In the south, summer is here!  We love salads and we eat them all summer long.  This one is cool, tasty and my family loves it.  Ed (my husband) jokingly calls it “Stop Bath Salad” referring to one of the chemical processing steps in black & white photography .  He still loves it and will take a serving in his lunch if it is made up.   Being colorful, makes a pretty display on a dish or bowl.  Perfect for summer outings, reunions, picnics, buffets, pot luck and cookouts.  It is best made up the day before, but still tastes good eaten the day it is made.

Ingredients:

• 2 large cucumbers, quartered and sliced
• 1 pint of small grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, sliced (optional)
• 1 can of black olives, drained & halved or chopped
• 1/2 cup of feta cheese
• 2/3 cup of olive oil
• 2/3 cup of red wine vinegar, I prefer the garlic flavored.  Recently I have only been able to find it at Walmart, and it is the Walmart brand.  Some Publix brand red wine vinegar will have a garlic flavor, but not all Publix will carry it.
• 1 package of veggie/multicolored pasta  cooked according to directions and drained
• 1 T of salt free greek seasoning
• Cracked pepper to taste

After the cutting up the vegetables, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.   You can adjust the seasonings to taste.  If it seems a little dry, add more oil and vinegar.

This recipe will serve an army and is easily halved if you need a smaller amount.  Will last about 3 days refrigerated.

You can eat this with a meal, a snack, take to a pot luck.  It is a great salad!

Enjoy!

Missy

Our Focus on Autism event was a great success!  If you were not able to participate this year, we will be doing this event again next year in the month of April.

April is Autism Awareness month and as a community service we offer complimentary sessions and give away one 8×10 portrait from each session.  Many of our participants also share their stories and gave me permission to share with you on this blog in addition to being featured on the Focus on Autism website (currently under construction).  These stories are to be a source of encouragement to those who are living with Autism and to families of those living with Autism.

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you the stories of these precious children:

Mr. E….  And yes, his eyes are that blue!  And a sweet energetic little boy.

Mr. J-2…..  A handsome young man who loves science and horseback riding.

Little Mr. G…. full of energy and possibly the happiest child I have ever seen or met.

Mr. J-1…. Who loves math and fencing.  More of his story by clicking here.

When you meet someone, adult or child, with autism, you have met one person with autism.  They are all different, gifted and a precious creation of God.  I feel privileged to be allowed to share with you each of their stories.

“Focus on Autism” is a group of professional photographers, from all over the country who set aside one Saturday in April (Autism Awareness Month) to photograph those living with autism.  Our group was founded by Melissa Tash, a Professional Photographer in Huntsville, Alabama.  Inspired by her own little one living with ASD, she is currently setting up a website as a resource for parents, caregivers and those living with Autism.  Each of the stories we feature here will eventually be featured on the national website.  These stories are to offer hope and encouragement to the parents, care givers and those living with Autism.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we have some awesome stories to share with you!

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We had such success with our limited “Bunnies & Chicks” portrait sessions, I thought I would share just a few with you.

Hope (the black & white mini rex) and Grace (the brown & white mini rex) were just great!

The girls, (Grace & Hope) did not mind taking care of the chicks at all!  And they just loved being picked up and handled by every child, parent and grandparent who came in.  Very good and sweet girls.

What was really funny was when the chicks would climb out of the basket, jump off the bench and take off running!!!  One chick was only a day old and I think he was the most energetic!  We all got our workout chasing and catching them.  I think I did manage to get some video.

We had some children who were not sure what to think.  Liked the bunnies & chicks but did not want them too close!  LOL!  I might have been the same way at that age.  (I love hand made smocked clothes!  Isn’t this outfit just precious!)

Some children were a tad timid w/their first experience w/the bunnies & chicks.  You see Grace in the basket, being sweet and just loving that tiny little touch.

We had children who just jumped in there with all eagerness to pet and play with the bunnies.  A few loved and held every bunny and chick!

Everyone loves Bunnies & Chicks!  At any age, they love to be photographed with them.  And so sweet!  Here we see Hope climbing into the teenager’s lap.  She did that with everyone.  She loves being held.

And Hope was not to be left out!  This little bunny loves to be held and snuggled.

We did take some time for just a little fun.

If you would like to schedule a session with Hope & Grace for you or your child call us at 205-807-1223.

