The first signs of spring..Girl Scout Cookies

My adorable neighbors have 2 daughters that are girl scouts. I look forward to them coming every year ! Since I was a brownie myself once, I'm helping them out. If you want some of the delicious mouthwatering cookies, just shoot me an email at PDixie@sw.rr.com and Ill give you their phone number. They had a huge truck deliver cases and cases, and they are not spoken for yet. So they've got plenty.! Ive done my part. Ive already bought a box of everything they have and 9 boxes of thin mints.! My husband and son and I are weak in the knees for those minty chocolate devils!
So let me know and Ill hook you up! They are only $3.50 a box and you know its for a good cause!
PDixie@sw.rr.com email me your flavor choices. They are as follows Thin Mints, Caramel delites (used to be called Samoyan) Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwhich, Shortbread, Thanks-a-lots (which are Crunch Fudge coated on one side cookies) Lemon and Daisy go rounds (which are low fat cookies!)
http://www.girlscouts.org

Abby!

TO SEE MORE OF MY BLOG CLICK ON THE BUTTON THAT SAYS OLDER POSTS BELOW TO THE RIGHT!

Burkburnett Power Lifting Team goes to state!

Were so excited KFDX did a great story today on the Burkburnett Power Lifting team and made them their "TEAM OF THE WEEK". Our son Scott Dobbins was interviewed and speaks 3 different times and his friends Lorenzo Barnes and Preston King.
the state meet on Saturday in Abilene Texas.
http://texomashomepage.com/search-fulltext?&nxd_id=80375
UPDATE: Unfortunately, Burkburnett tied Saturday with Raymondville with 14 points but the Bearkats took the title because they had more first-place lifters. Iowa Park was fifth with nine points. There were 180 schools competing so that was quite an accomplishment! We are very proud of all the boys and their hard work. They almost had it in the bag! Congrats to each one of you! We love all you guys you worked really hard! Lorenzo Barnes won First place in the super heavy weight division,he lifted a total of 1,935 lbs. Our son Scott won 2nd -Silver medal in the 242s with a total of 1,660 lbs and Peter Loftus won 4th place in the 114 class with a total of 920 lbs.

a few more of Kelsey!

Today we finished "round two" of Kelsey's Sr. Portraits. Wow, we got some great images. I love taking shots with the sunset in the background. For those who might want to know how to get this effect. What you do is meter the sky and take note of the settings, then using a ETTL flash, and then dial in your aperture and shutter speeds based on the previous reading on the manual mode. Then recompose and shoot. You will get the rich colors of the sunset this way. Ive been doing it since my first class in 1989 and it always works like a charm!She is so sweet and so much fun. Can I say Kelsey loves Zebra print? She has more Zebra print items than anyone Ive ever seen! Even her seat covers of her car are Zebra print! I found out that she is German when I gave her some German chocolates my husband brought back from Germany and she recognized them! Shes adorable and has the most beautiful brown eyes! Thanks Kelsey, I had a great time with you!

Elizabeth!

Elizabeth had me laughing the whole time. She and her mom were so much fun and I love her shoes and her dimple and her smile!!!

Cutie Kelsey!

The pitter pitter pat of little flat feet...

Its so great when you get to work with families like this family! Mom Shaye was so sweet and easy going and dad, well he was just as laid back and patient and their beautiful daughter. What more could a photographer ask for?! One of my friends Jodie recently did some beautiful photos of this angel.Isn't this mom just glowing and gorgeous!? It was my pleasure. I'm so honored to create these oh so special portraits! Thanks guys. :-)

Birthday Fun

I had a great day with my daughter yesterday. it was her birthday and I met up with her in Dallas and we went to my favorite Indian restaurant called "Indian Palace" and had some wonderful Indian food http://www.indiapalacedallas.com/
and then we went to the famous "SPRINKLES" that is a famous cupcake place. The first time I went to Sprinkles was in Beverly Hills and they make the best cupcakes. Ive been an avid fan since. They have a local now in Highland Park of Dallas. Off of Preston and 635. They make the best! We got a dozen ($36. but so worth it!
http://www.sprinkles.com/ We had a great day together and I got to spend a lot of time together and finally at 10:30 at night, I made the drive back home. I got some cuddle time with my grandsons. It was a great day! Heres my daughter below with the goods!!!

Happy Birthday Misty Dawn

Tomorrow is my daughters birthday. Lets just say shes in her 20s. lol! It seems like just a few short years ago that I was in labor awaiting the birth of our first child. This is a portrait that I had done of us when she was 6 months old. There was a wonderful photographer in our town (Odessa/Midland) named Morgans studio. She photographed my senior portraits and these portraits and I always wanted to be like her. She was most likely in her 50s when I met her the first time.
She was a big influence on me, without even knowing it.
Happy Birthday Misty. Ill never forget the first time I saw you, heard your cry (she wouldn't cry, they had to thump her feet to get her to yelp.) I get to spend the day with her and going to Dallas to see her tomorrow! Its the simple things isn't it?!

Stefani

Wow! I had such a great time with Stefani and her mom yesterday!
Shes an amazing dancer and can stay "on point" longer than anyone Ive ever seen!
We had a great time, more pics coming soon! Stay warm everyone!

