-booo

the final countdown (trumpets- da da da da. da da da da da)

i'm on my last 2 full days here in the great homeland and i'm starting to feel the choke hold of responsibilities and grandmaless days tightening it's grip and beckoning me from the starchy hot waves of the desert area we call home.

not yet ready to leave. i still haven't gone to the late night showing of harry potter 6 (ticket for one please) or indulged in my 2nd ultra unnecessary pedicure. how will i ever fit it all in?

here's my to do list waiting for me at home:
(i'm posting it as motivation to do laundry and start packing rather than lying on the floor with my arms wrapped around my mom's ankles crying through a mouth full of freshly picked white donut peaches, "don't make me get out of my sweats!!!")

-edit some BEAUTIFUL photo shoots of some LOVELY families
-get my photo website up and running
-find a swim suit for mexico
-potty train (the bane of my existence)
-catch up on project runway and top chef
-draft my tshirt graphics for new moon viewing
-get my butt kicked by the girls at the track
-blah. i'm bored just writing this. does summer vacation really have to end?

see ya in a few peeeeeeeeeeeenix.

-happiness hangover

i've come to the conclusion that this is the best trip i've ever taken home.
ever.
it may be due to the fact that i'm finally growing weary of phoenix's relentless summers and can't stand watching my boys thrash about the house like restless caged beasts dying for a blade of grass underfoot or a sniff of wind at the boiling playground.
this escape to eastern washington has filled me in ways i've never allowed it to before.
dare i say it may also have something to do with maturity?

no. ew. spit that back out onto the ground.

(we'll stick with the former "sick of the arizona heat" theory before the inner 17 year old in me hears that logic garbage and forces me to do something crazy like flip off an old person or try to run over a cat in fear of disappearing with this aging wisdom.)

whoa. i'm back. so here's a list of reasons i wake up every morning and lay down every evening with a real, genuine home town smile on my face:

-i spent about 8 hours on sunday under a tree, reading my favorite book
-i have to wash my feet every night before bed to scrub off the grass stains
-i had the pleasure of driving home behind 2 matching obese women on scooters with neon orange safety vests. (because without the vests, they would've gone unnoticed)
-my family slept in the shape of an H this morning (brooks's head in brandon's back and feet in mine)and it didn't bother me because i was distracted by the sounds of morning birds outside
-i've done a photo shoot in an apple orchard and a vineyard
-it's been a little windy
-after dinner conversations happen in the front yard, in the dark, under the corkscrew willow
-the cows are starting to recognize me on my morning runs
-i actually went on a movie date with my husband
AND
-tomorrow i will be eating God's gift to county fairs...... an elephant ear!!

yes priscilla, i will be eating a fried piece of dough the size of my torso.
heaven help me.

-when i grow up, i wanna be shiny

i've been checking my facebook and emails from my dad's office computer while i'm home.
this room is full of things that make him happy.
on the top of his inbox i found his family christmas news letter from 1987.
here's his summary of me:

"Miss Congeniality-- still in the gifted program at Kennewick. Played basketball during the first of the year. Won a first runner-up to Laurel in one sewing even at the County Fair. We have to outlaw "Solid Gold" in our house because Heather picks up the moves too fast. Just what we need in this house-- a ten year old Solid Gold dancer."

it made me laugh.
good to know the roots of my leotard and heavy eyeliner obsession are based on pure 80's talent.

- there's no place like home

i'm from kennewick, washington.
it's not by seattle.
it's a place in eastern washington where the wind blows daily, there's a burger ranch with outstanding fry sauce and at any time, you could get stuck behind a 107 year old farmer driving his tractor down the road. (picture to be posted later).

i really love it here.
i love sleeping under a blanket quilted by my mother.
i love watching my babies spit crab apples at each other and run through the sprinklers in the front yard.
i love how the hills of sagebrush are golden during each sunset.
i love getting my toes done with my BF from high school.
and i really really love the feeling of being home.

that's all.
blogging to resume at full force when i'm finished with days full of lying on my back, eating grass, while listening to my parents be the best grandparents in the universe.
this could be a while.

- the W

jonelle got Ade the BEST first birthday present-

she took his momma out to play after a loooong day of baby birthday partying.

could it be?

is my adult social life finally kicking it up a notch?

(i wish i may, i wish i might)

jonelle, audrey, tired momma & tempa

pretty natalie

-na na na na na na. you say it's your birthday

can you believe it?
me neither!

little ade has completed his first year of life-
and has 2,000 new teeth to prove it.
yippee for baby parties-
where the majority of the guests are being carried on a hip
and their tag along siblings are ripping through my linen closets.

pris & teagulls

nanny jamie & mia

THE CRUISERS: brody, van, ade, eliot, jack & teague

THE BRUISERS: owen, ryder, brooks, tyler, colton, jack

ade is a single bite one and done.
and when i say done, i mean pitched over the edge, frosting side down adding an extra 5 minutes of clean up to this mess of a shin-dig.

steph & els

mom friends with mom humor

and after an exhausting round of wheels on the bus my little baby ade found the best seat in the house.
a spot on uncle dave's lap.
(which, incredibly, was the calmest place in the house. are you getting an idea of the chaos yet?)

-perfection

-a sexy little snare drum please.......

this is dantley.
she wanted to give her husband a special little gift.
a pin up calendar should do the trick.
and can i just say it was the best day of my photo-ing life.
click here for a good time

and the icing on top: i got to do the make up too!
see- the best day i tell you.

and while the car was there.
and i did happen to have a flower in my hair.
and i was really itching to model too.
and the lighting was a bit too perfect.
i hopped to the other side of the camera for a sec.

