More Thanks

November 23, 2010 - PJ Pants
You are the first thing I think of when I get home and are exactly what my legs ordered after a long day of being suffocated by dress pants/nylons/tights.

November 24, 2010 - My iPod
You make the morning commute bearable. There is not one single tolerable morning show to listen to during the 37 minute drive.

November 25, 2010 - Thanksgiving
The night before Thanksgiving we watched a show that debunked everything I thought I knew about this sacred date of gluttony. None the less, I am thankful for this day and all that it brings. Most importantly I am thankful for my supportive, caring, loving, Ranch and hot sauce loving family. If I didn't have them, all of them, I don't know what I would do. I really should donate an entire day of Thanks to each and everyone of them as they are all amazing in their own right, but that would take forever and honestly there are not enough hours in the day, days in the month, months in the year where I could whole heartily put in a blog how much they all mean to me.

November 26, 2010 - Shopping at Home on Black Friday
HA! While some of you are out at 2a.m. fist fighting in parking lots and trampling old ladies over a $40 markdown; I sit at home, in my warm office, snuggled my pj's, hair a mess, sipping coffee while eating scones (okay, I really don't eat scones, but it goes with the scene...) shopping on-line! I didn't go crazy, but I did purchase myself a HOTT new bag of Actions from Totally Rad Actions. Which I love and didn't have to pull any hair to obtain!

November 27, 2010 - Sharpie Fine Point Pens
Ahhh... when you have a good pen you can conquer the world!! Okay, perhaps that is a little dramatic; but am I the only one who thinks their handwriting improves and the words just flow from your fingertips when holding a specifc type pen? Although, come to think about it, I get the same feeling when holding a blue Bic or a blue Paper mate.

November 28, 2010 - Starbucks
Mmmmm, that is me sipping on a Peppermint Mocha Latte from Starbucks. I love this time of year, but somehow it seems a little sweeter while sipping on a PM Latte (no fat, no whip).

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Side note: Have you nominated someone for a FREE photoshoot yet?? If not, send me an e-mail, you can even nominate yourself (psst. I won't tell) :-D
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It has been super duper cold in Maine lately and the worst part is... it will get worse before it gets better. So, to help me cope, I reminisce of my trip to St. Thomas in October, flipping through images like these, make me feel warm, hot, sandy... Actually nope... I am still cold.

Happy Monday Everyone!



Photography Giveaway!

If you 'like' me on facebook, you may have seen a post I put up the other day that read "Everyone deserves a picture of themselves they love!" I truly believe that statement and I hope after I complete a shoot, after all the images are edited, and my clients look at their pictures, at the very least, I hope there is one picture they absolutely love. If this is the case, I have done what I was hired to do, and if they have more than one picture they love then that is just another cherry on the sundae.

I am beginning to realize that what I do with my camera is pretty cool. I had a bride tell me she cried when she saw her images and that made me cry. To think that something I did, could touch someone like that, is an amazing feeling.

Okay, okay, so what are you getting at? I want to give away a FREE family, individual or senior session next year to someone who would never hire someone to take their pictures or could never afford to have them done. What are you giving away exactly? Glad you asked, I am offering a free session, a free 4X6 proof book of the images, and a free CD with the images (over a $200 value). Do you know someone who deserves a FREE session next year? If you answered yes, keep reading!

1) Send me an e-mail with their story aleemanphotography@gmail.com, tell me why they deserve a FREE session.
2) The shoot will take place in Central Maine.
3) Deadline for submissions, December 8, 2010.
4) The submitter of the winning nomination will be notified via e-mail.

This is the first time I have offered something like this and am really excited to see what kind of feedback I get. So get those thinking caps on and send me an e-mail. Feel free to e-mail, link to this post on your facebook, tell everyone you know about this giveaway!!

Happy Friday!

Once Again on the Thanks...

Holy! I am taking this as a note to myself, that if I assign myself an assignment, keep it inside and not share with the world, because obv I will not prevail.

Here I am once again, catching up on the thanks:

November 17, 2010 - Coffee
I really shouldn't have to elaborate on this one as it is self explanatory.

November 18, 2010 - My Hands
Can you imagine for two seconds what life would be like without your hands? How would you type, drive a car, pick food out of your teeth, diaper a baby, eat a sandwich, brush your hair, dial the phone to call your Mom. Wow, sometimes I forget just how lucky I am.

