Choosing my favorite images from 2011… WOW this was hard for me!!!!

At first my goal was to pick 11 favorites from 2011.  Well that stressed me out in a super sized way! I tossed that out the window a month ago.  Then I thought 20.  That quickly went out the window too.  I have narrowed and filtered and sorted…. until I just can’t narrow any more.  So this is it….  My extra large list of MY FAVORITE portraits from 2011.

They are in no particular order.  Though I do have a top 5, the top 5 are all mixed in.  :)

I would love to know which is your favorite!  Leave a comment and tell me!!!

So I’ve been thinking….What if….

Every year I make New Years resolutions.  Actually I set goals all year long, Write them down & get excited to check them off.  New years resolutions are no different to me.  They are simply goals to be achieved, but there is something different about New Year resolutions.  These don’t always get checked off for me.  I think maybe it’s because I feel like I have an ENTIRE year… but here’s what I’ve been thinking…. What if you only had ONE YEAR.  One year left to live.  Period.  My list would be different & so would my need to check things off.  Loosing weight & finding a cure for cellulite would no longer make the cut.  lol.  Living a healthy life style would make the cut b/c I would want to pass that onto my children.  Some other things that would make my list if I had only one list left in life:

dwell in the Lord.

leave my children knowing that the Lord is good and should always be at the center of their lives.

be a daily spreader of kindness & joy.

instill in my children the importance of being kind & loving to all people.

volunteer more.

take my children to disney world.

take a long romantic vaca somewhere tropical that I have never been.

write handwritten letters to everyone I love.

have family slumber parties.

spend time with friends… loads of it.

throw a dart @ a map & go there.

work less, play more.

take ice skating lessons with maleah.

go ski-ing in CO.

work on forgiving a couple people I find it difficult to forgive.

develop that film i still have in my drawer from childhood.

complete my scrapbooks.

take loads of pictures.

have professional family portraits made.

If I had only ONE DAY I would write all those important hand written letters to those I love.  Have a family portrait session.  Then spend every last minute with my family in our pj’s piled up with blankets in the living room floor talking, laughing, playing games, eating ice cream & taking silly pictures.

Pictures.  We can not even imagine today how important they will be to us and those we love someday.  I capture portraits of my children regularly but I am so guilty of not being in them.  I need to change that.  My children deserve that.

 

OH HOW I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!

There were so many cards that I loved this year, too many!!  I ordered over 2,500 Christmas cards this year!  These are just a few of my favorites…

{In no particular order}

Ok, Ok… So I love all of them & as I said no particular order.  BUT this is my very favorite card of the entire season…

This little guy simply stole my heart with all his presents!!!Above: Card Front

Below: Card Back

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

I am so anxious to share some of my favorite Christmas cards from this year!  I am holding off until tomorrow but I thought I’d go ahead and share our family card this year….

 

I have quit stressing over shoots for my own children.  It always blows up in my face.

This year when they got all spiffy for Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s and we were about ready to walk out the door I literally said “Hurry, First one outside to find the red bench and sit on it is the WINNER!!!!!”  Then I said “Whoever sits still and gives me the sweetest smile gets to wear the funny glasses first!!!”  Next… “Whoever can catch the dog first gets to eat dessert before dinner!!!!”  And just like that we did an entire session in less than 15 Min!!! Whew! They never even realized what they were doing, haha! I love it!!!

There is a guy with a burgundy beret.  He is homeless.  He sells the newspapers in the Rivergate area.  He has a beautiful smile.  Anyone know who I’m talking about?

We pass him every morning on our way to Hendersonville.  He’s so happy (so early in the morning).  Maleah looks forward to waving good morning to him.  We worry when he’s not there.  I wonder what his story is.

About a week and a half ago Maleah cleaned out her piggy bank and wanted to give him ALL her $$.  I’ll be honest my first reaction to this was not super positive.  I didn’t say anything.  I didn’t want to crush her loving spirit.  Inside I was thinking, thats crazy.  She never buys anything.  Loves to put money in her bank & savings account.  She always says she doesn’t need anything. So we’re not talking a little money, she had a chunk.

That night I was reading Laura Kelley’s Blog – Pitter Patter Art.  If you’re not familiar with her blog, go there asap!  She’s amazing & incredibly inspiring.  She & her charming children are doing a random acts of kindness advent.  I was so inspired by what she is doing. Seriously go to her blog and read it!  As I was reading I just kept thinking, this is brilliant.  I want to do it!  I was thinking that I wished I had known at the beginning of the month so our family could do it too.  Later that night it was still on my mind.  The truth is ANYONE CAN DO KINDNESS.  The truth is IT’s NEVER TO LATE TO DO KINDNESS!!!  You guys know I love quotes.  A few kept running in my mind…

No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale

I thought about what Maleah wanted to do for the happy guy with the burgundy beret.  I thought we should put our heads together.  Even though I we didn’t know about the kindness advent in enough time to do the entire thing… there was no reason to not do what we CAN do.

Maleah was stoked.  Like really super excited.  We fixed bought gift cards for fast food places and starbucks.  We made christmas cookies, brownies & other goodies and filled a box.  We made a card & told him how much we appreciate his smile.  We put it all in a gift bag & took it to him.  He was truly shocked.  Maleah was very happy.  Levi was very happy.  Guess what happened next?  They wanted to do more kindness.  :)  So we gave out more “kindness gift bags”.  We mailed a few cards with gift cards inside from “your secret pal” to people who we thought really deserved them.  We took a box of treats to our post man because he works really hard and is so wonderful to my children.  They think he is truly their friend, all because he cares enough to pay attention to them and be kind.  Last but not least we took a bag of toys to donate to Toys for Tots.

