.bugg.photographer.

.breathing.

yup.  I'm still here....all alive and kicking, but just playing the balance game. 

the game that I find myself constantly playing of spreading myself over so many avenues.  the game that sometimes is SO fun yet sometimes such a bummer.  the game I'm trying to always win, but somehow mostly seem to be two moves behind the dealer (yes, I fully realize that makes NO sense as I wouldn't be two moves behind in any game requiring a dealer.  it just sounded good.  yes it did.)...

after, what we've been referring to as "the power week" (which consisted of two weddings, a model shoot and a HUGE client appreciation event in which we shot over 55 families...albeit, the model shoot was rescheduled due to some issues that were beyond my clients control...a bummer b/c I was looking forward to it, yet a blessing because it gave us a chance to come up for air...)...where was I?  oh yes.  the power week.  We made it though.  and we're still breathing.  and I thought I should pop in.  because, well.  my nieces and my grandma asked me to. :) 

and I'm breathing.  loving where God has us.  striving to be still and hear His voice.  trying to enjoy this somewhat controlled chaos.  attempting to live in the moment.  to be present.  not trying to think TOO hard about the future, but anxiously awaiting what it has in store.  so excited about the holiday festivities.  it IS my favorite time..  all whilst being productive and moving forward in our business.

its all a bit crazy, but I'm in love and we're living our dream.

and I'm still breathing.

  

.happy birthday grandma.

Oh goodness...this day ALMOST came and went without me giving a little blog love to my sweet sweet Grandma (hopefully she got my phone message though -- it was a wild day of festivites you know...).  I can't even tell you how much I love this lady and am so thankful for her. :)

Grandma, I'm thankful for all the days spent together.  Thankful for cooking together.  Thankful for slumber parties at your house.  Thankful for the love for yard sales that you instilled in me.  Thankful that you let me play poker with you.  and that you taught me how to win.  Thankful for the songs you sang me.  Thankful for the earrings you gave me when I got baptized.  Thankful for all the dishes you do.  And the joy you have in your heart while doing them.  Thankful that you read my blog everyday.  Thankful for your letters.  Thankful for Disneyland trips together. 

And today, I'm thankful for the way you love my kids. 

I hope you had an amazing day Grandma!!!  You. Are. Beautiful.

and I love you SO much.

love, ashley

.happy halloween.

I seriously canNOT believe that we're in November right now...October came and went and I have no idea how.

BUT, I do have three cute kids in FANTASTIC costumes to show for it. :)

quick post for the grandparents as I'm up to HERE in work... :) :) :)

first up, our nifty little 50's girl..

 

next up, we're not in Kansas anymore....Miss Dorothy...and her little dog too.

 this next one's a little out of focus, and prior to Nana coming to the rescue with cute little red bows (a little oversight by mama), but I feel like it really gives a great vibe to her entire costume

and lastly, our somewhat very creepy, 3 year old....Mr. Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas....

I feel like he gives off a bit of a Joker "why soooo serious" vibe in this next one..maybe its the hair..or the little smirk.

It was a super fun night of festivities and lots of trick or treating -- the week leading up to Halloween is set to be posted later this week, so stay tuned...

hope you're having a lovely start to a super lovely November..

ETA....not sure what's going on with Typepad, but it totally changing the color of my images..kind of frustrated about it.

.just a girl and her mom. together.

oh goodness.  I can't even TELL you how much fun I had on this session!  I shot this WAAAY back in April as a surprise for Father's Day...so I couldn't share...and then it got lost in the shuffle. 

Oh goodness, there's something so magical about this session..something so amazingly beautiful about the way this girl and her momma interact.  such pure love and adoration..

something so magical.

gorgeous!

breathtaking...

spin spin spin!

such adoration.

then, we played dress up with momma's fancy jewels and lipstick.  I LOVE when my clients think outside the box and come up with pure brilliance!

all dolled up!

and then we finished off with some bubble fun!

and as a little added bonus, a little extra father's day love, Thereza let me capture the beauty that she so boldly possesses. 

