Jonathan, Cody and I decided to participate in the “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day” a few months ago. I started researching volunteer opportunities and came across one that was perfect for us-the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure 2010 at Lake Nona. It was a cause that meant something to us and we wanted to volunteer at a sporting event so we signed up. We volunteered for several hours cheering on the riders as they approached and crossed the finish line. The weather was perfect and the event seemed to run seamlessly. Disney’s “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day” promotion just ended within the last few weeks, which means that 1 million people have volunteered their time to earn a one-day, one-park Disney ticket. What an amazing contribution Disney made to all of these organizations that count on volunteers to not only thrive but survive and the awareness Disney brought of the need for volunteers. From what I understand Disney’s promotion was to go until the end of 2010 or until they reached 1 million volunteers-it’s only March and the promotion has ended-I think that says it all. I had my camera at the finish line of the race and caught a few great moments…

In between cyclists crossing the finish line Jonathan and Cody would practice their skills with the water bottles…

Oh my goodness…I can’t believe it has been a week since I have posted something on my blog. I have several posts that are in the works but then I realized it was already Tuesday again. So for this Traveling Tuesday I decided to finally highlight a place we have been to several times during our cruises-Cozumel, Mexico. We really like Cozumel and every time we have been there we have done something slightly different. On this particular trip to Cozumel we decided to rent a car and take a ride around the island. As is typical of us we ended up on the more “uninhabited” side of the island and decided to stop and spend a little bit of time on the beach at this little food joint we found on the side of the road. We played on the hammock, looked for sea shells and had some great authentic mexican food. After our time at the beach we headed back to the ship and decided we still had enough time to grab our snorkel gear and do a little snorkeling-you know we just kinda jumped in the water off the side of the road, not too far from the ship and swam around a little bit. That’s kinda how we do it and we like it. Here are a few shots of our day at the beach and us getting back on the ship after our little swim. It was a good day in Cozumel…

Every now and then I am going to dedicate a Traveling Tuesdays post to a future dream travel location for the Roots. A place that is definitely in one of my top five locations…Santorini, Greece…and can you blame me!

I had a great time shooting this wedding with my friend Linda Claveria. I will actually be shooting her wedding next month so it was great to get to see her and work with her one more time before her big day, but this day was Chantel and Jorge’s special day and what a beautiful one it was. Chantel was an amazingly gorgeous bride and I fell in love with the hotel lobby where she got ready-the lighting, the colors, the space, the furniture-oh, heaven. Enjoy my view of their day (and that ‘oh so fabulous lobby)…

Some details…and a bridesmaid gets readyFor the bride…and here she isNow the rest of the story

An underwater adventure in Belize with a disposable underwater camera to a remote island called Rendevous Caye on a power snorkeling excursion…yep, that’s how we Roots do it. So here’s Cody, Jonathan and I…

Thought I would share a beautiful bride with you on this most wonderful Monday…

I did a photo shoot for Team Rootberry a few months back that you can see here. At the time we discussed doing a more casual, laid back shoot. So, after seeing Linda & Angel’s engagement session they decided they wanted to take advantage of a great location.  It was very cold and very windy but also very fun (and we stopped and got pizza at Gino’s downtown-bonus!) Here’s a sneak peek…more to come later.

We didn’t travel far for this trip, but unfortunately we don’t get to the beach too often so this short trip is definitely worthy of a Traveling Tuesday post! Jonathan and I headed about an hour east to Cocoa Beach and spent the day surfing. The trip started out rainy, gloomy and overcast. I spent the first hour or so sitting in the truck waiting for the rain to dissipate so that I could walk out to the beach with my camera. Not only did the rain go away; the sun came out and it turned into an amazingly beautiful Florida day. Jonathan surfed and I took pictures and enjoyed both the serenity and excitement of the beach-the perfect duality of worlds for me.

The modern St. Valentine’s Day celebrations are said to have been derived from both ancient Christian and Roman tradition mainly revolving around a few Christian martyrs named Valentine and something about the first valentine being sent from a Christian martyr, named Valentine, from his jail cell. It’s a day we celebrate our love and affection for our significant other, but I believe that is something we should do every day. My hubby and I went to the movie “Valentine’s Day” and had sushi on Friday and concurred that this was our valentine to each other…but, that is not unlike any other day because the celebration of our love is constant, always and never-ending. Some believe Valentine’s Day has become commercialized-I believe it is what you make it and what you want it to be. My husband is my forever valentine and I am his. Here’s wishing you a daily celebration of love.