More fun (since funner isn't a word, although I use it all the time...)

Lovely

I officially dub thee Most Gorgeous Couple in Real Life. Thine beauteous smiles and photogenic ways cause me to appreciate thine abilities in making mine lens well pleased.

The road is straight and narrow. A mile down it curves viciously to the left, to the right, and straight on again over the bridge. The rest of the way is made of soft slopes and mild, pleasant curves...sometimes like our lives. The sharpest curve can take you slamming into who knows what just around the bend if you take it too fast... slow down, then speed up with caution, and you're safe. I love roads... or rather what they can signify if you use a little imagination. This one, mine, is especially beautiful... sometimes a little dangerous and difficult to drive on smoothly. Often times the curves are to sharp and too sudden... But without the danger, the road would simply "go ever on and on ", and how boring would that be?

(for those who are wondering... yes, I did lay down on the ground of a 60mph two-lane highway to get this shot... I wonder what the oncoming Amish traffic must have thought of the nutty California girl trying to commit suicide...)

I crack myself up sometimes.

In My Arms

Your baby blues, so full of wonder
Your curly cues, your contagious smile
And as I watch, you start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Story books full of fairy tales
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies
My heart is torn just in knowing
You'll someday see the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage
And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
But you are never all alone
Because I will always, always love you

When the clouds will rage
And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms, in my arms

Plumb

A Dream Within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And,in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow-

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope had flown away

In a night or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand-

How few! yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep-while I weep!

O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

- Poe

The grass is always greener...

I was lying face up on the lawn in the backyard beneath my favorite tree... I don't even remember what kind it was... thinking about the long day of packing we had just endured, how tomorrow we would leave our pretty blue haven near the vineyards, and noticing for the millionth time how peaceful the grass and trees become in the early evening. The ocean breeze was blowing the trees softly above my head, the sun showing signs of setting (the most beautiful part of the day back at home), and I was alone on the lawn... tired, a little sad, and... with my camera.

A camera's ability to entertain is endless. "Oh look! A tree above my head! Let's take a picture." Suddenly you see how much more beautiful a simple tree can be when it is focused upon. Grass is suddenly what your depth of field has been daydreaming about, and sunglasses are now models (but sunglasses have an endless reputation for being making people look 'cool', so it's no wonder that they're so cool all on their own ;-).

I'm rambling. It's getting late, that's why I'm letting the romance surface slightly onto the blog. Tomorrow I'll regret it. How I make myself laugh. :-)

Maybe I'll put up my "better" grass pictures later. That sounds funny.

Longing for the days of summer

I love the sun. That's all I have to say for now. I miss it. That, and my ocean also.

Who can resist a goggle wearing blonde boy?

(I can't)

Little Dude

He flirts with me every Sunday across the aisle of the church building. He shunned me for a little while at first, but I think I might have won his heart after he won mine...I believe this is attachment.

Some things need no further explanation outside of themselves.

Her Little Man

Sisters are often guilty of having a dangerous amount of fun with big cameras.

Just Breathe

I'm crazy in love

Today my lovely camera wielded it's irresistible charms upon my heart and caused me to fall head over heels for it's comradeship once again. I love photography. Love it. I am certainly not the best, I am very inexperienced, I am pathetically untechnical, but I still love the art of taking photos. It's thrills me. Something about downloading the millions of shots that you can take in a very short time, organizing them, editing them, gazing at them, owning them... it is by far one of my favorite things to do. Looking at the work of others is crazy fun. Learning how I can improve is awesome. Finding someone who shares my passion for this art is so exciting. I can't wait to learn more. So bear with me. :)

Comrade in Arms

Liz. That's all I am going to say.

(p.s. Notice the Canon insignia. Shocking!!!)

Tirzah

So, which is better of the two? I love this shot because I think it looks totally vintage. :) ...and... if you're reading this, you probably know me; and if you know me, you know that I like vintage. Alot. No, le bebe is not angry, she just makes very serious and studious faces (like her mama...), which I think is hilarious. I suppose she'll be quite the deep thinker in time.

Wow! Crazy Auntie Hannah sure does get excited whenever she puts that big black shiny thing with the clicking noise in my face!

.

Happiness! Love it!

Okay, so I have a whole series of photos of this little chick, but the internet is so terribly slow, that I don't have time to upload all of them. So til next time (which is what I usually say)...

All she needs is a red rose and a Mariachi playing in the background, eh Senor`?

Serenity

Hannah, tired, talkative, grammatically incorrect...

To all of my faithful readers (all seven or eight of you...),
I am dying, dying, dying to post some lovely photos that I snuck in yesterday of my incredibly photogenic little sister, but hence! We don't have that fancy internet installed on our property yet. So, updates on Tennessee are coming soon. I just have to go park somewhere around here and steal someone's internet (or just go steal it from a friend again... you know who you are...), but until then, you'll all just have to live without.
Also, I'll be starting a new blog (hopefully) once this internet thing is all worked out. I am Californian to the core... who ever thought internet wasn't available at the snap of your fingers?

