Leona Lane

Pretty Trees & Random Thoughts

 

Happy Friday! It has been such a nice week here in Seattle, and I am so glad that the weekend is finally upon us. The weather is awesome here right now, and we are expecting even more sunshine over the weekend. I am so thankful that spring is here at last.

On Monday this week we went to the University of Washington campus to see the cherry blossoms. I have lived in Seattle for seven years now, and I have NEVER been to the campus to see these beautiful trees. Unfortunately they are at the tail end of their glory, and most of the blossoms had already fallen off when we saw them. We did manage to find a few pink trees and I had fun taking a few photos. It was such a beautiful night, and even more beautiful at golden hour!

Lucy's favorite way to get around is to ride on her Dad's shoulders. Of course! She can see everything. She always wears a huge grin on her face when she is held up high like that. My little girl is getting so big! It is unbelievable how fast she is growing.

So how is everything going? I know things have been a bit quiet on the blog lately. We have all been a bit consumed with real life and real jobs. Life around our house has been crazy! I am still getting used to being a new mom, and staying super busy at work as well. This weekend my only plan is to run five miles on Saturday morning, otherwise my days are wide open. Maybe we will head north to the tulip fields? That would be fun and springy!

Before I sign off I thought I would mention that my friend Corlana has shared our family photos on her blog this week! She took them at Richmond beach a couple of weeks ago. She did an amazing job. Check them out here!

Lucy's First Snow Day

Snow arrived in Seattle! This is a big event around here, and coming from a town that gets snow regularly, I am the snow's biggest fan. Of course, even two inches of snow will completely shut down a city like this, will all these hills and lack of snow plows.

I woke up Sunday morning after Lucy had awoken several times the night before. I had slept in the recliner because my sinuses were so clogged that I was getting a major headache. So between the sniffles and taking care of Lucy at midnight, I really had not gotten any sleep. She called for me from her crib at 7 am, and as I got up I noticed the amazing winter white outside my window. No longer was I exhausted or upset. It had snowed! Matt was excited too, and we decided to dress up in our warm clothes and take a little walk to Starbucks. We were so excited for Lucy to experience snow for the first time!

She was fascinated by the white snow, but not by her full-bodied snow suit. Our walk lasted about twenty minutes. But there were some magical moments. Isn't it amazing how this white stuff can transform our world from being cold and dark into being so breathtakingly beautiful. Again, I'm a fan.

My Favorite Photo

Sometimes I find a photo among all the many that I take, that just stands out to me. It reminds me that I love photography. Lately my photography has been SO limited. The days are so short, and the light isn't great. Indoor photos with strange shadows REALLY bother me. I also struggle with the light in my house because I have some very strong yellow lights in my kitchen, and a bright window in the living room that lets in natural light. It's very hard to take great candid photos with these two competing sources.

Even with these challenges, I find that I am so grateful that I find the time to get out my SLR camera. Sometimes the technically imperfect photos turn out to have the best memories. I will tell you why I love the photo above: it tells a story.

-Lucy loves her Bumbo. She will sit in it and watch me cook and watch me eat a meal. This new development in the last two weeks has really been wonderful.

-I love Lucy's little feet. You can tell in this photo that they are quite chubby, and yet so petite. Her ankles are round and so big compared to her feet. 

-My favorite lunch lately has been toast, eggs and avocado. Just add a touch of butter and a little salt and pepper. I love that avocados are in season!

There are also little stories that I see from this photo. Stories that I probably would not remember without writing them down, but they are still fun to see. 

-There's a pink key on my keychain. It's Renae's, and it reminds me that I went to her house that week to feed and give fresh water to her cat.

-That blue plate is my favorite! I have collected blue plates since I was in eighth grade, and I have quite the collection. Matt doesn't like that they don't stack together nicely, but I love that they make photographing my food a lot more fun.

