Advice From A Tree

Dreams

Dreams
Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Make Voyages

My Heart’s in the Highlands

Robert Burns, 1789

My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Just Be You

My Year – 2011 In Review

Amy January 2011

I’ve been working on writing this post in my head for a while now, and I decided the only way to actually get it done was to sit down and start typing.  If a stranger looked at my life during the year 2011, they would probably think it was a horrible year that I am happy to leave behind.  They would be a little bit accurate – there were specific events and activities in 2011 that I would just as soon forget and leave behind.  With a quick glance, all the focus would be on the negative events because they were the biggest; however, on further investigation there were far more positive activities, events, and blessings that happened and outweigh all the negativity.  I’m going to re-cap my year by month, and hopefully I’ll be able to link to a previous post for each subject I talk about.

January

One of the first major things that happened in 2011 was Emma getting her Driver’s License.  

Pathless Woods

This girl is in need of some solitude in Nature.

It’s time to clear my head and rejuvenate my soul.

Portraits Are Not Just Paper

Credit for this post goes to Jeanine at Fototails Photography.  Jeanine wrote this post yesterday, publishing a letter she received from a client.  Her client expressed what so many of us don’t realize until it is too late, and very quickly, this post is “going viral” on Facebook.  I am reposting it here for my clients, friends, and family with the hope that you all may realize just how important portraits, snapshots, and images truly are to our loved ones.

A letter on my door step. Portraits are more than paper.

Posted by jeaninethurston on January 2, 2012

There will be no portrait photos in this post.  This letter wasn’t mailed – it was at my doorstep when I got home a couple months ago.  I read it, I cried, and read it again – probably a hundred times by now.  It wasn’t easy to read – and honestly, as much as it validates what I do for a living – I wasn’t sure I was going to share it either – Until today, when a past client said that my print prices were too expensive.  If you choose to read through the letter, you will know why I’ve finally chosen to share it.

One Thousand

When I started writing this blog, I didn’t think very much about each individual post as part of a whole, rather, I used each post to document an event or to get thoughts out of my head and onto paper.  My blog has evolved into a multi-faceted thing – a “being” almost.  I don’t post just pictures like I started with, but I also don’t just post stories or thoughts without images very often.  I still use it to document the important events in our lives from sports contests to funny anecdotes to using it to sort through my own thoughts and feelings.

Seattle Skyline

As I Age

As I have aged, I have become kinder to myself, and I’ve become less critical of myself.  I have become my own friend.