hey all you iphone users!

I now have a customized iPhone icon that you can put on your home screen! I know you want to be reading my blog while you're waiting in line at the post office...so I'm making it quick and easy for you. :)

It's a pretty simple process, so just follow the directions below.

1) First, go to my website using Safari. (Just type in "www.lissaanglin.com")

2) Then, click on the middle photo that says "Blog".

3) Next, you want to click on the "+" symbol at the bottom middle of the screen. This will appear:

4) Click "Add to Home Screen". You'll see this screen:

5) Type in the text you'd like to appear under the icon. I would suggest "Studio Blue Blog" or "The Most Awesome, Talented, and Amazingly Beautiful Photographer Ever"...although that might be a little too long. (Please excuse my cheesiness.)

Click "Add" in the upper right hand corner, and ta-da! There I am in the bottom right hand corner of the screen!

Now you can visit me anytime you like!

you dirty dog...#2

I've been at my computer all morning/afternoon, so I decided to take a "creative break". I wandered into my backyard (it's beautiful weather) to find this...

Good thing Shawn's Mom got her granddogs some Paul Mitchell dog shampoo for Christmas!

On another note- anyone have any tips on grass-growing? Our backyard is very spotty- we haven't been able to cultivate much more than a few sprigs since we moved in. Maybe I'll go buy one of those tractor sprinklers. :)

You can see Lola's first mud-fest here.

richard + claire = engaged!

This weekend I had a very special task. My friend Richard- who Shawn and I cheered with in college, Shawn lived with- was proposing to his girlfriend! He booked me on a very early flight to Dallas so I could help him prepare and photograph the whole event, plus shoot an engagement session immediately after.

It was a great day, and he had the proposal very well planned. I think she was completely suprised- and it was so special to get to see how in love they are. I love that their engagement pictures are literally of the time they got engaged. Pretty cool!

I'm going to share some of my favorites throughout the day, and some from their session...but you can check out the slideshow to see how it all went down!

Richard's list-

A nervous Richard. We did about an hour of waiting in the church where he was to propose- but the plans went off without a hitch.

They're looking at a July 4th wedding- how fun! Congratulations you guys- thanks so much for letting me be a part.

ch-ch-ch-changes

Just wanted to bring my new blog header (look up!) and my new welcome page banner to your attention- I'll be changing these monthly so you can have a glimpse of the wonderful people I've been looking at. :)

Also- not sure if anyone noticed- but I put a little section down to the right showcasing what I'm knitting, what I'm reading, and what I'm listening to. I love recommending things, I've noticed. Not in a salesperson kind of way- but I'm very loyal- if I like something, I want everyone around me to know about it.

Hope you all have had a wonderful week so far!

you dirty dog

The weather here in Lubbock had been quite interesting lately. Sunday afternoon we were enjoying a game of pick up football in our jeans and tshirts...but for the past couple days no one has wanted to leave home for all the ice and snow around.

Yes, I like the cold weather- only because it forces us to slow down a bit and stay at home.

It's finally warming up today and I am already regretting my decision to let Lola outside. She really likes to get dirty. I don't know how many times I've had to clean that dog up...she is pretty cute, though!

an inspirational excerpt

Just wanted to share an excerpt from the book I'm reading...it's worth the 2 minutes it will take to read!

"Working artists David Bayles and Ted Orland tell a story about an art teacher who did an experiment with his grading system for two groups of students. It is a parable on the benefits of failure. Here is what happened:

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of pots rated an "A", forty pounds "B", and so on. Those being graded on quality, however, needed to produce only one pot- albeit a perfect one- to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the work of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was being busily churning out piles of work-- and learning from their mistakes-- the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

It doesn't matter whether your objectives are in the area of art, business, ministry, sports or relationships. The only way you can get ahead is to fail early, fail often, and fail forward.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Learning that failure is not scary, and can, in fact, be a good thing has been really freeing for me. One of my favorite quotes is "Always make new mistakes" - Esther Dyson

How has failure impacted your life?