Vote for ME!!!!

This is a shameless request but I was hoping anyone reading this blog will check out this blog...

RoxyandKaiphotography.blogspot.com (You can click on link just to the right of this post!!!)

You can comment on the blog by clicking on the word "COMMENTS" at the very bottom of the post and choosing number 3!!!

I entered in a photography contest and want you to vote for my picture! I did not photograph it (the pic is of my grandparents) but love this image of their wedding day. This is my Mom's parents. They had a tough life. My Mom was only 8 when her Mom became super ill and since they did not know what was wrong with her...they made her stay in a hospital and her three young girls were not allowed to visit and she died soon afterward. My Mom has very few memories of her Mom and I just could not imagine growing up without my Mom.

Anyone who knows my Mom knows how awesome she is. She puts everyone ahead of her needs. She is the most generous giving person you will ever know and if I can be half the Mom to Cassi that she has been to me and my 3 sisters...well...that will exceed every expectation I can have to be the best Mom ever!

So...back to the contest...I am hoping you will all go check out picture number three and vote for me!!! And while you are there...check out her blog. It's good reading and her pictures are cool too!

Thanks in advance!!!

Enjoy!

Cassi's Five Year old Portraits

This was our Christmas Card that year.

This was a small area of purple wall and I love how it turned out!
Cassi has aspirations of being a photographer. Amanda did Cassi's hair for me and helped me with this shoot!
This was photographed in a narrow hallway and the light was beautiful coming down it!

At the lily pond right at sunset.
I wish they made this jacket in adult sizes! She never really was able to wear it except for these pictures.

In my last post I said I would post images of Cassi from Balboa Park. These were taken for her fifth birthday at Spanish Village in Balboa Park. They are one of my very favorite sessions of her. A lot of times, I will take a ton of images and like 3 or 4 of them but this entire day just clicked...for her as a gorgeous model and for me as a photographer. Each image brought out a little part of her personality and each part makes Cassi the unique person she is!

Enjoy!

another random post!

Don't you just love lots of bright colors? They make me happy!!

It's 12:30 Saturday night and I can't sleep. Cassi is out of town with her best friend and they are going to Magic Mountain in the morning. I hope she has a blast. She is going with Joy and her Mom for Joy's birthday. They have been best friends since first grade (they are in third grade)...a very long time in their books!

I know how important best friends can be.

Today, one of my best friends, Nicole, from high school (20 years and counting) called to tell me she is moving to Colorado Springs, CO next weekend. She lived there about 9 years ago and then moved back to San Diego when she divorced her husband.

She has three children and being single and living in San Diego with very little family support around her is just too hard. Everything is so expensive in San Diego and she just can't seem to get ahead.

We don't see each other everyday but when we do it's like no time has passed. We have been through so many things together in our lives and even when we hit rough patches...we know we will be there for each other.

I hung up the phone with her and cried. Maybe because we are going to be so far apart again...but maybe...in a way...I am envious. I wish I could pick up and move to a state that is a little less expensive, a little less crowded, a little friendlier, has less traffic, and more opportunity to get ahead.

At times, I absolutely long to move out of state to somewhere like Colorado or Oregon. But, I have a career here, close friends here, and a fabulous family that truly supports me in all that I do. No physical place can replace those things. We are at home here in San Diego. Our life is here with those who love us. Maybe some day things will change...but right now, Cassi and I are where we belong.

I know I am going to miss her dearly. I immediately called Verizon and had them change my plan to Unlimited Long distance. I checked the airlines to see what airfare will cost.

I know I will get to go visit her and it'll be like no time has passed. 20 years has gone by so quick and I hope she realizes what a constant source of amusement, laughter and fun (and ooohhh...the good stories I could tell!!!) she has been in my life. Thanks Nicole!

After my cry, I had to go to Balboa Park for a photo shoot for Visual Photography. I can't share the images I take for VP because they are the property of the studio. But let me tell you...this family of 7 was gorgeous!!! They were so easy on the eyes and I know they are going to love their session and I can't wait for them to see them.

While we were there, Angela and I played around with my 50mm 1.4 Canon lens that I have absolutely fallen in love with! It is so amazing in low light situations and the shallow depth of field just rocks! The pics on this post were taken while we were wandering around Spanish Village on our way to the car.

If you have never been to Balboa Park, there is an area where some of the local artists have galleries and studios. Each of the doors are painted bright colors and the ground is individually painted pieces of cement all throughout the village. It's a great place to photograph and on a future post I will post Cassi's five year old session from there. They are my favorite session ever!

