I've been busy editing more photographs from the photo shoots I've done with JMugleston's Exotics. All of these prints are available to purchase through my etsy shop. These creatures are just amazing!



  Cuban Knight Anole

  Bearded Dragons

  California King Snake

  Blue Tongue Skink

  Diamond Back Terrapin

  Tokay Gecko

  Black Throated Tuatara Dragon

  Giant Centipede 

  Asian Forest Scorpion

  Lemon Blast Ball Python

  New Caledonian Giant Gecko or Leachie

  Albino Python

  Trinidad Dwarf Tarantula

Maybe one of these days I will get caught up on posting the many many photo shoots I want to share with you. The following photos, for instance, have been sitting on my computer waiting to be posted since August. But finally I've gotten around to watermarking them and writing this post. My niece through marriage, Jenny, was the mastermind behind this whole shoot. All the locations, the props (a few that aren't featured in this post) and the clothes. I just took the photos for her and fiance Harrison and we had a great time.



Cotton candy is always a great photo prop. And more than that, Jenny had a working cotton candy machine at her wedding, complete with bow tied cotton candy maker.



I'm going to guess that kiss tasted like...cotton candy.
















This was the location of their first date I believe.



Such a gorgeous mural in downtown Provo. Who says there's no style in this college town?

 





Dancing to the music of the friendly neighborhood street musicians.

 









Nothing says 'I love you' quite like a kick in the pants.

 





These next few photos were taken at the UP House in Herriman Utah. It was an extremely blustery day though somehow we managed to catch some shots right as each huge gust of wind would die down. I was also worried about the glaring sun beating down on us, but it's position actually created a more dreamy, magical feel. Not unlike the house itself.








The above picture is Jenny's personal favorite. Harrison was so good at jumping like he was getting carried away by those balloons. And with the gusting winds it wouldn't have surprised me if he wasn't faking it.




Loved doing this photo shoot! Thanks so much for asking me Jenny!

As I said in an earlier post, some parts of Texas are a dust bowl, but some parts are lush and green and in Austin's case, hilly. Ladybird Lake (a glorified river) runs through downtown Austin and is a top spot for recreation, as you can see in the photo below.



I took this while my husband drove over Congress Avenue. You may have heard of it referred to as the bat bridge. It's famous for its colony of over 750,000 bats which sleep under the bridge during the day. Lots of folks come to watch hordes of bats fly off at dusk in search of food. From looking at this picture it's hard to believe the bustling downtown is right behind us.


The Austin skyline itself is very nice. The photo above was taken from near the nature center. This skyline is far more beautiful at night. I've been to Chicago, New York, Baltimore and D.C. and other big cities but so far this one is my favorite at night. I'll have to get a pic of it sometime. It's really beautiful all lit up.




The most amazing sunset I've ever seen was while we were in Austin. This picture does it no justice. The sky was on fire, the clouds silhouetted in blazing orange were unlike anything I had ever seen.




Austin is an awesome place for people watching.It's a city with a fascinating mix of culture and fashion. During our six week stay we rented out a house on the east side. We were told the east side is the "bad side" of town. For us, after having lived in Baltimore, the east side of Austin is just fine. If anything it was more colorful (literally, like buildings everywhere painted bright blues, yellows and pinks) and eclectic than the rest of the city. We spent lots of time downtown and in the suburbs too, exploring and getting a feel for where we might want to settle. Yep, Austin is a pretty cool city.


I mean, where else can you find Mickey Mouse lighting up a cigarette?

Oh yeah. Maybe Portland.

I've been there too. I have to say Austin wins though. More sunshine you know.

So wearing jewelry when you have small children around is not always the best idea.

I decided last night to repair three of my necklaces that have been broken by the tugging of little hands. Now that my youngest is 2 and understands much more about the word NO, maybe we won't have any more mishaps, though I'm not counting on it. After I fixed my necklaces I decided to dig through my bead stash and see if I could find inspiration for creating something else. I often like to grab pretty jewelry making things off the clearance rack at the craft store and see what I can come up with later. So I made two pairs of earrings last night.




 I love these yellow and cream danglers already. I was trying to figure out what to put with the crystal flowers when I found the tear drop glass pearls. I think they have a glamorous vintage feel.


And then these stud based mini dangles were easy, they really didn't need extra adornment. Simple but eye catching.

I haven't made every piece of jewelry I own but it sure is nice to be able to quickly create a piece for an outfit when you can't find anything to buy that really works.

Maybe I'm getting excited too early here, but the beginning of this coming June, we are packing our bags and headed to a new place and a new phase of our life!

Tom and I have had our eyes on Texas for many years now, though it wasn't always that way. I remember both of us once talking about states we'd never live in. The list included Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota - pretty much any state that deals with long and awful winters. Oh and Texas.

At the time neither of us had been to Texas and when I pictured what it must be like there I envisioned flat ground, lots of dust and sparse vegetation. Yeah, there are some areas like that but were we ever surprised when we visited Houston for the first time. My aunt and her family had lived in Houston for a long time and as my grandparents got older they bought a house around the block from them. In September of 2008 they flew our little family out for a visit. They wanted to meet their first great granddaughter. Though short, it was a memorable trip in so many ways and Tom and I fell in love with Houston instantly.  It was almost as lush as Baltimore, where we were living at the time, and free of cold winters. We knew after that trip, with the weather and scenery and housing market looking so great we wanted to end up in Houston or somewhere similar within the state. So last summer when it was time for Tom to accept one or two of the law internships he had applied for we decided on a firm in Houston and a firm in Austin.

We had never been to Austin before but it was no less disappointing than Houston. Nice and green, a little less humid than Houston and very vibrant in general. The rolling green hills around lake Travis and in some areas of Austin reminded us of the gorgeous Maryland countryside. Both Austin and Houston looked like great places to settle down, but after getting offers from both firms, Tom could only accept one. He decided on the firm that would have more Biotech specific patent work. He has his doctorate in biology and really hoped to be able to use that in his work as an attorney. So now we are moving to Austin and so excited to be finally finished with school and to have an actual job. Yes it might get stressful as we start paying back school loans but he's been working toward this for so long. He commented to me the other night that this move will have us feeling like actual grownups. Haha! You would think 12 years of marriage and 4 kids would have made us feel grown up. But he's right in some ways. It will be a big step and one that we are so excited for, though we will certainly miss our families.

I've already started packing. Premature perhaps, but I like to take my time and organize things well instead of just dumping items in boxes in a rush. We are leasing a furnished place for two months while we take some time to house hunt. So hopefully we'll become first time homeowners right away too. So many exciting changes!