dear Mikki and Katie…
i stood at the mail box. i didn’t open it at first. i love getting the mail even now that i am 30. what is inside? is it a letter from an old friend, my Grammy Tyler, or other relative? {oh handwritten letters are divine} bills? {most assuredly} checks? {rarely} a book that i ordered on a whim from Amazon? {i collect books during the summer that i won’t even get to dream of reading until January} i open the door to the tin box with red flag standing on bent metal post {it wasn’t me who hit it this time with the car… no…really}; just a tiny bit at first and then i peek with one eye inside the darkness…this is my way. i would say that the neighbors find me odd, but probably they just think i’m crazy.
inside?
bills. bank statements. the Rite Aid flier.
and the Anthropology catalog.
sigh….heaven.
i think to myself as i grab the stack…when i can afford everything in the Anthropology catalog i will be living the good life…
i think this all the way in, and past the threshold of our house, and see Katie coloring at the marred kitchen table constructing one of her brilliant drawings of cats. {complete with stripes or polka dots}. on top of our too big for our little house table is Penelope the cat, stretched out and yawning and exhausted after morning of…well…laying on the table and yawning. Penelope is Katie’s muse.
“Penelope is silly today, huh Mom? she told me so.” you say this, Katie, as if she really did. so i believe you.
i toss the Anthropology catalog on the counter. and then pick it up again. i look at the cover for moment and curl my bottom lip over my teeth in pensive indecision for a moment. and then without another thought, freely throw it into the trash can. without even a page turn or a look see or a glimpse.
good life?
i have it all.
i have it in you two.
all my love darlings,
p.s. daily.mantra:: the world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning…ivy.baker
this summer has brought a bountiful baby boom that i can barely keep up with! this is not a complaint…this is one photographer in heaven. i met little Simon and his family a few weeks ago when he was only a couple of weeks old and we had an amazingly peaceful session.
daily mantra:
life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.
the very first moment i met Natalie and Kier, i felt instantly blessed. both of them were so genuine…not only to each other but to every single person they came into contact with. their love…obvious to a stranger walking down the street next to them, and their wedding in the beginning of August was a blend of all of the people they love and who love them.i have never seen so many people happy to be witness to two people getting married, and their wedding party was filled with relatives and friends who had been in their lives and watched their love story grow and evolve into what it is today.
i wonder if men really know how much effort and how many people it takes to get into a wedding dress. it is truly an event all in itself.
{mr & mrs Simmons}
the wedding party was increadible. there were so many ideas and willing posers. these guys were a photographers dream!
happily ever after….
dear Mikki and Katie…
we ended the very last days of summer with an expedition. okay…nothing the likes of Sacajawea and Lewis and Clark, but an adventure just the same. we camped. in a tent. all three of us. those of you who know me {mandy, amanda, mand, the girl who runs, the picture lady…} know that camping to me is the Motel 6 without a vending machine and chipped ice in the hall. {not that i don’t LOVE adventure…i just really love the advances of modern plumbing} granted, the last summer endeavor was in the safety of the front yard of a close friend…who had a toilet just in the house 10 feet away. we take baby steps and celebrate each one.
while laying awake in the tent as you both dreamed next to me, i realized you slept in the same position. hands behind the head on your back, with one leg out and one arm in, and you both told your secrets in your slumber and tossed violently to the chorus of loons on the lake. Miss Katie, you talked of fluffy kitties {not a shock} and why they chased toy mice….Mikki you mumbled worries about people you love {also…not a shock}. i cuddled Katie in as close as I could to my body…as close as you would let me…and stroked your hair and watched you smile and grimace and breath in rhythm with the waves.
crickets roared in the background, an audience for your beauty and awkward perfection.
this summer has gone so fast. teeth have been lost, the potty training has been conquered with no more diapers or pull ups or accidents in sight. i have been too busy to notice the rapid growth of grass stained feet.
i have not been to busy to notice your amazingness…your perceptive glances…your laughter.
all my love darlings,
p.s. daily mantra: “i find imperfection the most interesting thing about a person” {unknown}
daily mantra:
our dreams, and they are made out of real things
like a, shoebox of photographs
with sepiatone loving…
jack.johnson
… thank you Pam and Noel…
by amanda.b.
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