10 on 10

This month's 10 on 10 happened to fall on Scott and I's anniversary. We were on Vashon Island for a story I was working on and had a great time with the girls. We celebrated on Friday night before leaving for the weekend so we had some time for celebration without the kids. The 10th though was pure family time.

The girls started their day with some serious TV watching while Scott and I took our time waking up and reading.

The place we were staying had a great public area with games. Molly and Maggie spent some time playing before we headed off for breakfast. 

We had breakfast at the bakery near our hotel and Molly got really into doing the ABC's on their magnetic scrabble board. It was fun watching her explore her letters. 

We had a long wait for the ferry home but eventually made it before the kids went completely feral. 

The ferry ride home was quick but the kids still managed to make some noise and run out their wiggles. 

We stopped at a burger joint close to the ferry dock for a late lunch. The burgers were great and the girls loved their milk shakes. 

 The chickens were thrilled to have us home since I had locked them up when we left for the weekend. The rest of our day was spent settling back in and getting ready for the week ahead.

Check out Lauren's 10 on 10 photos. They are swoon-worthy!

Time Capsule Lesson Two

For our second lesson in my Time Capsule course, we were assigned a project where we shot only video. I take Molly to ballet lessons on Wednesdays and we always walk there. It's about 7 blocks and it seems to take us hours and hours to get there. The girls both run, ask to be carried and walk with me. Since this is a part of our weekly life, I thought it would be fun to make a time capsule of it.

This project felt a bit easier than my first one where we had to shoot still photos. I think it was easier to find the flow of the project because of the movement. I am however excited for our next project which is combining the two formats (still and video) into one film.

Without further adieu, I present "Going to Ballet":

Going to Ballet from Rebecca Burgess on Vimeo.

Monthly Goal Check-In (March)

Time to check in on my 2016 goals for March! I feel like March flew past and before I knew it, it was April. I made pretty good progress on my 2016 goals and am looking forward to accomplishing more in April! 

1.  Workout 4 times a week - I did much better on exercise in March that I did in February. I really focused and worked out 4 times a week by using ClassPass along with my barre3 membership. I wanted to try out some new exercise studios in an attempt to mix up my workouts. I think I've found my new place which thrills me to no end. I'm ready to mix up my workouts! 

2. Complete Whole30 in January 

3. Keep purging the house with the Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Plan - This month I tackled the kid's bedroom, bathroom and then got behind on the linen closet and office. I'm so pleased with the kid's room. I updated their bedroom with some awesome bedding from the Pillowfort collection at Target. It is the cutest room. 

4. Complete Four (4) Day in the Life Challenges and participate in at least ten 10 on 10's - I did my second Day in the Life Challenge on March 29th and skipped this month's 10 on 10. I am really, really, really happy with my photos from my second Day in the Life Challenge. It was the spur of the moment decision to do it and I'm glad I did. I made a movie of our Day in the Life and I love it! 

5. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I did not make any progress on this goal though I kept putting it on my action list. Oops! 

6. Grow a kick-ass Garden! I made good progress on this front. I had a load of dirt delivered and spent a long time hauling it from the driveway to the new raised beds. I also put some dirt in the chicken coop and purchased the materials to make a new chicken run. My brother also dropped off some tools for me so I can get this coop made. 

7. Read for 15 minutes a day- I have read every single day so far this year! I'll have my March book report out shortly.  

8. Volunteer with two organizations and include the girls - I worked hard on getting my materials together so I can volunteer with the NICU at Swedish First Hill. I had to get vaccination records, shots and other things done. It took way longer than anticipated. The girls and I also purchased Easter Baskets for the YWCA and dropped them off just before Easter. 

9. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - No progress here!

10. Get back to Blogging on a more regular basis and focus more on my writing - Making this happen! 

Garden Talk

A few months ago, I contacted NW Healthy Mama about doing a garden tour of my small garden. She accepted and my post is up today. I hope you enjoy it and her wonderful site.

You can see it here: http://nwhealthymama.com/2016/04/gardening-in-ballard/

Project 52

In my last blog post, I talked about finding my photography inspiration at the Made to Create Retreat. In doing so and while talking to a photographer friend, I decided that I need to practice more. I need to set my camera to manual, look for inspiration and snap more photos. I've decided to start a 52 Week Project in Family Documentary. I'll be snapping one or more photos a week that represent my family.

I'm about four weeks in and already really enjoying the challenge. It's making me look at my family in a different way. Helping me to appreciate them even when they are driving me mad. 

I'll post my photos on Fridays, one by one, with a little bit about what was going on in that moment. You can also see the entire set on Flickr. 

