the oregon state fair

when i was little, we went to the fair every year - one of those sacred family traditions.
as my brother and i grew up, however, the fair was quickly replaced with 3-a-day football practices, summer babysitting, and other symptoms of impending adulthood. finally, this year, we made it back to the fair for the first time in about a decade. it was smaller than i remembered. funny how that happens.

everything was overpriced.

when i kept chickens i used to have a couple of this breed. they don't look as nice in the barnyard. my dad called them "phyllis diller chickens."

a winner in the dahlia competition...

beacon rock

...one of the most rewarding hikes i know. it's relatively short, with spectacular views, and it's very rarely crowded.
we hiked it a couple weeks ago (august 11, i believe) - the first real hike i've done since my accident. i was pleasantly surprised at how well my foot held up.

another milestone in recovery ... trying to celebrate the little successes.

...

august always seems to descend in a blur of unanticipated activity - some planned, most not. i should be prepared for this by now: every year since we've been married august has almost killed me.

however, i wasn't. i'm still in the throes - but had to post today, on our anniversary. :)

i'll post pics from our hike up beacon rock, trip to see the kids at trout lake, visit to the state fair, birth of our god-daughter, my class in sacramento and our one-day excursion in yosemite later ...
but for now, here we are, married 4 years today! (photo taken on the top of beacon rock - hence the sweatiness and lack of makeup, with a 50mm lens, hence the extreme closeup.)

tim&heidi maternity session

only one month late!
these shots are from the beginning of july. now, the beginning of august, we're still waiting for little girl thomas to make her grand appearance. she's a stubborn one... :)

i love photoshoots with friends - we had so much fun.

see some of these larger/better resolution here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanimaria/

schmapped!

my photo of the japanese gardens was included in this edition of the pdx shmap guide.
w00t! ^_^

here's the link to the page in the guide - click on the photo to see it on my flickr.
http://www.schmap.com/portland/activities_northwest/#r=none&mapview=Map&tab=Places&p=77949&topleft=45.60419,-122.736&bottomright=45.47361,-122.63952&i=77949_35.jpg

coming soon - photos from my awesome downtown shoot with eric and tiffany!

switchfoot

we saw switchfoot live in pdx last friday.

please don't hate me, i would have called you if i had time. all of you, every last one.

joel called me friday afternoon, waking me up from a long needed nap:
him "if you leave right now and meet me downtown we might make it to see switchfoot."
me "[blink] [sniff] who? ..... switchfoot????"
him "they're playing on 6th."
me "where on 6th?"
him "i have no idea. sw 6th. in portland. i think it's outdoors. it starts in 20 minutes."

we made it for about 45min of the concert. they were playing at creation and stopped by for a little show, sponsored by 105.1 "the buzz". the group was abbreviated - 3 members, acoustic feel. there were maybe 100 people there.

i can't give you audio, but i can give you a bit of visual - my first time photographing a concert!

vbs days 4 & 5

i took almost no photos the last 2 days of vbs - too busy putting together the slide show for sunday!

i did manage to catch this lovely shot of gerry making cotton candy, however. he almost set off the fire alarm with the cotton candy machine!

(what you can't see here is all the smoke in the room!)