live laugh love

3rd times a charm...

2012-05-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends if having her third baby! So excited for this baby to come! You look beautiful Carey! Enjoy the last weeks of your pregnancy!!!

2012-04-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

Got the girls ready by ready I mean in clothes that kind of clean, faces that are kind of clean, hair that is kind of brushed and the girls kind of in the mood for pictures. There are many things that get in the way of my photography mojo (not that I am really have a mojo or that I am very good at taking pics...just like trying) like gale force winds, rain, freezing temps, snow and lack of day light and most of all lack of motivation! Here is the only cute shot I got...and of course it is not in focus...but I still love it! But of course I'm disappointed because it could be another 6 months until I gear up to do this again...

Lovin' this weather...

2012-03-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

We are totally loving this weather! It has been a mild winter...combined with an early spring amkes me sing at the top of my lungs...."Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy"!!! The girls are loving spending time outside when I get home from work...biking, playing in the playhouse, and going for walks...also can't forget a snowball fight!!!

WELCOME SPRING!!! So happy you are here!!

Long time...

2012-03-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

It has been such a long time since I have posted anything,...work seems to get in the way of posting ;)! We have been busy but I promise that I will post some pictures of our adventures in 2012! The weather has been warming up, the snow melting and the sun sticks around longer and longer each day so I am feeling the itch to get my camera out! I have a ton of things to organize on my computer and want to start the girls albums for 2012 (I am sooooo good at procrastinating)...in the meantime here are some snaps of the girls!

Ahead of Schedule!

2011-12-28T14:43:00.001-08:00

Well I have to say I am quite proud of myself. I have pretty much completed my 2011 collage! This is so impressive because I just finished my 2010 collage a couple weeks ago (trust me I put the pro in procrastinator)! This year I vowed that I would get it finished before I had to head back to school.

Had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, laughs and the enjoyment of having young kids! I hope to post the Nichols Top 20 of 20-11 tonight so stay posted!

Of course don't think I would not let you off the hook so easy...I am still my indecisive self so I can't decide if I like black or white better...what do you think? Whatever I choose I pretty much have to stick with and since I have just completed my 2010 I haven't gotten it printed yet...so I can change it to black if needed...HELP!!!!

I {heart} holidays!!!

Now if I can get my house cleaned from top to bottom I would be a be all grown up!

10 Reasons Anesa

2011-12-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Finally finised and ordered my 10 Reasons Books...this is a pretty big deal for this gal! Thanks again for everyone who helped me!

10 Reasons Rowyn

2011-12-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well...I am finally ALMOST finished the girls books...I have decided to give them to the girls for Valentine's Day! Thanks for that idea Melissa! Also thanks to Melissa Speelman from FrecklePhotoBlog for your patience in answering all my silly questions and for inspiring to try many of your cool photo projects! I am so having trouble with the frame that I want to put on Rowyn's cover page. It is a png file and I have no idea how to get rid of the background so that I can use it over a few layers (if that makes any sense?!!?).

I sure hope Ro loves this! I can't wait to read it to her at bedtime!!!! I printed the books at PhotoCanada (they had a great sale and actually the program was super easy for a custom format). There was a couple cm that are cut off from the edge of the picture so that is why the numbers are in from the edge of the page.

What do you think?

Love you Ro Ro M Jo!

Freeze Frame!

2011-11-26T18:50:00.001-08:00

With 2011 soon coming to a close I figured I should get my 2010 collage finished so it can take me a year to get my 2010 collage done ;) Here is a snapshot of 2 years ago! I hope to get my 2011 done before 2012! I love these as I find it sooo cool to look back and see how much the girls have changed and what we did that year!

you are so sweet...

2011-11-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

Ok~so I am a million posts behind! I haven't even finished my post about Ro getting glasses!... my little girl turning 3 (mom guilt since her birthday is the day after Anesa's and Anesa's post is up)! I need to get it together and do some serious catching up!

BUT... I have finally started my Love You Because books for Christmas!

Thanks so much Jocelyn for helping me get started...so excited to finish and get them printed!
Here is a sample page from each girl...aren't I so creative...almost exactly the same lol! The rest of their books will be different I promise but those were the pics that I had handy!

What do you think?

I will post the entire book when I am finished!

Hope to post like a mad woman this weekend! Between school, coaching, volunteer commitees and 2 girls in dance and music...I can hardly put 2 feet in front of the other at 8 pm (sad but true)! Not much happening this weekend so stay tuned! I am pretty much finished my 2010 collage (I know...just in time to start my 2011 but I will have it done by the end of January...already starting my list of 10000 resolutions ;)!!

Rabbits, Frogs and Giggles!

2011-10-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for putting up with my craziness! I had a blast! Hope we got a few keepers!