Lessons from a Made to Create Weekend

A few weekends ago, I packed up my camera, borrowed a sleeping bag and headed south toward Gig Harbor for a weekend photography retreat with Made to Create. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I left much later than planned so my drive was almost 2 hours instead of an hour. I put that time to good use by listening to the first half of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. And I HATED Eat, Pray, Love so when I say that you need to read this book, I'm serious.

Once at the camp, I squelched around in the mud, looking for the check-in location. I found everyone and was nicely shuttled with all my stuff (I seriously overpacked) to my cabin. I totally lucked out. I ended up in a cabin with two of the speakers and that was it. We had this huge cabin that fit like 14 people and there were three of us. The two other ladies are friends and had driven up together but in no way made me feel excluded. They were thought provoking, intelligent and inspirational. In fact, their two sessions completely made my weekend. If I had only attended their sessions, I would have found the weekend to be a smashing success.

Friday night was spent getting to know everyone and listening to Kelly Lemon as she shared her story about her life-changing accident and how she photographs amazing photos while working around her physical limitations. I had a mentorship session with her the next day and learned so much about posing clients. I have the worst time telling people how I want them to stand, act, etc for photos without getting too bossy. She helped me find my posing mojo with confidence. I ended up taking some wonderful photos of a lovely engaged couple in her session. Friday night ended up with a campfire and s'mores, made from delicious gluten-free graham crackers.

Saturday morning started with a wonderful yoga session by Honey Flow Yoga. She left us with a booklet for juicy living, full of great tips! We then enjoyed breakfast before heading out to the breakout sessions. I went to Devon Michelle's session on family photography. I learned so much even though I'm not interested in family photography at all. Well, except I am. I am interested in photographing my family and I learned so many tips from Devon. I've been incorporating her patented monkey sound to get Maggie's attention during photo sessions.

After lunch, we had 2 on 1 mentorship sessions. My first one was with Danny Owens. I had just finished shooting a baby food story and showed him my photos. He had very kind words to say and some good critique. We then set up a caramel shot and he gave me some great propping ideas. The black background is just two slate tiles from the hardware store that he brushed with water. I added the greens and the cool scoop and then we dusted the caramels with salt. My other mentorship session was with Kelly Lemon which I covered above.

We then move onto business intensive sessions covering taxes (eek!), social media and business coaching with Esther Swaty. I wanted to take Esther home and sit her down with some coffee, grab a notebook and just listen to her advice. She is seriously in the right career. I was inspired by every single one of her words.

After dinner, we had another business intensive session. I went to Lisa Hepfer's session on commercial photography. I love her enthusiasm for life. I loved her story about her first aviation shoot and how the pilot asked her if she liked photographing aviation. Since it was her first shoot, but he didn't need to know that, she just said, "I'm really excited!" I loved that! She didn't lie. She just didn't offer up the entire story because it didn't matter in the scheme of things. What mattered was that she delivered some amazing shots (and they were amazing, she showed them to us). I was so inspired that night when I went to bed.

Sunday was our last day and I was getting excited about returning home to my family. We had one last session though and it really made my entire weekend. Jessica Uhler spoke about Digital Storytelling and Documentary Photography. Her words really stuck with me. She asked us what brought us to photography. What drove us to take pictures. Why did we do it. I took all this in and after leaving her talk, I came home and took the following photo which speaks to my soul. This is why I take photos. I take photos to remember how little my kids are and yet how big they are getting. I take photos to show how beautiful my life is but also how messy it can be. I take photos to capture a moment in time that is passing by all too quickly. I take photos because it makes my heart soar. 

My Made to Create weekend was just the inspiration I needed. I've been feeling a bit of creative ennui lately and after this weekend, I was left feeling inspired and ready to create more.

The Urban Wild, Cheat Sheets and Daughters Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

Into the Urban Wild - I'm bookmarking this for our Friday Fun Adventures!

The Photographer's Cheat Sheet - I've been taking pictures since I was 5 years old, using manual settings since I was 14 and yet I still get all the aperture, shutter speed, ISO stuff confused in my head if I don't do it often. In an effort to get the technical stuff to stick, I've been using this cheat sheet. I thought it might be helpful to others.

11 Adorable Ways to Welcome a Baby - I had a lot of fun putting this article together. It almost made me want to have another baby. Then I remembered, I don't want another baby. Instead I'm passing along some of the most adorable baby announcements around.

If I Should Have a Daughter This video is so beautiful. I literally cried watching it and thought about what a wonderful gift, Francesca has given her daughter.

Creating Time Capsules

This year has awakened my love for video with my one-second a day project and now with Time Capsules. I'm taking a "Creating Time Capsules" class and finding out how hard a good video is to make! I'm loving every hard lesson though.

Our first assignment was to create a video using only still photos. I decided to document a day at gymnastics for Maggie. I feel like the music I paired it with is perfect for my little, Mag-Pie.

