Happy Birthday Annie!!!!!!

It's been awhile since I've written a solid birthday entry for anyone (sorry Anna and Amy D. for missing my chance on you last week!) but today is a great day to bring it back.

{This precious snap is flashback to 5 birthdays ago; the first birthday I got to celebrate with you, Anne. Note: the shrug. Don't be alarmed if that means nothing to you masses; inside joke.}

{Anne-I am staring at this photo of you as I type for inspiration.}

There is not enough sentiment and mush in the world to do justice to how much I love this Anne E. H.

I could end there, but I'll throw about a few more words anyway because it's

ANNE'S BIRTHDAY

and I want her to feel exceptionally loved, seen and cherished today

because

Anne is The Best kind of girl, The Best kind of friend.

For those of you who don't know, Anne and I have been co-leading and coordinating PhotogenX teams together since 2009. It's been quite the journey and there is no one in the entire world with whom I would rather have shared this crazy adventure. Although that's how we met, it that does not explain the depth and breadth of our friendship.

Annie.is.amazing.

She is constantly looking for ways to love on and bless those around her. She is the epitome of kindness, grace, thoughtfulness, generosity and love.

Through the years when I pounded out angry emails to this person or that, she has patiently sat down, read through the messy words and helped mellow my message. (Annie, my poor world has exploded since you now live 3000 miles away.) Sorry peeps.

In horrible days when I was annoyed and rude to her, Annie forgave me again and again without a word of reproach.

During long train rides or hours at the airport, Anne has graciously listened to me repeat every single story in my life's repertoire. Many of them more than once.

And then we made a few stories of our own.

When I fell off my billy goat, Annie picked me back up and sat me back on the saddle with a cup of hot chocolate too. (Jennie, you know.)

Anne has been the author of hundreds of bedtime stories and life philosophy lessons for me.

She has picked hundreds of lice (maybe thousands) from my head without a sigh. It was gross people.

She was my first pixie and one day she will be my last too. (Surprise, Annie!)

As a roommate, she constantly shared her stash of snacks and surprised me with almost daily treats. (Sorry Jonathan-she did it to me.)

I cried myself to sleep beside Anne on our last night as roommates because she is a person to whom I never want to say goodbye.

Annie H., I love you with all my heart. Living all those years by your side has been one of The Greatest Honors of my Life. I'm so grateful to know you, to call you friend, to learn from you through all these years.

Have the very HAPPIEST of BIRTHDAYS and The Best Year of your life too.

xxoo.

What? You want to know about our new MINI Sessions?

Okay, let's talk. We've just added MINI sessions to our packaging list this season and we're so excited about them!  Because everything is adorable in mini; because we can.

Our minis are half the price of our regular sessions-it's all the fun of a regular session crammed into one tiny time slot. You can check out our prices and packages on our website, here.

Here's a sneak peak of a mini shoot we did with Master Chef Haley yesterday. (Isn't she cute?)

She's cooking for Brantford's Grandelicious this weekend if you want to pop by and try out her mad cooking skills. (You do want to. You do want to. You do want to.)

And since I upped our dream list yesterday from "have 20,000 LIKES on our Facebook page" to "have 50,000 LIKES on our Facebook page" please stop by and share or LIKE our Facebook page for updates on our shoots, specials, contests and times.

What can I say?! #feelinginspired #dreamingonMondays #happytobehome #lovingourjob #gobigorgohome

HAPPY TUESDAY Y'ALL.

xx.

And then there was the Domincan.

Okay, I'm back in my corner of the library this morning, but I figured I would take a break and say HI.

HI.

Jonathan is in Indiana for the day, getting his arms coloured in by the famous Cody Eich (tattoo artist.) (He really is amazing. Cambria-you need his stamp somewhere...I think your left arm will do.)

And, as aforementioned, I'm in the fluorescently-lit library. Such is life. (Starbucks I miss you.)

A quick report on the Domincan before I go back to organizing:

Let me preface this by saying that all our family vacations when I was little consisted of packed food, road trips, groceries bought along the way, etc. etc. (Read: budget, budget, budget.)

I am forever astounded that we traveled as much as we did considering our tight finances. My mother was creative, determined and resourceful-for that I will ever be grateful. I haven't made it to all 50 states yet, but I am well over halfway there.

My point-I have and always will be excessively happy with simple outings such as these. Picnics and road trips will forever give me a thrill.

When we went down to Mexico for a destination wedding last year, I liked but did not love it. I know, I know. Shocking. It was nice but I told myself and others that I was glad I had that life experience and I was just as happy to come back home.

