Help this puppy find a home!

This morning we found this malnourished puppy in our front yard. She looks about 6 months old and is very sweet though timid. We can't keep her but we really don't want to take her to a shelter as pit bulls usually end up getting put down. It looks like she was taken care of at one point -she appears to know how to shake and is very happy around people and inside the house. We called all the local shelters to see if anyone reported a lost dog but didn't have any luck. We really hope we find a loving home for her a.s.a.p. We gave her a bath, flea medicine, and food and now she needs a home! Email me at amy@amyhinden.com

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love to bake. Actually, that's not true. I love to eat baked goods. Therefore, I bake. Especially on rainy days like today. Chocolate chip cookies are one of my absolute favorites so when I saw this recipe entitled "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" I had to try it. Honestly, I think any chocolate chip cookie is perfect but these are definitely the best I've had. Here is the recipe from America's Test Kitchen. You may have to register but its quick and free. I would post it here but it will be easier for you to print out from their site.

Decor

I've been browsing online this rainy afternoon and just have to say, I can't wait until this line hits Target.

I love home decor! Every time I see a commercial or sitcom on tv I am always looking at the background to see how their home is decorated. Lately I find myself spending way too many hours looking at design and decor sites. If it were up to me we would probably redecorate every month but thankfully Matt helps me keep my visual A.D.D. in line.

Avenue

She's lucky she has such a cute face. She completely depleted my tomato garden. All 200+ of them, even the green ones.

30 weeks

Sometimes out of the blue it just hits me.... we are going to have a baby in this house in just 9 weeks! Time is flying! Even though it is getting closer I still can't imagine it really. My life is going on quite normally- I pretty much forget I am pregnant until I look in the mirror. I've just been trying to keep up my daily walks, especially because the whole no sugar plan didn't exactly work out. I am not a happy camper when I don't get my chocolate fix. :-/ I had a cheat day on my birthday and it was all downhill after that...I am going to look on the positive though- my record is now 2 weeks instead of 1.

During my photo play date with Beth I hopped on the other side of the lens for a change. I was kind of nervous to have our date while pregnant as prego pics aren't really my thing but I think she did a great job keeping that in mind and focused on capturing "me". You can check out more here.

Paris and Normandy

I don't want to jinx myself but I think my Paris album is done!!!! Just need to design the cover tomorrow.....
Here are a few favs I stumbled on today while wrapping up the album.

Paris

I can't believe it's already been 9 months since I was in Paris and I am just now seriously getting around to putting an album together! It's been an overwhelming task with over 2000 photos to go through. I finally edited it down to my favorites and Matt was kind enough to organize the images into appropriate folders for me so I have been trying to do a section a day. Hopefully I will be done by the end of the month and then I will start my London album. I thought I would share a couple images from the section I am working on today.

Happy New Year!

I've always loved New Year's. A chance to start fresh and be better. This year I feel more motivated than ever to really stick with the plan. Then again, I don't know if I have ever really seriously made a resolution until now. It's only been a couple days but my plan to not eat sugar for a few months is going well thus far. Today I found myself craving my afternoon chocolate fix but filled up on fruits and veggies instead. I also decided to add another resolution today: to read through the Bible in a year. I am following this plan if anyone else is interested in joining me. I'm also trying to convince Matt to go walking every morning with me. Haven't gotten a commitment just yet but we did start off New Year's Day with a family hike:


Hope your new year is off to a great start!

Resolutions

The last couple days I have been wondering to myself if I am going to make any new year resolutions. After finding out I was pregnant I told Matt that I am not going to eat any sugar the entire pregnancy. That lasted all of three days. If you know me well, you know I am a HUGE sugarholic. The longest I have ever gone without sugar is one week and it nearly killed me.
So, my resolution? Jan-April no more candy, cookies, cakes, etc. for me....
Until then, these are sooo good!
What's yours?

Rain

I love it.
I went to the beach. It was frigid. But I like my pictures.

We're having a girl!

We can't wait for 4/26
Only four more months to go!

We got our tree!

Family photo?



Ave helped sniff out just the right one.



We were super excited to cut down our own tree this year!



Us on our hayride



Now we get to decorate it tonight :)

Halloween

I'm not usually a big Halloween person but when I saw the pumpkin costume at Petsmart I was done for. It was all downhill after that. I think we had an Avenue themed Halloween:



Our friends and neighbors brought their dog, Sage, over to play and I took advantage of the opportunity and asked them to snap a family photo of us.




Today we are detoxing from way to much sugar-lots of salad! One of my health nut friends gave me this salad dressing recipe that I love. Here it is if you want to give it a try:

Avocado Cilantro Dressing

¾ cup fresh guacamole or mashed avocado (I like the fresh pre-made one from Trader Joes or Fresh and Easy

¼ cup cilantro chopped

juice of 3 limes

2 TBLs water

1 TBL olive oil

salt and pepper to taste



Put all ingredients in blender or food processor

You can also omit the oil and water for a great chip dip or burger topping.

