Love, Joleen Photography Blog

Twinkle, Twinkle

My visit with Heather was short but oh so sweet!! It was so chill and just what I needed. Saturday we got a little crazy when Heather asked me to go with her to get her nose pierced! It got the wheels turning in my head and although I didn't want another piercing I have been wanting a tattoo. For the last couple years I've had plans for this tattoo but I definitely wasn't planning to do it this weekend! Hah! Soooo, I drew it out based on the stars from Little Twin Stars (Hello Kitty) and I loooooooove it!! Yes, it hurt like a bitch. Surprisingly enough I did not shed a single tear but I did bite the shit outta my hand. Haha! Seriously.

Saturday morning we met up with Heather's mom for a 3 generation photo shoot at the mission. I've just started working on the photos and have so many favorites!! Here are just a few. I hope you like them, H! :)

This last one was a very happy accident. I shot this at the hip and totally lucked out. It's one of my favorites from the day!! Happy Monday, friends. xo

manhattan, kansas

i wanted to share photos from this last friday. we went with alex's dad and stepmom to manhattan from overland park to visit his grandparents. we picked up grandma marcie and took her to a restaurant called harry's.




i really loved this place- it had such great architecture and design. i loved all the little details. it used to be a theatre and my FIL told me his father used to work there! you can see a peek at what it used to look like in the photo below. isn't that neat? :)


after we took marcie home we went to visit alex's grandparents, dick and jane. they made a really great dinner for us and we had a wonderful time catching up. when we went outside i wanted to take a photo with alex and his family and the camera lens kept fogging up- it was pretty funny. thankfully i got this one which i love. i'm excited to have so many frame-able family photos from this trip to put in our new place! :)

i took this photo of one of my in-laws dogs, wilson, on saturday before we drove out to topeka. i'll have lots more pet lovin' photographs to share this week. ;)

hello from topeka

we flew into kansas city on thursday and spent friday and saturday morning with alex's dad's side of the family and the last two days here in topeka with his mom + brother. we're headed back to KC in a bit and fly home tomorrow. a whirl wind of a trip but i'm so happy we're here.

yesterday we visited with grandpa and spent some time out at the pond. we took an entire loaf of bread to feed the fish and there were some big ugly fish!! grandpa really got a kick out of 'em which was so great.

the two photos below are of my mother in law, kellee, with grandpa. she takes care of him and visits him everyday. she's made such a great commitment and we're so grateful for all that she does for grandpa. she loves him so much. i just love these photos- i think they illustrate their relationship so well. i hope i'm as good a daughter, even now while my parents are young, as she is.



this morning i did a photo session with kellee and her boys, alex and christopher. :) i joined in for a few. we had such a great time with lots of jumping and silliness, of course. today is also kellee's birthday so i want to wish her a special day and fabulous year! kellee, i was so happy to be able to spend today with you. you are such a beautiful soul. i love you! happy birthday!! (this is YOUR year!) xo

Mt. Waterman

I survived! ;) I was up and out of my house by 5:20 am Saturday and at my friend, Laura's house by 5:45. We met up with the other members of Outdoors Club at the bottom of the mountain at 7:00. When we first arrived we saw a group of men in their 60's and 70's and were a bit worried about what kind of trip this would be. Turns out they were the Sierra Club in for a much more strenuous hike than we and definitely could have kicked my butt out there. Hah! We drove another 35 miles up the mountain before our group met up again to consolidate our equipment. We were lucky to have a few trucks take up all our gear so that we could hike up with just our backpacks. I probably should have unloaded more because my backpack was still incredibly heavy for me. Because of the altitude I had a much harder time then when I hike around here during the week. I was able to complete the hike to camp without feeling sore but had to take frequent breaks for breathing. It's a little embarrassing not to be up to par with the rest of the group but you have to start somewhere I suppose and the more I get out there, they further I'll be able to go, with higher gains. I thought it was a good group to go up with. When we got to camp we had lunch and then pitched our tents. Then, as I predicted, it was nap time. ;) It was nice to meet more people from the group and get to know them a bit but I also took periodic time for myself to read, journal, and take photos. It was a nice little reprieve. In the evening we hiked down a bit and took the ski lift up to watch the sunset. That was pretty dang amazing! Then, last night we were out under the stars to see the Perseid Meteor Shower but there was very little to see. The moon and lights from Los Angeles were incredibly bright. The peak of the shower is supposed to be early morning Tuesday. I was able to see a few shooting stars before I decided to go read before bed. I hope you had a great weekend! PS- The photo of us on the ski lift was taken by Laura. :)

