feelings of nostalgia...

As the story goes, it seems the more years that go by, the more I enjoy looking back at treasured memories from the past.  I've also noticed that moving to Europe seems to have had an interesting impact on me… I've become even more attached to the idea that everything has a history and can tell us a unique story.  In fact I find myself giddy just thinking about upcoming flea markets & what treasures lay undiscovered for me to scoop up & love.  

For this week, I've incorporated one of my favorite photographs of my great-grandfather as a boy, saluting while dressed in uniform.  Although it appears to be a lighthearted photo, I can't help but be reminded of all those families who are separated from their loved ones while they protect our country's freedoms…   

week twenty-nine :: nostalgia

me :: Laura

simplicity

been a busy couple of weeks…

Along with playing catch up (just about there), I recently got the opportunity to shoot boudoir for my first time (and loved it!!).  Then I even got to sneak in a little getaway time with the hubby to one of my favorite destination spots, which is always a bonus!

week twenty-eight :: simplicity 

Laura :: me

the color green

and if it wasn't obvious already, my favorite color… 

week twenty-seven :: green

me :: Laura

fragile

man oh man… we are a tad behind schedule, as you may have noticed,

but we are pushing forward to get our posting caught back up 

just as quick as we can, pinky swear we'll get there.

week twenty-six :: fragile

me :: Laura

next up will be "green"

see you soon…

pattern

one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of pattern is one of my favs, Urban Outfitters… AND I was super excited to discover there's one in Frankfurt, which is where I picked up this little gem… 

week twenty-five :: pattern

Laura :: me 

new beginnings...

Look at us… posting on time… how about that for new beginnings?

So we all know that with the first of the new year, comes new hopes & dreams…

Some make resolutions, try to be a better version of themselves.

With that comes healthier habits, perhaps with the idea of weight loss… 

So let's just say my original idea happened to involve a scale. 

But sometimes things just don't quite work out the way you see it in your head.

Not to fret, because as I lay there trying to get my perfect shot… 

I see a stack of my old wedding photos out of the corner of my eye.

I know, perfect for new beginnings, right?

And considering my first idea wasn't working… 

If you don't succeed, try try again.

So on to idea number two.

week twenty-four :: new beginnings

me :: Laura

And even though it was some time ago for me… it was a new beginning in more ways than the obvious.  You see, if I had to pinpoint when my love for photography started… the first thought that comes to mind was how much my wedding photographer {Lynn Timmons} inspired me.  In a time when everyone was doing posed & saying cheese… he also placed a lot of focus on candid & detail shots.  All the important things… because I didn't just want to remember what we looked like.  I wanted to remember what we were feeling in those moments.

I went on to major in Design, but that photography bug stuck with me…
I can honestly say, I never would have imagined I'd be where I am today.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people
that support me & push me forward.
Because I get to enjoy one of my passions in life,
creating memories for myself & for others.
And for that I am truly grateful.

catching up...

so hooray for making it through the holidays, 

& being caught up just in time for the new year!

not to mention we're almost halfway through our little project.

week twenty-three :: year's end

me :: Laura

so glad you're all tagging along… 

this week's theme will be "new beginnings"

be sure to throw out any other ideas you may have for us!

is it over already?

Wow, I can't believe how fast Christmas came and went… 

I was however a little more ready for it this year than last.

Which means… pretty presents under the tree, yippee!!

week twenty-two :: christmas

me :: Laura

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmastime with your loved ones.

Now to ring in the New Year!!  

which means lots of fireworks in our household… 

Stay warm & safe, and best wishes, wherever in the world you may be.

holiday cheer!

a whole lot of things come to mind,

here's a few from my list…

week twenty-one :: holiday cheer

me :: Laura

what brings you cheer during the holiday season?

baby it's cold outside...

I can't help but think of one of my favorite songs when I hear this phrase… 

and who does it better than the fabulous Zooey Deschanel??
ummm, I'm thinking no one.

week twenty :: baby it's cold outside

Laura :: me

can't believe tomorrow's Christmas Eve!!  everyone get their shopping finished, 

or do we have any of those last minute shoppers out there?  

guilty pleasures

Eames said it best…
and I particularly love this print,
which Laura actually surprised me with last Christmas!

then my hubby brought me home my very own beauty…
can you say happy dance!?  definitely my guilty pleasure.

week seventeen :: guilty pleasures

Laura :: me

so… looks like we're back on track & this week's theme
in honor of Thanksgiving… is "thankful"
which we'll be posting later this week… yay for being caught up!
and a very Happy Turkey Day from my family to yours.

alone...