Home Sweet Home

I'm so happy to report that we found "the one." I knew once the timing was right it would all work out - It's amazing how every little part of our relocation has fallen perfectly into place. We really see it as confirmation that it's meant to be. Finding this home was no different. One of my old friends that I had kind of lost touch with heard I was looking for a place to live in her area (gotta love facebook!) and her friend/neighbor was moving out of her place right when we need to move in. So not only did we find a house we love that has everything we want, we also have a friend right across the street!
Tomorrow is the big day!

any given weekday morning

you will find us here.




We started surfing together last summer and it blows me away how fast time flies. Now I have 3 days left here before I'm off to a new beach and a new life.
We thought it would be fun to buy some disposable cameras and document a favorite part of our lives. Finishing one roll of film took way longer than than we expected because we had to wait for the wave, catch the wave, and have the other person be in the right spot to take the one shot the camera allows you before winding it again. We got some pics back today and get to pick up the shots from camera #2 tomorrow.




I'm really excited about how the pics turned out-none of these photos have been through Photoshop. Just lovely film goodness!
If you're reading this, we would really love to have you come join us! Even if you don't surf, grab a body board or disposable camera and come out and play...summer will be over before you know it!

The Wedge

The waves were huge today! I love watching the crazies at the wedge!

Moving update

I am officially in moving mode. Now that we're a couple weeks out I am starting to feel in limbo here. I'm not so good at the in between. I've enjoyed and needed the long goodbye to the people and things I love here but now I'm ready for the next phase.

As we make the trip from point A to point B we are deciding where we want point B to be. (We have personal pros and cons to each place.)

Time to do some packing!

my dog is cuter than your kid

Sometimes the split second between realizing I'm awake and opening my eyes to the morning I find myself wondering where I am. I find it amusing to intentionally keep my eyes closed and see how long it takes me to remember.

We've been in and out of our house a lot this year (yay for traveling!) We just got back from 4 days of relaxing with the family: hiking Bishops Peak, riding bikes on the Bob Jones trail, celebrating birthdays, and eating way too much!

One birthday we celebrated here. Avenue just turned one!! We (of course) took her to the beach.

So this is what it looks like in slow motion when dogs shake!



playin hard



doing what she does best-being cute

Photo Displays

And the cool photo display ideas are here! I have a huge inspiration folder on my computer and whenever I am browsing online and see something I like I save it in my folder so I can remember it when the time is right. I can't wait to put some of these ideas to work in my new office. Count down to move day is officially here! (about a month away) This weekend we will be checking out some places to live so if you want to setup a photo shoot before I move hit me up now! amy@amyhinden.com

Most of these are taken from this cool website.

commissioning artwork?!

I never thought I'd be one lucky enough to be "commissioning" personal art work, but I've been pretty blessed in that department lately! One of my friends, Ron, asked if I would be interested in having him turn one of my favorite photos into a painting in exchange for a family photo shoot. I jumped at the chance! Ron has been an artist literally for decades and has been in numerous art shows. And he wanted to trade with me?! After a few months of work, the painting is complete. I am so thrilled with how it came out! This is one of my all time favorite photos that Aaron took of us shortly after we got Avenue.

dolphins

This was so me this morning! I was surfing with my friend Karey and just as I was thinking I should go under the wave I see 2 dolphins coming straight at me. Karey and I always talk about buying a waterproof camera but today we really wished we had it. It was amazing! Shortly after this a few of them swam under our surfboards. Too cool!

Happy Friday!

The lightning storms have left and we enjoyed a beautiful morning at the beach. Here's a couple iphone pics of Ave engaged in her latest obsession- digging to China or something! Hope you have a fun/sun filled weekend!

Slowing Down

I don't know what it is lately but it seems everywhere I turn someone is writing, talking, teaching, singing, ...about slowing down. About being present, taking breaks, and turning off the "noise" we have come to view as life.

A few months ago I had a pressing need to get away from this place I love to call home. I just felt claustrophobic in many ways and needed some air. I hopped on the 405 North and made my way up the coast to a little town outside of Pismo Beach, Nipomo, and spent a few days visiting my grandma in the country. It was sooo peaceful. The air smelled clean and I could hear the birds chirping. I heard my own footsteps crunching the leaves on the dirt road and laughed when Avenue tried to play with a stink bug. In that moment something changed. I called Matt and said, "Ummmmm I think I wanna move." I think we were both in shock for a moment that those words had been uttered from my lips. I love southern CA. But its true, suddenly I'm done. I am craving fresh air, longer days, space... Luckily for me, Matt was all about it. In 8 weeks or so we begin a new adventure.

805 Collective

Before I post anything else, I just have to say a HUGE thank you to Jeremy and Seth at 805 Collective. These guys are ridiculously talented and when I knew I needed a new site and blog there was no question who I would hire. They are hands down the best I've seen and I am blown away by their ability to make my vision a tangible reality. Plus they are just super rad peeps anyway! I knew I wanted someone who could design with a bit of heart and soul and not just some corporate company. They are the best and if you want to be blown away you simply must hire them! They are also making some collateral pieces for me which I can't wait to get.

Brixton

I love Brixton so when I won a contest they were having with this photo I was stoked!

Here are my prizes. Isn't there stuff awesome?!