a really wonderful weekend.

woah...two blog posts in one week! this is pretty good for me, but really i am here to give a few sneak peeks to patiently waiting families who i had the pleasure of photographing this weekend. i had the best time. before that though and i know i am telling on myself...this weekend wasn't all work and no play.


first off, last night my sister and their men came by for nibbles and laughs. i have to say, when the polleti women get together it is always-without-a-doubt...fun and interesting!!! we feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time here. leaving florida is never easy, but after adjusting, we do make wonderful memories while we are here. what a great weekend!!!


today, my sister and i went to visit grandpa, adore him, for a while. ate some fried chicken, listened to some gaither brothers (he's into church music this week), and listened to war stories.


afterward, we drove by an antique store that has been calling heather's name for a few a years. so, we decided to take a peek (for no more than 15 minutes) and it was DIVINE. filled to the brim with trinkets, tins, signs, flour sacks, silver, music, books, lace doilies, vintage pepsi-cola bottles (the real ones), old mason jars, beveled mirrors, jewels...

heather is lovin' on this chair and the black and white checked floor made me happy!

...TWO hours later and our purses a few bucks lighter, we headed home.

i was on a vintage-treasure-finding high as we drove home. quickly, heather and i called people to share our excitement over our purchases which were for me...

circa 1940 and 1950 handmade hankies. yes, i said hankies. they are beautiful and when i take them out of hiding (they are currently hiding safely in my stow & go...HOLLA...great perk of the town and country mini-van!!!!!) i'm pretty sure i will be tucking one in peyton's new school bag...a little reminder of home and a soft place to wipe her little nose if she needs it. why not? back in the day...men and women alike used hankies instead of tissue! so kathleen kelly (you've got mail...watch it if you haven't. you'll see what i mean:)

i also scored an old recipe book compiled by a bunch of women who attended the same church in 1946...the cover is linen and worn and it is filled with lots of goodies i want to try and make.

lastly, i found an old, old, old silver plated butter dish, an english sugar bowl with a scuttle. it is beautiful and different and i was told by the shop lady that it was originally 15 pounds...she had me at 'pounds!' i spent mere pennies for it.

what a great day!

however, it was rivaled only by the AWESOME families i photographed this weekend. they were equally divine and i am still amazed at how much fun i had. one of the things that i love about my new gig...is meeting new people. talking to strangers to make meeting arrangements, answer questions about clothing, times, dates,...

and let's face it...photo shoots are exciting!!! dressing up, make-up, hair,...it's like prom but without the curfews, wrist corsages, and a 10 car caravan. it's nice to be the center of attention for a minute. capturing moments of life. they are frozen in time. i think that's pretty darn cool!

i tell them i can't wait to meet to them which is soooo true and then it happens...i become a tad nervous before each shoot at which point a) i call my fellow photog bestie and before i even say a word, she answers, "you're gonna rock it, baby! i know it. you're gonna rock it out!" b) i can't reach my fellow photog bestie and i decide to chant those same sentiments to myself. c) i blare some feel good song and start singing it at the top of my voice (it helps people). d) i think to myself..."how bad can i really mess it up!??" i answer back..."probably pretty bad, but do your best anyway!" (cracking up)

i can't thank troy and his girls enough for letting me take some beautiful pictures yesterday...

thank you to my lovely assistant and sister, heather, for helping me! you rock! xoxo

kaitlyn, raquel, and taylor...you girls are amazing. beautiful inside and out.

angie, sophia, and jay are next and to say this was anything less than an adventure would be a major understatement. we did these at my house. with my kids inside wanting to come out and play. they screamed only..the entire hour i was shooting. "mommy, i want a photoshoot!!!!" (sobbing, tears, screams) yes, it was great!

angie and i are old friends and i love her family so much. we had a great time and even had a chance to let the kiddies play afterward!!! such a sweet and beautiful family!

on another note: peyton has decided on a few costumes halloween. i informed her that she has about a week to decide on one costume, but she was good about just keeping her list down to a few goodies...

batgirl

cat woman

a gypsie

marie antoinette (yes, you read it correctly)

a mermaid

and a witch with fairy wings!!!!

i love her so much. she just makes me laugh.