As you may have noticed, we are a bit behind, but with reason… 

Last weekend we headed to one of my favorite spots in Germany.

While there I had planned to take my "alone" pic, because I had the perfect idea, 

and Garmisch was the perfect spot to find what I wanted to do…  

Then the unexpected happened.  My sweet Gracie girl fell ill in the middle of our first night there.  Her symptoms were none I'd ever experienced before… she was shaking & lethargic, and unsteady on her feet.  She wasn't responding to anything that would usually perk her up.  We immediately began to assume it was the altitude… The next several hours were moments I'd rather not relive… you see, we couldn't even take the gondola back down to our car to leave, as it wasn't morning and open yet.  When we were finally able to leave, we still faced a five hour drive home.  Thank goodness for emergency vets!!  She was put on an IV, and the first round of blood work pointed to liver damage.  We then realized she had a large lump in her throat, which was growing very rapidly.  The next day more tests… to check her thyroid for one.  It ended up coming back normal (yippee!) and the rest of the blood work pointed to some sort of mystery infection.  She stopped eating and was sick all day.  More IV fluids were given, but she seemed to be going downhill fast… that night was horrible for us.  All we could do was try and soothe her and keep her comfortable.  The following day she started out slow, however she managed to eat and keep down a few small meals.  So back to the vet we go, as the lump is still growing… an ultrasound showed a fluid-filled, encapsulated area, and once again the vet thought all signs pointed to some sort of thyroid tumor.  They aspirated the lump, and sent off for more testing.  We started her on antibiotics, and waited for results.  Grace continued to regain her strength, appetite, and was returning to her normal self little by little.  When the call came in it was good news…  no tumor cells!!  We are currently continuing antibiotics, and are hoping her recovery keeps heading in the a positive direction…  So many of you have reached out to express your concern and give us your well wishes, and we are so incredibly grateful for that.  We know that there will eventually be a time, but we're so glad that time is not now, because we just aren't ready yet.  So for all of you that love your four-legged babies as much as we do, hug them tight tonight!  I can't imagine if this had gone the other direction  And the strangest part is that we are still clueless… everything happened so fast, and we have no idea what caused the symptoms or if they were even related.  So here's to hoping that's all past us now…

I ended up getting a similar shot to the one I wanted, just a little closer to home.    

and here it is

week sixteen :: alone   

me :: Laura

as for playing catch up… here's our upcoming topics

(last week) week seventeen :: guilty pleasure

(this week) week eighteen :: thankful

see you all again soon!

celebrate good times...

come on!  we're gonna have a good time… 

and indeed we did, yippee for birthday weeks!!  Laura's little one just turned 6 months, and I am celebrating my not so 6 months, hehe.  Mine was spent with wonderful people, sharing good conversation & of course lots of yummie food… 

It's always amazing to me how fast the time goes by, and before you know it, 

another year has come and gone.  So here's to good times with great friends!

now on to the celebrations… & I must thank the lovely Brandi.  

She made me these scrumptious looking cupcakes, 

and I just couldn't resist photographing one (and eating a few of course).

week lucky number thirteen :: celebration

Laura :: me

a special Happy Birthday to all you October babies!!
and next up will be… "light"

a little fall inspiration...

as promised…

week twelve :: a little fall inspiration

Laura :: me

next up… "celebration" - yep, sounds like fun!!  see you soon.

the color orange

sorry for the late post…

but it seems with the change of season, comes the occasional cold… 

and let's just say it's hard to hold a camera steady when you're constantly sneezing.

now that I'm feeling human again, here's week eleven.

the color orange

me :: Laura

and since last week has run into this week… 

be looking for week twelve to be posted soon!

balancing act...

For those of you who have been following regularly, you'll know that the hubby and I just recently had family in town.  And the best thing about them being abroad before coming here… was my delectable little surprise…  Let's just say they taunted me from that box, looking all lovely and mouth-watering, but I knew instantly that I wanted to photograph them for this week's challenge.  Which of course meant that when I heard them calling my name from the kitchen… well I couldn't very well eat the pretty ones.  Lucky for me there was one completely dipped in chocolate, which I convinced myself wouldn't photograph well… 

so here we are

week ten :: balance

me :: Laura

and it was hard… you really do have to balance them!  They kept falling, 

and one even fell on the floor, but don't you think for a second 

that will keep me from devouring it… five second rule!!

oh and the lovely Laura is having a giveaway too… so check it out!

intricate...

