Today's Joy: Glad To Be Back.

Yes, Reader, it's true. After a crazy month and a half of not blogging, I am back! Oh, how I have missed conversing with you! If you're not speaking to me after my prolonged absence, alas, I understand. But if you are, I have much to tell you.

Around mid-September, several circumstances converged to create the perfect blog-halting storm. First, my well-loved position changed dramatically. Where before, I was receiving invoices and handling paperwork for just one of my company's 11 locations, I am now installed at the corporate office--a much greater distance from my quiet, country home--and handling the invoicing for 9 stores. Truth be told, it is a heck of a lot of work but....I think I love it! It's wonderful to be challenged every single day. Of course, with the increased workload and commute, that leaves much less time for my daily chats with you. This I am still ironing out.

Add to that, a sneaky virus which has been waging war on our home network for several weeks now and I was feeling very cut-off from my beloved blog. But a few well-timed queries from loyal readers have given me the hutzpah to make time in my schedule to get back to what I love--sharing this very blessed life with you.

When I set myself this daily joy challenge on Jan 1st, I couldn't have foreseen any of the changes that have taken place this year. Still, I felt bad when circumstances caused me to miss a few (or ALOT) of days. But this challenge, like life, is not about perfection. A perfect record was never the goal here. Finding the joy that's in each day was. And though I may not always post on time or chronologically, I am always looking for that little something each day that I can share about in this wonderful forum. The funny thing is, when you look, you find so much more than you hoped for.

So, dear Reader, I will do my best to bring you joy in a consistent & timely fashion. But, if I miss a few here and there, I'm not going to sweat it. Just know that I'm out there looking for the joy. I hope you are too.

Uncle Raking Hay with the Team

Today's Joy: Living The Dream.
After more than a year of thwarted planning, I finally got the chance, on this beautiful Sunday morning in October, to photograph Uncle fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams: raking the hayfield with his Belgian Draft Team.


A Good Day's Work

I've photographed Uncle & Aunt Chef doing many things with their drafts this year: trail driving, showing in reinsmanship and cross-country classes at local driving shows, even getting dolled up and pulling a circus wagon in the costume class. But I think Uncle's favorite thing to do with the team is work around the farm.


Having a Great Time

Raised and trained on a working Amish farm, Fred & Ginger have adapted beautifully to our much more play-oriented lifestyle. Still, they don't seem to mind putting in the occasional hard day's work. While they plugged along, pulling a non-motorized rake that gathers hay into orderly rows for baling, Uncle spent the whole morning grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help grinning, myself! It was a thoroughly delightful fall day on the farm!

Straight Rows Only!


Uncle Has Been Looking Forward to this All Summer

Making The Turn

Side View

Workin' Horses

Uncle & Aunt Chef Making Sure Everything's in Working Order

Hay on the Nose

Farm Dogs Wrestling

Old Technology Meets New

Tessa, Portrait

Hooligans

An Idyllic Life

Backsides

Today's Joy: A Debt Paid Off.
Waited all weekend, Reader and finally, the car loan company deducted my last truck payment this morning. Hallelujah! My truck is paid off!! It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but once it does, I will be jumping around and waving my arms in a most unseemly way. Can't wait until the title comes in the mail, with my name printed on it! What an incredible feeling to know I did it and now that big Dodge Ram (my dream vehicle) is really all mine. Four years of hard work and making payments have definitely paid off!

Thank you, Lord for bringing me this wonderfully reliable vehicle in the first place and for the good friend who made it possible to purchase it. I feel so blessed!

Today's Joy: A Favorite Sunday Night Ritual.
Spent the day doing the right thing, Reader. Taking care of some things I had put off and getting ready for the week ahead. After working hard all afternoon, I walked in the door and flopped down in a comfy chair just in time to hear Aunt say the magic words: "We're going to Red Ox for dinner."

It's become a tradition over the years that on certain Sunday evenings--after a horse show or a hard day's work, we gather at our favorite local restaurant to enjoy a meal we didn't have to cook and some quality time with friends. It just so happens, we're very blessed to have the perfect family-owned eatery just up the road.

The Red Ox offers a cozy, small town feel while still boasting an excellent menu. Nearly every dish is worth recommending. Great entrees, piping-hot bread, delish garlic mashed potatoes and even a fresh, mild & creamy bleu cheese dressing, that turns a run-of-the-mill salad into something much better. Sunday night means prime rib on special. The toughest choice of the night? Queen's Cut or the 2 1/2-inch thick King Cut. "As rare as you can serve it," Aunt always says. We're definitely a red meat crowd.

Then, as we sip iced tea and the soup & salads arrive, we settle back and recount the day--our successes and adventures, as well as the less-than-successful and the unintentionally hilarious. We laugh and enjoy just being together. At some point, somebody always orders a dirty martini, extra dirty. And somebody else always asks what makes it dirty.