All

this

to 

say

I FREAKING LOVED OUR TIME in the Domincan this year. Hello all-inclusive resort; I will never be the same.

You know me-I happily made myself a feeding routine that included buffet breakfasts, fruity morning snacks, cookies and coffee in the afternoon, 4 course dinners and a few cocktails thrown in hither and yon. (When we got to the airport and I saw I'd have to pay for my much-loved snacks, I found myself in a teensy bit of culture shock.)

Every evening was like a date with fancy dinners and starry nights. We slept long hours, we talked, we took long walks on the beach. Cliche or not-it was lovely.

You already know we didn't have internet and even having a break from texts, calls and emails was a welcomed reprieve. We read 2 books and 2 half books-don't ask.

Melissa and Trevor's wedding was perfect and they welcomed us like longtime friends into all of their family gatherings during the week.

And now we are back (at least this half of us)-tanned and ready for our fierce summer schedule. Come on world, bring it.

And We're Back!

Hulllllllo!

I have to confess I was SO proud of myself as I left town with only 3 messages in my inbox.

When we landed in Toronto late last night, we took bets to see who'd have the most messages in our respective inboxes.

Jonathan "won" with 157, but I came in a close second with 141. (I have to say that the 8 straight days with no internet and technology was nothing short of GLORIOUS.) But I'm paying my dues now-this particular corner of the library has my name on it for The Whole Afternoon. And maybe every afternoon this week.

Even after deleting the junk mail, I still have a few dozen emails to get through (not all of them from my mom, either.)

We'll post some photos of our trip once we make headway.

Until then-sending you love.

Before:

After:

Willows whiten, aspens quiver....

Little breezes dusk and shiver12   Thro' the wave that runs for ever 13   By the island in the river 14       Flowing down to Camelot. 15   Four gray walls, and four gray towers, 16   Overlook a space of flowers, 17   And the silent isle imbowers 18       The Lady of Shalott.

19   By the margin, willow veil'd, 20   Slide the heavy barges trail'd 21   By slow horses; and unhail'd 22   The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd 23       Skimming down to Camelot: 24   But who hath seen her wave her hand? 25   Or at the casement seen her stand? 26   Or is she known in all the land, 27       The Lady of Shalott?

28   Only reapers, reaping early 29   In among the bearded barley, 30   Hear a song that echoes cheerly 31   From the river winding clearly, 32       Down to tower'd Camelot: 33   And by the moon the reaper weary, 34   Piling sheaves in uplands airy, 35   Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy 36       Lady of Shalott."

PART II

37   There she weaves by night and day 38   A magic web with colours gay. 39   She has heard a whisper say, 40   A curse is on her if she stay 41       To look down to Camelot. 42   She knows not what the curse may be, 43   And so she weaveth steadily, 44   And little other care hath she, 45       The Lady of Shalott.

(excerpt from "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Apparently this is our The Grime Poetry Appreciation week.)

I can say bits of this off by heart and have always had a bit of a fascination with this fancy lady; due largely to my much grander fascination with one Anne of Green Gables (if you know her at all you'll catch the connection.)

So when my friend Anne-Marie said she'd always wanted to do a shoot in this style, I was allllll over it.

Enjoy perusing a few of my favorites.

Wanderlust.

Despite the 3 a.m. wake up call, we are excited today to be traveling together to the Domincan Republic. We're shooting a wedding on Wednesday (A Big Congrats to Melissa and Trevor), and we're excited to spend a few days before and after their special day simply relaxing, reading, being together and staying grateful.

This is Jonathan's 10th country; Layne's 25th (our 10th together) so we're crossing milestones all around.

(I looked up "vintage globes" in google and found this beauty from an old blog. Love it.)

We are grateful (so, so thankful) for these days to stop and breathe before the intensity of summer begins. We are amazed at the faithfulness of God in our lives and can't believe the beauty of our journey.

We love, love, love God, each other, travel, our friends, adventures, photography-we love that our lives are so entwined with all of the above.

So this little shout out is really just a mini "thank you" card to our Big Papa, saying we see His hands and overwhelming love in every inch of our lives. And we're full of JOY.

We've pre-posted some blogs for this week, just so you don't forget about us entirely.

xoxo-L + J

RED: The Essay {part I}

Why Red?

Because it is bold, funky, daring. Because it is bright, fun, full of hope. And anyways-why not?

I plan on taking more RED photos too...but hey! I may just start on hue #2 any day now.

Why not?!

Don't Judge.

...Okay, okay-you can just a little. Here's my confession of the week, the shock of the day: I just filed my 2011 taxes. Shhhh. Yes, it's true.

