Snow Angel

Ever since I moved to Ohio I have been dying to photograph someone in the snow. I would plan the photo shoot in my head; beautiful young woman, cute winter clothes, bright colors and fresh snow in the Cleveland Metroparks. Well, today my dream came true. Katie met up with me in the Rocky River portion of the Metroparks and modeled in the snow in below 0 temperature! She was totally awesome and even laid down in the snow for some pictures. It's so exciting to see something you've dreamed about come to life. Thank you Katie for being awesome and smiling like it was summer. You're way tougher than I am!

Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie!

Derrick's birthday was the 23rd and to celebrate we went to A Christmas Story House! I love this movie and it just so happens that a portion of it was filled in Cleveland not too far from our house. The house it was filmed at has been turned into a museum. We had a total blast at the museum and we even met the mean woman elf from the movie. We met the guy who delivers the leg lamp too. The gift shop was really entertaining. A mom and her daughter were arguing because the daughter really wanted her mom to buy her one of the hats from the movie. The one the kid in the mall wears with the goggles and says, "I really like Santa." Super creepy (the kid in the movie, not the daughter). Their conversation went like this:

Daughter: "Mom, will you buy me this hat?"

Mom: "Why? So you can wear it once and never wear it again?"

Daughter: "I'll wear it more than once!"

Mom: "You're not going to wear it to school."

Daughter: "Yes I will! I'll wear it every day!"

I'm not sure how it ended since we finally made it to the front of the line to buy our tickets for the museum, but I'm thinking the daughter didn't get her hat. Either that or she was really embarrassed on Monday when she went back to school.

Merry Christmas!

Cookie Deocorating

Last night I decorated Christmas Cookies with Derrick, Zoey and Johnathen at Derrick's Mom's house. I forgot how fun it is to mix all of the colors of frosting. I might need to add frosting cakes to my list of hobbies. I tried to make fashionista gingerbread women but it was hard using plastic knives as decorating tools. Derrick taught Zoey how to use sprinkles without dumping them all on one cookie. She seemed to be doing a good job of keeping everything on the table until it was clean-up time and we saw the floor. At least the walls were frosting free!

Icy Photo Adventure

Today Derrick and I braved the cold and went on a photo adventure to Cascade Park in Elyria. It's been so cold that the mist from the waterfall has been freezing layer by layer on all the branches nearby.

Derrick was such a trooper. He absolutely hates the cold and yet he bundled up and guided me through the park.

Here's me playing on the playground. The plastic was so cold I thought I was going to freeze permanently to it.

Since it was so cold we didn't stay for very long. I need to invest in gloves that I can handle my camera while wearing. My cotton mittens don't really cut it.

My Favorite Christmas Ornaments

When I was a kid we had a peacock Christmas tree ornament. It was my favorite ornament and every year my sister and I argued about who was going to get to put it on the tree. We actually kept track of who put the ornament on each year so it was fair. Well, now I have my own Christmas tree and the very first ornament I wanted to buy for myself was a peacock. That way every year would be my turn! The sad thing is, my ornament is only a few years old and it already looks more used than the one my sister and I fought over. Here's a few of my other favorite ornaments from my Christmas tree this year.

I Have A New Lens!

I'm super excited because not only did my parents bring me home for my favorite holiday, but they also gave me my Christmas present early. I know I sound like such a spoiled punk right now. They gave me a Nikon 60mm Macro Lens. Here's some pictures I took right after I opened it. Luckily, California still has flowers in bloom. I'm looking forward to photographing some portraits and snowflakes!

Vacations Are Always Too Short.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go home for Thanksgiving (thank you Mom & Dad). I bought my plane ticket back in August and have been counting down ever since. It's amazing how fast a week goes by. I had such a great time with my family I wasn't even close to being ready to come home. Thank you to everyone who made my vacation great!

Last Visions of Fall

Except for a few trees here and there, the fall leaves are officially gone for the year. Well, the leaves aren't, they're piled along the street in front of people's yards, but the color is. I had this idea in my head for a photograph to spell out words with the fall leaves. The day I went to the park to accomplish my idea it was super windy. Every time I spelled out a word, the wind would blow and I would run all over the place chasing the leaves. The fishermen must of thought I was crazy. With Derrick's help, I was able to photograph one word before the wind blew the whole thing away. I guess I'll be spelling out words in the snow instead.

Halloween in Lakewood, Ohio

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! Derrick and I went to Maize Valley Winery for their Carnage in the Corn Haunted Corn Maze. It was a total blast! I didn't want to risk dropping my camera so I don't have any pictures to share with you. What I do have however, are pictures from Lakewood's Spooky Pooch Parade. Every dog that entered the parade looked awesome and I had such a hard time narrowing down my pictures to a select few. My favorite costumes were the Matador and Bull. They actually won first place in the costume contest. Enjoy the pictures!