Working on my photos...any thoughts?

Beautiful weekend here. We were supposed to get rain on Saturday and I was scheduled to take event photos for our local newspaper however it got rained out, only problem? It never rained that day, lol! So I had to find other thins to photograph. Hmm? Where do I start? Well, first I went to the local VW Club with my family. We have a '66 Split window standard bus that is pretty cool. This was our first time to the newly forming club. It was fun and we all decided to caravan down to the pier to show off the goods. It cracks me up how the old VW's turn people into kids again and how we get many peace signs flashed at us or stories of "way back when, I had one too...". They are real conversation starters!! It was fun. Next I decided that I wanted to try my hand at "urban, rocker" shots of Xander. The little one's get their pics taken ALL the time. Xander gets lost in the shuffle so I wanted to give him so one on one lovin' and make sure that he gets equal opportunity camera time, lol! So because he really wasn't buying in to what I was selling, I got lots of "teen angst", "I can't believe my mom is making me stand in the middle of downtown, I feel stupid" shots, lololol! He was a great sport about it but not overly happy about it at the time. However, this morning he told me that he wanted to do it again only this time in a "cool outfit"! Guess he warmed up to being the center of attention... And last but not least we headed across the street to my dear friend Maureen's house to our annual Oscar party. Everyone is required to come in costume. Christian was a USC football player (much to my chagrin as I cannot stand USC in either state - Carolina and definitely not Southern CA), I am a good old GA girl through and through however I am digressing. Hannah was Posh Spice, Xander was Billy Joe Armstrong the lead singer from Green Day, I was appropriately the "mamarazzi" (someone had to take pictures) and Bob was on a plane to Dallas in the role of HR Exec to a busy building products company! It was a fun night and my neighbor Tawni and I won Oscar's ourselves for having the most nominated winners correctly guessed!! I would like to thank......

Anyway, back to a busy work week. We've got lots going on...ortho appts, boy scouts, PTA mtgs, band practice and the list goes on and on. I know I haven't been updating like I was, I got behind when our family was so sick with that darned flu and upper respiratory junk that seemed to go round and round. I am glad we are off that merry go round, I was done with that ride!!! Anyway, barring some other unexpected stuff getting in the way of my perfectly planned schedule (can you hear me laughing as I write that?) I should be back to updating on a regular basis and posting more photos than ever!!

Much love to all of you and thanks for the updates and comments.
Kimberly (and clan)
XOXOXO

San Clemente VW Bus Club

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

To Write Love on Her Arms

Check out this great website. Most suicides occur every year on February 13th and 14th..... right around Valentines day.

Please be sure to tell someone that you love them today, tomorrow and forever.... http://www.twloha.com/

A glimpse of what the future holds....

Many of you that know Xander is in a band, if you don't by now AND you are reading the blogs daily, then you must for sure live under a rock, lol! Anyway, the boys are getting ready to embark on a whole new adventure. Starting next week, they are going to have a band manager of sorts) coming to the house for 1 hour of their 2 hour practices to teach them, guide them and help them to really turn their work into something performance ready. He is a world class musician, plays multiple instruments and has the credentials to really push the boys along. We are all very excited and look forward to how he can help the band.

They were working on some new music that Xander has been writing last night in our garage (where they always practice) - sorry the lighting isn't so great! You can check out their stuff on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/schecboy. They actually have some REALLY GOOD covers down of Smells Like Teen Spirit from Nirvana, Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney and a few others, we'll try to post those soon. This week, they were just jamming on a few ideas, these are in no way finished works but a really good start.

As a sidenote I should also explain that these are really talented musician kids and we are not "pushing" them into the business. We are working within their parameters and abilities and helping them to pursue a passion that they all share. Xander has played publicly in front of live audiences in solo gigs so he is more experienced than the others however they are all just starting on this journey. As parents, we are all here collectively, to help them pursue this dream. Xander wants to get a degree in music so we are trying to help him channel that creative energy. I have been told that we "push" our children and that is simply the farthest thing from the truth, it actually works in reverse where we try to hold him back however he pushes us to be the person he was meant to be. That is the same for all the boys in this band. They are talented, creative, funny, witty, wise beyound their years and all students at the tops of their class.

So having said that, enjoy....there is plenty more to come from these boys and we will proudly share it here!

Lots of love,
K&B
XOXOXO

Thoughts?

I know it is Thankful Thursday and I will post more on that later today but first I wanted to get your opinion. I am helping Hannah's kindergarten teacher with unique class cards and I took photos of them today and was trying something fun with my new props that I just got over the weekend (hand me downs from another photog!). Let me know what you think about the card.

This obviously is not Hannah, lol. I have better photos where the O is circling their face like a frame but I was taking a quick stab and want feedback. I am trying to decide whether or not to do full color, full B&W or a combo of the two and variations thereof. I could do it all B&W with only the X&O in color??

