59/365

I tried a new recipe -- and a new food -- for dinner tonight. Brussel Sprouts! Ever had 'em?? David was skeptical and said he wouldn't eat any...but caught him going back for seconds.

Yummm!

More details here...

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58/365

David had a night out with some guys planned so my sister-in-law, Hillary, and I decided to meet up and do something fun. We went to see Unknown (wow - intense!) and headed to dinner at Red Robin afterward. It was a fun afternoon and we definitely need to do it again soon!

Sorry for the lame picture..I was IN BED and remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet so I got up and captured the quickest thing I could find!

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57/365

I went back for day 2 of Ava's newborn shoot today. I don't usually do this but I SO wanted to be able to capture a few sweet pictures of her.

It went {slightly} better than it did on Wednesday...but she still wasn't interested in sleeping and she definitely wasn't interested in having her picture taken. I did manage to sneak this sweet picture by her - shhh, don't tell ; )

Oh, and just as we were finishing up she decided to explode on her daddy's arm. Yes, it's just what you were thinking (and with no diaper on nonetheless). And it was hi.lar.ious. We were all laughing!

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56/365

David and I couldn't resist taking part in Cleveland's Restaurant Week for the third year in a row. This time we hit up The Chocolate Bar. It was delicious and we rolled out there looking forward to getting home to our fat pants!

This was my Creme Brulee dessert. Mmmm....

*Photo taken with my point and shoot...again.

55/365 - FAIL

Big fat fail. That's what happened today. I was out of town in Pittsburgh at a conference for work and totally forgot to take a picture. I'll be back tomorrow!

54/365

I had a photo shoot with sweet little Ava Katherine today. Unfortunately, she wasn't having any of it and we weren't able to get any of those sweet little sleepy baby photos that I typically like to capture. I'm going back for another try on Saturday...so here's hoping she cooperates a little better!

Despite all the waiting around, crying, and eating, I did manage to capture this sweet picture. I love the perspective it gives of Ava's tiny foot with her daddy's thumb!

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53/365

The only thing better than waking up to everything covered in ice -- is to wake up to everything covered in ice WITH THE SUN SHINING. That's what happened today...and it was beautiful (again). It was like there were crystals and diamonds all over the place...sparkling brilliantly in the sun.

I couldn't resist a few pictures before heading into work this morning!

*all photos taken with my point and shoot - and don't do the scene justice*

52/365

We had freezing rain over night last night and woke up to a beautiful coating of ice over EVERYTHING. And...I'm not trying to be sarcastic here. It really was beautiful!

This is a shot taken from the tree in front of our house.

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51/365

David and I had another one of our favorite meals for dinner tonight -- and although it doesn't look all that appetizing -- it is delicious. You know, don't judge a book by it's cover.

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And, just for you...taken from my sister's blog. Not sure where she got the recipe.

Bourbon Chicken

2 lbs bonless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in large skillet and drop in the chicken pieces. Cook chicken until browned. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring everything to a boil. Let everything sit at a hard rolling boil for a couple minutes to get the sauce sticky and not soupy. Reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes (~10).

This is best served over basmati rice. Add whatever veggies you like, broccoli or sugar snap peas sound good to me, or even water chestnuts.

Mmmm - enjoy!

50/365

Yay -- I've made it 50 days and have only missed one day so far. I'm impressed with myself.

Moving on...

David and I had the opportunity to hit the slopes at Holiday Valley in New York today -- it was sooo great to get back on the hill and it really made me realize (yet again) how much I miss Colorado.

*photo taken with my point and shoot camera*

49/365

It has been SO nice here lately -- and I'm LOVING it!

 The snow has been melting away...and you can imagine my surprise when I came home this afternoon to find this...

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A sneak peek of the daffodils David planted last fall. I really hope this doesn't ruin them for when spring really does decide to show up!

48/365

Coming soon...as soon as I can find the picture I took!

47/365

There are so many people having babies right now -- and I'm loving all the newborn experience! Now that I'm feeling a bit more comfortable both with my camera and in shooting newborns alone, I'm trying to incorporate their parents and siblings more. Here's a picture that was part of my sneaky peeky of baby Miles!

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46/365

I'm type A. Big time. Some of you already knew that...but for those of you who didn't, welcome to the club!

It's no secret that I'm not a huge fan of cooking -- and I think I've finally realized (thanks to my sister) that one of the biggest reasons that I don't like to cook is because I don't like the mess of it. I don't like making a mess...and I certainly don't want to be cleaning it up.

This is what my kitchen looked like when I got home from work today. *Sigh* So not what I wanted to come home to.