I could tell you the 22 reasons why it didn't happen before now. I could hem and haw and hold my head down in shame. I could defiantly proclaim that they would have never tracked me down up here in Canada anyway.

I could tell you of Jonathan's disapproving scowl during this entire process (pronounced The Canadian way.)

Instead I'll just sign off, a happy girl indeed since this one thing is Finally off my grand TO-DO list.

Would you roll your eyes if I tell you that I'm a wee bit proud of myself?

xx.

Of Wood Nymphs and Pixie Dust....

So I have this plan to continue working on my pixie project until my death and then I shall (presumably) be Very Famous for this collection posthumously. (I wouldn't mind if the fame came a little closer to my 40th either though.)

I had so much fun with my pixie yesterday-Andrea is gorgeous and I am sneak peaking too, too many photos from our shoot... (but I want to show you so many more!)

I just have so many favorites!

Fave.

Fave.

Fave.

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Yesterday I Shot Some Pirates...it seemed like the Thing to Do.

They were fierce,

they were free,

terribly kind.

During the middle of the week I put out a call for volunteer models for part of my RED project for Saturday and a few nice people actually responded.

So we shot them right there in the studio (though I'm definitely having post-shoot regrets that we didn't brave the cold and the rain to shoot outside.) "Come on pirates, suck it up," is what I should have told these gentle souls giving me their precious weekend time. "Piracy is no place for the weak!"

One of my favorite moments was when I handed Zach (intern) a photo of Johnny Depp from "Pirates" and a case of make-up and pointed to our guy volunteer. "Make him look just like Johnny. Just like him."

Zach didn't even blink, just nodded solemnly. "Ok."

I'm going to miss that kid when he leaves us in a few weeks.

I'm titling our photo sess "A Pirate Family Portrait."

{This is an instagram sneak-peak of what is to come.}

I'm hoping to post the first half of RED this week....fingers crossed.

Until then-xoxo.

Once Upon

A couple of months ago, I showed you some snaps I did during my lunch break, a mini "Princess and the Pea" shoot.

What I was actually attempting that day was a short stop motion feature. It's taken me months to get around to putting it together-this is the result of rainy days on end and Jono being too sick to pay any attention to me.

Hope it makes you smile at least a little on this grey day.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/63858581 w=500&h=375]

Well, that's it. Happy Friday, peeps! I hope these lines find you full of weekend cheer.

p.s. Drawings in this are by The Anita Tamminga. I can't draw to save my life.

Randoms from the Life of Grime

(Does that sound anywhere remotely as cool as the Life of Pi?)

Me thinks it doth.

Okay, a handful of Grimeness just because:

1. Jonathan has strep throat (he had the flu and spent over a week recovering and is now swollen with this throaty gunk. It's so sad.) #heissosickandlaiduponthecouch

2. I am currently listening to my first audio book-Divergent by Veronica Roth. I was loving it until I read the back of the case and saw that Veronica is only 22 and then I wondered what I've been doing with my life. Oh well. #ilovegoodreads

3. Jonathan is re-watching season 5 of 30 Rock to help with his ailing health. Last night I asked him who is funnier-me or Liz Lemon. He couldn't answer with a straight face. #HeadoresTinaFey.

4. For those of you who don't live in Canada, it has been raining for days and days. Even I, who love the rain, would be okay to say adieu.

Good thing I have my new rainboots.

Back story: I wanted rainboots for years and in 2007 my friends Neil and Emili surprised me with the black pair for my birthday. So nice!

I wore them a year past their holes and Jono recently surprised me with the red pair. #heissogoodtome

5. We tried uploading this video for hours today and it kept posting that it had uploaded...but then wouldn't play. #fail

Vimeo, are you actually sorry?

Peeps, hopefully we will get the video up and running tomorrow-with less than a dozen false promises of having done so from Jono's tweets and Facebook account.

#haveahappynighti'mgoinghometomysickyman

Daddy Dearest

Happy Birthday!

We hope your day is amazing and your upcoming year is even better. Boom, boom, boom.

Here are a few exclamation marks just for you because we know you love them so:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's your birthday and we weren't sure what to give you.

What do you get the man who has all the nice black shoes and golf balls he needs?

When we were younger we always gave you sock and underwear.

I'm just not sure that's as appropriate now. Unless we decided to get you and Jono some matching pairs...of socks.

We (Catherine, Jono and me) chatted and chatted about what to give this Pops o' our hearts.

And in the end, we decided we wanted to give you a treasure, a pirate's store of goodness. Boundless gold and some rubies too.

