30/365

 My trip to Lewis was postponed a day due to this crazy weather, so I ended up running some errands instead. All very boring stuff, involving a tour round Aberdeen in the car to various places, and each time I stepped out the car I wished I had a bobble as my hair was flapping about in far too many different directions.

When I got home I wanted to do something exciting for today's blog photo! I thought about doing something outside, incorporating the wild wind...but when I looked out in to our rather lifeless garden and heard the wind battering the house, I didn't really fancy going outside again! Then I remembered the bag of confetti I found in the cupboard the other day and decided to finally give this shot a go :) It's quite difficult trying to look normal whilst also blowing a handful of confetti at exactly the right time. I took a lot of photos...so I'm very thankful the counter top in the kitchen caught *most* of the confetti every time!

29/365

I was out in Banchory tonight for Sarah's Birthday celebrations. A meal, made by Sarah, and a cake...made by Sarah...stood on by Finlay. Heh heh heh. It still tasted delicious! I may have had two slices... Elsie doesn't look very impressed with it, but give it time, she doesn't know what she's missing yet. We'll be out on Auntie and Niece Tea and Cake trips in no time!

The party was clearly too much for Ali, who had a wee nap on the sofa (the fact that he'd stayed up till 5am the night before might have had something to do with it...) while Fin snuggled up beside him and we watched The Lorax. It's cute to see him staring at Ali in awe and copying the way he sits on the sofa n' stuff like that.

Anywho, Happy Birthday, Sarah :) Hope you had a lovely day! Thanks for making us dinner and cake...when I'm back from Lewis I'll make you dinner and cake :)

(I'm hoping this crazy wind dies down so that I do actually get over to Lewis tomorrow...)

28/365

It's horribly wet, and dull, and windy, and cold, and wet...and windy, outside today, so Bench Monday took place indoors, with the comforts of warmth, dryness, light and tea :)

I'm off up to Lewis on Wednesday for a couple Engagement Shoots...I'm really hoping the weather's not gonna be like this when I'm there...but I won't get my hopes up too much.

Happy Bench Monday!

27/365

My nephew is cute. Nuff said.

Hope you've all had a great weekend! :)

Day 26/365

I have no idea why, when I spent several hours this morning looking after my beautiful niece, you're getting a photo of a haggis, instead of Elsie!

I know Robert Burns day was yesterday, but the young loons n' lassies from Church had our wee celebrations tonight instead! Along with my two beautiful assistants, I cooked the classic Scottish feast that is haggis, neeps and tatties. As well as a delicious chicken pasta bake for myself and a couple of the other girls to eat instead of sheep's lungs. Despite being a wee bitty late, and burning my arm, it was quite a successful night :) I even tried a bit of the haggis and didn't think it was too bad!

Thank you to Cassia for your fine chopping skills! And Megan for your yummy sticky toffee pudding :) And everyone who came, for eating the food!

Day 25/365

Finlay's here for a sleepover :) Which means total distraction from work! First, he hijacks my laptop...but he's cute, so what can you do? Then, when it's bath time, that clearly means time to jump on Trina's bed! But he's cute, so what can you do? :)

I love how utterly different his facial expressions are in each photo..."Oh, hey camera, again..." and "I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN RIGHT NOW!! AHAHAHA!!" :) Love.

Day 24/365

So I saw this on Pinterest a few days ago and wanted to give it a go. One of those things that would be FAR easier if I had someone else to pose in the photo. But I like a challenge! Haha. And I just love to show off my beautifully professional ballet skills...apologies to any actual dancers looking at this. 

*Several tulips were beheaded in the making of this photo...they were almost dead anyway, so it's all good!*

Oh! I'm trying out a new logo, what do you think?

Day 23/365

It's a good thing Blue Door Photography doesn't have a Health & Safety Manager...as they totally would've disapproved of the way I got this photo!

Every time I drive down to the bottom of Hillside Road in Westhill, and I see these two trees, I think of my Mumsy. She asked me...quite a few years ago now, for a photo of these trees. They do hit you when you drive towards them...not literally, it's not Hogwarts, but visually. I love them! I've taken a few photos of them over the years, spring, summer and winter, but never really felt like the photo captured them well enough, either because of the light or seeing the dual carriageway in the distance. Bleugh.