Thereza...thank you SO much for letting me have the opportunity to capture the bond that you and your girl share.  From having backyard tea parties regularly, slumber parties in the living room often and weekly bathroom pedicures, you're relationship is truly inspiring.  I was absolutley honored to document a slice of your and Sammy's day to day..love, ashley.

.i love.

okay....another round of things I'm loving this day.  Tuesday, Oct 6. 

1.  pumpkins.  I have SO much fun searching the bins to find the best ones, with the best stems.  Jon was quite the trooper as I told him, that one!  To which he just looked at me as if to say, are you serious?  I mean...seriously?!?  But he just gently shook his head as he dug deeper & deeper, tossing me pumpkins to throw into the other bin to unearth this beauty with the perfectly curly stem (which is all I saw of it when I exclaimed that it had to be mine!)

2.  letters from my Grandma.  I love her. <3 <3 <3

3.  Halloween costumes.  I love talking with the kids and listing off ideas, brainstorming costumes, etc.  Its a BIG decision you know. 

I SOOOOO badly want Xander to be Max from Where the Wild Things are

photo cred. (isn't it perfect?!  she made this for her son!  swoon!!!) 

but he is dead set on this fellow.

which WILL be fun to make... 

4.  my new boots.  I've been on a quest for YEARS trying to find great boots.  Not too high, not too low.  Comfortable yet super stylish.  Well my friends, I've found them.  And at quite a steal, I might add! 

5.  coffee mate.  oh world, this starts my day off right.  A great cup of starbucks coffee with a pour of coffee mate?  bliss.  And right now, there are SO many varieties that sound SOOO delish, I literally have 5 open containers in my fridge right now.  And I fully intend to go out and get another as I heard from a friend that my fav, Peppermint Mocha, has hit the shelves.  YUM.

 

6.  International orders.  I shipped off two items from my etsy shop to France and Australia.  SO crazy to think that these little lovelies that I made are seeing the sights in such beautiful, far away places [especially since I've never even left the country].

7.  our new chair.  oh goodness.  I actually gasped and pointed when I saw this beauty at a Savers in Tucson a few weeks ago.  and it was just $15!!!  such amazing lines, construction super sturdy and custom reupholstering from Macy's New York.  LOVE.

and you can bet that you'll be seeing it make its way into some photo shoots (already used it once last week...)

 

8.  Infinite Aloe.  As the weather changes, this stuff keeps my skin soft and smooth [and as an added bonus, it improves the elasticity in skin -- ie:  amazing for stretch marks..seriously, within DAYS.].  Such a lovely gift from my mom. :)

 
  
9.  movie outings as a family.  we went and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on Saturday for Jon's birthday.  SO good.  SO fun.  SO great to go out as a family and enjoy a movie together.

10.  my mama.  super obvious, I know.  But I just love her.  and its just so nice that she's a phone call away.  This morning I called her just to get a second opinion if I should keep Evie home today.  Evie had a pretty wicked cough yesterday (sounds like allergies), but she went to bed with a slight fever and crawled in my bed this morning at 5:20 sniffling and felt warm.  And you know school policy is to keep them home for 24 hours fever free.  But she's acting totally fine.  So I just needed to use her as a sounding board. 

And yes.  We kept her home. :)  just to be safe.

Have a beautiful Tuesday..

.hello autumn.

you are here and I am excited.

today I plan to:

..do a little grocery shopping that includes getting some beautiful pumpkins for the front porch

..make a few arrangements of frames (and maybe paint a few)

..get our beautiful new chair into our living room (this may include the need to magically create about 75 more square feet in our home)

..and if there's time, I plan to organize my office a bit

hello autumn.  you are here and I am excited.
 

.through her eyes.

perhaps, one of my most favorite presents for one of our kids would be this red camera.  Karen asked us last year what they should get Miss Hailey (they were getting age appropriate computers for ALL their grand babies, but Hailey already had one...so the question was...what do they get Hailey?)..she LOVES to take pictures, so I mentioned it would be AMAZING for her to have a decent quality camera. 