November 19, 2010 - My Car
Ahhh my car. Six years ago it was my drrrrream car. I bought it the first day gas hit $3.00/gallon, I went from a gas guzzling SUV to a little, all-wheel drive, 4 cylinder car, that was/is totally (in my husband's words) nutless. Pfbt! I didn't care, I could fill up on $35 and climb the drive way in the winter! As the years went by, so did the lust for my ride. It was no longer the ride of my eye, as a matter of fact, it's  turning into quite an eye SORE. As my friends and family upgraded to newer, flashier whips, I drudging made another payment on the Ru. Then the A/C went in it two summers ago. Now when your A/C goes, it is because of one of two problems; one involves a small withdrawal from the savings and the other cleans it out! And because my lucky stars are hardly ever in line... mine was the clean out the savings issue. For some odd reason, I feel the need to have some sort of a positive balance in my bank account, I have gone two summers with no A/C. Good thing we live in Maine and only have three days a year when you REALLY need to use the A/C anyway - HA! Anywho, despite sweating out the last two summers, a few rust spots, a defunct trunk latch, rattling heat plate, burnt out dash light, and the peeling tint on the back window, she starts every single day! Yep, before this car the longest I owned a vehicle was 2-3 years, and some of those spent 60% of the time in the garage. (knock on wood) I have never had a major issue with this car and I can still fill the tank for under two Jackson's, which is a good feeling!! Although I loose that feeling as soon as a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee pulls up next to me at a stop light with all that chrome blinding me, or when I see a gorgeous BMW in a parking lot, but then I find my car or the light turns green and I think "HA! NICE PAYMENT SUCKKKAH's" because one of the very best, best, best things about my car is that it is paid forrrrrrrr. And for all that and more, I am thankful.

November 20, 2010 - Come backs
And NO, I am NOT typing about the Back Street Boys or New Kids on the Block, I loveD them both BACK in the day, just not today (or even tomorrow). I am typing about trends; more specifically leggings and headbands. MAN, why did these EVER go out of style? Who made that call, who printed they were no longer cool? I want to talk with them ASAP and ask what the heck were they thinking. I mean come on now, leggings are the perfect accessory that help you look cute, while still being able to run up stairs or sit Indian style in a chair while wearing a dress and headbands, again with the come on now, they turn bad hair days into okay hair days with no effort what so ever.

November 21, 2010 - Wood Heat
Seriously there is nothing like it.

November 22, 2010 - Curiosity
Huh? I know sounds a little odd, but I am thankful for all the wonder in the world. Think about it; if we weren't curious about things, we would never do anything different! Think of all the things you have done because you wondered "what if" or thought "how" or "why".

Curious. I thought of this the other night while reading to my daughter. She is at a great age and is so curious about everything, she loves to read, look at pictures, explore, use her voice, dance, everything to her is so new and everyday she is learning something new.  So while we were reading the phone rang,  I got up to answer it and when I came back into her room I didn't immediately see her, then I did!

 What is she doing?!?! It's hard to see, but in that 'cubby' is where her books are. The shelf is pretty deep and normally she can only grab the ones that are right in the front. Well, if you look closer.

You can see how she piled up her books, used them as a step ladder (if you will) and then pulled herself up on the shelf where she was able to reach the back layer of books. Unbelievable! I can only imagine what her thought process was when she was stacking one book on top of the other. Because the spark of curiosity was lit, she now knows how to use her books as a means to reach more books and because of that 'wonder though' we have a new norm. Now I can only wonder what it will be next!

I know, I still have a few more days to catch up on, but I am tired and it is Thanksgiving tomorrow and it is getting late... so to be continued....

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Maine Family Photography

This was my last family session of 2010, so needless to say it was a bittersweet event. This family was a lot of fun to work with. Mom is the cousin of a good friend of mine from high school, I remember these two kids when they were just little, like toddler little, now they are all grown up and almost in high school, which makes me feel ... old. They were very easy to work with too, it's amazing what you can get a couple tweens to do when bribed with Mt. Dew and Slim Jims :-) Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Maine Children Photography

The other day I photographed these a-dorable children. We all met at a local park, skies were clear (albeit a little too sunny, yes in photography there is such a thing), the air was brisk, and the ground was a tad soggy. As Mom’s and Dad’s gathered in the parking lot with their warm D&D coffee's snuggled in their hands, me, my camera, and eight kids began the quest for family pictures.

