Happy 2009!

I can't believe it's a New Year. There are so many exciting things happening in my families life. For those of you who didn't know, I am in the process of opening my studio. I will have a grand opening once it is completely finished. However, I have been using it for sessions since mid November and I love it. It is going to be awesome and you are welcome to come by and check it out. It is located by JCPenney, next door to the Day Spa and two doors down from decorations for celebrations.

Also, this year my honey will graduate from Nurse Anesthesia school. Yeah! We've almost made it....I can't believe he is almost finished. He has been in school full time for 7 years. No summers off, no skipped semesters just school and work. I am so proud of him and can't wait to experience life without the stress of assignments and deadlines.

We have some new additons to the family. A stray dog showed up the first part of December full with puppies. She delivered a few weeks ago and is the proud mama of 4
babies. My girls are loving it of course and I must admit I even enjoy watching them and have a favorite. So, if you or anyone you know would like to have one of these little darlings please contact me.

I hope the New Year is good to you. Enjoy!

It is so important for me to give back to others in my daily life. For this reason I am eager to give the gift of photography to those parents who are faced with the most heart breaking experience a parent could know, the death of a child. When I heard of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, I knew I had to be a part of this charity because of how personal the death of a child is to me. As a mother I am reminded every day of the miracle of life. But, having witnessed my sisters loss of her third child, I am even more aware of how precious life is. There was nothing I could do back when my sister lost her sweet boy, none of us can change the reality of it. But, through photography I can hopefully help change how these parents remember their babies and help them to heal.

Please click on the link below to find out more about this beautiful charity or to do what you can to help out.

My honey recently did a clinical rotation in Little Rock, Ar. at Childrens Hospital. Since it would be for more than a month the girls, our lab and I all went along. What a fun, jam packed month. Our little adventure did seem reminiscent of mine and my husbands earlier years when we both worked on the race track and moved 4 times a year. As with those other places where we would live for a few months at a time Little Rock too will hold a little piece of our history and a little piece of my heart. When it was time to pack up and head back to Missouri, I realized it would hold a little piece of my oldest daughters heart as well who was quietly crying as we drove away from our little apartment.

Here are some of our highlights: Watching the Wizzard of Oz on a projected screen on our blanket on the river front. Attending a BB King and Willie Nelson concert on the river front, yes with the kiddos. Other fun downtown would be: riding the cable cars, playing in the water fountains, the discovery center. Our favorite store was called Ten Thousand Villages, which sells only fairly traded merchandise from other countries. Truely beautiful, unique, hand crafted items... no "mass production" here.

Also sweet memories are our evening bike ride to pick wild blackberries that grew all around the apartment where we stayed. I will not get the image out of my head of my husband on his bike towing Emma behind and Julia closely fallowing on her bike. Our Lab and I brought up the "rear" since I always walked and jogged with her.

There was the most amazing field across from the apartment where I took some pictures of my girls before we left. What a beautiful memory!

Enjoy~

The deacon of our church asked me to photograph he and his wife one day after mass for their 40th Anniversary. I love what I captured. In the foyer of the church there is the most beautiful light that spills through the windows during that time of day. I wanted to share a few of the images with you since they express such beautiful, raw emotion.

For those of you who don't know, our priest passed away on June 3rd. As I was setting up to photograph our Deacon and his wife, Father Jim came out of the Sanctuary and we shared a few words and some laughter....I can still see him there talking to me, smiling even though he wasn't feeling well. That would be the last time I would see or speak to him here on this earth. I am going to miss his articulate wisdom and his wonderful stories...I feel so blessed to have known him and have to believe that I am a better human being because of his words of comfort and spiritual guidance.

Here is another little darling I photographed yesturday. She too has captured a little piece of my heart over the past 6 months. This was also her one year session, although most of her session was inside, I thought it would be fun to take it outdoors and try to get a few more. This is my favorite!

I have photographed this cutie since she was 7 weeks old. Today I did her one year session and wanted to share a few of the images I captured with all of you. I have enjoyed watching this baby grow and change over the past year and she will always hold a special place in my heart!

Reflections of the Past Year...

Well here goes my first blog. I am very excited to have a forum to keep friends and family and anyone else who may be interested current in the events of my life. I plan to have lots of personal stuff posted here. Fun and silly things my family and I do as well as memorable moments in our lives. Here you can also find out what is going on with my photography business Lifes Portraits. Consider yourself warned since sometimes I ramble uncontrollably especially after editing lots of pictures which these days seems to be a lot of the time....As I think of the past year (I know Chad, "The Power of Now" -just bear with me for a minute.) As I was saying it's been the best of times and the worst of times. (HA) Okay I will be serious now. As a family we (my marriage and children) have survived my husbands first and very intense year of Nurse Anesthesia school. Only one more year to go...yippee! As well as my first full year of being in business as a photographer. Over the past year I have dragged my children across several states attending every photography class, seminar, workshop and week long class I could possibly attend. We have spent many hours on the road and have had several stops at Starbucks (Julia can spot a Starbucks sign from a mile away-that's my girl) but what an experience it has been. I feel proud that they have been along for the journey of my pursuit of this dream of mine. At times I have been as whiny as they were and strung out on caffeine to keep up but I can't tell you how good it feels to make something so important to me happen. Who takes care of the girls while I am in class you might ask...Don't worry I just lock them in the motel room, it's safe, really. Now you know better than that. On more than one occasion I have managed to convince my sister Shelly to come a long and act as Nanny. Boy could I tell you some stories there. Lets just say she has teen aged boys and it's been a while since she had little ones. I think she and the kids had a greater appreciation for me after their first adventure together. Still yet I appreciate her greatly and all of the family members and friends who have helped me out when I get in a pinch. As always there is so much to catch up on but I will get to now. My honey and girls are peacefully asleep in their beds as a blanket of snow lies on the ground. Life is good.