Photography: Walls Family, July 2010

Rob and I went to college with Jen & Tyler, and I was thrilled (and surprised, of course!) when Jen asked me to shoot a few photos of their happy family when they were visiting family and friends here in Pennsylvania this summer. It was so good to see them to catch up for a little, and it helped that their little guy, Ethan, loved the camera...

For my first family "photo shoot", and the 95+ degree weather on one of the most humid days in July, I was pretty pleased with the results (although I still have a ton to learn photo-wise)... and I hope Jen, Tyler and little Ethan are too! 

How we Spent our Summer Vacation

We spent a little over a week and a half splitting our time on lakes and in mountains in the Poconos, Pennsylvania and Portland/Oxford, Maine. I think I am one of those people who loves both the mountains and the beach, but this summer's mountain/lake vacations were SO relaxing and peaceful. There sure is something to be said for the beauty and stillness of nature, and it really does the soul good.

Most of our days consisted of sleeping until awoken by the sunshine (we didn't have one day of rain!), sipping 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, and then changing out of our pajamas and into our swimsuits for a day of soaking in the sun, reading, and swimming/pontooning. We snacked for lunch, and when the sun had set, drank wine and played games while slowly preparing dinner and eating late. Followed by an evening campfire, filled with more games (our family likes to play Trivial Pursuit around the fire), sometimes with marshmallows and s'mores.

My parents joined Rob and I, and Rob's mom, in the Poconos at Rob's family's cabin on Lake Watawga for a long weekend. Other than the activities mentioned above, we got in our exercise by stacking 2 cords of firewood in preparation for the winter (one cord = about 300 logs), went kayaking, peddle boating, and canoeing... and had a delicious meal out at Smuggler's Cove. Oh, and we went to the annual Mt. Pocono carnival on our last night there after our friends Meg and Matt joined us... Meg won a game of BINGO and a fish, which promptly died overnight.  Nice knowing you, Olivia (the name of the fish).

On our first day in Portland, ME, after being picked up from the airport by Rob's aunt and uncle, we headed to see some lighthouses, have a picnic lunch, and hike around for a bit to explore. We did some window shopping in Portland, had dinner (delicious fish & chips & onion rings and blueberry wheat beer at The Porthole), and headed to Jenny and Joe's cabin on Thompson Lake in Oxford, ME.

Here are some shots of our travels:

bark? guess again...

huge stone rocks that looked like wood... amazing

Portland Head Lighthouse, the oldest in the U.S., commissioned by George Washington

Jenny, Joe, and Robin (Rob's mom)

goofy sisters

nothing like the view at the summit...

cousin Lauren and her boyfriend, Ross

cousin Paul, rockin' out!

an attempt at a family photo

It was a vacation I won't soon forget!
How did you spend your lazy days of summer?

Love,
Katie

Sold!

I am proud to share the news that I am offically an Etsy SELLER.  That's right, one of my prints actually sold!  Visit through my lens: katiecarusophotography here.  You can also get there by clicking on the "Our Shop" tab above.

Thanks for celebrating with me! I am by no means an Etsy expert, but it does feel good when a stranger thinks your craft is good enough to buy and frame and hang on their wall.  Any of you out there have Etsy shops?  I'd love to visit and take a look at what you've got, and I am sure other readers would too.

Now, back to work on getting that first print mailed out...

Love,

Peonies in Bloom

On Sunday evening, when the lighting in the kitchen was right, I spent a little while having a mini photo shoot and practicing my (still very limited) photog skills.  Aren't these peonies to die for???

Check out more over on the photography page!

Love,

Photography

Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, I have been experimenting with our new Christmas-present camera outside, capturing nature shots.

http://normallyoddcouple.blogspot.com/p/photography.html
Check out this new area of the blog (by clicking the link above or simply clicking on the "photography" tab under our header) where we'll post some of our experimentations!

Inspired Cooking

Another one of my Christmas presents, thanks to my dear husband, was the movie Julie & Julia, which we saw on a date to the movies this past summer.  I'm sure you've all seen it.  And I watched it last week with my friend Meg, and was instantly inspired to do some cooking.  We were having some friends of ours over for dinner on Sunday afternoon, after all, and what would be better than trying a new recipe out on guests?

Thankfully, after I saw the movie the first time, I was inspired to buy the cookbook for myself, so I just happened to have the recipe.

And I don't mean to brag... but my beef went from beef to something savory and delicious, thanks to Julia Child.  I can see why Julie felt so empowered by her... to conquer the creation of the classic French dish, boeuf bourguignon.  I was saying it out loud in the kitchen the whole time I was cooking... try it yourself - in your best J-Child impersonation.

The roughly five hours that went into making this dish (2 hours prep + 3 in the oven) were SO worth it!  And everyone who ate it agreed.  The recipe is too long to retype, and you wouldn't get the same feel as if it were coming straight from Julia herself.  But I would highly suggest getting your hands on a copy and trying it for yourself - especially during these frigid days of winter... it really warms the soul!

Christmas of Firsts

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF OUR READERS!

We had a busy Christmas, being in our first house - not to mention our first Christmas as a married couple.  So trying to get things done around the house (such as unpack!) and still doing all the things that go into celebrating the season - decorating, baking, parties with family and friends, shopping, wrapping, preparing for guests and a New Year's Eve party, and still maintaining some sense of sanity - wasn't a very easy task.

But we had a wonderful, memory-filled Christmas and wouldn't have traded it for anything.  Here are some shots of Christmas in our first house, as we remembered the birth of a Savior who brought hope to the world.