Homemade Lasagna

I love Italian food!  Almost every dish... almost anything...I try and make whatever I can.  So recently I decided to take on the challenge of Lasagna... homemade.  What's so impressive about it?  Well, home made noodles!  It was a lot of fun and if I had a way to store the noodles pre-done for a while I would do it often.  The noodles tasted great.  Nothing extraordinarily: flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt... mixed...

Rolled till about 1/16in thick

Cut into 3" wide stripes

I use ricotta cheese mixed with spinach and chopped (fresh) herbs

(left to right) basil, sage, parsley 

Eggplant sliced as thinly as possible

This is what the noodles look like when they are cooked.

Layered: sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese, eggplant, mozzarella, sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese, sauce and mozzarella and monterey jack

Make sure you don't overfill.  If you are afraid you did overfill then put a cookie sheet under it to catch the overflow.

Cook at 350 for 25 min

Delicious and wonderful... but then again it is hard to go wrong with marinara, noodles, cheese, and eggplant... just saying

Happy Memorial Day!

So often people put sad and in your face things about how we should remember our troops, present and previous.  I think we can all agree this is needed.

For me, much like I feel in a lot of facets of my life, this isn't a one day thing.  This is an attitude.  Whether we agree or disagree with how things are done, we need to be thankful for what freedoms we have been allowed because the sacrifices of others.  This isn't just today.  This is an everyday action.  It is like your "doctor" always says if you want to get off and keep off the weight it is a "lifestyle change".  Well, "supporting our troops" or showing thanks is an attitude change.

But I like today because it is day were we get to be free (having fun with friends and all that).  Free and thankful.

Thank you to all those who have come, are and will come.  Thank you for your sacrifice, for your bravery.

My husband

My husband.  I love him.  He and I met in college our first month of our first semester.  I accentially tackled him while we were playing 2 hand touch football at midnight.  

We became friends and got to be somewhat close friends over the next 2 years.

From there as the story goes it moved to more.

We went from dating to engaged like that (imagine a snap)

We were engaged for 6 months and now married for almost 3 years.

Crazy where the years go.  He is sweet and loving and kind. . . even to little kids : D 

Showing off his gaming skills to some nieces and nephew

Reading to some younger nephews

Friday...Bouffant?

Magnolias. . . Can't help but think of Steele Magnolias. I love them in weddings, so regal.  I really like the flowers but I have seen a recent trend of putting them in hair for and accent.  I am all for flowers in hair.  I am all for loud statements but a magnolia bloom is about the size of my face. (please pause for emphasis... it is important ;P)  I would have to have a huge bouffant to make the flower not take over my head. . . and I don't think I will be rocking a bouffant any time soon, just saying.

None the less, they are beautiful.

Why that name?

I have been asked a few times why did I ever choose to use "Crinkle Photography" for my business name.  Well you see it is a long and short story... so I will meld the two into a medium story?

Excuse me if this gets choppy I'm eating... chili... not really a desk friendly dish... anyway.

Crinkle is the nickname my husband gave me.  Before he and I dated I hadn't really dated anyone else.  I wasn't a really open person (sounds strange since I know just put myself out there), I really wasn't.  I didn't like the idea of dating because I had intimacy issues.  Simple and straight forward I didn't want to let anyone close enough they could hurt me so I had a lot of rules that helped me not date or if I were to that they couldn't get close to me emotionally.  All that to say that Chris, my dear husband, was and is my only exception (when it comes to romantic relationships... I do have friends to whom I am now open) and thus I nicknamed him "exception".  After this name was dubbed he wanted a nickname of his own for me.

Still confused about Crinkle?