In case you don’t notice, and I am going to point it out right now, handsome and beautiful runs in this family. The linage must go back generations and with each new limb on the family tree it only gets better. Some of these children may look familiar as I photographed them earlier this year. I had a hard time picking and choosing which ones to post; so I am warning you there are are a lot of pictures, so grab your own warm D&D, sit back, and enjoy.

Look out little ladies!!

 

Eyeballs and children do not get more gorgeous than these!

My seasoned professionals!

Photographing these two made me wish I had a sister.

For those of you who 'Like' me on facebook, you may recall a post about me tripping over a metal stake AND bench during a recent shoot. Welll, you are looking at the shoot. So what do you do when you trip over a bench, a huge bench, and try to look cool and smile through the pain... you keep snapping pictures and if you are lucky you will get a shot like this. For anyone who doesn't read my blog or doesn't like me on facebook, I am going to tell them that they thought I was so funny, I had them in stitches the entire shoot!

Happy Thursday!

Change

November 17, 2010 - Change

No not what I find in pockets while doing laundry. There are many different forms of change and for the most part change is good. It can be hard to grasp at times and difficult to adjust, but if you believe that everything happens for a reason, change is something to be embraced.

Speaking of change, what do you think of the new blog?

November 16, 2010 - Crock Pots

November 16, 2010 - Today I am thankful for crock pots. There is nothing better than coming home to a dinner that is fully cooked and ready to serve! Now... if only I could teach the crock pot how to do laundry... hummmm :-D

And although this picture has absolutely nothing to do with a crock pot, it is so cute I have to share. Plus his Mom is waiting to see this picture and has threatened our friendship if I don't hurry up and post it. So here it is.

Maine Children Photography - Sneak Peek

What do you get when you have 8 kids + a metal stake + a bench + a photographer who doesn't look where she is going? You get a banged up photographer, laughing kids, and some really good pictures!

Happy Monday!

Catching up on the Thanks!

Just because I have skipped four days of thankfulness, does NOT mean that I have run out of things to be thankful for, it just means... I am busy. SO, in an effort to redeem myself, to myself, and not to fail at my self prescribed challenge, today I am going to list four items of thanks in one post. So sit back and enjoy.

November 11, 2010 - Today I am thankful for all the Veterans and for those currently serving our Country in the homeland and overseas. You risk your life, miss birthdays, holidays, and home cooking for millions of people you don't even know. For that and so much more, I say "THANK YOU!"

November 12, 2010 - I am thankful for my camera. This tool I hold in my hand captures moments in time that would otherwise be forgotten. All the messy dinners, pig roasts, boat parades, flower gardens, silly faces, derby days, Christmas mornings, gosh so many things. Events that we would probably remember, but the faces, objects, and details in the pictures are forever.

November 13, 2010 - My Alarm Clock. Some of you may be thinking, you have lost your mind! And you may be right. But for me, getting up in the morning is the HARDEST thing I do all day. I am pretty sure my body naturally wakes up at 8a and anything before that is almost unbearable. So for this reason, I am thankful for my alarm clock, that I set 30 minutes fast to subliminally make my brain think it is later than it really is. I thank it for going off the same time everyday assuring that I get my beeeehind out of bed so I can get to work on time. Owww, I forgot about the snooze, I am thankful for that too... but that probably deserves a day of its own

November 14, 2010 - My Grandparents! I am very thankful to be able to say I knew both sets of my grandparents. My mother's parents passed away years ago and I miss them both very much. I miss my Memere's hands rubbing my temples as I would fall asleep in her lap, I miss the smell of their kitchen in the morning, I miss my grandfather's love of baseball, his laugh, and trying to figure out what exactly the tattoo on his arm was! I miss a lot about them and that makes me sad, but I am thankful that I have things to miss because that means I knew them.

My father's parents are both still alive. I love them very much and try to visit them whenever I can. I love how my Memere kisses me on both cheeks when I see her and when I leave (we are so fab like that), I love how my Pepere is always genuinely interested in how I am doing, how my husband is doing, and always asks about baby E. They are both so full of life and their social calendar makes mine fold itself up and cower under my refrigerator.

I am lucky to have so many memories of my grandparents, on both sides, as there are so many people out there who don't. Now that I have a daughter, I hope that she is as lucky as I am and will be able to create many memories with her own grandparents.

Happy Sunday!

Sneak Peek - The Babnaw's

Another sneak peek - how gorgeous are all these girls?

Sneak Peek - The Worth's

Here is a sneak peek of a recent session with one of my favoirte little families!