I wanted to share this photo today for two reasons. One, is that I love to use blogging as a way to record a story that I might not otherwise remember. A year from now, looking at only this photo, I may not remember all these little details that I wrote down today. I would probably not scrapbook this photo because I have so many other, better photos of my daughter Lucy. But I'm glad I have this blog platform to record details for the future. My second reason for sharing this photo is to be an inspiration to others to GET OUT THAT CAMERA! And take photos at home. Silly photos are fun. Indoor, imperfect photos are okay. You may not like them right away, but years from now, you will be glad you took them. I also recommend taking a moment to write down memories or stories surrounding your favorite photo. It only takes a minute, and it's totally worth it.   

UNPLUG | Go Take A Hike

I love three day weekends! ...well who doesn't right? On Monday, Joe and I got to go visit Jeremy & Corlana, some good friends of ours who live up in Bellingham. We all wanted to get outside and go for a hike. It was the perfect day for it! The day turned out to be lovely and we were all pretty thrilled about getting some sunlight. 

Remember, my one little word post from earlier this month? I thought this would be the perfect post to introduce a new mini-series here on the blog - all inspired by my word UNPLUG. As the year goes by, I'd like to share at least one idea or example every month on how to unplug and spend some quality time away from 'the screens'. 

Our friends took us to a new trail that they had been wanting to try out. As we drove up to the trailhead, we were rising through the fog as the sunlight was streaming down... it was so surreal and magical. We were a bit obsessed with the sun all day (that happens when you move to the 'wet side'). Harsh sunlight isn't the best for photos but we were too obsessed with the beauty of nature and the sunlight to stop snapping away. 

I really, truely believe that nature is the best artist. So many vibrant colors, muted hues, varied textures. From the tiniest pine cone to a giant mountain, everything is perfect, not a detail overlooked. I'm awed by both the vastnest of the wilderness and intericate details of all the living things. And I can't help but to think how wonderful our Creator is! 

One thing I love about hiking is just being in the woods. Smelling the fresh air, the scent of pine trees, the quiet stillness all about you, birds singing and the sound a plane buzzing by way overhead. Feeling the warmth of a patch of sunlight on your skin. There's something magical about being away from it all.

Hope you enjoyed this little virtual 'hike' and that it inspires you to get outside, away from the screens and enjoy nature! 

P.S. If you haven't noticed, we're happy to have LanaJenae Photography in our Friends & Sponsors section now! You can see more pictures of our hike on her blog here!

Family Photos from Turkey Day

These are our first photos as a family since Lucy was born! This was just an impromptu shoot after Thanksgiving dinner. I glanced out the window and noticed the light was right. I grabbed my sister in law to be behind the camera for the photo of the three of us. I often do this...just set up the camera and hand it over to someone else.

I thought this would also be a perfect time for some family documentation! Scrapbooking, usually a huge priority for me, has been put on the back burner lately, thanks to a little lady who loves to be held during naps. Writing things down is really important. It's always easy to forget those little details that you think you never will forget.
He: Loves to play with Lucy. He is excited that her neck is getting stronger so she can play airplane and ride on his shoulders.

-Working hard at his job and gets home pretty late most nights.

-Running and lifting weights almost every day. Also eating mostly protein! He's trying to be healthy and making me look bad in the process. (ha!)

She: Sleeping better at night. We are swaddling her now which has given us at least a seven hour stetch of sleep each night. One night she slept 8.75 hours! I could hardly believe it.

-Has become very animated and loves to kick and smile and laugh.

-Loves Mom the most. This is wonderful most of the time and terrible some of time (like when I'm gone.)

-Sleeps in her crib at night, but loves to take naps in my arms during the day. I love it too, but then I get absolutely nothing done.

 

Me: Hasn't been to the gym AT ALL, but is running one mile every day (see Instagram!)

-Speaking of Instagram, she probably posts WAY TOO MUCH.

-Started playing Solitaire on her phone (and is addicted.) Interestingly, she was reminded to play Solitaire because she was watching The Office on Netflix.

-Has been working two days a week in November and will start four days a week this month. She loves her job, but it is very, very hard to leave her adorable baby girl at home.