beckham's list:

batman with a sword!

easy.

a couple of pics from evergreen. becks is a tad scared in the one, i think he heard a noise, but i love how he holds peyton's hand to make himself feel better!

much love.

cherries, golabki, and turning 5.

yes, i am officially 'in the weeds." overwhelmed, busy....but really, really liking it. i complain sometimes, but i love it and i am learning how to deal with all the new things that come with starting a new business and balancing family life too.


my blog is a little lonely, but i am pretty sure that i will catch up and do a tad better in the coming months...wishful thinking works sometimes too. i'm all about it.


first off, things that i am super excited about:


*autumn wreath, candied apple, macintosh, frosted pumpkin...no these are the not the names of my future children, but rather are the names that i love to see lining the shelves at yankee candle.


it is one of my favorite times of the year. its the time right before school starts, summer ends and fall begins. my favorite because i get to dream about all the fun things we have coming up. not to get to far ahead of myself, but after decorating for fall, comes halloween, then thanksgiving, and then...hello...christmas!!! my favorite holiday ...no secret.


*i have mental lists of things i want to do including but not limited to redecorating my home for the holidays, learn how to make strawberry muffins and serve them to friends with tea...in real tea cups. lovin' this cookie stand from anthropologie...i've got my eye on it. i think it would be the perfect spot to place my strawberry muffins

*go to disney with my...huge GULP...5 year old baby girl.

*this computer

*make a homemade wreath

*learn how to make homemade crust to then fill with my mom's pumpkin pie filling recipe

*clean out the kids playroom so it will be more efficient and creativity free-ing (yup, made that up). i'll definitely post before and after pics

*with the new season, i want to spend time with my special friends, drink coffee, make scones, watch our kids, share ideas, do, create, live, have fun, dream,...yup.i'm a dork. a proud one. i love all the stuff that comes from the upcoming season. i'm ready. bring it.

*the book i just ordered that this sweet friend (my very own kathleen kelly) read to me over the phone yesterday. she told me i'd find it on amazon...i found about 4 other children's books too. she's got me hooked on the old books she talked about on her blog here. some i, too, read as a child and am so happy that i have been reminded how precious these books and the memories associated with them are.

a couple of weeks ago, i visited kells bells when she had a scare with her pregnancy. we had the best time. it was like a four-day long sleepover where we shared coffee in the morning, laughed, cooked, cried, bummed around in our pj's,... we did exactly what we both needed...a lot of nothing but soul searching chats and lotsa episodes of the gillmore girls...i'm so hooked. that show had me at multi-colored knitted scarves and hats at the beginning of the show.

i'm so happy that my friend and her baby girl are safe and sound. i know she is saddies that she can't make the trip to chicago with the rest of her family, but she is rocking out her modified bedrest with various crafts in bed and phone calls of ideas of what we will do when i return home.

being sick and physically exhausted is not easy, especially being so far from family that you can hit up for help. i know everything will be okay and i can't wait until we get to meet the little bundle of love in january!!!! even with the dry heaving down i-75 toward the airport...kelle remained positive and upbeat. heave, "i'm okay!" heave..."this is not so bad." heave, "it's okay. it's okay. i'm used to it." all while driving with a puke bag in her lap and it went on for about...4 minutes. laughing now.

another sweet friend...

a couple of weeks ago, i took some photos of my beautiful sister-friend, jenn. i love her and her family and had so much fun snapping some pics up north near petoskey in michigan. we drove the greeny/four-wheeler into the hills and fields of wildflowers behind their cottage. breathtaking is the only word i can think of...okay, heavenly and perfect work as well.

i took many, but here are a few of my faves starting with all of the little cousins running a race in one of the fields...i wish i could post all of them because they are flippin' funny. can you guess which cousin was upset by the long flowers tickling his or her legs???

and after the ride, i walked outside to find the kids like this. swear, i did not set this up. so precious...

all the kids love and adore big cuz kinsey!!!

thank you, jenn for being game and for being so supportive. love ya.

besides being super busy so far this summer...we have a BIG birthday coming up. i don't want to focus lots on it now because i want to pretend that she is years away from her fifth birthday, but it is on my mind and we are going to make it an extra special birthday. i can not believe that my baby is turning five. it seems so old and weird...and not possible. i find myself hugging her longer, telling her i love her more, reminding her that she'll always be my baby.

