Family Photos for a Cause...

Someday, when I'm all grown up and feeling super confident about my photography skills, I'm going to open a photography business. I'm still thinking of a name for this super fabulous business of mine - what do you think of Holly's Happy Faces? It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Ha! For now, I'm focusing on my writing career. Have I mentioned that I'm writing a novel? I'm on chapter four and it just smells of best-seller material (and greasy pepperoni pizza, since I'm doing most of my writing during my lunch hour at the local pizza joint). But I digress....

This post is about photography and I have a proposition for my millions of faithful blog readers. I need to raise money for the local heart walk happening later this fall and you need family photos (or kid photos or photos of your furry little hound dog). Here comes the win-win...are you ready? I will take your family photos (perfect for a Christmas card) and in exchange, you can donate to the American Heart Association to sponsor my heart walk. Ideally, it would be about a $50 donation (since that's what my amazing photography skills are going for these days). It's a bargain, really. When I incorporate Holly's Happy Faces, the prices are sure to skyrocket. You better get in on this deal ASAP. But wait...there's more. Call now and be one of the first three to schedule a session (because I may not be able to schedule more than three this month).

Seriously, though...if you are local and want family photos (about an hour photo session outdoors and a CD with at least 15 photos that you can print anywhere except Wal-Mart because they print terrible pictures) in exchange for a $50 donation to the American Heart Association (it's a tax write-off for you...I'm just sayin'), please leave a comment and I'll be in touch. Help me reach my $500 Heart Walk Fundraising Goal and save hearts around the region.

To see pictures of last year's Heart Walk, click here.

Sneak Peak for Sara

My friend Sara has the cutest, chubbiest, happiest little babies, and I had the chance to take pictures of them this week. Aren't they sweet?

Up and Away...

Our July ended with a gorgeous evening full of good friends and hot air balloons. It was such a fun event and I took a million photos. Wouldn't it be awesome to enlarge these and hang them on a playroom wall?

It was the perfect way to end the month. There was even some sisterly love (let's just ignore the "fake" look on Kate's face and pretend there was sisterly love, okay?)

A Pirate Looks at 40...

Steve turned 40 in July. My husband is 40. Still hot and sexy, smarter than ever, and 40! If there's one thing you need to know about Steve, it is that he lives his life with gusto and joy, searching for fun and adventure. He is the first one to step on the dance floor and the last one to leave. He's funny and outgoing and a little wild. He has talked me into skydiving and water skiing and scuba diving and riding horses in the ocean. He has convinced me to climb to the top of the highest pyramid in Chitzen Itza, swim with dolphins in Mexico, and swing dance in the middle of a gay bar in Key West (they loved us, by the way). So what better way to celebrate the "life of the party" than with a surprise, Jimmy-Buffet themed 40th birthday bash? We had a blast.

To liven the party up "Steve-style," we played a few games of laser tag. I highly recommend laser tag for any party, age 6 to 70. Boys will be boys and they all love their laser guns.

Steve got tons of great gifts, a few gag gifts, lots of gift cards, and an offer for free babysitting (Judy - we'll be calling you soon)! But the proof that boys never really do grow up is below....

This is Steve's favorite gift. He flies it through the house, trying to get it as close as he can to my head. He shoots the little plastic missiles at the girls, and spends a lot of time trying to perfect a smooth landing in the middle of the kitchen island (usually while I'm trying to cook). Forty or not, this man may never grow up. And that's fine by me. He's pretty amazing just the way he is. Happy 40th Birthday, babe. I can't wait to see what crazy adventures you take us on in your next 40 years!

And thank you, so very much, to everyone who helped with the party -

Mom and Dad for hiding decorations and picking up food, and setting up tents and tables, and mowing the grass at the last minute.

Troy for meeting "Guido" at midnight and picking up the laser tag guns and running the laser tag games.

Wayne for killing himself with the rock climbing diversion and keeping a secret.

Lori for making the photo collages and helping to decorate and keeping me calm and watching the girls!

Sara for bringing tons of food and the biggest cooler filled with ice that I've ever seen.

Sheila for making the awesome signs

Judy, Julie, Kristi, Erin, Missy, Jim, and Jimbo for making food (and not thinking that I was tacky for asking).

Heidi and Bill and Karin for watching over the cakes and keeping them safe until the party

I could never have thrown a surpise party without all of your help. What a blessing it is to have wonderful friends and family!

On Your Mark, Get Set....

Are you wondering what happened to me between July 2 and July 28? I'm sure it has really been keeping you up at night...imagining how I was spending the month of July. Here's a hint: I was not touring the town of Forks, hoping to stumble upon my favorite Cullen or locked in a cozy lakeside cabin writing the great American novel -although those would have been perfectly wonderful and acceptable ways to spend the month of July. I, however, had much more important things to do and I can't wait to fill you in.

Let's start with my amazing athletic ability, shall we? What...you didn't know I was athletically skilled? Was it the story about me falling down the steps at daycare that threw you off (while wearing a skirt and red underwear...let's not forget those important details)? Well, in my day (which was many, many days ago) I was quite the athlete. And yes...cheerleaders are athletes (I have a T-shirt that says so). My athletic talents did not include running, however, and I dreaded the day when our gym teacher announced the 1 mile run. But since I've gotten older, I feel a need to prove myself or to challenge myself (or to kill myself)? I'm not sure what it is, but I love the idea of doing something that I didn't think I could do and so I set out to run the local 5K. Steve and I started training (in my case, I use the word "training" loosely). I bought some cute new sneakers, a fabulous sport bra, and a hot pink shirt. Does that count as training? Seriously...I did run for a few months leading up to the race and I set a goal - to finish in under 33 minutes. I accomplished my goal (32 min. 28 sec., thank you very much) and I learned a few things along the way.

Exhibit A: I run like a duck (note the strange position of my feet compared to everyone else's). My very kind husband pointed this out to me, complete with sound effects. Nice.

Exhibit B: Lamaze breathing can be used outside of the delivery room. When I gave birth, I was in too much pain to breath. But thankfully, my breathing skills served me well on the home stretch of the 5K.

Exhibit C: My husband (despite his quacking sound effects) is the most awesome guy ever. He ran the race in 25 min. 38 seconds and then he came back to run the last 1/4 mile with me. He encouraged me and told me to pick it up and finish strong. I can't tell you how happy that made me.

It feels good to do something that makes you uncomfortable, something that challenges you. And that is how I started the month of July. Stay tuned, more July details coming soon.