Search this site:    

A lot of times when you are a photographer you get caught up on striving for perfection. You always want the perfect light, the perfect expression, the perfect picture. Because of this need for perfection, we as photographers, sometimes forget to take shots of the every day. To help us remember these important shots of real life, a group of photographers that I am involved with have decided to start a little blog series called “The Simple Things.” Each month we will shoot one of those simple moments in our lives that we have been neglecting with our cameras. At the end of the month we will make a blog post and share our stories. At the bottom of the post we will share a link to another photographer in the group so you can read her story.

This last month has been just crazy.  And not crazy in a good way.  Crazy in a very scary way.   Crazy in a way that grounds you and gives you a serious wake up call as to what is really important in this life.

My family has been struggling with the fear and stress of a sick family member, my dad .  For the last four weeks, we have been distraught, terrified, hopeful, annoyed, angry, elated, exhausted and every other emotion in between.  It has definitely been one of the hardest things my family has ever gone through.  And it isn’t over.  Although, for now, we are very hopeful.

We had yet another scare last Friday which resulted in an emergency trip back to the hospital.  And I spent another night away with my mom and away from my own family.  When I returned Saturday afternoon, I was tired but really in need of some serious family time.  I felt like lying on the couch for the day, but I know my husband had wanted to take the girls for walk in the woods to see a huge beaver dam.  So I suggested, in spite of my lack of motivation, that maybe that walk would do us good.

We headed out.  It was cool and cloudy.  And I do have one huge disclaimer……we were dressed for comfort and NOT at all for a photo shoot.  In fact, I don’t think my girls could have chosen a more bizarre set of clothing if they had actually tried.  LOL!

But did that matter.  No.

After a bit of hike through the woods, we found a clearing filled with flowers.  It was just gorgeous!

OK.  Maybe it is technically a field of “weeds”.  But I thought it was quite beautiful and will be a wonderful setting for a mini shoot!   (Must keep in mind!!0

And we eventually made our way to the home of the dam.  Yup, a huge swamp in the middle of a field.   You may not find it very beautiful.  But actually, it is quite interesting…

My husband played his role as teacher showing the girls all the signs in the woods of the deer and the beavers and they hung on every word.  These two are definitely two “Daddy’s girls”.

And when they say busy as a beaver, holy cow are they right!  Those critters must never stop!  My girls were amazed at the beaver’s home and swore there was a little chimney on top.  They had hoped for a glimpse at the owner, but no luck.

I was just amazed at the amount of damage those suckers do!

And damn, what a serious dam they build!!!

After trekking through the mud, we headed through some apple trees where I found a few blossoms (and the husband found a great place for his tree stand).

And we eventually made our way home.

And even though I originally had really no desire to do anything that day but sit on the couch, our little walk in the woods ended up being the exact thing I needed most.  We returned rejuvenated, re-energized and just plain ole happy to be together.

And we don’t need much more than that.  Do we?

Next visit Laura!!

Things have been a bit, um….crazy in these parts recently.  Luckily, hopefully (?!!!), things will soon be settled down and will soon be back to “normal”.  But as hard as these “hard times” have been, they really do make you appreciate life so much more.

I know.  I know. I know.  That is SUCH a cliche.  But it is a cliche because it is so true!

When my second daughter, who is severely handicapped, was born, we faced a few years of off and on hospital stays and many many scares.  But each time we weathered through a scare, or were finally released home from the hospital, we would feel such incredible ELATION.  We were on a huge high.  We were so much happier after the scare than we were before the scare, when we had nothing to worry about.

We were thrilled to just enjoy an evening home with everyone.  We were over the top excited to finally sit down again, as a family, for a nice dinner.  We appreciated every single otherwise mundane aspect of our life.

And we felt a bit (a LOT) of irritation when we would hear someone complain about things like the weather, or being bored, or just other “woe is me” stuff.

My lengthy to-do lists of the last month are starting to get dusty as I have barely even looked at them.  All I have been able to do is make sure laundry is done, food is in the pantry and bills are paid on time.

