30 Sunday Jun 2013
Posted in life, Meal Plans, The Family, vegan
Vegan Marsala Pasta with Cashew Cream
Vegan Panna Cotta
English Muffin with Tempeh and Tomato
Sliced Avocado with Salt and Pepper
Heirloom Tomatoes and Broccoli
Vegan Tiramasu Cupcakes from Chef Chloe
Crackers, red pepper spread, olive tampenade, and vegan cheese
Vegan Ramen
English Muffins with Tahini Spread and Roasted Beets
Leeks for Soup
Jill’s Summer Minestrone Soup
Potatoes and Lentil Loaf
Vegan Macaroon
Helping Momma cook
Sneaking baby corn before dinner. :p
29 Saturday Jun 2013
Posted in life, Photography, The Family
I wouldn’t trade photography for anything, but it does make my schedule a little sporadic sometimes. Especially because I photograph destination weddings and my weddings are usually on weekdays. This was one of those weeks where our family just had to throw our schedule out the window and go with the flow!
On Wednesday, I met with two different potential couples at the Disneyland Hotel. It reminded me of when Big T and I were getting married, and the excitement of planning and meeting vendors. On my way out, I ran into Tara of Fairytale Hair and Makeup at Trader Sam’s. Her family was celebrating a birthday, so I joined them for a while! M met up with us too because I’d brought a few odds and ends that she’d left at our house. We all chatted for a bit before watching the fireworks together at the Disneyland Hotel.
The next day, I had a wedding to photograph at the White House in Anaheim. When I walked into the bridal suite, Joy’s dress was hanging in such a beautiful way, that I snapped a photo with my phone before I even had a chance to pull out my camera.
Isn’t this couch gorgeous? I could have sat on it all day, but that wouldn’t have been very productive, seeing as how I was there to photograph their wedding and all. 😉 Tara was doing Joy’s hair and makeup, and it was fun to work together at a new venue.
The White House was an exquisite venue. I wish I’d had more time to wander around and take photos of Joy and Eric. But then again, it’s good that I was on a schedule because I probably could have taken photos of them for hours and hours. The staff was very friendly, and set up the fanciest vendor meal table I’ve ever sat at. My assistant Louise and I joked that we were having a very romantic dinner together, and that our spouses would be very jealous. 😉
This was Louise’s meal, they made me a special pasta with eggplant and vegetables.
Joy and Eric’s family were fun to photograph, especially when they all began dancing. There’s something about dancing that makes me really happy. When I was taking anthropology, we learned that every single culture dances and sings. I’ve always wondered what it was about singing and dancing that was a necessary part of of being human. I don’t know, but I do know that watching dancing feeds my soul and makes me smile. There was a point when all the adults were singing and dancing together with Joy’s four year old niece. It was such a sweet and special moment. She looked so happy to have everyone singing and dancing to her, I bet she’ll remember it forever.
After we said our goodbyes, we drove to J’s house to spend the night. We had a morning castle shoot the next morning and had to wake up at 4:00 AM, and it would have been too difficult to drive home and back. We sat in the kitchen and started downloading disks until late into the night, and Louise began to laugh at how I was able to fall asleep sitting up in a chair at my computer. I think I finally fell asleep on J’s couch and got a few hours of sleep before I had to wake up again at 4:00. Here’s the hotel on our way in.
When we arrived, Tara was there again for hair and makeup. We laughed about how we’d spent the whole week together, as Tara worked her magic on Christie’s hair. The morning was amazing. It’s always  an incredible feeling to have an hour to photograph couples in front of the castle, and Christie and John were such good sports. We had them running, like-literally running, down Mainstreet to the Castle. We were laughing and giggling the whole time.
During the reception, I gave a few impromptu camera lessons to a young protegee. 😉
There were lots of kiddos at the wedding, and so I had them jumping and laughing in front of the camera and took some great action shots. It did make me miss my little boo!
