Baby if that's moving up than I'm...

 The past two weeks have been bittersweet for us as we prepare to leave our little stone cottage on the farm. Although in the past year we haven't taken as many photos as you might expect, we've been making a point to capture as many moments as we can since we found out that we are moving.

It is a sad thing for us, feeling as though the expectation of an honest relationship between landlord and tenant is far more difficult to find than it ought to be. We are being wrongfully evicted after we discovered that for the past year, we have been paying for our neighbor's water.

This isn't legal - eviction as a means of retaliation, particularly where a tenant has tried to resolve an issue with utilities, is specifically prohibited in the Landlord Tenant Act of 1951. However, the stress and discomfort of living just a few hundred feet away from people who wouldn't think twice about doing this to a young family with a baby is enough for us to know that we're not welcome here anymore and deplete our desire to stay.

We have had a good year. It was our dream home when we found it and I know that some day we will find another dream home. Right now, we are not sure where we're going. We had hoped to buy a house, but that isn't feasible and we're having a hard time finding an apartment in our price range. It is heartbreaking to leave this beautiful farm in search of the cheapest apartment we can find. We will likely be moving back into a city - something we had hoped to be done with. But throughout all of this, we believe that God knows the plans He has in store for us. Plans to prosper and not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman!

On July 14th, Nathaniel and I had the great honor of photographing the wedding of two old friends, Andy and Lindsey. It felt like a big reunion - so many people were there that I haven't seen in years.

What a beautiful couple and a happy day. We had a great time.

Check out more photos on my facebook page!

To New Beginnings

 To new beginnings - theirs and ours. Sorry I haven't updated recently. We are moving - we don't know where yet. We'll keep you updated as we learn more.

Monkey

I had the pleasure a few days ago of being introduced to the head photographer for Ralph Lauren for years.  Although I don't do a lot of fashion photography, it is always great to meet skilled artists and he is certainly one of the best in his genre.

I am looking forward to several projects coming up in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I am keeping busy here on the homestead. Occasional breaks for monkey photos are an obvious necessity.

Tiny Dancers

When I was three, I took dance lessons a block and a half away from home in a little studio on Marsden. My teacher was Miss Susan. She was a tiny woman with a pixie haircut and a strong Philly accent. Lessons were fun. I was too young to have many lasting memories of that time, but I do remember that I really enjoyed being there and I loved my teacher. Over a decade later, Miss Susan recognized me in a grocery store and stopped me to ask how my sister, my mother and I were doing - she remembered all of our names.

A few years later, my grandmother decided it was an important part of our heritage for my sister and I to learn Irish dance, so we took up classes with Miss Timoney at Blessed Virgin Mary up on Welsh in the Northeast. We performed at libraries, festivals and in the St. Patrick's Day parade (in frigid weather, with runny noses). My grandmother was right, though, I felt a greater connection to my roots, dressed in traditional Irish dance attire and swirling around, feet flying and arms by my sides.

Every week during the summer for a while, a live band played swing down by the Delaware River. If you got there early, they gave free lessons. My mom used to take us, sometimes with friends from church. Listening to that larger-than-life music as the sun faded and we felt the summer breeze coming up from the river, the world was magical. Once, my mom took my sister and I to a night of swing lessons at some place up near Bryn Mawr and an older man asked me if I'd like to jitterbug. I thought it was sweet and accepted - a few weeks later, we saw him on stage at the river winning a dance competition - swirling and flipping his partner through the air, effortlessly. It was amazing!

In high school, my sister discovered contra dance at a folk festival. The next year, at the same festival, someone asked me to dance and although I hadn't the foggiest clue what I was doing, I had fun. I was hooked, overnight. I traveled up and down the east coast going to dance weekends for a while. I couldn't get enough of the lively traditional English and Irish music that filled a room with light-hearted beauty.

Dance has a special place in my heart. Seeing these girls all dressed up for their recital reminded me of how dance at this age represents so much innocence and light in what can be such a dark, sad world. Running around on stage, not yet seasoned tap-dance pros, just having fun - excited to be in their bright, sparkly, poufy dresses. It's just about one of the sweetest things I can think of. It's amazing to me that we can spend our entire adult lives trying to regain the simple happiness and excitement that comes effortlessly to children.

Summertime

Summer is almost here, and with it comes celebration. Multiple weddings, anniversaries (including mine and my husbands!), the excitement of Independence Day fireworks, vacation, sun, all wrapped into one glorious season.

Since moving to Oley, I've been spending a lot more time outdoors. I've enjoyed watching the new life of spring grow and develop, culminating in sweet goslings, hundreds of tadpoles that will be frogs any day now, and tiny little baby bunnies peeping their heads out from fur-lined nests in the yard. Life is sweet.

Every day, now, I stop at the pond for a while to watch the creatures in and around it. I never cease to be amazed by the cycle of creation. The frogs are a particular favorite of mine, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm a froggy fan.