Shawnda!

Today I got to Photograph Shawndas bridal Portraits! It was so much fun, Shes such a cutie Pie! You might remember Shawnda back from the engagement portrats at McDonalds!? A few posts back. Shes always so much fun. We laughed so much my cheeks hurt! Her mother is a wonderful lady and Ive known them for several years. and shes a sweetheart too. Shawnda brought her entourage with her, I think she had about 5 girls helping her including her future mother in law. What a sight we were at the Botanical Gardens walking around all 8 or 9 of us! It was a beautiful spring day in Ft. Worth, and perfect for thse portraits. Thanks so much guys for choosing me for your wedding, engagement and bridal portraits!

McKayla

Hey Everyone meet McKayla. She is my new assistant. Isnt she a beauty?

Fitness Models!

WOW, S and M sure made my job easy today. Thanks guys, it was a lot of fun, more pics coming soon!

Photographers plight

Why do we have Daylights Savings Time?

Thank you Ben Franklin!
http://news.discovery.com/human/why-do-we-have-daylight-savings-time.html

around the house...

Around our house, its pretty ZEN and calm. Living in Japan for 3 years, Ive learned to make our home a place of relaxation. My job is so stressful, I need calm and quiet to build up my reservoirs of creativity and to calm as well. Its peaceful here. Ive had all our carpets steamed, the dog went to the groomers, the house has been Spring cleaned and de-cluttered. Im ready for my daughters birthday at the end of the month and Easter and spring time.
It takes a bit of work, but I would stay up all night if I have to to make our home calm and serene.
By the way, our housekeeper has a couple of openings each month, drop me a line if you need someone to help you out. I couldnt do it without Alicia. Have a great weekend everyone!

cute as a button!

Our Blogging policy

Every now and then I have someone ask me why that we do not post a lot of their portraits on this blog. When i do a photo session, My concern is that we take care of you, our client and not concerned with blogging about 20 of your portraits for the whole world wide web to see.

We make a return appointment with our clients for them to return to the studio within a day or sometimes a week to view their portraits.We make a special slide show of all the portraits, set to music and have a very special "viewing" for your family and a few friends only. We serve refreshments and have been doing this for almost 10 years.

We arnt interested in showing the other photographers in our area your portraits. What we are most concerned with is you. And that is why you get a private viewing. We have a large comfortable sofa and you get to kick back with soft drinks, or sweet tea, put your feet up and enjoy it in private. We don't think there is anything wrong with the way other studios choose to display their portraits, but its just not "our way". We hope you understand that we just like to keep it more private.

We try not to view other photographers work, because without realizing it, it does influence our photography. Just as a musician who listens to a certain type of music will find his style changing over to be more like the style that he listens to. Its just natural, cant be helped. I want to stay with the styles and trends, but I prefer to be influenced by my own creativity and what is inside me, Dixie. Not by what is inside someone else.
Ive always loved the saying "Be a first rate version of yourself, and not a 2nd rate version of someone else." Thanks for listening!

Cutie Kayci!

Our Boys won the Regional Crown!

Saturday, March 6, was the Regional power lifting meet for North Texas. There were a lot of schools there and I'm proud to say that Burkburnett took the First Place trophy! Our boys are just simply amazing. That's all I can say. From our lightweight guys, to our Super Heavy Weight Lorenzo (aka Brisket) to all the guys in the middle, they all work their hearts out! I love watching them, they are all powerhouses! The awesome thing is our son Broke a REGIONAL RECORD with a squat of 700 lbs! It was tense as the announcer took the microphone and announced to everyone that Scott was about to try to break the record set back in 2004.It got really quiet and I held my breath. Ive seen him do it before at other meets, but not at a Texas High School meet and definitely not at a regional meet. and He did it! Everyone was cheering in the room, even the parents of some of the boys he was competing against! That was really awesome to see! They always make us so proud. And the sweetest thing was Friday was my birthday and they all sang happy birthday to me in our sons Hotel room and had a cake, which I totally was not expecting and was an awesome surprise!We love each and everyone of these boys. They are our other "adopted" sons!Here's the video of our son and the Photo I got of the team with their trophy's, medals and awards. And the link to the Newspaper. Lorenzo Barnes got 3 trophies! Our Coaches Coach Thomas and Coach Major and our trainers Steve and Robert are what really brings out the best in these boys! Congratulations! Heres the article in the Times Record News(click on these words here to read.)

awaiting the miracle...

My Birthday!

Hey Gang! Sorry I haven't been around lately. Its been a very unusual week here. I wanted to thank you all for all your well wishes. Im very impressed by all the love and concern you've had for me in your emails and Facebook posts and in the studio.Thanks again for all your prayers and kindness lately since my car crash. If you arnt my Facebook friend, just look at the top of the page and add me!
God Bless and have a wonderful weekend!

Oh and Ive gotten exactly 91 Happy Birthdays on my Facebook! You guys are awesome!

quote o' the day

"Don't believe your friends when they ask you to be honest with them. All they really want is to be maintained in the good opinion they have of themselves." -Albert Camus