I gotta finish my ice cream.

fairytales by the polka dot

• I'm exhausted and hyper and fueled on only Greek yogurt and cheerios.

• The photo contest is going well! Thanks so much for entering. : ) I'm already getting super nervous about choosing winners...

• I watched the royal wedding yesterday... recorded, so we could skip all the boring parts. It wasn't something I planned on doing, since I basically know nothing about the royalty. But it was pretty cool. Okay, a couple things: her dress was classy, beautiful, and amazing, and her sister's was stunning as well. I thought it was super lame that William didn't get to watch Kate walk up the aisle. Seriously, that was a fail. Poor guy! That's the best part of the wedding. 

• That wedding made me realize even more that I could never live in England. Hello, they didn't even kiss in the ceremony! What is up with that?! At least they kissed on that balcony, and that was adorable. But still. The entire ceremony was so cold and distant. Sheesh. I betcha that the prince of Mexico would get to kiss his bride during their wedding. If there was a prince of Mexico... which would be pretty awesome, I gotta say.

• Molly is having a giveaway that you don't want to miss.

• I came back from my friend Hadley's house with bright blue nails. Oh yeah.

• Today I'm going to gad about downtown Portland with two of my favorite people--my brother Benjamin and his girl, Rebekah. ♥

• Have you figured out the relevancy of the post title? No? I don't blame ya. Benjamin wandered in here and I asked him what I should call this and he said "I gotta finish my ice cream" as in, he wanted to finish off his Starbucks java chip ice cream that he started at midnight last night. Ice cream that I'm dying to eat, too, but if I do, I'll be more of a shivery, hyper mess than I already am after one bite.* Anyways. Me: "Um, that's what my post should be called?" And he said "totally". So yeah. ;-)

  *caffeine and me? we don't get along very well. even though coffee is one of my favorite things ever. : (

portrait photo contest!

Because portraiture is my passion. And I love people. And I love YOU. And because taking photos of people is often a good stretch when it's easier to take pictures of inanimate objects...

I'm hosting a portrait photography contest. And because I tend to be excessive,and indecisive, and sad when I can't give lots of people cute stuff, I have seven prizes.

sterling silver necklace by kristen's custom creations {also on facebook}

camera strap cover by the polka dot bungalow

t-shirt by bblonski designs

camera strap cover by akacreations3102

necklace by zenbu trading co.

charm by lilbrogoes2college

charm by lilbrogoes2college

rules:

a) you can enter two photos, if you'd like. they must be taken by you.

b) just write a post with your entries included, link up to this post, include the button, and link up below!

c) if you do not have a blog, you can add your entries to the contest flickr group! if you don't have a flickr account, you can email them to me. 

d) your photos just need to include a person. pretty simple.

e) please keep all entries clean and family-friendly!

f) the sixth of may is the last day to enter.

g) entries will be judged by me and my purely unbiased, heartless, and artistic mom and brother. I'm not positive how the prize-awarding will go... I think I'll have a top-five, and then a couple random prizes for some photos that I am emotionally attached to.

I'm good at getting emotionally attached to photos.

Well, emotionally attached to anything.

But anyway.

<a href="http://fashionandmodesty.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd15/riversong14/4button.jpg" /></a>{if you're planning on linking up, please grab this button and put it on your sidebar to help spread the word!}

Jesus wins. always.

On the cross, 

His body was broken

to save a lost world.

At His resurrection,

He conquered death itself.

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know--this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death,because it was not possible for him to be held by it". (Acts 2:22-24) 

today, smile. wear a beautiful dress. rejoice with beautiful, forgiven and saved sinners.      worship the One who gave everything to save your soul. 

 happy resurrection day.

featured beautiful person: m

Remember that "featured beautiful people" series I started?

Yeah. Neither do I. 

But today, I'm featuring M, author the lovely blog, Dis Fromage. Her blog is one of my favorites--her photography captures the beauty in dried up winter scenery, the beauty of a breathless, emerging spring, and my very favorite--the beauty found in every unique smile. 


Another reason I love her blog is because her family is doing one of the things I'm planning to do when I have a family: adopt a baby from Africa. Yep. It's on my bucket list.

Here's a few questions I asked her, with a bunch of her lovely photos. : )

How many siblings do you have? How many are adopted? What has that process been like for you and your family? 

I have an older twin sister, three little brothers and a little sister. The three youngest are adopted from Ethiopia. The process of adopting them was long and hard, but well worth the wait. I can't imagine life without the littles. 

 Do you plan to adopt?

Absolutely! I definitely see my future husband and I adopting from Africa. I was privelidged to travel there to bring little S home, and every day am longing to go back. The country is beautiful and there's nothing like experiencing the beauty of adoption.

this was the first photo she posted of her brand new brother from Africa. when I saw it I nearly burst into tears.
I'm unstable that way. ; )

What do your future plans look like?

