I'm not sure what to call this post...

I haven't been sure of what to write about lately. I thought about writing something funny like, "Things Strangers Have Said To Me When They See My Twins" or something practical like "Five Baby Products I Didn't Really Need" but it seems like those kind of posts are all over the internet already, and does the world really need another one? I don't know.

Or maybe something deeper and more honest, like "My Husband Has Been Working Really Long Hours Lately And I Never See Him And I'm Eyeball-Deep In Babies." Which is actually true. I'm so very tired. Not tired in the sense that I'm getting no sleep, because I actually am (they still sleep through the night which is amazing and a blessing and I need to knock on some wood  now), but tired from just being needed by two squishy 10 month olds all day long, for multiple days in a row. I'm not complaining about this, I'm just writing about what my life is like right now.

I hate the term "stay-at-home mom" because it doesn't feel accurate. It's more like "work-at-home mom." Because that's what I do, and I'm proud of it. Taking care of children at any age is WORK. Caring for twins by myself while keeping my home at an acceptable level of cleanliness is WORK. Letting my home get dirty while attending to my twins is still WORK. And sometimes ignoring my twins so I can clean my house is also WORK. And in between all that, I try to carve out some time for myself, and spend quality time with my husband, and call my parents on a regular basis, and hang out with friends to talk about everything BUT babies.

My life is full, but I love how full and (sometimes) chaotic it is. Over these months, I've surprised myself by how much I can handle and how my confidence has grown. I remember a time when the thought of going out with my babies in public by myself terrified me, but I've proven to myself that I can do that, and so much more. Like most things, it becomes less and less scary the more often you do them. Not to mention routines and being organized is half the battle when it comes to twins. The diaper bag is always ready, and the babies eat and sleep at the same times. My OCD tendencies have really come in handy for motherhood.

When a stranger says to me, "Must be a handful!" upon learning I have twins, I never know quite how to respond. Since these are my first babies, I don't know any other way. This is just my normal. I have two babies, but I also have two hands; what could be more natural? My husband and I joke that if we had just one baby, we'd have so much free time! The things we could do! But I know everything is relative. I wouldn't change a thing.

The next few weeks will continue to test my stamina while my husband puts in more time at work. But the plus side to all of it: more twin cuddles, more twin laughter, more opportunities to take them out to the park, or a store, or walks around the neighborhood. More time getting to be their mom. More time to love them so hard, and so fiercely.

A little video I made the other day using my fancy camera :)

current inspirations

Heart to Mouth High from bart hess 

1// This creepy/fantastic rubbery take on love (as seen above)

2// This made me laugh.

3// The peculiar and surreal photography of Yung Cheng Lin.

4// I'm not usually a fan of Bon Iver, but their new song for Zach Braff's new film might change my mind.

5// These embroidered landscapes are beautiful.

portraits // new year's eve 2013

Yes, the month of January is already half-over, but it's not too late to share some rad photos I took on new year's eve, right? Some friends of mine were hosting a new year's eve party at their place, so naturally I wanted to take over a wall in their house and set up a little backdrop area to take portraits of everyone's beautiful faces. I got a little overzealous at the Party City store, but it was worth it, because that wall ended up looking pretty dang festive.

Here are some of my favorites!

 This was so much fun. Everyone was photogenic and just let loose, and weren't afraid to get a little silly. Which makes the best photos, in my opinion. Also, adult beverages help. A lot.

AND! I shot so many photos that night (453 to be exact), that I decided to put them all together in a quickie time-lapse video for funsies.

left coast roadtrip part four // big sur

Day 3. The drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur was one of the prettiest I've ever taken. Blue waters, rock cliffs, and an amazing flower field right on the water to traipse through.

The color of the ocean kind of blew me away....I wasn't expecting it to be so...blue. It was beautiful. And the mister had a grand 'ole time climbing down a semi-dangerous hill to get to the rocks below. I stayed safely put, because camera gear + sandals = heck no.

Here's a little camera + iPhone video footage that I shot as well. 

big sur from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

After several of these little pit stops, we kept driving down Highway 1 and made our way to Nepenthe, which is this great restaurant tucked into the mountains with an incredible outdoor terrace to soak in the views.