But today, as I headed off on my second journey to the airport to pick up the lovely Cassia Martin, after several flight delays, I simply HAD to stopthecaratthesideofthemajorlysnowyroadgrabmycameraadjustmysettingsjumpoutandstandinthemiddleoftheroadtotakeaquickphotoortwo...because the light was beautiful, the mist was covering up the dual carriageway, the snow was lying so beautifully amongst the branches, and the best vantage point just happens to be in the middle of the road.

I do believe I've finally got the shot.

Day 22/365

I visited the Lipp residence this afternoon, and during my visit, as well as getting me to play 'Chase and Tickle', 'Hide & Seek', 'Mum's & Dad's', giving me stick on earrings, and simply using my lap as a ski simulator, the girls just had to show me their make up bag! It was incredibly cute.

On a different note, where is all this snow coming from?! I shovelled a couple inches off the driveway this evening, and have just looked out the window to discover that it is in fact covered once again. It would be amazing to take all the snow from the culdesac and build a ginormous igloo in the front garden tonight while everyone sleeps...but I think I'll just sleep too.

Day 21/365

I thought that since I was having to use the same snowy bench as I did last week, I'd try mixin' it up a bit! This is my "I Want To Be On A Sunny Hot Beach In The Surf" Bench Monday. If you know of anyone getting married somewhere hot and sunny and then please do give them my name, I'd love to do a destination wedding! Not just so I can laze by a pool or on the beach for a couple days afterwards. Of course not. It would be really exciting to photograph a wedding in a different country :)

Happy Bench Monday!

Day 20/365

The Stewart household was filled with very sleepy people this dull snowy afternoon. Sat snuggled in the living room with the fire on and just one side lamp. Here's Fin, sitting peacefully in the comfort of Daddy's arms (while Daddy slept) :) And the other adorable child lay on the sofa beside me, staring at the fire....not quite so sleepy as the rest of the house.

I hope you had a day just as quiet and relaxing as we did :)

Day 19/365

Today I did some Prop DIY between editing :) I.Love.Them. I love chalkboards, and I love tea...so what could better than a chalkboard mug!? I've been wanting some of these for months and months, but the only ones I could find online were ridiculously expensive Starbucks ones from the States, or teeny tiny, probably espresso sized ones, on Amazon. Totally not good enough. So, of course I decided to make my own! I've been on the hunt for the perfect shaped and sized mugs...and eventually, yesterday, I decided just to try these ones. I actually like them more now than I did when I got them!

The paint has some flaws in it, but it's pretty darn good for a first attempt! I think I'm going to do a couple more...and once these ones are totally dry tomorrow I'll get a snap of them with a cute message on them or something :) And you'll see them in action in some of my shoots in the near future hopefully :)

Stay tuned for other chalkboard props...if I can find what I've got in mind!

Day 18/365

Everybody say hello to Sonny Whyte :) He's cute right!? He's my friend Diane's baby boy, and he is pretty much identical to his older brother. I'd like to say that it's me he's smiling at, but he's got this toy panda, with biiig orange eyes, that he just stares at and finds utterly amusing! It's very cute.

Diane is a fellow photographer, about to get back to business after her maternity leave. We met on our Photography course at the college (...back in the day, eh) and she's been a great encouragement to me over the years. We had a long overdue catch up today, which was wonderful! And it was lovely to meet Sonny for the first time too after seeing so many photos on Facebook and Instagram, and being part of his first ever Starbucks experience!

Hopefully see you again soon, Di :)

Day 17/365

Working from home has quite a few advantages, one of which being that I can put my hair in rollers after my shower, put on joggers and a tshirt, then head downstairs and start work...and then, once my hair's dry, I can take a break from editing wedding photos (which is such an arduous job of course...not), and go see how pretty my hair looks!

I don't do this every day though, in fact I only just tried it for the first time the other day...well, that's not true...I have had rollers in my hair once before, on Sarah's wedding day...it didn't go well, to say the least. I was sat with my head in that oven thing they put on top of you, cooking away, so excited about how curly and amazing my hair was going to look, and even more so when the other 3 bridesmaids started to have their rollers removed and their pretty, long locks were bouncing about. They looked amazing! Then it was my turn...but, because my hair wasn't anywhere near as long as the other girls', my curls didn't bounce down...they puffed up. I looked like a mushroom. And, me being...me, I stepped outside for some fresh cool air, and started to cry! Hello, maidofhonourzilla. The hairdresser saved the day by straightening out the mushroom and putting a pretty flower in my hair. Haha. Sarah, I apologise, once again, for my drama.

