Are your ducks in a row?

I am a list person.  Those who know me will know that if you want to know what I am up to, look for my lists!  Grocery lists, to do lists, client lists, long term project lists, house projects and even, sometimes, indulgently, wish lists.  I cannot sleep at night until at least a few things have been crossed off of my lists!  Admittedly, I will even write things on my list that I have already done, just so I can cross them off!  (I mastered that technique when my girls were little and it was impossibly hard to complete anything on my list...so at the end of the day I would write things like, "be flexible", "survive the crazy day with sick kids"...check, check!)  I love a nice dark, definitive line through the things that I've accomplished, or a healthy check sign! 

Sometimes, though, I stare at my lists, in a bit of dismay, and think...is this my life?!  Has my life become defined by these lists?  And if I am the author of these lists, why don't the "big" things make it to my lists?  And, what ARE the "big" things?  (Did I mention that I was a Philosophy major!)

The adage "get your ducks in a row" suggests that we have to get all the little things in our life straightened out before we move forward (some suggest the saying refers to bowling pins, others say it references momma ducks getting their babies together...but the meaning is the same).  Thus my lists, my ducks, are itemized neatly, and reworked when they get too messy on the page, and someday, when my ducks are in a row, I'll be able to tackle the big things?!  Right?

What ARE the big things again? 

...I am probably going to have to make a list....


NOW is the time for family photos!

I read an article a little while ago, a heart-wrenching true story, and if I can find it again I will attach the link, about procrastinating family photos.  Seems everyone has good intentions of "someday" getting a good family photo for the living room wall (and for family Christmas cards)...you know, to update the one there on the wall now, before you had kids, or when the kids were just babies!  But, as I know all too well, "someday" has a way of slipping by pretty quickly.  Someday is, in fact, pretty elusive. 

You get busy, we all do...especially as the holidays approach...and you tell yourself you'll get them done when "things slow down", when you "lose a little weight" (that's a really common one), when you grow your hair out or get your hair done, or once the yardwork is done, or, or, or, or...  In the meanwhile, the kids are growing so fast, people come and go from our lives at the blink of an eye....and time passes by so quickly. 

Whether you have little kids, big kids, or no kids...or whether your kids are the 4-legged kind...whether you are a young family or a more "seasoned" one...whether you have an extra few pounds or you wish your hair was longer or wish you still had hair!  And, whether or not you hire a professional photographer to take your family pictures...just DO IT!  Time passes by so quickly.  Preserve this time, this memory, now. 

  

If you'd like more information about my family portrait options (and I can customize it to suit your time and budget) give me a call or email me!  Kris @ 339-4339,  heartandsoulimages@cableone.net, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Pocatello-ID/Heart-Soul-Images/142705035975

The 3 Bears!

We were fortunate enough to get to hang out with this beautiful mama black bear and her TWO cubs for a little while in Yellowstone this past weekend.  They were on an opposing hillside for a bit, digging in the soil and hopping over fallen trees...and then they dropped down into a ravine, a trickling creek, and out of sight.  We guessed that they would follow the creek for awhile before heading up the hillside again, but were surprised when just moments later they popped up, right in front of us! 
We had a moment to consider each other, and then she changed her course and disappeared into the trees with her babies.  Thanks for the visit mama!



It's official!

They are engaged!  Looks like we'll be planning a wedding for next summer for these two...Allison (my daughter) and Stephen!  Yaaaay!  So happy for them...and happy for us, that we get to be a part of their lives together!  Congrats you guys...we love you!



Yellowstone in Fall.

I remember when I moved "out West", from a life primarily lived in urban environments of the East and Midwest states. I rode in the upper bed of a camp trailer (unadvisable, I know) and stared out the window, for hours and hours, as the scenery changed from the familiar lush green trees, to endless fields of green and tan farmland, to mountainous horizons with little or no population, and finally, to our destination, a small town which was, it seemed to me, populated mostly by sagebrush. I thought it was ugly. Awful, really. It was desolate and drab and depressing, to a young teenage girl. I recall my Dad being so excited by the varied landscapes, while us kids were so disenchanted with miles and miles of sagebrush!

Well, years have passed, and while I still love the cities...and I still love the lush greens and beautiful colors of deciduous trees of an East Coast & Midwest Fall...I have become quite accustomed to the muted tones of the deserts as well. There is a subtle beauty in the tones and a surreal quality of the landscapes that cannot be found anywhere else. Perhaps I had to reach a certain "maturity" to see it. Thanks Dad!

To the Chilean miners!

Congratulations to the miners and their families and friends...and to all the men and women who helped to ensure a safe rescue! 
I'll bet they never take the beautiful sky for granted again!



I love him!

I love it when kids contemplate.  I love it when anyone takes the time to be reflective, but there is something so pure and sweet and innocent about a child in thought, even for just a moment.  Okay, so maybe he wasn't deep in thought...he may have been thinking about whether he wanted to climb on the nearby log, or chase the cow...or maybe he was thinking about the balloon we just let float away, on accident...which may have led his mind to the impermanence and fragility of life...and how delicately we have to hold on to what we love...  Okay, but likely, he was thinking about the cow!  And maybe how much he loves his mommy!

It's starting to feel like Fall...

...what was with that sleet storm today?!  Granted it lasted about three minutes, but it sure got gloomy quickly!  So, maybe it's Fall finally? 
I love Fall.  It usually is way too short in S.E. Idaho...as the snow will come far too soon for me...but I love the crispness in the air in the morning, the cool evenings with homemade crock-pot dinners that make your whole house smell like comfort, and all of the rich, warm colors of Autumn.  Fall makes me want to retreat, dust off my cookbooks and cook & bake, to read those novels I collected in my travels over the Summer, and to finally finish those little projects that piled up throughout the year.  Maybe I will actually get to that unpainted laundry room?!  I am thinking maybe a warm chocolate color...
So, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi...I'll be the one in my cozy sweatshirt!

Tetons in Fall!

There is no better time to visit the Grand Teton National Park, than Fall...well, unless it be Summer, when the temperatures are warm and the days are long, that's nice too...or Winter, when the mountains are white and the animals are visible...or Spring, when the wildflowers are in bloom...  But I digress...  Fall is really spectacular!