Monthly Archives: January 2015

The days somehow seem oh so crazy long (whether you work away from your littles and just trying to rush the day away to get back home to them;  or whether you are at home chasing after your littles).  The hours seem to drag by some days and yet when you finally found the time to sit down for just a moment of peace, you realize that in what felt like that one incredibly long hour or day actually turned out to be a week or a month that suddenly came and went! DL3A4029

How is it that time can feel so sluggishly slow one moment and then in a blink of an eye all of a sudden blow by us so fast it can make our heads spin?!

It’s not about being on auto pilot.  It’s not about being completely efficient at the every day tasks or just trying to get it all in and all done working hard to be the best you can for your family.  It literally just happens!  To me, sometimes it just feels almost like I’m standing still yet watching Linc just speed by, the wild child that he is!

These moments are so incredibly precious and priceless.  We all feel it!  As soon as we bring our littles home, we just want to hold them so tightly because we know each tiny second is a unique experience we won’t get to repeat again!  I know… sounds depressing when it’s said like that, but really it’s wonderfully beautiful!  Let’s just say it:  we you become a mom (or a parent in general… I’m not leaving out the daddy’s here at all)  you are just changed!  Time feels different.  It means a different thing completely!

Each day is a brand new experience!  Heck moment to moment can be a brand new experience!

When I had Lincoln, my view of photography completely changed!  I saw every single second as a possible moment to freeze in time!  I wanted to capture it all!  Gosh I still do!

There are days and moments where I just wish a photographer could follow us around all the hours that he is awake and just continuously and with rapid fire take a million pictures of the interactions we have together.  I love how his little mind works and more than anything I love how he views the world with wild curiosity and complete loving excitement!

Every moment is important!  The way that the time flies around here… I just want to soak it all up and have it saved for later!  I want to fill my house with prints and albums so that he can see who he was and how he has grown!

As mommas we are the memory keepers for our family’s.  We are the story tellers and we get to pass down the history of “us” from generation to generation.  We are trusted to do this and it’s a big gift and a big responsibility!

So often though when we do this, we tend to forget to include ourselves.  We are mostly the ones that are taking the pictures and documenting are memories.

Sometimes (I do this often so I can use myself as an example) it’s uncomfortable for us to be in front of the camera.  We tend to make excuses.  My most frequent excuses are I haven’t showered yet today, my hair looks awful, I’m not dressed well enough!

Do those sound familiar to you?!

Trust me… I can make excuses all day long because I am soo awkward in front of the camera!

BUT…

These are my words of advice that I’m going to offer to myself.  It’s a plea really… to you and to me!  We need to forget those little things and put them aside.  We need to step in front of that camera and be with our children, be with our family!

One day our children are going to want to look back and see us as parents!  They aren’t going to care if we weren’t showered with our hair just so.  (Linc might… because often he tells me “mommy fix your hair!”)   Our children aren’t going to care years from now if we had the right clothes on or we had our make up done.

They aren’t going to care what we looked like exactly… just that we were there!  

They will want to know what our hands might look like and if they have the same ones.  Do they smile like we do or have the same kind of spirit!

It’s those kinds of  character traits that you can’t exactly see but you can feel when you look at an image that our children are going to want to look for!

They will not only want to know their story, but also our story as their parents!

So in this next year my dear mamas:  if you haven’t thought of a goal for the year or a project, maybe start with this:

  • Break out your camera and snap away, at all of the moments that draw your attention.  How the light hits your little one’s face one day.  How you love to marvel at how long their eye lashes are.  How they play with wild abandon or read passionately in a little nook.  There is beauty in every single image if you are willing to see it!
  • Place yourself and be willing to be in front of the camera with your family!  No matter what, no excuses!

Let’s try and do it together!  I will if you will!

These days that can sometimes feel so long (oh so long my dear sweet Linc 🙂 ) are flying by all too quickly.  I want to spend every second I can soaking it all up and making sure we can remember them for years and years to come!

I’m soo beyond excited this morning because Lauren and Sean’s Surf the Dress session was chosen to be featured on the Two Bright Lights Blog!

I know it may sound weird, but I get giddily excited when sessions are chosen to be featured: not because my work is being featured (although that is super amazing and I’m ever so grateful for that!)  I get super excited for my clients and friends and I’m just especially excited for Lauren and Sean this morning!