Many of my favorite memories are from Sunday nights at the Red Ox. They are part of the social fabric of my life here. I can't think of a better way to round out a busy weekend or get ready for the week ahead. And as we amble out to the parking lot afterwards, to-go boxes tucked under our arms, there is more laughter and a chorus of Good Nights! These are the moments that come to mind when I think about how nice it is to be home.

K & Her Friends the Night of their First Homecoming Dance

Today's Joy: Being Invited to Take Part in Big Life Moments.
Was very blessed to be invited to shoot photos at the home of my young friend, K, just before her first Homecoming Dance. She looked so lovely with all her friends dressed to the nines and their shy dates milling around in gorgeous suits. Such a special time. It was really a joy to be able to do this for their families.


K & Her Adorable Date, B


SO cute!

Idealized, Having Fun

Couples

Today's Joy: Finding the Book You Pre-ordered Is Already In Your Mailbox, When It Isn't Even Available In Stores Yet.

Reader, as the days tick by and the first week of October draws near, I find myself suddenly going into Puppy Preparation Mode. Usually, the first week in October finds me contemplating apple picking, fall candle scents and the unpacking of my favorite plaid skirts and cozy sweaters. But this year is different.

If all goes well, a litter of adorable Wire-haired Fox Terriers will be born that week, one of them soon to be mine. So, instead of pumpkins, hayrides and tweed jackets, my mind is full of baby gates, vaccination schedules and pet insurance quotes. Though I had The World's Greatest Cocker Spaniel for 13 years, I'm thinking it's been a while since I raised a puppy and I should brush up on my puppy skills.

I've been watching Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer program on TV and I like a lot of what he has to say--common sense, simple ideas for communicating with your dog on his level. So I went to Amazon.com and viola! There was Cesar's latest book: How to Raise the Perfect Dog. The only problem: it wasn't out yet. Darn. I really needed that book. Really wanted to get my hands on all those words of wisdom.

No problem, says Amazon. Would you like to pre-order a copy? It will arrive at your home on the same day the book is available nationwide in book stores.

Heck yeah, says I! I supplied all the necessary info and then sat down to wait two long weeks.....

Fast forward to today, when I come home from work to find my very own brand-new, sparkly (well, not really sparkly) copy of Cesar's advice shoved as far back in the mailbox as the postal carrier can possibly reach. After a ten minute extraction session that involved a can opener and the Jaws of Life, I got the box out of my mailbox and darted into the house to rip open the packaging and admire my new Holy Grail of puppy training.

Ahhhhhhh. Not only is the book as good as I hoped--chalk full of specific instructions and how-to's (as well as how not-to's) but today is the 13th of September. While I am already 2 chapters in, the rest of America must wait until tomorrow to read Cesar's words of wisdom.

I know, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans and who cares anyway about who gets to read the book first. But in this moment, I feel like an insider--I've got the knowledge in my hands. I'm well on my way to being totally prepared for that darling new puppy to arrive.

Of course, there will be things I don't foresee and puppy training plateaus to overcome, even with the best of dogs. In that moment, when the puppy is chewing on my Holy Grail of puppy training or when I can't find that darn passage I'm looking for, it won't matter at all that I was reading about potty-training 8 hours before everyone else. In that moment, I will simply be wishing I had more wee-wee pads.

God bless you, Cesar Millan. And God bless all the charmingly wonderful and lovable puppies in the world. How blessed are we to have them enriching our lives!

Cameo Pendant, Charming Charlie

Today's Joy: Combining Two Things I Love--Photography & Anything Charming Charlie.

Those familiar with my blog will know all about my love affair with the fab jewelry and accessories available at that loveliest of boutiques, Charming Charlie. But if you are new to the wonderment, dear Reader, be forewarned, here there be serious jewelry junkies.

While visiting the Yorktown Center store in Lombard, IL with friends & family to celebrate my birthday last month, we found out about the Fall Fashion's Night Out Photo Contest and I knew I couldn't resist a chance to put all the great jewelry & scarves we bought in front of the camera. If we won, we'd get a $300 gift card to CC. If we didn't, who cares? We had a chance to dress up, look fabulous and have a marvelous time.



V in a gorgeous blue-green scarf, Charming Charlie

So, I called a few friends and they jumped at the chance to get involved. A few days later, we met up in quaint, downtown Geneva, IL near the 3rd Street Shops and had a ball scouting locations to go with our theme and striking a variety of poses. I happily snapped it all. Here are some of my favorite shots from our just-for-fun Charming Charlie Photo Shoot. Thanks to the folks at CC for having fun contests & giving us a chance to show off why we love your fashions so much!

K, wearing jewelry from CC.

Cheetah Boots from CC

V in a Charming Charlie scarf & silver cuff

K in vintage CC jewelry.

K loves those Cheetah boots!

V is all kinds of dramatic in CC accessories

Mmmm, the flowers smell nice & her CC jewelry is fabulous!

We just can't get enough of those CC Cheetah Boots!

V in lovely CC clip-on earrings.

She turns heads wherever she goes...