Then we headed off to the park down the street.

A little fun in the trees and grass…

And then back home. Jenna decided she’d like to be a photographer too and insisted that Joy find the camera for her to play with. She’s got a good eye and it was so fun to see her so interested. After some fun with that, the girls headed up to their room to play.

Love this little family so much! We missed their dad, Craig, who couldn’t be there, but I sure enjoyed our mother/daughter session!

Here’s what I’ve been reading lately…

Thanks to my friend, Kris, I just finished Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. This isn’t normally the type of book I’d pick up on my own, but Kris said it was great and lent me her copy. Within the first few pages I was hooked. Having just finished an athletic fete of my own, I was completely engaged in Cheryl Strayed’s battle with her own body and the trail. I sorta want to go hike it myself now…buuut not by myself. Who wants to come?

Lone Wolf fit the formula of all of Jodi Picoult’s novels: moral conundrum + multiple narrators + plot twist = entertaining, easy read that kept me interested, but not riveted. I think I’d recommend it as an airplane or beach read…I will say I liked some of her other novels better, but I’m yet to be bored by any of them.

I’m trying to read one business/photography book for every just-for-fun book. Sometimes it’s hard because I usually read at night and business books can sometimes be dry…but this one kept me totally engaged! (I haven’t started my second one yet.)

Start With Why by Simon Sinek takes the concept he discusses in his TED Talk and takes it further.  I watched this particular TED Talk 7 or 8 times before I decided to buy the book…not because I wasn’t sure if I should buy it, but because I loved the talk so much that it never occurred to me that I needed any more. I was wrong. This book is great! I highly recommend both the talk and the book to anyone in any business or leadership role. Genius. 

So that’s what I’m reading…How about you? I’d love your recommendations! Please!

When we got back from the park, the ladies watered the plants, Cass changed her soaking wet clothes, and everyone helped with dinner.

After dinner it was bath time and then Daddy put Kenna to bed.

Then Mommy put Cass to bed…Goodnight cutie pies!

Hey, good news! If you made it this far, you can enter to win your own Day in the Life shoot! Just share this post on Facebook (by clicking the “Share on Facebook” button below) with the sentence “I want to remember______”.  Tell me what it is about your family right this second that you want to remember. Is it the way your little girl twirls her hair around her finger while she falls asleep? Your son’s obsession with Spiderman? The way your husband holds the baby while he cooks dinner? What is it you want to capture forever? “I want to remember _____” Make sure you “like” and tag Hannah D Photography in your post so that I know you’ve shared, or comment on this post telling me that you’ve shared! The winner will be chosen at random on Monday, May 13th. For each friend you get to enter, you get an extra entry too so be sure to tell them all!

This shoot is something new I’ve been chewing on for awhile and I’m in love with the concept: A Day in the Life. I got to go into their home and stayed from the time the girls woke up from their nap to the time they went down for the night. I got to experience the dinner time routine, a walk to the park, bath, and bed time, from the perspective of a fly on the wall. I loved watching the girls interact with each other and Mom and Dad, and capturing the every day moments in a special way.

The perfection in the imperfection.

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job?

Here’s just a little bit of the first half of our evening…The second half will be in another blog post tomorrow. Ohmygosh it was soooo hard to narrow it down! Mike and Dana, I can’t wait to show you the rest!

First Cassie woke up…and helped Daddy. And played with two of her best buddies, Siri and Frodo.

And then McKenna woke up. She’s a lot like her big sister in that she’s a huge helper, and loooves her dogs! She also patiently waited for Mommy to come home.

And then it was time to get ready to go to the park!

Stay tuned for more of these cutie pies tomorrow!

Since I moved away after college our visits have been few and far between, but Courtney is one of those friends you can go years without seeing, and then when you finally do, everything is exactly the same.

Courtney brought her man, Ed, up to Seattle from Oregon for their engagement shoot (and a visit!). We met at the Puyallup Spring Fair. What a fun location!! I was excited so to see her, and to finally meet him, and for their shoot of course. Ed is as sweet and fun as I would’ve hoped and I’m so happy to see my friend so happy!

Courtney and Ed, I can’t wait to shoot your wedding in August!! Here are a few of my favorites from their session.

Ryan participated in my love letter contest for Valentine’s Day. I’m not going to share the whole thing yet, but here’s a little glimpse into how awesome this couple is:

“I irrationally love Audrey – it’s beyond reason and measure. I love her because there are I times I’m not sure why she loves me, but damn am I grateful and thankful. I don’t believe in time because love is infinite – therefore when I’m with Audrey it’s not measured in days or weeks or minutes, or years – it’s felt. And it continues to grow. Infinitely!”

