Weekend Adventures!

What an awesome weekend!! Saturday was an adventure day. A storm was headed to San Diego so we headed to the mountains. Our plan was to spend the day in Julian but it was snowing too hard so we pulled over and played on the side of the road. We had a blast! And Sunday was the first of our long chain of family birthdays:) We celebrated with lunch and a huge group of friends. A great week finished off with a great weekend! Who could ask for more?! Hope you had a happy weekend:)

THE BATTLEFIELD:

The little things...

Life is all about the little things...
The little moments, details, and things that just make your day a little extra special.

Here are my little things this week:

Rework:
I already wrote a post about this book HERE. You should really check it out if you have any business dreams:)

Texting My Dreams:
I have really intense and crazy dreams. I mean REALLY crazy. I've dreamt intensely for as long as I can remember and I love it but I hate it. As awesomely zany and imaginative as they can be at times, they can also be really very dark and grim at other times. I feel like I live in a Tim Burton world when I go into dream land and I usually love how creative it gets in there so I've started waking up and texting the stories to Brett before I even get out of bed. It's been SO fun! He probably thinks he married a crazy woman now...

Jury Duty:
I got summoned to jury duty and I'm so excited!! I have only had jury duty once before and it was disappointing. This time I hope it gets a little more exciting. I can't wait! When I opened it I screamed "yes!". Brett asked what it was and when I told him he thought I was crazy... I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Murad:
Last week I got a sample of a new Murad cleanser. I still don't know if it's right for my skin but I'm tempted to just decide that it is because I love the texture, smell, and look of it so much. I feel like it's made of alien skin. It's the weirdest texture; thick and fluffy yet firm. It has the weirdest look; iridescent and pearly. And I can't even begin to explain it's smell; not really good or bad... just odd. It's a new intriguing adventure every time I put it on.

Dark Chocolate:
I am on a major dark chocolate kick as of late. The darker the better and there is nothing like the silkiness of Dove. I am a nibbler of dark chocolate. I can only take a nibble at a time and I truly savor each one.

The End!
These are the little things I'm loving right now!
Happy Friday :D

What are you loving?

Finding Purpose in the Desert

Last week I had planned that today I would write all about what I learned at WPPI.

As our days there began to unfold so did my heart and mind. Each insecurity, wrong motive, standard I was trying desperately to live up to, and lie I believed about myself and this path of life and business I have been placed on... it was all unfolded and exposed. I struggled with finding words to explain the shift happening in my heart and figured this post just wasn't going to happen.

As we were driving home through the desert yesterday I sat in silence chewing on everything that had happened the last four days. I grew distracted by the beauty of the desert. The sun was low and all was golden. There is something so peaceful about the steadiness of the desert. The scenery was as expected: flat and brown. But it was so beautiful. How could something flat, brown, and seemingly predictable be so appealing?

Maybe it could get some people and flashy buildings and be just like the city? Then maybe more people would like it. Or maybe it could find a little water and grow green lush plants like a forest? Then maybe it would be more exciting. Maybe if it could just be like something else it would be better.

I don't think so. It was being exactly what it was made to be. It was being the desert. It was created for a purpose and was thriving in the beauty of living inside that purpose.

As we drove miles and miles through the wide barren land. All that had happened in the past four days became more clear. As we were there I was being prepared and something was swelling within me. A swelling of hope, peace, promise, inspiration, love for life, people, and ultimately my confidence in the Lord. I was made on purpose. I was made for a purpose. A purpose fulfilled only by allowing myself to be as unique as I was crafted. A purpose that can not be fulfilled if I'm trying to make it look like my own desires or someone else's purpose.

Yesterday in the, symbolically perfect, desert there was a deep stirring in my dry soul. I refuse to continue living the way I want to, the way our world wants me to, I refuse to believe the lies, the limits, the standards. I will be shepherded by the Lord ALONE. I will live confidently inside my purpose and refuse to settle. I will no longer be driven by my own selfish insecurities.I will no longer live with fear. I owe it to the one that crafted me and gave me that purpose.

My life is a precious gift. Who I am and the way I was made is a precious gift and I make no apologies. So is yours. Are you going to enjoy it? Celebrate it? Live it like it was made to be lived? Full, with joy, peace, and love? I hope you do, friend, I deeply hope you do.



"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: He leads me in paths of righteousness for HIS name's sake." Psalm 23

REWORK

Right now we are in Las Vegas attending WPPI. A conference for wedding and portrait photographers. This is our second year attending and, as expected, it is not disappointing! I LOVE learning and am absorbing everything I can.

On the drive out here I finished a book B got me for Christmas. Since academia is a long lost thing of my past it's my goal to make sure I'm reading at least a book a month. This one took me a little over a month because I slacked off. Nonetheless, I finished it and it was wonderful.

It's called Rework. This book is all about breaking the rules of business, getting uncomfortable, getting inspired, and making a real difference doing what you love. Yes it's a business book but it's seriously inspiring for anyone with a dream. And it has fun graphic eye candy all through out!

