Christmas in July

This is going to be a quick post for a couple of reasons:

1. Cassi would not get off the computer tonight because she had important Barbie business to take care of.

2. It's 12:20am

3. I had a busy day at the park photographing and I am tired tonight...

With that being said....

The above photo is my Christmas Card from last year. I figured since it has been 7 months today since Christmas it was time to share it with my friends. Last year was a really hard year for me around Christmas and I guess I wasn't up to my jolly old self because the Christmas card you see I created on December 24th (actually Christmas day if you get technical about it). It was 1:30 in the morning and I usually at least have a card for my family. So I quickly created this card...printed it on my home printer and made enough copies for my family. I never got around to sending it to my friends because I never made any more copies.

However, I brought one to work after the New Year and Renee has it posted on a wall by her desk with all kinds of staff pictures from throughout the years. It has been hanging there for 6 months at least.

This week, (coincidence????) three of my best friends have commented to me that they never received a Christmas Card from me. And now I feel bad. All three of them sent out their cards like they do every year with gorgeous family/children's pictures on it and I didn't send them one. And now I realize they see the one hung in the studio so they know that 1. I did take the time to make a Christmas card 2. I gave one to the studio and 3. I didn't send them one.

I feel bad. I know all of them are teasing but what if they secretly have a Christmas Card stash of all the Christmas cards I have sent them since Cassi was born? Now there stash is missing the year 2006. Shame on me!!!

So...my three friends (and you know who you are...) look for one in the mail soon and I promise never ever ever to skip the annual card again. Promise!!

On another note:

My oldest sister Debbie celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary today. WOW!!! If you know my family history you realize what a big WOW!!! that actually is. I want to congratulate them on those twenty years and let them know that I think they are wonderful people and great parents and wish them another 20 years of happiness. That's a long time nowadays to stick with my sister...bless you Art!!!!! My brother in law has officially lived with my sister longer than she did with us growing up. He's a saint!!! Seriously Debbie...Congratulations and I love ya both!!!!

Anyways...Merry Christmas to everyone else I missed!!! Only 5 months before the next one!!

Enjoy!

I love these two!!!

I wanted to share this photo booth strip that Cassi and MacKenzie did at the San Diego fair a couple of weeks ago. (Thanks Brittany for scanning it for me...these aren't copyright protected are they??? ) we went to the San Diego Fair with Diane and family and had a blast. I think we ended up buying $100.00 worth of tickets so they could ride the rides and then her and I shopped.

We bought homemade soups, homemade hairclips, watched a few salesmen try to rope us into all the things they talked us into last year (yes...we learned our lesson...the stuff NEVER works as good at home as it does at the fair!!!), and Diane saw a psychic for a tarot card reading that left her speechless. She couldn't tell me what the psychic saw in the cards because then somehow I would change the course of her fate and destiny. I know she definitely seemed to have been dead on with her reading for Diane. Maybe next time I'll try.

The last tarot card reader I saw said I would meet the man of my dreams within three months (this was last December so he must have come for me when I wasn't at home!!!!) but she did impress me with her reading!

Back to the fair...I posted this photo strip because I see these girls everyday together and although they fight...and bicker...and bitch...and moan and groan...and rant about each other...They truly seem to love each other. I have seen them throw punches at each other and the moment seemed like the end of the world...and yet...10 minutes alter it's like nothing happened.

I love these pictures because someday the memories are going to be reminisced about (LOOK Geri!!!) and what they are going to see is two cousins who grew up loving each other so much they fought and teased and pulled hair just like sisters do. I believe that Cassi loves her cousins as she would siblings and we are lucky to have a family that is part of our everyday life!

Now...off to bed for me...I seem to be staying up later and later these nights trying to get things done!

Enjoy!!

Melissa and Linfords album

HI!

I know I have been remiss in writing in my blog but for good reason. My computer decided that it needed to be replaced with a newer model. Of course...she was in the computer hospital for two weeks prior to making this decision. So...here I am today making my first post from my new computer. It has Vista Windows so I am spending a lot of time searching for things but I am sure with time it'll all make sense.

I wanted to share the completed album we had created for Melissa and Linford. I think it truly shows their happiness!
Here's the link for you...

www.redbootdesign.com/galeria/RBD-163-377-V1.pdf

Enjoy!

Hi!

I wanted to post tonight and was too lazy to go into Photoshop and find something to share...yes...I am lazy!!! I promise to post pics soon...PROMISE!!!!! So I thought I would share some random thoughts for with you...

1. I recently photographed a wedding (previous post Melissa and Linford engagement pics and wedding day) Geri and I received a thank you magnet from her that was so sweet, thoughtful and artistically done. I promise to post it this week. She has been sooo gracious and thankful that she gives me confirmation why I have the career I do. I love that she entrusted the most important, special day in her life with Geri and I. THAT IS SOOO HUGE!!! And she has been genuinely the sweetest thing ever! If you happen to be reading this Melissa...Thank you from the bottom of my heart for trusting me to capture your memories for you. I was truly honored!!!