Without further ado (and with a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Audrey!!!), here are some of my favorite of their engagement images…as you can see, I had a little bit of trouble narrowing it down…

With that said, I feel like I can tell you about my own race now. If you haven’t already read the build up to the race on race morning, start there. This is that story continued…

I’m breathing steadily, and I’ve found my rhythm. Occasionally I get kicked or elbowed, someone swims right in front of me, or a wave crashes over my face when I’m trying to take a breath, but somehow it isn’t bothering me. I’m in the zone. I later find out that the choppy conditions in the water are the worst they’ve been in years, but considering that I have nothing to compare it to, I don’t mind. Knowing that the “angels” are out there in the water on their paddle boards looking out for us doesn’t hurt either.

The swim is long and, although I’m surrounded by people, solitary. I have time to think. To process what is happening. A few times I think I might get teary, but then I’m afraid my goggles will fog up. I think about my friends who I know are in different places in the water, swimming their own races. Doing this. I think about Kyle and wonder if he’s out of the water yet, heading towards his bike. I think about my friend, Kris, a nervous swimmer, and I just know she’s going to do it. I look for turtles in the murky water. I don’t see any, but the hunt is fun. We’ve been told about how great the swim is — the fish, turtles, sea life. Not this year. It’s murky grey with occasional glimpses of pink or white coral. I see one fish and get so excited I almost take in a big mouthful of water.

Before I know it my hands are touching sand. I stand up and take the first difficult steps out of the water. Then I hear my name and I see one of my mentors, Jerilee, screaming “GO HANNAH!!!” from the side of the path to the bikes. It instantly puts a smile on my face.  I see Coach Cathy and her husband Mike, and then even more “support crew”. They’re screaming and high-fiving and I’m grinning and running towards the transition area.

When the path turns from sand to pavement with little lava rocks all over it I slow down a bit, not wanting to hurt myself before I’ve even started on what are, for me, the harder parts of the race.

Besides the jog to my bike, I make a quick transition. My only mistake being almost falling over when I try to balance to put my sock on my wet foot. Otherwise I manage to stay mostly upright and in no time I’m walking my bike out of the transition area and hopping on. The wind feels good and cools me off even though I have no idea how I got warm already considering that I’m soaking wet.

I ride out through the resort and on the the Queen K Highway (along part of the Ironman course). It is still overcast and the ride is actually pretty pleasant, despite the view being only lava rock in both directions as far as your eyes can see. This highway can get extremely windy, but today we’re lucky and the conditions are great. The first half of the ride feels slow and I can’t quite find my groove. I pass a few people here and there, but I keep forgetting it’s race day and I slow down when I should be speeding up, I take my time drinking my water and eating my Honey Stingers.

One of the fun things about this being a Team in Training event, is that there are 440 other people out there in purple jerseys doing this race for an amazing cause. And every time someone in a purple jersey passes me, or I them, there is a great exchange of “GO TEAM!” that gives me a little boost of momentum every single time.

At the halfway point there is a steep downhill, a quick ride through a tunnel and a sharp turn to a steep uphill. I’m carrying enough speed to make it up the uphill, but the guy in front of me is getting slower and slower as we head up the hill. I don’t have room to go around him. He makes it to the top and just when I think I’m in the clear, he stops! I come centimeters from hitting him and the people behind me yell the same, “woah!” that I do, as surprised as I am. Disaster avoided, I finally catch my groove on the bike. I’m enjoying the ride — trying to pass people on the uphills and trying not to break on the downhills (I’m still pretty nervous with downhill riding). The second half of the bike is much better than the first and I have a great time. About halfway back, I hear a bike coming up behind me and a “Go–hey wait! That’s HANNAH! Wooooo!!! Go Hannah!!!” It is my mentor, Joyce, and I’m thrilled to see her. She gets ahead of me pretty quickly and I think I’d like to catch her on the run.

As I’m getting closer to the transition area, the clouds are getting darker and I think it might rain. I think that wouldn’t bother me too much. I’ve been dreading this run for months. Coach Cathy made fun of me at practices at home for stripping off all of my layers after the warm up…even when it was only 40 degrees outside. The Hawaii temperature has been a concern for me since my first day of training. I feel two or three rain drops, and then the clouds drift away. Oh well. About a half a mile from transition a guy is yelling for the girl in front of me, words of encouragement, and I think that he knows her. Then he yells to me, “Catch her! It’s all downhill from here! She’s right in front of you! GOOOO!” I listen to his words as if he were my coach and start pedaling like mad. I catch her a few yards from the “dismount” sign. What a great way to end the bike!

I rack my bike, take off my helmet, put on my hat and spray one more layer of sunscreen. As I mentioned, I’ve been dreading the run since before I even signed up for the race. I’m not a strong runner and I don’t do well in the heat. Luckily, today it is overcast and 78 degrees. Considering we trained in 27-45 degree weather at home, this is plenty warm enough, but not the deathly upper-80s I was expecting.