Anyway! I've wanted to try out rollers again for a long time, now that my hair's long, and after a friend started trying it with her hair a few weeks back, I decided to get in on the roller banter too! It's great fun :) Now I get to sit around all evening in my joggers and tshirt, with pretty hair! Haha.

...It's weird how the entire time I sat working away, with rollers in my hair, I hoped that no one would come to the door to see me like that...but I'm happily posting a photo of it on to the internet, for who knows how many people to see! Really, I think I look pretty cool.

Day 16/365

I got to enjoy a stroll at Castle Fraser with my beautiful sister and her two gorgeous children at lunchtime today :) Every now and again it still hits me; my big sister's a MUM (and a very good one, too)! I guess part of me can't quite believe how far we've come from the little girls who shared a room and had russian dwarf hamsters...It's no longer hamsters we teach to climb stairs, go down slides or do 'monkey bars', it's her son, my nephew :) And Elspeth Catriona Morrison won't be far behind!

Day 15/365

I got a letter in the mail today :) I love a good old fashioned greeting from a friend! And what made it even more exciting was the fact that it came aaaaaall the way from America! It was a great way to start my day :)

I didn't get the flowers with it, they're just incredibly pretty in the snow...it's such a great backdrop, and a wonderful natural light reflector :) I wasn't too thrilled when I saw it out the window yesterday morning, three weeks late...but it's been so beautiful outside these past two days that I've forgiven it for not coming at Christmas. Winter is so much brighter and happier with snow around!

And it's always good to have pretty flowers around bringing colour to my surroundings :) Life should always be colourful!

Day 14/365

First snowman I've built in a loooong time. He was actually built twice, his head fell to the ground and crumbled when I first stood up on the bench...it made for a very depressing photo, not for the eyes of children. But I saved the day, quickly rolled him through some crisp white snow and he was as good as new!

Happy Bench Monday! :)

P.S. Went to see Les Miserables tonight, and totally managed to not cry until the end. I'm hugely tempted to buy the soundtrack and play it in my car non stop for weeks.

Day 13/365

For those of you who don't know, this is Donald Smith Jr. He may be cheeky to pretty much everyone he ever speaks to...but he's a total softy when it comes to children! A few of us were out having dinner with a wonderful family from Church this afternoon, and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera when I looked in to the living room and saw this scene. I love moments like these. Donald, however, is going to hate me forever for putting him on my blog.

Oh! And since I completely forgot to say it to him in person today; Happy Birthday Donald Smith Sr! :)

Day 12/365

Tonight we had a Neighbourhood Fellowship get together, which I always love! I stood and watched the various groups scattered about the room...children, parents, friends...everywhere I looked there were smiles and laughter, the whole night! I wouldn't complain if I had to spend more evenings in company like that, it truly is a blessing.

Anyway, one of the lovely ladies in the group is also doing a '365 project', so I thought it would be fun if we captured each other for today! You can check out her photos here :) It was rather hilarious; the two of us standing in the living room, alone, taking photos of eachother, hiding behind our cameras!

Day 11/365

Whenever we have a quiz at a Church youth event, there's inevitably a 'Bible Round', and I am always quick to confess "I am going to be absolutely no use at this one" or "My Bible knowledge is rubbish". To be honest I'm not that great at any of the other rounds either, but let's not get in to that right now.

I think it's safe to say there are quite a few chunks of my Bible that I haven't laid eyes on yet, even after being raised in a Christian family and having read daily devotionals for many years, and last year I had a growing desire to broaden my knowledge...Unfortunately my desire to READ wasn't very strong (why didn't they have cameras back then, then I could've sat down with tea and cookies and WATCHED the Bible), and the thought of reading through the entire bible was pretty daunting...it takes me long enough to read a book with 300 pages in it (and large font!).

A friend had mentioned months previously that she has a Bible In One Year, and the thought of something structured, broken down in to achievable sections, mixin' it up a bit with a lovely song or poem, the good news of Jesus alongside an Old Testament passage each day did sound much more feasible.

So, today, when I finally got myself in to town for my new devotionals (I know, I'm over a week late), I had a look in the bookshop for a Bible In One Year, and decided to go for it! I'll need to set aside some time tomorrow or next week to catch up on the days I've missed, or roll them over to next year, but hopefully I'll keep on track from here on, as my daily devotional is something that needs to get a bit more priority in my life! God simply need to get a bit more priority in my life.

