Portrait of a Week

Happy Tuesday!

My week in a nutshell?

go to work, save lives

help friend learn his new camera

watch Dancing With the Stars

ask husband for foot massage

drop important papers off with accountant

go visit a shop owner about doing a photo shoot

visit sweet friend at Homestead in Fredericksburg

{and hopefully snap a few pics for you Rose Hicks fans}

move stuff over to new house

look for a new camera strap

cart more stuff to new house

write checks and pay bills

watch American Idol

declare Thursday as national "sleep-in-late" day

sleep in late

cart even more stuff to new house

 sit and ponder the why's and how's of
how i came to have so much stuff

share these pics from my
Romantic Country photo shoot with you
{for the confused, and you know who you are, I was the photographer;this is not my house}

oooh and aaah over how lovely
Ludmil and Linda's

home, art and creations are in these pics

hope that once we get settled in to the new house,

that our place looks half as lovely

 remind y'all to enter my

SPRING ROMANCE GIVEAWAY

by clicking 

HERE

Remind you that one lucky winner wins a copy 

of the Summer issue of Romantic Country

featuring my Willow Nest photo shoot...

and a personally autographed copy of

Romantic Prairie Style

signed by Fifi O'Neill herself!

{the three pics above taken at MY house!}

 Encourages you to not be discouraged that thus far,
there are almost 750 entries...go ahead and try!
It just takes one.

And finally,

invite everyone to link to this wonderful new party,

starting this week...

Tricia at A Rosy Note 

invites you to join her at

Photo Feature Friday

To quote Tricia:

"The point of the party is to get better at using the camera
that you have and, of course, to have fun.
Just do a quick post focusing on a few of the best photos
you were able to take and if you want to tell us
about anything you did to your photos that's always good too."

I'll be there, hope you will, too!

See you again in a few!

What Needs Doin'

I'm expecting a lecture and maybe 

even a bit of a scolding from y'all today.
All well deserved.

I have a confession to make here...

I've been avoiding something

Putting it off

Hiding beneath the covers, so to speak

I was supposed to go to a six month follow-up appointment

to check out something

which my doctor has been monitoring for a couple of years now.

Yep, I was supposed to go to that six month follow-up...

six months ago.

I've used the excuse that I was

too busy

too overwhelmed

and

too preoccupied

too.....everything
 

to schedule that appointment

when the real truth was

I was simply scared

I made that appointment today

six months late.

But at least I did it.

I am a health care worker, so I really have no excuse.

Except maybe the fact that I see things most of you will never see,

which makes the fear of
"what if"
even more palpable.

Keep those appointments, ladies.

It's okay, even normal to be scared.

Do it anyway.

Thus ends my PSA for the day.

:-)

Happy Weekend!

P.S.

photos are from my Romantic Country photo shoot,

click HERE to enter my Spring Romance giveaway!

My Little Blue and White Farmhouse

Hello Friends!

Just a few peeks at how the new house is coming along.

I'd say we're about 75% moved in, but there's still much to be done.
MUCH.

I haven't been able to foof and primp and really style the house yet.
Virtually nothing has been hung on the walls.

But I still felt like I owed y'all some pics, so here they are!

The dental cabinet I got for my birthday last October.

It is so darling!

I had given up on ever finding one for an affordable price,

but this one was a steal.

 It needs some shelves added,
but The Mr. says that he'll get on that right away.

Speaking of....

 

 There he is right there,

measuring for living room curtains!

The kitchen is coming along...

 I'm not sure if all the stuff going on above the cabinets will

stay put. I'll be rearranging all that mess in the days ahead.

I titled this post "My Little Blue and White Farmhouse"

because that really seems to be the theme in the kitchen.
The sweet little backsplash tiles were already here,
and I just ran with the theme.
 I just think blue and white are quintessentially "farmhouse", don't you?

 Whoa...

You almost need shades to withstand all that white!

And of course, while we were there I had to do a little

pimpin' of Fifi's amazing book...

which just coincidentally is included in my

Spring Romance Giveaway...
as well as this  little treasure...

One lucky reader will win a copy of

Romantic Prairie Style

autographed by Fifi herself!

PLUS

a copy of the brand new

Romantic Country magazine
featuring my photo shoot pics!

{ autographed or not, that's up to you! }

Click HERE to enter.

Enjoy your day!

Linking with Kathleen at

Faded Charm

Debra at 
Common Ground

and Cindy at

My Romantic Home

Photo Shoot Pretties

Hello Friends!

I'm back to share with you some of the over 700 images

I shot for the Willow Nest feature in the brand new, Summer 2011 issue of

Romantic Country Magazine.

As you know, they chose 11 for the feature, "The Feminine Mystique".

Personally, I don't see why they didn't just use all 700.

I'm just sayin'....

{tongue firmly planted in cheek!}

I'll be sharing a handful of pics with you in each post in the days ahead,

so I hope you enjoy!

I'm just loving  any and all shades of pink for Spring, 

how about you?

I'll be sharing more pics soon!

Don't forget to enter my

Spring Romance Giveaway,

one lucky winner will receive the 

Summer 2011 issue of Romantic Country featuring my pics...

as well as a personally autographed copy of

Romantic Prairie Style

signed by none other than the author herself,

Fifi O'Neill!

 That pic is for you , Fifi! :-)

Click HERE to enter.

Have an amazing week, my friends!

Linking with Beverly at
How Sweet the Sound

My Romantic Country Magazine Feature

The magazine is out, and to say I'm thrilled
would be a bit of an understatement!

I am fortunate enough to have 11 of my photos featured
in the Summer 2011 issue of
Romantic Country Magazine,
on newsstands now!

Back in January, I headed to Burton, Texas to do a top-secret photo shoot
for none other than RC Editor, the Fabulous Fifi O'Neill.

I was lucky enough to be invited to photograph
the beautiful properties belonging to
Linda and Ludmil Marcov of Willow Nest,
and I spent two days snapping away at
both their glorious B&B and their main house.

And now I am SO pleased
to be sharing it with all of you!

The story is titled "The Feminine Mystique"
and it's a six-page spread!

Seeing your name in a byline like this and in the editorial credits
is a bit surreal, to put it mildly.
And to have my name immediately after Fifi's Number One photog Mark Lohman is
REALLY surreal!!!

And from my own files,
here are a few of the original images...

In the days ahead, I'll be slipping in and sharing some pics from this shoot with you

which didn't make the magazine....after all, I shot around 700!!!

This is a bit of a bittersweet occasion, as this issue marks Fifi's
last issue as Editor of Romantic Country.

But I am so incredibly proud and humbled to share this issue with her,
and I know that new Editor Mary Forsell will do a wonderful job.
I've mailed back and forth with her a bit lately, and she is just a lovely gal.

Thank you to Fifi O'Neill, the Marcov's, and my buddy Carol Spinski 

for helping make a dream come true!

Taking a few days off now,

have a beautiful weekend!