When the wedding was over and we’d said our goodbyes, Louise’s husband came to meet us for his birthday. He’s also a photographer, and gave me a few tips and talked to me about better camera straps to help my shoulder and my back. I wished I could have stayed to talk with them longer, but I was completely exhausted and my bed in our little home was calling my name.
When I got home, Big T had prepared a special meal for me that made me laugh. So much talent!
 After dinner, Little T had physical therapy and occupational therapy. I felt so rude because I was dozing off the whole time from being tired. I was trying to stay awake, but it was impossible! I fell asleep on the couch two seconds after they left and didn’t wake up until the next morning.
And today, we’re going to try and take Little T to the movies to see Monster’s University. We found an early show, in the hopes that the theater wont be crowded or will at least be crowded with other toddlers. I’m not sure how he’ll do, so we’re setting our expectations low and telling ourselves he may not last the whole time, but we’ll see. It could be fun. 🙂 Wish us luck! When did you all take your toddlers to the movies for the first time? If you have any suggestions for successful movie trips, I’d love to hear them!
27 Thursday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
When I was in high school, my step sister and I would write letters to each other. This was way before e-mail, which sounds funny to say because now I can’t even imagine life without e-mail. My step sister still sends letters every once in a while, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to open your mailbox and see something that isn’t a bill. Weve received a lot of fun letters over the past month. Little T calls them books and likes to pretend he’s reading them. They say things like Thank You, but if you ask Little T, it’s actually a story that involves him and Harry Potter having some sort of epic battle against Darth Vader in our backyard. 😉
25 Tuesday Jun 2013
Posted in The Family
Tags
24 Monday Jun 2013
Posted in Meal Plans, vegan
I feel like our meals have gotten a little easier, a little lazier. Big T and I both have been working so much, that’s we haven’t had the time to prepare the meals we used to. On days that I work from home, I start to cook dinner around 4:30. I try to have different options for Little T and I don’t pressure him to eat one thing or another. His favorite meal is rice, and would probably have it every meal if he could. Big T makes a lot of brown rice and freezes it in single serving bags for us to pull out and use for meals. Little T likes it the best with avocado, lemon, and a little Braggs Liquid Amino Acids. On days when I’m not home, Big T takes over for dinner.
I’d like to say that I make beautiful salads every night, but to make our life easier, I’ve been using the salad bar at Mothers Market on my way home from Disneyland. I get a lot of salad and chopped veggies dry, and we use it for meals through the next day.
So here’s what we’ve been munching on. Someday, we’ll start making those elaborate vegan meals that have been bookmarked in my cookbooks again….some day…..;)
Pasta, avocado, bread, watermelon, green olives, and salad:
Couscous, vegetable soup, peas, and salad:
Baked tortilla chips, beans and rice, vegetable soup, and veggies:
Couscous, mango, Amy’s brand vegan Mac and cheese, salad, and avocado:
Corn on the cob at the Fair (one of our staple fair foods).
Corn chips, salsa, and fresh squeezed apple juice from Mothers Market:
Deconstructed Home Made Black Bean Burgers with bread, pickles, and ketsup:
We were traveling on this day, so I packed rice, and in a separate container had avocado and half a lemon to squeeze in:
So that’s our not-so-glamorous food routine. Pretty basic, but it works for our little family. (P.S. Little T is in love with that Snow White doll).
23 Sunday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
We took a quick trip to Big Bear for Big T’s birthday. I have to admit, I was feeling a little anxious about it because I promised Big T I would t bring my computer or do any work. I’m glad we made that decision though, it’s been nice to have a little break from the computer screen. Hopefully my business hasn’t exploded in the day I’ve been gone. 😉
We were greeted at the cabin with a donut cake and friendly faces. For his birthday, Big T got a puzzle, C3PO ear buds, a special book from Little T, and some water squirters.
The boys had an epic water fight outside while we packed lunches for our boat outing, but we did manage to fill up a giant bucket of water to throw on Big T towards the end of our sandwich making. Big T had made some vegan lemon cookies for the trip, and we added them to our boat bag.