Anesa's 5!

2011-10-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Honestly! Where has the time gone it feels just like yesterday that I brought you home from the hospital and you were so, so tiny!

Now you are 5!

Long gone are the days of sitting up on your own, taking your first steps and saying your first words! They have been long replaced by days without training wheels, first days of preschool, coloring in the lines and writing your own name! Each time I focus on the past you are a constant reminder to me to live in the now because every "step" you take has been just as amazing as your first! Thanks so much for the ride Anesa Shae!

Happy 5th Birthday Little Frog!!!

Life's short...

2011-10-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Play hard...

Baby B!

2011-09-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Breckin! You are adorable!

Pumpkins

2011-09-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Did a maternity/family shoot today and we just had to use pumpkins!

It was so windy and bright but everyone was so patient and the kids were so good! I have a great time, Thanks Tiffany! Enjoy your last weeks of pregancy!

A Climber and A Collector!

2011-08-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Climber...

Ro is a climber! She went from washing dishing (she has to was dishes with very little on bc she makes a mess...no this is not something she has picked up from me doing dishes ;) to jumping right in the sink! Later that afternoon I went into her room and she was on her dresser! What a kid!

Anesa loves to collect things...her current obsession is her birdie and her diamond. She wanted me to take a picture of her treasures on her cushion that she had scrounged up for them. Too bad for for the birdie that it's tail is gone from a tragic fall yesterday ;)

Memory or Membory as Anesa likes to refer to it as is also a new obsession!

Perfecly Imperfect

2011-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

I am always striving snap the "perfect" picture of my kids! I am never satisfied with most of the pictures I have taken. This is surprising as I think that I am about 95% Type B...I am pretty easy going and don't let too much get to me (or at least this is how a view myself in my own mind...maybe that really isn't how I am...crazy thing...how you perceive yourself and how other perceive you!) I have come to the conclusion that this could be a 2% of me that is Type A. This could explain the fact that I never print any of my pictures while my full intention is to print them...some of them large...to hang on our wall. I am always so hesitant because what if I take one today that is better...how many pictures can you have of your kids on your wall. Well I am really going to work on this and embrace my photography style (not sure that I even have one) and focus on capturing moments. Trying to shot wide open and keep the eyes in focus (really like that look). So for now I am trying to convince myself that it is perfect to be imperfect...which is so weird because most other areas of my life I would say this is my motto. I am a below average housekeeper and cook. I do enjoy baking but find once I am back to work after summer I rarely bake, I am usually a many minutes late and I don't work very hard at making myself look good (translation...most of the time I am in comfy clothes and my hair isn't done) so I am not sure why this is a problem for me! Anyway here are 2 pictures that I would have never posted before because to me they are perfect...they are taken in a restaurant and the girls look a little awkward but since I am throwing away my old ways here we go! Going to focus on taking perfect pictures of our imperfect life!

There's no place like home!

2011-08-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

So very fortunate to have such a great circle of friends! For many they are my built in family...which is such a nice feeling! I have tons of pics of hanging out at the park, the pool and fun on bikes but I am kinda freakish in the fact that I don't like to post other people's children on my blog...would hate to put them in a position that they didn't want to be in (otherwise they would probably blog themselves)...I just really feel that it isn't my right. So with that being said you are going to have to see more pics of my kidding loving every minute of summer!

I {heart} summer legs!

north country

2011-07-31T17:31:00.001-07:00

Each summer we make our 11 hour trek up north! Each year brings new adventures, growing independence and family time!

I want to remember...

The girls excitment on our arrival! Unpacking and settling their babies and Anesa's barbies. Blowing up the tube so we could head out on the boat!

All of our trips to the park. Anesa discover seeds this summer and spent more time trying to crack the shells for the hidden treasure than she did on the play structure!

Ro and her growing independence...wanting to do everything Anesa does. Ro also discovered the treasure that is hidden in the plain and ugly sunflower seed (dill pickle being a lake favorite!)! But since this momma is not a 24/7 seed crackin' machine we tried to discretely eat our seeds without her knowing...hiding them under our tongue when she would ask what was in our mouths! We got busted a few time but lucky for me she was so busy playing that she doesn't notice too much around her!

MARSHMELLOWS and POPSICLES...I need not say more!

Practicing our letters on the books that papa made from the bark of the birch trees that we had to cut down this year. We hate cutting anything down as we love the feeling of being surrounded by trees (strange that we live in the bald arse prairie for over 11 months of the year) but some of the trees were getting so tall/old that we thought a strong wind could knock them over onto the cabin. For anyone who has seen our cabin, it would not fair well with a twig falling on it let alone a 60 year old tree!

Fooling around...