Then we looked into our wallets...and discovered...

that maybe we will have to wait on that gift.

But what we will give you is...

One last momento from our childhood? A childlike piece of art?

No, no-one plane ticket to see one of US, your earthly treasures. We hear relationships matter the most so we want to help further all of ours.

We know Hawaii is on your dream list so we hope you pick the Big Island; but we Grimey Canadians have some open arms too. (Don't worry; we shoo'd away all the snow.)

 We decided on a big blog birthday card instead of the traditional kind so the WHOLE WORLD can know just how much we love you!

p.s. You'll have to talk to us to get your plane ticket. You may have a few "special challenges" to overcome before you can hold your ticket...like a birthday obstacle course....

The Lamest Thing in my Life Right Now.

Okay, I'm about to make a confession and it will be embarrassing. This is something I shouldn't even share with my mum.

{Let me preface this by saying I have never played video games more than 5 times in my Entire Life. Yes, in all 3 decades I've been kicking it, I have never passed Mario Cart 2 or played DD. I've only played Wii once.}

I know you think that was the embarrassing confession, but it wasn't.

The confession is: I have reached new levels of dorkiness by becoming addicted to Scrabble on my phone. I can't even play with my friends as I don't have data on my phone; I have to play with the computer.

And the computer kicks my butt almost every single time. They write words I've never heard of in my entire life like emdash and jdion but who am I to question the powers of the computer?

Multiple times a day the little teacher function on the game informs me "Ummm, let me show you what you just missed." Or "Great job, but let me show you how you could have earned a few more points" and then goes on to produce a 64-point word I missed while happily scooting together my 14 point word.

Sigh.

And still I play on.

I play it while I'm waiting in the car at stop lights (what? this has to be illegal); I play it when I'm awake late at night and Jonathan wants the lamp off; I play it while I'm eating lunch or waiting for the kettle to boil.

I.love.it.

Note the wins to losses variety below. I have never felt so stupid. I need to find a third grader to play a round (or 10) with me and boost my self-esteem.

In conclusion, this is pretty much The Best $1.99 I have spent ever and I think you should invest too. Power to the phone Scrabble.

Once Upon a Time....

It was four years ago this week that Jonathan's DTS started in Kona, Hawaii. He says he remembers meeting me...or Anne...the first night. I don't remember it, so maybe it was Anne. But I remember calling Cambria before she came, telling Lulu and Naomi the first week that we'd be friends. I remember random weekend hikes and drives.

Sweaty errands all over campus and outrageous outfits from the boutique.

I remember The Great Giveaway of 2009...Naomi gave me her last $5.

I remember learning a lot and being amazed at the way God was moving in all our lives.

Here are some snaps from one of our first field trips. Guys, who knew the future we had in store.

(Linds...no words.)

I, for one, didn't know I'd get to travel the world with so many of you. I didn't know I'd get to come to your weddings or that some of you would come to mine.

I didn't know I'd get to stay at your houses and meet your spouses.

I didn't know that Jonny G. Photography would be permanently a part of me.

But I'm so glad. For you, for all of it.

Thanks for living courageously and taking risks, peeps.

Jono! This was the weekend The Crush happened (on my end.) Look at that face. How could it not?!

And some other randoms from the DTS (I didn't have a camera during these months so I have little documentation.)

Naomi + my bed = commonplace.

Staff hike before the DTS began. Di, Anne-our faces (our souls!) were so innocent. Sigh.

Some outreach pics...really only a couple.

Oops, here are some more photos of the cliff jumping day.

Look at that belly. (Jon's, not mine of course.) Sav battled with the bumper. And lost.

Go, Cale, go.

Jaylene! Remember how we didn't realize your hair was permed for something like two years?! Hahahaha.

Love your face, my dear Cams.

Rachel, have you deleted me from FB yet? I guess I should go look....

And 12 hearts, of course. Love you guys.

And the blessed end...or the beginning.

Just a little bit of sentiment for this Sunday afternoon.

x.

Of Faerie Tales and Pixie Dust.

We are working on a few bigger projects right now-RED, Hello Brantford, a stop motion, something with masks....and they are all my favorites. Especially this series I'm doing on pixies. They are just so fanciful and fun

I think I may collect these "pixie photos" for the rest of my life. Just because. I'm doing a lot of experimentation with this look of whimsy and it's been so lovely.

And now-introducing Holly the Lovely. (Holly, we forgot to find a good fairy name for you!) Any suggestions masses?

Happy weekend!

xx.

I think this one is my Fave.

