Friendsgiving

Our family is scattered across the country. I wish we could be together at every holiday. But traveling with three kids at the most insane time of year while paying double for tickets usually keeps us here. And while I love spending lazy days in pajamas, hanging in the backyard or the movies, and generally having no agenda, sometimes it's melancholy to watch friends gather with their close-by families. So this year, I decided at the last minute to invite a few friends over for what turned out to be our first (I think now it will be annual) Friendgiving. 

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few that managed to get snapped.

Such a fun night.

I've never been in love with cooking. But digging out the old recipes reminded me that there was a day when I used to put a little more effort into making meals. It's fun to find lost parts of yourself.

Want the recipe for the best apple pie ever? It's simple and will make you look fancy. 

 

I have no idea why cornflakes go on the bottom of the crust, but somehow it works. 

The trick is to make it beforehand and put into the oven as people begin eating dinner. That way it will be hot out of the oven right as everyone's ready for desert. Mmmmmmm...

Nothing says "great recipe" like drips of old food crusted all up on the paper. You're welcome.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Whether you're in the US or not, I hope you're enjoying a fabulous weekend surrounded by people you love. For the next few days I'll be posting snapshots of what I'm grateful for here. 

day pass

You know how if you're a parent, you always feel guilty? Sometimes the reason is definable. Like the time you didn't go to the grocery store and had to pack lunches with a can of corn and a power bar. Or the night you let them fall asleep to cartoons because you were too lazy to do the tuck-in routine. While it's nice to have something tangible to explain your feelings of parental insecurity, the origin of guilt is usually (for me anyway) indiscernible. Like air. You don't know where it comes from or why it's there. You just know that it always is. And so you get used to the subtle, underlying feeling that even though things seem okay, you're pretty sure you should be handling something differently, doing more, or at the very least baking something. You should always be baking something.  

And then The Rare Day comes. Unanticipated, right when you need it most, you are suddenly gifted with a day pass out of Guiltville, and into the town where suddenly you're SURE (despite the corn lunches and cartoon overdoses), that you are doing a bad ass job at this parenting thing thank you very much. Well Saturday was one of those days. There was a baseball game, two dance performances, a festival, and an end of the year team party. It was all very exhausting in the very best way.

Sidenote: For one day I was the mom who remembered bobby pins! Also, if you are always the mom who remembers bobby pins, you should know that it felt great to be you. 

I couldn't get enough of her bun. 

Watching the big kids perform.

Backstage.

I learned that both my girls have a "nervous face". Emily's lips stayed that way until she got off stage. Sweet little people learning how to be brave already.

Since most performances last all of four minutes, it was nice to have more fun stuff to do as well as burn off the anxiousness. 

Then the party afterward. There is so much I have to say about this, it could honestly be it's own blog post. Basically, this season is when I learned that sports are not stupid. It's like when I used to look at you dog people and wonder why in the world you would choose to bring MORE work into your lives just to what? Pet some fur? Then I met Doug and now can't imagine our family without him. 

While I'm not sure I'll ever go so far as to say I can't imagine my life without sports, I finally get why you guys love them so much. Beyond the fact that some of you think they're actually fun to play, sports really are microcosms for everything that happens to you in life. The strike outs, the occasional home run, the guy who's always better than you, the moments we're chosen, the moments we're side-lined, the personalities we must learn to play with if we want to be effective, the haters in the bleachers across from the friends and family cheering you on.

I'm not going to lie. This season was really hard for me, for Jason, and for Chance. Because none of us are sporty, and because we've been work-a-holics for the past seven years, we had a lot of catching up to do, and Chance struggled. I realized that I also had a lot of unresolved issues too. To the point that I could barely bring myself to the field to watch for most of the first half of the season. When you associate a place with pain, it's almost unbearable to see your child experiencing pain there too. 

But he didn't miss a single practice. He showed up. He pushed himself. He gave himself permission to suck. He got a lot better. And I couldn't be more proud. Will he play ball in college? Will he even care about baseball tomorrow? I have no idea, and could care less. But he learned some pretty amazing life lessons, and he learned them by playing baseball. Which means I guess I have to take back my snide opinions about it being "just a bunch of grown men chasing balls". Turns out it really is so much more. 

today.

I'm grateful for the overnight visit I just had with Karen, and that I finally got to hear Brene speak. Her insights are a gift. And these are two of the most inspiring women I know. Thank you Karen for being the sweetest host, despite the fact that I got sick and turned into a Super Lazy Pants while visiting. And thanks Brene for joining us for a quick dinner despite the fact that you must have been beyond exhausted. 

So yesterday I got home. Still shivering with a fever, I dove into bed covered with 8 blankets and slept for 17 hours. Today I'm pretending to be better, although I haven't managed to take off this sweatshirt which I've now been wearing for about 48 hours. I'm starting to gross myself out at this point. 

So it's time to slam back a couple more shots of Dayquil and get out of here. Because there are parties to plan people. This afternoon, I'll be making arrangements for Karen's San Antonio book signing party which will take place on December 9th. So consider this post your 'Save the Date' invitation! More details to come, but if you're in the area, mark your calendars now for a fun night out! Her book is about "The Beauty of Different", so you know this will be one book signing / party you will not want to miss! 

just an idea.

This is a screen shot from the email I sent to Promise in April. It basically said, "hey, I think Epiphanie needs a new website. And I want to have real photographers/creative people modeling the bags and since Epiphanie is all about adventure wouldn't it be cool if the photographers were from all over the world and why don't you be that creative person in the desert?"

Then "just an idea" took me all over the world photographing my favorite photographers (!). I'm still kind of dying over it. I got to visit with old friends, online friends, new friends. It was a complete whirlwind. And a dream. But not also without many moments spent (way) outside my comfort zone. 

As a result, I'm a little more comfortable being in situations where results are uncertain (which hello, is all of them). And my heart is overflowing because I got to spend time with so many inspiring people. I'm feeling grateful.

Also the website turned out more amazing than I ever imagined. A million thank yous to Promise for that. I'm going to be posting more about all these adventures within the next couple of weeks here, and also at the Epiphanie Blog. If you want to read more about what went on behind the scenes of her shoot, click here.  :)  

Travel schedule

Lately, I've been getting more requests to travel for shoots. So I thought I'd post the places I know I'll be over the next few months. 

This month: Austin

November: Houston, Chicago

January: Austin, Salt Lake City

February: San Francisco

April: New Orleans

If you're interested in scheduling a session, email admin@relishportraitstudio.com and we can coordinate specific dates.