Maggie Flips for Gymnastics from Rebecca Burgess on Vimeo.

Easter Egg Decorating and Traditions

We dyed Easter Eggs today and as with all other endeavors that I've taken on with my children, there was yelling, a huge mess and hopefully some sweet memories. I hard boiled around 24 eggs. I started with 18 but then the girls began eating the eggs and demanding, MOOOORE Egg! So I made more eggs.

Then we sat down to decorate our eggs. Maggie spilled dye immediately all over Molly and herself. Molly dipped her hand into the dye, turning it green and spilling dye on the table. 

They anxiously dipped their eggs and moved onto the next ones before the dye had really sunk in. The simple act of putting the eggs into the dye was enough for them, not the final result. My children are process people. They dig the journey, not the destination. 

There are no photos of Maggie dyeing her eggs because she kept leaving the table and when she was at the table, I was too busy trying to keep her from spilling more dye on my hardwood floors. Maybe next year I should take our egg dyeing activities outside. 

We now have way more hard boiled eggs than I think we'll need for Easter Lunch. I'm making deviled eggs though and I know those will go fast. We're having Scott's Mom and Stepdad over for Easter along with my brother's family and my Mom. The kids are excited to have their cousin over. 

Now I just need to figure out where to safely hide these eggs for an Easter Morning egg hunt and get their Easter Baskets together. This year, I've gone with small tote bags and pretty practical stuff. These kids have too much stuff as it is.

If you are looking for some unique Easter Egg dyeing ideas, I've got 10 clever ones for you over at Seattle Refined. If you are into a more natural form of egg dye, then check out the article I wrote for Seattle Refined last year about Natural Easter Egg Dyeing. 

Easter Eggs, Body Image and Photography Projects Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

10 Clever Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs My latest with Seattle Refined - all about decorating Easter Eggs.

How Asking 5 Questions Allowed Me to To Eat Dinner With My Family I'm incorporating this into life because it is important.

Mom has biggest impact on girls' body image I try to remember this every single day when I tell my girls that they are strong and that their bodies can do anything.

5 Photography Projects You Should Try in 2016 These are sparking my interest!

Love and Sparks  Learning to just let the love for our children grow is huge. We don't need to be the most perfect Mother, just a good Mother to our kids.

I'm headed to the Made to Create Photography Retreat this weekend and I'm so excited! I'm pretty sure I'll come back fired up with new photography ideas, hopefully some answers to my business tax questions and new friendships!

February Book Report

I kept my reading streak alive in February with another four books being read. This reading for at least 15 minutes a day is making me so happy!

My first book was The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood which I actually first started to read when she released them as shorts. I love pretty much anything by Atwood so this was a delight. I like how she takes our world and projects a very possible and very scary world. 

The next book I read was Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall which was a Book Club pick from a blog that I follow. I would never have picked up this book on my own but I'm so glad I read this one. It tells the story of a small town, a little girl, an African-American woman and what is happening at the start of the civil rights movement. This is an amazing book! 

Ian McEwan always thrills me with his books and Sweet Tooth did not disappoint. The book focuses on Cambridge student Serena Frome's entrance into the MI5 in 1972 and her love affair with promising young writer Tom Haley.  As with McEwan's other books, the true story is never revealed until the very last page. 

My final book was The Good Girl by Mary Kubica which was also my first audible book. I listened to it every day when I did the dishes (which I hate doing). I actually began looking forward to doing the dishes every night because it meant that I was able to hear more of my book. This book is about a kidnapping gone wrong and who is affected and how. The ending on this one blew me away. I was not expecting it at all. 

What are your favorite audible books? I need more! I'm addicted to them now. 

Gas Explosion Levels Seattle Neighborhood Businesses (Wednesday Web Links)

Early this morning. a gas leak caused an explosion in a neighborhood near my house. The businesses that were destroyed were ones that I frequented often. The intersection is one that I drive through at least 2-3 times a day. Luckily no one was seriously hurt but clean-up will take months and hopefully the businesses can recover. Today's Wednesday Links are all about what happened early this morning. People said they could feel the explosion up to 8 miles away. I'm about a 1 1/2 miles away and slept through the whole thing.

A Greenwood Regular Remembers Mr. Gyros and Neptune Coffee

How to help Greenwood Businesses Destroyed/Hurt by Explosion

Explosion Rocks Seattle Neighborhood

Greenwood Gas Explosion Levels Mr. Gyros, Neptune Coffee

Monthly Goal Check-In (February)

I'm a few days late checking in on my 2016 goals for February. We've had a bout of hand, foot and mouth hit the youngest child and she has been keeping us on our toes!

I made excellent progress on my 2016 goals even though it was a shorter month. It just meant I had to focus more.

