I’m not sure how I feel about it being September. On one hand I’m bummed that I can no longer get away with hour long pool breaks in the middle of the workday. But on the other hand I’m excited about blankets and sweaters and fires in the fireplace. While the summer months always seem to be a season of relaxation and reprieve, Fall marks the reinstallation of routine with school days and athletic teams starting up again. This part of the season change excites me. I thrive in spontaneity yet I long for routine as something I can depend on from one day to the next. This month I look forward to buying school supplies and color coding my already alphabatized files. Annoying, I know, but dependable and there when I need them. Like when Colton can’t remember where he put our passports, I’ll know they’re in the red Important Documents file, fit snug between House Info. and Insurance.

And here’s a teaser of what I’m working on for tomorrow.

Have a great day,

Michelle

Dear Momma,

I’m sitting at the kitchen island half hidden behind your laptop. You think I’m setting up Skype on your computer so that no matter where life’s adventures may take Colton and me, I’ll never be farther than a video chat away. But what I’m actually doing is sitting here watching you work, amazed by your strength and beauty. This morning when we walked through your garden I was admittedly miffed that you didn’t pass down the genetic code for keeping things, specifically plants, alive. You were so excited to show me your aisles of basil, rows of dill, and sprawling lawns of zucchini and cucumber, yet all I could think was how beautiful you are when you smile. I know it sounds silly, but your ability to grow an out of this world garden and then cook an equally as extraordinary dinner with the fruits of your labor only solidfies my belief that you are superwoman.

Right now you’re baking – another genetic trait you failed to pass down. The kitchen is filled with the buttery aromas of golden rolls and fresh dill and when you see me eyeing your masterpieces you threaten to cut my forfinger off. I know, Mom, I only get to eat the ugly ones! I also know that when you’re finished you will leave two rolls at the end counter – one for me and one for dad.

I like being here, in your kitchen, and laughing to myself as you speak to your creation like it’s the third person in the room. “Why are you asking for so much flour today? You sure have a mind of your own, don’t you?” or “You didn’t didn’t take this long to raise yesterday, what makes you think I don’t have places to be today? Hmmm?”. But then you should be the one laughing, really, because everything you touch tastes like heaven.

So today, on your birthday, I want you to know I think you’re incredible. Without fail you brighten my day with your flawless smile and your overwhelmingly warm embrace. I hope to be half the woman you are and even half as beautiful as you are. I also hope to grow just a quarter of the garden you grow (because really, I shouldn’t get greedy). Thank you for being everything you are and most of all thank you for being my mom.

Happy birthday, beautiful mother. I wuv you,

Michelle

P.S. That dress you bought today for Sunday’s wedding looks smokin’ on you. You’re definitely the hottest {enter your age here} girl in town.

I’ll go to great lengths to avoid checking my bags when flying. I’d like to think I have some deep seeded moral obligation to travel with only what I need, but the truth is that I have the patience of a three year old and checking my bags means extending an already long and exhausting day of travel. I’m also slightly weak and the thought of lugging 50 pounds of clothes around a foreign location is somewhat demoralizing. This added to the fact that while Colton would be a true Gent and carry my bag, he’d also give me that look that says I love you, but you’re annoying and I’m only taking your bag to keep you from becoming even more annoying. So, I only travel with a carry on.

This afternoon I’m getting ready to head home to Oregon. In the next ten days I’ll be shooting one wedding, seven portrait sessions, and a product shoot that I seeeeriously can’t even wait for. Additionally, I’ll be enjoying the ridiculously beautiful view of the mountains from my parent’s deck, some much missed time with friends and family, and the Central Oregon summer evenings that truly cannot be beat.

Most importantly I get to snuggle with this guy, Abe. I tried, really, really, really tried to bring him to Virginia with us, but my dad kept using his puppy voice to ask Abe if he was excited to trade in his 40 acres of farmland for the 900 square feet that is our apartment. Then Abe gave me this look and I’m all “How am I supposed to say no to that?!”.

I just couldn’t do it. Not to this face.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Michelle

I really did think this post was going to be about the CreativeLIVE + Jasmine Star Wedding Workshop I’m attending this week via the internet. I had this clever* idea to take a picture of my workspace and write about the unconventional day to day work of a photographer. This was before I opened up the file of my workspace and realized that the list making, organization crazed, calculus loving left side of my brain had just been annihilated by the right brained four year old within me who was drawing on her mother’s white walls with a red Sharpie marker. My desk was a disaster.

The worst part of this discovery was that, truth be told, when I took the picture I actually believed my workspace was tidy. Wait, whaaa?!

So, Internet World, consider yourself lucky that even after discovering the right side of my brain has had a little too much power lately, I’m still sharing this painfully revealing photo with you. That’s LOVE.

For what it’s worth, I just decided that a busy desk means a busy worker.

Have a splendid night,

Michelle

*My ‘clever’ ideas are rarely ever clever. I know this.

We’re not especially good at staying in a given place for any length of time. In a word, we’re flighty. I’ve always found this ironic given the fact that we both cherish home so much, but the truth is that we are always in search of new air to breath. The rain last Saturday was a welcomed reprieve from the relentless heat that has been this Virginian summer. Colton and I saw it as an opportunity to drive West with the windows down and the music loud. After making a quick stop for the essentials – Pelligrino + those sour neon gummy worms that are most likely preservative laden enough to stay in shape for a few centuries – we hit the road.

With no destination in mind we drove for hours, enjoying good company and clean air all the way. We spotted homes we wouldn’t mind living in and waved at old men driving tractors. We found an old white church with a picnic table and made ourselves at home. Us, Pelligrino, gummy worms, and three rolls of 35mm film. Oh, and an extra large dose of love.

I hope your weekend is perfect.

Michelle