Fish out of Water

I recently took a trip back to good ole’ GB (Great Bend, KS). While I was there I had the opportunity to photograph one of the most influential persons in my life that exists outside of my family. This person is none other than Steve Beaumont, and he was accompanied be his daughter Sheridan. Steve has been a huge part of my life. He was my swim coach, a friend, and my teacher. I started competitive swimming when I was 6 years old and swam till I was 18 and Steve has been there the entire time. From teaching the basics to honing in on my best strokes to making me an all around swimmer. For a time I think I actually spent more time at the pool then anywhere else, except school that is. I went to morning practices, afternoon practices; I practiced with the guys team in my off-season and swam on the girls team and then swam our in our summer and winter league. The water is one of my many homes; I think I will always find comfort there. Steve is an amazing coach; I was blessed to have him, as were all of my teammates. He taught us respect, integrity, strength inside and out, and self-discipline. I don’t think Great Bend could have asked for a better candidate to fill the role. Not only is Steve a great coach, but also, he is a great teacher, and from what I can see he is a great dad too.Sheridan is lucky to have him for a role model. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to photograph your family Steve! It was great to see you!

-c-

Roots

Where are they, how far do they go? Have you watered them lately? I suppose you could say that I am tending my garden and getting some nourishment as well. I am back home where the air is crisp this time of year, the wind still blows, the trees are turning, and where the morning 40’s are accompanied by the morning glories. It has been a great trip so far, however it is coming to an end. My trip has been full of sister time, relax time, and pumpkin hunting at the pumpkin patch time. --- I love going to my sister’s house because it is a home and I feel welcome, not to mention it is super cute and quaint and they have the best bathtub ever…complete with a Jacuzzi. Then we drove from to my hometown, Great Bend. We made it just in time to catch the last half of the Friday night football game where we played our arch rival…and won!! thanks for winning for me boys…A place that only in Kansas would you witness the half time dance line performance being interjected by guys in banana costumes dancing and being chased off the field and over a fence by the activities director. We capped off the evening with a late dinner around the fire pit. Woke up to a great morning of cuddle time on the couch, swinging in the hammock, and homemade pumpkin waffles. Then off for a photo shoot with Debi Deustch from Cornerstone interiors, it was great to see you Debi! An audios to mi hermana, and an hola mi abuela...one day, if I have a daughter I hope to name her after my grandma Marshall; I love her name, Leila June, (Lee-i-la…long i, soft a) she is a crack up and I love her soo much!!! Not only is she just super freekin cool but she knocked my socks off with her impeccable modeling skills! Thanks gran you rocked the washing machine J To top off the night we went to the best Vietnamese restaurant in the world, Classic Inn, this is also the place where my dad proposed to my mom, 25 years and counting! After all of the festivities so far, as if it couldn’t get any better my mom made apple crisp!!! I woke up and this morning and had another great cuddle time with my momma and some bonding time with my other sister (mocha, our oldest boxer, she is most definitely a member of the family) and a delightful breakfast props to my gran for making walnut peach coffee cake and of course a cup of chai tea just made the morning perfect.

p.s. I also took my sister and brother-in-law’s Christmas photos. They are super funny; you can only imagine how much fun we had that night by looking at the photos. I can’t wait to get my card in the mail!

p.s.p.s. I am back now J I am super excited! I have a lot to show you...all in good time of course!

**the Christmas card photos were inspired by --> Awkward Family Photos **

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

As her family has been preparing for months, I too wanted to welcome Lucy into the world. Enjoy!

09/23/10 9lbs 9oz 21in

With Love

-c-

I’ve got a Feeling…

So I’ve got a feeling…it’s a good one ta boot...thanks to the Hohns! I get this good feeling when I visit the Hohn’s at Hohn Family Chiropractic. Chris and Krystal are super sweet and are terrific at what they do. If you don’t know how beneficial chiro care is I encourage you to go in and say hey or at least visit their website à Chris and Krystal - they even hold health talks to help educate you on all things health and giving you more tools in your tool box to make better, more informed, decisions. However my reason for this post though was to share with you our evening together. Just a fun gathering with some great people; a few weeks ago some friends and I surprised them with an impromptu baby shower and I thought I’d share a few photos with you! Also I made this really yummy chilled soup that is a must have….so check out that recipe too!

àStrawberry Watermelon Soup

(four servings)

1 ½ pints of fresh strawberries, clean and cut off the tops

It calls for 1/3 cup sugar but I just added organic raw agave syrup and honey to taste…a few squirts

2 ½ cups chunked seedless watermelon

the juice of one lemon and one orange

for a garnish you can add fresh mint

So first you clean and cut the strawberries and drizzle with some agave (maybe 1 Tlb) then set it aside for 15 minutes

After that, place the berries+juice in a blender or food processor, add the watermelon, orange juice and lemon juice and blend till its smooth

Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes and serve!

My mom would always drizzle a little bit of cream on top as a garnish too when she had her kitchen store/café. So I did the same but I used raw cream from à Organic Pastures.

Big Money Barbaro

Hey All!!! I hope to find you in good spirits!

Here are some of my favorite images from a recent shoot of mine. I hope you enjoy them!!

To see more from the Barbaro shoot click on ---> barbaro

Special Thanks to Rancho Asoleado Boarding Stables

Shot with Contax 645, using fuji 400h, 800z, Neopan 400...I LOVE Film!!!