At the present, I am sitting in front of my grandmother's computer in Arkansas, missing home but enjoying a little adventure all by my lonesome. I drove down here today with Kristen and her little girls; her husband is filming down in Louisiana, and they're meeting at the halfway point for the weekend. She needed a traveling companion and a babysitter for a day. Since my grandparents live so conveniently close, it worked out well. I feel like chatting someone's ear off but my throat hurts from doing it for 6 hours in the car today... so I am resolved to type instead to whoever reads it. "I'm a lone, lorn creat'r..."
Tennessee if beautiful. I will admit. All you California inhabitating Californians that I left behind are really missing out on the scenery around here. It is lush and green, as opposed to dry and brown (nothing against Interstate 5 or anything ). Although I am enjoying life just as ever, I do miss my homeland and all of you... I would board that plane to LA tomorrow if I could, but miraculously I am loving it here. Thank you so much for all of your prayers for our family... through His grace, God has assisted us in finding happiness and contentment (at least for me :-) over here, despite our attitudes about moving. I know I will enjoy it here. No offense to any of you. :) I almost feel like I am speaking a heresy by saying that, but I am so happy here in this beautiful place. Everyday I am reminded to thank the Lord over and over again for how much He has blessed us in so many little ways, and many we will never even know about. God is so good.
I have learned so much about life, other's around me, the Lord, and myself over the past two weeks; I could fill a book with it all. Making new discoveries, learning things of importance, pursuing the eternal matters, and seeking God have been a big thing around here lately... and I am enjoying life like never before. I don't really know why. Perhaps it is because life has started anew over here... everything is fresh and different, and it feels like being born into a new world, all over again. There have been so many different stages in our lives; milemarkers and very, very big changes. This is just another one of them. And... I am thankful for that. Strangely.
Forgive my rambling. Remember, I told you that I wanted to talk but didn't have the voice to. Perhaps I'll recover by the time I get home, and then you all will be the victim's of me and my crazy, excited self.
So anyway, I miss all of you, whoever you are, and I will reemerge into cyber space sometime this year. Till next time...

"The one I love is in California... California's home to me!"

Hey y'all!
Yup, I'm alive. But I'm melting very quickly, so I won't be here for long. It's rather humid over here. :)
Just an update... we're in Tennessee now (rah rah), and the internet is rather iffy; once we move into our house and get everything set up, I will return to cyberspace and start e-mailing and posting to y'all again. And I consider "y'all" a typo, by the way.
'Till next time!

So This Is Love

Just a few more

Group massage!

For those of you who need an explanation: some of the younger guys (or, actually most of the younger guys) had the brilliant idea of setting up chairs down the hill (and a very downhill sort of downhill), getting a running start from about 20 feet away and seeing if they could jump over them (going downhill, mind you) without killing themselves. Oh, uh... did I mention the downhill thing? Thankfully, there were no casualties, although Mr. Johnson brought out the crutches once he saw what was going on. :) Here, one of the guys almost makes it over 14 chairs. He did it the next time around without touching a single one. Sorry, I lost my shots of that one. I don't think anything could influence me to try that. Well... maybe...

Life is beautiful.

Due to a moody Mac and a forget-the-hassle-lets-do-this-as-fast-as-possible-despite-the-risk Me, I lost some of my best shots in Oregon a couple of weeks ago. *sigh* So, I suppose you will all have to be satisfied with these. This post should be called Hannah's Significantly Altered and Colorless Photos of Camp Dwight. I was a little caffeinated when I messed with these; if you have ever been within 20 yards of me while I am on caffeine, then no other explanation will be needed. Next time I'll shock you all with my colors. :-) One of these days.

Needless to say, Camp Dwight was a blast. It always is. Sorry, no slip-n-slide pictures, although that was certainly one of the main "fun-time" highlights. I was too busy slipping and sliding to take photos. I just might go steal some from another blog. :)

I owe much to this chick here. She is my camera thief--er--holder. When I can bear to part with my beloved Nikon, she takes him willingly off my hands. She is quite the budding photographer.

Your's Truly is omitted from this photo. In fact, she was mysteriously omitted from appearing inevery ping-pong photo. How could this be? Is she camera-shy? Did she even play? Of course she did. How long did she play Around-the-World, you ask? Well, look at the photo. You just might get a hint. :)

"... I could have danced all night long..."
Group huddle. Just kidding. More like group ECD lesson for certain people who couldn't do it worth a pile of rocks/could not comprehend directions from distressed and exhausted callers. No prejudices held, mind you! You can tell just who is exasperated with the repeated explanations... And yes, we did end up doing it, somehow. Whether we danced it the right way or not has nothing to do with our accomplishment... right?

How many photographer's assistants is one allowed to have?

Beautiful friends