Posted in my life

For one week in July I got to spend some quality time with my Alpha Kappa Camera sisters. This was our second retreat and I was so thrilled to share my husband’s home town with everyone. We stayed in Polson, MT in a beautiful home with a stunning view.
Three of the girls weren’t able to make it and we missed them terribly, but still managed to have lots of fun – just the 6 of us.
We went rafting, karaoking, bowling, sightseeing, hiking, dancing, swimming, and of course took a few photos. I actually only brought my Holga, so most of the photos below are from Joanna’s and Trina’s point-and-shoot cameras and my camera phone. The photo above I took with Kara’s camera while sitting out the back window of our car .  Don’t worry, mom, she pulled over and stopped on the side of the road.

Our house, grocery shopping, cherry picking, lunch at Isabel’s, hanging out on the dock, sightseeing, bowling, working, rafting, “all drift”, karaoking, Glacier Park, hiking, waterfalls at Glacier, and being photographed for the local newspaper.

Oh yeah, we were interviewed by the local paper. Because we really are that cool. Here’s the article about Alpha Kappa Camera written by Kate Haake for the Valley Journal. Last photo above by Kate Haake.

And since, I never blogged our trip to Vegas, here’s a shot from March of all of us together. Yes, we are photographers and wannabe models. I can only imagine what the person who took our photo was thinking.

And in case you missed our first trip to South Carolina, you can read all about it here.

In the words of my AKC sister, Shea, “I love us”.

Posted in my life

I’ve been super excited for this vacation for some time now. Curt and I flew into WA where his uncle and aunt live, spent one night there and off on the road we went. Three cars: His parents, grandma, two brothers, sister-in-law and niece. So fun!

The first stop on our road trip was Multnomah Falls. If you are ever around that area, you should make a point to go there too. It was sooo beautiful!P.S. The awful beard the guys are sporting have a purpose. One of their cousins is getting married this summer and ridiculous facial hair is required for the bachelor party. I’m counting down the days.

Yes, I took a lot of photos, but I promise this is the last one I will post :The second stop was this really cool fast food place, called Burgerville. I’m not sure if they have them in other states, but I loved it. The food is awesome and they seem to be very environmentally friendly. Super bonus

And then we made it to the coast. Ahhhhhh. We stayed at this amazing vacation rental called Splendor by the Sea, and you should definitely check it out. It was perfect! We had the most amazing view and we could see seals jumping in the water while eating dinner. Pretty fun

We spent most of our time going for walks, playing board games, watching World Cup matches, playing soccer on the beach, and we took turns making dinner.  We also had a bonfire at the beach which included s’mores and a Lady Gaga dance party.

And then there are priceless moments like these when there’s nothing left to do but laugh until you cry:

I love the fog:

And while it was super entertaining to watch the boys attempting to surf in the frigid water, Melissa and I decided to check out all the cool sea life. I had never seen so many starfish before and to be completely honest, I didn’t know there were so many different colors.

The next day we drove to Newport to check out the seals, buy salt water taffy and have some yummy seafood.

Loved watching these guys and I got a seal ornament for my Christmas tree to remember this awesome trip.

It’s a miracle I can keep images in focus with these two on the other side of the lens.

If you’ve been to the Oregon Coast, you’ve probably been to Mo’s and you are probably craving their clam chowder right about now.

And of course, the best part of the trip was to get to spend time with this little princess:

I know I’m extremely blessed to have the best in-laws in the world and I definitely don’t take if for granted.

Posted in my life

Today it was a beautiful gloomy day outside. I truly enjoy gray skies and a bit of chill in the air. We don’t get very many days like this in Arizona, so this afternoon I took a break from my computer screen, stepped outside and took some photos. I thought about my life. My family, my friends, my business, my words, my actions, my journey, my blessings. It was a good day. It’s a good life. There’s always so much to learn.

For a while, I felt like I had to keep working hard to get to one specific place. A place I could stop and say, I’ve arrived.  In some sense, I felt like I was starting out late and had to catch up. Something similar to a marathon with a finish line. And then it hit me that I don’t want to ever be finished, I don’t want to cross that line. Not only because that would mean it’s over, but also because I’ve finally realized that place doesn’t exist. Instead, I decided to thoroughly enjoy my run, to keep a steady pace, and maybe even slow down some times to really take it all in.  And a few sprints are fun too. I’m just looking forward to it all, and this does not mean I don’t have a direction in mind. I do. But instead of focusing on a final destination, I am now happy to know this will be a multi-destination journey. Kinda liberating, isn’t it?I had a lovely lunch with an amazing photographer and dear friend today. While catching up on what’s going on in our lives, naturally work came up. I shared with Melissa Jill the lessons I’ve been learning and how blessed I feel to realize that God has been guiding me all along to the place where I’m at now. I have also been given some big lessons that I just need to have trust in Him and faith in Him. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I have at times worried. Worried that things might not work out. Shame on me!Don’t get me wrong. Hard-work and determination are super important, but I can’t forget to have faith. Faith is quite possibly the best cure for stress and anxiety

Recently someone asked me on formspring “How did you muster up the courage to quit your job and follow your dream? What advice do you have to someone in overcoming that fear?” I answered the question, but I don’t think I was able to convey what I was really thinking. However, during our conversation today, Melissa pretty much summed it all up and I think this would have been a much better answer to that question: “Weather you are working for somebody else, a big corporation or for yourself, the one providing for you is always God”. She is much more eloquent than I am. Anyways, the truth is I never really stopped being afraid, I just took a leap of faith. And yes, I did receive a few nudges from those around me who love me.

Thinking about framing the next two and hanging them side by side:One of the main reasons why I cherish my clients so much? Because I know they are hand-picked for me. The first time I met with a client who didn’t book me, I was sad. I liked them. Why didn’t it work out? I analyzed everything I said, everything I did. I was determined to learn from this. I wanted every client I liked to like me back.  I now know, I certainly cannot be the right photographer for every client, so I just have to be myself, do my best, let it go and be happy that it’s really not up to me. It’s great knowing that what’s meant to be will be!Success. Do you have your own definition? How do you know you’ve succeeded? Can it be measured by the number of comments on your blog? By how much money you make? By how others perceive you? Do you have to be famous to be successful?

To me success is synonym with happiness. My number one marker of success is how happy my clients are. The happier they are, the happier I am. And that’s what I work for. What would make you happy? Define it, achieve it and be the happiest version of yourself Any journey is more fun when the people I love are with me. Enjoying my own journey is great, but I can’t forget to share in my friends’ journeys as well, sacrifices included . The more I give, the more gratifying it is.

The more I do what I love, the more in love with it I am. I give it my all each and every time and I hope it shows. I know not everyone may see it, but I’m grateful for those who do. Thank you for the encouragement and the much needed “nudges”.This post in itself is a leap of faith. A “nudge-less” leap. Maybe I’m learning.

Posted in my life

If you could provide 100 meals for children for $10, would you do it? I certainly hope that everyone reading this answered with an emphatic yes!

Today while at Whole Foods I bought their FEED 100 bag. It’s only $10 and every bag you purchase will provide 100 nutritious school meals for hungry children through the UN World Food Program.

Huge bonus? The bag is super cute and made with 100% organic cotton and sustainable burlap. I’ve been using reusable grocery bags for a while, but I’ve been looking for one I could leave in my purse so I can use it at the mall instead of using their shopping bags and this one is just absolutely perfect for that.  Besides being able to zip it up, which makes it really easy to keep it in my purse at all times, it’s also really soft, has internal pockets and it fits a lot of stuff in there.

I hope I’ve talked you into going to get (at least) one too!

Happy Friday