Ah, the victory of successful adulthood – having your stuff together enough to be able to send out a family Christmas card (no matter what your family looks like)!  I’m so glad I was able to help with this one!

My neighborhood association had a block party back in September, so I threw in a gift voucher as one of the door prizes.  The recipient was a member of a fun group of adult housemates who had met through the local gaming community.  They were impressed with each other’s humility and respectfulness in a very competitive game, so when housing became a mutual need they made an easy decision.  The winner and owner of the home was recently retired from the military and about to travel overseas to be reunited with his wife.  Before he left, though, he knew exactly how he wanted to use this gift voucher with his housemates.

Since he was in the neighborhood, my husband and I joined him and one of his housemates around the backyard fire pit to get to know them a little better and see what their ideas were for a portrait session.  A quick 30 minute backyard session was all that was necessary for this group and their central diva to get the images they wanted for a Christmas card and a few for the wall of their house.

Did I mention the house pet?!  Gertie the bulldog came out shining with her iridescent white bow attached to her collar.  As we made our way to the tire swing in their backyard, one of the housemates commented, “I’ve never been this far back in our yard” (it was admittedly a very deep back yard), and Gertie seemed to agree.  While I was posing the human participants, she waddled around and christened the unfamiliar territory.  Thank goodness we had a live audience for the session.  She was quick to action, placing junk mail over the recent deposits so I wouldn’t accidentally step backwards into a, um, softer part of the yard.

So cheers to all of you who are working hard at being adults.  Remember to find the joy in it!

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Thanks for reading! This is just one of the ways I put a smile back in the world!