I plan on graduating from highschool and going to a local state college. Although I'm not entirely sure as to my major yet, I do hope to somehow incorporate photography into my future career. I know that if I love what I do, I'll never really work a day in my life.

this is one of the few photos that has made me laugh out loud. I want it on my wall to make me happy on bad days.

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

There's so much I love about it. Sharing my photos, writing out my thoughts, getting feedback, and getting to know other bloggers as well.

What's one thing you want to do before you die?

Honestly? I want to be kissed. It sounds so disney-fairy-tale-ish, but I know my first kiss will be one of the highlights of my life.

What inspires you?

I find inspiration through the little things of life. Blue skies, blooming flowers, the natural beauty of nature all around me.

What got you started with photography? What do you enjoy most about it?

I guess it really started back in '09 with my mom's P&S camera. I developed a love for capturing anything from an expression on a face, to the blades of grass in the front yard. Even now, capturing moments is what I enjoy most about photography. I can look back on a day in my past and reflect through the photos I've taken.

Who are some of your heroes?

My parents. They've shaped me into who I am today and have given me a foundation to stand on.

Favorite movie?

The Secret Garden.

Do you have a favorite word?

Hope. Because no matter where I find myself, there is always hope shining through.

If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

Every photographer has his or her own style. Don't be let down if your pictures don't look the same as others'. Your photos are beautiful because they're taken by you. That's why photography is what it is, each photo is unique in its own way.

Be sure and check out her lovely blog. 'Cuz it's just one of those that you need to follow.

sunshiney days, how I love you.

I hadn't pulled out my camera in several days, due to very troublesome rain, rain, and more rain, which was making me go through withdrawal.

So when God gave us an absolutely stunning Sunday, I grabbed my camera and Hadley after the church meal and got me some serious therapy. 

Hadley is a photographer herself, and so there is a terrible lack of pictures of her beautiful face. This is a crying shame in need of remedy, especially since her hair looked so amazing on Sunday.

Every Sunday on our way to and from church, we go past this amazing driveway lined with flowering trees. At springtime, every week when we go past it, we crane our  necks to see the absolutely amazing beauty of all those trees bursting with blooms, all in a row.

And this Sunday, I got to photograph it, for the first time ever.

I thought I was done with blossom photos for the year, since our trees have morphed from fluffy pink clouds to shiny red-leafed trees. Or as Hadley  puts it, "they aren't cherry trees anymore!"

This, I think, is truly the last of them. 

Meet my sister Bethany. This is the one who never lets me take her picture...and when I do, makes the most colossally disturbing and impossible faces ever.

I told her to find her happy place. "Think about Dietrich Bonhoeffer!" (she loves him majorly).

And then, she did smile. But... yeah. Kinda creepy.

I don't know if I can manage without these for a whole year. sigh.

In an attempt to make me stop taking pictures of her, Bethany commandeered my camera.

Yesterday was Bethany's birthday. She turned twenty. There's a million things I could say about her... I could write a book about her crazy idiosyncrasies,  how our personalities are about as opposite as you can get, her mad writing skills, and her absolute devotion to Jesus Christ.

an example of our opposite personalities: I just wanted to die and go to heaven in those pink trees, and Bethany was happier when she found the one with whom she said she had more in common--the dead, black tree stump.

About our eerie telepathic moments, her explanations of complicated concepts and confusing movie plots. And our late, late, late night talks, when I tell her everything, even when I didn't plan on it.

Maybe I'll write that book someday.

But today. all I want to say is: Happy birthday, beautiful and brilliant sister. My life would stink without you. 

And in the words of Christopher Robin:

"If there ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together...there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

"Sabrina"

I watched the '95 version of this movie (with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond) a few months back, and did not care for it. So I was eager to watch the older one, since I love Humphrey Bogart and I love Audrey Hepburn, and thought they would fit the parts beautifully.

Well, I loved this version. It was hysterical. Humphrey Bogart is heartrending in Casablanca; here, he is hilarious. I love his line: "I wish I was dead with my back broken."

Where I felt like the '95 remake was awkward, dragging, and uncomfortable, this version was witty, energetic, and lovely. This is partly because the 90's are just so not my thing. Unfortunately, I was born in the 90's. But I try to forget that. The 50's however... Basically, if anything is not from the 20th century, it should be from the 50's if at all possible. This version had me screaming, yes, screaming with laughter, and diving for the remote to rewind scenes over again.

Audrey Hepburn was born to be in this role--she is perfect as the day-dreaming, Cinderella-esque character. The elderly Duke who took her under his wing in Paris was much preferable to the creepy Frenchman who teaches her the ways of the world in the '95 version.

Sometimes when I'm feeling blue, I look at this picture, and laugh. Just look at that head. The comparison is almost unreal.

William Holden is appropriately charming and lazy and lame as David. If a little old. And, um, his chin was definitely not my favorite.

A lot of the popular photos of Audrey are publicity shots for this movie.

I think this is one of the loveliest of the many captures of Audrey Hepburn. What a beautiful lady she was.

Have you seen both versions, neither, or one? What did you think?