You know faeries and their wildlife.

Poor cold faerie.

Oh wait, I love this one too.

And this one Love I...

And I looove this last one too.

Hello Brantford: Faces of our City.

We recently got inspired to do a project right here in Brantford, something that recognizes the people of our city. We will be taking our cameras to the streets in the coming months and starting a portrait collection of our fellow Brantfordian residents. We're stoked!

Yesterday was our first attempt and despite a bit of a cold wind, numerous people were willing to give us a couple of minutes of their time.

We also asked everyone what they love about our city. Hello photojournalism; it felt so good to be back in the saddle.

We'll let you meet these fine folks for yourselves.

Dylan C., 22, says he loves the trails, the river and skating downtown in the winter.

Scottie M. says he loves the river and that there are lots of people here in Brantford.

Kayt M. says she likes the nice people.

Arthur E. ("Oz") says he likes "how everyone is friendly. The city adopted me."

We love our city and hope you do too.

More faces coming soon.

Until then-happy weekend!

xx.

While You Were Sleeping, part VII {and other randoms}

It's been awhile since we updated you on the drama of our sleeping times. And it is drama. I've even started keeping a nighttime notes on my phone so I don't forget and so I'll have all the content for my pending book.

Here is a gem from one night last week-

4:30 a.m. Jonathan in a loud whisper: "Who is that?" "Who is that beside me?"

Layne, loud whisper in return: "Baby, it's ME. Remember me?"

Jonathan, loud whisper: "Uh...yeah."

Or last night-

2:14 a.m. Jonathan, clearly annoyed: "You're SO Weird!"

Layne: "Ummm, who is?"

Jonathan: "YOU!!!!"

Guess it's good to know how he really feels. (?)

...and here is a quick snap from our dirty door this morning.

Anddd, last but not least-

I finished reading "Onward" this morning, the book by the CEO of Starbucks. This is my favorite excerpt, a bit where he talks about some of the lessons he's learned along the way.

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don’t embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and overcommunicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. Hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth in the trials and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear and do. Believe.

Yeah!

Word from our Peeps.

One of our teams is starting their book production this week, and our other team is leaving Peru for Thailand. Here is a brief update from the latter. We are so proud of them!

PhotogenX Goes to the Amazon!

Posted on March 28, 2013

 

WE SURVIVED THE AMAZON! One of the hardest weeks of outreach so for was also one of the best and most interesting.

For a week our team went out into the Amazon rain forest and worked on creating the new property for El Arca, an orphanage currently located just outside of Cusco. It’s home to around thirty-five orphans, who now get the chance to live healthy, fun lives in a family environment.

Bud Lenz and his wife Laura founded the orphanage in 2005, and ever since have been taking children into their family and raising them as their own, loving them and caring for them and teaching them how to live life. The Lenz family purchased land in the jungle five years ago and is now in the process of creating an oasis for the orphans of Cusco and Amazon communities.

After doing some research and discovering some really heartbreaking statics about children in Peru, we started to have a heart behind the project. The sad truth is if the children don’t get off the streets and into a loving environment, a lot of them end up involved in prostitution, gangs and drug use. It’s an awful reality.

We had the opportunity to help with the process of creating this new, fresh paradises. Our main job for the week was to weed around the 300 banana trees they have there. The bananas are used as a source of income for the orphanage as well as food. It was extremely hard work. We would go out daily and pull out weeds that in same cases were taller then the banana trees. We used a bucket instead of a toilet, got attacked by bugs, and took jungle showers in the fresh air behind a tarp. We got out of our boxes and worked hard for other people. And honestly, it was fantastic. Even if in the moment I, Cass, felt terrible and felt like my body was going to die, looking back on it now I wouldn’t change a bit. Yes, I had to step out of my comfort zone and get out of my box, but I did it for others in need, and that’s what’s important; that’s what we’re here to do. Currently, our team is working on a promotional video for El Arca. The Lenz family is still in need of long-term and short-term volunteers/staff, as well as financial support. Our video will be out shortly but in the meantime check out their website here.

You can follow their adventures here!

Red: An Essay. {coming soon.}

One of my BIG IDEAS (see below blog entry) is a full-on "RED" themed shoot. I have at list of a dozen "Red" photos I'm going to take over the next couple of weeks.

{Taylor Swift, call me.}

But I think I'll carry this simple-but inspiring-shoot through the rest of this year.

I'm loving this pre-overtime season of reading, dreaming, writing, reading and working on personal shoots. The ideas just keep coming!

More RED photos coming soon.

Happy Tuesday, y'all.