Happy Birthday Mama!

Happy Birthday, mom! You're my best friend, and I love you so much I'm hacking into your blog to shout it into cyberspace.  You may also notice that your blog is mid-face-lift.  Luckily this looks better on a blog than it would on a person… Anyway, it's three AM and we're headed in the right direction.  Because I'm too delirious with sleep deprivation to scribe my heart-felt gratitude to and unfailing love for you, here are some things I wanted to tell you/show you from Pinterest:

…and go to Starbucks.

Ignorance is bliss...

I am the first to admit that I am not a great photographer. I love my camera but I know very little about how to use it properly. I was told by Eric's cousin, Arkaitz, who was visiting us from Spain this week (in delightfully broken English), "You need to take class about how to use camerrra."

It's true. I do. But sometimes ignorance can work to your advantage. For instance, I love these pictures. They were taken in the evening at one of our favorite beaches. The overcast sky was the most beautiful shade of pink I think I've ever seen. They're soft and blurry because I don't know what I'm doing. I probably never would have done this on purpose. I'm too much of a perfectionist. But I like to think of it as a happy accident. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss...

We were home in Idaho for Christmas this year & decided to take some pictures of our family playing in our tree farm. It was also my intention to use a "suitable" photo as our Christmas card. (Which, if you're wondering where yours is...don't fret...nobody got one!) I don't know how taking family photos works in anyone else's family, but in ours, the minute the camera comes out, someone (it seems to be a different someone every time) decides that family photos are the dumbest idea on the planet...and we commence to fight for the next hour or so until either the photographer (usually me) quits out of frustration or we're all ready to kill each other. This time was no different. But after reviewing the photos from the "shoot", I realized I loved the candid, crazy, imperfect photos every bit as much as the ones that were set up...maybe even more. So I've decided that unless I've got a professional hired, I'm going to just roll with it. And maybe, just maybe, my family won't notice there's a camera in the midst...

Perfect birthday

Alec turned 18 last week. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he smiled that sweet lop-sided smile at me and said, "You know what I want, mom...what I always want. The perfect surf session." So courtesy of Honolua Bay, he got it. 

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy...um, man.

Be mine...

Unless it is

mad

passionate

extraordinary 

LOVE

it is a waste 

of time.

There are too many

mediocre things in 

LIFE.

LOVE

should not be 

one of them.

Happy Valentine's Day

Climbing back on the wagon

Hello. My name is Michelle and I'm here to admit to you that I fell off the wagon...the blogging wagon, that is. It's been almost a year since my last post. What happened? Truth be told...I don't know. I just know that I hit a wall. A big, thick, blank wall. I think it might be called blogger's block. Or maybe it's just called life.

So much has taken place over the last year, I hardly know where to begin. But along with my beautiful, growing family (I'm the mom of two adults now...Senecca's 20 & Alec turned 18 last weekend!!!), I have been working on a number of things over the last year, which I am excited to share with you. And I have a few new ventures that I'm embarking on...more on that later. For now, just know that I'm back. And soooooo happy about it.