Flowering bushes

My next door neighbor has two beautiful rhododendrons. They purple flowers are lovely, and the bushes themselves are exceptionally tall - we actually had a landscape architect come by last year to talk to us about our front yard, and she said that they were the largest she'd ever seen! They are almost taking over his front yard. But when they make flowers like this, it's hard to want to cut them back!

Elephants!

A couple of weeks ago we went to see a small circus that was in town for a few days. I'd been wanting to take the kids for the past couple of years, but we weren't sure if their ages were ok. This year we decided to go for it, and despite the size I'm really glad we went! 

My favorite part was the "grand finale" with two trained elephants. They were beautiful, and did some pretty great tricks. I decided to highlight my favorite photos I took of them here.

Hotel decoration

Last Sunday, Evan and I attended the Fairfax County Democrat Committee Roosevelt Dinner at the Hilton in McLean, Va. Prior to the actual dinner was a cocktail hour, and I found a few interesting things in the reception area to photograph.

Anniversary surprise

So, I discovered something tonight: taking quality photographs of jewelry is VERY difficult! Today is our 9 year anniversary, and after going out to lunch, my husband surprised me with something: a new ring!

Fancy photoshoot

I recently saw an idea on Pinterest to have your daughter dress up in your wedding gown, and give her that photo on her wedding day. Wonderful idea! However, my wedding dress is still wrapped up from when it was cleaned and pressed after the wedding, and I haven't had the guts to take it out and risk messing it up yet. So instead, I had the idea to let Natalie dress up in my sister's maid of honor dress from my wedding (which I had shortened a couple of years ago to wear to another event) and take some photos. I am SO happy with how they came out!

Beautiful eyes

I don't really plan to post many photos of my children on here, as I have my family blog for that. However, I do occasionally take artistic photos of them, and I feel that they belong more here than there. While playing this week, I grabbed these two shots of their beautiful eyes.

Spaniel love

My parents have a cocker spaniel named Rizzo who is exceptionally photogenic. Her coat color, her face, her expressions - she makes taking her photo very easy! I love when I have the opportunity to photograph her. This photo was not edited at all - she doesn't really need it!

Some local fauna

While on my walk through our neighborhood two weeks ago, I was lamenting my inability to take decent photos of all of the beautiful birds I saw. Cardinals, blue jays, robins...all rapidly flew away upon my approach, and I unfortunately did not have the ability to lie in wait with my telephoto lens just hoping for a bird to appear. Turns out karma is a bitch, as in my visit to the Paxton campus I stumbled across two rather large birds!

Paxton Barn

Across the street from us is the Paxton Campus, which hosts the Arc of Loudoun. This campus was donated to the town of Leesburg by the Paxton family to primarily serve those with disabilities, whether they be intellectual or physical. There's a very nice preschool located in one of the buildings on the campus - we were about to enroll Natalie there when we got the spot at our top choice (Ida Lee); I'm very happy with our decision to enroll her at Ida Lee but I know she would've done great there as well!

On the campus is an old, run down barn. On my excursion around town two weeks ago, I thought the barn might make a nice photography subject.

Pink dogwoods

In my excursion around Leesburg two weeks ago, I stumbled across a recently-blooming pink dogwood tree. I love dogwoods; we had about 5 white dogwoods lining the driveway of the house I grew up in, and I think they're lovely flowers. Add to that the fact that they are the state flower of Virginia...makes them even better in my estimation. And to find these beautiful pink ones!