-swak

a picture's worth a thousand words.
i love my ader a thousand times a thousand picture's worth.
figure that out.

-boots full of sweat

this is chandelle.
she found out about this photo shoot only an hour before it took place.
her sister wants her to make an album and figured she'd need a picture for the cover.
so- she's a talented singer, drop dead gorgeous and an impromptu model.
not intimidating at all because.........
i can squat on the middle of a dark and dirty canal and not get a single drop of wee on my running socks.
i guess we're all given our own talents.
click here for more photos.

and here's some behind the scenes footage.
even in 109 degree weather, sure footed galoshes keep the bugs out.

-photos with a sidedish of ramble

the one thing that i will always think about when remembering this shoot
is the love these two had for each other.
it was sweet and so tangible.
what a lucky little boy to be born into this family!
thanks brian and lisa.
for more pictures click here.

ps- i realize my personal blogging has been lacking with all of the photography shoots lately.
and guessy whaty?
i'm having the time of my life.
my boys are so easy these days, brandon's more than happy to hang with them and i'm actually living out one of those dream scenes i've had in my head ever since i was very young.

when was the last time you got something you really, really wanted?
and i'm not talking about the 32oz diet pepsi i just guzzled from circle k.
i'm talking about getting to do something that's about more than just a moment.
it's all about the feelings of happiness, excitement, challenge and satisfaction that come from thinking about the moment.
photography makes me very, very happy.
what about you?

-EIEIO

you know those people that you hang out with and hope to be as cool as some day?
that's the cragheads.
i did all i could to keep them from seeing my true inner spazz.
they were really good at pretending that they didn't see it.

we did this shoot at the Farm in central phoenix.
it was perfectly them.

and may i introduce you to my new boyfriend, catcher.
an 18 month old in skinny girl jeans?
straight to my heart.

Click here for more photos

ps- stay tuned for photos using my other girlfriend.
mamiya c3.
pps- website to be up this week!
ppps- now booking for october and november.
deadline for christmas card family photos is november 7th.
sessions start at $250

-project team boo submission.

-a different side of me, unfortch

Dear A-Hole Lawyer That Nearly Ruined My Photo Shoot,

It's a shame that a paranoid, insecure, weiner like you lives on such a lovely piece of property.
It's a shame that your mother's amazing rotten orange grove won't ever experience my lovely clients or my lovely self.
It's a shame that you chose to wear those basketball shorts and ill-fitted white shirt last Sunday.
It's a shame that you have no concept of polite greetings or any kind of greetings at all.
It's a shame that your wife is so beautiful and has to watch you flex your legal boner on innocent photographers because you don't like the "wording" in my waiver or my lack of insurance for those I photograph.
It's a shame that you live in such fear of losing your gold BMW.
And it's the biggest shame that you made me mad enough to even have to vent all of this on my blog.

We're never going to be friends.
Sincerely,
Heather

PS- Anyone know of a nice orange farmer in Phoenix that wouldn't mind a silly girl living out her dreams in the middle of their property? I've been told I need a new location.

-and not a moment too soon

that's what i'm talking about.
remember my whining 3 posts ago about not getting to go out?
well i made up for it.
damn right.
my lovely husband walked in the door at 8pm.
i walked out of the door at 8:02pm.
yes, i missed him but i was really going super crazy from the
single parent for 2 weeks stint.
crazy i say.
so when the opportunity presented itself-
(aka- daddy's home and he's the best/cheapest babysitter)
i flew that coupe like the cabin fevered chicken i was.
we've all been there. right?

and while brandon was trying to apply lotion to his sunburned back with both baby monitors cranked- staring at the empty pillow beside him, i was "de-stressing".

for starters, sushi at kona grill makes you feel like an adult.
it's ucky and so far from mac and cheese. i clapped when the waiter brought it.

the seaweed salad got a standing o.

the main ingredient to a non-momsy night:
priscilla and her green nail polish and cotton/patent leather ensemble.

and lastly-
i needed to dance.
this 31 year old needed some way to work off the week of living in snot crusted t-shirts and broke down flip flops. i need to sweat, act like an idiot and make priscilla laugh.

and just when i started thinking to myself
"i wonder if brandon would let me do this every saturday night?"
i stood behind this guy in line:

and all of those conclusions i came to about being too old/cool for scottsdale's nightclub scene
were reaffirmed simply by smelling the gallon of bad cologne on this guy's douchey bed sheet button down.

PS- we stopped in anthropologie before dinner.

-too sweet

today i met vanessa.
i got to hear about possible names for that little man inside and
see her excitement in getting so close to having something she's wanted for so long.
i went home and hugged my babies.
really, really tightly.
click her for more photos

-a side note of business

I'm coming home!
When you're raised in Kennewick, Washington, you love the summers.
When you're raising you're babies in Tempe, Arizona and your parents still live in K-town,
you love the summers there even more.

Plane tickets have been bought and sweatshirts for the cool evenings are ready.
I'm so excited (said jumping up and down with my finger tips in my mouth).

While we're there, I will be taking family photos in some of the beautiful fields and orchards
that I still consider home.
I have 3 spots left.
If you'd like to get your family photos done between
August 19 and September 1
in the Tri-Cities area, please send me an email: arizona.lewis@yahoo.com
We can discuss pricing and locations and why Jillian chose Ed over Reid.

Click here for more photography