Day 10/365

So, I'm kinda jealous of Mum's scarf that she got for Christmas...from me. When she's not wearing it, I'm pretty sure she leaves her bedroom door, and cupboard door, open just to tease me whenever I go upstairs. It's so pretty!

It's also pretty darn pink, so I probably wouldn't actually wear it that often, and it suits Mum very much so I'm pleased I found it for her :)

#ilovescarves

Day 9/365

I made cookies! I wanted to make ones as soft and yummy as the ones my friend Cassia makes, so, since she's American, I typed in "American cookie recipe" in to google...and proceeded to use a supposedly American recipe from a BBC website...ha. It said it would create big fat chewy cookies...or something like that.

I don't think they're as nice as Cassia's are...they have an awful lot of vanilla essence in them (a whole tablespoonful to be exact...woaw! Wondering if it was a typo), which you most definitely notice. But yeah, they're still pretty tasty. If you're tempted, you're welcome to have one!

Tonight I've been watching a little bit of the Jasmine Star Business Workshop on CreativeLive, they're currently on a wee break. Unfortunately I missed a few hours in the middle as I had to head out to our Neighbourhood Fellowship, but what I have caught has been fantastic! I've still got a lot of learning to do in my Business, and it's AMAZING having these workshops to watch live for free! The only slight issue at times is the time difference, because they're over in America...and I've just realised that as I read this out in my mind I'm talking in an American accent...Those of you who know my embarrassing habit of picking up other people's (usually American) accents will be laughing with me right now. Oh! The 5 minute break on the workshop is now over, gotta go!

Day 8/365

My hair looked really nice today, which is typical, as I had no plans to leave the house! So, I decided to do my first self portrait of 2013, and couldn't resist hanging the fairy lights behind me (on the washing line...handy thing that) before putting them up in the loft for another 12 months.

The focus is on my big honker of a nose...I need to get another remote for my camera, think the last one went through the washing machine...oops.

Day 7/365

I wish this was an "I'm off to the Carribean for my holidays" Bench Monday, but sadly not. It's just a "Farewell Rach, it was nice to see you for a few hours on your way home from Stornoway to Dundee ready to start Uni again after your Christmas holidays" Bench Monday.

Check how high my knees are compared to hers...shortay.

Day 6/365

Mini impromptu photo shoot at home this afternoon. This is Mum, aka Nana Jana, with my niece Elly Belly (not her official birth name...) :) Mum was in need of a new profile picture for Facebook...#obsessed. Lookin' good Granny!

Day 5/365

What a beautiful day :) Congratulations Mr and Mrs Yule!

There's much much more to say, but I really must get some sleep. There will be more beautiful images to look back on with fond memories next week :)

Day 4/365

Look who's come to visit! :) Katherine's up staying with me for a few nights as she's attending the wedding I'm photographing tomorrow (and will also be carrying my bags for me on a couple occasions...haaa. Thanks, Kath!). I popped in to the rehearsal in Banchory this evening, so of course we had to stop off at Sarah and Dave's to visit them and the cuties :) Elsie enjoyed her cuddles.

All organised for tomorrow. Can't wait to photograph a beautiful couple in the beautiful grounds of Crathes Castle, yay!

Day 3/365

A very merry unbirthday to me, to me! It's terrifying waiting for a package like this to arrive in the post. Pretty sure I did a wee skip when I saw the courier van outside the house. Just a wee one though.

You may have noticed...I didn't put the Christmas tree away...instead I joined Sarah, Dave, Fin and Elsie on her first ever swimming trip :) She was wearing Fin's old bodysuit so everyone thought she was a boy, poor girl! Then I took JD to the garage because one of his tyres had a screw in it...and guess what, the hole could not simply be filled due to its location, so JD needed a whole new tyre. It's a shame tyres aren't in any of the New Year sales.

Day 2/365

A bit of fun with the Christmas tree...I really should put it away. Maybe tomorrow...

Day 1/365

And so it begins...

And what better way to start than with the beautiful boy who featured so heavily in my first '365 project' :) He's gettin big! And he is even more adorable than ever before, here, in his vest and bow tie :) I started off the new year the way I love most; with family and friends, enjoying a delicious meal, laughing and smiling our way through the day.

Of course, Fin's got some competition this year, what with my gorgeous little niece being in the world now too. It's going to be tough! But there will be more than just adorable children featuring throughout the year...I hope you're looking forward to joining me again for another 365 days of fun!