Unreal. California, you keep surprising me :)

some visual poetry for your wednesday

Choros from Michael Langan on Vimeo.

A chorus of women are borne from the movements of a single dancer in this dreamlike "pas de trente-deux."

This is beautiful, and dreamlike, and mesmerizing. And that is all I will write about it. Just watch it for yourself :)

tuesday tunes // The Peach Kings

Hmm, maybe this could be a regular thing? Tuesday tunes, it has a nice ring to it...we shall see.

So....The Peach Kings. I was listening to this first song today while driving. It was sunny and warm out, and hearing this made me feel like I should be driving to the desert, on my way to a shady meeting with people of a nefarious nature, à la Breaking Bad or something.

The Peach Kings - "Thieves and Kings" from Paul Trillo on Vimeo.

This next one is way more somber, but kind of fitting to my mood as of late. But the visuals are pretty rad.

The Peach Kings - Lonely from Paul Trillo on Vimeo.

has it already been a year??

The Mister and I arrived in San Diego approximately one year ago, and my mind is blown. We found a fantastic place to live, we met great people who've turned into close friends, we explored our city, and I kept going with my photography. I feel so incredibly lucky that this is my life.

I put together this little video yesterday as a two minute visual reminder of what this past year has been like. It's (nearly) every single photo I've taken since I arrived here, complete with iPhone photos, 35mm film photos, and DSLR photos.

the first year from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

When I watch this, it occurs to me that the reason I obsessively document my life is pretty simple: to help me remember. I can barely remember things from my childhood, or even college for that matter, unless I'm looking through a photo album that shows those periods of my life. So all these silly photos I take, day in and day out, it makes up my own digital family album. And that is a precious thing to me.

Photography aside, I'd also like to list my unofficial San Diego Pros and Cons.

Pros:

1. My neighborhood. Downtown La Mesa is my jam. From my house, I can walk to the grocery store, the post office, the library, the farmer's market, Friday food trucks, the trolley, antique shops, coffee shops, and a bunch of bars and restaurants. If I didn't like the rest of San Diego so much, I'd never drive.

2. If you've never been a great parallel parker, this city will whip you into shape quick. I'm pretty sure I do more parallel parking here than I ever did in Spain. And not to brag, but even with my boat of a station wagon, my method is now flawless.

3. Sun. Lots of it. Sometimes this is a con though (see below). It's like Spain all over again, except most people speak English and I can shop on Sundays. 

4. All the different neighborhoods. As much as I love La Mesa, it can't fulfill all my needs all the time. So maybe I'll pop over to North Park and people-watch the hipsters as I eat at a vegan Mexican place. Or maybe I'll take the trolley to downtown to get that urban city feel. Ocean Beach has perfected that 70's beach town vibe, and if I wanna feel really poor, I can wander through affluent neighborhoods like La Jolla and Del Mar (this is all tongue-in-cheek though, I love all these places).

5. San Diego is amazingly dog-friendly. I'm not sure why I'm listing this, since I don't have a dog, but it's still really nice to see. I always see people with their dogs sitting on patios of local eateries, and a lot of places will put out food and water bowls for them. And tons of dog parks everywhere. It's basically dog-topia.

6. Living in San Diego and not liking beer is like living in Antarctica and not liking ice. Okay, maybe not, but I do love the local beer selection here. And if you're one of those people that has never liked the taste of beer, come visit me, and I will prove that you just haven't tasted enough beers to make that statement.

7. I'm about a two hour drive from all my favorite people on television. If I ever decide to stalk Jon Hamm, it'd be totally easy right?

8. Mexican food. That is all.

Cons:

1. Sun. Lots of it. It gets a bit much at times. Even more so since I live inland. Sometimes I just want three cloudy or rainy days in a row in the middle of summer. Is that too much to ask?

2. It's true, I do miss the change of seasons that I got while living on the east coast. I totally took it for granted.

3. Old house = No AC = Not super fun times. August and September were brutal. Anything over 80 degrees outside was like Satan's armpit in my house. 

4. Honestly, I can't think of any more cons. Just writing those three above makes me feel slightly whiny and ungrateful. Which I'm not. I feel incredibly lucky to be living here.