If you ever get a chance to come to San Diego, find a way to Balboa Park. It is an amazing place with museums, gorgeous architecture and a lot of local color!

I know I have rambled tonight but if you want to rent a good movie, rent Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. It is very moving and inspirational. For everyone that knows me...yes...I cried about 4 times in the movie...I swear I have become a sap since becoming a Mom!

Enjoy!

My beautiful niece!

If you are viewing this post because of TWO PEAS..

Here's my beautiful niece who I wrote about and if she isn't interested or has to work or her beau won't let her-She has gorgeous friends!!!

If you just happen to be checking my blog...I am posting this pic for some friends...but as long as I have Amanda's pic up here...

Isn't she stinkin' adorable? She wanted to know why she didn't have her own post and I told her she had to wait for her birthday just like my other nieces and nephews. But lucky her...I was feeling nice!! She is all dolled up in this image for a wedding she attended that I photographed (HI KIKKI!!!!). I told her someday I want to photograph her in a classic 1920's Hollywood type portrait-Can you just picture it???

On another note...my computer crashed this weekend and I lost absolutely EVERYTHING on my hard drive...all programs, all photos, all IPOD songs, all Favorites links on the internet...ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

WHY am I NOT freaking out? Because I back everything up to an external hard drive. If you don't have one...RUN...don't walk and invest in a back up system...I CAN NOT STRESS this enough!!!

I had over 190 gb of information lost...and I would have been devastated! Do yourself a favor because I am one of those people who think "it will never happen to me"...and it did!!!

You'll thank me someday!!!!!

Random thoughts

The top two images are "Hurley" which is Amanda's dog. The two below this are Shane which is MacKenzie's puppy!

This is going to be a discombobulated post with just some random musings...bear with me!

1. Are these the cutest puppies ever? My sister Diane and her family recently added on these two (Yes...there are two different puppies shown) absolutely stinking adorable Brown Labrador Retrievers to their family. Their names are Shane and Hurley and these two puppies have already found their place in the Cain family household and hearts! Can't wait to see how big their gonna get!! My sister brought them to my Mom's for Easter and since my whole family is tired of the camera being pointed toward them (although they love to see them afterward!), these poor dogs were harassed all day long! I have oodles of pictures of these willing subjects but barely any of the family-Go figure!

2. Easter was fabulous at my Mom's this year. As always, my Mom cooked a delicious meal, the guys hung out downstairs watching sports (Go Padres!!!!), the kids played baseball with wiffle balls in the backyard, and my sisters and I had some good conversations. We also celebrated Debbie and MacKenzie's birthday with a homemade cake Cassi and MacKenzie baked. It was delicious too! Thank you Mom for making our holidays so memorable!

3. If you haven't watched "The Holiday"-Go rent it. It's a good chick flick and Jude Law is eye candy in it.

4. I got a wonderful thank you email from the couple Geri and I photographed a couple of weeks ago (You can see some of their images on an earlier post). She was super gracious, thankful and excited to view her images. I love positive feedback and it validates what I do. I need to pass this on and send a random thank you note to someone thanking them for the extra effort they make on my behalf! If you can think of someone off the top of your head that deserves that"extra" pat on the back...Go for it! It'll make not just them...but you...feel great and want to "pay it forward!"

5. Tonight I was reading "InStyle" Magazine and came across the new Coach perfume. After trying the sample I mentioned to Cassi that I'd love to get this perfume. She told me that she was going to buy it for me with her savings account...(and by the way she asks...How much does that cost?")

Next thing I know...she has taken the ad, gone online, found the website, found the product, signed up to be on their mailing list (password and all!), put the product in the shopping cart and it's too darn bad she doesn't have a debit card in her name linked to her savings account or my perfume would be on it's way here Federal Express. I don't know whether to be touched, horrified, honored, impressed or just plain scared of how much this child of eight years old can do!!!

Is this post random enough yet?

Instead of continuing to babble...I am going to end this post, go to bed and finish reading the absolutely trashy, hilarious novel I'm reading right now. It has kept me up until at least 1:30 the last couple of nights. I love when I can get into a good book like that! It's called "Breathing Room" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and the first person to respond that they want to read it...I'll ship it to you for free when I'm done. (Probably tomorrow night.)

Enjoy!!