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Apparently my camera likes iso800 when indoors. I'm not crazy about it but I do what I have to do for now.

45/365

These are the cute little treat bags I took to work today for Valentine's Day. The picture doesn't really do it justice (as the bags were shiny and difficult to photograph)...but fun nonetheless. And...you might notice the fun twine that my friend Kristin is letting me borrow : ) I was so excited to use it!

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Happy Valentines Day!

44/365

I like baking - but I like baking with a theme more. Fun, random holidays like Valentine's Day are good for that purpose! So, I gawked some food and got to work. After a long day of cleaning the house I quickly realized that I had bitten off more than I could chew...so David stepped in to help. He was a huge help and we made some fun goodies for me to take to work on Valentines Day!

We made these Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies

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...and Iced Shortbread Cookies

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Yuuummm!

43/365

David and I went on a fun little date to Lolita tonight (you can read about our other visits here and here)! We needed to go to get a gift card for someone so we figured we'd make a date out of it. Not wanting to spend a  lot of money, we decided to try some of their happy hour fare -- and I'm glad we did.

We did have to sit at the bar in order to order off the happy hour menu...but you can't beat a $5 Lolita burger and some mac n' cheese! So worth it.

Here's our view of the bar, including wine on tap. Never seen that before! I really like the decor there - namely the framed "iron trees" placed strategically in front of the window. So pretty!

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42/365

Friday night was girls night...and look what my friend, Kristin, brought me! I blogged about something similar over here...so I was super excited when she showed up with this. It'll be the perfect touch to a little Valentines Day baking I plan to do this weekend.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

41/365

I got home before the sun went down (yay for longer days and sunshine!!) and took the opportunity for a walk around the block. I noticed these dead branches and couldn't help but think that in just about two months this little bush will be transformed and full of life. I can't wait!

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40/365

I had a super fun photo shoot with sweet 4-month-old Mason today. I shot the WHOLE session in manual mode -- which I'm really excited about. I feel like that's a big milestone for me and I've come a long way just in the last month since I've been forcing myself to get more comfortable in manual. It's great and I'm feeling accomplished!!

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39/365

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Can you believe it was David's birthday and this was the ONLY picture I took -- him reading on his Kindle app? Ridiculous. Sorry babe -- I had fun celebrating with you anyway!

Happy Birthday!!

38/365 - FAIL

It was bound to happen -- today was that day.

I forgot.

I'm a little bummed, but sort of relieved. A little pressure has been lifted.  I'm not perfect.

But, I will pick up again tomorrow...and probably forget again. That's ok. I committed to a year and that's what I will do.

See you tomorrow....for David's birthday!

37/365

I got a little jump start on the Easter candy this year...can you blame me?? Easter has, hands down, my favorite "holiday" candy.

I grew up on these and always seemed to find my mom's {candy} hiding place. These remind me of her.

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36/365

I LOVE shooting newborns! I had the opportunity to shoot baby Lucas today and it went so well. It's definitely one of my favorite shoots to date and I'm so happy with how the pictures turned out. Also, I shot about 75% of the pictures in manual mode...which is HUGE for me. I wasn't planning on doing that...but it just kind of worked out.

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You can see more from my session here (and become a fan while you're at it!).

35/365

I had a great idea to use a chalkboard as a prop for my newborn photography. I thought it would be fun to write the name of the baby with his/her birth stats. So...I killed some time at JoAnn's Fabrics while I waited for David to get off work tonight. I picked up this cute chalkboard with some yellow paint for the trim.

After our impromptu dinner out we made it home and I got to work. I'm really happy with the result...

...if only the chalk would write on the board : (

After buying some different chalk that also didn't work I think I may end up painting the chalkboard with some chalkboard paint to see if that'll help.


*Oh, and these pictures were just taken with my point and shoot...too tired on Friday night!

34/365

Despite my grumblings, the sun was out and shining BRIGHT today! David and I couldn't resist the urge to leave work early to go for a walk in the sun before it dipped below the horizon. We went to a park near our house and I had fun practicing with my camera. I was working especially hard on spot metering.

Isn't this tree especially unique? It's very leopard-esque!

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33/365

Snow day!!

David got called off of work and I already had the day off - so we enjoyed the extra time together getting things done around the house, relaxing, and going for a little snow adventure around our neighborhood!

*These were all taken with my point and shoot since I was too worried about getting my nice camera wet and snowy.

32/365

Pounded with snow last night as we slept - no snow day though. Yet.

This sidewalk leads to our front porch (to the right)...with the mound of snow that David has shoveled so far!

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