Holiday Reading

I hope you had a lovely holiday! Alex and I had a great time visiting family in Texas. It was cold and snowy which was a nice break from the 85-90 degree temps we still have here. The drive provided lots of time to read + listen to books on CD.

I picked up Flea Market Style just before we left on our trip. The images in this book were beautifully stylized and I was so taken by the photography of Debi Treloar. I normally buy interior books for the photographs alone and never even read the text (a lot of times they're not in English) but this one was inspiring and full of great ideas.

I've had The Crafter's Companion: Tips, Tales and Patterns from a Community of Creative Minds for a while now but haven't had a chance to read it before this week. This book was put together by Anna Torborg of Twelve22. It was fun to read the various contributions from bloggers I've been reading for the last couple of years and am looking forward to using a few of the patterns given within.

One of the books we listened to on CD was The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. While you know that I am a HUGE fan of her work and have read several of her books over the last couple of years, I was not a big fan of this one. It wasn't all bad just a bit slow going and a little disappointing. Even still I am eager to read another book of hers and soon.

Pretties in Hollister

Today was a wonderful reprieve after spending most of yesterday in the car, driving north to visit Heather and family. This trip has definitely served to spark my muse with its abundance of inspiration!

This afternoon we visited the thrift store and handful of antique shops in San Juan Bautista and came away with oodles of pretties. When we saw this fabulously aged building we had to sit Heather's wee one down on the curb and use it as a background! :)

So far this trip I've almost completed ten holiday project kits as part of a super collaboration coming up in the next couple of weeks and I've tea dyed 10 pair of little girl socks for ornaments. This evening we're headed back to the mission so I can take family photos of her family for the holidays.

Once Upon a Child

One of my favorite things to collect from antique stores and flea markets are old photos. I love how sweet the kids look especially- how dressed up and posed they are and the character of each one. The grumpy kids just crack me up and have me thinkin', "They're kids all right." Last night I created this collage sheet of some of my favorite children's images, tea dyed lace, hand glittered star, and various vintage buttons. I wanted to create one or two of these sheets for purchase to use in your own artwork so these will soon be available at the holiday boutiques and eventually online.

Today was an incredibly busy day but I still managed to get one small art piece completed before having to pick up a bit and pack. I am driving up to Heather's tomorrow and will be there until Friday. I have a few holiday photo sessions and other than that will relax, create, and enjoy good company. I'll be on my computer (a girl's gotta work) ;) so I'm sure I'll have more to share over the next few days.

Summer Reading 3 + Where I've Been

Thanks for the emails from those who've noticed my month and a half absence from blogging and pretty much all computer use. I spent a week vacationing with the girls in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, relaxing all day and partying all night. I came back and started a new nanny job that I *love*. I've been reading in most of my spare time. The books above are the books I've read between mid-Aug. and Mid-Sept. We've been getting used to having a teenager in the house (my sister moved in mid-July). I've been dating my husband and having family focused evenings and weekends. I've been walking and hiking daily along with eating better and general exercising. I've lost  7 lbs. (and counting).

Happy Fall!

Bunch 'o Sillies

I've just wrapped up editing photos from the wedding on July 7th. You can view the entire slideshow here. I'd love your feedback. I'll finally have an opportunity to finish editing the family reunion photos tomorrow. Just thought I'd share this super silly one now. I'm on the far left and used the timer for the big group photos. In the very front is my husband's grandpa. We took our photos in this amphitheater that he helped build in their hometown 50 years ago. :) Isn't that awesome? Just look at this family that he built too!!

Beauty

These are some of my favorite "random" shots from the various parks we visited yesterday. I'm sure there will be more but these really popped out to me. The awesome one of the sun through the trees was by Alex and I just loved it so much I had to process it. :) I hope these brighten your day as they have mine.