Sunbeams!

My friend Amy took a gorgeous picture of the sun with brilliant sunbeams peeking through the trees! I had to email her right away and ask how she did it! So I gave it a whirl and this is what I ended up with.....

I like hers better, but not too shabby for my first shot!

Book Report: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

(Image from Barnes and Noble)
I sit here thinking about this book that I just read in less than 2 days and my heart aches. Jaycee Lee Dugard went through so much in the 18 years she was held captive by a sex offender and his wife. But what strikes me most is that she is such a courageous woman, so full of strength and hope and even peace about her future. She chooses not to focus on the past and lives for the future…. which is part of the reason she chose to write the book. She didn’t want to keep her captors secrets anymore. What happened to her during those years was awful… and very hard to read but I am glad I did because her story has blessed me more than I imagined. I love that she shared one of her favorite quotes with her readers… “I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.” – T.S. Eliot. She shares in the book that her hope was in the wrong people during her captivity, but nonetheless, it was hope. A couple other quotes she shared was “What will happen will happen. There is time for miracles until there is no more time, but time has no end.” And “Hope, love, and faith are all in the waiting.” –both by Dean Koontz. She also shares in her book that in one of her journal entries she writes that one of things she wants to do someday is write a bestselling book. At that time, I don’t think she had any idea it would be about her life, maybe more fiction as she loves imagery. On the first day her book was released, 175,000 copies were sold which made a record for her publisher Simon and Schuester. You go girl, Jaycee!

It’s hard to rate this book. How do you say you “like” a book or rate it when the topic is such an unfathomable one? I chose to rate this book a 4. While the book was very all over the place, grammatically not the greatest and a tough (but easy) read, I think it is definitely worth a 4. (I reserve 5’s for my favorite books ever.) The reason I give this a 4 is for Jaycee’s courage and strength and the will to share her story and move on and heal. Jaycee deserves it for everything she’s been through.

Jaycee is an amazing woman. I really do recommend reading this book, but know that the content is tough. Jaycee also did an excellent special with Diane Sawyer that worth watching. She’s too cute and sweet….. I just know she is going to have a beautiful life!

Photo Shoot: Sheena & Ella

When we were in Minnesota over Memorial weekend, I also did a little photoshoot of Sheena and Ella! As you can tell by the slideshow below, Ella was totally loving having the spotlight on her! :) Probably two of my favorite images of her....

Book Report: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

(image from Barnes and Noble)
My sister, Sheena, read this book before me and when I asked her to explain what it was like, she said it was too hard to put into words! I definitely have to agree…. In fact, I wonder how I am going to write a review! I’ll try…. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is…. well, very peculiar. The author, Ransom Riggs, couldn’t have used a better word in the title! This book is unlike anything I typically read in the way it is very dreamy, fairytale-like. The characters remind me almost of cartoon characters, or ones out of a horror flick… levitating girls, invisible boys. The story was very fun… I completely enjoyed this fun fantasy world these peculiar children live in. Because I have absolutely no idea how to explain what the book is about, I’ll let you watch the trailer which I found to be very fun!!! Actually, having watched the trailer, I think this book would make a phenomenal movie!!!


I think my very favorite part of this book was that the author incorporated vintage photos into his story. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe he used the photos to create this story. (Guess I’ll have to research that.) It was super fun to have pictures throughout the book to give you a visual of different people and places throughout the story. When I went on YouTube to watch the book trailer, I found that the author is a collector of vintage photos and that he is in the midst of composing a book of these photos. You must watch the video, “Talking Pictures”… it’s amazing!


With my love of photography, and vintage cameras, the collecting of vintage photographs was something that totally spoke to me. In fact, already, I love going to antique shops and flea markets. So I got all giddy excited and emailed Sheena and told her this was something I must do and she had the exact same idea after watching “Talking Pictures”!!! I am super thrilled that both she and I have decided to start collecting vintage photos! I can’t wait to see where this newfound hobby brings us! The very cool and unique thing is that a photograph can speak differently to people in different ways. I could pick up a photo that is completely boring to me, but Sheena may absolutely fall in love with it. Even though we are going to share the same hobby of collecting vintage photos, our collections will surely end up dramatically different! And this is going to be a blast! My plan is to share the vintage photos I find on my blog along with my thoughts and feelings about the photo, so please stay tuned!

For now, I’ll share with you a vintage photo that I found…. I fell in love with it and knew immediately that I wanted Sheena to have it (even though I badly wanted to keep it myself). When I look at this photograph, I see two sisters and that they love to read and love books, just like Sheena and I. In reality, maybe these two aren’t sister and maybe are teachers…. But this is the fun thing. I get to use my imagination. My imagination tells me these two women are sisters (after all, they do look similar) and they love books and reading!

Really??? It's been over a month since I posted!!! Bad, bad blogger!!!!

What have I been up to? LOTS! Beginning of May, I managed to get pretty sick with bronchitis. We went to Minnesota over the Memorial Day weekend for Shantel's high school graduation and grad party.... but a week before we left, I managed to smash my foot and shocked everyone that it wasn't broken, but lots of soft tissue damage (still hurts if I push on it wrong). Then Shantel and Angie followed us back to Michigan and spent over a week here. Then I managed to get poison ivy for the first time in my life which subsequently resulted in a horrible allergic reaction to God knows what. I spent two+ weeks with horrible hives, missed a bunch of work. Then the first week of July... Monica, Dad, Sheena, Ella and Kiara came to visit. Thankfully my hives were sort-of under control by that point. Sheena and I spent two wonderful days in Detroit (our first sister trip ever). The following week, Jeff and I spent three amazing days up north.... two nights on Mackinac Island, spent some time in Traverse City. And the last couple of weeks, I've spent time getting caught up at home and at work, and trying to edit pictures..... I still have over 1000 to look through!

I'm so proud of my little sister! She graduated 3rd in her class. She will be moving to Michigan in just 1 1/2 weeks to attend Central Michigan University in their pre-med program! I absolutely cannot wait to have her here!!!

I'll end this post with a couple of pictures from her graduation. The first one of us siblings... L to R - me, Shantel, Sheena and Shaun. The second one is of Shantel and some of her friends (Shantel was thrilled to have her own sister-photographer for the weekend) before the ceremony. And the last one is of Shantel after the ceremony, walking back down the aisle!

I love you, Shantel.... you make me so proud!