I'm sure many of you have already pulled out your wallets to send help to Haiti or some of the other regions of the world that have recently sustained damage due to natural disasters and I know your generosity is greatly appreciated by many.  The current economy has affected many people, including members in my immediate family, yet people continue to donate their time and money to help those in need.  What a great country we live in that we're able to help so many others!  If you're able and feel so inclined, here's another great way to help.

One of my past grooms (and a close friend for the last 8 years) has helped build an organization called Sustain Haiti.  He recently served a mission for our Church in Florida, where he learned Haitian Creole and frequently interacted with and taught Haitians and is now looking forward to helping them this summer in their homeland.

This is Craig (and his lovely wife Jackie) back in October:

More than 100 BYU students have formed Sustain Haiti, a group dedicated to helping the victims in Haiti. Led by Warner Woodworth – founder of HELP International and Humanitarian Action Research Team – they are graduate and undergraduate students (some speak French or Haitian Creole and some are native citizens of Haiti ) looking to make a difference to those affected by the earthquake in Leogane.

For more information and to make a donation, go to:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Sustain-Haiti

Volunteer!  They're still looking for volunteers and if anyone is interested in going to Haiti to help out you can contact Craig directly at palssonc (at) gmail (dot) com or you can send me a message from my contact page above and I'll forward the email.

You can stay current on the project at their blog:

http://sustainhaiti.blogspot.com/

You can read a short news article here:

http://universe.byu.edu/node/8034

In the past I've been able to travel to the Philippines and Africa to serve in orphanages and I would have never had such an opportunity without the generous donations of others.  Here's a picture of one of my sweet little African orphans.

While I can't show you any pictures of the kids from the Philippines (they had a strict picture policy and I made a promise to the nuns; you can't break a promise made to nuns!), but here's a shot (back when I shot 100% film) of some other cute kids:

Their goals for Sustain Haiti are so practical in helping the people in Leogane become more self-sufficient.  It sounds like such a great opportunity to all involved.  Go here to donate!

To the mom who taught me a love of photography by taking me into a dark room at the tender age of 14.  Where would I be without you?

And to the mom who forced me to learn how to cook and become awesome at it (um, due to not cooking amidst college classes and raising 5 kids) and to always use real butter and make brownies from scratch.

I love you Mom!

I'd love to find some fun V-day traditions that I can incorporate into the holiday (I'm not a huge fan of too many traditional traditions ).  How did you celebrate??

Typically, Houston will get a bit of snow every 4 - 6 years during the Winter. There have been estimates that some areas of Houston will see 4-5" today. Snowball fight anyone? .

This is the earliest snow in Houston since 1889. Measurable snow has NEVER been seen in back-to-back winters. We're breaking records here, people!

See Houston's Climate History Here

Instead of spending Black Friday heading to the stores and acting like animals, it seemed like a better idea to head to the Houston Zoo to actually see animals.  My boyfriend thought it would be a good idea (it was free)

He thought I should have more photos of myself on my blog so I let him practice.  This was his first time shooting with manual controls!  He did an amazing job and enjoyed the opportunity of making me feel awkward by posing me in busy walkways .

My bf kept asking for directions to the evil petting zoo.  He really wanted to see a goat eat a can. I just wanted some hand sanitizer.

This duck had a lot of attitude. The bf really thought this bird should get some gold chains and a posse.

I taught him all about finding good light (even in a bat cave).

One of those busy walkways where he made me stand for 5 minutes (he tricked me into looking happy).

He really wanted one of us to get a picture petting the large cats, but I didn't think it was such a good idea.

Oh my...

All pictures shot by him, edited by me.

Anyway, I'm so happy there's so much interest in the tutorials and question/answer segments! If I get enough questions together by next week I'll do my first one. I already have a few sitting in my inbox, so thanks to those who sent them! Once again, anyone who has a question leave a comment here or send an email to kelli @ kellinicolephotography.com with a subject that says something to do with tutorials or blog questions. Thanks!

Fireworks, however, are not my specialty . Favorites?

These were all either IN downtown or really close to downtown under the overpasses. I LOVE those overpasses.

Please forgive us for being in running clothes with no make-up or showers, but I didn't expect to love these pictures enough to blog them!