Faces of Hope Exhibit

I have been letting the 'ole blog slip by the wayside these last few weeks, but I think it has been for good reasons. I have had a ton going on, but one of the main things I've been doing is preparing for my first ever photography exhibit.(gasp)

I had all of the photographs from the "faces of hope" calendar made into 20 x 24 gallery wrapped canvases so that we could intersperse them with facts about autism and make them into an exhibit. The Isaac Foundation is sponsoring the exhibit to help get their name out there more, but mainly to help increase public awareness about autism and it's ever increasing prevalence. Our hope is to have them on display through out all of Spokane for the remainder of the year. So far, we have them booked through July and are just waiting to hear back from a few other places for confirmation.

Today was the day that I put them on display. They are making their debut exhibition at the Community Building downtown, which is a building that hosts all non-profit organizations, and it is also the building that houses Holland's preschool. It is a gorgeous old building that has been restored and it gets quite a bit of foot traffic. While I was setting up today, at least 5 people stopped and commented on the photos, and then inquired about autism. I was kinda shocked at some of the questions that were asked, but it was neat to be able to answer them and know that this is going to reach a lot of people who seriously have no idea about the facts about autism and just how many people are affected by it.

I left there feeling good. It makes me very happy to know that my photographs can be such an integral part of increasing awareness to our community.

We are going to host an open house in April for Autism Awareness month so I will keep you local blog readers posted of all the details so maybe you can join me in this journey of spreading the word!

Until then, here are a few "sneak peeks":

Belated Valentine Message

Ten for Daddy.

Today is Jonathan's birthday so I asked Holland to come up with things she wanted to say about her daddy, and this is what she came up with....

1. I like it when he lets me have chocolate chip cookies.
2. Daddy is letting me go to the "hotel dogs" with him today for his birthday.
3. He took me to Dutch Brothers yesterday after school.
4. I love to play hide and seek with Daddy.
5. I like it when me and Daddy go out into the flower patch in the summer time and sometimes pick flowers. (I mean the one at Manito Park).
6. I like it when me and Daddy watch TV together.
7. I think he is the greatest Dad in the whole wide world.
8. I want to tell people that my Daddy is greater than a flying eagle.
9. I want to remember that Daddy bought me a pet shop toy one day.
10. My Daddy is really great and he never kills anyone!

And she followed it up with this verbal message:

" XOXOXOXOX "
"I *heart* u".

Project Runway

Holland found this hat earlier this year, and I couldn't pass up buying it. I have a love/hate relationship with it though. Part of me thinks it is ridiculously cute, in a New York/Los Angeles-runway-sort-of-way, and the other part of me thinks its absurdly obnoxious, in a London/Paris-runway-sort-of-way! What do you think? You can be honest! (I do know one thing for sure - her ears and her head have never been so warm!)

Feb 4, 1960

Ted and Ursula went across the state line

for a wedding and a Valentine!

Happy 49th Anniversary!

Ten.

1. Dylan is 20 months old today, and fast approaching the terrible twos! She is definitely trying it on for size, and unfortunately it fits! Basically, this means she is at the instant gratification - i-want-it-and-i-want-it right-now-and-one-second-is-too-long-to-wait phase! This is especially fun at mass on Sundays.

2. We've had temperatures in the high 30's over the last week with lots of doses of sun, and it is amazing how much if feels like Spring! I keep going out without my jacket or coat on because the sun is so deceiving, and then I am quickly jolted back into reality. The high 30's are just a few degrees above freezing. Duh.

3. Jonathan and I have been going to ALL of the home Gonzaga games, and I have been loving it. I totally missed out on that sort of experience with college, and I just love to watch the students. My favorite student fan wears a bright red spiked wig with his face painted royal blue. This would have been soooo up my alley had I been a college student at a place like Gonzaga. We are going to a charity auction next week, and know there are tickets being auctioned off for seats that are two rows behind the Gonzaga team. I am DYING to get those tickets!! (and I secretly wish I had the courage to be all crazy and decked out, but the reality is only the students do that). Bummer.

4. Jonathan and I are starting to look at kindergarten programs for Holland. I'm not sure how we got here so quickly, but we're here. I got teary-eyed when we walked up the sidewalk to our first prospective school, and I had a lump in my throat the whole time we were taking the tour. Silly, I know, but that's just the sap in me. Can you imagine what sort of mess I will be in on her actual first day?

5. I am really eager for Spring to come so I can get outside and do some fun photo shoots. I am not really enjoying the inside the house/black backdrop shots. I want brick walls, peely paint, wheat fields, flower gardens, princess dresses, and radio flyer wagons! Now, I just need some clients who want the same things!

6. Jonathan's birthday is next week on Tuesday. Yikes. I better get planning! (I do have a babysitter arranged, but that's about it).

7. I subscribed to the kids Highlights magazine for Holland, and we got our first issue in the mail this week. I have such fond memories of running across these magazines when I was a kid - at the library, and my doctors dentist's offices. I thought they were the coolest thing! We sat down the other night and went through about 1/2 of our first issue, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. She was really good at the hidden pictures pages, and I showed her the art/poetry publication pages, and she is very excited to send in some of her art work to try and get it published! Speaking of her art work, have you checked out Stacks, lately?

8. We bought tickets to go to Chattanooga in April. We will be gone for 8-9 days the week of Easter. I am looking forward to visiting as a couple of my close girlfriends from high school who are there haven't even met Dylan, yet. That's so crazy to me! We will also go to Franklin, NC and Rabun Gap, Georgia deep in Appalachia to visit some relatives. We are looking forward to the porch time. Front porch, back porch, screened in porch, side porch - we don't care - we'll take them all! There is nothing quite like porch time, especially in Appalachia!


9. I sat down with my sister last weekend and had a 12 hour tutorial on quickbooks and miscellaneous tax stuff with her. I learned so much and realized just how much I don't know about running a business! After we crunched all the numbers, it didn't look too bad - which was very encouraging. I was only "in" business for 3 months and I was totally surprised at how many clients I had in that time. I am looking forward to drumming up more and more business, and making a bigger go of it! So, for all of you Spokanites..... send me your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors, yourselves.....

10. I started going to the YMCA last week for the first time in months and months and months. I was kinda embarrassed to check in because it has been *that* long. I only have about 10 weeks before the trip to Chattanooga and I am really wanting to loose some weight before then. I am hoping that I can start my Bloomsday training with my Moms in Motion team in a few weeks, but I still haven't managed to get my heal thing under control. It is just so infuriating. ARRRRGGGGG. If anyone knows of any end-all-cure-all remedies, please pass them on!

Happy Tuesday!