2. Most of you know me well enough to know how much I personally love books. Poor Cassi is subjected to me wandering the book aisles on a weekly basis, going to the library book sales and me ignoring her until I am done getting to the good part. I came across this website www.paperbackswap.com and love it! You post your old books online for others to swap and when someone decides to swap one of yours...you ship it to them and then get credit for a book for yourself. They advertise that they have over a million books. I kept coming up with names of books I wanted and they had most of them.

Once you post 9 books (really easy...type in the ISBN number and everything shows up!) you get a credit for three books. I have already had someone take one of my books and I have used two of my credits for books that would have cost me 12.95 and 16.95. You just pay media mail shipping.

To those interested...I promise you I wouldn't have wasted my time writing about this if I didn't think you would love it!!! For every person you refer to the site who signs up...you also receive a book credit towards a book. I think you type in my name or email address. Cassandme@hotmail.com

And if you love this...I have a online savings account I signed up for that there is no fee for...has a great interest return, really easy to use and if you open one soon...They will give you 25.00 in your account for joining and I get 10.00 in mine as a referral fee. Just thought I'd throw that one in.

Totally dorky and I hate when people email me stuff like this but since you are reading my blog...maybe just maybe...you are a little interested in a referral for free books like I was!!!

3. We adopted two dwarf hamsters tonight from my sister. We originally gave them to my niece as a gift for her birthday two years ago. The three hamsters we have had have died and so it's kind of scary crazy that I have these ones. The joke is I spoil them to death! They get apples, cheese, spinach and almost anything else I feed my guinea pigs. I think mine have died from sheer Ecstasy living with us!

Anyways...their life expectancy is two years and one of them has a nasty cyst growing on it's belly. It doesn't seem to effect him at all but I need to find out if it's causing him any pain. Anyone out there a hamster expert??? I thought about putting an antibiotic ointment on it but if it eats any of it...I'll be burying it under the palm tree in my Mom's backyard along with Mommas, Angel and Josh!!! God bless their all-night-wheel-running souls!!!

MacKenzie named them all sorts of things throughout the years (I think Beavis and Butthead most often!) so we decided to give them proper names tonight. After one of them nipped Cassi tonight...he got named Jaws...the second one...Nemo. So welcome to our family Jaws and Nemo!!!

I totally promise pictures soon!!!! And I have a website of personal work I am working on and should have up soon! The domain name is Cassiandme.com if you want to bookmark it!!!

Enjoy!!!

I am so embarrassed that I haven't taken the time to update my blog! Time seems to get away from me and I don't know where it goes. I am in the middle of prom season, drama at work, All-star tournaments for my niece, preparing for our busy season at work, and endless other tasks and projects that keep me going until late at night.

I spent last week at my sister's house so she could go to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean with her husband. I went from a single Mom of one to a single Mom of 5. Thank God for my Mom helping me out! I thanked God for many things that week but amidst it all...the first few days home were empty. Kind of sad...I know but I just have to go visit and be amongst the chaos again!!!

Anyways...Since it is three minutes to midnight...I am making this short but I promise within one week to update this blog of mine so my three readers will be once again caught up with Cassiandme.

Enjoy your day!!!

Stagecoach Festival

I can not believe I have not blogged in this long! I guess I have been a busy girl! The days are not long enough anymore!

I didn't win the photo contest...came in third place but thanks to everyone who helped me out by voting!!!

I had the opportunity to go to the Stagecoach Festival in Indio California (right outside of Palm Springs) this weekend. It was a woodstock-like festival with an incredible line-up of country stars...young and old.

Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Alan Jackson, and George Strait were part of the lineup that I didn't get to see.

I got to see Kenney Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Sugarland, Gary Allen, Jason Aldean, Pat Green and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Each one of them played for about an hour and was a once in a lifetime event!

There was an eclectic group of people who attended and I think the people watching was the best!

There was:
- a girl who looked like a Nicole Richie wanna be with a fake orange tan that was applied really badly who wore knee high UGG boots in the 90 degree heat
-plenty of skin with a multitude of tattoos and messages written all over their body.
-hysterical tshirts such as, "Hi...you'll do" or "The trailer park called...they want their trash back" or "My Give a Damn's busted" and many many more...
-Grandpas and Grandmas with young grandchildren
-Hot cowboys
-Not so Hot cowboys
-My sister thinks that a woman who sat behind us was a star on HBO's show about a bordello in Las Vegas (I am not sure of the name of the show!)...Anyone know of All American Amy?????
-People for as far as you can see enjoying country music in the desert.

It was so cool!!! I have posted a few pics to show you how cool the venue was and how many people attended...the pictures don't even begin to show how many people were truly there.

I believe the estimate was 50,000 people and there were never any lines for the mixed drinks/ beer or the bathrooms (and yes...we visited both plenty of times throughout the day!!!) and the shows went off on time and everything was perfect!!!

This was the first festival of it's kind in SoCal and hopefully not the last!!!

Enjoy!!
-

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!