I start the run slowly with the plan of walking through the water stations and running the rest. My legs feel pretty good and not overly tired from the bike. I take a look at my watch and realize that while my legs might be okay, my brain is tired. I can’t figure out how long I’ve been racing. That would require adding my swim time and my bike time. I’ll figure it out later.

And then I’m running. The course takes me across a lava field, through some of the Waikaloa Village, through the Hilton, onto a crazy rocky path, onto the beach, and over the finish line. The lava field goes fine. I run the first mile without the usual drag my legs feel during the first mile of a post-bike run.  I can see the first water stop and I’m amazed at how quickly this mile has gone. Unfortunately that feeling doesn’t continue. I slow to a crawl, feet shuffling slowly. It’s getting hotter (although still not as hot as I expected) and I’m putting ice in my hat and sports bra at every water stop. I’m also pouring at least one cup of water on my head (thankfully I never got the water and Gatorade mixed up!) and drinking another.

I see a few people I know coming back the other direction after making their turnaround and I muster up the energy for a “Go Team!” or just  a “woot!!” My energy is fading and I can feel the effects of burning so many calories without eating a whole lot. I am thrilled when I see a teammate who couldn’t race at one of the water stops. Her giant grin and handful of water cups makes me so happy I could cry. At the turnaround point, I see two more cheerleaders for our team and can hardly lift my arms to high five them. Still, seeing them boosts my spirits.

At this point I’ve made it through Waikaloa Village and I’m heading through the resort. I can hear the kids splashing in the swimming pools and I see people walking around with pina coladas. My jealousy is all consuming. I WANT to get in that pool and I NEED that pina colada! I consider running a few steps out of my way and asking some kids to splash me, but those few extra steps might be the few steps I don’t make it over the finish line. Surprisingly, despite the heat, exhaustion, hunger, and need for a pina colada, my spirits are relatively high. I make a sharp turn down a little switchback and see Joyce below me. “JOYCE!! Wooooo!”  (A lot of “woo”ing goes on all race day.) She looks as tired as I feel, and I’m determined to catch her. About 5 minutes later I’m coming up behind her. We’re on a rocky part of the path and we slow to a walk over certain parts to avoid the possibility of a twisted ankle less than a mile before the finish. We chat a little bit and I keep thinking how cool it is to be crossing this last mile with someone who has been there for me the entire season. We’ve nicknamed Joyce “Momentor” because she’s as much like a mom as a mentor — always checking in, making sure we’re okay, supportive and fun…We love her. I’m happy to be avoiding twisted ankles with her.

We turn a final corner and the finish line is in sight. I can hear the music and people yelling. It’s still a quarter of a mile across the sand, but I get a burst of energy. I pick up my pace and see the finish getting closer and closer. Coach Cathy and Mike are up ahead, yelling and taking pictures. I’m grinning. I’ve almost accomplished something I thought I never could. A bucket list item. I get closer and see other Team in Training members, then other members of my chapter. They’re yelling my name. I see Kyle and I’m so happy I could cry. There’s a lady running right next to me and I’m thinking, “I’d like my own finish line photo, thank you.” So I go faster. She does too. So I sprint. She does too. I pull ahead of her just as I’m crossing the finish line. The finish line. I’ve finished. I’m stunned. I look at my time. Three minutes under my goal. I’m amazed.

I’m a little bit lightheaded and my brain is definitely not working properly. Someone puts a medal on me and someone else hands me the most beautiful water bottle I’ve ever seen (if only because all I really want in this moment is a water bottle). Thankfully, Kyle finds me. I don’t think I could’ve spotted him in the sea of purple with such a hazy brain. I find a spot along the railing to watch for the rest of my friends to finish. All I can think about is the moment that I finished my half marathon and I ate an orange, the juice dripping down my arm. I really REALLY want an orange. Kyle asks me if I got a snack. He says there are cookies…and oranges!! I convince him to go get me one. He refills my water bottle too.

After about 20 minutes I’m feeling back to normal enough to ask Kyle how is race went. He did amazingly well, coming in almost 15 minutes ahead of his goal time. I’m proud of him. And of myself. And of all of my friends. This is one of the only seasons Coach Cathy has everyone on her team finish the race. And collectively we’ve raised over $150,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Everything about this event has been amazing. I can’t believe how far I have come…from flailing in the kiddie pool and not knowing how to change gears on my bike to finishing this race with a giant smile on my face.

GO TEAM!!!!

{Coming home, cherry truck, happy Easter, toddler swing, from the garden, Mister drove a Lambo, Seattle from a moving car}

More from this session can be found in the gallery here.