1.  Workout 4 times a week - February was a complete exercise bust for me. I averaged about twice a week but I decided to try out ClassPass along with barre3 so I'm hoping it energizes me in March. 

2. Complete Whole30 in January 

3. Keep purging the house with the Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Plan - I tackled the Living Room, Dining Room, Master Bedroom and Master Bedroom Closet in February. I donated, purged and cleaned a lot. This month I'm moving on to the kid's room, bathroom, linen closet and *groan* the office. Look for a separate post on this goal soon. 

4. Complete Four (4) Day in the Life Challenges and participate in at least ten 10 on 10's - I did my first 1 first Day in the Life Challenge on February 14th and my second 10 on 10 on February 10th. I figured out that I can take photos on my camera and then use the camera's wi-fi to send them to my photo for Instagram posting!

5. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I made some excellent progress on this goal. I completed the research for my blocking report and knit three of the 16 swatches. 

6. Grow a kick-ass Garden! I made some progress on this front too. I brought in some dirt but need more and planted some carrots and peas. 

7. Read for 15 minutes a day- I have read every single day so far this year! I'll have my February book report out shortly.  

8. Volunteer with two organizations and include the girls - The girls and I volunteered at Mary's Place and it was a great experience. We'll be back soon. I'm also getting ready to volunteer with the NICU at Swedish First Hill as their photographer and am attending a PEPS volunteer luncheon event next week. 

9. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - No progress here!

10. Get back to Blogging on a more regular basis and focus more on my writing - Working on this!

Balance, Knitting and Photos Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

The Great Myth of Balance because you can't have it all, at the same time. I like how this author talks about seasons of our lives. It is true, for everything there is a season.

Gorgeous Knit Produce Seriously this stuff looks good enough to eat.

50 Photos to Take with Your Children Adding this to my list of things to do with the kids!

Children's Developmental Stages This is so useful!

Girl Scout Dog (& Chicken) Cookies

**EDIT** I am in the TOP 5 for the WW Girl Scout DOG Cookie Contest for this recipe! I'd love your vote! Vote HERE: http://www.girlscoutsww.org/en/cookies/about-girl-scout-cookies/girl-scout-cookie-recipe-contest.html

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington hold a recipe contest every year. I've been participating in it for the past few years and love the yearly challenge. I may not have placed in the top 5 this year but I did get in the top 10 which is HUGE. I was thrilled when they announced that this year they would also be holding a DOG cookie contest. Before I met Scott, I was a crazy dog-sitter. I watched everyone's dogs. I LOVED dog sitting and while I don't currently have a dog, I am plotting for when we get a dog. Scott is such a kind man and has slowly watched me fill up his life with critters. We now have chickens that he was dead set against because I convinced him that it was a good idea. He is still not 100% convinced by I know that he likes them. He even takes care of them for me when I'm out of town or not home to put them away. He asks about them every day and loves eating their eggs. 

So when I decided to take on this dog cookie challenge, I knew I wanted to make something that could be eaten by the critters around my house which meant I made a cookie that works for both dogs and chickens. Dogs and Chickens both love peanut butter and pumpkin which made the base of my cookie along with oats. My chickens go nuts for oats. As I was thinking about this recipe, I was inspired by the Rah-Rah Raisins which are so good! But remember, no raisins for our canine friends. I decided the string the cookies up because honestly my chickens have gotten a bit bored over the winter. They've spent many a day in their coop looking out at the drenching rain and clucking in misery. 

These cookies not only provided some great nutrition for my birds (and would do the same for my pretend dog) but also gave them a bit of excitement. And when you have the brain the size of a pebble, cookies on some kitchen twine can be the highlight of your day. 

The Girl Scout Dog Cookie Contest spotlights the work of the Seattle Humane Society which is a charity supported by many Girl Scouts on a personal level. Sadly pets can not consume Girl Scout Cookies but who says they need to be left out of the fun? Many local Girl Scouts use their cookie money to donate to Seattle Humane, and share their time and resources to help give pets a chance to find forever homes and to provide their owners with the best support possible. Girls get to decide where to use the money they earn by selling cookies. Seattle Humane is an important recipient of that generosity. Now get out there and bake for your furry (and clucky) friends! 

Peanut Butter & Pumpkin Cookies for Chickens and Dogs



by Rebecca Mongrain

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes




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Ingredients (50 cookies)

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup pureed pumpkin
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon molasses
3 teaspoons honey




Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk whole wheat pastry flour, rolled oats and dried basil together in a large mixing bowl.

Mix the peanut butter, pureed pumpkin, eggs, molasses and honey together in a small bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/2" thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

Place on a cookie sheet with a silipat mat and bake for 30 minutes.

Cool completely.

If serving to chickens, string on some kitchen twine and hang in their coop.

For dogs, store extra treats in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.


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