Dappled things (glory be to God for them)

I love words, and since they are very likely to always have first place in my heart, pictures must come a close second. Therefore, I usually disagree with that old cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words (give me the words, I say!). Sometimes, though, pictures mean words aren't even necessary -- and so I offer these to you, uncaptioned. Just me, one of my favourite people in the world, two beloved cameras, and the wonders of sunshine, shadow, and earth.

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Conversations:

Caitlin -- unfortunately for Tain, I had to ignore his stern injunction. :)

Samantha R -- our life is definitely a million times funnier because he's in it.

BushMaid -- hey, Jasmine!! Nice to reconnect with you! And please, stalk anytime :).

Staish -- we can choose to believe he wrote 'xo'.

The First Rose -- brothers can definitely be wily, devious creatures when they've got A Plan.

A day in my life

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Conversations:

Mothercarey -- always the same :).

Asea -- your life is insanely busy!! I hope your birthday was awesome. Did my email get to you okay? I'm scared I don't have your current address. Oh, and I'll answer your school questions in a post specially for you.

Katie -- I'm kind of scared at how close Christmas is. :|

Weekend Journal XXIII :: Party like it's 1980

To pretend I wasn't To celebrate turning thirty, Lauren helped me host an icecream sundae party which was full of sugar-induced joy and a revelling in all things eighties. Lauren did an amazing job organising trivia and Pictionary and celebrity heads, which featured such characters as Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, and E.T. There was a lot of synthesiser music, and a heavy focus on reminiscences of childhood television programs, of which Astro Boy, Rainbow Brite, and Bananaman were favourites. It was RAD.

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Conversations:

Bethany & Jessica & Samantha -- it's an EOS 1000D, and his name is Clive Staples.

Amanda -- thanks! I'm continuing to practice :).

Katie -- right on both counts: amazing family and amazing gift!

Rachael -- there will absolutely be more pictures! The question should really be: when will Danielle hold back from posting pictures? ;)

Abbie -- thank you so much! I have a lot to learn, but I'm having fun experimenting.

Meaghan -- some amazing chick I know sent me flowers and I keep taking pictures of them...

Julia -- thank you! and yes, new cameras = so much fun!

Pixel fixation:

My mum, dad, sisters, brother, and brothers-in-law all joined forces to become Captain Planet buy me a digital SLR for my thirtieth birthday. Yesterday, I was a little bit overwhelmed by how amazing that is. Today, however, I'm just plain distracted. I can't seem to do anything without also considering whether I should, in some way, take pictures during the activity or chore or study, or of it, or instead of it. I'm thankful for the awesomeness of my family.

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Conversations:

Mothercarey -- we should definitely do a DC*B concert together one day! I would hope they would have happy smiling face paddles we could wave in the air :).

Caitlin -- it's such a hard thing to remember, isn't it? I'll look up that song by Steven Curtis Chapman (when I get some more download space!). :D

Jessicarose -- aw, congrats on your engagement! And how cool that we've connected via blogland :).

Staish -- I absolutely agree with you! There's such a difference between celebrity-beauty and creative-beauty!

Rebecca Simon -- :D xox

Click -- you articulated precisely my own struggle in a beauty-oriented culture. It's definitely an upstream swim to remember that our worth is in so much more than our appearance.

Nan -- ah, George MacDonald is always full of wisdom! Thank you for the lovely quote (and also your email, which I hope to reply to soon). x

Amanda -- ethics twins!! :D

Tegan -- aw, thank you so much!! Your gift was gorgeous (I think James wanted to take those jellybean flowers home with him), but I'll say more via mail. :)

A handful more:

Being distracted by bridesmaiding, I only got a few very poor photographs of Lauren and James on their wedding (these two were behind-the-scenes ones, stolen when the photographer was otherwise engaged). But you can see some of the professional pictures here.

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Conversations:

Katie -- I'm clinging to that motivation myself, today. I've set the task of writing a ficlet or even just doing some free-writing before the evening is out. Why am I so scared??

Ruth -- I like the sound of stomping out that paralysing perfectionism. It sounds like an excellent name for a club dedicated to the cause: the Perfection Paralysis Stomping Society.

Mr. & Mrs. Webber

So on the weekend, my littlest sister got married!

She was lovelier than a princess and the most sweetly relaxed bride I have ever beheld. The groom's face cracked into a gigantic grin when he saw her coming towards him down the aisle of the church, and neither of them stopped grinning -- or blatantly stealing kisses, for that matter -- for the rest of the day.

Lauren and James (with the help of their parents) put a lot of effort into building a beautiful and joyful wedding, and that's exactly what it was. My memories of the 12th of June 2010 will be forever tinged in sparkling candlelight and coloured with soft flowers and bright candy. ♥

[Thank you to my super friend Jono Sims for graciously letting me share some of his pictures here. As both bridesmaid and owner of a rather poor camera, I particularly appreciate getting to see these ones and share Jono's excellent picture-making skilz with you.]