So here's to year two! :)

home video // August

August from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

As with all my previous home videos, this was shot purely on a whim, while I was outside yesterday taking in the late afternoon sun. I loved the way those little gnat/bug things seemed to be suspended in air, and the way the light hit them. They looked like glowing little orbs of light. I know it sounds corny, but while watching the playback, I thought, "this is really beautiful."

this is what my nights usually look like.

Except that I usually give in long before this guy does.

And the heavy sigh at the 1:01 mark just kills me. So effing true.

Gregory Crewdson // Brief Encounters Trailer

I'm such a huge fan of this man's photography. This looks amazing.

StoryCorps

I came across StoryCorps not too long ago, and upon watching an animated short on their vimeo page, I was instantly hooked. According to their website, "Our mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives" and is described as "one of the largest oral history projects of its kind."

Here are three of my favorite animated shorts from StoryCorps, but you should really watch them all. Some are hilarious, and some are downright heartbreaking.

six months in a leaky boat

 

{image via Tobyotter} 

My better half is a U.S. Navy Sailor, and while I'm not one of those wives who regularly bemoans the fact that their husband serves in the military, I also don't place his profession on a pedestal and pretend that he is somehow a better human being than a person with a civilian job. I find myself comfortably in the middle; I respect his choice in profession, and I'm proud of what he has accomplished.

He's just a regular guy doing his job like anyone else. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes he downright loathes it. Highs: dude, we got to live in Spain for three and a half years. Travel. Culture shock (some people might consider this a low, but I love it). Lows: Trying to Skype with family overseas with a six hour time difference. Lows for him: Ship life. Cramped quarters, long hours, things breaking all the time, and the painting. So. Much. Painting. He's surrounded by so much grey color where he works that he refused to paint our walls any shade of grey when we started our painting project.

I was looking through some old photos on my computer, and I found this one that my dear friend Felicity photographed what seems like eons ago!

Another high: seeing him in his fancy pants uniform, whether it's dress blues or dress whites. I am DEFINITELY okay with that.

So anyway, the reason for this whole post to begin with...I came across this great song yesterday by Split Enz called "Six Months In A Leaky Boat". Great title. Even sillier video. I have a feeling Navy ship life isn't accurately represented in the video, other than the guy pushing the broom around. And I'll have to ask the mister if there's a token accordian-playing dude on his boat. And if they still use those old-timey telescopes.

a little east, a little west

Every time I shoot a little video with my iPhone, it seems I'll completely forget that I've taken it until weeks, possibly months later. Exhibit A: A spur-of-the-moment little video I shot way back in September, when the mister and I were still visiting family before the move to San Diego. Here we are in the Pennsylvania woods, with my all-knowing tour guide.

Man, I would make a terrible tour guide. I'm not the history buff that my husband is. I'd probably sound something like "I'm pretty sure there was a war fought here. An important one. And some people died. From battle wounds. Or syphilis."

Exhibit B: Another video I nearly forgot about, this time here on the west coast. This was from a few weeks ago, when we took a little stroll through Ocean Beach.


That pier we were on is amazing. Perfect for surfer-watching too. And it even has its own cafe! Pier food. Yum. Or maybe not yum? I haven't eaten there yet, so if any of you locals have tried it, let me know!

home video // a new day, a new year

Between instagram and flickr, I've shared plenty of images of my new front yard, so apologies if it's getting old. Today, it's in video format at least. Just messing around with the 5D video function. Massive amount of leaves? Check. Playing voyeur on the cat? Check. Shaky camera-work? Check. Oh, and super sunny, super warm weather in January? God bless you San Diego.

painting is the opposite of fun. but new music isn't.

 Today marked the beginning of Project Paint Four Rooms. One room down, three to go. The mister and I are doing it ourselves, even though we were pretty tempted to hire some fellows that hang out around the Home Depot. Just kidding. Sorta. We hate painting. It sucks. It's messy, and well, it's work. But on the other hand, I'm pretty stoked that we're allowed to paint at all, considering we live in a rental.

So we blasted some music and got to work. And we didn't kill each other (home DIY projects have never been our strong suit, but I'm hoping to change this). So all in all, a pretty swell day.

So I am rewarding myself with some new music that I have recently discovered, by sharing their videos below.

Grouplove - Tongue Tied

Frightened Rabbit - The Loneliness & The Scream

WU LYF - We Bros