{photo journal} long beach | part 1

Ahhh....memories of Long Beach, WA : ) I recently decided to edit most of what few photos I took during our road trip to this romantic beach over Valentine's weekend. Some of the pics are from my DSLR and the others are from my phone. I took most of them, and my mom and sister took a few too. I didn't take photos of everything, but I did also shoot a little video. The video is pretty cheesy and my hands shake a bit, but it sure reminds me of how much fun we had.  (I gave my mom the Secret Life of Walter Mitty Soundtrack as a Valentine's gift so we could listen to it on our road trip.  The song in this video is one of my favorite tracks.)

Lots of driving along the longest beach in the world. Soaking in the outdoor hot tub, staring at the multitude of stars (and even pretending to name a few). Blue sky and sunshine one minute, and crazy rain and wind the next. Exploring Astoria, OR for the first time and feeling butterflies as we walk closer towards the Goonies house.  Playing with my new Diana F+ camera.  Exploring, exploring, exploring. Watching a bald eagle relax and fly around us in the sand.  Feeling the salty wind in my face as I sit on the window ledge while we cruise along the water.  Pink cheeks.  Lots of smiles and laughter.  Laser tag.  XO

{over} the weekend

Boy, do I feel like a lucky girl : )  Over the weekend, Ryan, the puppies and I took a trip to visit my family in Sequim.....it was pretty much heaven.  My brother, Benji was in town on business from Utah, and so all but one of us siblings were together.

Friday evening, we made the trek across the ferry and saw these sights with light from the magic hour.....

I hope to document a lots of the "firsts" since our big move here.  Even though they are things I've done before, it will be the first time since actually becoming a resident and therefore that much more exciting.  So, above is our first ferry ride, trip across the Hood Canal Bridge, as well as that moment of relief and happiness when we saw the "welcome to Sequim" sign (it's the blurry photo taken from the car with the statue of the elk).

Saturday started out with a walk from my sister Amber's house down the street to a local bakery.  We walked by a cherry blossom tree in bloom and I snapped two shots.....one with Amber and Ponyo in the background, and the other looking down at all the petals covering the ground.  From there we head over to meet up with the gang at my mother's house, and started the mini road trip back to Seattle for a Mariner's baseball game.  The pic of downtown Seattle was taken from the ferry deck.  We had walked onto the ferry instead of driving.  And have I mentioned that in the week and a half since we moved here we've only had a day and a half of rain?!?  Crazy.  I love the rain, but the pretty blue sky is still nice because of that cold Washington breeze.  The ball game was I have to honestly say a little boring to watch, but still made fun with cheddar bratwurst for lunch, good conversation, and lots of smiles from being with Ryan, my siblings, and papa.  I do however, have to add in that the last inning was pretty fun because the White Socks pitcher ended up pitching Major League Baseball's 21st Perfect Game of all time.  Benji is a big sports fan, and purchased a baseball which we all signed to remember the occasion.....pretty cool.  Needless to say the ferry ride back to Bainbridge Island was filled with lots of happiness, laughter, and people taking photos of people taking photos (inside joke)..... 

Sunday Ryan was off embracing his Washingtonian side, and I happily started the day with a breakfast business planning session with my mother and Amber at the Sunshine Cafe.  The view of the mountains being so close in Sequim is amazing, so once we arrived back at my mother's house I snapped a pic of them from her yard.  After Ryan returned, he the puppies and I headed back to Seattle and made it just in time for a barbecue with a couple of his cousins.  While waiting for the food, we played croquet, picked out drink labels (he's *intense* and I'm a *geek*), and listened to music.  I ate the biggest plate of food I think ever, and even had left over beans for breakfast this morning.....it was sooo good!

And that pretty much sums up my happy weekend.  I hope you have a lovely week!  <3 Carrie

{san diego} to seattle

Well we made it to Seattle safe and sound : ) The collage above are photos from my phone.....my DSLR is having technical difficulties at the moment. These pics are from Thursday through Sunday. I collected my beautiful mamma and sweet little sister from the airport late Wednesday night, so Thursday we finished packing, picked up the moving truck, had mini cheesecake pops for a snack, and ended the day with a walk on Moonlight Beach. Friday was the day a big storm hit, but we were lucky enough to get the moving truck all packed up before the rain started (with the help of a lot of Ryan's family). We had lunch with Ryan's folks at a favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate, and then my mom, little sis and I drove around in the thunder and lightening storm to do a little shopping before ending the day at Solana Beach just in time for sunset. On Saturday we woke up at 2am but didn't end up leaving for Washington till 5am due to the Grapevine being closed from snow. This was a fun road trip day filled with lots of yummy snacks, a mystery book on CD, music, giggles, working on a little art, and taking photos from inside my truck.....who knew a 15 hour driving day could be a joy?!? The last leg of our trip was an 8 hour drive from Oregon to Seattle on Sunday, and honestly I was feeling a bit under the weather so I slept through most of it, but was able to take some photos of a couple of the pretty flowers once we arrived in Washington.....and so now here we are today. Happy to be in Seattle and spending our time looking for a house to rent. I hope you have a great week!  <3 Carrie

{a winter} walk

While visiting my family up in Washington over Christmas, on the afternoon of December 29th this pretty girl and I decided to take the doggies out for a stroll at the Railroad Bridge Park.....

