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A perfect May day deserves some lovely flowers! Just to add a little cheer to your day!
(Quick reminder- there are still some LE Sessions available- http://etylerphotography.com/2009/05/03/announcing-limited-edition-sessions-530-531-only/ )
Have a great day!
I finished another dress yesterday and I am in love with it!
a little bit of cheese:
and some attitude:
A photographer deals with constant pressure to keep being creative and different for each and every session they do. Photographers do a lot of different things to stay “fresh”, from doing different types of photography (landscape vs. portraits) to studying other artwork, etc. I take a different approach. When I am needing a new perspective, I put down the camera (gasp!) and look to other creative outlets. I’ve dabbled in pretty much everything, I used to be a decent artist back in the day (as opposed to the stick figures I draw now!), I’ve made jewelry, I bake cookies, pretty much anything I can do with my hands.
Lately, my creative needs have gone back to sewing. Fortunately, I have a daughter who doesn’t care whether I can sew a straight line or not. Here is my latest attempt:
There is something so satisfying about making something with your own hands. It also makes me appreciate all the dresses my mom and grandma made me and all the dresses my mother-in-law makes for my daughter- they are pros compared to my sewing abilities. 
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather!
I don’t think Emmett is 100% cat. Somedays he sounds like an Ewok from Star Wars. Somedays he’ll “talk back” to us like a preteen with an attitude when he is pretending he is being good. Somedays he plays fetch like a dog. He also seems to have super-cat qualities… I am not sure how he can get up as high as he can and still get back down. He can take a flight of stairs in a single leap. He can sneak up on even the most observant person.
Hmm… is this where I admit I got the name Emmett from a certain popular series about Vampires? 
He has made quite the addition to our family. And has even stolen the heart of my husband… who has until recently not been a fan of cats. They make him sneeze. A lot. But for Emmett, he will make an exception.
I mean, who can resist a super-cat/dog/preteen/ewok who will snuggle up with you when you are cold?
Our yellow Lab’s name is Molly. As you can guess, we see yellow Labs everywhere. Anytime we see one, at least one of the kids (or two or three) will say, “Look! There’s a Molly-dog!”. That’s just how much Molly is a part of our family. She is everyone’s favorite dog in public. She has wonderful manners and puts on her girl-next-door charm everytime we go out.
At home, Molly can be a little less lady-like. In fact, her favorite toy is something as un-lady-like as possible: a football.
Molly plays with her football all the time. She carries it around, taunts her sister with it, practically begs her to chase her.
She even sleeps with it if she can sneak it past us at night (and she uses it as a pillow).
I really don’t know what we will do if the football ever goes to football heaven. Probably buy her a new one.
For now, she is just happy to have a place where she doesn’t have to pretend she’s a girly-girl all the time.
Basset Hounds are funny dogs.
They lead you to believe that they aren’t very smart creatures and that they prefer to just lay around all day.
Ok… maybe they do like to lay around a lot.
In reality they are very smart… and stubborn.
Smart enough to pull on your heartstrings. “Isn’t a Basset Hound’s life so rough?” she says with her eyebrows lifted.
and stubborn enough to NOT move when you most want them to move. And you get frustrated when they won’t sit, stay, heel, or stop eating random toys…
until you look into their big, sweet, sad, expressive eyes….
and know that your heart will always belong to a certain stubborn Basset Hound.
Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions to make http://etylerphotography.com/ your link (instead of the old one http://etylerphotography.com/blog!
Have a great night!
This is the beginning of a new day.
You have been given this day to use as you will.
You can waste it or use it for good.
What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind…let it be something good.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
-by Mary Oliver
the newest member of our family. His name is Emmett. He is lovable, sweet, curious and he chose us to be his new family. Emmett doesn’t have a big story, he was found in my hometown in Nebraska a while ago. My mom volunteers at the local shelter and takes care of the cats at their “kitty house” (you can see some previous members here ). While we were back for the holidays, the kids and I went and helped my mom. As soon as we got there, Emmett climbed into my son’s arms and he’s been in our hearts ever since. We even made a special trip back there to get him!
So here he is:
He is around 2 years old and is at least part Bengal. Bengals are a really cool breed of cat. They have a funny meow and very cool patterns on them. Emmett has a bulls-eye on each side and has stripes all over. They say that Bengals act more like dogs than cats and that a lot of times, people who are allergic to cats aren’t nearly as allergic to Bengals. So far, we are finding this true…. my husband is very allergic to cats and he is tolerating him very well. Our dogs are learning to behave around him, Molly is really matter of fact when it comes to him, as long as she can nap in the living room, she can share. Daisy looks at him like a plaything and will have to take some time to get used to him.
Although Emmett can be very dog-like (he prefers our dogs’ water dish!), he is very cat-like when it comes to baths:
and he really enjoys his naps:
You can see his cool stripes better here:
Emmett has made himself at home very quickly. I don’t think any of us can imagine our house without him now!
