Expelliarmus!

Count my lucky stars... I got to play Harry Potter yesterday. :)

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"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."
-- Albus Dumbledore

Silly. Happy. Love.

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“Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.”
-- Rose Franken

Photo of the Day: Just Laugh

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"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose."
-- Woody Allen

Beachy Keen

Cloudy with a chance of... marshmellows.

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“My life is like a stroll on the beach...as near to the edge as I can go.”
-- Thoreau

The Gemmer Family: Sneak Peek

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"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."
-- Author Unknown

A Day at the Lake

Photographs help us remember. They tell a story.

This is Ayla, Jeff, Kimbo and Mac's.

A picture really is worth a thousand words. :)

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"I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges."
-- William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay"

Lifestyle Portraiture: Family Time :)

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"A house is not a home until it has a dog."
-- Gerald Durrell

Who Says You Can't Go Back? ;)

My first three years in Washington were spent here. At Woodinville Animal Hospital.

It was one of the hardest jobs I've ever, ever had. It was here that I learned to draw blood, prep for surgery, work an x-ray machine, overcome my aversion for vomit (yuck, I know) and... knit. (Yeah, you heard that last one right. Thanks, Bobbe!) I kissed and snuggled puppies and kittens, rough-housed with energetic dogs, treated cat scratch after cat scratch and, after especially difficult euthanasias, always waited until I got home to cry. After working at WAH, I gained a fresh perspective regarding animal health and, perhaps more importantly, discovered a whole new appreciation for veterinary doctors, technicians and staff. These people work their "tails" off (all right, a little pun intended) and deserve some major props for their skills, hard work, and compassion. After all, it's in their tender care that we trust the health of our beloved pets.

So special thanks to the staff at Woodinville Animal Hospital for a wonderful afternoon of picture-taking, reminiscing, and good coffee. Truth be told, I owe a great debt to this clinic... Because without my time there, I wouldn't be who I am today. :)

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"Lots of people talk to animals.... Not very many listen, though.... That's the problem."
-- Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

In a New Light: Ashley & Adam

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"I like her because she smiles at me and means it."
-- Anonymous

Sneak Peek: Libby

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"Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul."
-- William Hazlitt

Sneak Peek: Hannah & Jamie

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"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."
-- Franklin P. Jones

Christy & Dan: Lifestyle Portraiture

This was such a fun session for me.

Christy and I go way back, and it's hard to believe that it's already been three years since we worked together at the veterinary hospital. Back then, we were both thinking our futures lay in animal science. And now... Well. Not so much.

Amazing how much the trajectory of a life can change in just a few short years, huh?

Christy's life is a whirlwind... She's just about to graduate college and has immediate plans to fly away with the Air Force come summer. Her boyfriend of two years, Dan, has similar aspirations - he's joining up with the Marines in May. Luckily, if things work out, they'll both be stationed near each other in good 'ole California - where their romance can continue to flourish in drier, much sunnier surroundings!

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"But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles
To fall down at your door..."
-- The Proclaimers

Sneak Peek: Christy & Dan :)

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"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."
-- Ingrid Bergman

Sneak Peek: Ashley & Adam :)

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"We loved with a love that was more than love."
-- Edgar Allan Poe

Sneak Peek: Georgie :)

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"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart."
-- Author Unknown

Photo of the Day: "De Bon Augure"

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Prosperous; fortunate; as, auspicious years.

Sneak Peek: Juliana!

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"Music is what feelings sound like."
-- Author Unknown

Sneak Peek: Tess :)

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"A girl should be two things: classy & fabulous."
-- Coco Chanel