Coloring: It's good for the soul

It was a few years ago that one of my co-workers let me in on a little secret. While she was going through graduate school she would pull out a coloring book and crayons when she needed to take a break from all the stress. Coloring to de-stress? Brilliant! After she told me I went out and bought one of those big boxes of crayons with 100 and some colors as well as several coloring books. I pulled out the coloring books several times through out college and packed them up and carried them with me through three moves. I've since then lost them in one of my moves and totally forgot what a good friend a box of crayons and a coloring book has been to me when I'm about to pull out all of my hair.

This weekend while visiting Chris' (my fiance) family I walked into his mom's kitchen at one point in the day to find all of his nieces sitting around the kitchen table coloring! Kids still color?! Thank God kids still color! In my opinion, coloring is good for the soul, whether you're young or old. It's fun. It doesn't take much concentration and there really are no rules. You can get a little crazy and color outside the lines or you can use lime green on the sky. My advice if you're stressed, or not: Just color.








Even my fiance knows the value in coloring :)

White As Snow

Do you ever feel like you're on a roller coaster? Up and down, up and down. And like a roller coaster, you think you're going somewhere and fast at that, but end up in the same place you were. That's been the last couple of weeks for me. I've had really good days!...followed by really bad days. This week, I did something I swore I'd never do again, I got my hopes up about something that was really important to me. And of course, as you can guess, the outcome wasn't what I was expecting, or hoping. The past day and a half I've been searching for the positive and trying to find motivation to keep going, even though, I'd think it'd be easier to just give up. Then, the snow came.

I know, I know, some people are cussing the snow for coming, but it's really been a blessing for me. A stress-free day to hang out with the dogs and fiance is exactly what I needed. Even though today's snow didn't solve my problems, it at least gave me a break from the roller coaster ride I was on. So, for all of you on a roller coaster ride too, I hope your snow day comes soon :)

An Ashley, An Alison & A LouLou

Wow...it's been a while. I can't wait to show you all the fun stuff I've been working on, including my wedding stuff! But that will have to wait, until then, let me catch up on last year's work.

It was the last warmest day of 2009. My friend Ashley (whom I've known since elementary school!) and her sister (I remember when she was in kindergarten!) contacted me for sister portraits. Of course, I have a special place for sisters, since I have one - check out her portraits here.

Anyways, Ashley has a child, she's very hairy and likes to talk back but has the cutest little ways. For Christmas, Ashley and Alison wanted to update their portraits to give to their parents. And why not throw LouLou in the pictures to make things really fun?


Aren't they three beautiful ladies?



I loved that Ashley used this picture in her Christmas cards.



LouLou wanted off that leash bad!



No photoshopping on those eyes...all natural!



So, when Ashley first told me about LouLou's "hat", I didn't believe it. She really did buy a hat to keep her ears warm and the first time I saw LouLou with her little pink hat, I died, laughed for a good 20 minutes. We decided to make this one fun, and Ashley and Alison wore hats too. Soo cute! But before we finally got to this picture, it took some work. Check out the out takes...





haha...isn't that great?!





This one was specially done for a christmas gift to their mom and dad.



I absolutely love this one. I caught them in the middle of a laugh...just being themselves. Makes me smile :)


Check back for a sneak peek of the first wedding I shot for 2010! Annnd if you're looking for a photographer for your summer or fall wedding for 2010, shoot me an email: tara@taralilly.com - My pricing will really surprise you!....in a good way of course ;o)