i'm reaching, grasping at the days left of her toddlerhood. i miss her little-ness so much that it hurts, so talking about it now will prepare me for the day she officially turns...'little girl.'

jenn and i are taking both girls to disney world this year. we are staying at animal kingdom, having lunch with cinderella, and going diva at bibbidy boppidy boutique. we can't wait and neither can the girls.

we are celebrating turning five. i love watching them grow-up together.

and to make myself feel like i did something...

i did a half of a scrap page:)

okay, i want to post more pics, but my damn paste button not working;0

i will post more when i find a computer guy that works for free and makes house calls:)

until then...

much love.

xoxo

livin' like a rockstar!

okay...i know it's been a long time, but holy moly we have been busy. busy, busy, busy. we have done so many things, gone so many places. and while i feel tired and unable to catch up, we are lucky. sooooooo, sooooo lucky.

i'm not the 'churchy' kind of girl, meaning i don't preach, go to church or have very strong opinions on the subject, but boy do i know how to get my prayer on. girlfriend prays...LOTS!!!! i have noticed that i have ended each prayer the last few days..."thank you for protecting my family...for allowing us this time to be together...we feel so fortunate...(the kicker) please, God, help me stop complaining at how tired i am."

laughing out loud now, even more than i do after i do my praying. there you have it, the jig is up,...i'm nuts and God is totally cool with it too!

last week, we had jeff's family golf trip in petoskey. i ADORE petoskey and have so many pictures to share, but left my external drive at home, so those will come next week. had a great time, weather was cool and crisp just the way i like it when i am on vacation, and the kids played with their cousins for hours until they collapsed exhausted into their beds each night. more to come on that later.

right now we are in canada on our 'dirty dancing' trip. i call it that because if you have ever watched that movie, the family is staying at place where they ring the bell at certain times of the day, where the people come running and join together to eat in an old rustic lodge. where the day consists of swimming, tennis, hiking (adventure walks as my kids call them), ping pong, eating, watching movies, roasting marshmallows, doing a sing-along, rehearsing for the end of week talent show, where sticky bun night falls on the same night that we do line dances and the kids play musical chairs,...


it goes on and on. my family has been going to evergreen since i was 8 years old. the same people come every year, so it really is like a big ole family.

it's a place where we let our kids run a little further from us, stay up a little later, and eat more candy in a week than they have all year. it's that place that feels like home...safe, cozy, and welcoming regardless of how long since our last visit. i wish that everyone we know could come to evergreen with us.

when i walked into the lodge this year, as i do every year, i am welcomed by the aging smell of rustic pine and the cross between the ever standing tuck shop that serves french fries everyday until midnight and the antique pool tables. yum. it is...years and years of happy memories all rolled into one single smell. it is so comforting.

here's a small sampling, but will have more to come throughout the week...

jeff and jon playing shuffleboard!!!

raining off and on=rain boots.

and a few photo shoots...

one graduation shoot with the beautiful jade!!!

and this little adorable little sweetheart...isabella. i wanted to take this little one home with me. i love her dark hair and her sweet little bird squeaks. precious.

she looks just like her georgeous mama...harley. way cool name too!

this shoot tugged a little more than usual at the ole' i-want-another-one heart pang...i wanted to run away with this one...pretty sure her papa wouldn't have let me get to far though...:)

thank you for letting me capture her little-ness. she is a love.

i have been getting to spend lots of family time with my mom and my sisters this week...loving that because i really do miss them so much when i am in florida. here is a photo my mom said she needed for her house...one of her and all her girls.

on another note...I HATE TECHNOLOGY today. everything i am doing with my photoshoots, emailing, copying, pasting, software learning curves, gigs, rams, drives, externals,...i am about ready to PULL MY HAIR OUT, or dump my laptop into the lake. i truly wish i had a little computer wiz about the size of a little (remember the cartoon The Little's...one pc of popcorn could feed the whole Little's Village). anyway, i want one to live in the disc drive of my pc...would love that!!!!!!

miss you guys. and more to come.

xoxoxox