Oh Christmas Tree

It's true, this is the best time of the year. Family comes to visit, warm friendships, lots of delicious food, and kindness. Doesn't it feel great to say "Merry Christmas" to a neighbor or a stranger at Wal-Mart. After all we all need a friendly greeting if we're crazy enough to endure Wal-Mart this time of year.



Our Christmas tree is humble. We don't have very many ornaments or presents under the tree. But I love it just the same. It's a nice visual reminder of how young our little family is and exciting to think of all the funky ornaments made by our kids that will one day cover the tree.



That was our ornament from last year. We'd like to have the tradition of making a new ornament each year. We haven't made this year's yet...but there's still time right? Right?



Here's wishing that all your Christmases are white!

The Office

I'm so excited! We will soon have our very own "official" office space. We are currently working on getting it all set up. The next step of the process is to pick out some tile and get to work on the floor. I'll post pictures of our progress. Today the lights went up!

Stuff Your Face at Ranchway

In Las Cruces Mexican restaurants come a dime a dozen, but one hiding near the intersection of Hadley and Valley always leaves me craving flautas. Ranchway's salsa has a bit of heat, as it should but they offer a mild as well. You won't have a waiter at this "cafe-style" restaurant, you order up front and can leave a small tip at the table for whoever cleans it. Although they have an extensive menu ranging from BBQ sandwiches to sopapilla compuestas I always order the same thing every time, the beef flauta plate. My family ate at this family owned restaurant for my last birthday, my choice of course.

Sparky's Burgers BBQ and Espresso

Lately Nate and I have been trying to have date night every Friday. We rotate who's in charge and so far it's been great! This past Friday Nate was in charge. We doubled up with our good friends Jacob and Brianna and all headed down to Hatch, NM, chile capital of the world. The reason for our trip: Sparky's. Nate had recently found out about this new BBQ place so we decided it was worth the drive. Oh boy were we right. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was fun and clever.



This is the perfect place for a date night, family dinner, or meeting up with friends. They are also a very affordable place, which is so pleasant in today's climate. So fun. The whole place just makes you smile.



And the food, oh the food did not disappoint!



I ordered the brisket plate with pineapple slaw and fries. The meat was tender and the BBQ sauce had a smoky flavor to it. I especially loved the fries. They were seasoned wedge potato fries.



Nate, of course, ordered the Pulled Pork and Ribs plate with pineapple slaw and fries. He talked up the Pulled Pork all the way home.



I love Italian Cream Sodas so I snagged a Pomegranate flavored one. I LOVED the addition of Sprinkles, just a testament to how fun this restaurant is. Nate ordered a Strawberry shake which was equally delicious.

After dinner we caught the last game of the NMSU volleyball match. Unfortunately they lost to Florida St. but we had fun sneaking Brianna in. Great date night, Nate!

Check out Sparky's website for more details and their menu.

Easy Salsa

We know you have been on the edge of your seat this week waiting for our latest addition to our Stuff Your Face posts and you lucky duck here it is. We were playing games with my family one night and my sister-in-law brought out some delicious salsa. It was chunky but juicy, it was a little mild but addictive. When we found out she made it with a few ingredients we decided to try it out ourselves. So thanks Yvonne for this week's inspiration.


Recipe: The first thing you are going to need here is a blender. If your blender is elderly like ours you may want to chop up the ingredients a little before you throw them in. Take a quarter of an onion, half a bunch of cilantro, a spoon of minced garlic (a little more if you like to live a little), salt (to your liking), squeeze in half a lime's juices, two jalapenos (seeds will bring on the heat so deseed at least one of them if you want it more mild) and the secret ingredient: a can of whole tomatoes, that's right. I couldn't believe it either but you are going to have to trust me on this one. Throw all these ingredients in the blender and let her go. We also have quite a bit of green chile so I threw a bit of that in too for good measure. This is cheap easy salsa that tastes fresh. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Grandpa

This past Sunday we were able to celebrate my Grandpa's 90th birthday. It was an awesome experience. He's the type of guy who has never allowed anything to slow him down. He has an active mind and gets out on the golf course as often as he can. Last spring he invited me to tag along with him to golf lessons. Now I have a set of clubs and hope I'll always keep learning just like my Grandpa.



I love you Grandpa, Happy Birthday.

Stuff Your Face: Greek Style

Greetings photography and food lovers! I have an especially delicious dose of "Stuff Your Face" for your enjoyment. In our humble town I believe we have one lone Greek restaurant. Tiffany's! I was first introduced to this restaurant this summer during my Professional Development class. We had a really fun lunch group. Thai one Tuesday, Greek the next.

This is their Gyro plate with potato salad. I believe it's 60% beef and 40% lamb, or something like.



Pure deliciousness.

Trash the Dress

Ever heard of a "Trash the Dress" photography session? It usually takes place after the wedding so getting the dress a little dirty isn't an issue.



This frees up the bride and photographer to come up with some crazy fashion style pictures. I'd love to spend an afternoon creating custom bridal fashion shots. After all, who doesn't love fashion photography?



If you're interested in trashing your wedding dress (or even your prom dress!) send me an email, elise@taylordphoto.com

Stuff Your Face: Turkey Style

One of my favorite things to do is find new recipes! I usually do this to plan my grocery lists. It's so easy to find recipes when you're hungry, they flock to you. Nate and I love burgers. They're so easy to make and oh so customizable. I had never had turkey burgers before making these. I'm really happy with the recipe. I especially love all the herbs and veggie chunks in the meat. Did you catch those juicy tomatoes? The fruits of Nate's many labors.



This is excellent potato salad, probably the best I've tried. No celery here.



The burgers are found on this food blog and the potato salad is from The Pioneer Woman. Enjoy planning your grocery lists with these sites!