I'd love your opinion, send it quickly!!!

~K

XOXOXO

Locks of Love update...

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do

We (Hannah and I) took dinner over and hung out with Gina for about an hour last night just chit chatting and she asked me to forward the photos of Hannah's Locks of Love day to her. Hannah was so excited that she got to go in Evan’s room and eat green m&m’s that were Evan’s favorites! It was a fun time however you can see that Gina is hanging right there on the edge. Hannah has some deep cosmic relationship with Ev and I have no idea why however she is very perceptive to the “outside” world, I can tell you of other stories with the paranormal and my daughter. I told Gina that not one evening has gone by since late July that Hannah has not reminded us to include him in our evening prayers. Bob and I try to “breeze” through them some nights but she always makes us back up and add him in. At first we thought it was just a need to connect to someone so young and local however she is still adamant that Evan be included in our prayers no matter how much we try to move past it.

I apologized to Gina last night for feeling like we were outsiders trying to crash in on her journey but for whatever reason Hannah is keeping us connected to them and she was the kindest, most gracious, warm-loving person. She welcomed Hannah with open arms. She and I had met before but this was her first time meeting Hannah so it was very touching.

If you are unfamiliar with Evan's story, you can read all about it in the link above. Gina is having to live every parents worst nightmare of losing a child. She is one of the strongest people I have ever met and Evan's legacy will live on for years to come! Our family is connected to them through water polo and I was also the local paper photographer for the memorial that was held so we do have some history however Hannah had never met the family personally and now she has.

Blog tunes...

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to add new tunes to my playlist below. I seem to have lost my log in and password to the site so I am probably going to have to re-do the entire music list. I apologize for the same 10 songs playing over and over, I promise to get it updated as soon as I can get back into the Project Playlist site.

Thanks for listening!

~K&B
XOXOXO

Hello there strangers...

I am sorry for being away for so long.....well, actually no, I am not, who am I kidding? Blogging has been the last thing on my mind these last few days. I told my cousin Haley this morning that our family is certainly going to be up for an Oscar this year with all the drama that has been ensuing these last few weeks. Goodness, if I hear that one more person in my house has a VIRUS, I think I just might scream, lol! The only thing that hasn't gotten a virus is my computer and if that got one, I think I might just give up and toss in the towel...

Anyway, not to be a downer so we are all on the mend. You'd think I was neurotic or something the way I walk around the house these days with the Clorox wipes and disenfectants in my hand wiping every surface that anyone touches. Do you ever just feel like your house is "sick" sometimes? Well, that is exactly how I feel and I am washing and doing everything in my power to bring calm back to the Grove household. I am not a drama girl and it is exhausting. I don't know how some people just thrive and live off of drama.

So that's why you haven't seen or heard from me in a few days. My camera has been resting much to my chagrin so I think it's high time I pull up my bootstraps, pick myself up, and get busy again there's lots to see and do in this world, wink! I am very excited about a photography mixer that I am going to next weekend. This one will be up in Laguna Beach, just a 5 minute drive from my house but it is with a lot of well seasoned photographers from around the area and I hope to go and learn, learn, learn! I'll be going to another one at the end of March up in Santa Barbara, that one really has my motor kickin' into overdrive! I LOVE Santa Barbara. They also have some great wines in the area so I hope to come back with not only nice photos but some delicious beverages as well!! I'll keep you enlightened as it gets closer...

Now let's see. Have I missed out on anything in the last 2 weeks? Hmmm? Oh, I did get a wonderful surprise from my Dad and Cathy this week. I got the most beautiful photos of them together. I put the framed picture in my family room and I have the others still in my kitchen and will put them around in the next few weeks. They look fantastic and it was such a nice surprise during a week when I really needed a pick me up. I sure do miss them and would love to see them this year. I also have a neices and nephews in Maryland that I am anxious to meet. I need to work out plans to get back there, I miss my family! They are really important in the big scheme of things! So, dad and Cathy, if you ever catch up on the blogs......THANK YOU! I love you and you mean the world to me. The photos are perfect.

I have decided this year, to which I have attested to here on the blogs before, that I am giving up some responsibilities to focus on the family more and to really put my all into my phtography business. With that said, today I stepped down from the PTA Board that I have served on for the last 2 years and will relinquish my position as Secretary at the end of the year. It is bittersweet as I really enjoy serving however I realize that some things are just more important. Now maybe, if I give up about a dozen other things, I might actually have time to focus on those things I have set as priorties this year....baby steps.

I can tell that I haven't written in over a week as I am rambling and don't have a flow to this blog, not even a little bit. So, I should probably close for now. Get my thoughts together and figure out what I REALLY want to say and as you all know, I always have LOTS to say, whether someone wants to hear it or not, that's a different story, LOLOLOL!

Be sure to get out and VOTE today.

Peace,
Kimberly
XOXOXO