Here are a few of my favorite snippets:
(if you don't want to read these at least skip to the bolded bottom... that part was my fav!)

There's no time-
"The most common excuse is 'there's no time'. There's always enough time if you spend it right! When you want something bad enough, you make the time. Don't let yourself off the hook with excuses. It's entirely your responsibility to make your dreams come true. The perfect time will never arrive."

Less is more-
"Less is a good thing. (time, money, people, experience). Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you've got. There's no room for waste and that forces you to be creative."

Competition-
"In the end, it's not worth paying much attention to the competition. Focus on improving yourself instead. Focus on competitors too much and you wind up losing your own vision. You become reactionary instead of visionary. If you're just going to be like everybody else why are you even doing this? Even if you wind up losing, it's better to go down fighting for what you believe in instead of just imitating others."

Authenticity-
"Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They'll see you as a human being instead of a faceless company. They'll see the sweat and effort that goes into what you (create). They'll develop a deeper appreciation and understanding for what you do."
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Overnight Success-
"Trade the dream of overnight success for slow measured growth. It's hard, but you have to be patient. You have to grind it out. You have to do it for a long time before the right people notice."

WABI-SABI-
"There's a beauty to imperfection. This is the essence of the Japanese principle of Wabi-Sabi. Wabi-Sabi values character and uniqueness over a shiny facade. It teaches that cracks and scratches in things should be embraced. It's also about simplicity. You strip things down and then use what you have. Leonard Koren, author of a book on wabi-sabi, gives this advice: Pare down to the essence, but don't remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered but don't sterilize. It's a beautiful way to put it: leave the poetry in what you make. When something becomes too polished , it loses its soul."

Joseph & Thuy

Baby Kenneth | Portraits

I can't get enough of this face.
It's Friday! It's a baby! and B and I are leaving out of town in the morning!
What could be better? Enjoy.

Thrifty Thursday!

Today I was out running my errands and out of no where the shopping bug bit me. Thankfully, for our budget's sake, I am not one of those women that runs straight to Nordstrom and comes home with an armful of bags. Nope, that's not the way my momma raised me. I headed to the nearest thrift store and the bargain hunt began. I struck gold!

Vintage Yellow Chair: $20
as soon as I saw this beauty and it's price tag I had to have it (as long as it fit in my car). I can't wait to find a spot for it.

Vintage Navy Blue Blouse: $1.48

Purple Sweater: $2.48

Silk Scarf: $2

GRAND TOTAL: $25.96!!!

Woohoo! I love a bargain!

Joseph & Thuy | love in motion.

I'm really excited to start combining my love for video and photography as a new feature of engagement shoots!

I had a total light bulb moment while shooting Joseph & Thuy and they were kind enough to let me test out a few shots on them. The light was golden, they were off in their own little love land, it was a sweet tender moment, I had already got "the shot"... and *ding*. I turned the video on and started rolling. I can't wait to continue and sharpen this new feature of shoots!

I love that my sweet couples will have another way to share the story of their love. Another way to capture those in between moments that mean everything.
What a fun little video to look back on down the road!

Christine | Senior Photography

Sometimes when I'm working on senior portraits I can't help but get a little sentimental.
It usually happens when I'm sharpening eyes or a smile.
I wonder how big their parents hearts swelled when they first cracked that smile as a baby many years ago. I wonder what those eyes have seen. I wonder what those eyes will see in the coming years. I wonder what their dreams are. I wonder if they will reach them... oh, I hope they do. I wonder if they will have families and what sorts of adventures they will embark on. I wonder if their children and grand children will see these portraits. I wonder where that scar came from on their chin. I wonder if they know they're loved. I wonder if they know that they have everything it takes to make a difference in the world. I wonder if they know how beautiful they are. I hope they know how beautiful they are. I hope they see how wonderfully and perfectly they have been created. I hope they see it. I hope I made a difference.

7 Things I learned About being 7

This weekend my parents went out of town so we had my younger sister for most of the time. We had a blast watching movies, baking, painting nails, playing play dough, going to the farmer's market and trying new food, and going to dog beach! It was so much fun and a good reminder that having kids doesn't mean the fun has to stop;) I spent my weekend with her but also spent some time in her class on Friday and learned a few things about the life of a seven year old.


7 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT BEING 7
1. When you're 7 it's ok, in fact encouraged, to brag about weighing more than a boy.
2. When you're 7 your biggest problem is accidentally getting hit in the head with a dodgeball and thinking they did it on purpose.
3. When your 7 problems are over in 2 minutes and all is forgotten.
4. When you're 7 and you're hot you take off your jacket and leave it on the piece of ground closest to you and never remember it again.
5. When you're 7 and there's extra pizza and you've already eaten 3 slices you take the offered extra pizza.
6. When you're 7 hummus looks good to you until you hear it has something like basil in it. You don't know what basil is so it's no longer an option to eat it.
7. When you're 7 and you want to eat breakfast you HAVE to eat break fast right then even if your older sister needs a few minutes to get her body working after sleeping on the floor all night.