Gatsby sported his rain jacket, while Ponyo's soft teddy bear fur kept him snugly warm.....

The winter color was breathtakingly beautiful, and everything sparkled from an early morning shower.....

The last few month's I've been enjoying a little ribbon or yarn woven into my braids.....

And here we are enjoying the river covered in an afternoon haze.....

This little doggie kept peeking through the side of the bridge to admire the view and eventually the tips of his ears turned bright green from the pretty moss covered railing.....

(You can click on any of the images to see them larger in Flickr.  All photos by me except for the two of me were taken by Blondie Paws.  Photoshop actions by yours truly :)  Also, click HERE to see another afternoon in photos spent at the Railroad Bridge Park during the summer of 2010!  I am so excited to go back to this wonderful place and do it all over again! Have a lovely, lovely week!!! <3 Carrie

{my} heart

I am a little behind on my layouts, so I'm skipping week 6 (still working on it and will share soon) and this is week 7.  I used the newest Jessica Sprague PhotoShop Friday template, with extra digital elements from Kitschy Digitals, and the photo frame by House of Three (no longer in business).  Fonts are Dali and Cooper Std.  Here's the journaling:

Such a simple photo of my niece (who is too precious for words), while at Port Williams.  She loved running along the beach, splashing in the high tide.....that is, until her feet got wet!  Who knew we would be spending Christmas Eve surrounded in all her giggles, filled with such happiness.....this photo makes me smile.  <3 Carrie

{you} were here

Week 5's digital layout holds wonderful memory's for me.....I still daydream about the lovely afternoon I spent with my Dad at Murdock Beach last Spring (you can see all the photos from that day HERE).  I am still using the Photoshop Friday templates from over at Jessica Sprague, the background paper is Kitschy Digitals Watercolor Doily in Mustard, and the textured paper is also Kitschy Digitals in Wrinkled Linen.  Here's the journaling:

March 28th, 2011.  Murdock Beach.  My Dad and I walked along the rocky beach looking for fossils.  We actually ended up seeing quite a few of them without realizing it.  They just looked like a rock inside a rock to us!  (A favorite memory of 2011).  <3 Carrie

{brothers} you & me

My digital layout for week 3.  It's from the view of my doggies with journaling from Gatsby:

Today Ponyo and I went for a walk at the Railroad Bridge Park with our Mamma and Aunt Lilli.  Ponyo got green moss stuck to the tips of his ears from peeking through the railing.  It was fun.

I used the Jessica Sprague Photoshop Friday template from 1.20.12, added in the LiveE Designs Floral Dream paper for the background, and used some paint splatter brushes to make the journaling pop.  The font is Capture It.  <3 Carrie

{pink} boots

Today I took the time to look at some of the photos I shot back in December.....and when I came across this pic a huge smile came across my face.  Such a simple photo of my niece (who is too precious for words), but I LOVE it!  I hope if makes you smile today too : )  <3 Carrie

murdock beach

Tonight I took some time to edit photos from a wonderful day trip with my Dad this past Spring. I was visiting my family in Washington, and our trip to Murdock Beach is one of my favorite memories!

There's no sign or even street name for the turn off to this beach, so finding it was a little tricky.....but we did it! And once parked, we walked over the cutest bridge and through a forest filled with bare trees covered in moss.  The ground was covered in leaves, moss and all sorts of greenery, and as we walked towards where the trees opened up to the ocean, the sun streamed through some of the trees casting the coolest glow.....


The weather was perfect. Overcast, then sunny, then a bit of sprinkling just before we left.   Here's the view from the forest looking across the ocean.....you can see Canada in the distance since the sun had come out for this shot.....


Once we reached the rocky beach my Dad and I walked along the water looking for fossils. This beach supposedly has more fossils than any other in this area. We ended up seeing quite a few of them withough really realizing it (hense no specific photo of them).....they looked like a rock inside a rock to us, LOL!


My bootprint in the sand.....


My my Dad took this photo of me. We had so much fun!!! I love this place!  <3 Carrie

Your Appointment with Friday

Out for a walk.

I actually try and do this for each season.....go out for a walk and just take pictures of what I see.  I find that it helps me think a little more creatively while looking through the camera lens because I really have to hunt for the things that I think are pretty to photograph.  Sometimes it's a wide scale of whatever setting I'm in, but most of the time it's the little details that bring a smile to my face : )

The photos above are from last week up at Snowbird.  Amber and I went on a guided nature walk down in the canyon.  I knew I wanted to take pictures of what I saw but honestly during this time of year to me everything looks the same up there.  Rocky brown dirt and trees with little bits of green starting to peek through here and there.  So, as you can imagine, at first I was at a loss of what I should photograph.....that is until I came across the only patch of flowers I saw during our entire walk.  All I needed was that little bit of color to spark my curiosity and let my imagination go.  After that I saw things a little differently.  Instead of just seeing a rocky path surrounded by trees, I saw a lovely canopy of trees that arched over our walkway kind of like it was framing where we should go.  I saw how tiny we were compared to this large canyon, and noticed the contrast of the detail in the tree branches to the snowy capped mountains in their background.  I noticed my sister enjoying the view of the old silver mine ruins as she shivered from the crisp morning air.

This week I hope you get a chance to go out for a little walk with your camera and see if it sparks your creativity.

Enjoy your holiday weekend lovely people!

Love, Carrie