New Feature of Deliciousness

We've decided to embark on a new project with this blog. From henceforth, Mondays will feature a "Stuff Your Face" post. Nate and I will feature a new recipe we've made, one of our specialty meals, or our newest restaurant experience. Get ready for some awesome food. We don't mess around with our food, this is serious stuff. Serious, delicious stuff.

Warning: This post is not for vegetarians or those attempting to pursue diets.

First up: A fairly new restaurant to our area, The Ribcage. Their motto is, "The Best D@#* Barbecue, Period!" and I'd have to whole heartedly agree.

I chose to sample the Brisket. I picked the Mac 'n' Cheese and Corn Slaw for my two sides. Nate decided on a Pulled Pork sandwich, his personal favorite thing to order at BBQ joints. The meat was tender and the sauce was perfect, not too strong and not to be messed with.

While we were eating I made the remark, "This is REAL man food." Make of that what you will. In conclusion, if you are a carnivore you'll love this place!

Another Deal for You

Okay! So my countless hours of roaming the internet has turned up another deal. A deal for you nonetheless. Shutterfly.com is offering 25 free 4x6 prints or one 8x10 photo collage. All you have to do is enter the coupon code, "BORDERSOFFER". This deal ends August 19th.

August is here. August is usually a fun month. Summer is coming to a lovely end. Everywhere besides New Mexico the seasons are changing. Kids are going back to school and fresh school supplies are cleverly displayed within reach in every store, even the Dollar Store. There's just something yummy about the prospect of a new school year. Here's a movie line that comes to mind when I think think of the fall and going back to school.

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms."

Name the movie and actor who said the line and maybe you'll find a bouquet of pencils coming your way. Do you remember when you were a kid in grade school and pencils were a big deal? The cool kids had the shiny colorful pencils. Pencil toppers and funny shaped erasers were prized possessions. What sweet days.

Free Prints!

Howdy Friends!

Today I stumbled across some fabulous deals! Many photo sites offer free prints when you sign up. Amounts vary from place to place and shipping fees apply. Posted below is a list of places you can check out. Since these free prints are generally the 4x6 size I love using these for scrapbooks or simple photo albums.

Walgreens has a photo coupon of $5 off orders over $15 or more. Simply enter coupon code "GRADFIVE". Of course that darn sales tax applies. This offer expires June 30th.

If you haven't ordered photos online, you gotta try it out. It is so darn simple. Upload, order, then either wait for the mailman, or pick them up at a local location, sometimes within an hour!

I haven't personally used any of the sites listed below, if you have reviews please share in the comments!

artscow.com

400 free 4x6 and 400 5x7 (think of all the possibilities!)

enter coupon code "FREE800"

I think you're limited to 100 of each a month

dotPhoto.com

50 free prints

Snapfish.com

50 free prints

CVS.com

50 free prints

Photomama.com

50 free prints

yorkphoto.com

40 free prints

seehere.com by fujifilm

100 free prints

enter "PRINTS" coupon code

photoworks.com

50 free prints

clarkcolor.com

20 free prints

myphotoalbum.com

20 free prints

fotomat.com

15 free prints

shutterfly.com

25 free prints

winkflash.com

50 free prints

enter "WF95WF27" coupon code

meijer.com

50 free prints

ritzpix.com

16 free prints

Deal News for You

Hey Friends!

Here's some sweet news, Adorama is having a "Grad and Dads Sale." They're offering 8x10 prints for only $1.19 on ANY paper. I love ordering black and white prints on Kodak metallic paper which is generally a little pricey so this is a steal! This sale also includes 25% off hardcover photo books. All you gotta do is enter "PXBK25" at check-out. Haven't heard of Adorama? They're an outfit in NYC that offers camera equipment and services for great quality and great prices. They come highly recommended from yours truly. Adorama will give you 25 free 4x6 prints just for signing up, talk about hospitality. This sale ends June 28th. You can find all these goodies and more at www.adoramapix.com.

In honor of Father's Day I'm also offering my own little sale. From today until June 30th I'll be offering a special session for Dads and Daughters or Fathers and Sons for $50 . The package includes an hour session, up to 2 outfit changes if you'd like, and a disc of high resolution pictures created during your session. If you're interested you can contact me through the website or by email at elise@taylordphoto.com.

Happy Father's Day, I love you Dad!

A Timely Update

I've been busy! Here's a few of my favorite photos. I'm so loving the summer! I'm taking my first summer course and it is amazing. Great group of artists looking to expand their careers. Just where I want to be.

Ducks

I recently spent a lovely Saturday morning feeding ducks. We had lots of fun! Here's a couple of my favorites:

A Wedding in the Park

Luckily I was able to spend my Valentine's Day in true romantic style: at a wedding! The Johnsons are a very happy and smile filled couple. I wish them all the best in all of their adventures. Here's a few of my favorite images....

Hoop Time

I've been photographing the Mayfield High girl's basketball time for a few weeks now. Sports photography is exciting and challenging. We've created a client gallery for viewing these pictures. If your involved in Mayfield athletics send me an email and I'll give you further details. Go Trojans!

Lady Luck

Life is full of surprises! For instance, I never would have guessed that our first business, Taylor'd Photography, would be up and running in 2009. I owe this success to my dedicated husband. It was his idea to enter my photo in the contest that won our website! I will always be grateful for his encouragement and support during the times I doubt myself. He's my motivation.

Photo adventures for the upcoming week include preparing for a Valentine's day wedding and family pictures with the Bivens. We're excited for the spring and warm weather and have a lot of shooting to do! So keep checking the website for more images to come.

A Taylor'd kind of Website

So we've just received our website template for editing. We are super excited! We hope to go live very soon, as soon as we can get the hang of things. Check out our progress at taylordphoto.com.