Monthly Archives: May 2015

Hey Hey Hey (said in the voice of Mr. Albert… I hate calling him fat albert, it seems really mean!)

Over on instagram, there’s a little thing called “Friday introductions”!  It’s for all the new friends and new faces that have popped on over so they get to know who you are a bit!

Instead of instagramming this Friday intro, I thought I would blog it instead and share a little bit with all the new faces who have joined the blog too!

I am soo incredibly thankful for all the new friends and all the love shared here!  Sometimes I am even overwhelmed and blow away by it… you guys are amazing:  you rock, you fill me up and you inspire me ALL THE DANG TIME!  BOOM!  But seriously, without your hearts and your fearlessness when it comes to sharing your stories, your hearts and your true/raw moments with me, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love so much!  So thank you!

Sooo for all my new friends and all the new faces (and my friends that I have loved and loved me for a long time now) here are some things you might not know about me!!!

I’m Brooke… and I am a children and family lifestyle photographer!  I am a momma and wife and lover of the Lord FIRST and photographer second!  There were days and are still days that the only thing that keeps me running are the love and support and encouragement from my husband, family and photography wife Elizabeth Friske!  AND a coke that’s been made into a slurpee in the freezer… and dorittos and SUSHI!!  Possible all that masked together into a delicious and unhealthy meal!

As is says in my website blurb:  We live for the sunny days and salty ocean air!  I live at the beach and I am so thankful for those ocean waves (even though Linc panics still when he gets near them!)  He’s a surfer boy at heart but big waves not so much!

The mud is his life force and we are constantly digging, squishing and mud bathing/baking in the sun!

Photography is how I learned to appreciate everything I had and live for the REAL life:  the messy life, the chaotic life and OUR life!  Photography gave me the gift of letting go of perfection and learning that REAL is the best life.  That raw moments are the real moments and scars, tears, struggle and vulnerability are the beauty marks of our souls!

God graces us with amazing moments… photography allows me to hold on to those moments so I can remember to be thankful and appreciate every second I have!

Here are some random facts that you don’t know about me:  even if you have known me for years:

  • I love the water but I hate drinking it!  I carry a water bottle because I’m constantly dehydrated but drinking water makes me feel like I’m drowning!  I can barely do it and I have to force myself!  Yet a coke, I can down!!!
  • I’m super awkward and really accident prone BUT I was a dancer for most of my life and whenever there is music played I can pull out some pretty difficult balance moves.  I still have my pointe shoes from my ballet days and when Linc is at school, I put on crazy music (like audio machine or instrumental music from dark knight and create these elaborate ballet routines in my foyer!)  Once a dancer always a dancer!
  • I actually HATE vegetables unless they are roasted and squishy and sucked of all nutrients!  I am trying to eat them but unless they are over cooked or orange (carrots, sweet potatoes, butter nut squash) I have to really force them down!
  • I don’t feel like I truly knew myself until I became Linc’s mother and now I’m more comfortable with myself:  looks, personality and truly totally acceptance now that I’ve really accepted my role as a mother!
  • I love people and I am rather out going but I am actually a total homebody and I need time to myself BY myself almost every day!
  • I feel things to the extreme measure:  I love deeply, I cry at the drop of a hat, my feelings get hurt easily and I’m super sensitive!  I wear my heart on my sleeve and I always want to do whatever I can for those around me!  At the same time that means sometimes I am quick to anger but quick to forgive too!

What are some things no one quite knows about you?!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!  What are your plans for the holiday weekend?!!!!

 

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Last year at exactly this time, Linc and I went Strawberry picking and it was the highlight of my year!

Strawberry picking is always the highlight of my year and has been since I was little!

One of the best things for me when I was growing up was when my mom would wake me up in the mornings and whisper to me that today was a strawberry picking day!  We would always skip school… the best part!  We would wake up and have ourselves a buttered biscuit from hardees usually on the way and of course a coca-cola!  We would gather our boxes and baskets and have them weighed and spent hours picking to our hearts desire!

The running joke was always that when I was little (Linc’s age) I would take a bite out of every berry in my bucket!  My bucket was pink and it was plastic but had the weaving just as if it were a woven basket.  I remember it just like I held it yesterday.  I always laughed at that story because I couldn’t really imagine taking a bite out of every single berry.

Now… I completely understand!

This was one of the traditions I swore I would pass down to my own children.  This special surprise treat of waking them up and making a special just one on one time day of it!  Spending the day and the morning outside picking delicious strawberries and laughing in the fields.  My mom and I would usually stop and get slurpees on the way home or if it was lunch time we always had a special lunch too!  It was always a great day spent with my mom and it has continued year after year!