It did take part of our Christmas budget, but what my children gained from it is worth more than any toys or gadgets I could ever buy them.  We are all truly blessed.

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

Thank you Laura Kelley.  I adore you.  You make the world a better place just by being in it.  (Even on the hard days.)

Every November I journal lists of things I am thankful for.

Tonight I read back over all the things I have jotted down on my thankful list this year….

(Just a few that made the list)

My Salvation

My family

Maleah recently accepted Christ as her Lord & savior

Maleah’s new school & amazing teachers

The power of prayer

Great friendships

Angel Andress

A job that I am passionate about.

coffee

Mac

Healthy children

My little brother.

That Maleah & Levi truly LOVE & LIKE each other a LOT, take care of each other & rarely argue.

Picnics in the living room floor with my kids & reading to them all piled in my bed.

The time I had with my Grandmother, My Uncle Walker & Aunt Mackie.

Our front porch swing.

The 17 freckles on Levi’s face.

Google (b/c without it I could not answer all of Levi’s questions.)

Tonight as I read over my list feeling thankful my mind kept flashing back to a magazine article I read early this year.  It was actually January of this year.  As I sat under the dryer @ the salon getting my hair colored I picked up the December 2010 National Geographic.  I began reading an article titled “Veiled Rebellion”, which tells the story of Afghan women suffering under tribalism, poverty & war. Each story is nearly unbearable but it was page 39 that completely stopped my heart….

 

 

I don’t know if the text below the photograph is readable in this picture I snapped with my cell phone.  Her name is Bibi Aisha.  She is 19 in this photograph, taken the day she was interviewed.  She was forced to marry at age 12.  Beaten by her husband every day beginning with their wedding day.

MY daughter is 11.  Already this is unthinkable to me.

One night her husband beat her so badly she thought she was going to die.  She went to the neighbors home for help.  To punish her for leaving without his permission her husband took her into the mountains.  As several men held her down he cut off her nose, ears & hair.

The interviewer Elizabeth Rubin says “I wanted to be strong for Bibi, to give her hope. But when she described that moment, I began to cry.”  I already had tears streaming down my face before I got to this sentence.  Some parts through out the article I had to read several times just because It’s all so unimaginable to me.  It’s so difficult to simply read it…. what if you had to live it?

When I was younger I remember hearing oprah say “Simply being born in America makes one of the luckiest women in the world.”

This stuck with me.  This article has stuck with me. It deeply marked my heart.  I asked to keep the magazine.  I brought it home read it again.  I waffled back and forth about the idea of sharing the article with my daughter.  The photographs and stories are deeply disturbing as they should be.  Still I want her to KNOW how blessed she really is.  I decided to leave the magazine laying open to this page on my bed.  I knew she would see it.  I knew it would break her heart just as it did mine.  I knew it would open the door to an important conversation.  I wanted her to happen upon it and read it for herself so that she could think her own thoughts and feel her own feelings instead of having me stick it in her face & say you must read this b/c it’s important.  She brought the magazine to me with tears & questions just as I knew she would.  In the kitchen we sat, talked, cried & thanked the Lord.  Simply for being born an American girl I am thankful.  I can not imagine living in such hopelessness and fear.  I can not imagine arranging a marriage for my daughter at 12 years of age.  I can not even fathom the pain of having my nose cut off.  I can not imagine any of this being normal acceptable life.

I have kept this magazine right beside my bed since that day.  It reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for.  It reminds me daily that my problems are really not that big.  I feel like if Bibi has the strength and courage to go on… well then I should be charging at life full speed ahead!

I am thankful today for so much, including being an American girl raising an American daughter.  The freedom to live my dreams, worship, love and choose.  I am thankful.  I am blessed.

Woo-Hoo!  Another fabulous beach week!

A SUPER SIZED thank you to all the families who came to see me at the beach!!!

What an amazing week of sessions, everything really is better at the beach!!!  We will do another round of beach week portraits in spring/summer 2012.  Watch for dates to be posted.  This last beach week fully booked in less than two days!  The images are simply priceless.

I heart beach week!

I also heart this sweet & sometimes sassy little girl & her family….

As the sun set she closed a door.

Today as she rose with the sun she began a whole new chapter of her life.

If you are reading this today please say a little prayer for my sweet girl as she begins a new journey.

She Begins life at a new school today with a renewed spirit and excitement. Not because she couldn’t handle the old one but because she has chosen not to.  She has chosen to dare to be different.  I have never been more proud of her than I am right now.

Maleah I am proud of you for following your heart. I am proud of you for believing in goodness, kindness, & respect.  I am proud of you for wanting more.  I am proud of you for demanding more.  I am proud of you for caring about right & wrong.  I am proud of you for being BRAVE ENOUGH TO CHANGE.

My cup is always overflowing with love for you.

Don’t miss Trendy Girls Marketplace at Oak Hills on October 1st! Great vendors and it’s not to ealry to start Christmas Shopping, or even start a Christmas Wish List!

We will be there with the ZAM i am designer framing line!  Come see us along with many other fabulous vendors!

 

Good stuff you’ll find at the market place…..

 

custom appliqued children’s clothing by marymac boutique

 

birthday party planning ideas and help!

 

crazy girl blonde custom vinyl gifts & decor…. this stuff is crazy good!

 

mom’s aprons… how cute is this!!!

zam i am, designer frames…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

crochet creations by paula…. check out this too cute owl hat & matching leg warmers!!!

Hair bows  by Ashley Michael…

t-shirt scarves… I have never seen these but I want one!

 

 

Thirty one!!

 

And this is only some of the stuff you will find, there will be LOTS more!  There will also be door prizes and refreshments! It’s this coming Saturday, don’t miss it!!!

Stop by Trendy Girls Marketplace and “like” us today on facebook!