We rented a pontoon boat and relaxed on the water for a few hours, before heading back to the cabin. When we got back, we devoured some hummus and veggies, and then walked to a nearby field to shoot off these little rockets we had brought. Little T loved the rockets, and played with them forever while the rest of us played frisbee.
We ended the night out to dinner in the Village at Big Bear. Today were going to play a few board games before heading back to real life, but it was a nice mini vacation!
21 Friday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
We were so happy to hear that Uncle D got an incredible job in Oregon building hand made mandolins. The downfall, is that Uncle D and his girlfriend K are moving to Oregon. It was all very last minute, but we managed to get together to enjoy Bloody Mary’s, hand picked blueberries, good food, and a few laughs before saying goodbye. Little T is going to miss them, but we are looking forward to having another reason to visit beautiful Oregon. 🙂
20 Thursday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
I know I’ve shared about this before with Little T and his hypertonia, but Little T has this funky little thing going on with the right side of his body, where it’s a tiny bit stiffer than his left side. It’s one of those things that you wouldn’t notice unless A) you’re around him a lot, Â or B) a physical/occupational therapist. It’s little things, like he can only go down the stairs with his left leg first, or he is right handed unless he’s doing some things that uses his fine motor skills, and then he switches to his left hand because his right hand is a little stiffer/weaker. He’s a bright kid and tests very well in everything else, it’s just this slight muscle stiffness that he can’t seem to shake. He’s been going to physical therapy and occupational therapy since he was 6 months old through the regional center, but when he turns three he loses all those services. *As a side note, I have to tell you that working with the regional center has been awful and frustrating, but that’s a blog post for a different day.*
So Little T is in this weird place. He’s doing well enough that everyone tells us he most likely wont qualify for services through the school district when he turns three. It’s not that he doesn’t _need_ services. It’s just that he isn’t as bad as someone who has more severe issues, and so he’s going to be glazed over as this child who can function and get by, even though he’s not able to do things at his full potential. It’s really frustrating as a parent, and I think the thing that drives me craziest is when people tell me that he’s going to be fine and that it could be worse. That’s all true and I’m glad that he’s doing so well, but Big T and I aren’t at the point where we feel we can give up on his leg and say that he’s doing good enough to get by. Yes, he is doing fine. Yes, he is going to be okay. Yes, we should be trying everything we can so he doesn’t have any issues at all.
What makes it harder is that the older he gets, the more he is able to communicate with us about his leg. He mostly says his leg hurts in the morning when he wakes up. Yesterday, we were walking, and his right leg was turning out a little bit and he was picking it up a little bit less than his left leg. He started hitting his leg with his hand with frustration and was saying that his leg wasn’t working. Moments like that are so hard.
Today, we’re going to see a physical therapist and an occupational therapist through our private insurance to see if he can get some more PT covered once his services through the regional center end, so keep your fingers crossed for us. If it doesn’t get approved, I’m not sure what we’ll do. I just want him to be able to play basketball and do all the things he wants to do without any limitations. If that doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen, but I don’t want it to be for a lack of trying.
So anyway, thanks for listening, I’m getting super frustrated over here.
18 Tuesday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
As much as I love my home, I do love traveling to visit my family in Fresno. Before I leave, I always stock up on a few things that I just can’t seem find anywhere else. It’s an added bonus to a fun trip.
1) Jasmine Tea from Teazers World Market.
I buy Jasmine tea in bulk here. I’ve tried finding it other places, but for some reason Teazers has that magic touch.
2. Bobby Salazars Salsa:
This salsa is so amazing. I hope that someday they branch out and start selling it in my local grocery store.
3. Fresh bread from Charlottes Bakery:
Sometimes they make garlic bread, sometimes jalapeño, other times ill just go for white or wheat. I always bring home a loaf or two.
And the last thing, is my stepdads soup or chili. He always makes extra and sends us home with a container or two. I realize you can’t purchase this from a store, but maybe if you ask him nicely, he’ll make you some too. ;p
03 Monday Jun 2013
Posted in All Others
Little T’s new favorite word.
