…but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.” –Queen Elizabeth I

“When they ask me what I liked best, I’ll tell them it was you.”

I am STOKED for a beautiful and eventful sunshiny blue-skied weekend.

I’ve been wanting a shot of one of these gorgeous birds for a long time, but they’ve been too fast for me every time I tried to catch them still for one second. At last, a lucky moment yesterday. This is available as an 8 x 8 print at my Etsy Shop :).

The Coliseum in Rome, Italy, in a 5 x 5 print, available at my Etsy Shop. :)

I had an incredibly productive day at work and after work. I finally have a second to breathe but I feel fantastic with all that I’ve packed into my day. I’m flying out to Edmonton tomorrow morning on business and will be back on Friday. I’m lugging my personal laptop with me along with my work laptop because I can’t be apart from my computer for too, too long right now – I’m too addicted to ramping up my Etsy Shop. Plus, I have a sea of new photos to process. In exchange for bringing my personal laptop with me, I’m leaving my big camera behind and settling for my point and shoot. I think that’s a fair trade. Two laptops in a carry-on luggage… sounds okay.

My second big trip to Europe could not come at a better time. I’m hitting an all time high with my photography and my heart is going to explode this summer. I’m so hyped, so excited, so giddy over it. Photos make me so happy, you have no idea. My life would be completely different if I hadn’t discovered my love for it. My blog and my shop are eating up all my after-work time and I’ll gladly be eaten up by both.

This was in Florence, Italy, available in a 5 x 5 print on my Etsy Shop. :) A lot of my travel photos will soon be available in 5 x 5 prints. I changed my shop banner, too. It’s much cuter now. Oh, and I’m offering a promotion: buy an 8×10 print and receive a free digital download.

the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions. Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not. ‘Have you found joy in your life?’ ‘Has your life brought joy to others?'” –Carter Chambers, The Bucket List

Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

“The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that any body wishes to hinder him. Allow me to assure you that suspicion and jealousy never did help any man in any situation. There may sometimes be ungenerous attempts to keep a young man down; and they will succeed too, if he allows his mind to be diverted from its true channel to brood over the attempted injury. Cast about and see if this feeling has not injured every person you have ever known to fall into it.” –Abraham Lincoln

Made another sale on my Etsy Shop, this time from Bernice. Thank you for your support, love. It means the world to me.

This rainy day has turned into a very productive day. When you’re stuck indoors, you’re forced to get some of those big to-dos out of the way. Does anything feel better than scratching things off a to do list? Tomorrow, I’m going to swing by the Bread and Honey Festival to get some carnival shots, inspired by Water for Elephants. While there are plenty of festivals and carnivals in the summer, this is the first one I could get my hands on. Then I have a photoshoot with a client to capture her precious baby boy. Then I have a date with this girl to hammer out the nitty grittys of our Eurotrip. A full weekend always rejuvenates me for the work week.

PS. There are chatters about planning a trip to Vegas.