  

  

November 10, 2010 - My Washer & Dryer

November 10, 2010 - My Washer & Dryer

I could not live without this pair. Last winter my washing machine broke, we still don’t know what happened to it, it could have been a $2 part that broke for all we know, but none the less, it broke. So for the first time in my life, with garbage bags of dirty clothes piled in the car, I went to a laundry mat... I know I said it was the first time there, but what I didn’t mention is that it was also my LAST. Seriously, kudos to those of you who 1) can afford to do your laundry there and 2) can stand sitting there watching your laundry dry, I’d pick paint over laundry any day. Not to mention the place had a washing machine ‘malfunction’ that day, which meant during the last cycle on my 6 loads, something went amiss and all the machines had to be reset. This experience alone has made me look at these standard box machines in a whole new light, a rosy light surrounded by an aurora of ahhhhhh!

November 9, 2010 - Pocket Change

November 9, 2010 - Pocket Change

We have all been there; you arrive at home after a 9 hour day at the office, the baby is crying, husband is hungry, phone is ringing, and the real cherry on top of the sundae, you forgot to take something out for supper. So you reach in freezer for the meat that will thaw the fastest, throw it on the counter, rush in the bathroom, but afraid of what your toddler may do in the 48 seconds you are gone, you ask her "Do you want to help Mommy with some laundry" with a high pitch squeal and a super cheese ball smile. To your delight she nods yes and follows you in the bathroom. You open the door and trip over a pile of laundry, you start sorting through the stack(s), lights, darks, towels, oh what the heck, you throw everything in at once. As you are checking your husbands pants pockets you feel... what, what is this?? Could it be?? Could it really, really be?!? YES, It is!! YES! YES! YESS!!

Do you see it?? Yep, it is two dolla, dolla bills y'all! All of a sudden everything is right in the world! You may think, big whoop, it's two bucks. But I say, add in $.45 and Momma's got a Med. Iced French Vanilla Coffee with 1 and 1 in morning. Which makes me one happy little laundry lady.

Oh and don't you love it when you pull out a $5 or a $10, it's like winning on a scratch ticket without the scratching orrrr the trip to the store. Although I have to admit, I have a moral dilemma on anything over $20 and confess to the rightful owner of what I found. Usually I am rewarded for my honesty and get to keep it. Some other laundry ladies I know call my confessions utterly ludicrous, I call it karma.

Happy Wednesday!

November 7, 2010 - Bills

No, No, No, I am not thankful for my bills. As a matter of fact, I would do (almost) anything to get rid of my bills!! But none the less, I have them. I just finished writing out checks and placing stamps on the bills I have to mail. Am I thankful that I have to pay these? No, but today I am thankful that I can pay them; because we all know in a split second things beyond our control can happen, making this task almost impossible. So today I am thankful.

Oh and bonus thanks! I am thankful for my Mom for making us lunch today! Free Food Sunday's is my new favorite thing!! LOL!

Little Love Birds, Maine Photography

Here are some Love Bird shots from last weekend's session. I am not 100% done with the shoot, but I know there is someone who is VERY anxious to see these images. So, because I am in the business of keeping happy clients, I present to you a little Love Bird session.

Susie, I hope your Mom doesn't get mad at me for this... :-P

A-drorable!

My favorite.

Happy Saturday

Maine Family Photography

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing this lovely little family. I work with Grammy and when she heard her daughter, her son-in-law, and grandbaby were coming to Maine in October, she booked me! Her daughter's family lives in North Carolina, so it was a nice treat to be able to photograph them all together. AND they couldn't have picked a better day, the weather was beautiful, everyone was  great in front of the camera, and did I mention it is fall in Maine? Angie, thank you so much for booking me, you have such a beautiful family.

Obviously Gorgeous runs in the family.

Such a proud Grammy

Brylee was so much fun, I could have photographed her all day.

Looks like Momma brought her A-Game!!

One of my favs from the day.

Alright Brylee, be honest... How did I do?

AWESOME!!



November 5, 2010 - TGIF!

Today I am thankful it is Friday... nuff said!

November 4, 2010 - Our Dog
He was our first ‘baby’; the first living, breathing thing that depended on us for everything, from feeding him, loving him, to letting him out to pee. He is always happy to see me when I get home, he lies at my feet while I edit images into the night, long after the rest of the house has fallen asleep, he has loved our human baby since day one and he gives us way more than we could ever give him. For this I am thankful.

Happy Thursday!