And there it was.  Black Friday (one of my MOST favorite days in the year -- nothing beats waking up at ridiculous hours with my mom, my sister, and my sister in law to go freeze in lines to save some cash...working as a team, assigning products for each of us to grab.  and scouring the ads on Thanksgiving Day -- which is a crucial element in our strategy..)...so yes.  Actually on Thanksgiving, we were pouring over the ads, making notes of where the best of the best sales were, when both my sister and I saw this at the same time.  a fab 10+ mega pixel, Kodak camera for less than $90.  I grabbed my phone, rang Karen and told her this was perfect.  We agreed that Jon and I could offset some of the cost and this could be her present from Nana and Papa...

So there we were...Mom and I, holding our spot in line, while Nikki and Jill fight the Starbucks crowd to order us our peppermint mochas -- triples.  And then we wait.  People try to sneak around and we laugh at their attempts to get in front of us.  If you've ever seen someone try to get in front of my mom in line (be it the grocery store, Disneyland, or in this case on Black Friday), you'd know that you should think twice.  We Wills woman show no mercy when it comes to our precious place in line.  You got up late?  Too bad.  Make your way to the side of the store where the rest of the late risers are.

and then we're off.

So..I downloaded Hailey's card in July -- its a 4gb card, which in NO WAY was full, but I thought she should see the fruits of her labor.  When they were done downloading, we delighted in watching the slideshow of memories that Hailey caught through her eyes.  They way her 6/7 year old mind interpreted and saw each event.  Her perspective of people and things.

perhaps my favorites were her self portraits.  This is just a drop in the bucket of the ones she shot, but these are just a few that made me smile..

..and just some random events that she captured..

 

there are SO many more that I plan to print and encourage her to scrapbook or at the very least slip into a slip album.  Its been so amazing for me to see things from her perspective. 

Through her eyes.

  

.happy birthday love.

he pulled up in his red ford escort.  hatchback.  He sauntered up the walkway and greeted my mom and dad.  we chit chatted in the kitchen for a bit and then we left for our date.  He told me he had a special treat for me.  I inclined as to what, but he didn't speak a word.  he just smiled.  that smile.  the one he gives when he's got a secret.  He took the long way to take me down my favorite hill in Tucson...I don't remember the name of the street, but its the one where you can see the entire city and all its lights.  Its only for about 30 seconds, but its the most beautiful 30 seconds in all of Tucson.  We drove for awhile and made a sudden turn into a Kmart parking lot.  a VERY perplexed look came over my face.

This is it?  In what way is a Kmart the surprise you ensued to had up your sleeve?  (which by the way is my LEAST favorite store.  literally.  I don't know what it is, I just. don't. like it.) 

Just get out of the car.

And there it was.  I looked over at him and smiled.  that smile.  the one I give when I feel so special and thought of.  And he asked me to hand him my camera.  Get in!

[you see, after I broke my back (which is an entirely different blog post, in and of itself), I was airlifted to the hospital.  And when that happens, you're assigned a nickname.  They can't call your name over their airwaves, so they give you a new one.  mine was chille 86.  and from that day on, just 2 1/2 months into our dating relationship, Jon called me Chilly Willy].

So after that, we drove over to the Gaslight Theatre.  (which by the way is my MOST favorite place in Tucson.  well that and Nico's Taco shop and Winterhaven).  He bought us tickets for the show, we ordered vanilla and cherry cokes (back when vanilla coke DIDN'T come in a can, and was SUPER hard to come by) and we laughed all night.

and I felt so special.

Jon, I hope you have an insanely happy birthday.  I hope that with each year that passes, I can make you feel just an ounce of the specialness I felt that night.

I love you more than words can even posses.  with every fiber of my being.

Happy Birthday, love.

photo cred.  my lobster, amanda. :)

.tucking him in.

me:  I love you, bubba.

xander:  I love you too, mommy.

me:  awe.  Xander Pander.  You're my guy.

xander:  yeah.  and you're my girl. 

  and I like you.

me:  thanks, bubba.  I like you too.

xander:  yeah.  and you're nice.

MELT MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love this boy....most nights (MOST...not ALL) this is my favorite part of the day with him..I tuck him in, we chat, we pray, I read him a story...and we chat some more...sometimes just like tonight..

He might make me scream somedays, but he certainly has a way that simply melts my heart.

and I like him too.