Hello all!  This week has been significantly better than last week, thank goodness… 

We have family visiting, which means I've been lucky to have my hubby at home along with some great company.  Gracie is doing much better… and although she still has some swelling, it seems to be slowly subsiding.  I can't tell you how much I've truly appreciated all your well wishes.  And if that wasn't enough… this morning I discovered that I just made my esty front page debut!!  My bier garten print was featured in an Oktoberfest tribute… awesome timing & talk about a great way to start my day!  The weather here has been beautiful, and I'll be rounding out my week with a trip to the annual Hitscherhof Farm Festival, here in Germany.  I visited it for the first time last year, and I can't wait to go again!!  It's where I'll be buying all my pumpkins for my front walk, not to mention gobbling down on the best pumpkin soup I've EVER tasted… 

now on to our photo of the week, and look at us!! posting early for a change…

week nine :: intricate

Laura :: me

see you back here next week, where our theme will be "balance"
enjoy the rest of your weekend!

the afternoon hours...

during week eight I traveled by train to Bad Dürkheim's Wine Festival,

where I spent the afternoon hours watching men in lederhosen play their instruments in front of our table, where couples danced right there in the aisles… where we tasted the local wine, and the food did not disappoint… where my hubby ate the hottest currywurst he's ever tasted (and that's saying something my friends) they even made him sign a release!!  where the carnival rides were all around us, beckoning with the delight of children's laughter… and where all in all the day was beautiful, even with the tiny sprinkling of predictable German weather.

As the week progressed, I spent my afternoon hours taking my sweet Grace in for a checkup and her shots… you see she is my lumpy bumpy girl, and has had a long history of lipomas (or fatty lumps) throughout her eleven years.  The vet decided it would be best to remove this one, and we scheduled the surgery for the next day.  All went well, and I took a very sedated "Beans" home that afternoon (don't ask me why, but that's the latest term of endearment we have for her in a long line of nicknames).  The next day my hubby left for a scheduled work trip, and it seemed Grace was getting back to her normal self already… another day passed uneventfully, but the following morning I woke up to find a very swollen girl.  So starts my weekend… I took her back to the vet, and when I had to walk away and leave her there again, her cry broke my heart.  I had a mini melt down that day.  Thankfully skype let me call my hubby during that moment.  And I would have been even more of a mess if it wasn't for a few wonderful friends who understand that my Gracie isn't just a dog… she's my baby.  She now has a temporary "drain."  She's had one before, and they look pretty awful… but it's worked in the past.  The plan is to have it removed today, and then healing can work its magic.  The days and nights have been long, and I'm currently on "stitches watch"… but at the moment, she's sleeping comfortably right here next to me, which makes for a very happy Nelou.

so I'm posting a bit late, but with an image that reminds me of joy & laughter, which is exactly what I need right now… 

the afternoon hours

me :: Laura

As for next week, I'm hoping all goes well with her recovery.  

There may be a slight delay in posting week nine,
not to mention Laura & I being in two different time zones… 

but I'm looking forward to being back on schedule real soon!    

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you're all enjoying a bit of Fall and some cooler weather.  

til next time… 

   

no place like home...

as the saying goes… well you get it.

my house is my cozy space, an extension of who I am… 

and now fall is here… and it's only my FAVORITE time of year.

and you see for me, the challenge is always not to go overboard… 

so welcome, to a small piece of our personal spaces.

week seven :: there's no place like home

laura on the left :: me on the right

next week's theme :: the afternoon hours

same view, different eye...

so… since week six happened to be the week of our awesome little vacation adventure to the south of france, we thought why not do a series from our time there?  the idea being that even though we are both enjoying the same views, our eyes may not be seeing the exact same things in the exact same ways…   we had such a great time wandering about, and although some of our pics may have similarities, we also have a tendency to see things quite differently.

monday :: meze

tuesday :: la couvertoirade

wednesday :: clermont l'hérault

thursday :: saint-guilhem-le-désert

friday :: saint-sean-de-fos

laura

me

as the days go by, I'll be adding more photos to my album, but for now, you can see my first round of edits from my time there here.  it was absolutely beautiful… 

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed being there!

this week's theme… "there's no place like home"
would love for you to join in by posting your photos taken this week
feel free to post to either my facebook or laura's facebook wall.