The Sound of Music

There is no other movie that moves me like "The Sound of Music". I can't put my finger on why this movie has been my all time favorite since I was a young child. There is no other movie that you can get me to sit through time and time again.

Cassi pointed it out on a tv commercial that it was going to be on television tonight. She knows it is my favorite. I have the dvd and can watch it anytime I want but there is something about it being on the television that makes me change all my plans for a movie night at home.

I recall the first time I saw this movie. My parents took us with family friends to the movie and it's the first movie I remember going to. I remember it was magic! I did not understand what was going on or who Hitler was but I loved the songs and it has been my favorite for over 30 years.

My sisters and I sang the songs constantly. My sisters and I put on plays in the backyard. (Darci always got to be Gretl!!!) We sang the song "So Long Farewell" to the guests at my Moms parties when we were put to bed. As we got older the movie made more sense to me. I fell in love with Captian von Trapp and thought he was the most handsome man ever and still have a crush on him today! The movie, the songs and it's message takes on a different meaning to me
during different stages of my life. It touches different parts of me each time I watch it.
I remember coming across the movie on tv while I was pregnant with Cassi and bawling from start to finish through the beginning credits to the ending.

I still worry when they are hidden behind the tombstones in the cemetery at the abbey, hiding from the Nazi's. Every time, I hope he (Rolf) doesn't find them, and I cheer when the nuns disable the car and they get away. I still cheer every time they escape across the mountain to freedom.

As I write this Cassi is sitting on the couch watching the movie asking all the same questions I asked as a child. She has grown to love it too. Someday I will take her to Salzburg Austria and see for myself where the hills are alive and edelweiss grows.

So Long...Farewell

Happy Easter!

More digital scrapbook pages

Thought I would add a few more of the digital scrapbook pages I created a while ago. I need to start doing them more often!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!!!

My crazy niece MacKenzie!
Notice Cassi in back. Someone teach her to eat ice cream!!!
Pray for us when they are teenagers!
My "evil twin" Diane and her daughter MacKenzie

Her best side...just kidding Mac!

Are you cracking up yet?????


I love this girl!!!!!!!

Whe I think of Mackenzie the word "Character" comes to mind.

Definition of character-
- distinctive qualities: the set of qualities that make somebody or something distinctive, especially somebody's qualities of mind and feeling- positive qualities: qualities that make somebody or something interesting or attractive- reputation: somebody's public reputation

My niece MacKenzie turned 11 on Friday. She is a total crack up to be around and as shown by the pics of her above...there is never a dull moment around her.

She is the youngest of my twin sisters 4 children. I think everyone in my family would agree that she is my sister Diane reincarnated to make Diane pay for all of the awful things she did to my sisters and I when growing up. I call her my evil twin (in jest of course!) and those who know her can only laugh and agree.

I tell the tale of her evilness when she would somehow get us to the ground, sit on top of you so you can't move and then proceed to drop spit out of her mouth until it almost landed on you, and then she would suck it back in her mouth. It was the grossest thing but I remember almost peeing my pants (maybe I did a few times....ssshhhhhh...) laughing while trying to get her off of me. This happened on more than one occasion!!!

She was the name caller. I was called french fry legs (much to my obvious trauma) by her for years and I was truly devastated. Of course, I can laugh today!

The story Diane shares of her torturous nature is when we were growing up we shared a room. After we were sent to bed for the night, on occasion, we would screw around and sometimes end up jumping on the bed. After our parents had come in a few times, we were given the final warning...one more time....we would be spanked.

Of course, I was terrified of getting in trouble but not Diane. She jumped on the bed again but also padded her bottom with a stuffed animal so when she received her spanking...it didn't hurt her. She laughs when she tells the part that I did NOT STUFF my butt and took my spanking on my bottom. She still today thinks it's funny her spanking didn't hurt and I ended up crying that night.

I could go on and on about the ways Diane made my childhood torture but this post is about her child...MacKenzie.

MacKenzie is so much like Diane it is scary. They look alike, act alike and have the same silly streak in them that can have you doubled over with laughter for hours! MacKenzie is an awesome softball player and is always willing to help coach Cassi to become a better player.

Cassi adores her...looks up to her and basically wants to be MacKenzie. They are just like sisters and fight like cats and dogs at times but most times, get along great.

I know Diane and I are destined to have quite a time raising these two when they get into high school but hopefully they continue to share the closeness they have right now and continue to be there for each other in the future .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG MAC...we love you!