You all:  my couples and my families… are sooooo fuuuun!!!!  I know a million photographers say this (all the time!)  But my clients are truly and honestly (hands down) the most FUN and the most beautifully spirited and soulful people!  When I get the chance to show how beautiful they are to the world… oooh boy!

This session was totally spur of the moment and so completely unique!  These two are complete lovers of the ocean.. truly!  If they could build a house under the water, they would!  They met as life guards (in and around the water), they spent most of their courtship in and around the water.  Sean proposed to Lauren as she glided to the shore on a paddle board while he waited on bent knee!  They were married on the beach!  It was only fitting that these two best friends and adventure seekers come together for a session like this!  Bonus:  Lauren is kind of amazing to get in the ocean in her Watters Wedding Dress, but to surf in it… that is crazy hard!

Now.. to have their story and their infectious love, not only for each other but also for the beach and for adventure, shared with others to see… it truly makes my heart burst!

I am eternally grateful to Ragan and the team from Two Bright Lights!  I can’t thank them enough for choosing this session!

You can check out their feature here…

But here’s a little sneak peek reminder… in case you  missed it the first go around!

Congratulations to Lauren and Sean! Thank you both for being so adventurous and fun loving and willing to just GO!

It’s time to choose a word… last year I chose strength and while I may not have started out right away with a lot of it, I think I did an OK job following through with my one word for the year!

This year I put a lot of thought into my word. Brave!  It can mean sooo many different things.  I want to be brave and take leaps of faith in my business!  I want to be brave and step out of my comfort zone and push myself in my faith.  I want to be brave in my role as a mom and as a wife!

Yesterday our little family of three went to church.  We haven’t been in a while because Linc is potty training and well, I’ve been scared to take him.  Potty training boy, even though he is doing amazing at it, I just didn’t want to put that on anyone else!  We needed it though.  We needed the community and the encouragement and the message that was taught yesterday!

As we sat in church, I could hear the rain start to down pour outside and I thought oh man… what is going to happen to our day?!  We scurried out to the car (Thankfully Tuck pulled it around) and we headed on home to our “no nap Sunday!”

As Tuck tried (desperately I might add) to put Linc down for a nap, I realized why I really needed to settle on the word Brave for this year.

You see.. I am not the brave parent!  I desperately want to be!  I want to be carefree and go with the flow!  I want to go and do and throw caution to the wind!  But… something holds me back!  I worry.  I anticipate.  I worry about others and what they might think.  (or with a toddler, if we might disturb or interrupt).

Tuck is amazing!  He is pretty fearless!  He is the braver one of the two of us.  He plans but he doesn’t waste time worrying about would “could be”, he just does.

I never used to be like this!  I used to be completely opposite in fact.  I wonder what changed?!

As I sat there thinking about all this, something pretty amazing happened!  The sun came out!  Not only did the sun come out but the weather was warmer and it was this beautiful over cast but moody kind of day!

I sent Tuck a message (since he was still desperately trying to get Linc to nap upstairs) and told him to pack Linc up, I would grab the dog and let’s go ahead and take everyone down to the beach for a walk and treasure hunt!

It took a little time to get everyone on the same page, and everyone in the car, but Linc’s excitement and joy was pretty contagious!

The beach was gorgeous!  The waves:  magnificent!  We walked up and down (and even ran around a bit) as we searched for all kinds of beachy boy treasures!  We watched some surfers and paddle boarders catch some waves (I was a bit jealous) and we met some really nice people as we combed the sand.

I realized that these little moments of spontaneous adventures are so incredibly important.  This right here is what being brave and choosing that as my word is all about:  having these moments!

To just pick up and go and do and be.  To enjoy the moments without worry or planning or anticipation!

To just take a leap of faith (in so many ways) and enjoy what happens!

I need to be brave this year in so many ways!  I need to let go and just enjoy the adventure and experience it for whatever it may be!

We need to especially enjoy one another and let everyone else just fall into place, whatever place that may be!  Linc is only little for so long!  These types of moments and activities, the ones that don’t require anything but time and a car ride are the ones that matter the most!

So this year, I choose Brave!  I chose brave for all aspects of my life!  Brave in business:  take risks and push the boundaries, get out of my comfort zone and DO!  Brave in faith:  volunteer, get involved and start living with HIS purpose in mind.  Brave in family:  let go of the anticipation and the worry and just go and have FUN!  Be care free and spontaneous!  Maybe even break some rules!

How about you?  What’s your word for this year?