Nicole is an adorable girl I had the pleasure of photographing for her High School Senior portraits.  She is bubbly, sweet,  and full of life.  Being an actress and singer she was extremely easy to photograph since she is used to being in the spotlight.  We met up at an outdoor amphitheater and she began by taking the stage.  I can’t imagine having the poise and confidence that she has when I was in High School!  :)

I love that she brought some of the pieces she is currently working on.

My favorite color fall tree looked just perfect beside her.

Nicole, you are stunning my dear.

“Embrace the moss Nicole.”  ;)  My favorite.

Adorable, with a capitol “A.”

We played around “my house” which is a home for sale that I have been drooling over for months.

Girl can work it…

Thanks Nicole for choosing us!  You were such a pleasure to work with.  I wish you all the best in your future, and all that you do.  :)

P.S. I am announcing the winner on the post before in a moment.  I will add it to that post.  :)

I woke up this morning feeling groggy.  Brett was heading out to run the Thanksgiving day race downtown like he does every year.  He had kindly asked me to go make some coffee when the alarm went off.  I attempted to drag myself out of bed and walk down the stairs.  The kids were already up and screaming- fighting over what they wanted to do, and who was going to do what first.  I ignored it and kept walking towards the coffee pot.  Brett came down and began stretching in the kitchen.  It was silent so I asked, “So what should I post on the blog today for Thanksgiving?”  I heard nothing.  Switching my words up a bit…..”Any ideas of what I could post on the blog today? Maybe something fun?”  Eyes glazed over, I think I received the equivalent of a grunt.  He had “RACE” written on his face.  So, I moved on.  Pouring the water I was thinking, “I am so not in a thankful mood.”

Being an introspective person I typically use this day to remind myself of life’s blessings.  Not only the simple things in life like the air we breath, the legs we walk on, and the food we are blessed to share….but to think deeper.  To think about the journey we have been on, the trials we have been through, the experiences that were extremely hard- these core ingredients that came together to make us who we are today.  Standing at the coffee pot I said to myself, “I have a choice. I choose how I see and live my day.”  So my attitude changed.

Finding the joy in life is not easy to do, but it’s something I’ve been working on. The easiest way for me to be joyful is to begin the day going over my blessings.  Each day we have countless reasons to be thankful, if we just make the choice to open our eyes to look around.

So here is my list from A to Z of things I am thankful for:

A new day.

Brett by my side.

Coffee.

Dancing.

Eating dessert.

Freedom.

God’s grace.

Holding hands.

Intimate conversation.

Joy.

Keepsakes.

Laughing.

Music.

New beginnings.

Old friends.

Painting.

Quiet times.

Random reasons for red wine.

Sanity.

Taking photos.

Unconditional LOVE.

Vision.

Warmth.

Xavier. (for Brett)

Your face.

Zwolinskis  :)

*photo by the wonderful bobbi+mike*

What are you thankful for?  I would love to hear from you.  In fact, it would bring me joy. :)  Leave a comment below telling me what you are thankful for or how you feel blessed, and I will choose one entry to win this cute little letterpress sign.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!  :)

EDIT TO ADD WINNER!!! I had my kids pick a number between 1-20…then I took those 4 numbers and put them on paper.  Then I had Gabe choose one of the four.

Lauren J is the winner!  Lauren, I’ll be sending an email your way!  :)

thanks for sharing your wonderful blessings!!  I completely enjoyed reading them.