Butterfly catching...opps guess that's Ro!

Days at the beach (when it wasn't raining)...

Making sandcastles and mom catching her reflection in Anesa's sunglasses!

Ro being very lady like and pulling her pants down to do her business in the lake!

Pouring water...over and over and over!

Hauling water to the shore...over and over and over!

More pouring and Ro with her signature tongue move...she could give ol Gene Simons a run for his money!

Adventures with papa in the reeds!

The girls paddling...well Anesa paddling and Ro snacking...notice she is not just eating one preztels stick ;)

More paddling...Ro reaching for reeds...and she got one!

As per usually Rowyn loving her toys!

Anesa finding the courage to jump off the boat and into the lake! We were so proud of her! She didn't want to get out!

Well...since you only live once (and Rowyn wouldn't get in without me) we all decided to enter the freezing water of Lac La Ronge and swim! It was the perfect end to a perfect trip to the cabin!

What do you want to remember this summer?

PS ~ I will be posting a few more pictures later...most of the pics on the boat were taken with a p & s and we have been too lazy to dump those pics yet!

Sistas...

2011-07-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the lake I try and try to get decent pictures of the girls together. Each year I wait until the last minute (this year the actual day we were leaving) to take the pictures. While feeling rushed and impatient I never seem to capture what I want. Here are this years attempts at capturing my girls together...maybe next summer I will get it together and do this as soon as we arrive...doubtful...but a gal can dream!

Always find it sooooo challenging to get a good snap of both of them at the same time!

This is one of my favorites!

Strength, Beauty, Radiance...

2011-07-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is my one of my BF's sisters. She is energetic, organized, thoughtful and so positive and man does she look so beautiful pregnant! She is going to be one great momma! This baby is going to have soooo much love he/she really isn't going to know what to do:) Families on both sides are amazing and can't wait to meet this little bundle of joy...the arrival of this baby is big...really big! I can't wait to hear about the big day(I think it's a girls...but for anyone who knows me I almost always think every baby is going to be girl...lol!) Enjoy your last weeks being pregnant Jade, it really suits you!

Hello my friend

2011-07-13T15:34:00.001-07:00

we meet again
been a while
where should we begin
feels like forever...

I had the great pleasure of watching one of my favorite people on this earth get married this past weekend. You know one of those people you were destined to meet...even if it was across the ocean in the land of the rising sun. It saddens me that we live so far from away and rarely see each other anymore. But quite frankly I don't think it will ever change the fact that Bill is one of my favorite people on earth! Bonds like that aren't broken...:)
I didn't take any pictures the whole weekend (gasp) which pains me but everyone was so busy and didn't want to be that annoying person saying "say cheese". It was nice to just soak everything in a visit with old friends that I only spent a short time in my life with (for most of them a year) but under the circumstances we became so close...we really had no choice...Bill would often referred to us as his forced family and it was so fitting because we were as close as family for that year (and for some of us even after the year had passed and we had all gone home). There are very few people in my life that I have been that close to...they were all I had in a place where I knew no one and didn't know Japanese! I was hoping that more of the people that I taught with in Japan would have been at the wedding but life happens! I would love to get together with everyone and meet their husbands (actually I one of the only single girls there besides Gwen and I have met her husband) so I guess meet everyone's wives and children. It really does seem like a lifetime ago that I hopped on a place all by myself to Vancouver...fell asleep on a bench and had some kind person wake me up so I didn't miss my flight to Toyko...that would have really sucked by the way! Flew across Alaska and the North Pacific to land in an airport where I for the first time in my entire life felt truly and completely alone. It was then that I could find my passport...thinking that I had lost my passport and going into serious panic mode a girl approach me and she said she was from Canada...she had spotted my good ol Maple Leaf on my backpack and the tears from sheer panic forming in my eyes. She helped calm me down and helped me locate my passport in one of my 100 compartments ...I have to say that that is the ONLY time I lost my passport on my trip...which is something for me...actually I didn't lose my wallet a lot either...probably because my apartment was so tiny...lol. It turned out that the lady who was sent from above to help me get it together was from Weyburn, Saskatchewan, which was only a 2 hours from my hometown...this was something as Saskatchewan only has a population of about 1 million people...I was floored! I am pretty sure I hugged her after she came up to me and helped me find my passport...she walked me through customs and helped me find the train platform that I was suppose to meet Chris at (this was huge and was really the only part of my trip that I was worried about as 1 million people pass through Shinjuku station in a day and I had the feeling that was the perfect location for meltdown #2). Kind of sounds like Harry Potter trying to find Platform & 3/4...LOL! Anyway to make a super, super long story just a long story Chris met me...pretty sure I hugged him too...and if it would have been a week later and I would have known Chris better I never would have hugged him because he is so not the hugging type! I had been up for over 36 hours straight and totally missed a day in my life...think when I left it was August 18 and when I arrived in Tokyo it was the 20. Chris led me to Maple House (our apartment building) and I swore that I was never going to be able to learn how to find my way around the narrow back alleys that I soon found out were streets where cars actually drove...I started an adventure of a lifetime! I had one of the best experiences of my life! I truly met myself in Japan and hope that one day my kids will be able to experience something similar in their lifetime!