[the first one is from our trip to New Mexico...swinging together on an old fashioned plank swing on the neighbor's yard..

and that last one is from our camping trip last weekend...loved having time together with our little family and some close friends....(though we were missing quite a few..)

and both were such lovely times to fast from media and get reconnected...on a non-virtual level, that is..]

Happy Weekend, friends.
 

.relax.

its one of my favorite trips of the year.  we do a TON of traveling, but this trip is one of my top priorities each and every year.  Its tradition.  and I LIKE tradition.  With how often our lives change and we're constantly forced to go with the ebb and flow, I like the things that I can count on staying the same.  This is one of those things.  Since Miss Hailey was only 18 months old, we've made this trip to my parent's property each and every year.  In '06, we bumped the trip up to the 4th of July weekend, but that's because otherwise we would have made the trip with me a whoppin' 38 weeks pregnant...no thanks. :)  But most of all, I think I look so forward to this trip for the relaxing aspect.  Its so nice to have 3-5 days (depending on how long we can sneak away!) to just BE.

This year, my parents, with the help of some our lifelong, family friends that came up for a visit (Don & Nancy), made two full size tee-pees.  And my mom had the most magical idea to let the kids paint them.  No plan, no direction, just let them go.  Only restriction was to leave the doors alone to allow for the kids to put their hand prints on them.  LOVE IT.  Seriously I think this was the BEST trip yet b/c I LOVED seeing all the kids (and all of us kids) get creative and let go.  Alexis' precise cursive and astronomy-inspired creations, Mikayla's cafefree polkadots and designs, Vance's "splatter-mon" (I think he was attempting a Jamaican accent), Hailey's careful printing and designs, Evie's abstract creations, Xander & Kinzie's haphazard mayhem.  I LOVEd it all.  The adults even got involved adding some of our own ideas and bits of beauty to the tee-pees.

Seriously, Mom.  BEST. IDEA. EVER.

With being in FULL SWING of our busy busy season (really, I barely have time to breathe), I love having this trip as our last hurrah.  Not to mention getting out of the 115 degree madness, to a sweet high of only 74 degrees.  LOVE.

Here's just a glimpse at our weekend...

getting started..

Xander HAD to have a rocket.  I painted the rocket and he added the little einsteins inside.  And that orange thing to the left?  that's big jet.  LOOK OUT!

this pic is SOOO blurry, but I LOVE it.  His expression just melts my heart.

not sure why miss Kinzie is so sad here, but I love this one of my sis consoling her little chica.

HERE WE GO!

Steve adding his tribal influenced designs.

I want this print HUGE in my office.  so inspiring.

...and the finished product...

my mom making sure that Xander knows what to do if he gets lost in the woods.  Each kid is REQUIRED to have a whistle around their neck each time they set foot outside.  Its just the rule.

I like it.

Perhaps one of my new favorite things is my Mom's trip to the farmer's market -- I've never been there with her, but was INSTANTLY jealous of the pick of fresh fruits and veggies.  Everything was SO fresh. SO beautiful.  Made me want to grab one of each thing, and get all domestic. 

YUM.

oh I so wanted to sneak off with this gorgeous scale!

all of the yumminess that we brought back...

we also celebrated our little man's 3rd birthday! :)

 

Lastly, I told my beautiful nieces (well...the two older ones), to bring something for me to do photos of them.  We drove down to the clubhouse and spent about an hour playing and shooting.  I'm not even done sorting the pics, but wanted to give my girls a little preview....

I LOVED this very Alice-esque door knob.  delish.

I wanted to do photos with a big bouquet of these HUGE dandy lions that I saw on our drive in, but we had a MASSIVE rainstorm the day before we did pics, and sadly, the rain took out almost all of these beauties...we managed to find 2 on our drive over...

aren't they INSANE?!

and my goodness.  I could just swim in those clear blue eyes....gorgeous...

And my word, what a beauty..

this photo is the epitome of the girls' relationship...always whispering, sharing secrets, laughing.  I LOVE THESE GIRLS!

Alright...I simply MUST get to work.  My to do list is WAAAAY too long...

love.