Well, it is because I haven't told you something about myself.  When I was 17 I was a passenger in a accident that was large enough that I needed to get xrays just to make sure nothing had gone wrong.  Nothing in the accident had gone wrong but somehow all my doctors had missed the fact that I had Scoliosis.  I am sure that most of you all know Scoliosis but for those of you who are, like I was, unsure of what it means exactly: it means a curving of the spine.   Simply I was crooked.  I knew that one of my hips was bigger than the other but would have never thought Scoliosis, because Scoliosis is a genetic disease and it doesn't run in my family. I am a privileged few that has Scoliosis because of birth defect.  Doctors don't really know why exactly, it just is.  Because it is in my lower back and it was found so late in puberty there wasn't much that could be done.

This picture was from my second xray so I was about 18 or so.

For the most part it doesn't have much affect on what I do (so long as I weight train and exercise a little) save for when I get tired I don't pay attention and jet off to one side.

Thus my dear, darling husband thought it SO cute to nickname me something to embody this defect: Crinkle.

And when I was thinking over what I could possibly name my business it seemed only fitting to include his darling nickname that has now, to me, become and endearment.

Nothing like feeling stupid

I love photography!  I love being able, being allowed in for a short time into people's lives to capture the moments between the frames.  The pictures that they don't know I take.  The ones that capture them just being, truly being who they are and comfortable in that.

As a way to make sure to challenge myself I look over other photographer's work over and over making sure to take in things at new angles, new poses, new lighting and make sure that I am not comfortable with being where I am.  Recently, within the last month or so, I came across Jasmine Star.  Do not ask me how I had missed her so far.  Maybe it was because I was looking for all forms of photography, maybe it was because I was looking at fashion for inspiration, maybe it was because I am just plain stupid ;P.  I don't know but I just came across her and am delighted to find this new form of collaboration that is brewing within the art of photography.  I love the joy for the art that is pushing past the territorial feeling that is so easily sprung.

I have been doing a lot of studying lately, new lenses.  New thoughts on straight on flash.  I have really enjoyed it.  If you have any suggestions.  Anything that you have enjoyed and/or thought humorous please share

So one of my husband's best friends had a birthday party, but not just any party it was a Batman theme.  Costumes: mandatory!  So Chris went as Joker and I was Harley Quinn. My close friend Hannah Walker Did Chris' and my make up for the party, did she do a great job!  Thanks Hannah!   Batman was of course in attendence but Catwoman, Riddler and Poison Ivy also came.  It was stupid silly fun.  I felt like a little kid again and I am always a good feel like a kid.    

Funny how things happen. . .

trIt is funny how things come about.  Sometimes I get shoots from people wanting new family photos, others for big events (like weddings and big birthdays) but it is not often that I get a request quite like the one that lead to my shoot below.  A dear friend of my husband's contacted me to take some pictures for a gift.  He wanted to be very sweet and take the time to put together a meaningful gift, a personalized gift.  So here is a taste of what that shoot looked like.

Quilted . . . not so northern

So I recently decided to start a quilt, second I have ever made!  This one had a completely different purpose than the first, a gift. I am making this one for my photography sessions, so I used lots of  colors and different patterns!

I am not the most technical of sew-ers but I enjoy making things my own!  You should try it too.  It isn't that difficult (as long as you have a machine) just use right angles for most of your cuts and it will work out (as long  as you are ok with imperfection ;)

This is the top patterned side done and laid out to make the bottom side!

Allie and Scott Engagement Session 2 (Sneak Peek)

Session number two with the lovely couple.  As I get out of my car and walk towards the little market a see them walking hand in hand.  Scot slightly dragging an umbrella, too distracted with Allie to notice as it cuffs the ground.  Not worried about the threating rain they smile and laugh together, thinking of nothing but the joy of a life they are starting together.

The rain did hold off, for it cannot rain on this couple in love...

Here is a small sneak peak into their formal shots:

Allie and Scott Engagement Session 1

Allie and Scott... ah the love. 

This sweet couple found each other and through years of friendship and then dating they made their way towards a life together.  Their new family is joined this October.

Allie had very specific desires for her engagement shots so we tackled them in two sessions.  This is the first of those sessions.