Here is a picture of a picture (pre-digital my friends...actually they had dig. cameras in Japan but only 1 of us had one...pretty sure they were just 4 megapixels at the time) of Bill and I hanging out at one of our favorite watering holes...The Hub (an English pub full of Japanese people :)...they had the best fish and chips!

I could have picked a hundred other pics...Bill and I on the Great Wall, our first scooter rides around Koh Samui, on the streets of Bangkok, singing Karaoke until 6 a.m., with random school children in uniforms in Harajuki, at that Summer Palace near Beijing, sweating at the Heavenly Palace (it was sooo hot that day!), drinking sours all night long, eating special saladas, snorkelling at Koh Toa and Koh Nanh Yuan, touring Yokahoma, dancing at a full moon party, having a Thai message, watching a Yokahoma Bay Stars ballgame, eating sushi, watching sumo wrestling, walking through Tiananmen square, partying at Gas Panic, walking the streets of Shibuya, at the Silk Market, touring the Imperial Palace, sleeping on the trains, touring the Forbidden City, shopping at Panjiayuan Market, taking the train to Enoshima, taking the train to our Saturday morning gig and having Bill rehearse with me how I could get out of taking extra shifts and when Tim would ask me I would forget my rehearsed lines and say yes and all of our practicing would be for not, waking up at 5 so we could get a seat on the way into Tokyo and then sleep on the 3rd floor of Star Bucks until we had to go to work at Musa (this beat the alternative of riding 45 minutes standing in a train car squished like sardines), riding the bus to Uni-something (can't remember the name of the company...must not have had a contract there for long), hanging out on the seats in front of my apartment, shopping in Sagamiono, riding our bikes EVERYWHERE, me watching the boys jump into fountains with very little attire on, having 2 breakfasts and as many coconut shakes at the Utopia Bungalows, hiking to the top of a waterfall, dragging Bill to the first Harry Potter movie (cost like 27 bucks to go to a movie in Japan and this movie was def. not as good as the book!), Bill dragging me to see the first LOTRs movie which happened to be worth 27 dollars not sure if he enjoyed answering all my silly questions as we watched the movie (saw the LOTRs 2 in Lethbridge with him...never did make it to the 3rd on with him...lol)...but I thought choose this picture simply because I looked half decent...lol!

Love you Bill! To a life filled with laughter, love and of course dancing :)

Swings and Fairies!

2011-07-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Missing the girls this week! They are at my mom and dad's while Ry and I went to a wedding and are now plowing through tons of work on and around the house!

Loving life! Loving everyone in my life! So very fortunate to have great friends and family! Love each and every one of you!

Just wanted to post a few pics from the girls playing on the tire swing and fairy hunting at Grandma Birdie's...

The girls loving the tire swing!

I really love this picture..

And this one...

Striking a pose!

This picture is so Rowyn!

So is this!

And this...

Also this...

I love this picture of Rowyn running...not sure why...not so great backgroud...camera bag in the middle of the grass...hose along the side. Love the way her foot is up and her dress is blowing...man she is fast!

Her mother's daughter some say?!?

Once again many say Rowyn is her mother's daughter!!!
PS ~ That fairy got away ;)

Stunning...

2011-07-03T20:46:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to shoot my friends wedding this past weekend! With the help of a photographer friend, we managed to get through the day! The day went perfectly and lets just say the bride looked just stunning! Thanks so much for having faith that we would capture the beauty of your special day!

Beautiful day...Beautiful dress...Beautiful girl

Flowers were amazing!

Wedding Party Rocked!

Congratulations Ryan and pretty-eyed Jenna! Here is to the beginning of a new chapter in your lives!

Almost here....

2011-06-21T22:17:00.001-07:00

Summer is so close we can taste it! Can hardly wait...practicing up with freezies and water balloons!

33 BABY!

2011-06-20T22:08:00.001-07:00

The girls and Ryan got me an ipod for my birthday to help me train for my triathlon that I am in at the end of June! Wonder if it will help me with only a week left!!!

Anesa wrote on the card all by herself...can't believe how grown up she is all of a sudden!

They wrapped it together and Anesa wrote on the present again...man Ryan and his newspaper wrap job?!?!