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We have a few sessions still available!  One for Friday morning, 2 for Friday afternoon and 2 Saturday morning.  Get in on this great opportunity!

We have a completely different set this year.  Will be posting photos this evening or first thing in the morning!

Call 205-807-1223 to schedule your session!

April is the month for spring showers that make the air smell so good!  It is also the month for Autism Awareness.

In the month of April, we will be “Focusing on Autism”.  Participating with other photographers all over the country, we have set aside one day to take portraits of children living with ASD.  On Saturday April the 21^st we will be giving complimentary 15 minute sessions to those with ASD, AND with that session comes a complimentary 8×10 portrait.   Siblings may be added for an additional fee.  As siblings are added, we will also need to add time to the session.

Autism comes in all different stages and levels.  Special people with special God given talent.  “J” is one of those people.  I first met him was at church.  Our church was doing a promotion on Orphan/Adoption Sunday (2^nd Sunday in Nov) and we were featuring all the families who had been blessed by Orphans through Adoption.  One of ‘J’s brothers was a foster child that his family later adopted.  Making their family having a total of 4 boys!  They were a fun group to photograph.  :-)

‘J’ would also come to our Sunday School Class that met at 8.  He would volunteer to pray and say the sweetest prayers.  I could tell that God has touched his little heart and has great plans for ‘J’.

‘J’s mom shares with us ‘J’s story:

‘J’ was diagnosed with high functioning autism at age 7 but I knew something was wrong at 18 months. I had been told that he was just speech delayed and quirky, but he simply didn’t progress like the “experts” thought he would. We are blessed that he has been very responsive to therapies. Autism makes Mr. J the unique and special person he is. It can be hard when you see other kids making fun of him and when there are no birthday party invites, but ‘J’ has made a couple friends the past couple years. All these kids also have social struggles or high functioning autism. His brothers accept him for who he is, but it can be hard because ‘J’ struggles with explosive meltdowns and you don’t always know what may set him off. Plus, he sometimes acts inappropriately in public which can cause some awkwardness. Of course, therapy and many programs are not covered by insurance so it can be a financial strain. Thankfully our credit card companies keep increasing our limits! 
There have been times when it has been hard and I have felt alone. His diagnosis came shortly after our move to Alabama so I really didn’t have any close friends here. I did lean on God and the women in my Bible study. However, in the end, no one really understands what it is like unless they have a child who is living ASD as well. Friends who have children on the spectrum have been my greatest support. 

‘J’, mom and I had a wonderful time during his session.  He enjoyed feeling special during his photo session.  And excited about being featured in our “Focus on Autism”.  And honestly, I was scared to death when he was climbing around on all this playground equipment, but it did not bother mom one bit.  Then I remembered she has 4 boys!

It was an early spring, cool, overcast afternoon the day of ‘J’s session.   One of his brothers was at a game practice and therefore he did not want photos with his siblings, because there would not be all four of them together….

….however, I think he was secretly enjoying this special time.

If you have a child living with ASD and would love a complimentary session (15 minutes) to include a  complementary 8×10 portrait of your child, please call us at 205-807-1223.  We will be doing these complimentary sessions on April 21st by appointment only.  Sessions will be held at a local park.  There will be no flashes and it will be a fun non threatening environment.  We would love for you to be willing to share your child’s story as well as we would love to feature your child/family on our blog. This is to be an encouragement to others who are also living with ASD.  If you love the photos that we take, we will make additional photo packages available for purchase.

Call 205-807-1223 for more information.

Easter Portraits with Bunnies and chicks!

I am so excited to announce that we will be taking Easter Portraits with Bunnies and Chicks! This is for a limited time only and the photos will create precious memories for years to come.  The dates are: Thursday March 21st, Friday March 22nd and Saturday March 23rd.  The sessions will be 20 minutes long and the fee only $45!  This will include a bundle of your favorite image of the session.  Limited spaces available so call now to make your appointment!  205-807-1223

Hugs,

Missy

PS:  I am sending out my first newsletter tomorrow!  Yeah!  If you would like to be included in the mail out, (email newsletter) fill out the form that you see on the right sidebar.  And make sure you check your spam folder and add newsletter@imagesbymissy.com to your contacts!  Thanks so much!