ourselves the perfect new house + yard.

loving that I have the most awesome life & business partner, he makes my days better ♥

Ten on 10, July

As I was uploading this months group of ten shots, I realized the theme of this months story is fruit & Tucker.
Starting at the end of the day and working backwards this time, here we go...

1. When it's not windy (as shown), we're loving spending time outside.  Don't judge my dead grass...unfortunately we haven't had irrigation water for about a month now so we're using house-water, which means we've cut back on the watering time and it's hard to keep up with these 95-103° days.


2. We circled the block on the way home from Cory's Mom's birthday get-together (notice the party-bandanna!) for an extended car ride...love him! ♥


3. Apricots are here!


4. Tucker helping pick or mean dog-mom?  You really can't beat perfectly ripened fruit still warm from the sun, fresh off the tree!

5. Yeah, those peaches were good too! (...and plums, and an early apple!)  Yes, I'm totally rubbing it in!

6. I said back in June, that I was pretty excited about my hydrangea this year...here it is!

7. Trying to keep that garden watered!  Looking forward for a massive amount of beets!!


8. Work.


9. Spoiled dog on the bed!  It was too hot for him to be outside for long when I came home during lunch.  He doesn't know yet that he'll be going for a car ride to visit some of his favorite people (and get put in a tree!)  Pretty ruff day for the pooch...


10. On the way to work...C makes me a muffin + fruit + coffee to-go every single morning.

That's it for July!  Trying to get through some more photos to share what we've been up to this summer (it's been a busy one!)

Cherry Pickin'

It's been a rough year for cherry farmers in Washington.  Lots of rain, and now hot weather which means lots of damage and splitting.  Much of the fruit is being left on the trees because it isn't worth the cost and effort of picking and then sorting and packing in the warehouses and be shipped to consumers all over the world.

Despite the damage, the crop is a good one from the weather we had earlier this spring, which makes things even more devastating.  Big firm cherries, I don't think I've ever tasted them so good!

Lucky for us, we have access to a prized cherry tree, and I don't really care about a few blemishes and splits...they all taste just the same.

We raced against a big dark rain cloud that was making it's way over us to harvest our small bounty.

Yum! The first stone fruit of the summer...next up are apricots, then peaches & nectarines!  We're so lucky (& spoiled) to have all of this almost outside our back door.