Documenting special moments...

Summer is the perfect season for a beautiful wedding and I've been so happy to share the joy, helping families document and save the memories in a special way.

A few quick snips and a likeness is captured.

It's like magic watching a familiar profile appear.

I snip the silhouette profiles of bridal couple and guests, sending one copy home with friends and family, and putting the other in a keepsake book.

It takes only a couple short minutes for me to snip, then the guest writes a note to the newlyweds.

The messages are often heartfelt and touching, sentiments from loving grandparents, jokes from friends, and warm conveyances of joy from parents...

 

What a perfect way to remember an unforgettable day!

If you know someone who is planning a wedding, bar mitzvah or special birthday, I'd love to join the party and save the memories in this wonderful, one-of-a-kind way.

You can go here for more information.
I'd love to hear from you!

A magical place in the woods

We slipped down an unmarked path,

under a rustic arch covered with blackberries

and into a world of wonder.

This is a private woods,

and very much loved.

I have been blessed with an open invitation to linger in these woods

and there are wonders at every turn.

Look up and you see how the summer sun transforms a simple leaf

and illuminates a flower.

Look down, and look carefully...

be amazed by the wonders at your feet.

Every square inch in the woods is jammed with life.

Look carefully at the patterns in nature around you.

Pay attention to the hues and shapes. 

Slow down.

Take a close look at the things you think are "ordinary" and you find there is no such thing as ordinary.

Take a second look at something you think you know all about. 

Like a blade of grass or a blackberry.

Consider sketching something like a common twig.

You will discover so much when you look carefully!

Is nature's candy right at your elbow?

Taste a dandelion leaf or a blackberry or a ripe red thimble berry...

Just be sure you know your plant life;

some things are not meant to be tasted.

But all the colors of the rainbow are meant to be savored

and there is no place nicer than the woods to enjoy a blissful hour...

sometimes under a watchful eye you didn't expect!

Independence Eve in small town America

I caught myself today wondering why I am not in a constant state of gratitude.

To live here, in the heart of small town America.

Free and blessed beyond belief.

It's the kind of day that makes me stop in my tracks, utterly amazed

at the miracle of ordinary life in small town America.

Nobody knows why Big Lake celebrates Independence Day on July 3rd, but we are glad of a double dose of family and friends, barbecue and fireworks.

It's a tradition we love more every passing year.

We are so grateful for friends who fold us into their circle of loved ones, young and old...

for the pleasure of playing together and eating classic potluck food...

It's an evening running over with joy, of wholesome fun with new friends and old,

an evening of laughter and jokes and utter relaxation.

 

There's always an fly-over from the retired navy pilots

time to swim and play soccer on the lawn and eat something festive baked by somebody's mom...

and before you know it, the sun sinks low and it's twilight.

Time to gather by the lake.

The marshmallows and sticks come out

and the first fireworks light our faces and the sky, still tinged pink around the edges.

And then it's over, and calls of "thank you!" and "this was the best party ever" ring out across the water. 

People ask me where my ideas come from, what the source of my creative fountain is.

And this is it, my friends. This is it.

It's my real life flowing out onto paper.

Open your eyes.

Pay attention.

Don't let a single moment of the magic escape you.
Your life is beautiful, too.

The secret is to pay attention, to look for the daily morsels of joy and beauty.

Put on your favorite shoes and dance for gratitude!