You know how some people are home sick? I think I'm vacation sick.

This time last year and the year before, I went to Europe for some amazing vacations. So this year, since I'm postponing Italy until Claire's wedding in October, I'm starting to feel a little restless. Anyone going anywhere? Take me with you!!

I was going through my Italy pictures and decided to post one of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen. Cinque Terra is on the coast of Italy and has five small villages that you walk to. It seemed like the real Italy--not very touristy, full of culture, and of course, lots of wine :) We took a train from Pisa and immediately after a tunnel, we see this. i played with the picture a little bit (#1 because I hadn't learned photoshop yet so all my pictures from Italy were raw, and #2 because I was bored and was procrastinating loading the dishwasher). Hooray for Italy!!

Easter with the family

I hung out in the PLT this past weekend. No pictures of the nephews this weekend! Their cousins had a party on Sunday so they did Easter with the Medellin family. That's ok, hopefully I can catch a soccer game or two in May!

We always start our holidays at the Servantes house. I swear every one of those family members can cook: from Uncle Frank and his brisket, Aunt Fina and her sides, Mona and her desserts, yummy. The easter egg hunt was fun...does anyone know how to take good pictures of kids as their hunting eggs?? I apparently don't.


outtake, but I love it:

I snapped a couple of Julia too. She's too cute:

This is my cousin Maribel and her two kids, Devin and Derek. I will always see Devin as 8 yrs old, even if she just turned 16.



Afterwards my sister and I headed to my grandparent's house to visit with my mom's side of the family. Another easter egg hunt ensued.



This is my cousin Sara's oldest daughter, Rayven. She looks exactly like her mother!


and finally, two quick pics of 6 month old Brody:


good times were had by all :)

Stolen Words

Sometimes I wonder if I have some kind of attention disorder. I just wrote a couple sentences in the report I'm writing, and then immediately without even thinking opened a browser and checked my Google reader. Again. After I've checked it probably 20 times today. Anyway, I came across these words of wisdom and thought I would share a couple of my favorites:

--- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a concensus.

--It’s easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you’ve got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. You need a decent camera, a decent lens, and a light meter. Until you can use those tools consistently and masterfully, don’t spend another dime. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you’ve outgrown your current equipment and you’re being limited by it. There are no magic bullets.

(by Cheryl Jacobs, Flickr portrait group)

Neha and Maya

Neha and I worked together when we were in college at Sam Houston State. She was such a good friend! Thankfully my crazy nosiness paid off and I found her on myspace one day. We hung out last weekend for the first time in 5ish years. It was so much fun! She's still an excellent photographer and she gave me some great tips for shooting. (She also told me I should start this blog =P) She has a daughter, Maya, who is incredibly adorable. She's so funny! It was definitely a good day. Here are the pics I took of Neha and Maya... (my first post--I realize the last few are sized differently but I'm still learning what size to make the pics! Thanks for your help Neha! =P)

Blogging!

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” -Ernest Haas

Very fitting quote to start my blog. I've always used flickr and still will, but I think I'd like to use this to give the stories behind the pics I've been taking. Every day is a learning experience, and in the past year I've added a camera to help me remember the lessons. So here goes...