Twas a month before Christmas, and we needed a tree.

So we stood in a LONG line, waking up REALLY early.

(See “Waiting in Line” Flip-book here.)

At 8:30 sharp,

we took off running

Through the forest so thick, we had to be quite cunning

For there were hundreds of people all doing the same

In hopes of finding a tree worthy of Christmas’ name.

So before we begin the tale of our tree,

The final product, I first wanted you to see….

And now for the tale our tree longs to tell,

of how into our lives this Christmas it fell.

This tale is not long, but it is quite good.

So sit back with family and enjoy,

because you should.

…………………………………………………….

The morning was cold, as it usually is in November, the month before Christmas begins.

There were hundreds of people all traipsing about as us trees stood tall and looking proud.

And all of a sudden a girl popped out from behind

She was not scary, but the thoughtful kind.

Next came the boy, lost in wonder

He had a small leaf and complex things he did ponder….

The girl just stood in front of me staring

and then decided I was worth sharing.

(And I thought…. my God what IS that she’s wearing?)

She called the two others to look at my leaves

They checked my tag and looked rather pleased.

They poked and they prodded

Heads tilted, the boy nodded.

He mentioned the top of my head was quite green

I had their look of approval, or so it seemed.

So they took my tag and checked my price

It was really quite embarrassing, but they seemed somewhat nice.

They took one last look at me to make sure I was right

because picking the wrong Christmas tree would just not be right.

Looks of love finally appeared on their faces

and suddenly I felt warm and happy in all the right places.

“I’ve been chosen!” I thought as we smiled together

Here’s to cookies, cider, presents, and cold weather!

I have a home this year, a purpose, a job

and an important one at that

one given by God.

We point to the heavens to remind everyone

the true meaning of Christmas…

The birth of God’s son.

He came to this earth to set things right

to show us what true love looks like.

All this to say, I’m excited, you see

So I wish you good tidings… only the best that life brings

For you and your loved ones

and all your friends too

Merry Christmas to all

and God bless you!

…………………………………………………..

THE END

So… in the last post you saw the Davidsons and their planes.

Well… that’s not all we did at the airfield….

Uncle Dick and Aunt Sandy asked Christopher and I if we would like to go for a quick flight in one of their planes… we looked at each other, and without hesitation we both said yes before our anxiety told us other wise. Before we knew it, Christopher was in the front seat with Dick and I was in the back seat with Aunt Sandy and we were off! As we taxi-ed along the runway, Dick explained everything he did… and Christopher, interested in learning, payed close attention…

Excited/”What are we doing?!!!!” face…

Excited/”What are we doing?!!!” face….

And before we could say anything, we were up in the air… JUST LIKE THAT! It was wayyy less dramatic than the 747 take-offs…. for sure! And it was a gorgeous day for flying around Redlands.

We flew over Beaumont, Redlands, and highway 38 up to Big Bear…

And then I noticed this…

I looked closer… and Christopher was FLYING THE PLANE!!!! Dick said, “Hey, why don’t you take the wheel…” Christopher said, ” Uh… okay?”

I guess he decided to adopt Ms. Frizzle’s motto for the day…

Take Chances. Make mistakes. FLY A PLANE!

Here’s a little moment I thought was hilarious… (internal conversation in his head = “OH. MY. GOSH. I’m flying a freakin’ plane!!!”)

Keep your eyes on the road sky!

I’m grateful to say we landed safely on the ground… and everyone flew beautifully.

This was the day Christopher flew a plane with me in it. We lived to tell the story. Everyone’s feeling a little more alive this holiday season.

The End.

I got off the phone with my Aunt Sandy and felt two things…. excitement because I was going to get to finally spend some time with her and Dick…. and nervousness because I had never taken pictures of a plane before. But it ended up being a gorgeous late afternoon in Redlands, California and the airfield was pleasantly calm. This holiday portrait shoot was a little different than most because it had more of a “lifestyle” feel to it… I shot with the intention to capture Dick and Sandy and their lifestyle. Something that Dick and Sandy love more than anything is flying. Dick’s been doing it for years… he even used to commute from Big Bear to Riverside every morning via plane. But more recently they’ve flown to their vacation home in Oregon quite often to get away from the busyness of life. I absolutely loved spending time with them laughing and learning about their planes…. here’s my favorite shots from the afternoon…

I found it quite challenging to fit people and two planes into the pictures, but I think we managed And this is one of my favorite “his and hers” pictures I’ve ever taken….

This is my favorite picture of Dick because…. well… it’s Dick. I love that he was totally surprised when I asked him to stand next to Sandy in a picture… he thought I was there to take pictures of just the planes…

After we played with their planes for a little bit, we headed back to their hanger and Sandy showed me her motorcycle…. I couldn’t resist

And take a look at these SWEET cowgirl boots! She had gotten them for a birthday present the day before the shoot.

The day wouldn’t be complete without some speed racing on the motorcycle along the silent airstrip….

Thanks for letting me catch a glimpse into the life of the Davidsons…. it’s definitely exciting! I loved hanging out with you guys, catching up, and having some fun adventures!!

(Warning: Before I was a photographer, I was a Pre-Medical student majoring in Biology. I loved every second of it and yes, I’m a geek in real life. If science freaks you out, don’t read this post.)

The Oxford American Dictionary states that Entropy is: “A thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness of the system. Also defined as a lack of order or predictability.” In other words…. Entropy = Change.

Something that never fails to freak me out a little bit is the concept of change. Not only is change constant, but it’s something that, if you allow it to happen, can overwhelm and inhibit your life. You’d think that we’d figure it out and adapt since it’s a constant. I guess some people are better at adapting to change than others.

Interesting fact though… Entropy = Fire. The heat lost in fire dissipates and therefore cannot be retrieved or put back into a compact object for further use. I think it’s funny how, of all the outdoor activities, the place all the worries and stresses dissipate most is around the campfire. As I sit around the epitome of change with friends, talking about how much change trips me up in life and recounting all the good times that have since changed, I stare into the fire (change) and it mesmerizes me… it calms me… and all my cares seem to burn up in the dancing flames. (Hopefully you followed that…)

There you have it… I love hate change. I love it because it gives me the chance to become who I want to be. I hate it because change FORCES action whether I’m ready for it or not. So this Thanksgiving season (post-Thanksgiving season) I’m thankful for Entropy… on more than one level. I’m thankful that change has happened this year and I’ve grown so much because of it. The beginning of this year started me off with a bang… I was drop-kicked into being self-employed when the coffee shop I worked at closed for economic reasons. Things changed. My business has changed so much since I first started in August 2008… and I’ve had more opportunities this year than I had ever dreamed. Things changed. I am not who I was last November. Things changed.

I hope this holiday season, you have the chance to take inventory of all the entropy you’ve encountered this year. Remember who you were last November… what your biggest worry was… who the most important person in your life was and why… what your dreams were… and compare it to where you are now. Did your biggest worry get resolved? Who was the most important person in your life and are they still? What changed? What were your dreams last year? Did you take action to make those dreams come true or did you push them off as “unattainable” and let them fade away? What made you choose what you did? And… how can you learn from the change that occurred last year? Are you going to let another whole year pass without pursuing your dreams? I would hope not…. because I’m definitely not going to let that happen in my own life. This year has been HUGE… and I only anticipate that 2010 will only make life even more crazy awesome.

Lastly, for your enjoyment, and since I’ve come to realize a blog post is waaay better with pictures, a little family mini shoot for you: Meet The Urbina family… Jamie and Rachel, and their ridiculously awesome son Wesly.