Wishing your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Card designs by (my favorite!) Paper and Ink Studio

This quote by St. Francis of Assisi has always rung true to my heart. This Christmas (Merry Christmas Eve by the way!!!) I have the special honor of awarding a deserving family a great reward. I posted a week ago about the Giving Is Awesome event that I am participating in and I have to say that I have been blown away by the nominations and the families who prove that there are heroes walking among us. Every family nominated deserves a spectacular holiday and I hope 2009 brings them the peace, light and hope that they all deserve.

The winner of my Giving Is Awesome event is an amazing family, fighting a brave battle (commonly known as cancer) and still staying warm, compassionate, loving and kind every step of the way. I am honored to grant this family this gift and I hope that it brings them some happiness and fun this holiday season. I am keeping their names private to let them enjoy this gift - but thank you to everyone who sent in nominations and to all the families out there who were nominated. Everyone have a very Merry Christmas!

Love,
Shey

This post is just going to summarize my past week - the week leading up to Christmas, which in my life = Dave flying to Maryland, my parents in Dubai, my Christmas baking and not quite understanding portion size (or control!), and the disaster mess that is our apartment. It’s been a bit crazy trying to keep everything in order.

I do want to quickly make a big thanks to everyone who has submitted nominations for the Giving Is Awesome event I posted below. Every one of the nominations has made me realize how strong and special these families are. They’re all so deserving - I hope 2009 is a bright year for them. I’ll be announcing the winner on Christmas Eve so stay tuned!

Ok now on to my random pieces:

Baking:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies:

I basically took this Annie’s Eats recipe and added walnuts - pretty simple!

Sugar Cookies using Foodzie’s Amish Gourmet’s butter….mmmmm and this recipe

I made way too many of these. They were awesome - but one batch made so many cookies and I cant help myself around them. I stooped to pawning them off on coworkers to save myself. My apologies to the finance department - I’m sorry my weakness lead to putting dozens of cookies on your mini fridge.

Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Muffins (again using Foodzie’s vendor Nitty Gritty Cornbread mix and recipe)

I served these puppies along side of homemade lentil soup - so yummy!

Then I found my cat passed out on top of all the clothes I’ve yet to put away…which now have white hair all over. Thanks Mellow. I get the message.

And finally a pic for my dad who’s in Dubai right now, but I know would want to see this. I won an award at work last week! It’s always nice to be recognized, and I love my job - so this was a really great surprise. Pretend that my grubby fingerprints arent really there.

And now just a few more days until we celebrate Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!

Give someone something special this holiday season:

My friends over at Essential Imagery have set up this fan-freaking-tastic site Giving is Awesome and I wanted to share the love too.

Here is how it works -
You know someone. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.
You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography — $1150 worth, to be exact. The winner will receive a photo session as well as all the digital files to cherish forever. It’s in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a FREE session worth $150.00. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:
* You cannot nominate yourself.
* The nominee must reside in the Indianapolis metro area, and the sessions need to take place before 5/1/09. Tell me who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.
* You must e-mail me the full story : shey@sheymarinphotography.com.

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — so get nominating! I can’t wait to read all of your entries!
Open your heart to someone this holiday season — and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

Love,
Shey

So I went to edit this picture and was basically done when I realized one of my cats had decided to throw up under my tree. Follow the white arrow.

Just keeping it real folks. Stay classy Indiana.