Masthead header

On This Eve….

I am getting ready for the long trek up north to Smithers. It’s a 12 hour car journey from Vancouver to this little town nestled in the beautiful Bulkley Valley and it will be interesting this time. It’s the first time we are taking our almost one-year-old son with us. We are planning to break the trip into two days to make it more manageable for Fin (and for us!) and will hopefully meet up with some friends in Williams Lake who are doing the same trip from the opposite direction.

We’ll be gone for a week and most of that will be driving. The weekend will be busy ~ a wedding on Saturday, maternity and family sessions on Sunday and Fin gets his very own one year birthday photoshoot with my good friend, Kristie Larsen Photography, who did a studio maternity session with me over a year ago. She does these fabulous cake smashes and yup, we are letting our little guy lose on the sugar. He just better not get used to it.

Here is one of Fin, completely slimy, dirty with some new teeth coming in and ready for a bath. I *heart* him.

Nora - OMG, he is ADORABLE!!! I can see how you <3 him so much! xo Nora

Simply Rose - Thanks Nora! We think he’s pretty cute too =)

Help-Portrait. End of the Earth.

I’ve been following this for a little while now and the project has been completed on Sasha Leahovenco’s site. I thought this was far too unique and heart-warming to pass up sharing on my blog, so here it is.

Some of you may recall an event that I participated in back in on December 4th of last year in the downtown eastside in Vancouver called Help Portrait. You can read about the event here. This is the same sort of idea, but in a remote part of Russia and the images are an incredible testament to life in an extreme northern climate. The video is wonderful too, so please check it out.

To see Sasha’s full posting on his journey across Russia, you can go here for images and information.

elizabeth kowal - rose, this is amazing, and inspiring. thanks for sharing it.

For Japan with Love

It has almost been a week since the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan and my heart has been so heavy for an entire nation and those around the world affected by it. I have been listening to CBC news constantly throughout the day and watching news briefs, hoping for some respite in the impending nuclear meltdown, the cold weather that has been adding difficulty to the relief efforts and the ceasing of further aftershocks in the area.

I really cannot fathom what this nation is having to deal with right now. I see the images on TV or hear the stories on the radio and I can’t help but feel the need to do something. I think if we could, many of us would hop on a plane and go to help in whatever way we could, seeing such tragedy and destruction breaks many of our hearts. Especially when it comes to the children having to deal with so much and may necessarily understanding the full implications of what has occurred.

I have been mulling over what to do for some time and came across a tweet by Promise Tangeman today for something that really sat well with me.

For Japan with Love.

It’s two parts.

One part fundraising for ShelterBox USA and one part Bloggers Day of Silence. A ShelterBox is a disaster relief kit that comes complete with a relief tent and other necessary items for carrying out daily activities like cooking, water purification, blankets for sleeping and other emergency items. Any contributions that you could offer will help someone stay a little bit warmer, a little bit drier and a little bit safer.

The second part is the Bloggers Day of Silence. I will not be posting anything tomorrow on my blog in honour of what has been occurring but instead will be making a donation to ShelterBox, considering what has happened, and appreciate what I have here at home, especially my family. If you are a Blogger and are interested in participating, please go to the website for more information.

Please join me in this effort and please share this movement.