{joy of love} class from willette

Happy Monday evening! This post is later than I planned, but I was enjoying my kids too much today to stop and write this out. : )

{brotherly love while brushing their teeth. best friends.}

Maddox and Maggie spent Friday through Sunday at my mom's house this weekend, while Chad and I had our first quiet weekend alone in our own home in probably 3 or 4 years. Long overdue! I had so many projects on my to-do list, but only two were accomplished: cleaning and spending time with Chad.

My number one goal for the weekend was something I named: The Great Toy/Book Purge of 2011. : )

{all the kids' books. 14 stacks. OVERWHELMING.}

Another long overdue activity. Wow. And of course, this is totally something that must be done when the kids are nowhere near coming home to see their things being hauled out. No one wants to be in the middle of that project and see your child(ren) break down in tears from the stress. (Secret: They haven't even noticed that I took away a ton of toys & books from their rooms, their playroom, and from our family room. Just as I suspected.)

The other goal for the weekend with no kids was to RELAX. With Chad. It was a quiet 2-3 days at our home and so peaceful. I missed the noises of the kids, but it was a nice break. I could think, which I can't really say on most days.

Chad and I went out to dinner once by ourselves to start off the weekend and that was much, much needed. It was so relaxed and I was able to share with him some thoughts I've been having as I decide what it is I really want to do regarding the multitude of dreams rushing through my mind at any given moment. He had some wonderfully solid advice, and most importantly what I needed was the encouragement he gave me. We don't usually get to just leisurely talk about ourselves to each other.

It was refreshing for us, but of course we were so happy to see the kids last night when they got home. : )

Now, back to the real reason for my post....

{suorce}

the {joy of love} class from willette designs: photography & more.

Did I mention it's FREE? I love this lady. I love her photos, I love her style, I love how she loves her two kids, I love how she treats her followers (including me) like an old friend when we have a question or a comment. She is amazing! : )

And now she's doing this class. Wheeeeee!

Photography is a hobby for me and I'm always trying to hone my skills on my own. Which can be difficult with limited time to work on it in the daylight hours. I have my hobbyist camera that I love, I have 2 of the 3 lenses that I ultimately want to complete my camera bag, I have my Idiot's book for Canon EOS (Ha!) and I have multiple people online that post tips and tricks to try out on my own. It's so much fun for me and I'm so thankful that I can stay home with my babes all day and practice on them. I'll be interested to see if I make progress by the end of the year. : ) This class is one of my first steps in strengthening my photography skills and exploring my style in photos. I am so excited!!

So, click on the photo above for the {joy of love} class and it will link directly to the information you need to take it yourself.

Willette describes it with these words: "participants will receive daily email prompts/photo assignments with some tutorial/instruction built into the daily email lesson.  it is that easy.  i email you every morning, and you follow the assignment/prompt if you would like.  i will create a public flickr gallery where you can share if you so choose."

Awesome! Join me in this fun project and I'll be posting photos that I capture during the month of February featuring the {joy of love}. : )