These last few weeks, I have barely even touched my camera.  But there were just a couple evenings that I forced myself to grab it.  My photos from those days may not be well planned, stylized, or necessarily portfolio-worthy.  But they are glimpses into some of the “mundane’ beauty found in our every day.  The beauty in the things we already have right inside our homes and right outside our door.  The beauty we too often ignore when things are going great, because we are too busy complaining and focusing on what we think we should have or should be doing.

And we all know, that focusing on what you don’t have is pretty much the key to unhappiness.

So here’s to some crazy kids and some signs of spring!  And a few quotes to inspire us all.

“Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.”

Mario Fernandez

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein

“Dance as though no one is watching you,
Love as though you have never been hurt before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Live as though heaven is on earth.”

Souza

“Realize that true happiness lies within you.”

Lucian

“Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion.  Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.”

Mary Manin Morrissey

Until next time!!! XOXO!

This is probably my absolute favorite time of year.  When I get all giddy and excited to see just one teeny, tiny piece of green poking out of our drab, dead world.

But I get REALLY excited, when I see a whole bed of spring flowers!!!  And that was exactly what happened this very warm and spring-like day when I went for a walk in the woods with my girls.

And, much to the chagrin of my little munchkins, it become a perfect day for mini photo shoot.  And I found myself, flat on my stomach, camera in hand, loving every second!

I may be covered in mud, but it is days like this that makes the blah days of February just a very distant memory.

Welcome dear spring!!!!  I missed you so!!!

Until next time!! XOXO!!!

A lot of times when you are a photographer you get caught up on striving for perfection. You always want the perfect light, the perfect expression, the perfect picture. Because of this need for perfection, we as photographers, sometimes forget to take shots of the every day. To help us remember these important shots of real life, a group of photographers that I am involved with have decided to start a little blog series called “The Simple Things.” Each month we will shoot one of those simple moments in our lives that we have been neglecting with our cameras. At the end of the month we will make a blog post and share our stories. At the bottom of the post we will share a link to another photographer in the group so you can read her story.

I was going to focus on one “simple thing” for my February post, but then I realized that for me, February is all about simple things.

There isn’t usually much going on in February.  My husband is crazy busy with his coaching.  My kids are finishing up with their swim team activities.  There are many lazy evenings doing not much of anything except hanging by the wood stove.  And spring is still quite a few weeks away.  I often get a bit antsy during this time of year, looking forward to warmer weather, being outside more, VACATIONS!

But when I take the time to look within my little world, I can see how many wonderfully simple things I have.  And if you add up all those simple things you end with one pretty amazing bunch of STUFF.

There are cold, snowy weekends outdoors!

And afternoons baking [amazing] chocolatey peanut buttery cupcakes!

And even MORE lazy days by the wood stove!

And some days that we all are a bit stir crazy!

There are FREE days at the zoo!

And even an orangutan or two!

But sometimes just a simple and quiet snowy morning at the lake can feed your soul a bit..

Yup, these simple things can be pretty amazing things.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!  Now I invite you to visit Nikki and view her February post!

Until next time!  XOXO!!!

I had planned on [finally] posting some more photos from my fall seniors/families etc this week.  But I guess the best laid plans……..

don’t happen when you have a week of complete lack of motivation!

Why is it that I feel so “blah” in early February?   I guess it is probably a mish-mash of reasons – the holidays are done, spring is still fairly far away, my husband is very busy with coaching, not around a lot, and has a good month left of crazy time.  And here in mom-land, nothing exciting really going on.  And, at least for me, when I have less urgent items, I tend to do…nothing!  HA!  Well, other than daily mom stuff, mindless TV, catching up on my reading, and just feeling sort of slug-like.  HA!

Or maybe I just need to be jumpstarting my winters by scheduling a yearly tropical vacation this time of year.  Yeah baby!

What I do know is that I have a bunch of crazy munchkins at home and even in the dullest of cold February evenings, they still can keep me very amused!  Yes, this was HER idea for a photo opp!

MWAH!

Happy Friday!!!!

Until next time!  XOXO!

Next Page »