The Local Treasure I Found

While going to a few places with my mom one day, we stumbled upon a local coffee place! I had no idea it even existed and as soon as I walked in, I didn't want to leave. The girl at the front counter had a big smile and I felt like I'd just walked into a place I'd been a million times. We talked about coffee and it was just a very comfortable place. The warm colors on the walls and the smell of that amazing coffee aroma just took me over and I had to take pictures. I was so happy I had brought my camera that day :) 

They had coffee, sandwiches, and even WINE....wine... I was definitely at home there lol! I asked to talk pictures and I'm glad I did start taking them at that moment, because it started getting really busy. So I was able to take a few shots of it before everyone started filing in. 

Just a reminder for everyone, please try and stay local. Support these small businesses, the family owned, anything that will help keep your town, or even your city, personal. I feel like these big businesses come in and there's not the same connection you get if you go to a local store with people who might want your area to be just that much closer. So I challenge you all to take some time and explore the local places in your area, you might be surprised in what you find :) 

Sun, oh how you tease...

We were teased. Last weekend was warm and amazing! Sun, cool clouds and I was just in awe of how amazing Oregon looks when everything is green and bright :) I feel like we don't get enough of that up here. I'm writing this while it's raining, hailing and windy outside lol! I'm really excited about the photos I took last weekend, they are kind of random, but some of my favorites are in this bunch. I went on a walk with Fluffy aka Austin, but I prefer Fluff... poor kid lol! We walked down to our river that's literally 2 minutes from my house! At the moment, the water is a little muddy from the rains and everything so I didn't take any of the water much, but on our walk there, I stumbled upon some interesting shots :) 

Clouds Part 3

I was so excited while driving home one evening and looking out to see these clouds! My mom was driving so I was able to roll down the window and take the first one while the car was moving HAHA! I'm surprised it turned out as well as it did, I didn't really care too much about the trees, I just really wanted to show you all how amazing the clouds looked! Thanks to my Lightroom 4, I was able to adjust them enough to look exactly how I saw them :) 

I look at these and I find myself completely captured in these shots, not wanting the moment to go away and ignoring life completely. The beauty I see when I look at these clouds just reminds me of when I was little, spending time at my grandparents house, before my grandma passed away. Innocent days when life wasn't so complicated and days seemed a lot longer. I'm sure we all have moments like those that flash you back to a less complicated time and you find just a moment of peace :)

Stevie's First Steps... Outdoors!

Stevie is my husband's cat, so when he left for his contract job overseas, of course, I brought him with me while I'm staying here with my parents. I moved us up from a busier area in Southern California, so we just never let Stevie outside. Now that we are here in beautiful Oregon, he's seeing how his step brother, George, get's to go outside whenever he wants. So I finally opened the door for him and I was able to take some shots of one of his first outings lol! He is the biggest baby I know HAHA! So I knew it would take him a while to get used to being out there, and this is how he reacted, enjoy!

The Epic Tulip Blog

Ok, so there's nothing too Epic about this blog, it just took me a few days to get all the right ones and get them all pretty :) I love Tulips! They are my favorite flower and they are only around for a few weeks. So I went out a few times and took as many pictures as I could and adjusted them to how I wanted them to look :) 

I moved up to Oregon about 6 years ago, I'm originally from Southern California, and we didn't have Tulips down there! So when I first saw them in person, I fell in love :) I hope you enjoy them!

Where's the Muffin?

I have to start by saying how sad I was about this photo set I took yesterday. I'm still learning about all the buttons and switches on my camera, so when I took my friend, Austin, to go take some photographs I had forgotten something very important. The last time I had used my camera, I had it on my tripod...and had the stabilizer off.. and forgot to turn it back on for the shots I took below. I can't explain to you how disappointed I am in myself! The pictures I took of my friend were really cute and we were just running around a forest having fun, that I didn't check back on the camera to see how most of them turned out. So with that in mind please forgive the blurriness, I now know to double check all my settings before taking any other photographs, especially ones with people I  care about in them.

Now for the fun, this post is a form of "Where's Waldo", but I have nicknamed my friend, Austin about 6 years ago, Fluffy Muffin. HAHA! I can't really explain why I named him that, but it stuck and he's a great sport about it. Throughout the years it's strictly "Fluffy" now, although I do still love just calling him Muffin :D While frolicking through the woods we decided to step off the path and go into the crazy growth area and he came up with the "Where's the Muffin?" idea! HAHA!

The first photo is the best of all my blurry ones that I could find of Fluffy :) You can tell in the photo he's just a sweet kid, outgoing and always up for an adventure! Even though it's kind of blurry, I still think it looks kind of cool :)

Let the games begin!!! Where's the Muffin??

I did take a total of four hidden shots of him, but these two were the only ones that came out well, I hope you had fun!  :D

Puffy Clouds = Cotton Candy

Whenever I see clouds like these, I have some serious craving for cotton candy, and then my teeth start hurting. I've had a lot of dental time, thanks to cotton candy along with other amazing sweets, and it's a shame when you start growing up and you become responsible and stop eating certain things, it's depressing actually. Haha! Yes, yes, I've given up my precious cotton candy, and now I stick to gummy candies :D I'll learn my lesson someday lol