{ about a boy } ~ austin area photographer

On Thursday of last week, life as we have known it in my house of ladies changed. We welcomed a guest as a huge surprise to Avery for her birthday. A kid so awesome that I gladly would adopt him as my own. Tyler is Avery's best friend and also the son of my own best friend, he saved up money to buy a plane ticket to come see her and we all kept it hush-hush.

I got to fetch Tyler from the airport and from the very first time I saw him I knew he was going to fit right in with us, he was so laid back and had a great sense of humor, even though he was lugging a giant bag all through the parking garage as we searched for my lost parked car.

We began plotting right away how could have a memorable reveal. As we plotted we also enjoyed some speedy site seeing and a mini photo shoot.



A stop for lunch at WholeFoods was on our agenda.... and we nabbed this shot for my favorite ever, Karen. This is for Karen because of the fire fighter horse in the background. :)



Yummy orange chicken. Also observe how much he looks like Fred Savage. I kept having flashbacks to The Wonder Years and wanted him to run up and wave sideways to my camera...and I could hear "what would you do if I sang out of tune..." over and over when I looked at him.




My littles got to meet Tyler before their big sister, because we picked them up from school. Masyn couldn't believe it, she said "are you really Tyler?" I think Evy just tried to kiss him.



Finally this big got to meet her very best friend...and she was super stoked!! It was a raucous moment and I didn't get a better picture but even though it's dark, you can see the excitement clear as day. Such a great moment in our house.



Having Tyler here truly shook us up in a good way. I just loved spending time with all the kids together and having a boy in the mix made it so fun. We had adventures, loads of laughter, silliness, sleepiness, games, jokes, skypes, and more. Although tears have been shed over his leaving, it was the best weekend we have all had in a long time. Thank you Tyler, for making the sacrifice to save and spend to get here and thank you to your family for giving you over to us for almost a week...letting you go home was a tough moment for all us girls here. We want your whole family to come live in Austin.

{ slightly humble pie } ~ austin area photographer

Surprisingly I received many comments via email or random friends I ran into saying that they really enjoyed the post a while back about my thoughts regarding the (my weird) world of dating. Even as recently as last night I had someone tell me that they agreed with much of what I had to say and appreciated my candor in sharing. It's that same honesty that prompts me to post tonight.

I actually went on a date and I didn't want to kill myself during or after. The date was impromptu which was good because I didn't have time to freak out and wish I could cancel, it was light and conversation was natural because the guy knew ahead of time what sort of words fall out of my mouth. Drinks moved to dinner and a few hours of conversation and a parting hug, so my little theory about dinner and drinks still firmly stands in my mind but now I have to concede that there are exceptions to every rule. ;)

Today I shared this experience with someone who I've whined to about love and dating, we began to investigate our own reaction to these random good dates and how we make absolutely sure that we ruin the potential from the get go.

I can't speak for him as to why he might find himself wrecking things before they blossom, but I can safely say that I make mistakes to save the nice people I meet from possible harm. I know fairly quickly if I want to continue to see someone and even when I think I would like to spend more time with someone, I make all the wrong moves because I want to filter out all the men who might get scared when they truly know me. It's ridiculous this behavior I have adopted, I just am a big mess and laugh at myself about it all the time, when I type it here it's making me embarrassed at how selfish this pattern of my life has become. Living in a bubble and having to be seen and heard a certain way for such a long time has scared me away from conformity, however I'm starting to think maybe I have walled myself off so much that I might be pushing away someone who could sweep me off my feet.

I told my friend through our text exchange today that men are lucky, they can sabotage something or mess up over and over and girls often just want to stick with someone because they fear being alone. They would rather settle for something so-so than to be single and wait for that someone who sends them over the moon. He concurred that lots of us girls are freaking out about the marriage time clock. I feel so fortunate that I have don't have these time constraints making me panic or desperate. Although I have been called a loner for having this mentality, I really do want a relationship eventually, I just want it to be fun, nurturing, passionate, exciting, playful, easygoing, silly, sexy, and more. I realize that this is a tall order, but I genuinely believe great things are worth waiting for.

So following the advice of a wise (actually professional) friend, I am willing to let myself feel attraction, to stop being so quick to write men off, and allow myself be a little spoiled. Just because I haven't been wooed entirely does not mean I am broken, it just means I am a challenge and like a worthy opponent.

{ returning desideratum } ~ austin area photographer

After quite a long time without this silver beauty, I am happy to let you all know that my ears are perking to the familiar "click" of the keys I have caressed for over 5 years. This shimmering rectangle is essential in my life and I have felt lost throughout our estrangement caused by the failure of her video chip (or something along those media lines). My MacBook Pro is back from repairs with a whole new Memory Board.

I just want to sit here and type all through the night, however I must get to bed and recover from my insane lack of sleep. Tomorrow is a day full of errands and cleaning, but I hope to sneak in at least an hour to compose a decent blog for you few loyal and lovely readers. Thank you for not forgetting me while I endured this summer of transition, measuring of my determination, and most recently euphoric reunion. Until tomorrow my dears, muah!

{ truly pine } ~ austin area blogger

Hello friends, I am back in connection with the world, meaning that I have access to the world wide web. I am not sure anyone is still around to read, but I am anxious to write and reconnect with you guys.

Now I am off to pamper my oldest beauty, she is the big 1-3 today, which is shocking and humbling and awesome.

I have been gathering stories and thoughts so don't forget to check back, I'm not actually dead after all.