Yesterday, I was so blessed to continue that tradition again with not only my mom but Linc too!  Tuck had a business trip so my mom and I planned it especially so that we could wake him up in the morning and make a mommy and Gigi day!

So for me this was extra special:  not only did I get to spend the day strawberry picking like so many times before with my mom again;  but also I got to spend it with my mom AND my little man!

It’s the little moments and days like this that I absolutely live for!  Those small moments and traditions that are passed down and remembered.

My mom was amazing at creating little legacies and traditions like this:  ones that never really cost a ton but meant the world because they were so simple but so full of heart and meaning!

This is why I wanted to share this post on my mother’s day week!

Sometimes we forget that to us mom’s it’s these types of small moments, memories and traditions that often have the biggest impact!  To us moms, these are the types of breaths we live for and for our kids these are the memories that stick like glue to our hearts!

Traditions like strawberry picking and being able to skip school and go to hardees.  Traditions like taking a walk on the beach to search out seashells and other ocean treasures the sea has left for us to find.

Traditions like romantic dinners on the floor with sprite in fancy glasses and cheese and crackers!  We did that too when I was growing up and my dad was at the fire station!

All these are so simple and yet soo impactful and life lasting!

Take a moment to think back to some of those things that really left a lasting impression on you… what were they?!

Happy Mother’s day to all and remember, sometimes it’s just having the time to hold a hand and set aside time to do something once a month that is as simple as building a fort or taking a walk!

Or strawberry picking every May and eating your belly full along with a nice buttery biscuit!

And of course… real is better than perfect!  Sometimes he just ins’t all that into photos!  I mean, the camera is ALWAYS in his face!!! But I love them and I love real life, so I love them… mr. prickle pants and all!  I’m also a big fan of no make up when I can get away with it!  (I’m a super eye rubber… so gosh by the hour after I have applied mascara, I look like the guys from KISS)

We also found some friends at the strawberry fields!!  And these two crazy littles FINALLY met!   And… well, let’s just say we have future play dates planned!

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I am beyond excited to share this adorable session with you this morning!

I met Sophie a few years ago when I had the pleasure of second shooting her wedding with a girlfriend of mine in the Outer Banks!  That wedding was perfection, even in the rain!

Sophie and Mike are incredibly sweet and fun!  Their wedding was lovely and they were the most easy going couple I had ever met in my life!

When I found out that they were expecting, I was over the moon for them!  They have this kind of love and patience and that is quiet and subtle!  The kind that laughs loudly and loves softly and never demands a single thing!

It’s the purest definition of unconditional!

Sophie and I talked for a while about their first session together as a family of three!  We had all these wonderfully creative and beautiful ideas but of course our seasons were a bit behind here in Virginia Beach, so we had to come up with something last minute and I will tell you what friends… those always seem to turn out the best!

Sophie mentioned that her dad had built… yes built this amazing boat and what if we met at the narrows in first landing state park and had a little play date there!

I was super excited but the boat I had in mind (while amazing still… he built the boat) was nothing compared to the real thing!  IT WAS AMAZING!!!

Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraitsLittle B was such a great little man during our time together!  He is the BEST baby ever!  He giggled and laughed and snuggled with his mama!  This was his first time ever at the beach and he took to it just like a good little surfer baby to some pretty rad surfer parents should!

Also.. can we please talk about how gorgeous Sophie is?!

Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits
Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits

 

 

Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraitsToes in the water for the first time!  He LOVED it!  Surfer baby B!!!!

We moved on up towards the woods and trails a bit and just captured some fun, relaxed family play time!

Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits Virginia Beach, Virginia Row Boat inspired Family portraits

These sessions are some of my favorite!  These sessions were it takes only a few moments of the evening but are so incredibly special!

Mike and Sophie are just amazing parents!  They truly are so graceful and so lovely to watch!  They both really do have this beautiful mix of quiet laid back reserve yet at the same time they have the exact same wonder and amazement while experiencing little B’s first time experiences and his joy and laughter!

It’s something I feel we could all just take note of and have more in our lives  Time just seems to slow down around Sophie and Mike!  You feel like you can breathe a bit easier and you can let the heavy weight off your shoulders and just relax!

What a gift this will be for B as he grows in such a loving family with Mike and Sophie!

Happy Mother’s Day to Sophie!  I hope your boys were able to spoil you with love and kisses and snuggles!!!

 

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