“Pothole!”

“Pothole!”

One at a time each team member shouts back to the person behind  them, a warning of what is ahead.

“Car up!”

“Car up!”

“Car up!”

The rhythm soothes me, and I’d guess the yelling doesn’t hurt either. It is 5:20am and we are riding in the dark towards the starting line. My cadence is consistent, the same as that of the person in purple riding in front of me, and every few strokes I literally have to remind myself to breathe. “Deep breaths,” I keep telling myself. But the nerves are too much and my whole body feels tense.

Today is the day we’ve been training for for the last 5 months. The people I’m riding to the starting line with are those I’ve spent more hours with than my own friends and family. We’ve sweat together, laughed together, shared our stories, and fought towards the same cause. We’ve been each other’s biggest supports and have all shown strength in different moments. The build up to this day has been a long road of skipping out on Friday night beers with our friends in preparation for early Saturday brick workouts, shoes squishing with every stride from inevitable missteps into mud puddles, late night swims, biking up enormous hills (literal and figurative), planning and attending fundraisers, and digging deep mentally as much as physically. This day is the culmination of a huge amount of effort.

As we get closer to the transition area, where we will set up our gear and head to the starting line, the road gets more congested. I see the rows and rows of bike racks, fenced in so that only race participants are allowed inside. My heart is beating a mile a minute, or has it completely stopped? I don’t remember the last time I was this nervous. I consciously wonder if the nerves are for the race itself, or if I’m emotional because it’s all going to be over soon. I get a lump in my throat and think it must be both. I see my friend Kris, normally loud and silly, and we just look at each other wide eyed before entering the transition area.

After finding the spot for #301 and racking my bike, I go to find mister at #321. We head to the body marking area where we will be stamped by the stamps that have numbered Ironman athletes. Part of the race will be along the Ironman course as well, as were a few of our practices in the last few days. It strikes me as to how crazy those people must be. That the sane thing to do is listen to your body when it tells you it doesn’t want to run a full marathon after swimming and biking that far in the Hawaiian heat. It also strikes me that I might be a little insane myself, but I don’t have time to dwell on that. We get our timing chips and take a few photos, drop off our cell phones and flip flops at the transition area and make sure that everything is laid out how we want it. We grab our goggles and swim caps. For me, purple, like the rest of the 30-39 year old women. The fact that it matches my Team in Training jersey as well as my shoes makes me happy.

We head to the beach and closer to the starting line.

This is where the reality hits hardest. There are SO many people. We take a team photo and do our team cheer.

Yelling helps ease the tension a little bit. Otherwise, everyone is pretty quiet. We talk a little bit about being nervous. Some people mention that they might cry, or throw up, or pass out. I think I might do all three. The anticipation is palpable. For a few minutes I lose Kyle in the crowd. It’s getting close to start time and I can’t imagine doing this race without a final hug and good luck to each other. Looking for his red swim cap does me no good since every 30-39 year old guy is wearing a red swim cap. I find my mentor, Joyce, and walk closer the start with her.  Time is going by too fast. I haven’t found Kyle or any of the other purple capped women from my team. I keep thinking, “I don’t want to start this race by myself!” Joyce will be starting a few minutes after me in her wave.

My heart is hammering as I hear the gun that starts the elite wave.  It is 7:20am. In 15 minutes (3 waves), I will be starting my triathlon. Where is Kyle? I start getting a little bit frantic, not sure why I need to find him, but knowing that I just do. I turn around, and there he is — with several of the members of our team, including three ladies in purple swim caps. Relief takes over the nerves for a minute. Kyle and I hug and say good luck. The gun for the 7:25 wave is going off and Kyle is on his way to the start.

I latch onto Kelly, Diana, and Beth. Terrified of losing them before we start. Realistically I know that once the gun goes off I probably won’t see them again until sometime into the bike or run, but I don’t care. All of our training has been done as a team, and I want someone on the team next to me to share these nerves with. The gun goes off again and Kyle’s wave is in the water. I try to watch for him, but there’s no way to tell who is who.

The girls and I inch into the starting area, finding our spot on the right side, towards the middle of the pack. I’m afraid my heart might pound out of my chest. Time is ticking down fast. Beth gives a  pep talk. Kelly screams a little. I can’t stand still. My hands are shaking. Goggles on. Good luck, ladies. Gun goes off. Feet in the water. Knees in the water. Swimming.

And just like that, the nerves are gone. All of the tension, anticipation, anxiety, just melts away. I’m swimming in the ocean with 275 other women in my wave. I’m finding my rhythm, despite being kicked and jostled and despite the choppy, murky water. I’m breathing better than I have all day……………..

Click here for the second half of this race report