(pause)

Hello, December!

I imagine that I will not reach any blogging records this month. Some months are like that. This blog is mostly about my creative endeavors and sometimes a little more than that...but this month, I am a worker bee, and I need to spend my extra time just holding everything else together. That is one of the lessons about self-maintenance that I keep learning over and over again. Someday I may know how to do that and still maintain some creative productivity. And when I find that balance, I will probably write about it a lot.

I do miss blogging, though, and I have so many plans for updates in the new year.

Today, because I shared senior photos of my niece, I'm also going to share some senior photos of my nephew.

The two sessions could not have been more different. Justin's photos were taken in a little park across the street from his house, just hours before my plane was scheduled to take me back to Indiana from Houston. We were pressed for time.

There was no clothing change. In fact, he wore shorts, which didn't make it into any photos at all. And, he is at least a foot taller than I am. I think he might be the tallest person in the family. He might be six foot five?


The scenery was the opposite of lush. It was all brown and dead-stick-filled, and the lake in the park had mostly dried up, leaving rusty debris. It wasn't even rustic in a cool way. Shooting around those grounds made the photo session even more challenging!

Now that I look at this, the photo above looks kind of greenish. I should fix that.

And, Justin doesn't even really like to have his picture taken. Or at least, I think he doesn't. I was so thrilled that he let me take his picture at all!


He is the king of goofy faces. He is so hilarious. He is awesome at impressions - seriously talented. (There were many photos even more goofy than this one!)

This week he was accepted to UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz. He hasn't even finished applying at schools. We're all so excited for him!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Rest whenever you feel like you need it - whenever you can. It will help. I promise.